Permanent Records' 34th label release!
Fans of Terry Riley, Kraftwerk, Conrad Schntizler, and Kosmische Musik in general take note! Bitchin Bajas has returned to Permanent Records (following their split single with Moon Duo) with a brand new record of side-long transcendental synth workouts. This is Bitchin Bajas most accessible and autobahn ready delivery to date!
Bitchin Bajas began as a side project, but Cooper Crain of CAVE and Dan Quinlivan formerly of MAHJONGG have been spending as much time, if not more, with Bitchin Bajas as they have with the aforementioned groups and they've been progressing very quickly. In just two or so years, Bitchin Bajas have released three critically acclaimed LPs (one on Important Records and two on Kallestei Editions), two incredible splits (one with Moon Duo and the other with the Peaking Lights- related Faceplant), and one very limited edition cassette tape.
The two side long pieces on this nearly 40 minute EP were written on their 2012 European tour and recorded and mixed over three days by Bitchin Bajas at Minbal Studio in Chicago, Illinois.
Features eye-popping cover artwork by artist Jeremy Kannapell.
500 copies pressed: 350 on black vinyl available for wholesale. 150 on colored vinyl available exclusively from Permanent Records.
"A whole mess of cats in the drone-age try to spiral upward to the heights of Bitchin Bajas, but few nail the sacred combination of Harmonia/Neu! and Steve Hillage circa Rainbow Dome Music with the same air of confidence." - Tiny Mix Tapes
"The forthcoming EP Krausened (Permanent) adds a gentle motorik drive reminiscent of Neu! while maintaining the music’s tonal warmth and textural lushness." - Chicago Reader
"It’s also probably contributed to repeated plays of the new Bitchin’ Bajas EP, extracted further down, which is an honest and beautiful Riley/motorik hybrid." - Wild Mercury Sound // Uncut Magazine
Permanent Records' 24th label release REPRESSED!
BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND! Just in time for Cosmonauts MASSIVE European tour and hot on the heels of their second LP on BURGER RECORDS!
As many of you already know, Cosmonauts are Orange County's premier garage psych group and they're barely old enough to drink legally. These kids have only been making music together for a just a few years now, but they've already shared stages with and are garnering comparisons to well-known garage and psych acts like Black Angels, Ty Segall, and Thee Oh Sees. Although Cosmonauts share some similar influences with these groups, their sound is much grittier, more repetitive, and more Spacemen 3 influenced. Cassette tape tastemakers, Burger Records, released the Cosmonauts debut on tape back in 2010 and now it's available AGAIN on wax courtesy of Permanent Records. Fans of the aforementioned bands will absolutely be calling themselves Cosmonauts fans before the year is out they aren't already.
Second pressing is limited to 500 copies.
Cosmonauts Press:
"The Cosmonauts are shimmery, fun, and gregarious psychedelic pop from L.A., and anything that comes from the Burger Records stables is a surefire slamdunk crowd-pleaser. Shimmery 'cos of the 12-string guitar. This music for lovers is only four days late for your valentine. You could still make it up to her. Fans of Thee Oh Sees and Ty Segall will enjoy ('psh...yeah right' I heard you say? Well suspend your disbelief 'cos this band does rise above mere ripoff level)..." – kulone.com
"Cosmonauts may just be the one-millionth psychedelic garage band that I've written about in my time at the Weekly Volcano, and I tell you it's the funniest thing: Though they hail from California, they sound like they could have just as easily been born out in our fair, gritty city. Something about performing in basements and garages seems to bring the grittiness out in any band. Cosmonauts share time equally in mind-melting squalls of Doors-esque acid rock and bursts of sweet, jumpy garage pop confection." – Weekly Volcano
Philly via Allentown mood manglers are clocked out of the office and back to spread their decidedly unique gospel.
Every new Pissed Jeans record is a welcome addition around these parts and this new one is another brain splitter of a winner in our books. They've taken Philly's Clockcleaner template, stopped off in Minneapolis and donned the Halo Of Flies before finally landing at Sub Pop HQ to get bear hugged by Tad. We spun the shiz outta the candybar munch fest that was "King Of Jeans" back in 2009 and have been patiently waiting for a follow up and lo and behold what a follow up! "Honey's" is a well-oiled machine of working class noise rock bruisers. These gents have gone and gotten one helluva recording too, the production on this monster is amazing. Guttural bass machinations, pummeling drums, banshee guitar squalor all set the stage for Matt Korvette's bellied groan on the banality of fluke that is modern life.
