Hits From The Box #19 - Gallapogator Rock

Ah...I apologise kids. I missed a Hits From The Box in only the second time since its inception some five or so months ago. Why, you ask? Because I was getting boozy playing golf. Kinda befitting seeing as the pub is often referred to as the 19th hole in golf circles - which I must strongly stress I am not a part of, my efforts last weekend attest to that - and this being the 19th edition of Hits From The Box. So, I hit triple figures, but to let you know the calibre of the competition, I came second overall. Yep - booze over backswings, every time...


Im pretty happy with the six we have coming your way this week! Leicester, UK five piece Her Name Is Calla takes up pole position today. Maw is the double A-side single release follow up to their lauded last album The Quiet Lamb, and it is three tracks of rock that never shows its hand, always on the move like a sinewy creature of the shadows. The title track gallops along with barely contained ferocity, whilst on the flipside 'The Beat That My Heart Skipped' takes its foundations to heart, barely rising out of the minimalist slant it sets up for itself in its opening chords. 'Dreamlands' closes out the 10", and a good one too - a more "traditional" Her Name Is Calla track, which ignites both sides of the coin and draws out the result. Denovali Records is offering up the release in limited release 100 clear gold + black haze vinyl, then 200 black vinyl copies. Nice...

Her Name Is Calla - Maw
Her Name Is Calla - The Beat That My Heart Skipped


Krang are from Edmonton, Canada. Speed Of Tent is an electric 7" out by Mammoth Cave Recordings, and it offers two sludgy slices of garage psych that is tantalising in its griminess. If getting grti under your fingernails could be considered a good thing, then Krang would be it. 'Speed Of Tent' is as ferocious as it is mind-bending, whilst the more elongated 'Spirit Animal' turns down the volume, picks up the acoustic and kicks the reverbed vocals into overdrive, before dissolving into a devilish dirge. Its these skewed notions that make Krang something to behold. And I dont know much about them - but isn't Krang the name of a villain from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? The evil brain creature? Please let that be the genesis of the name...

Krang - Speed Of Tent
Krang - Spirit Animal


Ah, Raw Moans. They have been mentioned here on Sonic Masala in the past, but usually due to collaborations with the likes of Lester Brown or Mickey Mickey Rourke (or both as Mickey Brown...). But they do put a lot of music out in their own right, and currently are offering an EP entitled SAFE SEX. Produced by Chill Pullman, the EP is a concept that re-works songs from musicians that have been affected by HIV-AIDS. The single off it, 'That's Us/Wild Combination', an Arthur Russell cover, is decidedly psych-laden, despite the dream pop wooziness that Raw Moans normally offers - and is a delicious track to boot. Plus have another track off it - we're feeling generous!

Raw Moans - That's Us/Wild Combination
Raw Moans - Lightning Strikes


Kentucky's Sleeper Agent are about to hit the road and garner a lot more interest, as they are in tow of growing upstarts Cage the Elephant and Atlanta's Manchester Orchestra beginning May 27th. The band are using it as the launchpad for their debut album, Celabrasion, on mom + pop music this August 16. The band make hook-laden scuzzy garage-pop rooted in both soul and Southern rock - citing influences such as Jay Reatard, The Strokes, Pixies, T-Rex, The Beatles, and Led Zeppelin should give you an idea in what terrain we are headed. Lead single 'Get It Daddy' is decidedly precocious, obnoxious, rambunctious, and fairly ridiculous - and it all works.

Get It Daddy by Sleeper Agent


We need some new scuzzy tunes to fuel the whisky tinged blues, and Honeycomb Bones just about fits the bill. Their Evil Age EP is full to brimming with sleazy drawling rockabilly, too laconic for its own good but not without its own sense of malice. And to think they hail from the UK? Even more bewildering is that these guys are unsigned! Id be happy to make them the first on the Sonic Masala label roster - if we were that far ahead, that is. We aren't - Im a slack sort - but Im getting there. In the meantime, jump on Evil Age ASAP.

