BIAFRA, JELLO WITH THE MELVINS Never Breathe What You Can't See (Alternative Tentacles) cd 16.98
In the same way that the Melvins' last collaboration (Melvins + Lustmord) was more a Melvins than Lustmord sounding affair, this team-up with former Dead Kennedys singer Jello Biafra sounds more like Jello's record...but it's punk rock, not spoken word, don'tcha worry. As his back-up band, the Melvins rock out righteously, and of course there's nothing like unstable times to stoke the flames of the irrepressible, razor-tongued Jello Biafra. He's sure got plenty of material to work with these days. This actually nears the Biafra fury of old DK days. As usual, plenty of easy targets get clobbered (fer instance, the anti-SUV song "Yuppie Cadillac", perhaps a sequel of sorts to the DK's "Winnebago Warriors") and it's a lot of fun -- as long as you're not a Jello-hater. Anyone with a soft spot for the DKs ought to enjoy this though! Maybe less so for Melvins fans (who were better served with that Lustmord collab disc) but the punkier among you will like both the Melvins-penned cuts and the slightly goofier-sounding Biafra written tunes. Definitely the best Biafra in a while, that's for sure. And in the vast Melvins canon, not nearly as difficult or wacky as, say, Crybaby or Prick!
MPEG Stream: "Plethysmograph"
MPEG Stream: "Yuppie Cadillac"

BIAFRA, JELLO WITH THE MELVINS Never Breathe What You Can't See (Alternative Tentacles) lp 10.98
In the same way that the Melvins' last collaboration (Melvins + Lustmord) was more a Melvins than Lustmord sounding affair, this team-up with former Dead Kennedys singer Jello Biafra sounds more like Jello's record...but it's punk rock, not spoken word, don'tcha worry. As his back-up band, the Melvins rock out righteously, and of course there's nothing like unstable times to stoke the flames of the irrepressible, razor-tongued Jello Biafra. He's sure got plenty of material to work with these days. This actually nears the Biafra fury of old DK days. As usual, plenty of easy targets get clobbered (fer instance, the anti-SUV song "Yuppie Cadillac", perhaps a sequel of sorts to the DK's "Winnebago Warriors") and it's a lot of fun -- as long as you're not a Jello-hater. Anyone with a soft spot for the DKs ought to enjoy this though! Maybe less so for Melvins fans (who were better served with that Lustmord collab disc) but the punkier among you will like both the Melvins-penned cuts and the slightly goofier-sounding Biafra written tunes. Definitely the best Biafra in a while, that's for sure. And in the vast Melvins canon, not nearly as difficult or wacky as, say, Crybaby or Prick!
MPEG Stream: "Plethysmograph"
MPEG Stream: "Yuppie Cadillac"

BIAFRA, JELLO WITH THE MELVINS Sieg Howdy! (Alternative Tentacles) cd 16.98
The team-up of former Dead Kennedys singer / pissed-off political humorist Jello Biafra and underground heavy rock gods the Melvins on last year's Never Breathe What You Can't See album was probably the best Jello record in years, definitely bringing back memories of the DK's heyday. And it sure brought out the punk side of the Melvins. Well, this new album from the Biafra/Melvins conglom should be of interest to anyone who really got off on that last one, consisting as it does of more anti-Yuppie, anti-corporate, anti-Reagan (whoops, I mean Bush) sonic rants recorded during the Never Breathe sessions. Also included: a live track and remixes from Dalek, Melvins's drummer Dale Crover, and Ministry's Al Jourgensen (who collaborated with Biafra some years back in Lard).
MPEG Stream: "Halo Of Flies"
MPEG Stream: "The Lighter Side Of Global Terrorism (extended space-melt version)"

BIBIO Hand Cranked (Mush) cd 14.98
Following up his shimmery, celestial debut album Fi, Bibio brings his music more down to earth with his no less warm 'n' blissful second album, Hand Cranked. Really pretty, willowy, pastoral soundscapes crafted from slightly woozy sampled loops of delicately picked guitar, piano, recorder and other found sounds from his collection of cassette-recorded field recordings. Can't tell for sure if they're real or not (probably are), but adding to the outdoorsy breezy atmosphere of the fifth track "Marram" are some sounds that resemble twittery birdsong. Another stand-out is the final fluttery track "Overgrown". Conjures visions of butterflies, raindrops and babbling brooks. Very very nice!
MPEG Stream: "Marram"
MPEG Stream: "Woodington"

BIBIO Mind Bokeh (Warp) cd 15.98

BIBLE OF THE DEVIL Tight Empire (Dead Teenager) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Like Zebulon Pike last list, here's another band recommended to us by our pals Hammers Of Misfortune, who played with 'em when on tour this past summer. Mike from Hammers lent me their new cd, and I agreed with him that it rocked and immediately wanted one and figured a few of you might want one too...so here it is! Chicago's Bible Of The Devil are a ass-kickin' garage-metal outfit, cranking out raw guitar riffage with raucous vocals. Influences probably include AC/DC, Alice Cooper and the NWOBHM. Both really heavy and kinda punk, these greasy long-hairs know what they're doing that's for sure. You don't possess a profanity-laced screech like their singer or engage in the twin axe action with which Bible Of The Devil's guitarists are adept without payin' some dues. Should stoke all the same urges as Motley Crue and Motorhead...we'd also cite the Hellacopters, Turbonegro, the Necros, and SF locals Night After Night and Drunkhorse as like minded acts whose fans ought to do some 'Bible study'.
MPEG Stream: "Ball Deep, Mountain High"
MPEG Stream: "Sexual Dry Gulch"

BICYCLE THIEF, THE You Come And Go Like A Pop Song (Goldenvoice) cd 15.98
Bob Forrest of Thelonious Monster's new band.

