COLD WAR KIDS Robbers & Clobbers (Downtown) cd 14.98
Cold War Kids are like the new Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Before you or I have even heard a single note of music, we've already read about them in every magazine, every blog, we know we're supposed to be prepared to love them more than any band we've ever heard. It's weird, good bands do deserve to be hyped, but at some point that sort of hype does as much damage as it does good. We were pretty much prepared to hate these guys. But you know what, fuck it. We don't care what we're supposed to do, or like, or think. We threw this on and tried to forget everything we'd heard and read, and you know what, this is pretty darn good. A groovy slinky bluesy indie rock heavy on the piano, guitar jangle, simple shuffling percussion that sometimes builds into a serious thump, but it's the vocals that pretty much define their sound. A gorgeous high wailing croon, a mix of Jack White, Robert Plant, the guys from Wolfmother and Rufus Wainwright. Going from slithery to super dramatic, whispery to campy, but always super emotional, wrapped languidly around any melody that comes its way. You can definitely see these guys getting huge. They're simultaneously a jangly indie rock band and a very theatrical chamber rock performance troop. They probably kill in tiny clubs, they sound huge and flamboyant and wild, but they'll probably end up in theaters and galleries, performing for the upper crust and art elite. But maybe you'll get lucky and see them before that happens. Might already be too late.
Be sure and stick around for the hidden secret track, a killer lo-fi gospel blues jam that sounds like Wainwright via Dylan! Nice.
MPEG Stream: "We Used To Vacation"
MPEG Stream: "Hang Me Up To Dry"

COLDER Again (Output) 2cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Think Section 25 meets Stereo MCs, or the Happy Mondays with a mild case of Chain Reactive heroin house addiction suffused with a bleak monochrome whine. For fans of Suicide, Kraftwerk, Joy Division and other moody new wave darkness.

COLDPLAY A Rush Of Blood To The Head (Capitol) cd 17.98
While many would cry "over-rated flavor of the month Brit pop band!!", me thinks there's more to this band than the hype. They're certainly not bland, nor are they formulaic radio-fodder. Their last full length Parachutes was replete with a number of passionate, glistening'y poetic songs. Coldplay possess a knack for composing the loveliest of complex heartstring-pulling melodies and performing them in a lushly artistic, deluxo-produced fashion (check it out in headphones - nice!). Aww heck, its sounding good should just be a given these days - what with Capitol Records footing the bill! Most likely they had abundant access to the toppest notch recording technology, but obviously good production doesn't necessarily equal good record. Case in point, that damn Planet of the Apes movie remake. Looked amazing, but ugh, what a stinker! Alright alright, I digress, but lemme just say that's not the case with this album. It's more than a little bit folky and down to earth, laden with highly emotive lilting male vocals and subdued piano, just as their last album was. Very pretty and well-crafted. And also just as their last album did, I think A Rush Of Blood is gonna grow on me.
RealAudio clip: "Clocks"
RealAudio clip: "In My Place"
RealAudio clip: "A Whisper"

COLDPLAY Brothers & Sisters (Fierce Panda) cd ep 9.98
If you've worn thin your Rush Of Blood To The Head album, and are in dire need of more Coldplay, do not panic! Brothers And Sisters is their new domestic ep which contains three songs previously unreleased in the U.S. It originally came out in the UK back in 1999, and as can be expected it's an bit more spartan and less lush than their most recent works. Very nice nonetheless!
MPEG Stream: "Brothers & Sisters"

COLDPLAY Parachutes (Capitol) cd 16.98
Coldplay are a melding together of today's best! Radiohead, The Verve, and maybe some Red Hot Chili Peppers balladry (complete with falsetto) backed by lush piano and guitar melodies, a shuffling drumbeat, and the occasional loud guitar wash. All polished to a sleek sheen. Whether they prove to be more than just another Brit flavor of the day band remains to be seen. They've sure been receiving buckets of UK praise. Buyer beware: some of the AQ-staff think this is absolutely terrible, but others say "Pshaw! Maybe we shouldn't dismiss them so swiftly. There's some truly, finely crafted gorgeous works here."

COLDPLAY Prospekt's March (Capitol) cd 10.98
9The latest release from that very very popular UK band for whom we've had a soft spot is a limited edition mini-album. Not sure just how limited it is though (especially on the major label scheme of things!), so keep in mind snooze = lose! Five new songs as epic and liltingly gorgeous as ever plus a head-scratching special guest appearance by Jay Z (???).

COLDPLAY Viva La Vida (Capitol) cd 16.98
Having built their sound on cribbing Radiohead's abandoned early recordings, Coldplay's new release seemed poised to tackle U2's mantle of grandiose emotive narcissism. From mimiciking Bono's soaring-while-singing stance on a recent iTunes commercial to having Brian Eno produce their record, everything seems to scream, "We're taking it to the next level". But it's really the same old Coldplay. Contemporary wallpaper for mediocre television dramas and advertisments.

COLDPLAY X & Y (Capitol) cd 17.98
Don't hate them cuz they're beautiful... love 'em! Yes, this band is obscenely huge and popular, but for once it's deservingly so. Really, they've yet to disappoint. Coldplay make some of the most elegant, evocative music coming out of mainstream radio these days. It stands in such a contrast to the constant glut of blandness and mediocrity that floods the radio and video dials. The earnest emotional drench of Coldplay's music always verges on the sappy, but somehow never stumbles across the line. On X & Y all the pieces of Coldplay lock in magically -- catchy choruses, richly atmospheric layers of guitars, synths and piano, and of course those unmistakable vocals. Chris Martin has one of the most effortless swoop-up-to-falsetto voices around. Depending on what time of the year you're listening to this album, you might find many songs on X & Y capturing that end of the school year or end of summer romance wistful ache... which pretty much guarantees their inclusion in an upcoming teen movie soundtrack. However, the band continues to buck the obvious or easy routes. Take for instance the album's immediately engaging third song "White Shadows", it seems like it would've been the obvious pick for the first single instead of the less hooky seventh song "Speed Of Sound". Striking a balance between instant treats and more involving ones, this is a work that invites repeat listens, and we're happy to oblige. Grand and gorgeous.
MPEG Stream: "White Shadows"
MPEG Stream: "X & Y"

COLEMAN, ANDREW Everything Was Beautiful, and Nothing Hurt (Thrill Jockey) cd 14.98

