Gaz Should Blur The Lines More

Today you are getting hit with some 90s Brit stalwarts standing up and putting their back into it - with differing results...


I love Supergrass. LOVE them. Great live band too. I was lucky enough to see their covers band The Hot Rats also, and it too rocked the casbah. Now lead man Gaz Coombes is heading out on his own with Gaz Coombes Presents… Here Come The Bombs on May 21st on his own label Hot Fruit Recordings. The first single is 'Subdivider', and...it's pretty underwhelming. I mean, it ain't bad, but it ain't great. It does grow on you after a while though. Maybe the mixing leaves a little to be desired? That said, this is not the single, just a taste of what to expect. My verdict? Aim higher, Gaz!

Gaz Coombes - Subdivider


Next is a couple tracks from Blur guitarist Graham Coxon's newie, A+E. Now Coxon is a veteran at the solo game, so we can expect that not only will he have a handle of the game, but he will be stretching those boundaries like he normally does. After a couple of listens to 'The Truth' and 'What'll It Take', the new LP sounds very promising indeed. Embrace the electric boogaloo, Gazza! It has all the classic Coxon hallmarks, and is a lot of murky fun. I likee.






Finally, and most importantly, you can't get more like Blur than Blur itself, can you? So here is the news that Blur have unearthed a new track. Called 'Under The Westway', performed at a War Child charity by Coxon and Damon Albarn, playing the piano and offering what is essentially a Blur ballad. The recording has flubbed notes, poor attempts at whistling and some girls losing their shit, but the main thing to get from it all is that BLUR ARE WRITING AGAIN. And to me, that is fucking amazeballs. Taking the hint yet, Gaz?

Hits From The Box #45 - The Heat Is Finally On

It's been a curly, surly old summer here in Australia. Nowhere near as devastating as last year, true, but rather wet and uninviting nonetheless. That said, there arent many places in the world where you can have one of the wettest seasons of the year, and still walk around in shorts, get a tan and drink a beer without getting hypothermia. So, let's keep the glass at half full. This last weekend has seen a late charge for summer though, and whilst I spent my Sunday cleaning the bathtub and marking assignments based on A Streetcar Named Desire, by the time I sat down with beer in hand I felt I had deserved it almost as much as after a day mowing the lawn. And that, my friends, is what summer is about.

Well, that and music. So here is this week's Hits From The Box!


Keeping it in the family (so to speak), today we kick off with a Brisbane act, Texas Tea. Now, this alt-country mainstay came about some seven years ago and have determinedly going about becoming one Australia's most consistently great country duos. Yet recently Kate Jacobsen (once referred to as "Brisban'es answer to Gillian Welch") and Ben Dougherty have found that beefing out the sound with a backing band is more to their liking, and brand new single 'I Don't Write No Sad Songs' is a result of this. It's the first single from the long-awaited third album (after 2006's Take A Sip and 2008's The Junkship Recordings). The single is on pre-order right now on 7" vinyl flexi disc - nice! The special editiion has hand sewn and hand numbered covers out of 100. There's also a limited release of 25 that include the rad covers + a tea towel. Grab them here.

Texas Tea - I Don't Write No Sad Songs


Dead Jerichos released this EP Please Yourself back in December, but gave it a spin the other day. The influence of early Foals is evident on this Oxford trio, and whilst that's a little contrived, there is enough musical dexterity and experimentation to believe that this may just be the first of many launchpads. Recorded by Rory Attwell (what ISN'T these days?), Please Yourself is a little green, but the promise of a hedonistic live performance is inherent in these tracks.

Dead Jerichos - Please Yourself


You might remember waaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in 2010 that I loved a track called Ghostriding by a band called Mellows (if you have a bad memory, head back - it's a good tune). Well, I believe that Mellows are no more, but two members have split off to become Dreampeter. The melodies and riffs off track 'Mason Jar' come thick, fast and easy, albeit in a woozy, lo-fi slowburner way, a la the more demo-ish Deerhunter numbers... On paper that doesn't make sense. Just listen to the track and you will wholly understand though. This is a band I cannot wait to hear more about.

