Hippy Hypocrites On Crystal Shipsss

A triptych of warped warbles of varying degrees of low fidelity, here are three releases likely to blow your mind and fill your ears with white fuzz and ear-candy.

Danish-born, Berlin-based psych pop wizard Jacob Faurholt has been on Sonic Masala's radar ever since he entered the fray under the moniker Crystal Shipsss. His Yay release made an impression, and now he (along with a band of willing  wanderers) is back with not one but two releases slated for 2013. First cab off the ranks is this self-titled EP, available on cassette through Three Ring Records, Mouca and Raw Onion. The 5-track EP are scuzzy to the point of obstructive - this is Demo 101 territory, almost to a fault. Yet whether the band are opening up the throttle or quietening down to a soothing idle, Crystal Shipsss is never an easy proposition - a wayward journey into the counterculture of the backwaters of your mind. Yet in the past year they have traipsed across stages alongside TEEN, The Black Heart Procession and Grizzly Bear, and these three best represent where Faurholt and his acolytes are heading. It's a great taster for Crystal Shipsss's next full-length Dirty Dancer which we will see before the year is out.

Another lo-fi gem that struck a chord here at Sonic Masala was Tweaker In The Park, the debut LP by Indiana's guitar-pop malcontents  Hypocrite In A Hippy Crypt. Tweaker Two (out on 12" vinyl through Tree Machine Records) continues the weird themes and tin-cans-and-shoestring budget, yet offers more semblances of spit and polish alongside being anchored in more grounded, maudlin concerns such as fading youth and imploding dreams. Its hooks are surreptitious, then the penny drops - once you are familiar with this world, it becomes a second skin, with all schizophrenic connotations to such a notion held intact. Elliott Smith suspended in formaldehyde, preserved in sepia and seedy chagrin. An addiction worth having.

Finally we have Brooklyn's Hippy. Reminiscent of the nascent garage punk and guitar pop amalgams that the likes of Harlem (seriously, where have these guys gone???) and Black Lips dish out at regular intervals, the trio's new (debut) record Almost Live is in turns buoyant, ridiculous, bilious and carefree - tonguing the power socket whilst outta your gourd kinda fun. Hurts so good (c'mon, baby now...)

Punching Above Their Weight

I received an email from Guy, a Rhode Island native whose band, Kid Chocolate, have just released their self-released debut record, Gold Star Winner. I downloaded the album they offered me - but it came up as gsw, with no reference to the band. I forgot about it for a couple days, then put it on - and it blew me away. It has the surf pop twinges that we are hearing a lot of these days, but there is a mischievous twinkle in the eye, showing their grungier garage legs, and occasionally (like on 'What The Big People Do' or the strangely punchy-yet-slinky 'Roll Of Thunder') emulating the 60s melodic pop groups they are indebted to. In fact, Kid Chocolate remind me of a Brisbane band that are making some noise at the moment, Dune Rats, yet a far better version (no offence Dune Rats, I love your guff, just Kid Chocolate is punching above your weight here). Wait, a boxing joke? See, I knew the reference all along kiddos - hence the above picture! But all silliness aside, this is one helluva addictive album. There are even slight Harlem comparisons here - now, that makes my day... You can get it either at their Bandcamp here or here for a physical copy.

Kid Chocolate - Coco Drugga
Kid Chocolate - Safety Surf

And I really really enjoyed this album, so here it is to stream in its entirety - get behind it, buy it, it is a cracker!

Album review - Hanoi Janes' Specks Ho!