COLISEUM House With A Curse (Temporary Residence) cd 14.98
Not sure why, but we never really paid much attention to Louisville sluggers Coliseum, they maybe seemed too punk, or something, whatever it was, we're sort of kicking ourselves now, cuz this new one, their third, is a serious barnburner, although from what we hear their sound has changed quite a bit, still punk for sure, but super melodic, a bit metallic, and catchy as all get out. Maybe somewhere between the pop sludge of Torche, the muscly cock rock of Turbonegro and the post Kyuss hard rock of Queens Of The Stoneage, big chugging churning guitars, crushing powerhouse drums, killer hooks, thick fuzzed out bass, and the vocals, probably the most distinctive element, a harsh raspy howl that manages to be fierce and melodic, rough and raw, super intense and emotional, perfectly paired up with the throb and crush of the music pounding away beneath. The more we listen to this, the more these songs get stuck in our heads, and the more we dig 'em!
Features guest spots from Bonnie Prince Billy and members of Jawbox, Rodan, Squirrel Bait, Shipping News and Rachels, a sort of who's who of Louisville underground rock...
MPEG Stream: "Blind In One Eye"
MPEG Stream: "Everything To Everyone"
MPEG Stream: "Crime And The City"
MPEG Stream: "Cloaked In Red"

COLISEUM House With A Curse (Temporary Residence) lp 21.00
Not sure why, but we never really paid much attention to Louisville sluggers Coliseum, they maybe seemed too punk, or something, whatever it was, we're sort of kicking ourselves now, cuz this new one, their third, is a serious barnburner, although from what we hear their sound has changed quite a bit, still punk for sure, but super melodic, a bit metallic, and catchy as all get out. Maybe somewhere between the pop sludge of Torche, the muscly cock rock of Turbonegro and the post Kyuss hard rock of Queens Of The Stoneage, big chugging churning guitars, crushing powerhouse drums, killer hooks, thick fuzzed out bass, and the vocals, probably the most distinctive element, a harsh raspy howl that manages to be fierce and melodic, rough and raw, super intense and emotional, perfectly paired up with the throb and crush of the music pounding away beneath. The more we listen to this, the more these songs get stuck in our heads, and the more we dig 'em!
Features guest spots from Bonnie Prince Billy and members of Jawbox, Rodan, Squirrel Bait, Shipping News and Rachels, a sort of who's who of Louisville underground rock...
MPEG Stream: "Blind In One Eye"
MPEG Stream: "Everything To Everyone"
MPEG Stream: "Crime And The City"
MPEG Stream: "Cloaked In Red"

COLLEEN Everyone Alive Wants Answers (Leaf) cd 13.98
Here's the debut from this French dreami-tronica artist aka Cecile Schott. Ultra blissed out and lovely compositions crafted from an array of keyboards, music boxes, glockenspiels and guitars. Nice!

COLLEEN Golden Morning Breaks (Leaf) cd 10.98
Golden Morning Breaks is the second album from Parisian electronic-folk abstractionist Colleen (alias Ms. Ceclie Schott). Her first record -- Everyone Alive Wants Answers -- made use of a plethora of keyboards, music boxes, glockenspiels and guitars, astounding many a listener with her playful if occasionally dark constructions of post-Harold Budd / Brian Eno ambience. Golden Morning Breaks picks up where that earlier album left off with gentle music box-y electronica that depending on your state of mind can be thought of as light'n'summery or creepily unsettling a la '70s Italian horror movie soundtracks. Regardless, this is lovely stuff.
MPEG Stream: "Summer Water"
MPEG Stream: "The Happy Sea"

COLLEEN Les Ondes Silencieuses (Leaf) cd 14.98
With each subsequent release, Colleen (aka Cecile Schott) finds a new idiosyncratic path in approaching the sounds of her desires. Having an immense love for the sounds of antique medieval and renaissance instrumentation but without the classical training or the presupposed musical discipline required to master them, she has taken artfully slow and gradual steps backwards into the learning process. She first began to sample her friend's classical record collections to create electronic looping compositions, then armed with effects pedals she began playing borrowed instruments and sampling herself. Last year's experiments with augmented antique music boxes has bolstered her confidence into further distilling the electronic "crutches" from her work and learn not only to play but to compose on some of the antique instruments herself. Les Ondes Silencieuses (The Still Waters) is the wondrous result of her latest efforts with studying the viola da gamba, (an ancestor to the cello but with seven strings made of gut instead of four strings made of steel), and the spinet (a baby harpsichord). Sometimes her pieces are accompanied by classical guitar, clarinet and crystal glass, but most of the time the pieces are spare letting the singular instruments sing out their sweet melodies all alone. Haunting and subdued, these post-classical and post-minimalist compositions are unique in the way that gazes backward and forward in musical time without fitting neatly into a specified place. We need a new genre to place her in. Loner Classical? Antique Folk? Whatever you want to call it, this is highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Sun Against My Eyes"
MPEG Stream: "Echoes and Coral"
MPEG Stream: "Sea Of Tranquility"

COLLEEN ET LES BOITES s/t (Leaf) cd 10.98
Colleen is the only music maker we can think of who can so perfectly crawl into our hearts, curling up and making it feel like home, with such delicacy and the softest sweetest touch. While not the official follow up to her gorgeous sophomore outing, The Golden Morning Breaks, this is a collection of recordings she made when commissioned by the French national radio station to record music for a special broadcast of Atelier De Creation Radiophonique (Radiophonic Workshop Of Creation). In taking on this commission Colleen decided to use the opportunity to further explore her love of and work with music boxes. Using everything from miniature music boxes hidden in 1940's birthday cards to huge Victorian parlor boxes, she hijacks and tweaks these boxes to create even more melodic, haunting, and beautiful creations. Whether playing them with her fingers or using a mallet, resampling, adding delay, reverb or pitch shifting, Colleen is one of those rare souls who can somehow make the sound of music boxes even more precious, delicate and dreamlike. Luckily she was happy enough with the results that she allowed Leaf to release this under the name Colleen Et Les Boites (Colleen and the Music Boxes). And once again we wish we could commission Colleen to make music for all of our dreams. So totally beautiful!
MPEG Stream: "The Sad Panther"
MPEG Stream: "Your Heart Is So Loud"

COLLEGIUM MUSICUM Live (Opus) cd 21.00
Really excellent Czech prog rock from 1973. Collegium Musicum were an instrumental organ-bass-drums trio in the best classically-influenced tradition. In other words, E.L.P.!!! This live album (their best release) is full of extended, virtuoso soloing from all three members. Energetic, kinda heavy, sometimes happy, sometimes dark, great music. Full-on '70s prog with a nice Eastern-European vibe. And we love the cover shot! (Not new, but we got a couple and wanted to list it, along with the equally awesome Fermata disc, for the Iron Curtain prog freaks we know populate our mailing list!)
RealAudio clip: "You Are Impossible Part 1"
RealAudio clip: "You Are Impossible Part 2"
RealAudio clip: "Monument"