Dreampeter - Mason Jar


Now for something a little different... Peopling is a Brooklyn-based noise act that scratches the weird itch. This self-titled EP deliberately eschews normal pop structure and convention, yet has an indelible ear for a hook. Therefore you have six songs that straddle the lines between noisy pop jams, white noise collages, and screaming noise meltdowns. Often in a sixty second period. Not overly refined (yet), but there is some stellar work to be found here.

Peopling - Come Home Eccentric


Scout is the second act in this HFTB that isn't overly new, having been on the scene for years and toured with the likes of Sunny Day Real Estate. Headliner Ashen Keilyn is, with a new backing band (including the one and only Jason Molina), preparing to drop Scout's new album All Those Relays, their first album since 2003. But that isn't what's got em here. It is actually last year's EP, Pi. Featuring two album cuts, a GBV cover and a B-side, it is pretty eclectic and interesting. Not usually my sort of thing, but when the glove fits...

Scout - Please Excuse Me


New Jersey-based trio Strangers Pass provide today's full stop. This will probably surprise you, another act that isn't normally the kind of thing that I like, but I guess I've been in a early to mid 1990s grunge slash Pearl Jam-mellow-out-become-mainstream kinda vibe, and this release caters perfectly for that. I may like this tomorrow, I may not. Right now though, it's helping me get the flannelette out in this 35 degree heat...

Strangers Pass - Reach Out

HAPPY MONDAY(S)!

Dustin Wong's Album Of Verbs

Ponytail may be on hiatus, but the musical magpies are anything if not prolific. Guitarist Dustin Wong has been putting out a plethora of wild and wonderful releases, and is now priming a new album - Dreams Say, View, Create, Shadow Leads - coming out on Thrill Jockey tomorrow. Unsurprisingly, it takes listeners on another trip through the intricately colourful wonderland that he creates with only his guitar and a bank of effects pedals. I've only listened to the album once all the way through (this morning whilst driving to work with hot coffee in between my legs), and whilst it cements Wong's overall fingerprints in the Ponytail aesthetic, it also highlights the Baltimore artist's penchant for pushing the envelope into technicolour realms, something that other artists from the region (eg Dan Deacon, Future Islands) have undertaken for the past decade now. I think this will help to cement Wong's capabilities firmly in a positive, rather than a throwaway, light.


Furthermore, Wong has set up something interesting that YOU can be a part of! Fans and friends can tell him about a dream that was significant or surreal, recurring or unusual, by recording a description of the dream to his Soundcloud page (or describing it in a written message sent to his page). He will then create an original piece of music inspired by each of these dreams. specifically incorporating their description, and post a selection of these recordings to his Soundcloud page during the week of the release of Dreams Say, View, Create, Shadow Leads, beginning on Monday, February 20 (TODAY). He says about the project, "I thought it would be a really neat idea to be able to contribute some of my music to people's dreams, not only would it be a good challenge but it would also be a very loose non-verbal way of interpreting a dream. By reflecting the mood of what the dream is it could bring something out of the dream that the dreamer never noticed, like a glaze that brings out the colors of a painting." Head here to check it all out.

Dustin Wong - Pink Diamond
Dustin Wong - Ice Sheets On Feet Prints

Dustin Wong - Pink Diamond from Thrill Jockey Records on Vimeo.

Veronica Falls Beats 4 U

Sonic Masala is a big fan of London trio Veronica Falls. Their self-titled debut last year was mightily impressive, mentioned in our best of lists for 2011. So obviously we are fervently excited to hear that new material is following suit. Now here is a new track, 'My Heart Beats'. Recorded by London wunderkind Rory Attwell (Warm Brains), only last week, and you will notice how the sound palette is ever expanding. There is a flicker of Raveonettes in how the big sound seems at odds to the DIY aesthetics of the band's sound, but it invariably works. They are still dark though, and that's why we love em.