Hanoi Jane. One of the many bands peddling the dreamy scuzzy garage sound that is indicative of today's hippest. And we all know that Sonic Masala (or at the very least yours truly) has a real love/hate relationship with the whole movement - AKA that most bands cant play and suck varying degrees of throbbing man gristle. Yet there are those who decide to use the form and conventions of the 'genre' to their own ends, and have had decidedly positive results. And with Specks On! (Captured Tracks), Hanoi Janes are getting perilously close to breaching the void and entering that exclusive echelon of bands that actually are a band unto themselves, not just a part of a passing phase in musical history. 'Young & Dumb' is the perfect way to kick things off, with bright jangly riffs with just the right amount of reverb, clarity, and nous to denote a stepping up of the proverbial game. Add to that some clattering drums, percussion and chanting vocals, and you have a real fun song on your hands. 'Back For The Summer' treads territory other bands have covered, but adeptly - like a geekier Harlem. A bit of incessant organ to go with the 60s pop twang helps to propel everything forward here. Hump song 'All The Time' continues on, and supersedes, the previous track, although the vocals aren't as endearing, which is strange as the chanted chorus is an immediate hit. Then 'I Dig You' hits - that twangin guitar is back, and how! To me this is the best track on the album, and perfectly encapsulates what Hanoi Janes are all about - FUN! I really do believe that you can only pull off dreamy pop if you are a great songwriter (a la Beach Fossils), and the other option is to NOT TAKE YOURSELF SERIOUSLY. How can you aspire to 60s beach/surf/wall of sound-isms if you dont have a smile etched on your dial and/or a tongue firmly entrentched in your cheek? And whilst 'Teresa' is a somewhat bland closer, Specks On! shows the German(s?) in fine, sunny form.

Pick up Specks Ho! here.

Hanoi Janes - All The Time
Hanoi Janes - I Dig You

That Fungi's Growing Back

A blissfully underrated album of last year was Fungi Girls' Seafaring Pyramids (out through Hozac Records). It potentially had the two things I hate the most - scuzzy lo-fi garage pop, and a moniker with Girls in the title. Despite that, the album rose above to be a much punkier and altogether fun affair, therefore distancing itself enough from its brethren and mingling with the socially more troubled likes of Male Bonding and Harlem (both of which have introduced to the world their debut albums this year, and have both been reviewed here at Sonic Masala).

Well, just like their namesakes, Fungi Girls refused to go away, popping up with a couple of tracks in the past couple months with the promise of more 7" tomfoolery to come to round out the year. So here are a couple tracks to sate your appetites - 'Turquoise Hotel' being more like the FG's of old, and yet 'Owlsley Knows' hints at a more mature appraoch to their musical leanings - slower, but with a seductive slink in its swagger that intimates that something truly special is brewing over in Texas...

Fungi Girls - Turquoise Hotel

Fungi Girls - Owlsley Knows

Album review - Harlem's Hippies

Yes, there will be a few reviews in the upcoming weeks. I dont think Ill get to all the albums I wanted to post, but Ill do my best!

So last week was Broken Water - today we have Harlem. A much different sound sonically I can tell you - Harlem are infectiously fun, creating concise cuts of garage rock that is as irreverent as it is throwaway - and yet it is a necessary soundbite to indulge in time and time again. And Hippies, their 2nd LP and their first with major label Matador, perfectly showcases this.

I really struggle to write anything about this record without grinning uncontrollably, jumping up and down on the spot, giving myself whiplash before having to call the hospital because Ive accidentally put my leg through the loungeroom window. The Texans not only know how to craft an immaculate pop tune, but inject it with such effervescence and tightknit virtuosity, with more than a dab of overabundant confidence, that each song becomes a laced morsel of brilliance. Tracks such as 'Faces', 'Gay Human Bones' and 'Stripper Sunset' alternate from sunny dispositions to wrecking every conceivable surface of a room and back again in the space of 3 minutes, whilst 'Three Legged Dog' is Buddy Holly to a T, and 'Friendly Ghost' is so laden with hooks so as to drag in a marlin from a deep sea fishing cruise...

This album is ridiculous. I was watching the Beatles' Anthology the other day and wondered what it would be like to immersed in Beatlemania. Listening to Hippies is probably going to be the closest Ill ever get to that losing-my-shit, stabbing-anyone-in-my-way-to-get-a-glimpse euphoria, period. Although I will gladly lose my shit and do some stabbing at a Justin Beiber convention...but that is for another time...

And if their music isnt enough, get following their Twitter account - it is seriously the funniest shit Ive read since David Lynch started giving weather forecasts and explaining what shapes he saw in the clouds on any given day...

Harlem are playing next Thursday (June 10) at the Flowerpot, and Friday (June 11) at the Lexington, another brilliant White Light gig for sure! Unfortunately Ill miss this one - although its for a 30th, so am not complaining in the least - but ensure that you get there!

Harlem - Gay Human Bones
Harlem - Stripper Sunset