BIG BUSINESS Head For The Shallow (Hydra Head) cd 14.98
Fans of the late great beer guzzling, punk rock, riff slinging metalheads Karp must now rejoice, as Big Business are a dead ringer for those metal miscreants, which of course makes plenty of sense as the CEO of this particular Big Business is none other than Karp frontman Jared! So if you loved Karp, you're obviously gonna love this. And if you don't know Jared / Karp / Big Business, think relentless riffing, powerhouse drumming, shouted vocals, goofy but sort of brilliant lyrics, a supercharged AC/DC filtered through a beer soaked haze, a mild obsession with Judas Priest and a desire to kick much ass. Not hard to imagine legions of white belted, tight pants-ed irony-metal bands being rounded up by the true metal police and beaten into submission while protesting the true rock of Big Business which threatens to make their joke metal obsolete, all beneath the towering Marshall stack shapped monolith of Big Business, while Jared and his board of directors sit in their penthouse, twenty stories above hurling riff after riff after motherfucking riff at the cowering crowd below, laughing maniacally and rocking relentlessly!
MPEG Stream: "O.G."
MPEG Stream: "Focus Pocus"

BIG BUSINESS Here Come The Waterworks (Hydra Head) lp 19.98

MPEG Stream: "Just As The Day Was Dawning"
MPEG Stream: "Hands Up"
MPEG Stream: "Shields"

BIG BUSINESS Mind The Drift (Hydra Head) cd 15.98
Big Business had always sounded a bit like the Melvins, which made perfect sense, as the drums and bass duo also function as 2nd bass and 2nd drums in the Melvins. But they always had their own thing going on, a sound that while still heavy and obtuse, was weirdly melodic, a sort of metallicized fractured pop. We meant to review last year's Here Comes The Waterworks, a totally classic chunk of hooky heaviness, equal parts heaving metallic heft, and twisted melodicism, but somehow it slipped through the review-writing cracks here, whoops. We were mostly expecting more of the same on Mind The Drift, but holy shit, it's even better than Waterworks. Way more epic and sprawling and proggy, showtunes is probably not the best word to use to describe the songs here, but that was definitely our first thought, not cheesy showtunes like your parents made you listen to in the car on long trips, no, BB's tunes could be the soundtrack to to some otherworldly Broadway musical jam packed with twisted carnivalesque epic songsmithery, smoke and streamers and flames and leering demonic faces, twisted shapes, colors psychedelic and kaleidoscopic, but more than anything, the songs are incredibly catchy, the vocals soaring and dramatic, a huge development from the punk rock howl of their earlier recordings, the instrumentation is lush, fleshed out by a guitarist, and the arrangements are impossibly complex, lots of stop / starts, amazing vocal interplay, some of the most incredibly irresistible melodies ever, all woven into super tight, dense mini-epics. It's not metal, it's not punk, it's not post rock, it's bits and pieces of all of those, but cobbled together into something completely jaw droppingly over the top, but not ostentatious, the songs might feel grand and majestic, but it also feels like these guys could just reel off a new song at the drop of a hat and it would sound as good as any of these. The band do get rough and raw, and rock out a bit, but they shine on those aforementioned numbers, where they kick out the sprawling dramatic soundtracky post punk show tune jams, like some impossibly rad mix of the Melvins and Meat Loaf (circa Bat Out Of Hell). Our favorite track is probably "Gold And Final" (although it seems like every time we listen to this we discover a new favorite), with its super tense brooding verse, the little looped effected stutter before a devastating chorus, and an insane hook. We've been humming this song nonstop since we got this. Just listen to the sound sample, totally timeless, like some classic rock jam transported forward in time several decades, but picking up all sorts of detritus in the process and growing gradually slightly more warped and twisted. So good. Could be a contender for record of the year. Really.
Incredible packaging too, done up like found vintage postcards, the song titles and credits worked into mysterious missives, all the images washed out, complete with a Big Business post mark and everything.
MPEG Stream: "Found Art"
MPEG Stream: "Gold And Final"
MPEG Stream: "Cats, Mice."

