Sing Sing Records has reissued the holy grail of private press proto punk collectors gold, the self titled debut and only release from England's Sleaze, the 1975 pre-Adverts LP from punk legend TV Smith. Originally released in an edition of only 50 copies (pretty much not released at all except to a few friends and college acquaintances), Sleaze was the first rumblings of TV Smith's long rambuctious and prolific career as one of punk's greatest songwriters. Hell yeah we here at P-Rex can't thank Sing Sing Records enough, this is one record we'd never thought our ears would get a chance to hear.
Before the Sex Pistols broke into the charts and punk rock exploded, Sleaze was destroying the bloated corpse of 70s rock one chord at a time. Taking their cues from the obvious influences, like the Stooges and the Dolls, TV Smith and his cohorts also mined the pub rock and glam scenes of the day, trying to get to the core of rock n roll's unbridled sinful heart. In their one and only document, you can hear the sneer of Alice Cooper, the hard rock edge of Thin Lizzy, the art bent pop of Roxy Music and the glam rock sparkle of Mott the Hopple, yet Sleaze seems to make all those disparate musical references their own impatient jittery brand of rock excitement.
Unwieldy, loud and quite fun, the Sleaze LP ought to be filed with the rest of the proto punk classics, from "Ziggy Stardust" to "Kick Out The Jams". Sing Sing didn't press up that many copies, so grab your copy of Sleaze now--you'll be sorry if you don't. HIGHLY AND SLEAZILY RECOMMENDED.
PRIVATE PRESS POWER POP MASTERPIECE
ORIGINALS HAVE FETCHED OVER $100
Thanks to Sing Sing Records' crate digging, the power pop gems keep coming our way. "Can't You See Me Smilin" by the McElroy Bros, is a MUST HAVE long lost pop classic. We didn't know much about this album or these Vermont brothers, but we're glad Sing Sing was kind enough to introduce us, and you will be too.
Part late Beatles psych pop experimentation and equals parts Big Star's hazy soulful pop anthems, the McElroy Bros have created some of power pop's most uniquely arranged and exotically catchy songs. Every track on "Can't You See Me Smilin" will haunt you with its off-kilter pop beauty.
The key musical ingredients in this overly melodic album are familiar; the layered harmonic songwriting of Brian Wilson, the sugar sweet song structure of AM pop gold, Brit Invasion's jangle and baroque psych's instrumentation and shimmer, but the result is all their own. We haven't come across a power pop reissue this entrancing in recent memory and we just can't get enough of the McElroy Bros.
With this reissue, this Vermont band of brothers can cement their place in the annals of rock n roll history next to their power pop and psych rock kin; the likes of Chris Bell, the Shoes, the Zombies,Todd Rundgren, Left Banke and the Raspberries.
This repress is only a measly 500 copies, so don't sleep on it. Sing Sing, as always, has done us a solid with "Can't You See Me Smilin". TOTALLY RECOMMENDED.
Buck Gooter return with "Witch Molecules", thanks to Beau Travail and X-Mist Records !!!!!
2012's "Consider The Grackles" on Kreephaus long haunted our weary ears so when "Witch Molecules" blew through our doors we nervously dropped the needle in anticipation of the brain damaged sonics about to sully our souls. And Buck Gooter continues to deliver their indescribable outsider mind splitters. Clattering weirdness and shouted stream of consciousness tirades are what Buck Gooter excel at and "Witch Molecules" is further proof of their be-Witching alchemy. We're not sure if this is the sound of the future or of the past but rather a time that Buck Gooter are the sole inhabitants of; this is some seriously stand-alone music. Dashes of mainstays Flipper, Big Black, Hospitals and the Residents permeate the inner workings of Buck Gooter, but they have traversed to even more "out there" realms of WTF.
If you like your records challenging and esoteric then empty a tube of Buck Gooter and hunker down into some sordid listening. Recommended.
The trifecta of Infinity Cat, Sophomore Lounge and 100% Breakfast labels have joined forces to unleash Cute Mutant from Boston's Skimask.
