Taking Yuppies For A Ride

A bit of serendipity here. Yesterday I wrote about Boston's Sneeze; Sneeze played with Nebraskan band Yuppies; I receive the Yuppies album in the mail yesterday. We were meant to be...

Now Parquet Courts' Andy Savage has helped put out Yuppies’ debut eponymous album on his Dull Tools label, and it slays. The four-piece have crafted a record that has that febrile, unhinged energy that Savage's band harbours, but in the punk mentality of throttling a chord to within an inch of its life, seeing a song's lifespring slowly ebb away, Jack Begley's deadpan, acerbic vocals (reminiscent of Mr Dream) lurking in the dim streetlights, before the pressure is laid off the windpipe and everything coalesces into a vibrant upswing of violent glee. If these guys are yuppies, they are the slacker rock equivalent of Patrick Bateman. Excellent stuff - do yourself a favour and buy Yuppies here.

No Sleep In This Weird Wild World

I spoke not all that long ago about Sleepies - check that out here. Well, I was speaking to Nick Sylvester of Mr Dream, who runs the God Mode label, and he let drop that New York mentalists Sleepies were releasing their new LP Weird Wild World through his label in August. Literally the next day, two of the band's members, Tom and Josh, separately emailed me raving about Ty Segall and Dope Body posts respectively, then passing on their track 'Seriously'. Serendipity indeed.

And of course, it's bloody good (I'm so into this delving back into 90s raucous dirgey rock and tweaking it for the 21st century - Cloud Nothings, anyone?). But it isn't even the best song - not by far. This album is so filled with killer that it slays me. Opening with the pent-up swagger of 'Cool Boy' and intensity of 'Combat' (amazing track), it walks through molasses for 'Strange Feelings', and the slowed down mode doesn't affect their attitude one iota, making it all the more powerful because of it. And it keeps rolling on. Which shouldn't come as much of a surprise, seeing as their taste in Mr Dream, Ty Segall and Dope Body is complemented by roping in The Men's Ben Greenberg to produce the damned thing!


You can pre-order Weird Wild World here. This is a great album, one of the better things I've heard this year.

Sleepies - Seriously

Dreaming Of Yvette And The Fatherland

Nick Sylvester is a man that can't be tied down. Writing books, reviews, running labels (God Mode Records), gigging, living the dream. He is Mr Dream. Well, at least a part of the three piece who are throwing their scattershot grunge shtick into the fan and showering us in their glorious shit. Their Trash Hit LP of last year (which was pretty damn awesome and snuck into our highly commended albums of last year), and the follow up, the EP Fatherland, is even better. Riding high, they will be supporting Cloud Nothings before finishing with a stint on the SXSW circuit/gravy train/media scrumfuck.

Fatherland comes out on God Mode Feb 28. (NB - we have two tracks from the EP below, but they aren't the best. That's how good it is. Title track is fucking killer).

Mr Dream - What A Mess
Mr Dream - The Room

But as if that would be enough for this fucker. No, Sylvester is putting out a healthy slab of noise on a 7" for Yvette, the noise rock duo Noah Kardos-Fein and Rick Daniel. The Erosion 7" reminds me a little of HEALTH - all solid gold.

Yvette - Cold Sweat

Unsure Of Marine Predators

There's a little Brooklyn quartet called Shark? who have just released their first album, True Waste (produced and recorded by Pere Ubu bassist Tony Maimone, and available on their Bandcamp here). The first track I heard off it was 'Shark?', and the Pixies influence here is astounding. I would imagine such aping could be sacrilegous, if it wasn't done as well as it is here. I can see why they call fellow New Yorkers Mr. Dream brothers in arms then. Especial the vocals - can you get any more Frank Black without turning into Black Francis himself? Possibly, but Shark? are giving it a good shake. Though Im not sure why they are so unsure of their own name...

Shark? - Shark
Shark? - You Don't Love Me (Anymore)

Trashing The Dream

After my interview with the guys of Lil Daggers last week, I was thinking of some of the bands that I have come to love solely from their contacting me for the blog, otherwise I wouldnt be privy to their existence - an enviable position to be in for sure! Lil Daggers, Dead Meat, Civil Civic and Mr Dream are the first bands that jump out at me. And it seems that all of these bands are movin and shakin, which is mega rad of death.

