Tripping Out In The Technicolour Lodge

I heard White Lodge before I saw them. It isn't that strange to admit in any form - but the strange thing was that they were from around Brisbane way and I had never heard of them before. What's worse/better, their EP Holy Void was a cracker, with a Murder City Devils vibe trickling out from the viscous cracks held within. They then put out a split record with Taiwan band Forests (who are fucking amazing by the way), supported The Growlers, and then I got them to play a show alongside Melbourne's Heads of Charm, the inimitable Turnpike and the brooding champions Howling Seas - and now here we are, at EP #2. Technicolour Visions continues where Holy Void left off - another six tracks of surf garage gurns and grit, dirty and blasted, but still clean enough to take home to your mum. Where will these guys end up next? I don't know - but they need to play more shows, get their records out there, and slay. Which they will. Drop in and schiz out.

CD Expulsion - Flotsam And Jetsam of 2013

So here are a bunch of physicals in CD form that I have collated over the past few months that I thought I would yammer on about in the one post. 2013 is over - the Purge is nigh... Ill try to stretch it all into a superfluous narrative for you though...

I saw Chicago's motorik finest Cave in Brisbane the night I flew out to England. Literally - I got to Brisbane from Maryborough at 3pm, went home and packed, went out with my big-arse suitcase to the pub to have a "meeting" about the Sonic Masala label, watched Cave, spoke briefly to Cooper Crain from the band, then stepped out, hailed a cab and went to the airport, in the air for 2am. Maybe it was the nervous energy, maybe they are just that good - but Cave were transcendental in their trance-like rhythmic mantras, their jams tightly coiled, barely suppressed double helix's of Kraut instrumentation and manipulations. All on the back of their new record Threace, which is pretty damn amazing. I wanted to give it a bigger write-up, but I only received it a week before I flew out, which was madness, then, well, anyway, have a listen. It's out through Drag City and you can buy it from here.

I received Gilded Pleasures, the new EP from Californian psyched out weirdos The Growlers, at the same time as Cave's Threace, and it suffered a similar fate. It did soundtrack a spate of marking 3rd year creative writing students' final projects, which was suitably delirious. Its pretty long - 9 songs at just under half an hour - Weezer would call that an LP - and can be hit and miss, as is the wont of the extended play format. But when songs like 'Dogheart II' or the great delivery of 'Hiding Under Cover' floats through the speakers, all unabashedly sleazy and breezy, The Growlers really nail it. This would have made my top EPs of 2013 in retrospect. Hot news - The Growlers will be in Australia in March, playing Black Bear Lodge in Brisbane on March 5. See you there.

Mucky Sailor is a band from Leeds. They are a two piece obsessed with flamboyant silliness and fancy dress. They offer a suitably unhinged live show. They feature one of the drummers from Nope. Said drummer is a close friend of my brother-in-law. My sister gave me their album Early Lad back in July. I have wanted to interview the band for a while, but my slackness has won out there. I could have seen them play in December as they played the Shacklewell Arms which is literally down the road from where I was staying - but I drank at home and watched six episodes of Bob's Burgers instead. Get Early Lad here, and get to one of their shows (AKA don't be me). Fin.

(taken by Glen Schanau)

I missed new Melbourne "supergroup"Heads Of Charm play Brisbane in December by a matter of days. The trio (David Gagliardi - Laura; Sam Reid - Bone; Sam Whiting - Nikko) played a number of shows and by all reports fucking slayed. Totally bummed - I would have been at these shows (especially seeing as the Saturday gig was with both bands on Sonic Masala Records...) Typically irascible yet tongue-in-check balltearers from these guys. Come back soon, yeah?

Melbourne dreamers Beloved Elk released the EP Peace Offering onto the world in December, and its a regal gem. I managed to sneak a listen to this the day I left Australian shores, on a train from Maryborough to Brisbane. The train was waylaid because a truck drove into a bridge. A lot of people were pissed off. At first I was too, but then I put this on and all anxiety and anguish and frustration with the idiocy of the general populace bled away. Beautiful stuff.