Honeycomb Bones - Jackdaw
Honeycomb Bones - Artificial Sweetener


What a fitting conclusion! Hailing from Austin, Texas (like just about a gazillion other ace acts), Midnight Ghost have procured the elixir to rock n roll in the form of 7" single EighteenMillion/Jumble. It may be fairly fuzz and echoey, yet the incessant buzz, basic driving rhythm and iconic surf guitar had me soaring, and helped me tap out of the fugue I was approaching when a hangover seemed inevitable. And for that alone these guys get pass marks. Then 'Jumble' prepared more for a healthy, breezy nap. Midnight Ghost, my boozehound saviours.

Midnight Ghost - EighteenMillion
Midnight Ghost - Jumble

Happy Sunday!

Sundelles Are Kissing The Coast

The Sundelles are not far away from launching their album Georgia Swan onto a largely unsuspecting public, and have another track for us to feast upon. 'Kiss The Coast' is indicative of this trio's greatest asset - their innate propensity to create laconic mellow jams a la Real Estate, yet infusing it with an effortlessness and sense of whimsy that the aforementioned band lack...maybe. They have played with the likes of Beach Fossils and The Soft Pack also, so my hunch is wavering towards the affirmative. Im yet to hear the new album, but the tracks are certainly leaning in that direction, which I have to say makes me happy, as this could be the soundtrack for a strung out morning after lazing in the sunshine...

Sundelles - Kiss The Coast

Chilean Follakzoidal Decahedron

I never thought Id be giving a running commentary on psychedelic rock bands from Chile, but here I am offering up another slice, courtesy of Sacred Bones. Like The Holydrug Couple (which we offered to you here), You’ve got to admit, we’ve been loving this stuff from Chile as of late. Here’s another EP from Follakzoid, whose EP gives us two scintillating ten minute tracks, one on each side of the vinyl. The A-side “IV, III, II, I” garners our interest in the four movement suite offering, with each movement taking us a step closer to a bottomless abyss that we are inexporably meant to become one with. The motorik stylings are more obvious here - in fact some of the build ups remind me of Disappears, although that's where the reference points end.
B-side “Arabic-Hash” is a much more lethargic, almost interstellar sonic arc, yet it too slowly turns the screws so that you are spinning out of control on a subliminal signal that you cant grasp yet has you in its thrall. Its slightly disturbing, but in a glorious fashion. Santiago, staking their claim for psych rock capital of the world? Why not?

Follakzoid - IV, II, II, I (Excerpt)

A Double Friday Cover Up - Ghost Animals Are Helpless, Robert Johnson Goes Noise

I missed out on a Friday Cover Up last week, mainly because I didnt have one on hand that I particularly liked. But wouldn't you know it - two have come to hand, so Im boosting both of them on yo sorry asses today - prepare to be German supplexed!


First up is Ghost Animal, whose sounds came out a little while back which we quite liked. Well they have helped themselves to a little Neil Young frivolity as part of Headed For The Ditch, a tribute album to the mighty man which you can get here. 'Helpless' is suitably ramshackle and warbled, and whilst no one generally has a hope in hell of bettering Young's work, it is a solid effort.

Ghost Animal - Helpless (Neil Young cover)


But that ain't nothing folks... Second is EMA, whose new album Post Life Martyred Saints is out now and is ace of base! She released the opening track off the album, the seven minute long 'Grey Ship', as a single. The B-side is something else altogether - a sixteen minute short retooling of blues progenitor Robert Johnson's 'A Kind Heart'. Sparse, stark, scary.

EMA - 'Kind Heart' by theQuietus

Putting Up A Smokescreen For These Religious Knives

Religious Knives are essentially Michael Bernstein (guitar, synth, vox) and Maya Miller (organ, vox). They have built their lives around exploring the extremities of noise, dabbling in industrial overtones and Kraut extrapolations before settling on their current band's blend of drawn out drones, haltingly played organ welts, repetitious structures and swirling melodies, all kept in some semblance of check by Todd Cavallo on bass and Ryan Nadieau on drums. Their last album on Ecstatic Peace was highly acclaimed and co-produced by label owner Thurston Moore. Smokescreen, the new LP out on Sacred Bones (sigh...) follows the blueprint that they have set in the past, and follow fellow sonic troubadours Moon Duo into the psychedelic wilderness, trheatening to envelop themselves entirely in their aural trips of double-helixing grooves. Nothing is in a hurry to get anywhere - just coast on the vibes and you'll get where you need to go...whether you want to or not...



