TWO GALLANTS What The Toll Tells (Saddle Creek) 2lp 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now on double LP too, and with a few extra goodies -- two bonus songs and a code for a downloadable mp3!
Here's what we said about the cd version: San Francisco's Two Gallants second album has found a well-suited, comfy home on Nebraskan cool kids' label Saddle Creek! Funnily enough when we reviewed the band's last album The Throes, we compared their vocals to a more aged Conor Oberst (of of the label's breadwinnin' band Bright Eyes). Those similarities are still quite prominent, and fans of B.E. might also find themselves warmin' up all toasty to the sounds of What The Toll Tells. Mind you it's not all slow, hushed and brittle, weep in your pint, this is ragged, rugged country rock. Then again, actually Oberst has also been known to roughen and rile his music up on occasion hasn't he? Simply, we reckon they're all in good company. Perhaps this will open the door for some dandy collaborations?
MPEG Stream: "Las Cruces Jail"
MPEG Stream: "Long Summer Day"

TWO SHEDS & DAME SATAN split (Ghostmansion) 7" 3.99
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This new split 7" features a pair of well matched young bands from around these parts -- the Bay Area's Dame Satan and Two Sheds from Sacramento. They're druggy, dusky hued country folks who slink about in the shadows. Their all too brief two songs harken a woodsy winter chill. Can't wait for more! The record is pressed on the palest seafoam green vinyl and is packaged in a beautiful screen printed sleeve.

TWO TON BOA s/t (Kill Rock Stars) cd 8.98
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TYLER, WILLIAM Impossible Truth (Merge) cd 14.98
William Tyler has spent the last decade plus as a touring guitar player for both Nashville indie country combo Lambchop, and indie rockers the Silver Jews, but here on Impossible Truth he strikes out on his own, and comes up with something that harkens back to a different age, several different ages in fact, the obvious reference is the guitar soli / early Appalachia of folks like John Fahey, Leo Kottke and Robbie Basho, but imagine that sound filtered through something more Laurel Canyon-y, for a sort of seventies psychedelia, the sound evoking wide open expanses, big sky country, the soundtrack to a meandering drive in a big old car, top down, on single lane roads winding through rolling green hills, no destination, endless possibilities. Opener "Country Of Illusion" adds a bit of raga to the mix, giving the sound an exotic droney vibe, with a little bit of an Eastern tinge, but soon, a subtly rhythmic pulse, some slippery slide, a little bit of twang, and it's a whole different world, we're hearing Morricone, Pell Mell, James Blackshaw, all woven into a heady bit of sun dappled psychedelic folk, that is pretty divine. Steve Reich and Terry Riley may also be influences.
The mood darkens a bit on the "Geography Of Nowhere", the tones wreathed in reverb and delay, the sound looped and layered, minor key and melancholy, but then like the first track, the sound opens up, the mood shifts, as of the clouds parted revealing nothing but blue skies. The record tends toward dense melodic tangles and mesmerizingly repetitive arrangements, with the tone and timbre constantly changing between songs, some lush and warm, rich and lustrous, others more crystalline and high end, more shimmer and glimmer, all culminating in the closer, which might be the weirdest track of all, it starts out a sort of loping Western style Americana, looped melodic figures drifting over swoonsome slide and lush chordal swells, but then in creep what sound like horns, and maybe fiddles? The melodies get more playful, the slide more slippery, the sounds soar and swoop, the horns moaning and bleating, before finally exploding into a full on heavy psych drum heavy noise drenched freakout, the drums driving and motorik, beneath a cloud of roiling psych guitar tangle, that eventually fades out, into a shimmery sprawl of pulsing, echo drenched abstract guitar drift.
And everyone who buys a copy of Impossible Truth, cd OR vinyl, will be entered into a raffle to win a VERY RARE test pressing of the record!!
MPEG Stream: "Country Of Illusion"
MPEG Stream: "The Geography Of Nowhere"
MPEG Stream: "Cadillac Desert"
MPEG Stream: "The World Set Free"

TYLER, WILLIAM Impossible Truth (Merge) 2lp 21.00
William Tyler has spent the last decade plus as a touring guitar player for both Nashville indie country combo Lambchop, and indie rockers the Silver Jews, but here on Impossible Truth he strikes out on his own, and comes up with something that harkens back to a different age, several different ages in fact, the obvious reference is the guitar soli / early Appalachia of folks like John Fahey, Leo Kottke and Robbie Basho, but imagine that sound filtered through something more Laurel Canyon-y, for a sort of seventies psychedelia, the sound evoking wide open expanses, big sky country, the soundtrack to a meandering drive in a big old car, top down, on single lane roads winding through rolling green hills, no destination, endless possibilities. Opener "Country Of Illusion" adds a bit of raga to the mix, giving the sound an exotic droney vibe, with a little bit of an Eastern tinge, but soon, a subtly rhythmic pulse, some slippery slide, a little bit of twang, and it's a whole different world, we're hearing Morricone, Pell Mell, James Blackshaw, all woven into a heady bit of sun dappled psychedelic folk, that is pretty divine. Steve Reich and Terry Riley may also be influences.
The mood darkens a bit on the "Geography Of Nowhere", the tones wreathed in reverb and delay, the sound looped and layered, minor key and melancholy, but then like the first track, the sound opens up, the mood shifts, as of the clouds parted revealing nothing but blue skies. The record tends toward dense melodic tangles and mesmerizingly repetitive arrangements, with the tone and timbre constantly changing between songs, some lush and warm, rich and lustrous, others more crystalline and high end, more shimmer and glimmer, all culminating in the closer, which might be the weirdest track of all, it starts out a sort of loping Western style Americana, looped melodic figures drifting over swoonsome slide and lush chordal swells, but then in creep what sound like horns, and maybe fiddles? The melodies get more playful, the slide more slippery, the sounds soar and swoop, the horns moaning and bleating, before finally exploding into a full on heavy psych drum heavy noise drenched freakout, the drums driving and motorik, beneath a cloud of roiling psych guitar tangle, that eventually fades out, into a shimmery sprawl of pulsing, echo drenched abstract guitar drift.
And everyone who buys a copy of Impossible Truth, cd OR vinyl, will be entered into a raffle to win a VERY RARE test pressing of the record!!
MPEG Stream: "Country Of Illusion"
MPEG Stream: "The Geography Of Nowhere"
MPEG Stream: "Cadillac Desert"
MPEG Stream: "The World Set Free"

TYRANNOSAURUS REX A Beard of Stars (Universal) cd 16.98

TYRANNOSAURUS REX A Star Of Beards (Get Back) cd 16.98
A Star Of Beards (NOT to be confused with the album A Beard Of Stars) is a new compilation of unreleased tracks, live recordings and demos from mystical psych folk legends Tyrannosaurus Rex. Like most completist collections, the sound quality is not the greatest, but Tyrannosaurus Rex (before Marc Bolan discovered the electric guitar) was always a lo-fi beast, so fidelity may not matter to super fans. Not necessarily essential, but folks curious to hear the origins of freak folk, get in line right here!
MPEG Stream: "Deep Summer"
MPEG Stream: "Wind Quartets"
MPEG Stream: "Misty Coast of Albany"

TYRANNOSAURUS REX A Star Of Beards (Get Back) lp 22.00
A Star Of Beards (NOT to be confused with the album A Beard Of Stars) is a new compilation of unreleased tracks, live recordings and demos from mystical psych folk legends Tyrannosaurus Rex. Like most completist collections, the sound quality is not the greatest, but Tyrannosaurus Rex (before Marc Bolan discovered the electric guitar) was always a lo-fi beast, so fidelity may not matter to super fans. Not necessarily essential, but folks curious to hear the origins of freak folk, get in line right here!
MPEG Stream: "Deep Summer"
MPEG Stream: "Wind Quartets"
MPEG Stream: "Misty Coast of Albany"

TYRANNOSAURUS REX My People Were Fair and Had Sky In Their Hair... But Now They're Content To Wear Stars On Their Brows (Universal) cd 16.98
...But Now They're Content to Wear Stars (the full title). For fans of Devendra Banhart! The 1968 debut from the otherworldly hippie folk-psych duo of Marc Bolan and Steve "Peregrine" Took. Long before Bolan turned Tyrannosaurus Rex into T. Rex and went all glam and teeny-bopper on us, he made this wonderful warbly Middle Earth music.