BIG DIPPER Supercluster: The Big Dipper Anthology (Merge) 3cd 16.98

MPEG Stream: "Faith Healer"
MPEG Stream: "San Quentin"
MPEG Stream: "Loch Ness Monster"
MPEG Stream: "She's Fetching"

BIG EAGLE Willow Creek (self-released) cd 9.98
The first thing that is immediately striking about Big Eagle's debut record is the outstanding musicianship. The twangy pedal-steel guitar floats like a dream and might bring salty tears to an eyeball or two; the subtle bass lines never overstep or outshine the lead melodies; the drums hold the songs' foundations with elegantly simple beats. And the vocals! Robyn Miller (formerly of The Peels) does what all the greatest country singers have done: write and sing beautiful songs about death, lust and hopelessness with a grace and dignity unavailable to most human beings. She not only channels Lucinda Williams, though: consciously or not, there's definitely some Chan Marshall and maybe a bit of Joanna Newsom thrown in.
Like Cat Power's album The Greatest, Willow Creek walks the fine line between indie rock and traditional roots music. Even in the titles of the songs, there's a strong dose of Americana: "Colorado," "Mississippi," "For Sale." "Broken Heart" mines the classic theme of heartbreak and has some excellent slow banjo work. "Colorado" is a short requiem, the pedal steel guiding you through the fragments of the best dream you ever had. "Mississippi" has a bit more humor, with some clever lyrical wordplay and a playful guitar solo that lasts almost the entire song. The last track, "Bill Robinson's Run," might be the best on the record. The guitar and the banjo spar back and forth, the Hammond organ screams, the breaks are catchy and clever. A truly outstanding record from start to finish. Highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Anywhere The Wind Blows"
MPEG Stream: "Broken Heart"
MPEG Stream: "Bill Robinson's Run"

BIG HUGE, THE Crown Your Head With Flowers, Crown Your Heart With Joy (Secret Eye) cd 14.98
The influence of the folk music of the British Isles (especially via it's '70s hippy interpreters), and Appalachian American folk as well, continues to filter into the indie-rock realm of today. Getting into the act now is Drew Nelson, bassist from post-rockers Sonna, who offers up a project named for an Incredible String Band album. It's mellow and maybe a bit mopey, featuring mostly originals with a few traditional tunes like "Bonnie Boy" thrown in. Drew sings and plays various instruments including guitar, banjo, dulcimer, and is joined by a few other folks on accordion, ukulele, and percussion. So if gentle, old-timey, acoustic folky stuff sung in an tenuous tenor warble -- trying to be Cat Stevens or perhaps Jeff Mangum or Will Oldham -- is your thing, then you could check this out, it might go on your discman or iPod as a pleasant afternoon coffee shop soundtrack.
MPEG Stream: "Harbor To A Hill"
MPEG Stream: "Atop A Secret Mountain"

BIG MEAT COMBO, THE Half Of The Last And Some Of The Rest (self-released) 2cd-r 14.98
Double (cd-r) disc from SF's favorite wild and wooly, rambunctious, foot stomping, bar fighting, beer drinking bluegrass outift, the Big Meat Combo, featuring Chewy Marzolo of Hammers Of Misfortune on BASS (not drums!! Wow!!). On drums is the legendary Ches Smith (from Secret Chiefs, etc...) These two discs collect some live shows and some random studio recordings, that perfectly capture the playful drunken abandon of these guys. Songs about drinking, and fucking, and fighting, Tourette's Syndrome, Guns, and so much more. Steel strings, thumping tubs, harmonica, and harmony vocals, all snarled up in a chair smashing guns in the sky, musical bar brawl. Includes some unlikely covers: theme from Dukes Of Hazzard, "Working In A Coal Mine", "Fat Bottomed Girls", the Jungle Book theme and more. Fans of Bloodshot country, Pine Valley Cosmonauts, Jon Wayne, Waco Brothers, Split Lip Rayfield and the like will definitely dig!


MPEG Stream: "Lowdown"
MPEG Stream: "Fat Bottomed Girls"
MPEG Stream: "If I Were King"

BIG PINK A Brief History Of Love (4AD) 2lp 16.98
NOW ON VINYL!!!
We were a bit surprised the first time we heard The Big Pink from the UK. We assumed the band was named after the famous record by The Band, so we were expecting something more rock or rootsy, but instead were treated to some awesome droned out druggy gothy smeary shoegazey electro pop. Weird enough to appeal to folks into all that strange shit, but catchy and hooky enough to end up on 4AD and be a super hyped next big thing.
And we're cool with that for sure. If there's gonna be a next big thing, it might as well be these guys. It's like a way poppier, more commercial version of some badass hybrid of Suicide, Depeche Mode, M83, My Bloody Valentine, Interpol, a little noisy, WAY poppy, a bit eighties, a lot nineties, a little new wave, there's some Pixies in there for sure.
The Big Pink are a duo, but have an extended band that weirdly enough includes a member of aQ prog faves Guapo, not that you'd mistake this stuff for prog, but it does hint that there might be something more going on than just another band looking toward the pop charts.
And all the backward looking pop these days, the coldwave revival, new wave seeping into everything, seems like a good time for these guys, not to say that if you love Cold Cave and Former Ghosts and Zola Jesus and the like that you'll dig this, but you just might, and if you like Interpol and M83 and dig lots of synths and drum machines and catchy choruses and washed out guitars and big beats and warm feedback, but on a bigger, stadium sort of scale, then check this out, it's pretty addictive stuff....
MPEG Stream: "Crystal Visions"
MPEG Stream: "Too Young To Love"
MPEG Stream: "Count Backward From Ten"