COLLETT, JASON Idols Of Exile (Arts & Crafts) cd 14.98
If you've only recently plugged into the Canadian indie music scene, you may know this fellow only as the guitarist of Broken Social Scene, but his music-making past stretches far back beyond his days in that band -- first and foremost as a solo singer/songwriter in Toronto but also supporting and collaborative player with a few fellow Canadians that you may or may not have heard of (Hawksley Workman and Andrew Cash to name a couple). This is his follow-up to 2003's Motor Motel Love Songs which was a collection of early recordings also released on the Arts & Crafts label (home to Broken Social Scene, Stars, Valley Of The Giants and the most recent American Analog Set album). What this all means is that Collett's certainly no rookie. His chops and songwriting quill are sharp, but his manner and mood are comfortingly well-worn and easy-going. Warm and casual and frequently reminiscent of (but not totally a replication of) the sounds of '70s soft (and not so soft) rockers such as Bread, Joe Walsh, and America. The third song "Brownie Hawkeye" even reminded us of the theme to Welcome Back Kotter... which we're not sure is a good or bad thing. Well, we're leaning more towards the latter actually, but it's redeemed by the punchy pop of the sixth song "I'll Bring The Sun" (in our opinion, it's the album's standout and a shining single if there were to be a designated one for this album), Then, Collett turns on a dime and delivers the hushed, achingly pretty "Tinsel And Sawdust". Nice. Sure to please fans of his more well-known Canadian connection or those of the recent '70s soft rock revivalists.
MPEG Stream: "Hangover Days"
MPEG Stream: "I'll Bring The Sun"

COLLINS, SHIRLEY The Sweet Primroses (Topic Records) cd 15.98

COLOR FILTER Sleep In A Synchrotrom (Fuzzy Box) cd 12.98

COLORED MUSHROOM & THE MEDICINE ROCKS s/t (Wagon) lp 17.98
Our in-house mycologist (how many record stores can claim one of those?) identified the cover star of this album as an Amanita muscaria, a very colorful and toxic mushroom found throughout the globe. While deaths are uncommon to this particular mushroom, it's also known for its psychoactive properties whose chemical compounds are not actually processed by the human body. So, after consuming one of these mushrooms, you can drink your pee and trip for days. Well, that's what Nick the resident mycologist tells us.
The cosmic trip from Colored Mushroom & The Medicine Rocks comes by way of Cleveland, starring the seemingly ubiquitous John Elliott (Emeralds, Mist, Imaginary Softwoods, Outer Space, etc.) with three other dudes who got together Christmas time of 2009 jamming out a bunch of tapes. This hyper limited LP is a best-of collection from those tapes, whose linear structures of percolating synths, post-Suicide drum machinations, and shimmered tone resembles much of the zoned out work from early Emeralds crossed with the glistening properties of those Mist LPs. Given that this album was released right before Emeralds embarked on a huge US tour opening for Caribou, most of these lps had been sold out on the road. It remains to be seen if we'll be getting any more copies from this pressing which counted less than 500 copies...

COLOSSAL YES Acapulco Roughs (Ba Da Bing!) cd 13.98
We love when folks usually associated with a certain sound and style step out and show off a different part of their make-up. Best known as the drummer for the mighty Comets On Fire, Utrillo Kushner lets his breezy sunny side shine through with his new project Colossal Yes. Perfect for those lazy days when all you wanna do is lay in the grass and stare into the rays of the sun. With really well crafted songs that incorporate lush piano into a more traditional folk/rock mix, this has made us think of the prime pop of Elephant Six related bands, early Mercury Rev, a dash of Beachwood Sparks' relaxed twang, a hint of Vetiver, the blissed out mellow hooks of Mojave 3 and the warmth of early 70's Beach Boys. There is a level of confidence in the playing that helps make this record flow so seemlessly and rise above so many others outfits going for this same sound and style with less satisfying results. Nice stuff!
MPEG Stream: "Just Like A Mademoiselle"
MPEG Stream: "A Titan's Buffet"

COLOSSAL YES Charlemagne's Big Thaw (Ba Da Bing) cd 13.98
Here's ten more piano-pop gems from Colossal Yes. Both catchy and somehow laid back, this is a record for outdoor barbeques and conversations with old friends. Not overly sappy, the record walks right through sweetness and sentimentality and emerges on the other side without the ickyness of either. The ubiquitous vocal/piano/guitar combination is fleshed out nicely with the occasional flute, organ or horn, especially noticeable in "They Feast on Us / We Feed on Them" and the penultimate jazzy track, "Outskirts of Radiant". Listening to the album on headphones (always recommended) allows the give and take between guitar (panned left) and piano (panned right) to stand out. Although at times the mix feels like the piano and guitar are fighting amongst themselves for sonic hegemony, they usually compliment each other in a way that shows quality musicianship and songwriting.
MPEG Stream: "The Fraudulent Singer"
MPEG Stream: "They Feast Upon Us/We Feed On Them"

COLOSSAL YES Charlemagne's Big Thaw (Ba Da Bing) lp 13.98
Here's ten more piano-pop gems from Colossal Yes. Both catchy and somehow laid back, this is a record for outdoor barbeques and conversations with old friends. Not overly sappy, the record walks right through sweetness and sentimentality and emerges on the other side without the ickyness of either. The ubiquitous vocal/piano/guitar combination is fleshed out nicely with the occasional flute, organ or horn, especially noticeable in "They Feast on Us / We Feed on Them" and the penultimate jazzy track, "Outskirts of Radiant". Listening to the album on headphones (always recommended) allows the give and take between guitar (panned left) and piano (panned right) to stand out. Although at times the mix feels like the piano and guitar are fighting amongst themselves for sonic hegemony, they usually compliment each other in a way that shows quality musicianship and songwriting.
MPEG Stream: "The Fraudulent Singer"
MPEG Stream: "They Feast Upon Us/We Feed On Them"

COLOSSAMITE Economy of Motion (Skin Graft) cd 13.98
After a couple of EPs, Colossamite has released their first full album of mutant hardcore/jazz-rock. This collective features Nick Sakes, the former vocalist for the Dazzling Killmen, and Chad & Ed from the Iceburn Collective. Odd angular guitar riffs and irregular time signatures played through a precisely calculated intensity. Very nice!

COLOSSAMITE Frisbee (Skin Graft) cd + frisbee 6.98
A brief but exhausting 9 minute burst of muscular noiserockskronk from these ex-members of Dazzling Killmen. Includes an unrecognizable Die Kreuzen medley--and, of course, a small frisbee.