TYRANNOSAURUS REX My People Were Fair and Had Sky In Their Hair... But Now They're Content To Wear Stars On Their Brows (Vinyl Lovers) lp 17.98

TYRANNOSAURUS REX Prophets, Seers & Sages, The Angels Of The Ages (Universal) cd 16.98
Before Marc Bolan headed for glam rock gold with T. Rex he made (in my opinion) his best records as Tyrannosaurus Rex. With an amazing backwards folk flare, Bolan sang of sages, dragons and wizards. The stripped down recording style and experimental elements have made the Tyrannosaurus Rex recordings still ahead of their time. This is an album that takes you far away from reality while still having a total connection to nature. With the recent onslaught of the "free folk" movement their is no doubt that so many roads lead back to Tyrannosaurus Rex. Especially for Devendra Banhart, who when you hear this record you can't help but say oh my god Devendra sounds sooo much like Marc Bolan in this era - from voice to guitar styling and lyrical imagery. This expanded version includes an extra disc of alternate takes, the 45 version of "one inch rock", etc. Prophets, Seers & Sages... stands with Unicorn as not only my favorite Marc Bolan recordings but as one of my favorite albums of all time!

TYRANNOSAURUS REX Unicorn (Universal) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

TYVEK Blunt Instrumental EP (Night People) lp 15.98
Of all the current crop of weirdo garage poppers and minimal cold wavers, the one band who we WISH would shower us with a million releases is the one band that DOESN'T. So when there's a new Tyvek record, you can bet we're all over it. After the recent reissue of their killer debut 7" Mary Ellen Claims, which we played to death, and the Siltbreeze record that's been on nonstop rotation since we first got it in, comes this new record, a gorgeously packaged, short collection of songs, not all instrumental as the title implies, but like the other Tyvek jams, stripped down and catchy, a little stumbly and raw, urgent and hooky, a little new wave-y, a little punky, and way retro poppy, these songs rule, a couple of them almost sound unfinished, sans vocals, but it hardly matters, they're still killer slices of punky retro pop goodness. Most of the songs sound like they could have been yanked right off the Siltbreeze record, and then there's the sprawling final track, a long sprawling, hypnotic slab of warped and warbly minimal new wave pop, with strange murky bits of percussion, spidery guitars, everything muddy and washed out and druggy, almost wish they would have stuck this on on the other side and let it fill the whole thing up. but they couldn't cuz the flipside is silkscreened, a cool blue image on a clear slab of wax, next to a thick silkscreened sleeve, super nice, and probably super limited as well...

TYVEK Fast Metabolism (Mlady's / Water Wings) lp 14.98
The latest from these Detroit lo-fi noisepop garage rockers finds the band continuing to shed much of their overt weirdness, and settling into a sound that's much more classic eighties punk rock, or pop punk, the sort of sound that makes Tyvek sound more like some lost band we discovered on one of those Hyped2Death comps, which is not a bad thing at all.
Urgent and jangly, punky and frantic, the vox sung/spoken and WAY up in the mix, definitely reminding us of Mark E. Smith of the Fall, in fact some of this actually sounds like old Fall, snarly and snotty, swaggery and sinewy, three chord bash and trash infused with cool subtle melodic leads, loads of hooks, but wed to something much more raw and fuzzy than we would have expected from these guys in the past. Even the production sounds genuinely old school, brittle and tinny, and in-the-red, very four track, old punk 7"s vibe for sure, but thankfully these guys have not lost their knack for weirdo pop, and that stuff definitely still finds its way into their sound.

TYVEK Mary Ellen Claims (X! Records) 7" 5.98
Originally released in 2006, the debut 7" from these lo-fi noise pop garage punk rockers is available again. And anyone into the current crop of noisemakers like Ty Segall, Waaves, Oh Sees, Crocodiles, and all that stuff, should not sleep on Tyvek, their full length we reviewed a while back is a killer, and these two songs destroy as well.
In fact, the A side, "Mary Ellen Claims" might be their best jam ever, all short sharp jagged guitar jangle, yelped vocals, total eighties punk rock vibe, we hear a more lo-fi scrappy Jam actually, cool catchy new wave melodies all over the place, frenetic drumming, and as catchy as all get out. This track will become so lodged in your head guaranteed. The flipside is more of a trifle, but still pretty cool, the vocals spouting absurdist lyrics about different makes and models of cars among other things, delivered in a very Mark E. Smith like drawl, but underpinned by fuzzy bass, and slashes of angular guitar. Rad stuff. And apparently originals of this go for crazy cash on eBay, so now's your chance...

TYVEK Nothing Fits (In The Red) cd 13.98
Brand new blast of lo-fi noisy punk rock garage pop from this Detroit outfit, who seem to have shed much of the twisted weirdness that infused most of their past releases in favor of a blown out in-the-red urgency, short sharp songs, most clocking in at less than 90 seconds, rife with crunchy distorto guitars, pounding drums, distorted vocals, the record opener is about as poppy as it gets, with some sing-along gang vocals, and a killer main hook, that sort or reminds us of Home Blitz, snarky and loose, a little chaotic, but catchy as heck.
Most of the record hews to this formula, a couple riffs, simple and stripped down, the sound raw and primitive, but listen close and these seemingly simple tossed off jams reveal a whole lot of hookery beneath the surface, it took a few listens, but most of these songs are now lodged pretty seriously in our skulls.
The nearly 5 minute "Outer Limits" might be one of our favorite jams here, with a distinctive stop start riff, some rad guitar harmonics, and urgent yelped vox, and a super melodic bridge/chorus, not to mention an awesome 2 minute long droned out creepy sci-fi ambient outro. "Underwater To" is another good one, the punky crunch woven around some jangly guitars and a distinctly seventies power pop feel, with some awesomely hooky guitar melodies over the top.
Not as immediately freaky and fucked up as past Tyvek's but we're beginning to think that's not such a bad thing after all, and with every listen we're digging this more and more!
MPEG Stream: "4312"
MPEG Stream: "Animal"
MPEG Stream: "Nothing Fits"
MPEG Stream: "Blocks"

TYVEK Nothing Fits (In The Red) lp 13.98
Brand new blast of lo-fi noisy punk rock garage pop from this Detroit outfit, who seem to have shed much of the twisted weirdness that infused most of their past releases in favor of a blown out in-the-red urgency, short sharp songs, most clocking in at less than 90 seconds, rife with crunchy distorto guitars, pounding drums, distorted vocals, the record opener is about as poppy as it gets, with some sing-along gang vocals, and a killer main hook, that sort or reminds us of Home Blitz, snarky and loose, a little chaotic, but catchy as heck.
Most of the record hews to this formula, a couple riffs, simple and stripped down, the sound raw and primitive, but listen close and these seemingly simple tossed off jams reveal a whole lot of hookery beneath the surface, it took a few listens, but most of these songs are now lodged pretty seriously in our skulls.
The nearly 5 minute "Outer Limits" might be one of our favorite jams here, with a distinctive stop start riff, some rad guitar harmonics, and urgent yelped vox, and a super melodic bridge/chorus, not to mention an awesome 2 minute long droned out creepy sci-fi ambient outro. "Underwater To" is another good one, the punky crunch woven around some jangly guitars and a distinctly seventies power pop feel, with some awesomely hooky guitar melodies over the top.
Not as immediately freaky and fucked up as past Tyvek's but we're beginning to think that's not such a bad thing after all, and with every listen we're digging this more and more!
MPEG Stream: "4312"
MPEG Stream: "Animal"
MPEG Stream: "Nothing Fits"
MPEG Stream: "Blocks"