Buy Smokescreen here.

Religious Knives - The Message
Religious Knives - Garbage Can

Harking Back To The Paperhead

The Paperhead are a Nashville collective that have just released their debut album from the Trouble in Mind label, and at first listen it's like listening to one of your dad's warped records from 1968 that has been forgotten about and gathering dust. Add to this that the trio average 18 years of age, and you have some amazing (in)authenticity here. I know I often harp on about people sounding like others and how that can be detrimental - hey, I said it about one of the world's hottest bands, Cults, only yesterday - but here The Paperhead sound energised. Possibly haunted by the spirit of Syd Barrett or the halycon days when The Beatles were parallel time travellers, The Paperhead is so strong, its warm, effects-laden, dreamy psychedelia almost an affront to the band's youth and the state of today's music. The understanding between these three is also astounding.

Yet this could be the end - the three members putting The Paperhead to one side so as to attend college. Let's hope its not for long. Sure, they have already collared a sound that stands shoulder to shoulder with the genre's best, and we can all be happy with that - but as with all music addicts, we want more, damn it!

You can buy The Paperhead here.

The Paperhead - Back To Those Days
The Paperhead - Let Me Know

Toiling Away For The State Of The United States

A little while back I did a couple of posts on Mala In Se and Swear Jar, two great acts on Ohio label Phatry Records. I know its been manic over here, but I couldn't believe it when I was going through some work and found this album by Wisconsin populist theoretician noiseniks The United Sons Of Toil. You see, I was contacted initially to review their album When The Revolution Comes, Everything Will Be Beautiful - and I plain forgot! Sorry guys, hope this suffices...

This is not the easiest of records. Its hoarse vocals, guitar damage, starts and stops, and sometimes-intricate arrangements combined with heavily stressed political rage is not an easy sell at the best of times. Song titles such as 'Overturning The Rumford Fair Housing Act' and ' The Concept Of The Urban Guerilla' fan those flames further still. But theirs is a sound steeped in the mid 1990s, a dark brooding grind that other bands such as Young Widows and Helms Alee mine, and that of course peaks my interest tenfold. Plus, bands with a burgeoning sense of righteousness and an abject want to strike out at the injustices in the world are few and far between in this day and age. There is a lot of noise around town that these guys are the aggressive successors to Unwound - well I wouldnt go that far, but I do believe that When The Revolution Comes, Everything Will Be Beautiful is an album with much to warrant it. These guys are a tight unit, and often provide a combination of genres, namely math, post-punk and noise, with the right levels of disdain and diligence that the end result comes out as a battle-hardened battering ram to the ears that caresses and excites as much as it pummels. Great work!

Beware - Brontosaurus Crashing Through The Cold

Michael over at Crash Avenue is a fantastic chap that keeps the love of obscure, overlooked music alive. He has put me onto some great acts in the past year - Lubec, Guitaro, White Laces, Secret Colours...and hopefully the favour has been repaid in kind. Yet its been a bit of a while since Ive liked one of their releases - until now.

Brontosaurus are two guys, Nicholas Kelley and Nicholas Papaleo who came of age with prog and classical, then transposed that aesthetic into subdued, grainy garage pop experimentations. With heavy emphasis on stops and starts, classical instrumentation alongside awkward, off kilter time signatures and harmonies, new LP Cold Comes to Claim is quite an achievement. I havent felt such an affinity with an indie rock release in ages - it marries the likes of Califone with more baroque, folk freakout efforts by the likes of My Morning Jacket. However this isnt really doing it justice - from the first song 'Beware' onwards, it has struck such a chord with me that Im struck dumb. These guys have written an album of intricacies that are strange yet effervescent, even in their darker moments, like a ultraviolet fluoroescent tube set in a garishly painted ancient cave dwelling. The more I listen the more haunted I feel. This isnt so much a grower as a get under your skin-er - beware indeed...