BIG PINK Stay Gold (4AD) 12" 11.98

BIG PINK, THE A Brief History Of Love (4AD) cd 13.98
We were a bit surprised the first time we heard The Big Pink from the UK. We assumed the band was named after the famous record by The Band, so we were expecting something more rock or rootsy, but instead were treated to some awesome droned out druggy gothy smeary shoegazey electro pop. Weird enough to appeal to folks into all that strange shit, but catchy and hooky enough to end up on 4AD and be a super hyped next big thing.
And we're cool with that for sure. If there's gonna be a next big thing, it might as well be these guys. It's like a way poppier, more commercial version of some badass hybrid of Suicide, Depeche Mode, M83, My Bloody Valentine, Interpol, a little noisy, WAY poppy, a bit eighties, a lot nineties, a little new wave, there's some Pixies in there for sure.
The Big Pink are a duo, but have an extended band that weirdly enough includes a member of aQ prog faves Guapo, not that you'd mistake this stuff for prog, but it does hint that there might be something more going on than just another band looking toward the pop charts.
And all the backward looking pop these days, the coldwave revival, new wave seeping into everything, seems like a good time for these guys, not to say that if you love Cold Cave and Former Ghosts and Zola Jesus and the like that you'll dig this, but you just might, and if you like Interpol and M83 and dig lots of synths and drum machines and catchy choruses and washed out guitars and big beats and warm feedback, but on a bigger, stadium sort of scale, then check this out, it's pretty addictive stuff....
MPEG Stream: "Crystal Visions"
MPEG Stream: "Too Young To Love"
MPEG Stream: "Count Backward From Ten"

BIG PINK, THE Future This (4AD) cd 14.98

BIG PINK, THE Future This (4AD) lp 16.98

BIG SANDY AND HIS FLY RITE BOYS Night Tide (HighTone) cd 15.98
A wonderful end-of-summer album. If there's something you know you can always count on, it's a wonderful beach blanket good time with Big Sandy. Slow dance under the stars to such surf dream instrumentals as "In The Steel Of The Night". Or shake a tail feather to more upbeat numbers like "Hey Lowdown!" All powered by some great steel guitar stylings by Lee Jeffries.

BIG SEARCH Mysticism Vs. Classicism (Grand Gallop) cd 9.98
Big Search is one man from L.A. His name is Mr. Matt Popieluch. While he is also in two other bands (Foreign Born and Ceramic Isles), he finds time to make music all by his lonesome too... with a little bass and drum assistance from his pal from The Papercuts, Mr. Jason Quever. Mysticism Vs. Classicism bears the fruits of his solo endeavors. These are his no frills 'studio in a garage' recordings from 2003/03 which are now seeing the light of day courtesy of young indie label Grand Gallop Music. Eight strummy, breezy and laidback folk pop numbers with vocals that are soft'n'sensitive with a subtle cabaret-ish flair that brings to mind both Rufus Wainwright and Robyn Hitchcock. Limited pressing of 300 copies packaged in hand-screened brown cardstock sleeves.
MPEG Stream: "Coastal Authority"
MPEG Stream: "I Long For You"

BIG STAR #1 Record (Ardent) lp 12.98

BIG STAR #1 Record / Radio City (Stax) cd 17.98
The first two records of Alex Chilton's seminal kick ass pop band now available on one cd. With the exception of the two songs written by bassist Hummel everything here is a gem. One summer I drove across the mid-west and nary could remove my tape of these two albums from my car stereo. Crucial!

BIG STAR 3rd (4 Men With Beards) lp 15.98
Big Star's legendary third lp (duh) also called Sister Lovers, finally released on vinyl for the first time since 1978 with the original cover art, including complete liner notes as well as the original mixes and the original track listing. Pressed on 180 gram vinyl and mastered from the original tapes. But why should you care? Because 3rd is one of the greatest pop records of all time. In fact the first three Big Star records, #1 Record, Radio City and 3rd, are like the ultimate classic pop triumvirate. There's not a real power pop band in the last 30 years who would have or could have existed if it wasn't for Big Star. And lord knows there would never have been a Replacements! Unlike the first two Big Star records though, 3rd replaced their glistening perfect pop with ragged rock, tortured angst and a serious experimental streak, all exacerbated by frontman Alex Chilton's fragile mental state and the fact that 3rd is almost just a Chilton solo record, with the other two Big Stars just backing him up. But that's the kind of tension and just the sort of uncomfortable personal dynamics that make for intense, dramatic, and moving music. And 3rd is without a doubt all of those things. So chock full of killer tunes, dark and rocking and weirdly haunting, check out "Big Black Car", "Kangaroo", "Holocaust"...
Some of the most gorgeously catchy and emotionally harrowing pop you'll ever hear!