Brisbane chamber experimentalists Nonsemble released Practical Mechanics in physical form through Lofly Records. A beguiling amalgam of Conservatory punctuality and pragmatism with underground playfulness and subversive zeal, the tracks here are at times hard to digest, with deliberate shifts in medium and rhythm coming on rather strong. But the point is that Nonsemble are attempting to traverse new frontiers, and when they successfully create their own soundscape (which happens frequently) it's a majestic experience.

The final official Sonic Masala show of the year featured Auckland's nihilists Girls Pissing On Girls Pissing and Melbourne's inimitable Orlando Furious. We also featured the welcome return of Adam Cadell (The Scrapes, Nikko). Playing alongside accomplished drummer Tony Irving, Adam put on a great improv set that set the tone for the rest of the evening. Irving himself is no stranger to great live sounds though, and one of the bands he has worked with is The Impossible. The free jazz/noise trio recorded a couple of songs as part of an Audiopollen show, the results of which are below. Excellent stuff.

Back to the Cave show, and one of the supports was Ghost Notes (currently on a brief hiatus - expect them back midway through the year). Before becoming the excellent Ghost Notes some of the members were in a band called Buildings Melt. I only got my hands on their only album We're All Going To Be Dirt In The Ground that night - and its a fantastic instrumental release. The live nature of the recordings showcases some of the earliest works for Cam Smith of Incremental Studios, and it works well to create a warm, all-inclusive suite of sounds. I think Ill be returning to this quite a bit over the next few weeks as I try to crack on with my writing...

Sydney based, artist run label Feral Media continue to put out quality releases, including some seasonal EP compilations. I'm including Spring because I was sent a physical copy that I only got around to playing recently, and it features this killer track from Nimble Animal.

Finally, I was walking along the Thames back in July and this guy was busking, playing pretty rad songs from the banks, all through a little amp. It was stripped and laconic, and at first I thought it was Brisbane's debonair troubadour misanthrope James X Boyd (it wasn't, but its a thought mate...), but turns out it was Flame Proof Moth. I threw down some change and he got off his deckchair and gave me a CD. This is that CD. It's one of my favourite memories of that trip - and another reminder of how amazing music can be when wielded by people with creativity, energy and cheek (plus he's supported Jeffrey Lewis and Kevin Eldon - pretty bloody excellent I reckon).

Lil Daggers Leave Peace For Pizza

Florida surprises many with the type of sordid swamp rats that come out of in utero clutching an instrument and energy to burn, and Lil Daggers continues to make the incisions. One of the first bands that Sonic Masala like to say we "discovered", the band had fallen off the radar release-wise for a while - but have been far from idle, supporting Swans, The Growlers, Merchandise and Royal Baths in recent months. Now they are filled with devilish intent, having cooked up a new EP to force-feed us. No Pizza No Peace (soooooooo true...) is an EP that promises to continue the expansions that Lil Daggers have taken since starting out as scrappy fighters back in the back end of first decade of the 21st century - my, how quick they grow up...*sniff* 'After The Flood' broods, morosely seethes, echoes and languidly flails - a creepy gem.

No Pizza No Peace will be out on Beyond Beyond Is Beyond Records - you can pre-order it here.

Making Teardrops In Topshop

This 7" EP (called Topshop - not sure if its after the European clothing chain, but I certainly hope so) from Brighton's Teardrop Factory is pretty special. Four songs of smudged, broken guitar amble, shoegaze for the inebriated and bewildered. Take 'Vanity Unfair' for example - three minutes of distorted wash, dishevelled vocals disappearing down an abandoned well. Or the title track, a wonky pop slouch that sounds drunken, sedated and incredibly addictive. Finding the finely structured songwriting beneath the fuzz isn't hard; getting it out of your head is nigh on impossible.

Topshop comes out on Faux Discx today - you can grab it here. This grabbed me as much as The Growlers EP a couple years back, and those are tracks that have buried themselves into my soul, so...watch out.