TYVEK On Triple Beams (In The Red) cd 13.98
The third full length record from Detroit garage punks Tyvek, finds the group once again, mixing things up, after beginning life as a warped lo-fi fractured garage pop combo, the last few records found these guys getting more and more punk, shedding much of their quirkiness and poppiness in favor of something more angry and urgent, culminating in the recent Nothing Fits, which found the band in full on punk mode, short blasts of crunchy guitar, pounding drums and yowled vocals, but here, on their latest, On Triple Beams, it's almost as if those preceding records never happened at all. Chronologically, this definitely sounds like it should have come right after their Siltbreeze debut, the songs are longer, noiser and poppier, lots of tangled guitars, wild chaotic drumming, all wound into tense sprawls of droned out, crunchy post punk garage pop pound, opener "Scaling" channels the Fall, the vocals sung/spoken over a relentless jagged jangle, and peppered with blurts of distorted buzz, the chorus loose and chaotic, all the while, catchy as hell.
And that Fall comparison definitely proves apt as the record unwinds, most of the track just two or three parts, frantic riffing, wound around stripped down propulsive drum pound, locked tight, while the vocals testifyin' over the top. The sound is much more in line with their In The Red brethren, but at the same time, they're definitely sounding very British post punk, angular and angsty, sharp and swaggery, somehow fusing the warped garage pop of their debut, with the agit punkiness of their last few records into this heady, sweaty, bruised and bloody blast of kick ass garage punk crush.
MPEG Stream: "Scaling"
MPEG Stream: "Early Spring"
MPEG Stream: "Sea Walls"

TYVEK On Triple Beams (In The Red) lp 14.98
The third full length record from Detroit garage punks Tyvek, finds the group once again, mixing things up, after beginning life as a warped lo-fi fractured garage pop combo, the last few records found these guys getting more and more punk, shedding much of their quirkiness and poppiness in favor of something more angry and urgent, culminating in the recent Nothing Fits, which found the band in full on punk mode, short blasts of crunchy guitar, pounding drums and yowled vocals, but here, on their latest, On Triple Beams, it's almost as if those preceding records never happened at all. Chronologically, this definitely sounds like it should have come right after their Siltbreeze debut, the songs are longer, noiser and poppier, lots of tangled guitars, wild chaotic drumming, all wound into tense sprawls of droned out, crunchy post punk garage pop pound, opener "Scaling" channels the Fall, the vocals sung/spoken over a relentless jagged jangle, and peppered with blurts of distorted buzz, the chorus loose and chaotic, all the while, catchy as hell.
And that Fall comparison definitely proves apt as the record unwinds, most of the track just two or three parts, frantic riffing, wound around stripped down propulsive drum pound, locked tight, while the vocals testifyin' over the top. The sound is much more in line with their In The Red brethren, but at the same time, they're definitely sounding very British post punk, angular and angsty, sharp and swaggery, somehow fusing the warped garage pop of their debut, with the agit punkiness of their last few records into this heady, sweaty, bruised and bloody blast of kick ass garage punk crush.
MPEG Stream: "Scaling"
MPEG Stream: "Early Spring"
MPEG Stream: "Sea Walls"

TYVEK s/t (Siltbreeze) cd 13.98
Here's a surprise from the Siltbreeze camp. Not that Siltbreeze hasn't dabbled in pop in the past, but it's been a while since they've released something this catchy. Lo-fi, but not like the current crop of shit gazers, punk rock, but not like PUNK, and pop, but not sugary sweet, Tyvek are twisted, slightly damaged, off kilter, fractured punk pop. Or something like that. The label name drops Mekons, Urinals, Feelies, Velvet Underground, and yeah, those bands are obviously influences, we also hear some Strapping Fieldhands (also once on Siltbreeze) as well as various New Zealand combos. For all it's fucked up weirdness, and willful stumble, these are some incredibly catchy songs, simple spare drumming, guitars that clang and chime and crunch, and vocals that strain to hit the high notes, sounding earnest and emotional, and fuck, hooks galore, some of these songs will stick in your head like CRAZY.
And even though it's not quite the same sort of thing, all of you into Blank Dogs, Psychedelic Horseshit, Times New Viking, The Intelligence, Gary War and all that garage-y shit-fi might just dig this too...
MPEG Stream: "Circular Ruins"
MPEG Stream: "Summer Things"
MPEG Stream: "Hey Una"
MPEG Stream: "Frustration Rock"

TYVEK s/t (Siltbreeze) lp 14.98
Here's a surprise from the Siltbreeze camp. Not that Siltbreeze hasn't dabbled in pop in the past, but it's been a while since they've released something this catchy. Lo-fi, but not like the current crop of shit gazers, punk rock, but not like PUNK, and pop, but not sugary sweet, Tyvek are twisted, slightly damaged, off kilter, fractured punk pop. Or something like that. The label name drops Mekons, Urinals, Feelies, Velvet Underground, and yeah, those bands are obviously influences, we also hear some Strapping Fieldhands (also once on Siltbreeze) as well as various New Zealand combos. For all it's fucked up weirdness, and willful stumble, these are some incredibly catchy songs, simple spare drumming, guitars that clang and chime and crunch, and vocals that strain to hit the high notes, sounding earnest and emotional, and fuck, hooks galore, some of these songs will stick in your head like CRAZY.
And even though it's not quite the same sort of thing, all of you into Blank Dogs, Psychedelic Horseshit, Times New Viking, The Intelligence, Gary War and all that garage-y shit-fi might just dig this too...
MPEG Stream: "Circular Ruins"
MPEG Stream: "Summer Things"
MPEG Stream: "Hey Una"
MPEG Stream: "Frustration Rock"

TYVEK Skyin (Exbx) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
There's just something about these guys. On the surface, they sound like they're just another one of the many lo-fi garage rock / warped pop bands that have been popping up over the last few years, but there's definitely something special about Tyvek, even as far back as 2004, which is when these tracks were recorded, they managed to transcend: simple, stripped down, jangly and rocking, totally catchy and utterly irresistible pop music, or garage, or punk. Whatever. Skyin features a handful of songs that would be re-recorded later, as well as a bunch of songs found only here.
We've raved about Tyvek before, but we're happy to do it again, totally ramshackle, lo-fi garage pop-punk genius, even more ramshackle here, recorded on a 4-track, in the band's house, loads of tape hiss, and drop outs and warble, the band even fuck up, A LOT, but they just keep going, starting again right where they left off, it makes the songs lively and fun, and immediate, and those fuckups then become part of the song, you can't imagine them not doing the intro three times in a row, or stopping right in the middle and talking for a second before deciding to keep going. Plus before very song, and during the slow, less rocking numbers, you can totally hear the music from whatever crappy old tapes they used leaking through, adding a whole 'nother confusional sonic element to their otherwise simple songs.
And ultimately it is about the songs. Simple, stripped down, crunchy and catchy, these songs sound fresh and vibrant, but also classic and timeless, like they could be some lost psychedelic power pop gem from the eighties recently unearthed and reissued, or some weird punk record, undiscovered until now, propulsive rhythms, yelped vocals, buzzy angular guitars, lots of jangle, hooks everywhere, totally rocking and oozing energy, that combined with the strange fucked up recording all adds up to some super rad, way recommended lo-fi noise pop. If you love Thee Oh Sees and Ty Segall and all that stuff, these guys will knock your socks off.
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES. In recycled lp sleeves, with full color paste on cover art.