Cute Mutant plays out with a manic immediacy shooting through its frenzied tracks. Something akin to early Shit and Shine, Death From Above 1979 and Lightning Bolt, Skimask are bringing noisey percussion driven assaults with a touch of humor. This sucker would fit finely into the Load Records back catalog fer sure. Two vocalists, one who is going through a jumble of effects creating heinous feedback and thick screens of bottom heavy noisescapes and one who actually makes semi-discernible vocals with a paranoid howl compete for airtime as a drunken master drummer furiously pummels away is the bread and butter of Skimask's unrelenting onslaught.
With track titles like "Slap Me Silly", "Every Week Iz Shark Week" and "Problemhouse", it would seem these 3 maniacs aren't taking things too seriously and the fucked up sounds emanating from these ghoulish grooves will certainly bum out your neighbors which in our book makes it undoubtedly Recommended!
LP - Dreebs - Humiliation - One Sided 12in - $9.99 - BUY
Saddle up hombres. When the Dreebs blew through town and dropped by the shop to say "Whut Up?!?" and they laid this one sided ear splitter of an EP on us. On the Baltimore based Company Records, Humiliation is four art damaged shotgun blasts of scatter shot lunacy that the Dreebs have steadily been carving into perfection.
"The Dreebs The Dream" LP on Kreephaus and the "Bait An Orchard"LP on Rotted Tooth Recordings both got plenty of love here at Permanent and now this new EP is a welcome companion on the shelf next to the other two releases. The Dreebs' no wave assault ups the animosity and further threatens to slice you open if looked at wrongly. You know we love debauched noise rock mayhem and these 4 cuts from Brooklyn's Dreebs are all crucial blasts of unforgiving hard knock clatter.
Dreebily Recommended.
After a long and anxious wait, Peoples Temple is finally back with a new lp, entitled More For The Masses. Yes more rock goodness for you, me and everyone else. We here at the shop always look forward to new psych/garage rock gems coming our way and Peoples Temple don't disappoint with their follow up to 2011's Sons of Stone.
More For The Masses is chock full of the psych bent hazy garage rockers that we've come to love and expect from these Lansing, Michigan band of brothers. Something must be in the dirty water of Michigan, cuz everyone from there seems to be a natural at this kinda of all out garage burning rock n roll. Once again Hozac is the one to thank for pressing up this hot slab of thundering acid fried rock.
Peoples Temple has the perfect balance of Seeds, Love and Yardbirds garage power with the deeper darker psych of bands like 13th Floor Elevators, Public Nuisance and Lollipop Shoppe. Yes there's plenty of love for the good ol' Nuggets set of 60s bands, yet Peoples Temple doesn't sound dated or merely hawking some worn out vintage style rock. If anything More For The Masses stands outside the race of time, with their hazy psych indebted to shoegaze, britpop and space rock as well as those classic garage records.
Recommended for those into Night Beats, Black Angels, Gris Gris, Cosmonauts and/or Brian Jonestown Massacre, but really anyone who needs to buy one garage psych record this year, ought to grab the new one from Peoples Temple.
It's a repeat listen and for sure WAY RECOMMENDED.
We here at P-Rex love us some power pop goodness, so when we heard Jeremy Thompson of co-owner of Sing Sing Records and formerly of the Busy Signals formed a new hyper catchy rock band, Games, we were more than stoked. After all we're constantly hyping the long lost gems they dig out of the dust of time and reissue, like the Rocking Horse and Clap lps, and bands that listen to good music more often that not make great interesting new music. Not being self indulgent Games isn't on Sing Sing, rather their self titled debut gets the HoZac stamp of approval.
And well Paul Collins and Dwight Twilley would be proud of Games' proto punk glammy pop gems, that we're sure of. Sugary sweet catchy as fuck songs radiate through this self titled disc, the like not heard since bands like the Big Star, the dBs, the Records and the Speedies were trying to win over the hearts of America before new wave became just a marketing term.
Games fit right in with those classic bands, just take one listen and you'll agree. Recommended for those into the Barreracudas, Nick Lowe, Gentlemen Jesse, Elvis Costello and Cheap Trick as well as all of you who grabbed the Numero Group's Buttons comps and Shoes reissues. You're going to need this pop fix we promise. Totally Recommended.