COLOURED BALLS Ball Power (Aztec Music) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We recently reviewed a batch of badass Buffalo reissues courtesy of Aztec Music, an Australian label that's been mining the rich ore of that country's rock n' roll history back in the '60s and '70s. Of the other Aztec releases we've checked out so far, the two albums by a band called Coloured Balls stand out as being crucial to connoisseurs of loud guitar rock. This one's their debut from 1973, and it reveals a high energy band revelling in the oldies rock n' roll of years past (witness their cover of "Whole Lotta Shakin'") while revving up the raw, anti-hippie energy that would explode in the UK circa '77... Yeah, while Buffalo were a proto-metal outfit, sort of the Aussie uncles of Monster Magnet, the Coloured Balls, while heavy, we'd have to describe as being more punk, or proto-punk. And there's a definite dose of boogie bar band bluesiness a la George Thorogood, or better yet, UK blues rock greats the Groundhogs, circa their progressive masterpiece Split. But with much more of a hooligan, kick-yer-head in edge, that's for sure. Some other early '70s acts with similar tendencies with which Coloured Balls could be aligned include the Pink Fairies, the MC5, Crushed Butler, and, not long after, AC/DC.
Apparently they had a lot of trouble with their "anti-social" image (sorta skinheadish "sharpie" haircuts, violence at their shows) but this music's got a lot more going for it than that. The recording simply sounds fantastic, powerful. Real rock n' roll guts and gusto, played by guys who knew what the heck they were doin' -- Coloured Balls were the brainchild of an already-veteran guitar hero named Lobby Loyde, who is all over this album (as well as a bunch of other Aztec reissues as well...).
And we gotta hand it to Aztec, they do a great job in the reissue dep't. This digitally remastered cd comes in a beautiful digipack, with a thick booklet full of pictures and liner notes, including a pro-Balls blurb from Pavement's Stephen Malkmus of all people. There's even also an essay explaining the "sharpie" subculture phenomenon of the times. Plus, the cd features a slew of bonus tracks: six songs from singles, plus a sixteen minute, freeform freakout of a live track from '73 entitled "G.O.D." aka "Guitar Over Dose"!
MPEG Stream: "Human Being"
MPEG Stream: "Mama Don't You Get Me Wrong"

COLOURED BALLS Heavy Metal Kid (Aztec Music) cd 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
2nd album, not quite as great as their first. But the title track is a up-up-uptempo proto-glam stormer.

COMADRE A Wolf Ticket (Paper + Plastick) 10" 11.98
We've yet to list anything from these Bay Area emo/screamo killers, which is a shame cuz these guys SLAY. Every thing we've heard from them, has been practically perfect. Heavy, mathy, complex, melodic, epic and brutal and emotional and LOUD. The songs are short and super intricate, with tons of parts, lots of stop/starts, the sound somehow chaotic but still ultra tight, the drums wild, all over the place, the vocals very raw and raspy and Rites Of Spring-ish, in fact in some ways, Comadre sound like a revved up super charged RoS or Fugazi, which is most definitely not a bad thing. And besides the -sound-, they whip up incredibly catchy songs too, hooks galore, totally unforgettable melodies, jamming more into 90 seconds than most band can pull off in 10 minutes, the sort of sound that hints at insane, sweat soaked, stage collapsing live shows, that energy captured surprisingly well on wax!
If you dig stuff like Pianos Become The Teeth, Orchid, Mohinder, The Locust, and classic emo/punk like Fugazi and Rites Of Spring and Embrace and all that stuff, you should definitely check these guys out!
MPEG Stream: "Hamlets"
MPEG Stream: "Tannerisms"
MPEG Stream: "Viva Hate Pt. 1"

COMADRE / GLASSES split (Bloodtown / Vitriol) 2x7" 11.98
Killer split from Bay Area screamo punks Comadre, here teamed up with European punk rockers Glasses. Both bands offer up some of their best material yet.
Comadre (whose equally badass 10" is reviewed elsewhere on this list) dial down the frenetic vibe of their 10" and go for some seriously tuneful pop songsmithery, still heavy and distorted and intense, but this time it's all about the hooks, and the hooks are huge, listening to this, it's hard to see how these guys aren't HUGE, can't imagine these guys can stay underground for much longer.
Glasses kick right back with some super aggro, ultradense, mathy metallic punk rock heaviness, wild tangled riffage, furious frenzied drumming, vitriolic vocals, all wound into 3 blasts of proggy punk metal fury, definitely need to hear more from Glasses...
Super fancy packaging, two 7"s with a 12 page booklet fixed to the inner spine of the gatefold sleeve.
MPEG Stream: COMADRE "The Sweeter the Juice"
MPEG Stream: GLASSES "Tigers"

COMADRE / GLASSES split (Bloodtown / Vitriol) 2x7" 11.98
Killer split from Bay Area screamo punks Comadre, here teamed up with European punk rockers Glasses. Both bands offer up some of their best material yet.
Comadre (whose equally badass 10" is reviewed elsewhere on this list) dial down the frenetic vibe of their 10" and go for some seriously tuneful pop songsmithery, still heavy and distorted and intense, but this time it's all about the hooks, and the hooks are huge, listening to this, it's hard to see how these guys aren't HUGE, can't imagine these guys can stay underground for much longer.
Glasses kick right back with some super aggro, ultradense, mathy metallic punk rock heaviness, wild tangled riffage, furious frenzied drumming, vitriolic vocals, all wound into 3 blasts of proggy punk metal fury, definitely need to hear more from Glasses...
Super fancy packaging, two 7"s with a 12 page booklet fixed to the inner spine of the gatefold sleeve.
MPEG Stream: COMADRE "The Sweeter the Juice"
MPEG Stream: GLASSES "Tigers"