U-MEN Solid Action (Chuckie-Boy Records) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The U-Men were one of our (our being Allan and Andee) favorite bands from the legendary and long out of print Deep Six compilation that chronicled the early days of grunge and the Seattle scene (w/ Melvins, Green River, Malfunkshun, Skin Yard, Soundgarden). But the U-Men wern't really grunge, they were more like a spazzier more hyperactive and sort of new wave Mudhoney. A weird sort of garagey punk that has more in common with the Oblivians or the Monomen than the SubPop sound, but weirder and crazier. Early '80s Seattle "jazzed-out, surfed-up, dada-swamp" art-punk you might have missed at the time, but now, through the magic of cd technology, able to fuck you up either again or for the first time. This disc collects everything they ever recorded; album, singles and compilation tracks, including their song from "Deep Six". Recommended.

U.S. CHRISTMAS Eat The Low Dogs (Neurot Recordings) cd 14.98
There's probably a perfectly good reason for this band being named "U.S. Christmas". We hope there is anyway. Regardless, that this disc (apparently the third so far, from this North Carolina based outfit) was released on Neurosis' label Neurot is of course a good sign, and indeed, Eat The Low Dogs is proving to be one of our favorite Neurot releases of the last little while, fitting in nicely with the likes of Guapo and Grey Daturas in the recent Neurot roster. Yep, this is good stuff! What sort of good stuff you ask? Heavy, dark, synth-swirling, psychedelic good stuff!
Turns out, U.S. Christmas play moody, echoey space rock. That's right, kinda like '70s Hawkwind. But with both more of an aggro metallic edge (though still slowed down and sleepy), and also more of a countryish one too (slide guitar evoking wide open spaces). You can imagine 'em out in the desert someplace, campfire burning, generator running, giant amps tilted upwards at a 45 degree angle to point at the starry sky, playing this stuff all night long 'til dawn comes or the drugs run out... the last track here is called "Pray To The Sky", actually.
The spaced-out sounds of synthesizers and Theremin abound, the whirring electronic FX here reminding us a bit of the whup whup whup of the jug on those old 13th Floor Elevators albums... a constant presence, but just another texture amidst real songwriting. Loping, heavy head nodding riffage and ragged, punk-angsty vocals are also part of the U.S. Christmas equation. Speaking of equations, how 'bout this one: Neurosis + Hawkwind + some twang + more space rock = U.S. Christmas. Or, if the Red Sparowes teamed up with Tarantula Hawk, or if Deadboy And The Elephantmen were channelling The Heads, or if the Galloping Coroners came from Texas instead of Hungary, those things too might sound something like this band. Quite recommended.
And who knows, maybe the -next- awesome heavy synthy space rock combo to come along will be inexplicably called Canadian Thanksgiving.
MPEG Stream: "In The Light Of All Time"
MPEG Stream: "Gallows Humor"

U.S. CHRISTMAS Run Thick In The Night (Neurot Recordings) cd 14.98
We've been pretty big fans of North Carolina psychedelic space rockers U.S. Christmas for a while now, especially after hearing them take on some Hawkwind covers on the recent Hawkwind Triad covers record on Neurot (along with Harvestman and Minsk), that might have been the deal sealer, in part cuz these guys are so obviously beholden to the space rock gods themselves, their sound a modern reimagining of Hawkwind, albeit filtered through a sort of slow build, loud/quiet/loud metallic post rock thing. In the past we described these guys as "Neurosis + Hawkwind + some twang + more space" or Red Sparowes meets Tarantula Hawk, or even Deadboy And The Elephantmen meets The Heads, which all pretty much still apply. The guitar are thick and the riffs a sort of spaced out version of modern Earth, that subtle twang ever present, even when the band is churning out huge avalanches of crumbling downtuned heaviness, hell, there's even what sounds like slide guitar happening here, super distorted and effected, but still all slippery and twangy.
The vocals are way more up in the mix this time too, a multi tracked melodic howl, that suits the smoldering effects drenched heart of the sun space rock drift, and like their space rock forefathers, they may be crafting songs here, and writing riffs, and lyrics, but when the band truly shine is when they just let loose, unfurl, spreading out and unleashing a blown out psych sprawl of twisted swirling space-y heaviness, which they pretty much do in most every song. The band do mix it up here, some of the tracks are dark and folky, with acoustic guitars and strings, others are all swampy and bluesy, like Sixteen Horsepower or Woven Hand, apocalyptic and ominous, and a few mix the two, like the closer "The Moon In Flesh And Bone" which sounds like a country jam transformed into a sort of twangy space rock ballad, with wild psych guitar leads, and a brooding droned out finish, but for our money, these guys are at their best when they're spitting out thick gouts of druggy space psych excess, which as we mentioned before, is most of the damn time!
MPEG Stream: "In The Night"
MPEG Stream: "Wolf On Anareta"
MPEG Stream: "Fire Is Sleeping"
MPEG Stream: "The Moon In Flesh And Bone"

U.S. GIRLS Gem (Fatcat) cd 13.98
The last U.S. Girls record, U.S. Girls On Kraak, found Meghan Remy, who IS U.S. Girls, pushing her sound ever/even further from the gnarled low fidelity roots that seemingly defined it, claiming that those lo-fi records were that way based entirely out of necessity. And as we mentioned in that review, she said that if she could, she would make a super glossy commercial pop record. And while it may have been her intention, U.S. Girls On Kraak was most definitely not that record - Gem however IS.
We were actually pretty shocked when we put this one. The record opens with some warped music box melodies, wreathed in weird industrial scrapes, the sound panned woozily from speaker to speaker, so we were thinking that maybe all that talk about glossy pop was a put on, that she had reverted to her early experimental floorcore sound, and were just beginning to luxuriate in those woozy soft noise, when the sound suddenly transforms into something MUCH poppier, and MUCH more polished, simple stately drumming, wheezing organ, and Remy's vocals way up front, soaring dramatically, the vibe very sixties girl group, positioning this new version of U.S. Girls alongside some other Girls, namely Dum Dum Girls, and Best Coast, and while it's not nearly THAT poppy, it definitely sounds like that's what Remy is shooting for. More minimal, and a bit more droney and psychedelic, but ultimately a dreamy organ driven sixties style fuzzy pop, and heck, it definitely suits her. The next track adds some skittery programmed drums, which gives it a bit of a cold wave vibe, but still poppy and almost torch songy, her voice sounding a bit like Zola Jesus, there are horns (or what sounds like horns), some serious girl group vocals, it's weird, and surprising, but cool. Track three might be the straight up poppiest of the bunch, and listening to that, it's hard to conceive of the fracture fucked up sounds on past U.S. Girls records.
"He Who" though might be one of our favorites, harkening back to the more experimental USG recordings, brittle machinelike rhythms, haunting pianos, lots of echo and reverb, cinematic and creepy, darkly dramatic and psychedelic, we could easily listen to a whole record of just that. The rest of the record unfurls similarly (to the poppier opening salvo), and then something weird happens, with Remy seeming to try her hand at different sounds, echo drenched garage pop on "I Don't Understand That Man", or most surprising of all, some big guitar Gary Glitter style classic glam rock on "Slim Baby", or the groovy almost calypso sounding "Down In The Boondocks", and it all sounds pretty great. There's one more short experimental track, all stuttering programmed beats and looped and layered vocal samples, murky and muted, but those moments are few and far in between. The new sound is definitely well removed from the U.S. Girls sound of old, but for fans of Dun Dum Girls, Best Coast, and other sort of sixties girl group jangle pop, this will very likely hit the spot! And who knows, might get some pop kids to check out the way more warped early records too!
MPEG Stream: "Another Color"
MPEG Stream: "Work From Home"
MPEG Stream: "He Who"
MPEG Stream: "Slim Baby"

