Firing Up The Propane Heaters

I have been meaning to write about Michigan psych rockers Heaters for some time now - since March in fact, when they were prepping their Mean Green 7" (I was in Australia prepping the second SM Fest though so I missed the boat). The trio are releasing their album Holy Water Pool on the great Beyond Beyond Is Beyond Records in September (I have featured heaps of their roster on Sonic Masala, most recently Sundays & Cybele and Kikagaku Moyo), and here is a cut off it. 'Propane' is a propulsive garage psych rock blast, rollicking along and ricocheting off the hallowed hallways of Spiritualized, Black Angels and 13th Floor Elevators with gritted teeth and a feverish shine to the eyes.

The Badlands Are Deathly Dangerous, Baby

Here are a couple of psych-inflected releases that have crossed the desk today that make for a good Saturday's listening...

The Dunes are from Adelaide - how did I not know this until I had left the country? Or maybe I did? I feel like I have heard these guys before...anyway their three track EP Badlands is pretty great. Stacie Reeves' vocals are haunting and ballsy in equal measure, which you need if you are going to slide the breadth of the psych rock spectrum. The title track in particular is a highlight, a dark sprawler that at almost nine minutes doesn't feel nearly long enough.

Then there is Prince Rupert's Drops, who I definitely have written about before. They are back, readying to drop (sorry) LP Climbing Lights on Beyond Beyond Is Beyond Records (out in limited oxblood coloured vinyl - yum - grab that here). This has more of the garage rock juggernaut powering it on 'Dangerous Death Ray' - it actually gives me a bit of a Tumbleweed vibe, which is very appreciated - and feels longer than its four minutes (which is a good thing in this instance) so is the perfect yin to The Dunes' yang this morning.

Video Vacuum - Angel Olsen, Tropical Strength, Gentlemen, The Entrance Band

Final week of work for the year; Australia wins the first Ashes Test - it's a pretty good place to be for me right now. I still have a mountain of work to get through though, and hence the procrastination. So - let's have at the vids!



Angel Olsen is a beguiling chanteuse. Firstly due to her musical endeavours up til now have involved skeletal, atmospheric, cavernous folk, all shadows, smoke and mirrors. Secondly because the first cut from her upcoming album is the complete opposite of that. 'Forgiven/Forgotten' is two minutes of chugging rock, Olsen's vocals strong and bold, the video a frenetic edit of car window views. It's not a total backflip - the 'Sweet Dreams' single from earlier this year was a haunting number with a more prevalent guitar, but Olsen is more operatic there - it feels particular and staged. It's light years away. It's bizarre, because I love Olsen's old stuff (especially her album on Bathetic Records, Half Way Home) - and yet I love this track. Guess I just love Angel Olsen. The new album Burn Your Fire For No Witness will be out early next year on Jagjaguwar and Dead Oceans - can't wait.



Here's some Aussie dudes making a lysergic number with birds chirping in the background, a mega-slowed down video of a guy falling into a wake pool by the sea and ink dispelling into water. It reminds me a bit of Snowman at their lightest at the beginning, then becomes spun out wasteland of nude swimming and barbecues. Tropical Strength is their name (you know, after the insect repellent?) and 'Wake In Fright' is the song's name (you know, like the gritty outback existential nightmare novel written by Kenneth Cook, or the film directed by a young Bruce Beresford?). It's all weird - and fucking amazing. I really need to see this band, stat.



London band Gentlemen aren't usually my kind of band. 'Late Nacht' is an OK song too, don't get me wrong. But it's this film clip that gets me listening to the song over and over. The screaming and feverish drumming? Then the slip into a hypercoloured set of landscapes? It's pretty genius in my opinion. Bashing skin as catharsis. True that.


Spider from Paz Lenchantin on Vimeo.

Now I'm probably being blasphemous here, but I knew very little about Los Angeles' The Entrance Band before I saw this clip for 'Spider' - and I still know very little. All I know is that this song is a pretty good slice spaced-out and decadent garage pop, and the film clip - all arthouse surrealist noir, arachnid nightmares, Bunuel masturbation - is even better. I'm keen to check out their new album Face The Sun, if that's any consolation.

NOW GET BACK TO WORK!

Lil Daggers Leave Peace For Pizza

Florida surprises many with the type of sordid swamp rats that come out of in utero clutching an instrument and energy to burn, and Lil Daggers continues to make the incisions. One of the first bands that Sonic Masala like to say we "discovered", the band had fallen off the radar release-wise for a while - but have been far from idle, supporting Swans, The Growlers, Merchandise and Royal Baths in recent months. Now they are filled with devilish intent, having cooked up a new EP to force-feed us. No Pizza No Peace (soooooooo true...) is an EP that promises to continue the expansions that Lil Daggers have taken since starting out as scrappy fighters back in the back end of first decade of the 21st century - my, how quick they grow up...*sniff* 'After The Flood' broods, morosely seethes, echoes and languidly flails - a creepy gem.