COMAS, THE Spells (Vagrant) cd 14.98
Comparing a band no one has ever heard of to Neutral Milk Hotel, right out of the gate, is usually the kiss of death. NMH are such an untouchable entity at this point, that they barely qualify as indie rock, or whatever you want to call them. They are Neutral Milk Hotel, and nothing else. And in their wake of course have come a million wannabes, very few of them coming anywhere close.
So while The Comas don't necessarily sound like NMH, they do share some common sonic characteristics, especially the weird crunchy harmonic soaked electric guitars, that sound acoustic half the time, and drive the songs ALL of the time. The second we threw this on, first thing we thought was NMH, but only for a second, as the record soon sprawled into all sorts of other sonic avenues. We also hear plenty of Flaming Lips, as well as a ton of the Swirlies. And if you're anything like us, Neutral Milk Hotel + the Flaming Lips + Swirlies = our new favorite pop record! But not super new, this came out last year, but we only just discovered it recently and have been listening to it nonstop.
The aforementioned crunchy guitars, super distorted processed leads, wild blown out drumming, scratchy raspy emo boy vocals, soaring angelic female vocals, cool off kilter arrangements, swooshing effects, and HOOKS galore. And while we may have been listening to this record over and over endlessly, more often than not, it's the opening track "Red Microphones", that gets locked on repeat, sounding like a super charged fuzzy Elephant 6 power pop freakout, easily one of the catchiest jams of the year. Of any year.
WAY recommended for all pop kids, or any one needing to feed their jones for smart rambunctious crunchy fuzzy pop.
MPEG Stream: "Red Microphones"
MPEG Stream: "Hannah T."
MPEG Stream: "Stoneded"

COMBAT ASTRONOMY Dreams No Longer Hesitate (Zond) cd 11.98
A couple years back, we raved about a disc called The Dematerialized Passenger, the first album from this unique band (or perhaps we should say project), remember? In case you don't, here's the deal: Combat Astronomy are a USA/UK collaboration, creating a crushing industrial/jazz/prog hybrid. Imagine Godflesh with a free improv horn section, saxophones squealing amidst the metallic riffage. Or Scorn taking a skronked-out stab at chamber music. Like their earlier release, this new Combat Astronomy opus is again laced with punishing, rigid drummachine beats, along with heavy, uber-low-end fretless bass shaking each song with doomic distortion. Which establishes an absurdly heavy context for sax, clarinet, flute and bassoon to freak out organically, like wild weeds creeping through cracks in giant slabs of concrete, on the floor of an abandoned factory somewhere.
But unlike their all-instrumental debut, this time Combat Astronomy have recruited a female vocalist, Elaine di Falco, who also plays some piano, to add yet another unusual dimension to their mashup of extremes, now reminding us slightly of James Plotkin's now forgotten post-Old project Flux. (Hmm, maybe Kayo Dot and later Ulver could be other comparisons now too.) If the addition of her vocals makes this a bit more overtly melodic, it's still no less extreme overall. And certainly just as intricate, her delicate vocal arrangements in themselves quite complex, multi-tracked, as on the urban R&B influenced (???? no, we're crazy) "Touch The Moon" and the album's whispery coda, "Ordinary Miracles". And the focus of CA is still on the ominous grooves, ambient electronics, and battling horn bleats... tracks like "Alive Inside Eternity" and "Sentinel" are lengthy epics (12:36 and 16:49, respectively) of serious beats and blats and skree, in the challenging, compelling, militant manner to which actually only Combat Astronomy can truly lay claim. The vocals, when present, then take it into another, equally unlikely, atmospheric realm of twisted prog-pop. Pretty darn cool!
MPEG Stream: "I Can't Breathe"
MPEG Stream: "Lightning In Her Eyes"
MPEG Stream: "Alive Inside Eternity"

COMBAT ASTRONOMY Earth Divided By Zero (Zond) cd 11.98
You don't really hear much about Combat Astronomy, except from us at Aquarius Records (do you?). Which is weird, 'cause this band should be a lot better known than they are, among fans of heavy and/or freaky music, considering they're already on their third (and a half, counting a split) cd release, one that has been long awaited, for a certain subset of AQ-customers in the know. For those not in the know, we'll say that basically CA sound like a Justin Broadrick or Kevin Martin industrial metal act (Godflesh or God, something along those lines) mixed up with freeform improv horn-skree, for results both brutal and beautiful. This band, or we should say this collaborative trans-Atlantic project, to be precise, is the unholy spawn of American sub-bass sludge technician Jamie Huggett and British improv reedsman Martin Archer (and friends). Thus they don't play live that often, which might have something to do with their low profile. They're self-described as an "intense hypnagogic industrial/jazz/prog/doommetal hybrid", and we can't think of any other outfit that better fits that mouthful. As we now know to expect, CA's new disc dishes out uber heavy doomic annihilation, bludgeoning with squelching bass and machine-like beats, the entire thing in fact percussive in its distorted rhythmic impact, amidst ominous organ and rising electronic drone. Yet CA also has a prog/classical side, thanks to Archer's woodwinds and also some female vocals, first introduced to this previously all instrumental act on their 2nd album Dreams No Longer Hesitate, returning here only wordessly, to eerie, avant garde effect. With that in mind, and all the heavy bass, Magma fans might find this to be their extreme sludge combo of choice. We'd also of course recommend Combat Astronomy to those who appreciate the likes of Painkiller, 16-17, Scorn, and even UFOmammut...
And Earth Divided By Zero might just be their best disc yet, keeping the expanded palette of sounds found on their last outing, but leaving aside that disc's occasional surprise explorations of vocal (prog) pop song-ishness, instead forging a more organic synthesis of what we REALLY dig about this unit, the grinding low end and squealing sax skronk, the heavy rhythms and atmospheric, ambient-ish interludes. Not that it's without melodic surprises, like how track two tries to lull us with a placid piano intro, shades of Bohren Und Der Club Of Gore... but soon enough the bass and distortion attack is back in force. Punishing, but such sweet punishment.
MPEG Stream: "Astralized"
MPEG Stream: "Parallax Of One Arc Second"
MPEG Stream: "Earth Divided By Zero Part 1"

COMBAT ASTRONOMY Flak Planet (Zond) cd 11.98
With the arrival of Combat Astronomy's fourth album, welcome once again to that unlikely alternate universe inhabited by us at Aquarius Records (and a few others too, like you?), where this intense instrumental outfit is as HUGE as their sonic footprint, their ultra-heavy hybrid of avant garde jazz and post metal industrial doom resounding planetwide in giant concert halls... if 21st century classical chamber deathjazz sludge were the next big thing, they'd be the biggest.
Whereas, heck, in real life, we don't even know if they tour, probably not, since some of the group live in England, with another crucial band member based here in the USA. When they get together (however they do it) it must be a cathartic experience for everyone involved. As they say themselves about this album, it's "LOUD BASS LOUD HORNS LOUD DRUMS MASSIVE RIFFS" all the way. Well, with some quasi-ambient interludes, and bits of melody amidst the mayhem. But for the most part, thick drone, rumbling bass, punishing programmed rhythms, screaming horn blurt. It's kinda like if Godflesh were to record an album for Tzadik, armed with an arsenal of horns and woodwinds. Combat Astronomy use and abuse a variety of saxophones and clarinets, various flutes, bassoon, bass recorder, reindeer horn (?), along with fretless 5 string bass, organ, electronics, zither, tambourine...
On Flak Planet, the formula has been perfected. The disc's opening track "The Stone Tape", is both cinematic and assaultive, it's jazz, but for the squelching sub bass and trudging jackboot rhythms. As the disc spins, there's outbursts of maniacal piano, jarring prog complexities, stretches of exotic atmospheric drone, and more monolithic thud.
Brutal yet beautiful, as we've said before, for fans of 16-17 (natch) as well as, we'd bet, possibly PIVIXKI, Master Musicians of Bukkake, Ehnahre, and assorted RIO ensembles.
MPEG Stream: "The Stone Tape"
MPEG Stream: "Zona"
MPEG Stream: "Inverted Universe (Part 1)"