BIG STAR Feel / Mod Lang (Rhino) 7" 6.98

BIG STAR In Space (Rykodisc) cd 16.98
Holy smokes, a new Big Star album?! Yes, it's true, well, kinda. With surprisingly little fanfare, the band who inspired countless other AQ fave pop bands -- The Posies, The Shins, Teenage Fanclub, New Pornographers and many more -- has returned with their first studio full length in 27 years (not counting 1993's Columbia: Live At Missouri University). Mind you, it's a new-ish incarnation of the band, but needless to say theirs is a sound we adore, and hence we were pretty darn excited to see this show up the other day. Happy to report that they do not disappoint! The first few songs particularly bring out the sunshine and smiles. By the way, do you recognize some of the voices singing those wonderful soaring harmonies? Joining elder members Alex Chilton and Jody Stephens in this incarnation are the immensely Big Star influenced gents from The Posies, Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow. So this actually comes across as less a distinctly classic Big Star sounding album, and in a sense more like a Big Star influenced collaboration.
MPEG Stream: "Dony"
MPEG Stream: "Lady Sweet"

BIG STAR Keep An Eye On The Sky (Rhino) 4cd 78.00
If you've never heard Big Star before, and you've got $80 to burn, buy this NOW. You could probably buy the three records proper on their own for way less, but odds are, once you dig in to Big Star, you're gonna become obsessed, and want everything you can get. They're that kind of band, and these songs are just so goddamn good. Even if you're not familiar with Big Star, you are almost for sure familiar with about a million bands who owe everything they are to this legendary Southern power pop band. And we're not talking bubblegum pop, Big Star wrote dark and serious songs, emotional and super personal, able to rock with the best of them, but also able to weave gorgeous minimal intimate tales of love and loss and death. You've no doubt heard some of these songs before, even if you didn't realize it was them.
Keep An Eye On The Sky includes some of their best tracks from all three of their records, but also tacks on FIFTY TWO unreleased tracks, demos, alternate takes, live tracks, as well as the only existing film footage of the band. The packaging is deluxe and gorgeous and expansive, a huge fold out book jammed with liner notes and photos, this is a great introduction to the band for sure, and is of course absolutely ESSENTIAL if you're already a super fan. And how could you not be?! These are such seminal, lifechanging sounds, and this is such timeless music. Big Star are most definitely, one of THE all time great rock bands. Up there with the Stones, the Beatles, the Velvet Underground, Led Zeppelin. Really.
And really essential.

BIG STAR Nobody Can Dance (Norton Records) cd 14.98
Demos and rarities.

BIG STAR Radio City (Ardent) lp 12.98

BIG STAR & ALEX CHILTON Beale St. Green (Sykodisc) cd 18.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
23 tracks in all -- including 5 demos done for Elektra in 1977, 7 songs from a '74 radio session rehearsal, outtakes from Alex Chilton's "Flies on Sherbert" and more. Note the label -- this may or may not be the most legal of releases but the quality is very good and well... it's Big Star!

BIG TECHNO WEREWOLVES / HANS GRUSEL'S KRANKENKABIN split cd 7.98
It's a battle between order and chaos in this split release from Big Techno Werewolves, featuring Crack: We Are Rock's King Riff, and Caroliner offshoot Hans Grusel's Krankenkabinet. Big Techno pits guitar pickin', pie-ana plinkin' and gutter blues against total tape loop annihilation, while in Hans Grusel's world, creepy organ requiems occasionally surface beneath electronic noise in a portrait of circuit-driven madness deep in the black forest. Cd packed in a big velvety black dvd case.
RealAudio clip: BIG TECHNO WEREWOLVES "Star Mystic"
RealAudio clip: HANS GRUSEL'S KRANKENKABIN "Kranker Tans Suite"

BIG TOBACCO s/t (Spunk) cd 15.98
While Joe Pernice's recent work as Chappaquiddick Skyline and Pernice Brothers explored his singular take on lush, layered orchestrated Pop, this new album calls to mind the more plaintive and twang-inflected albums he made as part of the (stellar) Scud Mountain Boys. Pernice's hushed vocal delivery (think David Gates/Bread) is so intimate it seems as if he's sitting right in front of you, strumming a guitar, telling it like it is. That voice of his carries everything along with it: delicately plucked mandolin, rhodes piano, sweetly coo-ing lap steel, etc. This is a lovely album of perfectly crafted songs from a perennially overlooked genius.
RealAudio clip: "Bum Leg"

BIG TROUBLES Bad People (Olde English Spelling Bee) 7" 8.98
We know very little about this band Big Troubles, but damn, the four songs on this 7" are totally kicking our asses. Reminding some of us of being stoned in a dorm room in the '90s listening to Unrest, Guided By Voices, Sentridoh, and The Pastels, all at their most DIY and primitive. With a fucked up lo-fi and reverb filled sound, Big Troubles do have a similar aesthetic as so many of the recent wave of lo-fi pop peddlers like Woods, Blank Dogs and Best Coast but they also tap into that cool C86 sound that the Art Museums explored earlier this year. But there is something a bit more scrappy and fucked up indie rock sounding about these jams. The 7" starts off with a guitar sound reminiscent of the opening to My Bloody Valentine's Isn't Anything, and then proceeds to slip into a more rudimentary rocking sound. We've loved so much of what Olde English Spelling Bee has put out (Ducktails, Rangers, Julian Lynch, Forest Swords, James Ferraro, etc.) and we're stoked to see them entering the world of 7"s now as this is the label's debut in this format.