2xLP - Raime - Quarter Turns Over A Living Line - Import 2xLP - $26.99 - TEMPORARILY OUT OF STOCK IN CHICAGO, EMAIL IF INTERESTED - LISTEN 
The Blackest Ever Black folks have released quality dark sonics by the like of Cut Hands and Vatican Shadow, but now Raime enter the ring to stealthily move to the forefront of this ever morphing genre with their new lp.
"Quarter Turns Over A Living Line" is a double length album of UK dread steeped in fog and menace. Dubbed out goth-tinged minimal horror soundtrack that unfurls slowly, glacially is about as close to describing Raime's instrumentals that we could come up with. They've taken dark experimental electronic music, infused heavily processed live instrumentation and laid out some of the darkest, most compelling music that we've ever heard.
Its heavy and industrial yet never overbearing; it threatens and terrifies but in a sultry and flirtatious way that makes one want unhook the chain lock from the door and let the stranger in. Oppressive drones and skittering delays slink through the miasma as slo-mo hard hitting beats and churning walls of thick instrumentation somehow find a way to feel open and spacious while still supplying a goose bump inducing shudder. Like a patient stalker following in the shadows Raime's music is never hurried or rushed, just a steady forward motion with drops of terror along the way.
If you dig the haunted sounds of Pete Swanson, Demdike Stare and Andy Stott, then get on board with Raime cuz they are making some seriously high minded moves in modern experimental music and we can't wait to see what's next. Until then we're gonna keep spinning our copies of "Quarter Turns Over A Living Line" for everybody we know. RECOMMENDED.
Yo La Tengo drops yet another amazing album to add to their already flawless back catalog. Fade finds Yo La Tengo in top form. They have harnessed their powers from years of experience and composed an album of gentle sublimity, hypnotic motoriks, fluid and soaring melodies, and finely crafted indie pop tunes that have upped the ante.
Hear that younger bands? Get yer shit together cuz this Hoboken institution is showing you how it's done. Hell it's early in the year but we're betting good money that this will make it on to some year end lists, cuz yeah, it's that solid.
Absolutely Recommended.
LP - Stooges - A Thousand Lights - Import - $27.99 - BUY
The P-Rex crew could listen to the Stooges for days on end and never get sick of rocking out to one of our favorite bands of all time. So when we heard there was another Stooges' live album in the works, our hair stood on end. Easy Action must've hit up the tape traders and bootleggers to assemble this new album chock full of Stooges' classic, cause every minute of "A Thousand Lights" is Iggy and Co at their finest and most destructive.
You might already have "Metallic 'KO" or "Rough Power" or even "Live At The Whisky A Go-Go" in your collection, but none of those document the early and easily most ferocious lineup of the Stooges with both Asheton brothers in full proto punk hellbent rock n roll glory. Containing songs from both their self titled debut and Funhouse and recorded at shows in Chicago and Cleveland around 1970, "A Thousand Lights" culls together some of the Stooges most manic and chaotic moments from their short lived original incarnation.
And to say this live lp is recommended is an understatement. We can always use more Stooges in our life. For diehards and new converts alike, "A Thousand Lights" is your ticket to that Stooges show you should've been at back in the day. Short of a time machine, this is the only way to witness this classic rock n roll band the right way; loud, raw, drunk, messy and about to self implode (never mind the reunion shows).
SO VERY VERY RECOMMENDED.
COLLECTORS EDITION LIMITED TO 1500 COPIES
Apocalyptic, distopian synth-rock from Paris-based rockers, Frustration! This is their second proper album (after one LP and a few EPs and singles) and is released on the ever-consistent Born Bad Records!
Frustration knock it out of the park with "Uncivilized", melding the cold repetition of bands like A-Frames or Crash Normal, with dark and sinister synth-work a'la Lost Sounds, Intelligence or Volt. They rock hard and are most definitely a "rock band", and the synth plays a prominent role without being too intrusive - much in the same way Devo was able to merge electronic music and R'n'R, but with song titles like 'Assassination', Dying City', and 'Worries' you can be sure the subject matter is less playful or ironic, but tinged with a genuine foreboding dread. Frustration's records are the soundtrack to an evil, smoke-stacked factory bent on worldwide pollution.
A killer record that just might be the thing to pull you out of the winter blues by, well - embracing the winter blues! We got some of the "collector's edition" which is limited to 1500 copies and includes a bonus 7-inch of two additional tunes! Probably not too many of those cruising along these shores, so better grab 'em while the grabbin's grabbable! RECOMMENDED!