Currently completing a US tour with another up-and-comer, Bleached, Veronica Falls returns to the UK and greater Europe in March for a string of shows.

Friday Cover Up - Nihiti & Nadler = Ghostly Lovers

Another week down. 2012 is starting to light up. Valentine's Day has come and gone. That doesn't mean we cannot love each other on every other day Hallmark refuses to write cards for though, right? So let Nihiti whisk us off into the sunset, rose clenched firmly between our teeth, as his unlikely rendition of songstress Marissa Nadler's 'Ghosts & Lovers' serenades our aching hearts (or loins...)

Drowners Never Go Away

Take a moment to meet Drowner, fittingly from Space City USA - Houston, Texas. Their press ticks off influences that colour each corner of the shimmering guitar rock spectrum - Ringo Deathstarr, My Bloody Valentine, Mogwai, Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, The Cure... And whilst the shoegaze elements are inherent in their self-titled debut LP (out March 13 on Saint Marie Records, a niche label that specialises in this sound and have also added SM faves Bloody Knives to their roster), making such connections is a little too safe. Case in point is second track 'Never Go Away', at just under eight minutes a creeping track that is Siren-esque in its gossamer, eerie calls. The washes of guitar are actually delicate, meticulously balanced, even in the stronger rock numbers such as 'Point Dume' or 'Written'. After bringing Fonda's comeback to our attention last year, Crash Avenue are responsible for pushing this release, and with good reason. This reminds me of when I heard Whirr (the band formerly known as Whirl) for the first time. Seeing as their Distressor EP is one of my favourite releases of its kind in the past few years, that is saying something. Get on board.



Drowner - Never Go Away
Drowner - Point Dume

Dreaming Of Yvette And The Fatherland

Nick Sylvester is a man that can't be tied down. Writing books, reviews, running labels (God Mode Records), gigging, living the dream. He is Mr Dream. Well, at least a part of the three piece who are throwing their scattershot grunge shtick into the fan and showering us in their glorious shit. Their Trash Hit LP of last year (which was pretty damn awesome and snuck into our highly commended albums of last year), and the follow up, the EP Fatherland, is even better. Riding high, they will be supporting Cloud Nothings before finishing with a stint on the SXSW circuit/gravy train/media scrumfuck.

Fatherland comes out on God Mode Feb 28. (NB - we have two tracks from the EP below, but they aren't the best. That's how good it is. Title track is fucking killer).

Mr Dream - What A Mess
Mr Dream - The Room

But as if that would be enough for this fucker. No, Sylvester is putting out a healthy slab of noise on a 7" for Yvette, the noise rock duo Noah Kardos-Fein and Rick Daniel. The Erosion 7" reminds me a little of HEALTH - all solid gold.

Yvette - Cold Sweat

Dripping Colours Provide The Haze

All the way back in January 2010, just before Sonic Masala threw down its first entry into the blue yonder, I went to a show in London at The Lexington. The headliner - Real Estate. As many people may know by now, I found that set so fucking boring that I refused to watch it all, walked downstairs to drink whisky on my own. Support #1 - Yuck. Before the self-titled album and shedloads of acclaim. Again, I thought they were boring. Support #2 - Colours. Now THESE guys push my buttons in the right way. They nailed the 90s slacker/80s Pixies amalgam that night, something that Yuck would warm to in later months and Real Estate - well, they are Real Estate, they do what they do, perfect for a mid afternoon snooze.

Since then they have put a track out through Art Is Hard Records, but I kinda lost touch with what they were up to. Then a little while ago they founded Marshall Teller Records and put out a four way split that included Gross Magic and Echo Lake that was pretty sweet (sorry that i didn't post about that guys!! It was worthy though). They have also had a hand in bring to our ears the fairly great Total Slacker (who we do really like, and their 'Psychic Mesa' track made out hot singles of last year), Warm Brains, Weird Dreams and Dignan Porch.

