Hits From The Box #97 - UnValentine's Day

I haven't had to celebrate Valentine's Day for over five years, which is great. My girlfriend's birthday is February 14, so I celebrate that. The thing is, it's so difficult doing anything nice for her because everyone else is getting shitting corporate bullshit gifts; and every restaurant is boosting the cost of dinner to be part of a set menu that mostly have cloying fringe crap like hearts and glitter and other chokable pap. Which means we usually stay home and watch movies and eat chocolate on that day, and head out before or after - which still works out for me at any rate, but it still sucks. So here are six tenuous links to this most hated of corporate days (seriously, love your other every day and make it special, and stop rubbing your faux happiness into singles' face on February 14).

1) For when things become too much or too weird, you need the twisted garage punk rock of Icky Boyfriends. The veteran SF trio have just put out one of the Live in San Francisco records that Castle Face Records love pumping out, and it's a veritable shit tonne of gangrenous fun. This is the kind of gig that if you took your better half to as a date, and she came away loving it, then you have a keeper. Equal parts rock, roll and stagger, all parts sloppy fun. They play the hits and then some - including this.

2) For when things happen off the cuff, you can dive headlong into the fuzzy lilting doo-wop pop of Impulsive Hearts. The Chicagoans try their hardest to keep things light and spontaneous - their music evokes "swimming after dark, beaches and dance parties" which can sound naff but on a day where manufactured love can go wrong, a bit of sepia tinged rock whimsy can't be a bad thing, can it?

3) For when the choice between a cuddly puppy and a bubble-bath of chocolate is too tight to call, call Pets Or Food. These Swedes call themselves "no romantics" - their new album is called No Romantik in case you thought they were joking - which fits perfectly here, and their sax skronk no wave blitzkrieg scours the Valentine scourge from even the lightest touch of love suckers. It's an atonal blast, and while they stand out like a sore thumb on this particular hit list, Pets Or Food are a great band much deserving of your time.

4) For when the one by your side is still sexy even after they fart incessantly...yep, we're talking about Best Friends there. It's taken a little while, but the four Sheffield lads are about ready to bring out their debut, suitably titled LP, Hot. Reckless. Totally Insane., through FatCat Records. Here is their taster, 'Fake Spit', and it's as raucous and silly as you'd expect - great, then.

5) For when the post coital rest is awkward thanks to a climax that shook the walls but also sounded like slightly "human sacrifice"...we have Detroit's Ritual Howls. Their second album Turkish Leather came out on felt Records last year and I missed it, but thankfully am picking up the slack due to this video for 'Zemmoa'. There is a pagan intensity to the echo on the vocals, and the incessant drum beat and apocryphal guitar lines add a feverish layer to proceedings, ebbing and flowing like the release of blood.

6) Finally, for when there is no one to be your Valentine - you may as well do it for yourself. Free Yourself is the new record from Flesh Lights - perfectly named, I'm sure you will agree. These Texan punks are all about injecting punch into their pop - there is nothing fake about this, it's just unadulterated fun for all concerned. And if you have thrown this on in the darkness of your room, all alone - why shouldn't you be able to indulge in a little fun me time? You're just about due...


Happy UnValentine's Day, everyone!

Video Vacuum - Ty Segall, Harmony, Best Friends, Shearwater doing Xiu Xiu

Its coming to the end of the year. I know, we still have six or so weeks left - but that will be gone before you know it. 2013 has been such a topsy-turvy year on Planet Masala too, to the point where we got to see The Nation Blue play TWICE without seeing sister group Harmony at all, Ty Segall has barely graced these hallowed halls, and Shearwater, rather than developing a new album, have released an LP of covers of bands they have toured with which I'm a big fan of (still want them to hurry up and come here though). Then there is a bunch of dudes having a good time in the Midlands, bizarrely in the sunshine. So much weirdness to overcome, to embrace, to love...that's 2013 for ya.