Hits From The Box #65 - Get Psyched

This weekend marks the 6th Austin Psych Fest, an event that I've wanted to go to since its inception...six years ago (funny, that). The closest I've come though is seeing Brissie band Dreamtime get on the bill this year. There will be a chance in the near future where I will be partaking in a weekend of excellent psych rock from around the globe, but until then, here are six bands that are on the bill, and for whatever reason I haven't posted about them yet (or for a while).

JJUUJJUU is a duo from LA that love their music long, elongated, a little weird, and very astrally inclined. They have just released their debut LP FRST (through Beyond Beyond Is Beyond - you can grab it here) which is a burnt slab of distorted retina burners. Already the band is gleaning shows with the likes of Cosmonauts and some pretty amazing festivals such as Desert Daze and Psych De Mayo, and are worthy of the high praise.

JJUUJJUU - G 4 A G

Another impressive duo dirge is Nashville's Ttotals, who have just released Spectrums Of Light 7" yesterday through Twin Lakes Records. The squalling echo that emanates on the periphery should be familiar - the tracks were mastered by Sonic Boom (Spacemen 3/Spectrum). These blue desert wanderers delve elbow deep into the dark stuff before launching forth with a crashing fury. Remember when QOTSA where kinda exciting? 'Tricks Of The Trade' holds much of that Rated R magic in its veins, whilst 'Sometimes You Just Are' plays back like a record in reverse, and is just as menacing. Get it here.

Ttotals - Tricks Of The Trade

Continuing on with the unintentional trend of psych duos, most of you will be familiar with the swirling psychedelia of Chile's The Holydrug Couple. They brought out Noctuary a couple months ago through Sacred Bones, and it's a cracker. At its core is a golden hue that emanates out of the speakers and cocoons you, a natural high of the highest supply. Everything feels out of sync, at half-pace, ethereal and enraptured in the paisley underground of 60s psych pop (they even have a song called 'Paisley' for Chrissakes!). Its lustrous, its elegant, above all its excellent. Get it here.

The Holydrug Couple - It's Dawning

Cosa Mesa's favourite junkyard bums The Growlers have just released a new album, Hung At Heart, through Everloving Records. You might remember that one of my favourite songs from the last few years is their 'Graveyard's Full'. And although there hasn't been a song on this album that grabbed me like that one did, it's a solid slice of lo-fi doo-wop skewering, shanties for the disenchanted, ballads for the murderous. I really want to see this band - and if you're in Austin this weekend, you lucky devils, you really should. Dusty Box Social twinkles from Hell. Get Hung At Heart here.

Now I mentioned Brisbane's Dreamtime were in Austin for the APF. Well they aren't the only Aussie reps, as The Black Ryder, The Laurels, and these guys will be blowing all and sundry away. Adelaide's Ride Into The Sun have an added in here - their upcoming album was recorded by none other than Black Angels frontman Alex Maas last year whilst the band toured the Harvest festivals. While we wait for that to drop with sweaty palms, here is the 7" they released to tantalise the third eye.

I bought World Music on Record Store Day for a number of reasons. Firstly, the cover art - of many vibrant colours, with W's and M's cut out of the front - was pretty spectacular. Secondly, it was in 180gm clear vinyl and look delectable. Finally (and most importantly) it's the new album from Swedish psych band Goat. This is hands down one of the best psych records I have heard in years - IN YEARS. Writing only this much is not giving it justice, but trust me, it will be in the reckoning for top honours come year's end. You can get it via Stranded Rekords here.

Goat - Diarabi
Goat - Goatman

And I thought I'd end off with The Black Angels, who themselves have just brought out their latest album Indigo Meadow. Here's the title song from it. I interviewed Alex Maas earlier in the week - more about that to come.

The Black Angels - Indigo Meadow

Happy Saturday!