COMBAT WOUNDED VETERAN This Is Not An Erect, All-Red Neon Body (No Idea) cd 13.98
This isn't metal exactly, but it is HEAVY. And it's not punk, although it is raucous, unruly and unkempt. It's not screamo though there is a LOT of screaming. And it's not noise, but boy is it noisy! And it's for sure not powerviolence, even though it is indeed quite powerful and most definitely violent. This is more like a drum kit, a bunch of guitars, a bass, HUGE amps, and a guy screaming his lungs out, all loaded into a cannon and fired at your ear, mere inches away, blowing you head into a million pieces. Grinding, thrashing, chaotic, relentless, brutal metallic punk rock noise. Wow. 42 songs, 32 minutes, average song length about :40 (the shortest clocking in at :10, the longest still a brief 1:30) and some of the best song titles EVER: "Dead Parents, Yea!", "We Sticks Butter", "My Foot, The Catheter", "Plastic Bullets Are So '84", "Also Comes In Red, Orange And Fuck You", "Shit 3:16", "Q: What Kind Of (A Band) Name Is Scrotum Grinder? A: A Terrible One.", "Cumbersome Ant People" and thirty six more!
MPEG Stream: "Shit X 1000"
MPEG Stream: "Plastic Bullets Are So '84"
MPEG Stream: "The Rise Of A Thousand Prosthetic Limbs"
MPEG Stream: "Also Comes In Red, Orange And Fuck You"
MPEG Stream: "Q: What Kind Of (A Band) Name Is Scrotum Grinder? A: A Terrible One."

COMBATWOUNDEDVETERAN Duck Down For The Torso (No Idea!) cd 9.98
A brand new, short, sharp blast of rhythmic punk rock weirdness from these Florida miscreants. Four songs, fifteen minutes, and more brutality than you can shake a stick at. The first track is a stretched out hardcore/krautrock collision. Like a super heavy Laddio Bollocko or Born Against covering This Heat, all stuttering rhythms and jagged guitars. Then two minute-or-so long tracks that scrape your earhole clean, before the finale, a damaged electronic 'song' that ends the whole thing on a severely tweaked note! Nice. Nice gory colorful comic book artwork too.
RealAudio clip: "Activate The Corpses"
RealAudio clip: "Folded Space: Mapping Unexploded Ordinance"

COMBUSTIBLE EDISON Schizophonic (Sub Pop) cd 14.98
If you 'got' it the first time, you'll like this one. As featured in the soundtrack to Four Rooms.

COMBUSTIBLE EDISON Schizophonic (Sub Pop) lp 11.98
If you 'got' it the first time, you'll like this one. As featured in the soundtrack to Four Rooms.

COMELADE, PASCAL The Slang Of Noise (Les Disques du Soleil et de l'Acier) cd 16.98
Cult French songwriter/soundtrack composer Comelade's new album, on which he's joined by P.J. Harvey for two songs and Faust's Jean-Herve Peron for one (a remake of the Faust classic "The Sad Skinhead")!

COMETBUS Despite Everything: A Cometbus Omnibus (Last Gasp) book 14.95
After reading this tome if you still haven't gotten your fill of Aaron's writings, he also wrote the extensive liner notes for the new Jawbreaker rarities cd. And who could ever get enough of one of the greatest zines ever. Cometbus has been around (sometimes pub'd under different names) for over TWENTY YEARS! Got all the issues? Me neither. For this book Aaron personally selected the best, and filtered what he thinks of as the worst, writing from Cometbus. The most recent issues aren't here, as they are still in print, but the best of the rest of it is. So great!

COMETS ON FIRE Avatar (Sub Pop) cd 13.98
Everybody's favorite Bay Area band of fuzzy freak rock throwbacks are back with their fourth proper album, the eagerly-anticipated follow-up to 2004's Blue Cathedral. In the past, though very much inspired by '60s psych and '70s acid rock, Comets On Fire would always go a bit beyond, get more frenzied and noisy than any of the bands back then really got, at least on records we've heard. And they still do. But as any fan of Comets will tell you, they've gradually progressed percentage-wise from totally over-the-top distortion and Echoplex FX fueled mania to much more song- (and singing-) oriented music, reigning in their more noisy psychedelic excesses, to an extent. And Avatar is the next logical step in that progression, though rest assured there is still PLENTY of the original Comets sound shining through, blasting chaotic supernovas of spaced out electronic squiggles and fuzz guitar.
But at other times, you could actually almost mistake this for an actual, authentic '70s era classic rock record, melodic and mellow, frontman and guitarist Ethan Miller honing his whiskey-soaked Southern-rock vox, a surprising set of husky pipes last aired on the recent album by his side-project Howlin Rain. Plus you've got the influence of band member Mr. Six Organs Of Admittance Ben Chasny, known for some glorious tunefulness in his own band (as well as Rallizes-like mayhem).
Really we're a bit shocked at how darn pretty some of this is. And what's probably our fave track on this album, the nearly nine-minute, mostly-instrumental "Sour Smoke", sounds more like vintage Wishbone Ash (but with keyboards), kinda folky and proggy and definitely untouched by the "unclean" sounds of what we might term "classic Comets". Very cool though!
So, this is, to our ears, a successful mix of Comet's new-found laid back approach, alongside sonics that are still quite reminiscent of in-the-red Japanese psych destroyers like Mainliner. The common ground are the cuts wherein they kick out the jams in the vein of an especially drug-damaged Blue Oyster Cult, who we hear here especially on the song "The Swallow's Eye".
Bottom line: if you liked Blue Cathedral, you'll like Avatar too!
MPEG Stream: "Dogwood Rust"
MPEG Stream: "Sour Smoke"