It has been a while since irrepressible hellhound Ty Segall has blasted onto these pages - there was one stage where reincorporating the blog to Segall Masala seemed appropriate. I haven't written about his latest album Sleeper all that much - not because it isn't good, it's excellent, but because so many others said it better already - and new outfit Fuzz is something I aim to rectify in the upcoming days. SO let's ease back in with 'The Man Man', a track off Sleeper that showcases the shift in gears Segall had here, and perfectly encapsulates the slowburn tension inherent in the song. The video



Another act steeped in creating tension, albeit one of working class desperation and Gothic backwater gnashing of teeth, Harmony have released this black-&-white plaintive to promote single 'Diminishing Returns' (the 7" comes out on Poison City Records on Friday). The band and choir are submerged in subterranean, inky shadows, dressed in black (Tom is ALWAYS dressed in black anyway, although this shirt looks decidedly devoid of wellworn holes) and wracked with emotion. There isn't a band like them, and 'Diminished Returns' is anything but.



We all need best friends, even if they give us nosebleeds every once in a while. Sheffield's laconic punks Best Friends presumably get the claret flowing from sun-bleached moments of street cricket, beer swilling and goofing around. Nothing wrong with that, I'm sure you'll agree. 'Nosebleeds' is the B-side to their Happy Anniversary 7", which you can buy here.


Let's finish off with some spaced-out shorn water from the valley below. Shearwater's covers record Fellow Travelers is almost upon us, and their Xiu Xiu spin 'I Luv The Valley, Oh!' is rife for the plucking. Videotronics here include space desert isolation, bulbous pustules, and a bizarrely doll-like astronaut. We're entering uncharted waters...

NOW GET BACK TO WORK!

The Eve of Giving Best Friends' Nosebleeds

The thing about close friendships is that they go through many phases - often terrible ones - yet come through the other side, the unsinkable dinghy in the face of the perfect storm. A best friend takes your shit and gives it back, but also knows when to drop the charade and bring it in for the real thing. You can be every facet of your true self in front of your best friend, and you won't be judged. You hold onto memories of events that others have long forgot; you reminisce over actions, sayings and relationships that have long since faded into obscurity. Fuck the rest, here is the best.

Art Is Hard Records champion this age-old mantra - they work hard to be your friend in all the right ways, providing releases that are unique and mean something, and are always giving. They even have a band in their roster called Best Friends, whose Throwing Up album from last year was a cracker. Now the two are embracing once more - the Sheffield lads have delivered a fantastic lil AA 7" in the form of Happy Anniversary/Nosebleeds, and AIH have come to the party, bundling up the record with a t-shirt and specialised comic. See - Best Friends just keep on giving...

Purchase the record or bundle here - it's the perfect gift for a mate.

Art Is Hard...And Free

It's been quiet here again, and there are many reasons but I wont go into it. Suffice to say I have shit tonnes of excellent gear coming your way very very soon. Like this!

Art Is Hard Records is turning 2, and to celebrate - they're giving away their entire back catalogue (12 releases and close to 100 songs) for free download! They have gone rug warehouse crazy! They aren't eccentric left wing billionaires however so it only lasts til midnight tonight (Tuesday 18th September). Head to their Bandcamp to grab it all! I have posted about most of it, and I've lost track of all the Bi-Weekly Singles they have put out but know they are ace, so get in there!

They also have a reworked logo (see above) and a new shirt out (see below).


And here is one of my favourite AIH-discovered bands with one of my favourite songs of theirs...

Throwing Up - Wasting Time

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AIH!

Little Dreamers - Release The Kraken

It's the beginning of Spring, and it's getting ridiculous. I am writing more and more articles for various publications on top of putting on gigs, doing live reviews and my "day job" - and Sonic Masala is suffering a little as a consequence. My listening pile is overflowing - there is stuff here from May! So it's time for a bit of a cull. But before I do that, here are a bunch of tracks and releases from bands I've "discovered" over the past two and a half years that I think really deserve attention.


King Dude blew me away with his Gothic country-folk dirge on My Beloved Guest and Tonight's Special Death (out through the great Bathetic label). Since then the Seattle native has kept the ball rolling with another great LP entitled Love and a 7" release. He is showing no signs of slowing down either, with the imminent release of his next LP Burning Daylight on Dias in October. Really looking forward to this one, he is an underground cult figure of his own invention, and Im waiting for the exact moment when the penny drops and everyone realises how much of a genius he is.

