Libyan Hit Squad Get Round-Eyed

I got this crazy slice of punk skronk insanity from Genjing Records (the Chinese subsidiary for Maybe Mars Records) and Orlando, Florida's Ripping Records. Full Circle grabs a band from each locale - Round Eye from Shanghai, Libyan Hit Squad from Florida - and lets them go no holds barred at each other. The result is bullshit crazy, bullshit awesome. Black Flag's Greg Ginn chimes in! LHS keep things off-kilter, swinging between breakneck SST punk annihilation ('Blown Asshole'), Descendents sensibilities ('Rubber Shoes'), and the more harmonious ends of Fugazi ('Brave New World').

Round Eye (ANOTHER ex-pat band from China! sharing a leadman too) then offer a more dissonant edge, complete with melting brass, and in my opinion take things up a couple of notches. 'Kenting' even pins down some of that wonky Springsteen-aping rock that Titus Andronicus have made their bread and butter. 'I'm So Young' slips the mickey to a doo-wop number that would be cute if it weren't so slurred and devious; whilst the one-two punch closers 'Carne Seca' and 'Got Her Runnin'' energise and pulverise. Two bands I'd never heard of before joining forces to slay - intercontinental shitstirrers.

You can grab Full Circle here. It is very, very good - get on this quick smart.

Libyan Hit Squad - Blown Asshole
Libyan Hit Squad (ft Greg Ginn) - Full Circle 

Round Eye - Kenting
Round Eye - Carne Seca

Eloise's Winter (Tenzenmen Update #4)

I've been a big fan of mysterious Chinese shoegazers Dear Eloise, and the fairly prolific duo have another release at their disposal. The Winter Has Disappeared 7" is two tracks that glisten in the darkness, shimmer in the shifting sands, a beauteous mirage. There tends to be an ambiguity or distance put in place when bands travel down the shoegaze route, but Dear Eloise manage to sidestep that with 'Vanishing Winter' - not only immediate, but attractive and inviting. 'The Place In White Light' is the aftermath - stumbling forth, trying to grasp that wavering nirvana, falling into the dirt with empty hands, eyes and soul. The ying and yang, then.

You can buy The Winter Has Disappeared here in translucent green vinyl. As a side note, all throughout June you can go to the Tenzenmen website and make a bit of a comment on their page. And when you do, you get a 30% discount on all Tenzenmen releases through their Bandcamp! What a sweet deal. There are more releases I'll be insisting you jump on in the ensuing days too, so start cracking open your Dollarmite money banks...

When You Kill A Giant, Blood Pours Out (Tenzenmen Update #3)

I finished up a week's look at Metal Postcard Records recently. The founder Sean Hocking sees Shanghai duo Pairs as an incredible band (and so clearly do we), following every half-baked venture the duo head out on. So to close out the week we are (figuratively) travelling back to Shanghai (via another Shaun, he of Tenzenmen Records) to look at another ex-pat band that calls the Chinese city their home, Death To Giants.  Death To Giants are even harder to define, a true amalgam of genres seemingly at odds with each other - math rock, metal, and hardcore, to jazz, pop (with moments verging on the fey)... With no guitar, the duo use yelps, a trombone and an array of collaborations (including scoring muted films, traditional Mongolian folk music and a System Of A Down tribute band) to flesh out whatever whims they come up with. Its a heady, insane mixture of molasses to swallow, especially over the course of a full album. But with Blood Pours Out, the duo start to make sense - like naive art drawn by a limbless Charles Manson might. 'Anyone Can Learn To Count In Chinese' feels like Deerhoof distilled through a Blood Brothers woodchipper; 'Jared Leto' and 'Girth vs Length' are maniacal gems that rot your teeth and eviscerate your stomach. And to add to the obliterated fourth wall, there is an instrumental version of 'Anyone Can Learn To Count In Chinese' for free download so that you can make your own remixes, submit them to deathtogiants@gmail.com and the band will choose their favourites for a future release. Death-pop indeed.

You can buy Blood Pours Out here.

Death To Giants - Anyone Can Learn To Count In Chinese
Death To Giants - Girth vs Length