Hits From The Box #59 - Can't Sleep, ATP'll Eat Me

 

I've been having trouble sleeping lately. Partly to do with the fact that I'm recovering from surgery, true – but also because its less than a week before ATP in Melbourne. The playlist is a-comin, but to tee things off, I had a pretty high watermark moment last week. I got to interview Aidan Girt, he of Godspeed You! Black Emperor. The only print interview in Australia! I can’t claim that it was an easy interview, or even my best – but it was good enough that he extended the twenty minute interview by an extra twenty, laughed a lot, and really seemed to enjoy talking about Crass and Chuck D. So the excitement is palpable. Couple that with the anticipation of seeing said band at ATP (on top of soooooo many other top notch acts, not least of which are Swans and My Bloody Valentine), but also tomorrow night at the Tivoli – its too much! My lil ticker can barely take it – and my head surely cant. Ill try to calm down by seeing Thee Oh Sees on Thursday – who am I kidding? ITS GREAT TO BE ALIVE!

Ahem, but here are some other reasons that life is pretty sweet – it’s Hits From The Box time.

 

Let’s start with Earth Rod. I know very little about them, other than they feature members of Leicester sluggers Thee Ludds who I have featured in the past and am a big fan of (funnily enough it took their split with The Growlers for me to discover the latter band – and that was a special moment indeed – I still can’t get enough of their ‘Graveyard’s Full’ track). The trio have a few trashy tracks for perusal, and they are understandably fast paced, cacophonous and shambolic fun.

 

 

Not far away in Nottingham is the teenage trio Kagoule, whose Monarchy/Mudhole 7” comes out through Denizen Records at the end of the month. There is a lot of wild noise here, yet it is all reined in, a controlled anguish, shoegaze without the gazing at shoes; grunge without the flannelette; post-punk without the leering contempt and social commentary. Yet none of those omissions prove to be costly – this is a dreamy yet ominous form of rock that avoids being airy or self-important. It’s an impressive little record, with a lot of gravitas emanating from a band so young. Definitely keep an eye out for these guys – their debut record (out later this year) could be a sleeper gem. They also are launching the single in Nottingham on Saturday, with a Midlands romp over the rest of the month – check em out if you can.

 

 

Let’s change tack. Wry Climate are a guitar-driven indie rock band from New York that is more in line with the likes of Beach Fossils and Lotus Plaza, albeit more inclined for swirling feedback fades to fill in the gaps between understated contemplations. ‘Comfort Decay’ certainly fits that reference to Lockett Pundt’s solo endeavours, but there is an elongated sprawl here that evokes his “day” band Deerhunter, awash with colour and light as it soars above the sawing guitars. This is the first taste of an upcoming EP – jingle jangle.

Wry Climate – Comfort Decay

 

Hailing from Brooklyn, and mining similar territory, is quartet Lazyeyes. Their EP is out now, and whilst this isn’t as clean cut and relies on reverb too much (it’s an effect that is becoming too much of a fall back without adding enough to the equation), these four tracks hold indelible hooks. Again, that Beach Fossils connection could be made, or even early Dylan Baldi if the bubblegum had soured earlier, but he hadn’t discovered his 90s rock roots. Its moody and melodic, shimmering in the distance, a mirage within the concrete jungle.

 

 

Back to England now – the village of East Malling, to be exact. Its south-east of London, looks nice on Google Earth. Anyway, Tom Greenwood contacted me about these tracks he started playing with a couple of days before New Years Eve. On New Years day, whilst most were nursing headaches, heartbreaks or the toilet, he endeavoured to write an entire album. Ambitious – I was too busy watching Gremlins and drinking ale at a pub in Wimbledon next to a wet shaggy dog. There is a album in that too, probably…anyway, this is the first taste, ‘Give Up’. I hope he doesn’t take on his song title, because this is a warm and soaring track about persistence – it’s actually fairly life-affirming, in a finger-snapping, lysergic kinda way. it's got heart, and I’m won over, at any rate. I'm looking forward to the next instalment to this NY burst of creativity. (Seriously though – write a song about watching Gremlins and drinking ale in a pub in Wimbledon next to a wet shaggy dog).