U.S. GIRLS Gem (Fatcat) lp 17.98
Now here on vinyl too!!!
The last U.S. Girls record, U.S. Girls On Kraak, found Meghan Remy, who IS U.S. Girls, pushing her sound ever/even further from the gnarled low fidelity roots that seemingly defined it, claiming that those lo-fi records were that way based entirely out of necessity. And as we mentioned in that review, she said that if she could, she would make a super glossy commercial pop record. And while it may have been her intention, U.S. Girls On Kraak was most definitely not that record - Gem however IS.
We were actually pretty shocked when we put this one. The record opens with some warped music box melodies, wreathed in weird industrial scrapes, the sound panned woozily from speaker to speaker, so we were thinking that maybe all that talk about glossy pop was a put on, that she had reverted to her early experimental floorcore sound, and were just beginning to luxuriate in those woozy soft noise, when the sound suddenly transforms into something MUCH poppier, and MUCH more polished, simple stately drumming, wheezing organ, and Remy's vocals way up front, soaring dramatically, the vibe very sixties girl group, positioning this new version of U.S. Girls alongside some other Girls, namely Dum Dum Girls, and Best Coast, and while it's not nearly THAT poppy, it definitely sounds like that's what Remy is shooting for. More minimal, and a bit more droney and psychedelic, but ultimately a dreamy organ driven sixties style fuzzy pop, and heck, it definitely suits her. The next track adds some skittery programmed drums, which gives it a bit of a cold wave vibe, but still poppy and almost torch songy, her voice sounding a bit like Zola Jesus, there are horns (or what sounds like horns), some serious girl group vocals, it's weird, and surprising, but cool. Track three might be the straight up poppiest of the bunch, and listening to that, it's hard to conceive of the fracture fucked up sounds on past U.S. Girls records.
"He Who" though might be one of our favorites, harkening back to the more experimental USG recordings, brittle machinelike rhythms, haunting pianos, lots of echo and reverb, cinematic and creepy, darkly dramatic and psychedelic, we could easily listen to a whole record of just that. The rest of the record unfurls similarly (to the poppier opening salvo), and then something weird happens, with Remy seeming to try her hand at different sounds, echo drenched garage pop on "I Don't Understand That Man", or most surprising of all, some big guitar Gary Glitter style classic glam rock on "Slim Baby", or the groovy almost calypso sounding "Down In The Boondocks", and it all sounds pretty great. There's one more short experimental track, all stuttering programmed beats and looped and layered vocal samples, murky and muted, but those moments are few and far in between. The new sound is definitely well removed from the U.S. Girls sound of old, but for fans of Dun Dum Girls, Best Coast, and other sort of sixties girl group jangle pop, this will very likely hit the spot! And who knows, might get some pop kids to check out the way more warped early records too!
MPEG Stream: "Another Color"
MPEG Stream: "Work From Home"
MPEG Stream: "He Who"
MPEG Stream: "Slim Baby"

U.S. GIRLS Go Grey (Siltbreeze) lp 14.98
Record number two from Megan Remy, the woman behind ramshackle psychedelic lo-fi noise-pop grey-wave outfit U.S. Girls. Right off the bat, anyone into the current crop of warped warbly floorcore noise makers and fractured gloom popppers will dig this big time. If your record shelves are sagging under the weight of discs from the Dum Dum Girls, Night Control, Washed Out, Neon Indian, Gary War, Blank Dogs, Zola Jesus, Girls At Dawn and the like, then you're most definitely gonna have to make some space for this girl(s).
A dizzying noise drenched chunk of 4-track spaced out home brewed protopunk, drums murky and chaotic and stumbling, super distorted, angular spidery guitars, shimmery and echoey, twangy and almost surfy at times, the vocals not doing that sixties girl group thing that so many NOW bands seem smitten with, instead channeling classic British sounds from the late eighties early nineties, alternatingly yelped and howled, cooed and crooned, but WAY down in the mix, the vocals a shadowy presence wrapped around the sinewy basslines, that sound like corroded fragments of lost Joy Division songs, elsewhere soft swells of warm muted guitars wash over strangely affected alien vox, and distant melancholy melodies. The record veers from hushed, soporific Grouper style dreamdrift, and pounding, ultra distorted experimental pop, to pounding distortion drenched gloom punk, always lo-fi, but not brittle as much as murky and indistinct, almost like listening to some lost eighties jam on a station that's just barely coming in. The poppier moments have a definite Joe Meek vibe, that sort of kitchen sink DIY whatthefuck weirdo production, with many of the tracks, splintering into strange rhythmic workouts or abstract swirls of shimmering effects and random muted noise. But throughout, even at its most far out and experimental, Remy infuses those sounds with a strange sort of familiar warmth, a smoldering blackened beauty, that's hard to disguise, no matter how hard she tries.
Definitely on the more experimental / abstract side of the current crop of noisy lo-fi gloom pop experimentalism, but that's precisely what makes Go Grey sound so good...
MPEG Stream: "Turnaround Time"
MPEG Stream: "Summer Of The Yellow Dress"
MPEG Stream: "Red Ford Radio"
MPEG Stream: "Sleeping On Glass"

U.S. GIRLS Introducing... (Silt Breeze) lp 14.98

U.S. GIRLS Rosemary / Sed Knife (Electric Voice) 7" 6.98

U.S. GIRLS U.S. Girls On Kraak (KRAAK) lp 15.98
The last time we heard from U.S. Girls, it was on a split single from the as-of-then-unknown project Dirty Beaches, a one-man band which pretty much exploded onto the scene with a drug'n'drone approach to rockabilly minimalism later perfected on his universally acclaimed album Badlands. On that single, Dirty Beaches was a perfect match for the equally deconstructed, if far more fucked-up anti-pop from U.S. Girls - the one-woman project of Meghan Remy. There and on her two lps for Siltbreeze, she purposefully imploded crooning electro-pop ditties, smearing the fragments with crusty noise and hallucinatory echo. It turns out that Remy's aggressively lo-fi aesthetic was built out of necessity; and she claimed in an interview once that she'd love to make an overly produced, glossy pop album. Those claims should be taken with a pretty hefty grain of salt, as her album U.S. Girls On Kraak is thoroughly damaged, even as it enjoys a much cleaner production. The cover of the disposable RnB hit "The Boy Is Mine" from Monica & Brandi takes a nasty, stalker-like turn towards the gritty minimal-wave of early Cold Cave even as Remy croons the lyrics with considerable aplomb. Elsewhere, her synths are decidedly sharp and jagged, and her voice is cat-scratched and wild-eyed, set above similarly imploded songs from her earlier albums with a few more flares like a Patsy Cline ballad soaked in equal parts cheap liquor and reverb or a Nina Hagen-esque demonic cabaret number. Yeah, it's pretty fucked-up; and that's the way we like it!