No Pizza No Peace will be out on Beyond Beyond Is Beyond Records - you can pre-order it here.

Hits From The Box #65 - Get Psyched

This weekend marks the 6th Austin Psych Fest, an event that I've wanted to go to since its inception...six years ago (funny, that). The closest I've come though is seeing Brissie band Dreamtime get on the bill this year. There will be a chance in the near future where I will be partaking in a weekend of excellent psych rock from around the globe, but until then, here are six bands that are on the bill, and for whatever reason I haven't posted about them yet (or for a while).

JJUUJJUU is a duo from LA that love their music long, elongated, a little weird, and very astrally inclined. They have just released their debut LP FRST (through Beyond Beyond Is Beyond - you can grab it here) which is a burnt slab of distorted retina burners. Already the band is gleaning shows with the likes of Cosmonauts and some pretty amazing festivals such as Desert Daze and Psych De Mayo, and are worthy of the high praise.

JJUUJJUU - G 4 A G

Another impressive duo dirge is Nashville's Ttotals, who have just released Spectrums Of Light 7" yesterday through Twin Lakes Records. The squalling echo that emanates on the periphery should be familiar - the tracks were mastered by Sonic Boom (Spacemen 3/Spectrum). These blue desert wanderers delve elbow deep into the dark stuff before launching forth with a crashing fury. Remember when QOTSA where kinda exciting? 'Tricks Of The Trade' holds much of that Rated R magic in its veins, whilst 'Sometimes You Just Are' plays back like a record in reverse, and is just as menacing. Get it here.

Ttotals - Tricks Of The Trade

Continuing on with the unintentional trend of psych duos, most of you will be familiar with the swirling psychedelia of Chile's The Holydrug Couple. They brought out Noctuary a couple months ago through Sacred Bones, and it's a cracker. At its core is a golden hue that emanates out of the speakers and cocoons you, a natural high of the highest supply. Everything feels out of sync, at half-pace, ethereal and enraptured in the paisley underground of 60s psych pop (they even have a song called 'Paisley' for Chrissakes!). Its lustrous, its elegant, above all its excellent. Get it here.

The Holydrug Couple - It's Dawning

Cosa Mesa's favourite junkyard bums The Growlers have just released a new album, Hung At Heart, through Everloving Records. You might remember that one of my favourite songs from the last few years is their 'Graveyard's Full'. And although there hasn't been a song on this album that grabbed me like that one did, it's a solid slice of lo-fi doo-wop skewering, shanties for the disenchanted, ballads for the murderous. I really want to see this band - and if you're in Austin this weekend, you lucky devils, you really should. Dusty Box Social twinkles from Hell. Get Hung At Heart here.

Now I mentioned Brisbane's Dreamtime were in Austin for the APF. Well they aren't the only Aussie reps, as The Black Ryder, The Laurels, and these guys will be blowing all and sundry away. Adelaide's Ride Into The Sun have an added in here - their upcoming album was recorded by none other than Black Angels frontman Alex Maas last year whilst the band toured the Harvest festivals. While we wait for that to drop with sweaty palms, here is the 7" they released to tantalise the third eye.

I bought World Music on Record Store Day for a number of reasons. Firstly, the cover art - of many vibrant colours, with W's and M's cut out of the front - was pretty spectacular. Secondly, it was in 180gm clear vinyl and look delectable. Finally (and most importantly) it's the new album from Swedish psych band Goat. This is hands down one of the best psych records I have heard in years - IN YEARS. Writing only this much is not giving it justice, but trust me, it will be in the reckoning for top honours come year's end. You can get it via Stranded Rekords here.

Goat - Diarabi
Goat - Goatman

And I thought I'd end off with The Black Angels, who themselves have just brought out their latest album Indigo Meadow. Here's the title song from it. I interviewed Alex Maas earlier in the week - more about that to come.

The Black Angels - Indigo Meadow

Happy Saturday!

Freaked Out, Wrapped Up And Forgotten In New Hampshire

Coming out today on Beyond Beyond Is Beyond Records is New Hampshire Freaks, the split 10" EP from two groups of psych wanderers, Quilt and MMOSS. The A-side consists of the two bands contributing a song each, and it's easy to see why these guys have gravitated towards each other, as 'Nothing Left' and 'Open Eyes' complementing cornucopias of pastoral psych in the sun swept wheat fields, all gaily flailing limbs, slightly slack jaws and free love in the loins (with some excellent bright wigout at the end of Quilt's 'Open Eyes' evoking the likes of Woodsman at their most bucolically wasted). Of course the B-Side sees them join forces, and 'Sandy' is a fourteen minute Ouija board into the souls of astral adventurers of extinct parallel worlds. The flatline in the middle creates a weightlessness that heightens the return of the ephemeral squall that bookends the track.

You can order New Hampshire Freaks here - the first 300 orders will be pressed on olive-and-bone coloured wax, whilst there are 100 extremely limited (IE never to be repeated) cassette tapes.



Quilt/MMOSS - Sandy