Recorded by Warm Brains' Rory Attwell, Colours have a new 7" out. Its fucking sweet! Even sweeter is the launch at the Shacklewell Arms on March 2nd alongside SM faves Sex Beet as well as Dignan Porch and Yrrs.

Pre-order the Drip Haze 7" here.

Colours - Drip Haze

Inner Islands Offers A Name To Return To With Acceptance

Braden over at spiritual exploration label Inner Islands has two new releases for you, and they are both game-changers for the artists involved.

Firstly we have To Return To, the debut album for Ashan (AKA Sean Conrad AKA gkfoes vjgoaf - foregoing that mouthful is a good idea...). To Return To is a peaceful blend of organics and subtle electronics, things that followers of Conrad would be aware and open to, yet it's the male/female choral vocal chants that lead us through the keyhole into a different world altogether.

Ashan - How Sweetly I Am Loved

Secondly we have Acceptance, the latest (and final) recording from Braden's own project WYLD WYZRDZ. The songs are a reflection on acceptance, built on a collection of soft drones, melodic hooks, vocal chants and moving percussion. It's easily the best thing that WW has put together, and furthermore highlights the hole left after such an artist bids us adieu.

WYLD WYZRDZ - The Road Of Acceptance

Go on, support this rad label by heading here and getting amongst these astral jams. Well worth all effort and time exerted.

This Tough, Troubled Romance Is Sadly Over...

Last year I mentioned the excellent cassette Illnesses by London based subversives Tough Troubles. Based around detailing a
condition, an illness, the onset of a disease, a hereditary syndrome,
a chromosome mutation, it was a deliberately obtuse listen, yet when given the time and effort was an incredible hanger-on, almost like a tapeworm sapping your energy whilst making you hungry for more. Now it's time to say hello to their new release, Romances - and also goodbye, as the trio (which includes two Aussies) call it a day.

As before, the dark synth/cheap drum machine/distorted vocals/post punk dirge remains intact, but the band maintain that this is an album dedicated to love - ever tangential relation to the rather large subject matter, anyway. As before, it is also incredibly good, and baffles as to why this must end. We need more new wave raconteurs that know how to subvert rather than pander to past glories by bands much better than themselves.

Negative Guest List were to be responsible for putting Romances out, until the untimely death of its editor Brendon Annesley in early Feb at the tender age of 22. Such a strong and original advocate of music in general, and outsider, truly driven acts in particular, it's a incredible loss. I may have never been a fan of his band Meat Thump, I really enjoyed his zine and the realness of his passion, something that is omitted far too often today. Therefore Tough Troubles have instead put it out digitally here. At least try it for this sad postscript. Its a great album worthy of everyone's time.

Tough Troubles - Alone At The Edge Of The Universe
Tough Troubles - Give Me Back My Things
Tough Troubles - Annie Died

British Skulls Balance The Sweet With The Sour

I have always been on the fence with Southampton, England trio Band Of Skulls. I've felt like they walk the road most travelled, or at least the one that is paved and easy to walk on, for their brand of guitar-bass-drums is so familiar that it could be any number of acts running through their stadium-dream repertoire. So I'm pretty surprised by Sweet Sour, their latest full length.

Or more rightly, confused.

For on face value the M.O. hasn't changed one iota - Russell Marsden, Emma Richardson and Matt Hayward are still spieling out the rock jam mantra like before. Yet there is something about their unabashed love of 1970's British garage rock, their adherence to more contemporary revivalists (see The White Stripes via The Kills on 'Bruises') and their flat out refusal to rock the boat that in this instance really appeals. They are incredibly tight, and their ability to switch between spacious jams, dulcet balladry and teeth-rattling venom is perfect to a tee. Hayward's drumming is the centrifugal point for this interchange, swapping precision to aggression at the drop of a pin, whilst the interweaving of Marsden and Richardson's boy/girl vocal harmonies are spot on, with Marsden in particular taking control with both his voice and axe-shredding.

