Chained To The Ghosts Of Hell

It's been a while since I've delved in either Surfer Blood or Weird Wives territory. Well, Surfer Blood have new stuff on the way, so there's that I suppose. Weird Wives on the other hand - fucks me. I stumbled across this today though. Some WW members, slave to double consonants and their own desolate gnashing of teeth, have relocated from Florida to Brooklyn and given birth to Slavve, a quivering mess of twitches, yelps and continual angular pain. Seesawing between ephemeral dissections of post-punk noise, shoegaze acid baths and scalpel cuts to the earbuds, Slavve haven't wasted time stamping their intent with bloody-minded conviction. This is a great start to an increasingly volatile relationship.

Honesty Clashes On The Beach

Just a quick post bout Clash The Truth, the new album from Dustin Payseur and his Beach Fossils. I remember when his self-titled record came on the scene at the beginnings of a time when lo-fi post-punk pop was king, especially from Brooklyn. Since then we have had Wild Nothing, Hanoi Janes, DIIV, Surfer Blood, Real Estate, Ducktails, Craft Spells - the list goes on and on. So at the beginnings of 2013 Beach Fossils return with their second LP (on Captured Tracks once more), Payseur now with a band in tow, and it would be easy to surmise that the lustre would have worn off, that the rich vein that has been mined so far over the past few years would have dried up. But for the most part, Clash The Truth is an incredibly strong, affecting, addictive listen. The immediacy of having a band frees Payseur to open up the shoulders and really throw himself into these tunes, so songs like the title track and 'Careless' are fast and furious, warm and urgent. There is Balearic fare too - the instrumental 'Modern Holiday', the forlorn 'Sleep Apnea'. At times it feels these track rollick along too fast, where there was still room to grow and breathe. But when a chiming cruiser like 'Shallow' flies in at you, you can't help but be swept away by the juxtaposition of Payseur's laconic vocals and the intense instrumentation. Clash The Truth is a great follow up album, and cements Beach Fossils as much more than a passing fad.

You can - and should - grab Clash The Truth here.

Beach Fossils - Clash The Truth
Beach Fossils - Shallow

Weird Wives Swear And Drone On A Lot

The incredibly abrasive alter ego of Surfer Blood, Weird Wives put out some insidious little demos earlier this year that got under the skin and into your cerebral vortex, shutting everything down whilst flooding the blood stream with endorphins. Not a bad way to get rigor mortis on I suppose. Well they have just released an album, and the title is killer - Motherfuckers Gonna Be Walking 'Round With a Size 9 Diehard up Their Ass, Cause Apparently They Ain't Never Seen a Short AC Man Get Bad Ass on Methadone. Someone's looking to piss off mummy and daddy...

It still follows in the Jesus Lizard mold, but has a slower, more lethargic grind to it. In some ways this works to their detriment, for all you want is a proper explosion of fury and intent, rather than such constrained, fitful fare. But there are some tasty tracks on offer, no less 'Plastic Masks' which is all yours below. The Pitchfork review is pretty hasty in my opinion, but then I haven't lived with the album for that long. Still - I'd hedge my bets it's a better stayer than those guys are letting on... It's out on West Beach Beotches now.

Weird Wives - Plastic Masks

Predicting Another Bloody Success In The Surf

West Beach, Florida's Surfer Blood had a stellar 2010, what with their massive debut LP Astro Coast making them the new Weezer (IE when Weezer was good) and side projects such as the Jesus Lizard-heavy Weird Wives kicked some serious arse. Well they are hitting back out into new territory this month on their new EP Tarot Classics (on Kanine Records) In some ways its more of the same, esp[especially on the catchy opener 'I'm Not Ready'. However 'Miranda' is a catchy Elvis Costello meets - you guessed it - Weezer blast, whilst end-track 'Drinking Problem' is a fantastic sidestep, a bit of Deerhunter/Atlas Sound/Lotus Plaza styled airiness pervading throughout. They are great songwriters, and vocalist John Paul Pitts' voice is as clear and enervating as ever. Ive been bagged out by my interest in this band in the past, but seriously, there is something about Surfer Blood which is like drinking an ice cold beer after spending an hour mowing the lawn in summer's mid-afternoon haze. A truly enjoyable yet refreshing experience.

Surfer Blood have picked up the support slot for the run of Stateside Pixies shows - very nice! If you can, make sure you get tickets for that. For the rest of you, bide your time - rumours afoot that the touring bug continues to bite...

Surfer Blood - Voyager Reprise
Surfer Blood - Miranda

Surfer Blood Play The Miranda Card

Those crazy Florida kids that make up Surfer Blood are ready to assault the senses again, opening up the campaign with this hungry, boppy number that is off their incumbent EP Tarot Classics (out on Kanine late next month). The Pixies reference is an inevitable one, yet the Ramones-style verses add the punch needed and makes it a truly insidious number, crawling into your headspace and curling up into a warm, fuzzy, irretrievable ball. Although the equalizer is maxxed out - seriously guys, nuance with the mix, where has that artform gone?

