Broken Down By The Paint Fumes

I've started writing a post about Charlotte gutter punks Paint Fumes' Uck Life LP (put out by equally brazen label Slovenly Records) about five times over the year, and for whatever reason it has filtered down to the sea bed of my disorganisation. Then a fortnight ago I found out that member Elijah Von Cramon had been hit by a car in February, seriously injuring him and effectively ending a tour to support the album (although surely he could have found punk dives with wheelchair access...) so if I didn't finish this fucking post I would be a karmic leper, so here it is.

Uck Life is a balltearer from start to finish. It may show moments of deviation, like the psych squall that drives the title track, yet even that is accelerated to speed freak proportions. This is brazen rock n roll, as lurid, silly and urgent as can be, and the tightness of the band is emulated by the longevity of the band's staying power - this record is insatiable!

Buy Uck Life here. You can help out with Elijah's recovery (because US healthcare is the goddamn worst) by donating some scratch here - incentives include all their releases and other paraphernalia. There is also a tribute CD (with SM faves Spider Bags and Last Year's Men amongst the eighteen bands contributing) you can grab here. He is walking again, but has a bit of a road ahead. Godspeed.

Paint Fumes - Space Cadet
Paint Fumes - Uck Life

Last Year's Men Had No Claws

Remember when all the best bands came from North Carolina? Chapel Hill in the early/mid Nineties? No? Hmm. Well, they did - Archers of Loaf, Superchunk, Polvo, Sex Police, Pipe, Squirrel Nut Zippers (*cough*). And Last Year's Men are doing their best to bring the mojo back to the region. They have an LP coming out soon (produced by Greg Cartwright of Reigning Sound/Oblivians, even more reason to get excited), and have this Clawless Paw 7" (out through the excellent Sophomore Lounge)to whet the whistle. Two tracks of garage rock that also deal in subterfuge - the titular track's intro is raucous yet contained, yet threatens to derail every second thereafter; whilst 'What I Can Get' shows us a shinier, happier side of the coin, before the facade crumbles and the rot sets in, full fledged coarse steel-wool glory. Its clear that these guys have something percolating here; that the garish cover only hints at the hypercolour madness within; that this incoming record could be napalm to the soul; and that a good spiritual hazing is something 2013 is begging for. Bring that shit ON.

Clawless Paw can be in your eager mitts now - get it here. The band have a May tour of the US lined up, but need YOUR help! Look below, and if you can help hit up their Facebook here.

may 20th - asheville, nc HELP

may 21st - nashville, tn w/ cheap time (need help with a place to play!)

may 22nd - louisville, ky at tba w/ mount carmel

may 23rd - chicago, il at tba

may 24th - detroit, mi at tba

may 25th - toronto, on at silver dollar w/ mystics

may 26th - hamilton, on at casbah w/ mystics

may 27th - montreal at tba w/ mystics

may 28th - new york, ny at shea stadium

may 29th - new jersey/dc/philly HELP PLEASE?

may 30th - richmond, va at tba w/ nervous ticks

Last Year's Men - Clawless Paw