U.S. GIRLS / DIRTY BEACHES split (Silbing Sex) 7"+download 8.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
From the same label that brought us the killer 7"/cd from Spanish electro punk outfit Der Ventilator (reviewed elsewhere on this list), comes this killer split, featuring long time fave US Girls, and new super hyped combo (or one man band, we're not sure), Dirty Beaches.
US Girls, aka Megan Remy offers up another fantastic batch of lo-fi psychedelic greywave, all murky and muddy, haunting and ritualistic, a strange drum driven vocal chant starts things off, her voice witchy and warped, all wreathed in a cloud of whirring low end, before the sound blossoms into a weird electronic groove, all minimal programmed percussion, beneath a soft haze of distortion and tangled psychedelic guitars, before launching into the final and longest track, a sort of creepy underwater goth dub workout, that sounds a bit like a more minimal avant lo-fi Zola Jesus, a looped sonar rhythm, Remy's vocals chant like and mesmerizing, eventually the beat and vox are swallowed up by a cloud of electronic squiggles and warped spaced out FX. Dirty Beaches is similarly murky and echoey, but instead of witchy electronic minimalism, he/they offer up a moody croon over a super minimal bit of rhythmic crunch, and some barely audible melody, the sound a woozy, warped bit of washed out drift, the rhythm more like a distant chugging train, a hushed pulse, there seems to be some super minimal guitar too, an almost Johnny Cash bit of low slung strum, but it too is wreathed in murk and transformed into just another warped undulating throb, the whole thing dark and dreamily dubby.
Super sweet packaging, full color cover in a thick plastic sleeve sealed with a sticker, pressed on green vinyl with a download coupon too.
MPEG Stream: US GIRLS "Mah Marie"
MPEG Stream: DIRTY BEACHES "Drunk Driving"

U.S. MAPLE (Skin Graft) 7" 4.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We think it costs this much because the cover art looks 'good' -- transparent vinyl. Pretty shapes. Bright colors.

U.S. MAPLE Acre Thrills (Drag City) cd 14.98
Hallelujah! US Maple return with "Acre Thrills". And such a wonderful return it is. Their last release "Talker" (produced by Michael Gira) was so sparse and subdued it was barely audible, but this one's turned up a few notches. Me, I love anticipating the stumbling -- but far from clumsy -- explosions of Al Johnson, Mark Shippy, and company. How these gents write, record and perform their music is a magnificent mind-boggler. A seeming haphazard mess of gimpy sonic bumps and bruises with the ghost of Captain Beefheart lurking about. Track 7 (with it's Link Wray-ish chicken scratch guitar line) will surely bring out the retarded epileptic chicken in all of us. With cover art that resembles a sharpie-marker-tagged baby blue bathroom tile, this really brightened Allan's day, who'd like to add that if you've been following the amazing and (for lack of a better word) fucked career of the Maple, "Acre Thrills" will indeed be a thrill, as the band perhaps know that they'd reached the pinnacle of abstraction with their previous disc "Talker" -- so, while not returning to (avant)rocking-out like they did on their debut "Long Hair In Three Stages", they do endeavor to craft something more recognizably close to what ordinary folks would consider "songs" on here. Heck, lead whisperer/barker Al Johnson even comes close to some indie-rock standard *singing* at points! But it's still all very abstract and fucked, unmistakably US Maple, with all their unique quirks and counter-intuitive approaches to rock/pop. In short, a great new record from a very special band!
RealAudio clip: "Acre Thrills track 6"
RealAudio clip: "Acre Thrills track 7"
RealAudio clip: "Acre Thrills track 10"
RealAudio clip: "Acre Thrills track 11"

U.S. MAPLE Acre Thrills (Drag City) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Hallelujah! US Maple return with "Acre Thrills". And such a wonderful return it is. Their last release "Talker" (produced by Michael Gira) was so sparse and subdued it was barely audible, but this one's turned up a few notches. Me, I love anticipating the stumbling -- but far from clumsy -- explosions of Al Johnson, Mark Shippy, and company. How these gents write, record and perform their music is a magnificent mind-boggler. A seeming haphazard mess of gimpy sonic bumps and bruises with the ghost of Captain Beefheart lurking about. Track 7 (with it's Link Wray-ish chicken scratch guitar line) will surely bring out the retarded epileptic chicken in all of us. With cover art that resembles a sharpie-marker-tagged baby blue bathroom tile, this really brightened Allan's day, who'd like to add that if you've been following the amazing and (for lack of a better word) fucked career of the Maple, "Acre Thrills" will indeed be a thrill, as the band perhaps know that they'd reached the pinnacle of abstraction with their previous disc "Talker" -- so, while not returning to (avant)rocking-out like they did on their debut "Long Hair In Three Stages", they do endeavor to craft something more recognizably close to what ordinary folks would consider "songs" on here. Heck, lead whisperer/barker Al Johnson even comes close to some indie-rock standard *singing* at points! But it's still all very abstract and fucked, unmistakably US Maple, with all their unique quirks and counter-intuitive approaches to rock/pop. In short, a great new record from a very special band!

U.S. MAPLE Purple On Time (Drag City) cd 14.98
This review of Purple On Time isn't so on time itself, as US Maple's latest has been out for over a month now...but, it has taken a while to absorb, as is so often the case with good albums, and this is not just good, it's great. Plus, US Maple's style of what I can only call 'counter intuitive' indie-rock is so deliberately strange and unique that it's always tough to capture in words, even by a person who is always looking in vain for the 'US Maple fan' box to tick when confronted with demographic questions on surveys and government forms. But I can tell you that, as always, the crucial elements of their sound are vocalist Al Johnson's odd bark (which has mellowed into more of a hoarse whisper), and the instrumental smear of sound made by the guitarist and rhythm section. It's a crazy, cosy quilt of guitars, drums, bass, and Johnson's curious croon, which maybe reminds us of Iggy Stooge at his breathiest. Mathy tangles of guitar strings and drums, dripping with notes, but restrained as if the whole the band is murmuring into your ear, seldom but sometimes unwinding into 'grooves' wracked with volume and ferocity. Confusing, comforting, complex, and quite lovely. And we're not just talking about this album's cover version of Dylan's "Lay Lady Lay"!
As I said, hard to describe. Hmm, how 'bout Codeine meets Beefheart? Naw, that's both obscure and inaccurate. Anyway, US Maple are underrated originals of rock who yet again prove their genius with this release. Recommended. And the packaging is deluxe as we expect from Maple releases, the cd booklet paper providing particular tactile satisfaction, while the vinyl version's got that 180 gram heft.
MPEG Stream: "Oh Below"
MPEG Stream: "I'm Just A Bag"

U.S. MAPLE Purple On Time (Drag City) lp 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This review of Purple On Time isn't so on time itself, as US Maple's latest has been out for over a month now...but, it has taken a while to absorb, as is so often the case with good albums, and this is not just good, it's great. Plus, US Maple's style of what I can only call 'counter intuitive' indie-rock is so deliberately strange and unique that it's always tough to capture in words, even by a person who is always looking in vain for the 'US Maple fan' box to tick when confronted with demographic questions on surveys and government forms. But I can tell you that, as always, the crucial elements of their sound are vocalist Al Johnson's odd bark (which has mellowed into more of a hoarse whisper), and the instrumental smear of sound made by the guitarist and rhythm section. It's a crazy, cosy quilt of guitars, drums, bass, and Johnson's curious croon, which maybe reminds us of Iggy Stooge at his breathiest. Mathy tangles of guitar strings and drums, dripping with notes, but restrained as if the whole the band is murmuring into your ear, seldom but sometimes unwinding into 'grooves' wracked with volume and ferocity. Confusing, comforting, complex, and quite lovely. And we're not just talking about this album's cover version of Dylan's "Lay Lady Lay"!
As I said, hard to describe. Hmm, how 'bout Codeine meets Beefheart? Naw, that's both obscure and inaccurate. Anyway, US Maple are underrated originals of rock who yet again prove their genius with this release. Recommended. And the packaging is deluxe as we expect from Maple releases, the cd booklet paper providing particular tactile satisfaction, while the vinyl version's got that 180 gram heft.
MPEG Stream: "Oh Below"
MPEG Stream: "I'm Just A Bag"

U.S. MAPLE Sang Phat Editor (Skin Graft) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
One of the most abstract "post-rock" outfits around, these Chicagoans second album is a challenging, nay, puzzling but ultimately hypnotic listen...if you have the ears to hear. Again, produced by Jim O'Rourke, and again featuring a very cool dayglo cover with removable postcard.