Cold Comes To Claim comes out on June 14th through their Bandcamp, where you can listen to the whole album. Brilliant.

Brontosaurus - Beware

Crackin' Down The Beach Slalom

Ah, Bos Angeles. For those not in the know, its the nickname for the town of Boscombe, believed to be the heroin capital of England. Well, now it is also the name of a promising band out of Bournemouth who are doing their darnedest to craft the best melancholic beach pop outta Ye Olde England (think Joy Division meets Wild Nothing). Their genesis is much more charming than getting greasy in a smack den down by the pier too - they met making ice cream on the beach. Can I get a collective "Awwww!" Seriously though, the but now they're in a band that lots of people are getting real excited about. They only have one track of note recorded thus far, and its this one, 'Beach Slalom'. Yep, it slots right into the bedroom pop revivalist movement we've all been subjected to the past year or more, but gosh darn it if it ain't glossy, sweet and oh so lovable with a nice sheen of shoegaze noise to boot! Wont be able to dodge the Ian Curtis references Im afraid chaps, but maybe that's the point. Its an ace track, born to be played on lazy boozy summer days, so let's leave it at that, shall we?

Bos Angeles - Beach Slalom

Black Moth Super Rainbow Get Stuck In The Dandelions Once More

Deep in the woods of Western Pennsylvania lives a psych-pop group called Black Moth Super Rainbow. Members go by aliases like Tobacco, Graveface and the Seven Fields Of Aphelion. Sometimes their songs feel like pagan rituals in a sugarcoated fairyland. At other times they're like sad thoughts on the happiest days. And at others still, they are just plain fucked up.

The band's 2007 breakout album Dandelion Gum is a loosely based concept record about witches who make candy in the forest. As you do. These melodies were designed to toy with you, to stick in your head for hours, and to provide textures that are impossible to scrape off your teeth.

Last year when the band's label Graveface Records was by hit by flood waters, all of the available Dandelion Gum stock was damaged and the album went out of print. On June 7th, 2011, the album will be resurrected with a deluxe reissue on picture disc, cassette and compact disc. The original album will be expanded by 14 songs that were recorded during the same time period as Dandelion Gum, 5 of which have never been heard before. Other tracks included come from the out of print Drippers EP and from the 2006 split with The Octopus Project, The House Of Apples and Eyeballs.

Black Moth may have been on the back burner for the past few years while its members focused on other projects - Tobacco with Maniac Meat, Seven Fields of Aphelion with Periphery and Ryan Graveface with his band DREAMEND - but now, BMSR is set to make a return to music, all re-imagined and stronger than ever. Currently the band is putting together some US headlinging tours as well as prepping the first vinyl releases of albums Start A People and Falling Through A Field.

Dandelion Gum Deluxe Reissue CD Tracklisting:

1. Forever Heavy
2. Jump Into My Mouth And Breathe The Stardust
3. Melt Me
4. Lollipopsichord
5. They Live In The Meadow
6. Sun Lips
7. Rollerdisco
8. Neon Syrup For The Cemetery Sisters
9. The Afternoon Turns Pink
10. When The Sun Grows On Your Tongue
11. Spinning Cotton Candy In A Shack Made Of Shingles
12. Drippy Eye
13. Lost, Picking Flowers In The Woods
14. Caterpillar House
15. Wall Of Gum
16. Untitled Roadside Demo
17. Untitled Hidden Track
18. The Dark Forest Joggers
19. Royal Firecracker Teeth
20. We Are The Pagans
21. All The Friends You Can Eat (Original)
22. Happy Melted City
23. Another Place
24. Helium Tea
25. Lemon Lime Face
26. Twin Of Myself (Original)
27. Moody Day
28. Changing You All
29. Marshmallow Window
30. Untitled Roadside Demo (Original)
31. Old Yes

Listen to previously unreleased track 'Old Yes' below - and the original clip for 'Sun Lips' below that...

