Your Sex Grows Over In This Church...

There was a time late last year when everyone seemed to be losing their shit over Sex Church, the Vancouver outfit whose music dealt in masochistic mayhem of the rustiest variety. Their Six Songs release was raw, brutal, and inherently enervating. Since then though, we have seen a surge of acts drink at the same fetid pond - namely TV Ghost and Brisbane's own Slug Guts. But where TV Ghost embrace a more indie-centric viewpoint to the industrial malaise (and I mean no disrespect - I think it is this pop aesthetic that elevates these guys to a much higher realm than most others plying their trade) and Slug Guts are more style over substance, Sex Church really seem to inhabit the rabid viscera contained within their performances. That's not to say these guys are worse than trash humpers - I'm sure they are lovely tea-sipping fellows? Or maybe THAT will be offensive to them? Maybe humping trash is their ultimate pastime? Whatever, the point is that this is REAL.


And on Growing Over, their latest on Load, Sex Church feel a little more cosy amongst the shards of jagged glass and broken syringes. Its insidious. It sometimes feels like Disappears headed by Rowland S Howard, at others like a freebasing Iceage. But comparisons are useless, like they always invariably are. All's can be said is that Growing Over is exactly that - Sex Church have just let the ether take them over to spew forth whatever it sees fit. Such abandon means that tracks either start with intent before tangentially chugging into the shadows, morph from garage staple to oozing wretch, or thrash you with a thousand hammers before kissing you deeply. Its skewed, somewhat brutal and a more than a little unhinged - and very, very real.

Sex Church - Waking Up
Sex Church - Beneath The Bottom

Slick Cheats At Their Own Game (And A Friday Cover Up!)

Cheater Slicks and I go way back - waaaaaaaaay back. Right back to the heady days of late 2010 (to be honest, they were pretty heady). My soon to be brother from another mother Si and I were talking about the ace Sex Church, and Si couldn't understand why they got all the props and Cheater Slicks didnt - carbon copy, he said; before their time, he said. I told him I didnt understand a lick of his conversation, and although Im sure he wanted to glass me, he instead took a deep breath and played me some records - Whiskey and Refried Brains (both put out by In The Red Records, 1993 and 1999 respectively). I got understandably rabid and begged to know what their new album was called. Si, finally with the ascendancy he needs to stay so youthful (a form of vampiric narcissism, if you will), laughed down at me, scoffing all the while that I didnt know true music...

OK, it didnt quite happen that way - he still glassed me - but Si has an extremely valid point. Over the past few year the modern garage rock/punk movement has coalesced into this all-pervading force that, whilst it wont break out into the masses to wash away the sins of modern pop music - let's face it, nothing will - and it something I am eternally grateful for. But this Columbus, Ohio act have been the blueprint of this resurgence, and they have been kicking around since 1987, putting down anywhere between 15 and 25 records (depending who you asked and how fucked up they are) of dirty, visceral, lo-fi, gritty, bad-ass garage rock tunes that swing from spiky gutpunchers to squalling leviathans of skewed shoegaze/no wave noise, all of it sloppy, all of it awesome.

Just the other day Our Food Is Chaos hit the stands, a lost album of sorts 1989 that is just now finding the light of day. It showcases the trio at their most primal and sleazoid, strutting around in a trashed alleyway waiting to steal your innocence. Its a hypo needle to the eardrums, a boot stomped into the soul, before they drag you back up on your feet, pour that cheap whiskey down your throat and grab you in a headlock, blood brothers once more. And for that reason, it is a great listen, distilling the virtues (or lack thereof) of the band perfectly, as well as showcasing why Allen Paulino (bassist) is dropped from the equation - not that he is bad, but that Cheater Slicks are much much better without him. A dirty bit o soup for the soul.

What's more, the Slicks cover Murphy & The Mob's fuzzy 'Born Loser' - so these ace Bostonians (relocated to Ohio, of course) get two accolades to finish out the Friday!

NB: Si, I love you man. This one's for you.

Cheater Slicks - Dark Night
Cheater Slicks - Born Loser

Brendan Masala's Top Ten Albums of 2010!

This was ridiculously hard to do for a year where there were a lot of really good albums but not many great ones. Still, when I had done a lot of cross examinations and listened til my ears bled, I was left with some twenty albums that were still floating my boat. As Paul and I found common ground there, as a collective Paul and I have come up with a definitive top ten for tomorrow (with the only exception being our final entry - wont say much until tomorrow), so I'm showcasing a couple that may have slipped through the cracks. And from the above pic I guess you know where we are starting...

1. Mark McGuire, Living With Yourself

I only heard this a month ago, but have not been able to put it to bed. This is guitar collage by a consummate professional (1/3 of the inimitable Emeralds), but with an inherent personal narrative that is more emotive than almost anything you'll come across. Mindblowing.

2. Ceremony - Rohnert Park

This album upset a lot of the hardcore purists that had been swept up by the bloodlust that was Ceremony's initial propulsive drive. Yet its the melodic change of gear and emphasis on early twenties ennui that underpins this album - Ceremony may be in 'The Doldrums', exhibiting lo-fi stargazing with the best of em, but unlike the likes of Beach Fossils et al (many of which are great), these guys will still tear you a new arsehole.

3. Puffy Areolas - In The Army 1981

Puerile, nihilistic trash, screaming and buzzsawing their way through an obnoxious forty minutes that you can never get back, Puffy Areolas are unabashedly bashing their head repeatedly against a wall, whilst holding you in a headlock. And it may take a while, but rest assured you'll have a bloodied grin smeared across your face. A lot of bands (some even from the same Siltbreeze stable) tried for reckless wanton abandon, but none did it like Puffy Areolas.