Minimal Wave drops another stunner 12" on us from long time Permanent faves In Aeternam Vale!!!
We like how the label regarded this as "underwater techno" as that is a very apt description of the sonics flitting out of these to side long groovers. Deep thumping bass drum hits are awash with slithering waves of synthesizer darkness and sonar blip electronics giving this sultry 12" an ominous vibe like a submarine hunting in enemy territory. Dubbed out drug music that seduces at a creeper's pace is what In Aeternam Vale are supplying and they are more than delivering the goods...
One of those records that leaves you fiending for more, in which case we recommend tracking down all of In Aeternam Vale's records cuz their entire back catalog of releases all totally rule. The Minimal Wave label never disappoints and has been releasing mind blowingly great synth records mined from bygone days and La Piscine is yet another of their essential releases.
Mega Recommended.
The Numero Group gang has unearthed yet another storied gem and pressed it up for the waiting masses, this time from Alfonso Lovo.
La Gigantona is a thrilling mixture of psychedelic acid Latin Jazz, Nicaraguan-style classic Spanish Guitar and percussion filled Funk. Thanks to the deep digging abilities of the Numero Group, this amazing record finally sees the light of day. La Gigantona is gentle and heartfelt with pepperings of splendid and inspired guitar work and hard hitting and breathtakingly ecstatic body moving Funk Jazz pieces that take their time, stretch out and explore the groove.
Reminiscent of Miles Davis' "On The Corner", Eddie Palmieri's "Harlem River Drive" project with a distinctly Latin vibe enhancement and of course early era-Santana, "La Gigantona" is lost treasure that warrants many a repeated listen just to catch up on this long forgotten mystery album of soul saving rhapsody. Mega Recommended.
Sublime Frequencies Alert!!!
As you all know, we are HUGE fans of all things Sublime Frequencies related around here, so when this long time CD fave was announced to get the vinyl treatment we were stoked to say the least. Sublime Frequencies has traveled far and wide across planet Earth to bring you the exotic sounds of bygone times from the furthest reaches imaginable. And this compilation of Molam folk music from Laos and Thailand is another winner ready to be filed on the shelf next to the rest of your Sublime Frequencies records.
Like all Sublime Frequencies releases it is housed in a beautiful eye popping full color gatefold sleeve and a one time pressing that will not stick around for long so act fast and grab a copy now. Be alert as Molam: Thai Country Groove From Isan Vol 2 is just around the corner and will be featured soon.
Do not snooze, both collections are essential releases for any well rounded collection. Sublimely Recommended.
The Angry Love Productions imprint has lovingly resuscitated Psychic TV's "Dreams Less Sweat" album
After Throbbing Gristle broke ranks Genesis P-Orridge and Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson began anew as Psychic TV, a music/performance art based project that operated on TG's infamy but delved into even more bizarre territory. Only occasionally touching on the industrial side, Psychic TV flirted with orchestrated psychedelic pop, sound collage, harmonized vocal interplay and hugely experimental music that in 1983 must have been truly unsettling. Songs barely pass the 3 minute mark and seem to weave in and out of each other as this album starting with soft spoken pop mantra "The Orchids" spirals ever downward the rabbit hole towards weirder and stranger sound manipulation.
Like the siren song drawing one in to certain doom, "Dreams Less Sweat" starts to unravel with unnerving synchronized telephone rings and sinister calamities around each unsuspecting corner before fully immersing itself under your skin and letting the infection set in, there is no turning back. Fans of Throbbing Gristle, Coil, Philip Glass, Current 93 and Zoviet France and those looking for the freakier side of the 80's underground better get in line cuz Dreams Less Sweat is an experimental master work of severe importance. Having this long out of print record back and available to the general public is a world moving in the right direction by our calculations so grab this head scratcher of curious ephemera and freak out your loved ones.
Beyond Recommended.
ORIGINALS HAVE GONE FOR OVER $400!
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES
HOLY DRONES! A reissue of the debut album "Affenstunde" from Krautrock pioneers Popol Vuh, led by pioneer Florian Fricke! Reissued by the fine folks at Klimt Records from Paris !!!