COMETS ON FIRE Avatar (Sub Pop) lp 12.98
Everybody's favorite Bay Area band of fuzzy freak rock throwbacks are back with their fourth proper album, the eagerly-anticipated follow-up to 2004's Blue Cathedral. In the past, though very much inspired by '60s psych and '70s acid rock, Comets On Fire would always go a bit beyond, get more frenzied and noisy than any of the bands back then really got, at least on records we've heard. And they still do. But as any fan of Comets will tell you, they've gradually progressed percentage-wise from totally over-the-top distortion and Echoplex FX fueled mania to much more song- (and singing-) oriented music, reigning in their more noisy psychedelic excesses, to an extent. And Avatar is the next logical step in that progression, though rest assured there is still PLENTY of the original Comets sound shining through, blasting chaotic supernovas of spaced out electronic squiggles and fuzz guitar.
But at other times, you could actually almost mistake this for an actual, authentic '70s era classic rock record, melodic and mellow, frontman and guitarist Ethan Miller honing his whiskey-soaked Southern-rock vox, a surprising set of husky pipes last aired on the recent album by his side-project Howlin Rain. Plus you've got the influence of band member Mr. Six Organs Of Admittance Ben Chasny, known for some glorious tunefulness in his own band (as well as Rallizes-like mayhem).
Really we're a bit shocked at how darn pretty some of this is. And what's probably our fave track on this album, the nearly nine-minute, mostly-instrumental "Sour Smoke", sounds more like vintage Wishbone Ash (but with keyboards), kinda folky and proggy and definitely untouched by the "unclean" sounds of what we might term "classic Comets". Very cool though!
So, this is, to our ears, a successful mix of Comet's new-found laid back approach, alongside sonics that are still quite reminiscent of in-the-red Japanese psych destroyers like Mainliner. The common ground are the cuts wherein they kick out the jams in the vein of an especially drug-damaged Blue Oyster Cult, who we hear here especially on the song "The Swallow's Eye".
Bottom line: if you liked Blue Cathedral, you'll like Avatar too!
MPEG Stream: "Dogwood Rust"
MPEG Stream: "Sour Smoke"

COMETS ON FIRE Blue Cathedral (Sub Pop) cd 13.98
Y'know, we end up saying SO many different current bands sound "seventies" is some way, that it's beginning to seem more accurate to say that they sound "now". Does that make sense? Take the amazing Comets On Fire, a band who all AQ customers and discerning Bay Area concert goers ought to already be familiar with. Their Sub Pop debut, Blue Cathedral, is really hard to describe without referencing the '70s (ok, or the late '60s too). I mean, what could be more '70s rock than having not just one but TWO songs with the word "whiskey" in the title? (One of which is not "Whiskey River" by Budgie, though we hoped it was.) But, as we said above, this is so '70s it's not '70s anymore. On this elpee, they've got blown-out Blue Cheer biker rock stomp. MC5 high energy ramalama. Freaky free jazz jamming with sax. And fully '70s Wakeman-worthy prog rock keyboards! But nobody in the '70s really mixed all that together and took it as far out as these guys do. Not really. This is some kind of insane Frankenstein monster of all the cool, heavy '70s acid rawk motifs you'd like to hear. Plug in the electricity (lots of electricity) and IT LIVES. Plus, who in the '70s thought that Echoplex should be a lead instrument? Somehow, these geniuses have managed (for the third time) to capture all that and more in the recording studio, I'm sure littering the place with broken equipment and tangles of magnetic tape. Blue Cathedral's got the Comets' usual unbeatable freakouts, and progresses into new, more melodic territory as well. Recommended!
Note to Sub Pop about the cd version of this: the cardstock slipcover the jewel case is packaged in is nice and all, but next time please don't make that the only place to find the song titles!
MPEG Stream: "Whiskey River"
MPEG Stream: "The Antlers Of The Midnight Sun"

COMETS ON FIRE Blue Cathedral (Sub Pop) lp 12.98
Y'know, we end up saying SO many different current bands sound "seventies" is some way, that it's beginning to seem more accurate to say that they sound "now". Does that make sense? Take the amazing Comets On Fire, a band who all AQ customers and discerning Bay Area concert goers ought to already be familiar with. Their Sub Pop debut, Blue Cathedral, is really hard to describe without referencing the '70s (ok, or the late '60s too). I mean, what could be more '70s rock than having not just one but TWO songs with the word "whiskey" in the title? (One of which is not "Whiskey River" by Budgie, though we hoped it was.) But, as we said above, this is so '70s it's not '70s anymore. On this elpee, they they've got blown-out Blue Cheer biker rock stomp. MC5 high energy ramalama. Freaky free jazz jamming with sax. And fully '70s Wakeman-worthy prog rock keyboards! But nobody in the '70s really mixed all that together and took it as far out as these guys do. Not really. This is some kind of insane Frankenstein monster of all the cool, heavy '70s acid rawk motifs you'd like to hear. Plug in the electricity (lots of electricity) and IT LIVES. Plus, who in the '70s thought that Echoplex should be a lead instrument? Somehow, these geniuses have managed (for the third time) to capture all that and more in the recording studio, I'm sure littering the place with broken equipment and tangles of magnetic tape. Blue Cathedral's got the Comets' usual unbeatable freakouts, and progresses into new, more melodic territory as well. Recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Whiskey River"
MPEG Stream: "The Antlers Of The Midnight Sun"

COMETS ON FIRE Bong Voyage (Bad Glue) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Super limited live lp from San Francisco's kings of freaked out psychedelic garage rock. Huge shards of classic psych-rock surrounded on all sides by utter chaos: relentless tempos, feeding back guitars, flailing drums, all teetering on the edge of total collapse. Somehow they manage to keep it all in check, but just barely, and the secret thrill of hearing a kick ass rock band who at any point could chuck their instruments into the crowd and head to the bar, but until they do manage to blow your fucking mind, is just what makes Comets On Fire so damn good.