Natural Child's Not In It - They Live It

I first heard of Nashville's Natural Child earlier this year when scouring the Scion Garage A/V split series and found their 7" collaboration with The Strange Boys (read and check out their track 'The Jungle' here). Well, these retrobates released their debut LP, 1971, last month, and I can safely tell you that they have lost none of the rambunctious, ramshackle blase brilliance that is hinted at in that previous release. The band continues to pipe along on their marriage of blues, punk and garage, embracing Lynard Skynard as quickly as they do Black Lips, and above all waving the flag of getting blitzed like its a commandment from God. Maybe it is.

The album title couldn't be any more apt either - these tracks sound like they've been ripped from the bargain basement of Championship Records. It is definitely adhering to the DIY ethos that is what upholds most garage rock's current recordings, yet it sounds so at home here. This is the perfect soundtrack to a crazy, boozy, drug drenched night with your tightest, and the album to throw on the morning after when reliving those heady highs and laboroius lows. Even when tracks veer away from these themes, such as the Ono-enlivened 'Yoko', with its lurking dirge-like psych riffs, Natural Child hold it all with a sense of jazzed virility that is so potent its hard not to become pregnant with manic expectation - anything can happen, and most probably will. Above all, 1971 just fucking rocks.

1971 is out now on Infinity Cat - get it now.

Natural Child - Makin' It
Natural Child - Beer

VIDEO VACUUM - Old Monk, Boom Bang, Empire Express

Halfway through the week. Its been a weird one. So many hours at the coalface with an empty hand at the end of it. Well, maybe these three vids will offer enough disparity and effervescence to get you over the hump and surfing towards another glorious weekend...

First up is Old Monk, whose Birds Of Belize album was an enjoyable romp (check out our thoughts here). Here's the video for 'Sacred Birds', a punchy number that has a fairly simplistic music video that is no less compelling - well, I was enthralled by the powder blue tux...



I wouldn't expect anything less from The Boom Bang than a cheap ass video that is rad as hell. What with all it garish Wordpaint .gif like imagery, faux hipsters and the dorkiest moves this side of an ABC kindergarten, 'Tobacula' just rocks. This is cool, you pencil mo stroking...strokers. Yeah, cop that!



And to round us out and bring us down from the sugar rush high, this beautiful number from Swedes Empire Express, whose Valleyland album was an unexpected corker of an album. The video for 'I Miss You (Home)' is fairly understated, but with a track this beautiful, it is impossible to resist. Go on, just try to resist! You can't can you? Nuh uh...



Now get back to work!

Gardens Of Feral Youth

Detroit four piece Gardens are releasing their debut self titled album through Alive Records (in green vinyl - oh how I love coloured wax!). They may not be fully formed as of yet - I have only heard a few tracks off the album - but they do have something original to shine a fresh light on the Detroit scene, thats for sure. Having shared stages with the likes of Thee Oh Sees, Akron Family and Tyvek has helped to hone their disparate styles into a blues garage pop sound that will only grow with further inspirations. Raised on a diet of Terrence McKenna,The Beatles, Syd Barrett, Nirvana, and Turkish psychedelic music, Gardens is part of the new sound of Detroit.

Gardens - Maze Time

Prince Bonnie's Phantom Family Get Angelic, Eat Minds

I was not expecting this - and for that direct purpose, it becomes predictable, I guess...

Will Oldham needs no introduction of course. Phantom Family Halo you may be less familiar with. Perhaps you checked out their 2009 release, Monoliths & These Flowers Never Die... No? Neither did I. Apparently they carve out a dirty niche in evil desert psych rock evocative of the chunkiness of Hawkwind and the dark theatricality of Roxy Music (not my words, they are the press release's, but I really liked that description, so let's float with it for now). So when the two meet, what do we have? The new collaboration between Bonnie 'Prince' Billy and The Phantom Family Halo called Mindeater.