 

 

And not far away, in Bristol, we have Joe Sherrin AKA Milo’s Planes. Sherrin drums in both Let’s Kill Janice and Me, You & Thomas (both bands being on the Howling Owl Records roster), so he is a dab hand in the local scene. Milo’s Planes has been the name for his solo material, but this time around he has fleshed it out some. In the past year alone he has written an album and 4 EPs worth of material. This is his latest set of demo offerings, initially only intended for Sherrin’s girlfriend before she convinced him to show the world. It’s all recorded into one microphone in his brother’s room, hence the overriding ride cymbal – yet it all complements each other. There is a laconic griminess to these recordings that fit in well with Sherrin’s songwriting, a mixture of DC garage punk and indie off-kilter melody – think of a more dissonant Superchunk or Black Lips doing Pavement covers. I really like this stuff – it’s the ground zero of something that could be quite productive. Hey, I really didn’t like Yuck when they first came out and they turned out pretty good – this has similarities, yet I'm already a fan. Can’t go wrong there.



Happy Tuesday!

Definition Of Meatboy = A Cannon With Lovely Legs

 

Local Brisbane garage rock miscreant label Long Gone Records is promising some proper dirty releases this year, and to get a true understanding of what that means, we need to go back to their last release Meatboys, a split cassette between Cannon and Lovely Legs.

 

There arne’t many messier bands in Brisbane than Cannon. Their shambolism may infuriate some, but there is something inherently fun and slapstick about this five-piece’s rawer-than-a-dead-kitten take on playing. The recording, like much of their debut self-titled LP, is so low fidelity that it sounds like my old cassettes that I taped off VHS tapes – shit over shit. If you’ve heard it before, its because its verbatim their Blerndaddy EP. I still think that ‘Dogs In Space’ is one of their best songs, whilst ‘Poor Taste’ is the closest they come to being an actual band. Glad it doesn’t fire though – can you imagine? Cannon, a real band? The sky would definitely be falling in.

Cannon – Dogs In Space
Cannon – Get It On

 

Country punk Lovely Legs don’t exactly up the ante – these four tracks sound like The Growlers listening to The Johnny’s after snorting a bottle of amyl nitrate, hijacking a low frequency community radio station near Blackall, and hitting the record button on their stream-of-consciousness with the mics encased in corrugated iron. Such debauched foot stompers that you can taste the whisky before the bottle is smashed over your head. Hoedowns for skinny clowns, the soundtrack to Bob Katter’s feverish wet nightmares.

Lovely Legs – I Got It Made
Lovely Legs – Mr Death

 

Each tape is bright orange and feature volume drops, cracked cases and bad folding/cutting. The release is truly lo-fi in sound and quality – get it here. You can catch them both, alongside a rare-as-hen’s-teeth support from Chinese Burns, propping the stage up for irascible air-humping garage jackalope Nobunny. That shit is real, and is going down at the Primitive Room this Saturday. That poster (by the ever excellent Sam McKenzie) is just TOO good.

GET THERE.

The Power Of Styrofoam Is Too Great...

About a fortnight ago I started writing for ace US blog The Styrofoam Drone. That is my post today about Brissie locals Feathers and their vinyl LP Feather's Moon. The past two posts - Otro Mundo and a Palmist 10" split between SM mainstays Thee Ludds and awesome US band The Growlers. You can read those two here and here. I have already mentioned the Feathers and Otro Mundo releases, but haven't touched on how awesome Palmist Records' recent run of splits really are, although I mentioned the one that had The Whines and Burning Yellows on it here. Suffice to say it's killer. How killer? Thee Ludds finally showing their potential is warranted, whilst The Growlers have produced one of the tracks of 2011 with 'Graveyard's Full'. It really deserves a mention. Have a taste below, then head over and check out Zac's work on The Styrofoam Drone - it's an excellent blog that really goes that extra mile.

The Growlers - Graveyard's Full

Thee Ludds - Jagged Prowl