BIG TROUBLES Romantic Comedy (Slumberland) cd 10.98
Big Troubles' recent Sad Girls 7", reviewed on our previous list, marked a big sonic change for this aQ beloved weirdo pop combo, one that we were loathe to embrace. Our experience is that typically, when bands 'mature' and their sound changes, becoming less weird and less idiosyncratic, in most cases the band also essentially becomes less GOOD. So we feared the worst, word was Big Troubles had shed much of their warped quirkiness and were headed for jangle pop central with an about to pop new album on Slumberland. But we need to fear anything, cuz while we may lament the band's old sound, much of the pop core, that made them so awesome in the first place, still remains, just cleaned up a little. And as they say, these boys sure do clean up nice.
And the new Big Troubles are a perfect fit for Slumberland, a dreamy mix of modern fuzz pop and classic nineties indiepop jangle, the A side of the aforementioned single is here, and as we descirbed it before, it "sounds like a classic slab of nineties Britpop, all big soaring fuzzy guitars, hazy dreamy vocals, shimmery, glimmering and hooky as all get out, a huge hit in a perfect world, but since this is not, it will remain an underground perfect pop gem." Which really applies to most of the record. While "Sad Girls" might be the obvious single, opener "She Smiles For Pictures" is a close second, with its cool quirky main riff, its sweetly melancholy melody, warm muted jangle and the lush dreamy vox that slip easily into a soaring falsetto, there's even a couple brief squalls of psychedelic noisiness, but they are brief and deftly woven into the group's perfect pop. And pretty much perfect is what it is, any one into other Slumberland bands who maybe found Big Troubles too weird, just might find themselves with an unlikely new favorite band.
We've been listening to this non stop (along with Slumberland's Veronica Falls record, also reviewed on this week's list), and we can't stop listening to either, total pop heaven bliss!
MPEG Stream: "Sad Girls"
MPEG Stream: "She Smiles For Pictures"
MPEG Stream: "Misery"
MPEG Stream: "Make It Worse"

BIG TROUBLES Romantic Comedy (Slumberland) lp 14.98
And now we can list this on vinyl...
Big Troubles' recent Sad Girls 7", reviewed on our previous list, marked a big sonic change for this aQ beloved weirdo pop combo, one that we were loathe to embrace. Our experience is that typically, when bands 'mature' and their sound changes, becoming less weird and less idiosyncratic, in most cases the band also essentially becomes less GOOD. So we feared the worst, word was Big Troubles had shed much of their warped quirkiness and were headed for jangle pop central with an about to pop new album on Slumberland. But we need to fear anything, cuz while we may lament the band's old sound, much of the pop core, that made them so awesome in the first place, still remains, just cleaned up a little. And as they say, these boys sure do clean up nice.
And the new Big Troubles are a perfect fit for Slumberland, a dreamy mix of modern fuzz pop and classic nineties indiepop jangle, the A side of the aforementioned single is here, and as we descirbed it before, it "sounds like a classic slab of nineties Britpop, all big soaring fuzzy guitars, hazy dreamy vocals, shimmery, glimmering and hooky as all get out, a huge hit in a perfect world, but since this is not, it will remain an underground perfect pop gem." Which really applies to most of the record. While "Sad Girls" might be the obvious single, opener "She Smiles For Pictures" is a close second, with its cool quirky main riff, its sweetly melancholy melody, warm muted jangle and the lush dreamy vox that slip easily into a soaring falsetto, there's even a couple brief squalls of psychedelic noisiness, but they are brief and deftly woven into the group's perfect pop. And pretty much perfect is what it is, any one into other Slumberland bands who maybe found Big Troubles too weird, just might find themselves with an unlikely new favorite band.
We've been listening to this non stop (along with Slumberland's Veronica Falls record, also reviewed on this week's list), and we can't stop listening to either, total pop heaven bliss!
MPEG Stream: "Sad Girls"
MPEG Stream: "She Smiles For Pictures"
MPEG Stream: "Misery"
MPEG Stream: "Make It Worse"

BIG TROUBLES Sad Girls / Phantom (Slumberland Records) 7" 4.50
With an impending full length on dream pop label Slumberland, and a new, surprisingly poppier, and less warped and warbly sound, our first impulse might have been to write off Big Troubles completely, and lament the loss of another quirky fucked up outsider pop combo, but the thing is, these two new songs might be the best things BT have ever recorded. Sure some of the twisted woozy weirdo effects are gone, but they're hardly missed, cuz these songs are pretty much PERFECT. We always knew they had it in them, even on past jams, no amount of effects and fractured production could disguise the pure pop that lurked underneath. That pop lurks no more. Instead it shines brightly, the A side here sounds like a classic slab of nineties Britpop, all bit soaring shimmering guitars, hazy dreamy vocals, shimmery, glimmering and hooky as all get out, a huge hit in a perfect world, but since this is not, it will remain an underground perfect pop gem. Or hopefully maybe not! The flipside takes another stab at classic nineties British pop, this time channeling Swervedriver, the sound heavier and grungier, shoegazey with a melody infused fuzz, some seriously crunchy buzzy guitars, and pounding rhythms all beneath the same soaring dreamy vox as the A side, resulting in a blissed out chunk of heavy dreamy shoegazy fuzzpop that is tough to beat.
This might just be our new favorite single, and definitely has us dying to hear the new full length.