Apparently the idea for this was born from a live performance they did together supporting Roky Erickson last summer in Louisville. Doesn't Erickson ever rest? Even when he is only indirectly involved he gets things done. Because Mindeater is ridiculously good. Unfortunately its only four tracks long - it is an EP after all - but it comes off as a ridiculously delectable appetiser that has the mouth gushing forth with saliva, yet the main course never arrives... That doesn't mean its not worthy - au contrair, mon frere! There are elements of other bands we have sampled in the past - Bardo Pond in their more ponderous, around the hallucinatory campfire mode immediately springs to mind - but this is its own beast, exploring the vibes of rustic folk and late ’60s/early ’70s twangy psychedelia without delving into using synths or anything that might slightly resemble the latest trend. No, this is a proper psych wigjam of the highest order, and I hope to fuck this is not the last we hear of this highly imaginative pairing.

Sophomore Lounge are responsible for releasing Mindeater, which hits out today! This vinyl-only 10" release is extremely limited... only 1,000 copies will be pressed.

Bonnie Prince Billy And The Phantom Family Halo - I Wonder If I Care As Much

The Virtues Of Being Adrift In Gatton?

Ive waxed lyrical about Brisbane trio No Anchor and their new release, the double LP Real Pain Supernova, in the past (here to be exact) - Ive even interviewed them for other media - but did I tell you just how ace this album is? Probably not, but you should be able to guess. Its very, very fucking good.

Real Pain Supernova opens with restraint, the ambient sounds of ironically monikered 'The End' before the obligatory crunch of dirge-like bass guitars takes the breath away, as do the Ian Mackaye-like avuncular vocals that precede the abrasive screams. It’s this sense of controlled aggression and muscular musical promiscuity that really makes an impression here – 'Wolves Bite And Disappear' holds down a nitrous-injected blues beat across the breadth of its short running time, the breakneck ebb and flow (and anguishing howls) of 'Dead Pony', the Shellac-esque chug of the bass that underpins 'Come Again', also sporting the beautifully juxtaposing vocals of Joanna Nilson from Butcher Birds. Never do you get a sense that these guys are doing anything redundant, the music speaking for itself much louder than just sheer volume or the “novelty” of being a two bass/no guitar band could achieve.

Real Pain Supernova is a milestone of an album for No Anchor, who have never sounded more vital. This is perfectly highlighted by pivotal (and fittingly epic) epic track 'Gatton Bohemia' – a song in movements that has the trio showcasing their influences such as Boris, Sunn O))) and Om (the album was mastered by Mell Dettmer), then systematically pinning them down and beating them to death with their own instruments. It’s beautiful, harnessing the dark powers of feedback, dirge, sludge and post rock into what is, hands down, the best song about Gatton ever written.


You can buy the album here. For the love of whatever exists in your life as a semblance of a God, buy this. Then get down to Tym's Guitars this Sunday at 2pm for a free in-store performance!

No Anchor - Gatton Bohemia
No Anchor - Wolves Bite And Disappear

8 Bit Post Rock?

Starscream is a collaborative effort by New York-based artists Damon Hardjowirogo and George Stroud, who have just debuted their single 'Space from upcoming full-length Future, Towards the Edge of Forever. Hole. E. Shit. I wasn't sure if beats, NES and post rock co-existed - I mean, I knew it must exist, just not on this particular universe - but 'Space' just blew me away. It is a track of movements, with a beginning like 2001 as imagined by Konami, before exploding into 10 G's of centrifugal force that had me wetting my pants with insurmountable joy. Just the love of playing a game like The 7th Saga (Ive been revisiting my Super Nintendo collection in the past few months, and that invested a great deal of my time - and a lot of hatin on that demon Lejes, but let's not go there shall we?...) Starscream have created deceptively complex and progressive post rock compositions through the use of drums, electronics, bass and guitar. Perhaps best known for being featured throughout MTV's Skins (in particularly the finale), Starscream release Future, Towards the Edge of Forever today as a double LP - you can get it at Insound here with the first 500 copies in coloured vinyl - and if this track doesn't get you, then I dont get you.

Starscream - Space

Dutch Psych Turns My Sex Sour

As is wont to happen over the course of time, things get real hectic. So it has been for us here on Planet Masala the past week or so, as you may be able to tell from the more haphazard amount of posts - a couple of days' worth of gaps followed by a blitzkrieg, some of which have escaped the watchful gaze of an alert writer or even Spell Check. It also means that some bands that Ive been meaning to get on to have been neglected, both in my current collection and from the Inbox. So today Im giving you two from column A, and two from column B...