Breathtaking soundscapes of drone-y goodness - we're huge fans of this stuff here in the shop - it's the kind of record that can completely hold your attention for as minimal as it truly is. Moog synth pules and washes co-habitate with hand drums and percussion, making for a suite of truly organic feeling Kosmische Musik despite being mostly electronic!
If you groove to the sonic pulse of bands like Cluster, Harmonia, Tangerine Dream, and even Bitchin' Bajas, then get off your "Ass-enstunde" and pick up "Affenstunde"! Reissued in a criminally limited edition of 500 copies in a faithful repro of the original, glossy gatefold artwork with the INSIDE pocket opening. Grab these while they're hot, folks - they won't be around these parts for long. We guarantee it!
RECOMMENDED wholeheartedly!
AMAZINGLY ENOUGH, we've never featured "Satori" the crowning achievement of The Flower Travellin' Band's pretty stellar oeuvre (and quite possible the greatest Japanese rock and roll album, well - EVER), and since it just got reissued by Phoenix Records (again), we figured we'd give it the "star-treatment" it so deserves!
STOP. If you haven't already purchased this record, DO IT NOW. We'll wait.... OK - got it? Let's begin.
"Satori" is a full-tilt RAGING demon of a record that ebbs and swells like a psych record, but ROCKS as hard (if not harder) than any metal/hard rock record from 1971. Think about it - by 1971, Sabbath only had two albums out and this record SMOKES both "Black Sabbath" and "Paranoid". Might sound blasphemous, but it's fucking true.
Up to this point The Flower Travellin' Band's output had been rooted in the blues-based traditions of bands like Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, but with "Satori" (their second album proper) they completely obliterate any comparisons to The Zep or their mudsharkin' contemporaries. Explosions of freaked out, Eastern-tinged guitar soloing that erupt from the tunes like molten lava, while the rhythm section stomps and writhes like a two-hearted monster from the gates of Hades. It's muscular, it's sweaty, and hell - it's fucking SCARY. Comprised of five suites ("Satori" Pt's 1-5) that are mostly instrumental, with vocalist "Joe"s minimal vocal stylings - dropping in a few verses, wails and "Whoah-oh-oh-ohs" here and there with a full-throated roar that sounds like a call towards Armageddon! (Do you get the feeling we like this one, yet?)
Ranked at #1 by Julian Cope in his "Japrocksampler" book's Top Fifty albums, so if that's not an endorsement we don't know what is! It's also TOTALLY ESSENTIAL in our books as well, so what are you waiting for? FUCKING GET IT.
ORIGINALS HAVE GONE FOR OVER $200!!!
Phoenix Records continues to reissue the greatest albums EVER from the late-sixties Japanese psych-scene, with this sole album from freaky collective Love Live Life + One (the "plus one" must be singer Akira Fuse - a mainstream pop star recruited by the band for vocal duties) and their head-swimmingly killer album "Love Will Make A Better You"!
We're continually stunned at the amount of experimentation in the Japanese rock scene of the late-sixties, particularly since it evolved over a fairly short time! They grabbed the "freak-flag" and just fuckin' RAN with it! Love Live Life + One's lone record is a fusion of avant-classical passages with near-big-band free-jazz and funk (it almost sounds like electric-era Miles Davis in a few places!), as well as explosive guitar freakouts, with guitarist Kimio Mizutani sparring licks with saxophonist T. Yokota like two boxers in the ring! A heady concoction indeed!
Sadly the group dissolved shortly after this album was released, so we're deprived of what might have come NEXT. Whoah. Pressed up on glorious 180gm vinyl and housed in a gatefold repro of the original sleeve and insert, this one is a little-mentioned work in the canon of Japanese Rock, but definitely deserves your attention!
We DIG IT, and believe that "Love Will Make A Better You" will definitely make you a better YOU! RECOMMENDED
ORIGINALS HAVE GONE FOR OVER $125!!!
The freaky longhairs over at Phoenix Records have re-reissued the debut album from late-sixties San Francisco band Fifty Foot Hose, aptly named "Cauldron" for its swirling stew of jazz, rock, psych and avant-electronics!