BIG TROUBLES She Smiles For Pictures (Slumberland) 7" 4.98
First single from Big Troubles' most recent full length, one of our favorite pop records in recent memory, even more remarkable for the fact that BT had transformed from lysergic noisy warped weirdo pop into straight up jangly un-ironic eighties beholden classic pop, and it truly suited them. The A side here is on the record proper, a fantastic slab of fuzzy dream pop, with a quirky main riff, a sweetly melancholy melody, warm muted jangle and lush dreamy vox that slip easily into a soaring falsetto. The B side though is worth the price of admission alone, hard to imagine why they left it off the record, as it's easily as good as anything else on the full length, in fact, in some ways it sounds even bigger, almost like Teenage Fanclub or something, all fuzzy and jangly, with a killer chorus and hooks for days. If you LOVED the full length, this is definitely worth picking up for the extra track, or if you just want to get a taste of Big Troubles, this will definitely do it, and very likely whet your appetite for more.

BIG TROUBLES Worry (Plancha) cd 15.98
Now on cd! Here's what we said about the vinyl version released last fall by Olde English Spelling Bee:
We hadn't heard anything from these New Jersey retro poppers other than a brief 4 song 7", but that's all it took to convince us that these guys were more than capable of pushing all our musical buttons, fuzzed out drum machine driven new wave flecked shoe gaze garage pop of the highest order, a modern take on iconic John Hughes soundtrack indie rock, Simple Minds filtered through M83, jangle pop bliss all ramshackle and fuzz drenched and oozing hooks and melody. The 7" reminded us of Unrest, Guided By Voices, Sebadoh, the Pastels, as well as more modern practitioners of the same sort of sound, Woods, Best Coast, Blank Dogs, but Big Troubles definitely have their own masterful take on the whole C86 pop sound, meshing rudimentary stumble pop, with massive speaker melting squalls of shoegaze shimmer, and crunchy DIY lo-fi pop, into a stunningly varied selection of songs, from dense and driving to skeletal and simple, from hazy and haunting to lush and summery, the thread holding them all together is a weird pop vibe that seems to instantly evoke memories of young love and misspent youth, of wandering aimlessly before the shackles of adulthood and responsibility had truly taken hold, transporting the listener to an age of youth, that vibe and emotion rendered in fuzz guitar, propulsive rhythms, cascading sheets of blurred distorted guitars, buried vocals, perfect melodies, every song major mixtape material, which is about the highest praise we can imagine.

BIG TROUBLES Worry (Olde English Spelling Bee) lp 17.98
We hadn't heard anything from these New Jersey retro poppers other than a brief 4 song 7", but that's all it took to convince us that these guys were more than capable of pushing all our musical buttons, fuzzed out drum machine driven new wave flecked shoe gaze garage pop of the highest order, a modern take on iconic John Hughes soundtrack indie rock, Simple Minds filtered through M83, jangle pop bliss all ramshackle and fuzz drenched and oozing hooks and melody. The 7" reminded us of Unrest, Guided By Voices, Sebadoh, the Pastels, as well as more modern practitioners of the same sort of sound, Woods, Best Coast, Blank Dogs, but Big Troubles definitely have their own masterful take on the whole C86 pop sound, meshing rudimentary stumble pop, with massive speaker melting squalls of shoegaze shimmer, and crunchy DIY lo-fi pop, into a stunningly varied selection of songs, from dense and driving to skeletal and simple, from hazy and haunting to lush and summery, the thread holding them all together is a weird pop vibe that seems to instantly evoke memories of young love and misspent youth, of wandering aimlessly before the shackles of adulthood and responsibility had truly taken hold, transporting the listener to an age of youth, that vibe and emotion rendered in fuzz guitar, propulsive rhythms, cascading sheets of blurred distorted guitars, buried vocals, perfect melodies, every song major mixtape material, which is about the highest praise we can imagine.

BIGELF Cheat The Gallows (Custard) cd 11.98

BIKERIDE The Kiss (Shmamm!) cd 16.98
Despite their band name, we wonder if a more appropriate mode of transportation for Bikeride might be a horse-driven circus cart or enchanted flying carpet. Their fifth album The Kiss is a kaleidoscope of minstrel folk and psychedelic pop, very much in the dreamy delirious tradition of the Elephant Six collective (particularly Olivia Tremor Control and The Minders). Check out "The Mystery Of Magnet Power". The band alternately waltzing through the carnival, the cabaret and the open desert plain. Pretty darn tootin' good!
MPEG Stream: "Your Lips And You"
MPEG Stream: "The Mystery Of Magnet Power"

BIKINI KILL Anti-Pleasure Dissertation (KillRockStars) 7" 3.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Another sparkling, snarling single to make you and me feel GOOD.