As stated earlier, there is certainly nothing inherently new here, and as seen with many other acts down the line, precise mimicry doesn't impress. But Band Of Skulls are much more than a glorified cover band. They are silky, seductive rock machine, and Sweet Sour is the perfect follow up to show that they aren't here with the also-rans - there is much more in the tank.


Sweet Sour is out through Vagrant - grab it here.

Band Of Skulls - Sweet Sour
Band Of Skulls - You're Not Pretty But You Got It Goin' On

Prison Produces Total, Abusive Sweat

OK. So, there is this band, right? They're called Total Abuse. They are this feral bunch of Texans that decided to murder music. Prison Sweat is the result. Maybe if the "people" from Trash Humpers were in a band, Total Abuse would be that band. That said, they are pretty fucking awesome, as 'Early Morning' attests. This is dark, insidious, yet somewhat melodic inside its scabrous soul. Stuff this lurid and dank can be a real downer, yet there are elements of Prison Sweat that invoke a sense of euphoria. Maybe I'm fucked up too.


Prison Sweat is out on Post Present Medium - get it here.

Total Abuse - Early Morning
Total Abuse - Rotting Foil

Hits From The Box #44 - The River Runs Brown

So it;'s Valentine's Day, the day of manufactured love. Personally I don't give a shit. Or to be honest, I'm giving heaps of shit. Four weeks into the new job and Ive caught some weird bug that has me leaving the room in pain and ridicule. I should go home, but Hits From The Box beckons...


Brighton based dream/drone pop band Milk & Biscuits are somewhat of an English indie supergroup of last decade, what with members of Brakes, Electric Soft Parade and Jennifer Left sitting pretty amongst the ranks, yet their Balcony Times LP (out through Big Salad Records) is a distant relation sonically. The album lulls you into an amniotic coma, your ears dipped in honey, and whilst for me it hasn't stayed with me as long as I initially hoped, tracks like 'Trinidad' below show some really potential.

Milk & Biscuits - Trinidad


Spectral Park has been generating some sizable buzz on just a few demos and now this Factory Peeled EP. The one man project of Luke Donovan, Spectral Park is all swirling miasmas of gossamer sound, dipping toes in dream pop, ethereal post punk and white noise yet it remains grounded in the Afterlife. Whilst behind the scenes it's been tumultuous of late (having a baby and issues within the hospital - all thankfully healthy though) and promise of more releases in the latter half of the year, Donovan has a lot on his plate. Trust me, I'm eating it up...

Spectral Park - L'appel Du Vide


It totally blows when you discover something only for it to be at an end. Great German label Sounds Of Cobra put out In Psychic Defense, the new album by Clay Ruby AKA Burial Hex - and it's fucking solid. The sad thing is that this 12" - which offers choice cuts of noise, post-punk, a wise use of the rhythm, experimental wave and dark melodies - is likely to be Ruby's last under such a guise. He's had a good run (after hearing this release I've gone back to another dark album, Initiations, and a surprising split done with Zola Jesus). Apparently In Psychic Defense is "elaborated as a protection spell in psychic self-defense and the lyrics are from an old hymn to the Archangel Michael, always been seen as a leader and protector of the faithful." you don't need to play this thing backwards however.

Burial Hex - In Psychic Defense


I know very little about the guy who sent me his stuff under the name Unyield - although I think it's pretty cool. Hailing from Leeds, Unyield launches a minimalist-ambient-shoegaze meander somewhere between Grouper and My Bloody Valentine. His EP is called The Coldest Light. Please can someone inform us - because there is much promise here.

Unyield - Sinking


The folks over at Good Soil Records have released Motorcar, the debut longplayer by New God. There are many references to other, better bands here (The Beach Boys, The Dodos), but New God imbue it all with an elegance that belies first-timers. That said, Motorcar was five years in the making, which says a lot about the focus of this band.