King Dude - Jesus In The Courtyard


Sheffield nutbars Best Friends had a rad EP earlier this year called Throwing Up, and they have kept vomiting breakneck hits since. They put out a track with a grafittied (I think...) photo of Edward Furlong called 'If you think too much your brain will fall out', a single ('Surf Bitches') is coming out under the Too Pure Singles Club (an intiative that's seeing Aussie brats Step-Panther put out a 7" on too), and have a cassette split with Grazes in tow. You can listen to all and sundry below. A great little band, I think you'd agree. They are touring around the UK as we speak, popping into London's Old Blue Last this Friday. GET THERE!





Best Friends - If You Think Too Much Your Brain Will Fall Out


Brooklyn/San Fran collective Bad Bibles had a deliciously dark EP out in January, and have returned armed with 'Nearsighted'. Continuing with the tarot card imagery and post-punk skewered roiling and toiling, these guys sound like they are only just now finding their feet. This track is a big leap forward.

Bad Bibles - Nearsighted


Honey were throwing their shoegaze sounds around last year, and I quite liked it. Emphasis on the were, because they have just changed their name to The Early Morning Satellites. But they released an EP Fantasist before the changeover, and it's a doozie. Sonorous shoegaze, you had me at noisy and sexy as all hell.

Honey - Fantasist
Honey - Cape Canaveral


Mrs Magician brought out the There Is No God 7" (the titular track is SOOOOOO awesome!), which I really enjoyed - but their debut record and I didn't know about it??? The shame! Furthermore its out on the excellent Swami Records. Strange Heaven sees the San Diego band in fantastic form, so much better in less than 12 months, and the album has had to be repressed so people must be lapping it up, which is excellent news. Listen to it below, then pick it up here.

Mrs Magician - There Is No God




Minneapolis outfit Phantom Vibration had a great warbled pop EP in Kids back in 2011, followed it up with the great Growing Up and are now here with third extended player Aged. Ah, continuity, hey? You need to get it all and play it in chronological order. Love the last track in particular. Grab all three here.

Phantom Vibration - River Rock


Yeesh really blew me away with their Little Stabs At Happiness cassette, and here is the first taste of new material, verbose silly title and all. It's big emotive rawk with the requisite twist in the tail. I can't wait to hear what comes next.

Yeesh - Because Johnny Depp Always Wanted To Be A Rockstar, And Because I Always Wanted To Be Johnny Depp


I hammered on about the eclectic, electric brutality of LA's Wreck & Reference, and a little while back they upped the ante with No Youth. At times obtuse, at others bludgeoning, and with some spaciousness in between, the ten tracks on offer really are wrestling with demons the likes you nor I have ever witnessed, nor would want to. I'm not sure this is a record I could put on all the time, but when it clicks - prepare yourself for a industrial flaying.

Wreck & Reference - Nausea
Wreck & Reference - The Solstitial


Dogson, LA enigma Plant Magic Man's collection of recordings from 2008-2010, was an interesting exercise in tape-warped hypnagogic malaise. A plethora of releases later, and nothing much has changed on new EP Groo. Whoever this is, they keep as low a profile as possible, which adds to the mystique but also frustration. I want more damn you! Have at all of Plant Magic Man's releases here.

Plant Magic Man - I'm At War


Ann Arbor duo Dreampeter haven't had much new on the move (other than the Boneglow/Delusions split, which is basically Dreampeter in their solo guises) since they released 'Mason Jar' last year, but there is this deliciously warped track 'Bluebeard'. Makes me remember why I was enamoured with these dudes in the first place - hell, it's dedicated to Kurt Vonnegut! Good stuff indeed.

Dreampeter - Bluebeard


Now for some haunting folk from the UK, jah? The Skeleton Dead are a duo who I really connected with, especially after my hasty departure from the UK. At the end of my stay I was staying at my girlfriend's house, and her housemate was in love with cooking, hash and Mark Kozalek. Three great things to be in love with. I got to see Kozalek earlier this year, which was lovely, but back to the story. The Skeleton Dead's self titled LP came into my inbox at this time and slipped seamlessly into the fold. Recently they released Two Days In February, two tracks written and recorded in the winter just fled (well it was the beginning of the year for these guys), and hearing these tracks reminds me of those times. Cold, warm inside, drinking ale and smoking cigarettes in the snow, roast chicken and puppy dogs at the Coach & Horses, Bloody Mary's and cracked ice. Strange, eclectic memories, but they warm the cockles.