BIKINI KILL I Like Fucking / I Hate Danger (KillRockStars) 7" 3.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

BIKINI KILL Reject All American (Kill Rock Stars) cd 12.98

BIKINI KILL Reject All American (Kill Rock Stars) lp 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

BIKNEVA Even Stars Burn Out On Their Own (Big John) cd 12.98
Jeepers, we've an abundance of Bikneva for you! Two equally lovely cds, their self-titled debut from 2002 and this, their second slightly more outerspace sounding full length. Ultra lush, atmospheric keyboard-laden music that occasionally drifts into easy listenin' lounge territory. Not in a bad (i.e, cheesy) way though! Not at all. I've also seen Bikneva listed online under 'ambient' and 'new age"' but I can't really say that either of those tags fit. Each smooooth, languid track soothes in its own moody way that's often very reminiscent of Angelo Badalamenti's gorgeous work on the Twin Peaks soundtrack. You almost expect Julee Cruise to flutter in with her angelic vocals, but instead there's a gentlemanly chorus of ba-da-ba's in the track "I'm In I'm Walking". Very nice!
MPEG Stream: "Guncleaning"
MPEG Stream: "I'm In I'm Walking"

BIKNEVA s/t (Big John) cd 12.98
Jeepers, we've an abundance of Bikneva for you! Two equally lovely cds, their second full length called Even Stars Burn Out On Their Own and this, their self-titled debut from 2002. Ultra lush, atmospheric mostly keyboard-laden (organ and piano) music that occasionally drifts into easy listenin' lounge territory. Not in a bad (i.e, cheesy) way though! Not at all. I've also seen Bikneva listed online under 'ambient' and 'new age"' but I can't really say that either of those tags fit. Each smooooth, languid track soothes in its own moody way that's often very reminiscent of Angelo Badalamenti's gorgeous work on the Twin Peaks soundtrack. You almost expect Julee Cruise to flutter in with her angelic vocals, instead you get a gentlemanly chorus, some loudspeaker spoken word samples, maybe some gentle banjo and guitar as well as static-y crackles that sound like dust on your turntable needle. Very nice!
MPEG Stream: "Seed The Clouds"

BILL, JASON & JACK ROSE Via St. Louis (VHF) cd 13.98

BILLION DOLLAR BABIES Complete Battle Axe (NMC) 3cd 29.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A tasty three disc set from Billion Dollar Babies, the band comprised of three former Alice Cooper Band members who namd themselves after an Alice Cooper song and recorded just one album in 1977 -- Battle Axe. While disc one is the entire Battle Axe album presented for the first time on cd, and disc three is their first ever live show (Flint, Michigan 1977, totally fierce!), it is disc 2 that I keep coming back to. These are the original demos, and while there's lots of tape hiss and murky production on the demos, I really like their rough handhewn quality. Lots of cowbells, buttkicking hooks, fistpumping attitude, glam-via-Arizona wonderfulness. A very cool previously undiscovered hard rock gem.
RealAudio clip: "Shine Your Love"
RealAudio clip: "I Miss You (live)"

BILLY BAO Dialectics Of Shit (Parts Unknown) lp 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We made the brand new record by Spanish noise rocker and audio experimentalist Billy Bao our Record Of The Week last list, a dizzying collision of sludgey filthy Brainbombs like dirge, howling Whitehouse styled invective, and weirdest of all, a flurry of Fela-ish highlife horns, all tangled up with sheets of feedback, squalls of effects, and whatever else BB could whip up. The result was transcendent, and well worthy of ROTW status, managing to be punishing and heavy as fuck, but still catchy and blown out and super fun.
So here we have BB's preceding release, the wonderfully titled Dialectics Of Shit, and we're happy to report, that while the horns seem to be M.I.A here, everything else is present and accounted for, BIG TIME. A gloriously filthy, in-the-red, sludge fueled noise drenched monster. Weirdly produced, super chaotic, rife with sharp angular skree, pounding Neanderthal drums and a growled phlegmy vocal that seethes maniacally. All that stuff is locked around single, KILLER riffs, each track, a looped hypnotic crush, that riff pounded out over and over and over and over, while the various other elements swirl and careen all around it.
Insane bursts of grinding crunch, thick sheets of Merzbowian hiss, long stretches of brittle jangle and thump that will suddenly get swallowed up by a blown out wave of sub sonic low end, or a cloud of white noise will well up obliterating everything in its path, all the while the bass and drums 'groove' churns away, often emerging from one of those disruptions a whole different beats, a sort of muted murky bit of surf guitar, some weird twang, everything off kilter and woozy and noisy and INTENSE. The guitars are sharp and jagged and rough edged, slippery and warped, the riffs seem to be melting, or crumbling to pieces before your ears, the whole record a stumbling, lurching, blackened dirge noise behemoth. All the while, little hooks, and insanely catchy flourishes surface here and there, keeping the record weirdly catchy, and almost poppy occasionally, the sound is schizophrenic, about faces all over the place, sudden edits, overlapping sounds that don't seem to fit (but somehow do), voices all tangled up in guitar melodies tripping over struggling drum pound, everything on the very edge of total collapse, somehow held together in one massive speaker destroying chunk of tweaked and twisted heaviness.
MPEG Stream: "I Am Billy Bao, Right Here Right Now!"
MPEG Stream: "Tight Ass Bleeds"
MPEG Stream: "I Am A Mirror / Putrefied Egos"