Pawing The Milk Maid

Here are two linked acts that are prepping amazing releases through Fat Cat Records this year.


First up is another slacker rock album that owes as much to the 90s psych movement of the Dandy Warhols/Brian Jonestown Massacre era as it does to fellow revivalists like Yuck. Milk Maid are from Manchester (chief songwriter Martin Cohen used to be in the pretty rad Nine Black Alps) and Mostly No (their second after releasing Yucca only last year) is an album chock full of jangly guitar ramble and chunky guitar drive. I love me a guitar album. Yet I still think that due to trying to find that balance between the jangle and the crunch, the trio straddles both without embracing either, so things aren't as strong as they could be. It's not that I struggle with isn't that the trio aren't good - Mostly No is a pretty delectable album - it's that their name is too close to Milk Music, the Washington band that are one of the best things going around right now. So when I forget, or get confused, and hit up Milk Maid instead of Milk Music, I'm invariably disappointed. This isn't the band's fault of course, and Mostly No is an album that makes an impression, then falters, before winning you over in the end ('Do Right' and 'Bad Luck' are pretty killer). Let's hope the next one works harder to rock all the way through.




Much more upbeat are PAWS, a Glasgow based trio that dish out scuzzy garage fuzz with little regard for their own safety. They brought out their debut EP Misled Youth (in cassette form) back in May, and are quickly backing that up with their Jellyfish/Bloodline 7" (which rings of early Japanadroids, especially the A-side) in preparation for their upcoming LP Cokefloat! (which has been recorded and produced by Warm Brains' uber-producer Rory Attwell). I have to say that I'm a big fan - these two quickly constructed releases (everything except for 'Bainz' - my favourite - was written and recorded in under a week) allude to a world of promise.

PAWS - Misled Youth



You can grab all of these releases on the FatCat website here.

I Lost My Acid Glasses In A Pale Garden

Memphis weirdo Acid Glasses impressed earlier this year with Polnara Setera, and Stroll On Records report that the band are following that up with a 7” this September. There is no doubt that the solo artist (AKA Nick Burk) specializes in a warped sense of pop perversion, and on ‘My Pale Garden’ he has effectively eschewed a couple of bands’ musical tropes – the Beatles’ White Album era stomping arpeggios, the Dandy Warhols’ slurred slacker vocals – by chipmunking the chorus and then dropping it down a transparent well for Ariel Pink to play with, the end result being radiant and distant at the same time. As I said, its warped, but it’s damned likable. Where Acid Glasses will shoot for next is anyone’s guess – but he is surely grabbing everyone’s attention.

Acid Glasses – My Pale Garden

Hope This Friday Cover Up Finds You Well...

(Photo by Ryan Muir)

I'm posting this track without due conversation with Paul, so you may get two cover versions for the price of one today - if so, lucky you!

Regardless of this possible breakdown in communication, I wanted to post about Hopewell anyway. The New York band have just released a live album, recorded at this year's Truck Festival as well as ATP New York (having been handpicked by The Flaming Lips). It showcases their penchant for spaced psychedelia, a mainstay of the band since founder Jason Russo toured as a part of Mercury Rev when only 19. They have released a number of albums, the last being Good Good Desperation last year, and have had a steady rise in following since supporting the likes of psych pop slackers The Brian Jonestown Massacre, kings of shoegaze My Bloody Valentine and Swervedriver frontman Adam Franklin. They are about to embark on a Stateside tour with The Dandy Warhols, who may not be at the top of their game but at one stage had the pysch pop slacker corner pretty much covered. This live album (titled, funnily enough, Hopewell Live) is a well realised affair, so much so that some of the tracks are studio quality. It came out on Tuesday via South Cherry Entropy, but is digital only at the moment though - check it out on their Bandcamp site here.

But why a Friday Cover Up? Because they close off proceedings with a pitch perfect rendition of Jane's Addiction's 'Of Course'. And if Perry Farrell had a bit more down home nostalgia to his freaked out wigouts, Hopewell might have been his starring vehicle. Enjoy Sonic Masala-ers - see you on the other side.

Hopewell - Of Course (live - Jane's Addiction cover)
Hopewell - Trumpet For A Lung (live)