The Skeleton Dead - True To Our Name
The Skeleton Dead - Life Goes On


After writing about Glenn Branca I received an email from a man from the Republic of Macedonia. His self-recorded pieces were guitar explorations that examined sinuous form and abrasive noise under the moniker fydhws were exciting. Now as Sferi, he has released a concept sound collage based on the 8 planets of the solar system, and it is - sorry - otherworldly. Ranging from space ambient/rock to psychedelia and drone music, Sound Of The Spheres is actually very impressive - see Sferi's explanation of it all here - and is an album you should definitely delve into, preferably with expensive headphones on...

Sferi - Merkur


Back to Brooklyn to see what Life Size Maps are up to. The trio have just launched Excavate, a five track EP that also marks a new lineup for the poppy noiseniks. They play around with Gary Numan-esque structure and 8-bit shenanigans, whilst still holding precariously onto the shoegaze shtick they first burst out with. Its a growing bliss bomb of a release, and promises much more on the horizon.




Now this one is only a stop-gap, as Im sure Ill be mentioning more about this release as it comes to hand. Yet Cambridge, Massachusetts trio Night Fruit, who brought the graceful Dark Horse 7" last year, have a new release that is preceding an album, it's called 'Human Touch', and it's bloody great. The music speaks for itself. Stay tuned!!

Night Fruit - Human Touch


Here is another artist you will hear more of soon. Guilty Ghosts AKA Tristan O'Donnell brought a great release in his self-titled debut in 2010, excellently followed up by last year's VEILS, but if 'All Flesh Is Grass' is anything to go by, his next EP Tresspasser will easily surpass them. I love this track, and Im pretty sure you will too. You can pre-order the EP here.

Guilty Ghosts - All Flesh Is Grass


And finally we have Thor AKA Just Another Snake Cult from Iceland, whose freak pop tapestries often defy expectation and categorisation. He has just finished a new EP of minimal electronic / dream pop material called Birds Carried your Song Through The Night. It actually took me a bit to warm to, but when these tracks sink in, its impressive. You can grab the release in cassette form here. Worth every penny, especially when the title track kicks in.

Just Another Snake Cult - Birds Carried Your Song Through The Night

Phew! Fly my pretties, fly! Well, they grow up so fast don't they?

Art Is Hard When Pizzas, Splashes and Throwing Up Is Involved

I really need a constant reminder from Art Is Hard - every time I head over to their site, I've missed another Biweekly Pizza Club release! So here I am again giving you the last two options. Just so you know the next one is tomorrow - that's warning for us all, right??


The fourth and fifth instalments are from Little Leagues and Splashh respectively. Little Leagues are a Falmouth four piece that make memorable math-pop - remember when that was popular, every kid and his three legged dog were into it? Yeah...memories. Well they released a new EP a couple weeks ago, worth hunting down too.

Little Leagues - A Problem Solved


Splashh on the other hand hail from London, and their track 'All I Wanna Do' is sunshine and lollipops, sprinkled with a little anthrax for added edge. All I really know about these Londoners is that one of them was in Brain Slaves. I think. Doesn't really matter, this is a pretty killer tune. Eat it.

Splashh - All I Wanna Do

But this only half of what I think is the continuing brilliance of the releases that the dudes of AIH have to offer. ANOTHER good record is on its way in the form of loud Sheffielders Best Friends' EP Throwing Up. Best Friends are a four piece that vomit (sorry) surf-inflected pop with liberal lashings of lackadaisical fuzz like it's the mid 90s again, when bleeding from the ears after listening to an indie band was still possible. Which is awesome, by the way. As always, new release means new, inventive packaging. AIH got with the band to put together a 21cm square 12 page photo booklet of Halloween parties, crowdsurfing at house shows and other rad photos, with the CD being encased within the booklet itself. It's luscious and a little bit silly, but also pretty rad - a bit like that Cyanide & Happiness coffee table book I have... Its out proper next Sunday, but you can have at it here.

Best Friends - Wasting Time