But Im not here to talk about all of these bands, only one. I really like Mr Dream (dont believe me? Read here, here and here...). Whats not to love about a growling, sardonic, thrashy rock band that take their name from a character out of NES's Knockout? Nothing, that's what. And they have had their debut album, Trash Hit (through God Mode) for a little while now - and it is fantastic, better than I imagined it would be from their small releases throughout last year. They play within a number of genres, but also with the stereotypical tropes that fits a band aping their mentors - 'Walter' and 'Winners' are Black Francis vs Steve Albini naked armwrestles with David Yow adjudicating; 'Holy Name' may as well be the Pixies covering Nirvana covering the Pixies; or in the case of 'Crime', showing up contemporaries such as Japandroids in how to rock, whilst spitting out laugh out loud lines with wanton abandon. In fact, even 'Knick Knack' has sounds that evoke the likes of The Kinks and KC & The Sunshine Band (WTF?). The amazing part here though isnt that much of this is tongue in cheek - which it most certainly is - but that it is done with such verve, proficiency and dedication. These songs could come off as alt-rock's version of Me First and the Gimme Gimme's - instead we have a band that embraces its roots, puts it in a headlock, gently jabs them in the ribs then, arms interlinked, skip off to the pub to get plastered together whilst listening to the Misfits on the jukebox, and fuck everyone who thinks differently. How this works, Ive got no idea - how many bands do this sound nowadays? Its fun, loud, but above all sounds new - now that is a remarkable feat indeed...

Trash Hit is out now. Mr Dream will be supporting CSS and Sleigh Bells in the US this May - which is stupid really, because they are gonna slay all and sundry!

Mr Dream - Holy Name
Mr Dream - Scarred For Life
Mr Dream - Unfinished Business

Dreaming Of A Holy Name

Ive been a fan of Brooklyn punks Mr Dream ever since hearing their No Girls Allowed EP last year (check out how we championed them here and here). And its been a while coming, but today marks the release of the new LP, Trash Hit (originally titled Never Elaborate), on God Mode Records. The trio have mastered the art of ripping apart a song, flaying it to the bone, offering up the entrails, and making it giddily palatable - all within the space of a couple of minutes. It promises to be all the thrashy goodness these guys have been spitting up since last year, and they arent resting on any sized laurels, doing a few shows supporting Sleigh Bells and CSS around the US, starting at Grasslands in NY this Friday. With this kind of exposure, these boys could be entering everyone's dreams - hopefully without knives for fingers and a thirst for blood...

Mr Dream - Holy Name

A Bad Dream In Any Language

Brooklyn's lovers of NES and purveyors of sleazy slop Mr Dream are back again, in lieu of their forthcoming LP Never Elaborate, having already impressed with their No Girls Allowed EP (get it, plus all Mr Dream gear, here). This track sounds like Frank Black doing a Jesus Lizard cover, and has much the same sweaty charm/sleazoid mania. Apparently these guys gig on a rare basis, which is strange as they appear to be tight - there is definite cohesion beneath the shambolic approach. Whats more, Nick Sylvester has worked on The Colbert Report, runs his own zine, is writing a novel...a creative maelstrom! I really like these guys, and cant wait to see what the upcoming album will launch.

Mr Dream - Learn The Language

Dream a Lil Dirty Dream Of Me...

Mr Dream, a three piece outta Brooklyn, have really impressed me with their current track 'Scarred For Life.' I didnt know what to expect from these guys, but the old adage of 'don't judge a book by its cover' certainly paid dividends. Mr Dream deal out short fast thrashy songs full of charm, angst and melody. How do these three fit together? Anyone who is a fan of Mclusky will know that it does, and the result is something quite mesmerising. Im not saying these guys ARE Mclusky or anything, Im just saying that in that short fast loud format Mr Dream have instilled a certain level of warmth to go with their noise. Their touchstones include Jesus Lizard, The Wipers and Talk Normal. And its a lot of fucking fun (by their own admission they formed after all seeing a Jay Reatard gig back 2008 - nuff said).

Scarred For Life is out soon digitally, whilst their EP No Girls Allowed is out now, both via God Mode Records.

Im just dropping down the shop for a knuckle sandwich, anyone want one? We can eat them whilst playing some vintage Punch Out?

Mr Dream - Scarred For Life

Mr Dream - Knuckle Sandwich

Mr Dream - Knick Knack