U.S. MAPLE Talker (Drag City) cd 13.98
U.S. Maple graduate from the Skin Graft label to Drag City and...high school, apparently the "theme" of this record. The third Maple record and their most abstract yet, as the band attempts to destroy all notions of proper rock n' roll methodology. Maybe not the place to start with this band, but a great place to end up. On tour now with Pavement! Produced by big fan Michael Gira of Swans. Look for their profile in The Wire #185.

U.S. MAPLE The Wanderer (Sonic Bubblegum) cdep 4.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
A two-song single, at least one of them supposedly being a cover of Dion's "The Wanderer". Vocalist (in a very abstract way) Al Johnson and crew produce some typically skewed sounds, mathrock made with melted slide-rules. If you haven't heard them, get their Jim O'Rourke-produced full-length; if you have, and you've let it sink in, you'll want this.

U.S. SAUCER Hell, Yes! (Amarillo) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
More country-tinged tunage from this Thinking Fellers Union Local 282-offshoot.

U.V. POP Just A Game (Sacred Bones) 7" 5.50
The latest in Sacred Bones' on going series of unearthed gems, former installments included records by 13th Chime, Cultural Decay and Carl Simmons, all of which we dug big time. And this seven inch from UK outfit is another good one. Originally released in 1982, and produced by Cabaret Voltaire, the A side is fast becoming a new favorite jam, definitely of its time, but had you told us it was some new band channeling the past, we definitely would have believed it. Very groovy, a little bit funky, that sort of propulsive postpunk/funk bassline, a bit of an industrial vibe too, but the horns, layered droned out horns, laying down these totally mesmerizing muted atonal melodies, stretched out into long blasts of sound, that in their own way are seriously heavy, and then the vox come in, loud and distorted, the whole thing jagged but hypnotic, sort of dancey, but also a bit dark and sinister.
The flipside sounds a bit more beholden to Cabaret Voltaire, a little more electro pop, heavy on the eighties pop vibe, we're definitely hearing some Talk Talk actually, skittery rhythms, haunting synth swirls, lots of eighties style guitar jangle (a little Smiths, a little Big Country), wrapped in analog electronics and strapped to a pulsing minimal beat, definitely another track that predicts much of what would come decades later, the sort of sound the current crop must worship.
Both sides for how different they are, each play like a single part, with repeated subtle variations, which is what makes both tracks here so hypnotic and trancelike. Love it!

U.V. POP No Songs Tomorrow (Sacred Bones) cd 15.98
Long overdue reissue of this legendary post punk classic, originally released in 1981, with No Songs Tomorrow, this UK outfit perfectly captured the climate of the time, a sense of hopelessness and loss of faith in humanity, here represented by a songsuite of dark, brooding new wave pop, just give a listen to the title track, which almost sounds more like Laughing Stock era Talk Talk, skeletal programmed rhythms, swirling synths, plaintive emotional vocals, spidery minor key guitars, a fantastically bleak lament, a punkwave dirge that manages to be both dark and moody, haunting and atmospheric. And so goes the rest of the record, unlike the 7" we reviewed a while back, which found the band in a more punkfunk mode, the songs here tend toward the dour, a sort of post punk slowcore in a way, "Portrait (extended)" takes minor key guitars, adds some jangle, some chiming harmonics, a low slung bassline, the song rife with tension and emotion, the vocals gradually growing more intense and emotional as the music continues to ratchet up the miserablist vibe.
In a weird way, much of No Songs Tomorrow plays like some protest folk record, just with a slightly different sonic palette. Only slightly, as many of the tracks are rooted in acoustic guitars and vocals, the group adding squalls of electric guitar or haunting hollow beats, or swirls of softly effected guitar buzz. The second half of the record does get a bit more propulsive and punky, like on "Sleep Don't Talk", which definitely has a bit of a frantic electro synth pop vibe, with lots of weird buzz and processed vox, or on "Commitment", which transforms the sound into a weird jazz flecked post industrial soundscape, peppered with sax bleats and sampled voices, not to mention throbbing bass and crunchy guitar squalls, or the awesomely tripped out closer "Four Minute Warning", with its soaring synths, and weird crooned female vox and strange bits of industrial clatter.
A dark post punk gem that sounds as good today as it did 30 years ago! The reissue includes three bonus tracks as well.
MPEG Stream: "No Songs Tomorrow"
MPEG Stream: "Portrait (Extended)"
MPEG Stream: "Some Win This"
MPEG Stream: "Four Minute Warning"

U.V. POP No Songs Tomorrow (Sacred Bones) lp 18.98
Long overdue reissue of this legendary post punk classic, originally released in 1981, with No Songs Tomorrow, this UK outfit perfectly captured the climate of the time, a sense of hopelessness and loss of faith in humanity, here represented by a songsuite of dark, brooding new wave pop, just give a listen to the title track, which almost sounds more like Laughing Stock era Talk Talk, skeletal programmed rhythms, swirling synths, plaintive emotional vocals, spidery minor key guitars, a fantastically bleak lament, a punkwave dirge that manages to be both dark and moody, haunting and atmospheric. And so goes the rest of the record, unlike the 7" we reviewed a while back, which found the band in a more punkfunk mode, the songs here tend toward the dour, a sort of post punk slowcore in a way, "Portrait (extended)" takes minor key guitars, adds some jangle, some chiming harmonics, a low slung bassline, the song rife with tension and emotion, the vocals gradually growing more intense and emotional as the music continues to ratchet up the miserablist vibe.
In a weird way, much of No Songs Tomorrow plays like some protest folk record, just with a slightly different sonic palette. Only slightly, as many of the tracks are rooted in acoustic guitars and vocals, the group adding squalls of electric guitar or haunting hollow beats, or swirls of softly effected guitar buzz. The second half of the record does get a bit more propulsive and punky, like on "Sleep Don't Talk", which definitely has a bit of a frantic electro synth pop vibe, with lots of weird buzz and processed vox, or on "Commitment", which transforms the sound into a weird jazz flecked post industrial soundscape, peppered with sax bleats and sampled voices, not to mention throbbing bass and crunchy guitar squalls, or the awesomely tripped out closer "Four Minute Warning", with its soaring synths, and weird crooned female vox and strange bits of industrial clatter.
A dark post punk gem that sounds as good today as it did 30 years ago! The reissue includes three bonus tracks as well.
MPEG Stream: "No Songs Tomorrow"
MPEG Stream: "Portrait (Extended)"
MPEG Stream: "Some Win This"
MPEG Stream: "Four Minute Warning"