Sexton Creeps come from column B, having contacted me about a month ago to spruik about their new LP The Sour Acre on Dying Giraffe Records (great label name!). Im sorry this has taken so long fellows - cos this is some fucking awesome elongated psychedelic jams right here. Sexton Creeps, a rock collective out of the Netherlands, experiment with a few different formats, namely folk and noise with competing swirling boy/girl vocals, but seem to specialise in the sprawling space jam. Coming from the Netherlands, I guess that may not seem so strange...



The Sour Acre can be bought (for a physical copy) or downloaded for free on their website. It is brilliant. Im all for crazy wigouts as you are well aware, so 'Nipple Of The World' is my pick, but the album is solid throughout. There is also a cool plaintive video for first track, 'A Maternal Ear And Dead Perfume', which you can catch below also.

Sexton Creeps - Nipple Of The World

FEVER FEVER

This track got flogged when I came across it in the inbox. The band - Norwich, England trio Fever Fever. The track - 'Teeth', a song that is equal parts bratty as fuck and tough as nails. The two girl harmonies here really work a treat with the staccato drumming and spiky whorls of squalling guitar. They are releasing an album this year which is exciting - but a surprising factor is the producer behind the wheel, Rob Ellis. Yes, he of PJ Harvey and Bat For Lashes fame. Not the pick for dissonant art punk - yet he saw them live and was enlivened by their visceral, no bullshit attitude to their trade. And I tend to agree with them that what Fever Fever are getting dangerously close to achieving is honest, loud, raucous, riotous, pop music with rapier sharp humour. This band are on the rise - having just returned from SXSW and Canadian Music Week, and have done three shows at the Gaymers Camden Crawl a few weeks back (alongside Kong, John & Jen, Vision Of Trees, Spectrals, Cerebral Ballzy, Divorce...) Its ferocious, its silly, its addictive. Get bitten.

Fever Fever - Teeth

Video Vacuum - Battles, Balkans, White Fence, Iceage

So its Friday. Im not sure about you, but for me its been pretty damn hectic. Lots of great things happened, but Im reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeealy looking forward to the weekend - its gonna get messy... So here are four killer tracks from four great bands, and some varying degree of awesome videos to accompany them!

I scream, you scream, we all scream, for...BATTLES!



Atlantans Balkans, whose self titled debut album is going great guns, have released a video for track 'Troubled & Done'. Its not the most picaresque of film clips - in fact, its kinda boring. But I do really like these guys, so any coverage is good coverage. Balkans, consider yourself covered.

BALKANS- 'Troubled and Done' from Frank Broyles on Vimeo.

I was unsure of Tim Presely AKA White Fence. He has clout - as lead of Darker My Love and a player in the past few Fall albums - but wasnt sure if his contribution to scuzzy lo fi garage pop was anything to write home about. then I heard Is Growing Faith (out on Woodsist), and have been converted. Listen/watch below and see if you agree...

White Fence - Get That Heart from Behind the Walk-in on Vimeo.

Finally, Denmark's ace angry kids iceage have a vid for 'New Brigade' - watch it and go kick some heads in...

Iceage - New Brigade from iceage on Vimeo

Now get back to work!

Maternally Gutted By The Wizard Tree

Family Time Records threw me a line a week or so ago about Mothers Of Gut, a band who have been floating around Southern California on their own supply of high times since 2007. I dont know much about them other than this track, 'Wizard Tree', off the new album Unking, which has just been released on 12" vinyl. If the album, the band (essentially the brainchild of one Aaron Freeman)'s second album, is anything like this track, its gonna be an amazingly earthy psychedelic release. It woozes its way along in an echoing cryogenic chamber before breaking out into a vibrant forest, suddenly triumphant. The now-four-piece made it outta the West and to South By South West in March, and so that means they could be headed anywhere! Hopefully we will be hearing a lot more of these guys very very soon...

And as Im yet to hear the album proper, here is a great review of it...

Mothers Of Gut - Wizard Tree