Surfer Blood - Miranda by daftdreamy

Joyous Girls - For A High Five(r)

Two weeks ago we had Guards; last week it was Cults. Dont think that Madame JoJo is gonna let you down this week either - its gonna be a three-peat of White Heat awesomeness as two great acts come to lend a hand for headliners Fiction.

The best news is that No Joy are playing - Ive wanted to see them for a while, and their Ghost Blonde album of last year was fantastic - but the other support slot is filled by Belfast's Girls Names, who keep coming along in leaps and bounds.

Both acts will have big years this year, no doubt about it - No Joy start a UK tour with Surfer Blood tomorrow (coming back on March 8th at Scala), before attacking SXSW, whilst Girls Names will grace the Lexington stage on Friday.

But for a fiver you may as well make yourself useful and be a part of 2011 history, yeah?

No Joy - Hawaii
Girls Names - Seance On A Wet Afternoon

Watch No Joy - Hawaii

My mate Andy sent me this clip of LA/Montreal ladies No Joy for their song 'Hawaii', which you can find on their stellar Mexican Summer release Ghost Blonde. We always meant to cover that album here - we've been fans of their earlier stuff, and Paul called dibs on this album in fact - but for whatever reason it fell by the wayside. So, watch this great (and slightly NSFW) video, and hunt down that album - it is great, really great. They have a busy touring schedule lined up too - spending the best part of this month touring Stateside and Canada as part of the Best Coast/Wavves entourage, before doing a couple of solo shows in London (including a White Heat @ Madame Jojo's show on March 1st - thats 5 quid! Get your tix now!!!), before becoming the support slot for Surfer Blood as they do the UK. Thats about 4 different shows in London, people. Get on it.

No Joy - Hawaii from Salazar on Vimeo.

Carnivores Know Best

I got an email from Bruce over at FFS (Flingco Sound System - started after he left Kranky Records a few years back) about some bands we might be interested in that he deals with. We get this kind of request quite a lot. As you can tell, we tend to sift through and pick what we like to listen to, then pass it on to you (except for maybe in Bad Panda Record's case - Ive gone a bit overboard this week - it should be called Bad Panda Week - but most of the music has been pretty stellar, and very eclectic...ahem, sooooo...) Whilst FFS have a lot of bands at their disposal, I was offered up a 7" sampler of San Fran via Miami's Dead Meat.

Its really fucking good.

Dead Meat's sound encapsulates the likes of Killdozer, Murder City Devils and a lighter (?) Jesus Lizard, but slowed down to a bluesy drawl and dragged the back of a pick up truck by a one-eyed alcoholic narcolept. There is something lazy and yet dangerously relentless in what coils at the heart of this beast. The name befits the band - it pulverises, rancifies and eviscerates, all in incremental stages...

Its also of no surprise that Surfer Blood have championed them earlier this year, not because they sound anything like Surfer Blood, but because they bear a striking resemblance to the dirge blues evillness that makes up their side project, Weird Wives. I wanted to put all Dead Meat songs on here, but I have to settle down and just a couple. I also tried to pick songs that arent floating about already so that you have a fresh ear to what these guys are going to bleed all over you. Hunt the 7" down, and you'll get a 9 track digital record of everything these boys have put to tape thus far. Deal, sold, gimme gimme gimme!

Oh, and make sure you check out their website - its amazing...

Dead Meat - Burger Bash
Dead Meat - Fuck Amsterdam

Newsflash - Weird Wives Rip Off Bird’s Head For Fun…(Friday Cover Up...)

I know we only brought to your attention Surfer Blood’s excellent side project Weird Wives last week. However they have just released their 3rd ‘EP’ on their blog, and on it is a deliciously scary and off-kilter cut of Prince’s ‘When Doves Cry’. Prince must be in the water – after hearing about Wax Fang’s delirious take on the Purple Rain soundtrack at Pavement’s ATP, anything by the little dude as interpreted by someone else seems ever so exciting! And in this case, how can something this evil be so much fun?

Weird Wives - When Doves Cry

How about a bit of aquatic domestic violence???

Weird Wives highlight the fact that side projects of better known acts are often as great as the day jobs, and need to be encouraged. Especially as these bands prove to be the dark bastard twin that has been locked in the closet for days on end in order to repent, only to develop telekinetic powers and eviscerate all and sundry. Like Weird Wives.

Its rather incredible to think that a band as new to the scene as Surfer Blood should warrant another outlet for their creativity. But thank God they have. It makes some sort of macabre sense that a indie band with a visceral name should want to live up to the moniker... There are too few Jesus Lizard-meets-Melvins influenced acts around for my liking (although Manchester's Kong is a fantastic band who Paul and I have been following for 12 months, and its a travesty that we havent posted up about them before now - this will be rectified in due course!), and Weird Wives sets about setting the record straight. Vicious, loud, and a whole lot of fun. They are releasing a 7" soon - watch this space.