U.V. RACE Racism (In The Red) cd 13.98
Not sure why it took so long for us to get turned on to these guys. We definitely remember listening to them in the past, and not being too impressed. It could be a case of just being a bit garage rock-ed out. Too many bands in a scene that seemed to be spawning a new band ever 5 seconds, the last thing we needed was one more. But on Racism, UV Race quickly show us what we've been missing out on. Definitely way weirder and quirkier than most of the garage rock out there, the label describes them as "Australia's most genius avant-tards", which kinds sums it up. Catchy and jangly, fuzzy and crunchy, but also sort of druggy and fucked up, warped and demented (check out the chorus on "I'm A Pig": "OINK OINK OINK OINK"), the songs are super simple, one or two parts, sing along lyrics, guitars that get woozy and angular, lots of fuzz and distortion, the sounds weirdly psychedelic, plenty of handclaps, squiggly freak out leads, and loads of super blown out fuzz guitars, ridiculous lyrics, so ridiculous in fact that the whole booklet is a series of paragraph long descriptions of each song, the lyrics, who wrote it, what inspired it, pretty goddamn funny. There's a definitely Fall vibe too (just check out "Life Park", with its sung/spoken vocals), and a lot of this is of the drug addled, brain damaged, outsider pop variety, but scattered throughout are some seriously ruling jams, the record at its best when those two sides collide, which they do quite often, maybe nowhere moreso than on the ultra tripped out closer, "Memenonome", all primitive drum plod, echo drenched shards of space guitar, dense psychedelic swirls, a long stretches of near silence, all leading up to some surprisingly catchy poppiness which quickly devolves into a melting miasma of bleating horns and tinkling xylophones, all wrapped around the group's lilting, and weirdly catchy psych pop dirge.
MPEG Stream: "Be Your Self"
MPEG Stream: "I'm A Pig"
MPEG Stream: "Life Park"

U.V. RACE Racism (In The Red) lp 14.98
Not sure why it took so long for us to get turned on to these guys. We definitely remember listening to them in the past, and not being too impressed. It could be a case of just being a bit garage rock-ed out. Too many bands in a scene that seemed to be spawning a new band ever 5 seconds, the last thing we needed was one more. But on Racism, UV Race quickly show us what we've been missing out on. Definitely way weirder and quirkier than most of the garage rock out there, the label describes them as "Australia's most genius avant-tards", which kinds sums it up. Catchy and jangly, fuzzy and crunchy, but also sort of druggy and fucked up, warped and demented (check out the chorus on "I'm A Pig": "OINK OINK OINK OINK"), the songs are super simple, one or two parts, sing along lyrics, guitars that get woozy and angular, lots of fuzz and distortion, the sounds weirdly psychedelic, plenty of handclaps, squiggly freak out leads, and loads of super blown out fuzz guitars, ridiculous lyrics, so ridiculous in fact that the whole booklet is a series of paragraph long descriptions of each song, the lyrics, who wrote it, what inspired it, pretty goddamn funny. There's a definitely Fall vibe too (just check out "Life Park", with its sung/spoken vocals), and a lot of this is of the drug addled, brain damaged, outsider pop variety, but scattered throughout are some seriously ruling jams, the record at its best when those two sides collide, which they do quite often, maybe nowhere moreso than on the ultra tripped out closer, "Memenonome", all primitive drum plod, echo drenched shards of space guitar, dense psychedelic swirls, a long stretches of near silence, all leading up to some surprisingly catchy poppiness which quickly devolves into a melting miasma of bleating horns and tinkling xylophones, all wrapped around the group's lilting, and weirdly catchy psych pop dirge.
MPEG Stream: "Be Your Self"
MPEG Stream: "I'm A Pig"
MPEG Stream: "Life Park"

U2 How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb (Universal) cd 24.00
These modern masters of hyper-commercialism strike again with a whammee. U2 bring us a dvd and cd combination filled with a rockumentary, live performances and U2-brand iPod charmers. Features their commercial hit song, Vertigo, like, a million times (on cd and dvd). Man, if I hear a U2 song paired next to anything for sale, I'd buy it. A new car, an i-Pod, life insurance, even Depends.
MPEG Stream: "Vertigo"
MPEG Stream: "Miracle Drug"

U2 No Line On The Horizon (Island) cd 15.98

UCHIDA, YUYA & THE FLOWERS Challenger (Phoenix) cd 17.98
For fans of Janis Joplin and/or Flower Travellin' Band... a reissue of the 1968 album from this Japanese Sixties psychedelic act, who later morphed into Seventies hard rockers and massive AQ faves Flower Travellin Band. This early incarnation of the FTB had a mostly different lineup, including female vocalist Remi Aso who does her best Janis (and Grace Slick), singing in either a delicate waver or a screeching wail, wow. And The Flowers back her up like Big Brother, total pros. There's also a male singer, Chiba Hiroshi, who belts it out on such songs as "Hey Joe". Yup there's lots of then-contemporary covers on here, including stuff by Hendrix, Cream, Jefferson Airplane, and Janis Joplin. So you've gotta be into the classic rock - with a Japanese twist. Apparently Uchida had just returned from a trip to England, hanging out there with John Lennon, and this record was his first attempt to take the Japanese "Group Sounds" scene into a new, more psychedelic acid rock direction to emulate the hipness happenin' in London and San Francisco at the time. The band got attention for that - and for their naked album cover photo, the band loitering about in an idyllic meadow someplace, in the buff, though any band members (ahem) who happen to be facing toward the camera also happen to be reading newspapers or magazines for some reason... Of course, Uchida pulled this stunt again with the first FTB album that came out a few years later, with the naked band on the cover riding choppers down the highway.
Besides the cover, the first thing anyone would notice about this album is the charming intro skit, at the beginning of track one, wherein a guy tells a giggling girl about this great new band from Tokyo, "these six guys and this chick", who "do some really fantastic Big Brother And The Holding Company stuff". And he's not kidding, as the rest of the record proceeds to prove. And let's face it, these are great songs, you might not want to hear the versions played on your local classic rock radio station ever again but the Summer Of Love seems a lot cooler when we're tuning in via Tokyo.
Numbered, limited cd edition in the usual Phoenix manner.
MPEG Stream: "Combination Of The Two"
MPEG Stream: "Greasy Heart"
MPEG Stream: "Stone Free"

UCHIDA, YUYA & THE FLOWERS Challenger (Phoenix) lp 24.00
THIS BOING BOING APPROVED GOLDEN OLDIE NOW ALSO REISSUED ON (180 GRAM) VINYL!!
Here's what we said about the cd version we recently reviewed:
For fans of Janis Joplin and/or Flower Travellin' Band... a reissue of the 1968 album from this Japanese Sixties psychedelic act, who later morphed into Seventies hard rockers and massive AQ faves Flower Travellin Band. This early incarnation of the FTB had a mostly different lineup, including female vocalist Remi Aso who does her best Janis (and Grace Slick), singing in either a delicate waver or a screeching wail, wow. And The Flowers back her up like Big Brother, total pros. There's also a male singer, Chiba Hiroshi, who belts it out on such songs as "Hey Joe". Yup there's lots of then-contemporary covers on here, including stuff by Hendrix, Cream, Jefferson Airplane, and Janis Joplin. So you've gotta be into the classic rock - with a Japanese twist. Apparently Uchida had just returned from a trip to England, hanging out there with John Lennon, and this record was his first attempt to take the Japanese "Group Sounds" scene into a new, more psychedelic acid rock direction to emulate the hipness happenin' in London and San Francisco at the time. The band got attention for that - and for their naked album cover photo, the band loitering about in an idyllic meadow someplace, in the buff, though any band members (ahem) who happen to be facing toward the camera also happen to be reading newspapers or magazines for some reason... Of course, Uchida pulled this stunt again with the first FTB album that came out a few years later, with the naked band on the cover riding choppers down the highway.
Besides the cover, the first thing anyone would notice about this album is the charming intro skit, at the beginning of track one, wherein a guy tells a giggling girl about this great new band from Tokyo, "these six guys and this chick", who "do some really fantastic Big Brother And The Holding Company stuff". And he's not kidding, as the rest of the record proceeds to prove. And let's face it, these are great songs, you might not want to hear the versions played on your local classic rock radio station ever again but the Summer Of Love seems a lot cooler when we're tuning in via Tokyo.
MPEG Stream: "Combination Of The Two"
MPEG Stream: "Greasy Heart"
MPEG Stream: "Stone Free"