A seriously dizzying work! "Cauldron" takes cues from the vibrant San Francisco music scene of the late-sixties, mapping out a musical route via blues/R&B-based tunes, but pushing them to their avant extremes. The atonal synth washes and squiggles covering the tunes are almost 'musique concrete' in nature (or at least as close as anyone had come up to that point in a rock'n'roll setting) - like John Cage jamming with Jefferson Airplane or United States Of America! Makes sense that Phoenix reissued this bad-boy, as it's experimental musings seem directly related to the bonkers boundary-pushing going on in the Japanese rock scene soon to follow.
Sounds great on wax too! Pressed up on 180gm vinyl and housed in a repro of the OG sleeve, with it's PSYCH-O-DELIC illustration on the front and back! If you like your R'n'R "off the beaten path", then dip your bowl into "Cauldron" and take a sip! RECOMMENDED!
ORIGINALS HAVE GONE FOR OVER $150!!
Light In The Attic has been one serious roll lately - reissuing the likes of Lee Hazlewood, Rodriguez and D'Angelo! Well, now they've turned their sights to Brazilian musician, producer and auteur Marcos Valle - an enormous talent whose career spanned the bossa craze, thru Tropicalia, into the eighties MPB-era (a fusion-y morphing of traditional Brazilian pop). Valle's most lauded records are his 4-album span from 1970-73, all of which are getting the star-treatment from Light In The Attic!
Valle's intoxicating powers are at full-force on Garra - operating in a post-bossa pop mode, tinged with hints of lounge/easy listening (Bacharach's got to be an influence here) sprinkled with a dizzying kaleidoscope of baroque flourishes and soft-psych tones played on mellotron, harpsichord, flutes, brass and more! The bass plays a prominent role here rolling along a thick groove on many of the tunes, giving them a bouncy, almost playful feel despite many of the tunes' overtly political lyrical content. AMAZING and truly addictive record that has been on our "Why the fuck hasn't this been reissued" list for quite some time!
Pressed up on thick 180gm vinyl and housed in a beautiful tip-on, gatefold version of the OG sleeve and restored and remastered audio! This may be THE quintessential version of this album! RECOMMENDED!!!
ORIGINALS HAVE GONE FOR OVER $100!!!
Light In The Attic has been one serious roll lately - reissuing the likes of Lee Hazlewood, Rodriguez and D'Angelo! Well, now they've turned their sights to Brazilian musician, producer and auteur Marcos Valle - an enormous talent whose career spanned the bossa craze, thru Tropicalia, into the eighties MPB-era (a fusion-y morphing of traditional Brazilian pop). Valle's most lauded records are his 4-album span from 1970-73, all of which are getting the star-treatment from Light In The Attic!
This is Valle's first foray into more adventurous territory, dipping his toes into uncharted waters (at least for him at the time), with tunes that mix rock, soul, samba, bossa and psychedelia into a truly dizzying sonic palette. The flights of fancy herein bring to mind contemporaries like Sergio Mendes, Free Design and The Cowsills and also hearkens to future followers like Stereolab and Pizzicato Five and Cornelius, all of whom are no strangers to melding the smooth sounds of bossa and samba into a more rock/pop-based mold.
"Marcos Valle" contains some of his greatest tunes like "Os Grilos", "Quarento Simpatico" and the truly mad four-part experimental "Suite Imaginaria" that closes out the record. NICE. Pressed up on thick 180gm vinyl and housed in a beautiful tip-on, gatefold version of the OG sleeve and restored and remastered audio! This may be THE quintessential version of this album! RECOMMENDED!!!
Oh man... the fucking Hunchback Ep rules and our buds at Richie Records have brought it back to tickle your ears.
We've been digging Kurt Vile's jams for years at Permanent and then even graced our shop with an acoustic New Year's Day hangover instore that packed the house. He's a real swell dude for sure and his multiple solo outings have been gracing our turntables for years and one of the earliest of those was the Hunchback.
Here he is joined by The Violators and fleshing out Vile's songs to full band mode. This record is dirgey and has a drunken swagger to it that adds to Kurt's already reverby barely there vocal slur giving the whole affair a foggy urban noir vibe for the duration of this over-all-too-soon record of gritty tunes from one of modern days genuine troubadour storyteller songwriters. We're overjoyed to get this record back in the racks to bring back old memories and to recommend to fresh ears creating new smiles. Super Recommended.