New God - Motorcar


Finally we end the first "proper" HFTB of the year with 3 1/2, an LA band that are part of a musical collective known as Co Wave (which apparently includes another fave around here, Britches). Their First Recordings "EP" is an affecting listen, with lead Leila offering a wonderful lead vocals. Branches is a brooding number that supersedes the faux surf rock leanings that may have been alluded to (and the cats on the cover - oh, the cats!). It gets better from there too, with 'Hipside' having a Kills growl and swagger that is totally invigorating, whilst 'Cry Of The Russians' is a warped gypsy folk dance that grows with every repeated listen. I hope that people help out and go to shows, but merch etc, as these three are doing their best to shake up the world.

3 1/2 - Branches
3 1/2 - Cry Of The Russians

Happy Tuesday!

Serving Up Junior Bruce On A Platter

I profess to know next to nothing about Flordian metal actJunior Bruce, yet when sent the below track 'Defeatist' by A389 Recordings, I was pretty impressed. Imminently due on A389, The Headless King is the band’s debut 12″, packed with sludgy stonerrific vibes. The record is offered on green or red/black vinyl, and is well worth getting excited about I reckon - pre-order it here.

Craig Finn Has Full Eyes, A Clear Heart...And Half A Dozen Stubbies

Craig Finn, frontman of The Hold Steady, has released his first solo album, Clear Heart Full Eyes. It certainly doesn't veer too far away from his tried and tested formula, but that is never a bad thing. The first taste off it, 'Apollo Bay', is a yarn about a trip in Australia that spirals halfway into a burning psych jam. With choral lines that include driving to the aforementioned bay, and the excitement that we are partaking in a geographical kinship with a worthy wordsmith, the affinity to Mr Finn is immediate (although surely you could partake in beers much better than Victoria Bitter?). The rest of the album follows suit, so whilst musically we end up straddling the rock of Lifter Puller and the stadium rollick of The Hold Steady, Finn remains as true as ever to his autobiographical sword, carving colourful vignettes with his usual esoteric verve. I've been a moderate fan of The Hold Steady for some time - one of my favourite tracks is 'Chips Ahoy' - and after seeing them destroy The Zoo back in March last year, even more so. This album shows another shade of Finn, whilst highlighting the fact that he is one of the best lyricists in business today, his literary rants as verbose and empathetic as ever. Well worth a listen, Full Eyes Clear Heart is out now through Vagrant Records.



Craig Finn - Apollo Bay
Craig Finn - No Future

Jesse Analyses Ruined Dreams

Captured Tracks finished the year strongly with releases from Blouse, Widowspeak and Dive making indelible impressions, yet 2012 doesn't appear to show any slowing down of quality. Last week we had the first offering from Wild Nothing, and next week another one will be let out into the wild. Dream Analysis is the new EP from Jesse Ruins, a Tokyo-based collective that are marrying the droning doom-pop that stablemate Silk Flowers specialises in, yet veers into a more meditative realm that seeps into the emotional side of aural pleasure. The hazy electronica on display is exciting. Apparently this EP is being used as an introduction to Jesse Ruins. If so, the connection is instantaneous and electric on first touch. I hope we go all the way...

Dream Analysis is to be released 21st February.

Melt Away With Loomis

Patrick Bailey has been incredibly busy under his LoOmis moniker over the past twelve months or so, and at the turn of the year brought out a third release, an EP called Melt Away. The New Orleans-based instrumentalist has once again delved into the world of hazy electronica, but his recent sojourn to San Francisco has shaped his vision. Bailey's guitar lines are little more in front of the mix, swathed in the shade of instrumental eloquence oft half-rendered by other bedroom producers. Bailey has a knack of constructing burbling soundscapes that flow over your skin, exfoliating your ears, before nestling within you. More is promised this year - let's hope it grows exponentially from here.


Melt Away is available here.