4. Male Bonding - Nothing Hurts

This album is still up there for me even though it was on relentless rotation early in the year, and was an almost there contender for Sonic Masala's definitive top ten. In some ways I could alternate this album with Harlem's Hippies - both exuded that bright, snotty, scuzzy garage punk with pop sensibilities emblazoned across their chests. But I came to the Dalston trio's brand of sound first, therefore it wins the kudos here. Still incredibly addictive - pretty much my 2010 dance album, albeit drunken and inevitably staining the carpet with red wine and cigarette burns.

5. Thee Silver Mt Zion Memorial Orchestra - Kollaps Tradixionales

We all need a guilty pleasure... I know a lot of people hate Efrin Menuck's voice, and the G!YBE reunion certainly has overshadowed things, but Kollaps Tradixionales is here, not just because it is an impressive, audacious, sprawling, memsmeric listen, but because of their amazing live show in February at Electric Ballroom, and for the epic opening track 'There Is A Light'. And I like Ramirez's voice, so fuck you.

6. Heirs - Fowl

I wanted to put Helms Alee's Night Terror here, but seeing as it is a 2009 release, that cant be done. Instead I bring you Heirs, a hard post-metal outfit from Melbourne that managed on Fowl to squeeze every iota of emotion out of the blackest riffs this side of death metal without resorting to guttural growls, yelps and the gnashing of teeth - which is why I love this genre. Furthermore, it has balls. Big, big balls. They played the tiniest of venues in Camden this year and I saw a man spontaneously combust. FACT. (NB - facts may not be factual).

7. Eddy Current Suppression Ring - Rush To Relax

Another Aussie outfit, but one you might be more familiar with - ECSR's 3rd LP has been largely overlooked almost everywhere, which is a travesty. I know that the release of the first two albums (Eddy Current Suppression Ring and Primary Colours) only came here last year, but its a shame that this garage juggernaut missed the target. They are terse yet fun, brooding yet energetic, manic yet throwaway - and their simple chugging sonics coupled with lead Brendan Suppression's iconic Aussie bark/drawl makes for a unique and amazing sound. They have toured with Pissed Jeans of recent times - expect for more bite next time around.

8. Merchandise - (Strange Songs) In The Dark

Another band I only came to last month - the exact same day as Mark McGuire - this Florida act have put out an amazing EP and a bunch of demos and such (Gone Are The Silk Gardens Of Youth), but the album is something so much more. The loudest, most feedback riddled, brooding pop songs ever. One of the most breathtaking albums of 2010 in my opinion - underneath all that white noise and dissonance is abject beauty.

9. Sex Church - 6 Songs By...

These guys were all the rage in the middle months of 2010, then the hype seemed to die away. Shame really, cos Sex Church (not to be confused with another amazing band, Megachurch, who just miss the cut here) are producing some of the most exciting garage rock right now. When bands such as Tyvek and Sic Alps are all jostling each other for obvious reasons, Sex Church came along and quietly drank everyone under the table and slept with all their girlfriends. And they are from British Columbia. Shit.

10. Tjutjana - Tjutjana

The biggest surprise of the year I reckon, as this is actually a release sent to me by the band themselves. Hailing from Denver Colorado, Tjutjana are relentless in their pursuit of the Dark Side of psych rock. And whilst there were some great psych records out this year, Tjutjana brought forth a fresh, albeit disturbing, take, and blew away the competition.

I feel I've left out some other stellar releases too, so here's a few others that have gotten serious airplay this year.

Honourable mentions

The Austerity Program - Backsliders and Apostates Will Burn (my fave EP of year)
Forest Swords - Dagger Paths
The Black Angels - Phosphene Dream
Weekend - Sports
Besnard Lakes - ...Are The Roaring Night

PVT - Church With No Magic

And I better stop there before I get carried away!

Garage Degradation In The Name Of The Lord

Ive been a very naughty boy. I have promised myself, and others, that I would post about these guys before, and have failed to - basically sitting with my thumb up my bum does not a post make! So Ill try to do as good a job as I can.

I introduce: Sex Church.

Now, these guys from Vancouver, Canada, arent exactly a hidden gem. They arent entirely gemlike either. These boys have been riding various blog-boosted waves since late last year. And their sound is anything but pristine - this is thrashy, dirty, fuzzy, scuzzy, sweaty garage rock with a mainline injection of not giving a fuck. The marriage of distaste, disappointment and paranoia with the propulsive drones of kraut mechanisations and distorted black masses of noise threatens to swallow you whole. Its not necessarily brutal - there is a hell of a lot of fun to be had here, and some tracks like 'The Floor' are just great sprawling garage jams - it just that its done at such a sleazy speed in a darkened room that you're likely to get whiplash, carpet burn and pregnant at the same time.

You want to own their debut LP Six Songs By Sex Church (out through Convulsive Records) and Sacred Bones). Scratch that - you need to. Your life depends on it. Just get it. And the best thing about this psych garage nonstop fuckup is that you know there is plenty more in their supply tanks. Trust me, one whiff of this and you'll be scratching holes in your arms just to get another lick of it.

And once you are fully addicted, you can chase down more fixes in the format of Sweet Rot Records 7"'s and HoZaC Record's Singles Klub from earlier this year. You're in good, devilish hands then...

Sex Church - Dead End

Sex Church - The Floor

Sex Church - Ghost

Sex Church - Paralyze from crystal lake on Vimeo.