COMETS ON FIRE Field Recordings (Ba Da Bing!) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Now available on vinyl! Here's what we had to say about the cd version:
The first thing (the only thing?) you need to know about this Bay Area band is that "electric destruction fuzz guitar" is one of their instruments of choice. Wielded by Ethan Miller, and sometimes also by important Comets associate Ben Chasny of AQ fave acid-folk act Six Organs of Admittance, their "electric destruction fuzz guitar", with help from the band's fuzz bassist and sweaty drum maniac, puts Comets On Fire squarely into the psychedelic garage punk realm, shoulder to shoulder with the likes of 60's heavies Blue Cheer, and modern-day Japanese distortion fiends High Rise. Your friends from college will understand better if you compare Comets to Monster Magnet -- they channel the same sort of MC5-ish ass-kickin' and Hawkwind-like space-outin'. And if Ethan (and Ben's) acid wah guitar leads weren't enough, the Comets take things to a whole 'nother plane of noise with the Echoplex electronic tweakery of Noel Harmonson. His overdriven oscillations multiply the freak-out quotient beyond numerical calculation. And live, his spastic jerking and clapping will occupy your attention visually, at least until the guitarist wrangles his axe into a feedback frenzy jammed up against his amp.
But, there's another side to Comets On Fire, besides the distortion and the garagey riffs. Their loud freak-out elements are only part of an ecstatic musical continuum that also allows for the free jazz / ethnic massed bells and chant of track one, "Beneath The Ice Age". Two songs later, Six Organs guy Ben takes center stage, starting "The Unicorn" off with some improvised acoustic folk. Beautiful. Don't worry, though, 'cause soon enough the electric destruction fuzz guitar is back in action.
"Field Recordings From The Sun" totally rocks, is totally awesome, and is the excellent follow-up (that we'd been eagerly anticipating) to their self-titled, self-released vinyl-only debut reviewed here last year. We sell a lot of Acid Mothers Temple, we should sell as many of these guys! And if you're local, go see 'em, we're lucky they're here.

COMETS ON FIRE Field Recordings From The Sun (Ba Da Bing!) cd 13.98
The first thing (the only thing?) you need to know about this Bay Area band is that "electric destruction fuzz guitar" is one of their instruments of choice. Wielded by Ethan Miller, and sometimes also by important Comets associate Ben Chasny of AQ fave acid-folk act Six Organs of Admittance, their "electric destruction fuzz guitar", with help from the band's fuzz bassist and sweaty drum maniac, puts Comets On Fire squarely into the psychedelic garage punk realm, shoulder to shoulder with the likes of 60's heavies Blue Cheer, and modern-day Japanese distortion fiends High Rise. Your friends from college will understand better if you compare Comets to Monster Magnet -- they channel the same sort of MC5-ish ass-kickin' and Hawkwind-like space-outin'. And if Ethan (and Ben's) acid wah guitar leads weren't enough, the Comets take things to a whole 'nother plane of noise with the Echoplex electronic tweakery of Noel Harmonson. His overdriven oscillations multiply the freak-out quotient beyond numerical calculation. And live, his spastic jerking and clapping will occupy your attention visually, at least until the guitarist wrangles his axe into a feedback frenzy jammed up against his amp.
But, there's another side to Comets On Fire, besides the distortion and the garagey riffs. Their loud freak-out elements are only part of an ecstatic musical continuum that also allows for the free jazz / ethnic massed bells and chant of track one, "Beneath The Ice Age". Two songs later, Six Organs guy Ben takes center stage, starting "The Unicorn" off with some improvised acoustic folk. Beautiful. Don't worry, though, 'cause soon enough the electric destruction fuzz guitar is back in action.
"Field Recordings From The Sun" totally rocks, is totally awesome, and is the excellent follow-up (that we'd been eagerly anticipating) to their self-titled, self-released vinyl-only debut reviewed here last year. We sell a lot of Acid Mothers Temple, we should sell as many of these guys! And if you're local, go see 'em, we're lucky they're here.
RealAudio clip: "Beneath The Ice Age"
RealAudio clip: "The Unicorn"
RealAudio clip: "The Black Poodle"

COMETS ON FIRE s/t (Alternative Tentacles) cd 14.98
Hoo-ray. Alternative Tentacles has taken it upon themselves to reissue the out of print debut 2001 LP from local AQ-faves Comets On Fire on a shiny new cd. Plus, tacked on to the end of the disc, you get six songs from a real raw 2000 live show as a bonus! Compared to last year's "Field Recordings From The Sun" this is less varied -- there's no Six Organs freak-folk here -- and more focused on utter fuzz speed destruction. Maybe like Karp meets Monster Magnet on some bad acid and pills. Here's what we wrote about the vinyl version back then: "Psychedelic speed garage punk from Santa Cruz! Comets On Fire fuse the amphetamine energy of High Rise with hyper-distorted vocals and electronic tweakery. The SF/Bay Area has been sprouting lots of intense garage-punk acts lately, most of which (try to) rehash the sound of the MC5 and cop the style of the Stooges (it's hard not to), but what really sets these boys ahead of all the others is the use of noise and effects -- thanks to electronics tweak-maestro Noel Harmonson (of Santa Cruz no-wave rascals The Lowdown) on an Echoplex!" Guitarist Ethan Miller ain't too shabby in the distortion and effects dept. either. Send this back to the sixties and they'd be worshipped as deities, by scuzzy bikers anyway.
We went on to say that this is "the kinda thing collectors will salivate over in ten, twenty years" and doubtless they still will, but the good news is that in the here and now ordinary folks who like their rock loud and fucked up can acquire this on cd with no difficulties!
MPEG Stream: "One Foot"
MPEG Stream: "The Way Down"

COMETS ON FIRE s/t (self-released) lp 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Psychedelic speed garage punk from Santa Cruz! Comets On Fire fuse the amphetamine energy of High Rise with hyper-distorted vocals and electronic tweakery. The SF/Bay Area has been sprouting lots of intense garage-punk acts lately, most of which (try to) rehash the sound of the MC5 and cop the style of the Stooges (it's hard not to), but what really sets these boys ahead of all the others is the use of noise and effects -- thanks to electronics tweak-maestro Noel Harmonson (of Santa Cruz no-wave rascals The Lowdown) on an Echoplex! If you edited out the actual rock songs on here, and just left the noises of their track endings and segues, you could create what would sound like a pretty interesting experimental abstract electronica album. But, with the rock, it's even better. A really fucking excellent debut from outta nowhere! Self released, vinyl only and very, very limited (the kinda thing collectors will salivate over in ten, twenty years)...

COMETS ON FIRE & BURNING STAR CORE s/t (Yik Yak) lp 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
San Francisco psych rockers Comets On Fire hook up with Cincinnati free noise outfit Burning Star Core for this massive slab of freaked out lo-fi psych-sludge. Most definitely NOISY, and quite certainly LO-FI. Two sides of blown out, ultra reverbed, psychedelic noise. There are indeed actual songs, but they are struggling constantly to stay afloat, pummelled by wave after wave of mayhemic skree and crumbly distortion, bottomless pit reverb and fuzz Fuzz FUZZ! Wow. Not sure if this was merely a studio concoction, but the thought of actually experiencing this live has us excitedly donning protective eyewear, thick soled boots, fire retardant colthing, industrial strength earplugs and strapping on our rock and roll hardhats! Likely limited, we only have a few...