LoOmis - I Cast A Spell
LoOmis - Of Maritime

Friday Cover Up - Killing Three Posts WIth One Pizza

We have always been fans of Art Is Hard Records - they put the fun back in loving music. But I have let the last couple of releases slide by me.

NO MORE!


Firstly, there is the cassette by Mazes' main man Jack Cooper, Art Is Cheap. It's some splendid shimmery lo-fi pop, lovely for a sunny Friday afternoon - or pretending to be lying around in one. Cooper may have superseded his band on this one, which makes this an imperative purchase. There are still some of these available, which is a goshdarn crime, so let's amend this and buy them up, pronto! (I'm a big fan of the song titles too - I too have always wondered what Fanfarlo means...)




Secondly is this lovingly packaged EP tape from Gorgeous Bully, The Young Obese. The physical version of this release is packaged in a handprinted cigarette style case, a ferociously DIY tactile notion from a ferociously DIY Thom of Gorgeous Bully, a prolific song writer and the cassette features a 'secret' bside filled with Gorgeous Bully demos previously unavailable to own. This sexy package is unfortunately sold out, but you can hit AIH hard to make them re-release it, ok? In the swingtime, you can get a digital copy of The Young Obese here, and listen below.




Finally, AIH are three singles deep (dish) into their Biweekly 5" Pizza Club. They've pledged to release a new single every other Friday afternoon for the entirety of 2012. The single will be available for free download via their Bandcamp, but if you are quick off the mark and are the first purchaser, you can glean for yourself a one-of-a-kind CD in a 5" pizza box. Sweet huh? The bands to delve into this rad concept thus far have been the ever-excellent Bos Angeles (dying for the longer release guys...), Fruschian Void And The Headfolks, and Perfect Hair Forever. They are all great, and below. Two of them are great cover versions - hence today's elongated Friday Cover Up. So not only does this end a pretty good week, but hopefully instills in you a heady sense of anticipation for the rest of AIH's ideas for 2012. Have a good weekend people!

Bos Angeles - When You Look At Me (KEEL HER cover)
Fruschian Void and Thee Headfolks - Youth (The Black Tambourines cover)
Perfect Hair Forever - My Teen Idol

Recreating A Papier Tigre

French outfit Papier Tigre (pronounced “Papyeah Teegrr”)'s third album Recreation (out on Africantape) has an element of surprise to it. The band teamed up with John Congleton (Explosions in the Sky, the Roots, Bill Callahan, The pAper chAse...) in order to push the limits of their their unit into a devastatingly efficient performance. It is intriguing, and although the vocals grate on me a little, the musical interplay offers some fervent schizophrenia that I like a lot - plus the lack of a bass means they have to work harder to achieve that bottom-end. They just supported Explosions In The Sky in Paris last month, so things are certainly on the up and up.

Recreation is out March 1.

Papier Tigre 'Home Truth' by Murailles Music

It's Easy To Get A Panic Attack In Iowa

Melbourne scuzzball slackers Iowa have prepped yet another single (where's the longplayer, guys?) (UPDATE: Iowa's debut album Never Saw It Coming hits shelves in April - patience my child!) called 'Panic Attack', and it's typically great, raucous and filled with ambivalence, malaise and a smoky urge to shred.

I know Ive been championing these guys for a while, but looks like Iowa are getting further notice (not gonna say "because of me", of course). I just had to add this quote from Doubtful Sounds as it excited me just reading it: “Heavy, chunky distorted guitars that come in waves like Dinosaur Jr and Crazy Horse soaked in shoegaze.” Salivation for the nation, right?
If you live in their land, they will play at The Tote on Feb 22 with awesome support from Damn Terran. No word as to when they will come north - once again, we wait with bated breath...


Panic Attack is out February 20th - pre-order it 'ere.




NB - Jordan from the band is a massive fan of Brissie band Tape/Off's EP of last year ...And Sometimes Gladness, a release I included in my Best EPs of 2011, so they have impeccable taste too...