Weird Wives - Fudge

Weird Wives - Snake Boy

Treasures from the mighty deep

Im gonna do a bit of boasting here, just because I can. Ive just come back from a month in Australia (was only meant to be 3 weeks, but I conspired with Mother Nature to allow a volcano to disrupt the world as we know it and give me an extra week off from reality). Even in April it was beautiful weather. I spent the 2nd week with my parents on the Gold Coast in Queensland. Every day we walked along the beach in the early morning sun. We flicked through the flotsam and jetsam thrown up by the surging surf to discover what beauties the ocean had given us. It was a simple and yet cathartic time.

But other than boasting, the experience was inexorably tied to the music that filtered through my iPod over this week. Two bands that were on high rotation also had the moxy to put beach in their monikers. Whilst Ill talk about the much bandied about merits of Beach House at a later date, I thought it would be better to introduce another talented lad in Beach Fossils - and it ties in with my anecdote better.

Beach Fossils is Dustin Payseur, a Brooklyn-ite whose bedroom meanderings are making their way onto the airwaves in no uncertain terms. His self titled debut comes out through Captured Tracks at the end of this month. I absolutely love this record company to death for the gamut of great acts they are unearthing and sharing with the world; the unfortunate byproduct of this is that every act from them gets lumped into the lo-fi/no-fi genre that is currently doing the rounds, and it is unfair to most of them. Beach Fossils is no exception. Payseur's guitarwork underpins the essence of the album - it is intricate underneath the scuzziness, and is moving in a way that most other Captured Tracks artists cannot or refuse to capture. That in itself makes it essential listening.

But above all else, Beach Fossils is just a damned fine songwriter. Dont be surprised to hear more about this guy as 2010 rolls forth to its close. Case in point? The guy has done a bevy of shows in recent times with the likes of Surfer Blood and The Morning Benders, who are both vying for best new band of 2010 in my mind. Nice.

Beach Fossils - Youth

Album review - Surfer Blood's Astro Coast

Surfer Blood have already been shackled to the 'Next Big Thing' ball and chain, but have also been heralded as the forebears of a resurgence in surf rock. Both of these labels are a little unfair. Surf rock in many respects is a niche genre - what these Floridian boys offer is more akin to slacker guitar rock, having more in tune with Rivers Cuomo and Stephen Malkmus than Brian Wilson and Dick Dale. Furthermore, the 'Next Big Thing' these days is a detrimental rather than a monumental banner to attain - these guys have so much more going for them than a cover of NME and a spread in Rolling Stone's Whats Hot in 2010.

But in some ways they bring it on themselves. The broad sunny anthems inclement in their admittedly infant oeuvre, added to their moniker and the name of their debut LP, Astro Coast, would seem to push them forth into the surf rock arena. And they're from Florida - I mean, come on! And they are clean cut, fun loving boys who are blowing all and sundry away. And they have been namechecked by NME's current 'Next Big Thing' The Drums - I mean, seriously!

But as they say, the proof is in the pudding, and a cursory listen to debut LP Astro Coast accentuates Surfer Blood's propensity for big hooks, bigger melodies, and total domination - in a sunny way of course. What grabs from the outset isn't that we have travelled back in time to a place of sun, surf and longboards, but to one of cardigans, black rimmed glasses and Converse High Tops. Opening tune "Floating Vibes" epitomises this notion - swirling guitars hitting with a one-two beat combo that could drive the most elementary of high school cover bands forward, until the bassline chimes in to remind us why Fountains of Wayne used to be cool. Then vocalist John Paul Pitts starts in. His warm harmonics are as much a driving aesthetic of Surfer Blood's appeal as those swirling, shimmering, beautiful guitars. And shit - are those strings I hear in the coda? The boys have ambition.

The album continues in such a rollicking fashion, but also highlight the highlight of many indie bands at their peak. Single "Swim" has been about for a while, but reaches its zenith here, all reverb in an arena vocals, crunching riffs, sparkling Weezer of Blue Album era finger picking, and anthemic choruses. "Take It Easy" is Vampire Weekend like in its Afro beat and soaring vocals, and yet is not smarmy in its tongue in cheeky artiness (yes, I really dont like Vampire Weekend unless someone else is doing it - so sue me!). Harmonix mirrors Arcade Fire, whilst Pitts' voice reaches the rafters as James Mercer does in some of his best Shins work.

But is this mere aping better bands?

No. Why? Because Surfer Blood have written amazing, classic, rock tunes, that's why. Astro Coast is amazingly crafted, and I dont mean in some elegaic, convoluted, overtly ambitious way. It is simplistic in its notion of what makes a good tune tick. Like their compatriots Japandroids, they are young guys who are enjoying playing their instruments - and whilst that two piece deal out scuzzy guitar rock with youthful zeal, their essence is identical - life is great! So yes, the intricacies of many a modern indie classic have been observed and praised, but its time that we harken back to days when guitars were played, drums were flayed, and everyone had a good time. Thank you Surfer Blood - you've served your purpose well.

Surfer Blood - Floating Vibes