Drop the needle on this platter, crack open a PBR and go break shit in your back yard. Supremely Recommended.
ORIGINALS HAVE FETCHED UP TO $50!
Just when the reissue game couldn't get any more top notch, Superior Vaiduct took that notch and moved it up even higher with Martin Rev's (from Suicide) debut solo offering.
With full creative authority Martin Rev creates a slightly more optimistic (or in the very least, LESS pessimistic) vision of life in early '80s New York than what he provides with Suicide. The comparison to Aphex Twin is certainly apt, as this album predates the slew of IDM and ambient techno records that would pour out in the mid-'90s and express a similar isolated vision of the future.
With originals not coming up cheap nor often, this reissue is a must and comes SUPERIORLY RECOMMENDED!
LP - Jesus And Mary Chain - Barbed Wire Kisses - B-sides And More (2013 Reissue) - $15.99 - BUY
- LISTEN 
- LISTEN FINALLY!!!! "Barbed Wire Kisses" and "Sound of Speed" get the reissue treatment !!!!!
Thank God!!! Glaringly omitted from previous Jesus And Mary Chain re-release campaigns, these two b-sides and rarites comps are absolutely necessary additions to your collection, and IN FACT THEY'RE JUST AS CLASSIC as all those other killer JAMC LPs. "Barbed Wire Kisses" contains songs from the now legendary "Psychocandy" and "Darklands" sessions while "Sound of Speed" collects the outtakes from "Automatic" and "Honey's Dead" studio time. Man has 1972 Records done us quite the solid.
Twenty five years is way too long for such a classic album as "Barbed Wire Kisses" to be outta print. And finally those not lucky enough to find a copy (no one ever sells theirs) can grab their very own vinyl of what is one of the best (if not the best) Jesus And Mary Chain albums. From Kill Surf City to Here It Comes Again (covered later by the Pixies) to their awesome cover songs of their own, Jesus And Mary Chain never made a misstep. Their noise pop wall-of-sound surf melodies are at their blown out best on "Barbed Wire Kisses" and even if you don't own a single JAMC record, you should grab this one now. These guys influenced just about every band going these days (seriously it's true).
We almost wanna buy all the copies for ourselves, we're so overjoyed.
So of course, it's TOTALLY RECOMMENDED.
FINALLY!!!! "Barbed Wire Kisses" and "Sound of Speed" get the reissue treatment !!!!! Thank God!!! Glaringly omitted from previous Jesus And Mary Chain re-release campaigns, these two b-sides and rarites comps are absolutely necessary additions to your collection, and IN FACT THEY'RE JUST AS CLASSIC as all those other killer JAMC LPs. "Barbed Wire Kisses" contains songs from the now legendary "Psychocandy" and "Darklands" sessions while "Sound of Speed" collects the outtakes from "Automatic" and "Honey's Dead" studio time. Man has 1972 Records done us quite the solid.
"Sound Of Speed" was originally released as CD in 1993 and never made it to a vinyl version stateside (a lack of foresight that took this long to correct). So holy hell this reissue is like a late Christmas present!!!
JAMC's wall of feedback meets Beach Boys melodies on smack vibe is in full effect on this second but no less necessary singles and outtakes comp. With songs like Snakedriver, Don't Come Down, Write Records Release Blues and a fucking killer cover of Teenage Lust by the MC5, even Jesus And Mary Chain's tossed off songs are repeat listens. Can you name a band that succeeds both in the single and album formats, while single-handedly inventing noise pop--causing million young guitar players to turn their amps up to bleeding volumes? No, that's because JAMC is in a class all its own.
All their records are P-Rex faves and must-own rock classics, and now we finally can hook you up with "Sound Of Speed" on wax!
We don't even need to tell you, but this one's WAY RECOMMENDED.
HAND NUMBERED EDITION OF 210 ON WHITE VINYL!
We scored a batch of Houston act Colours (cheeky UK spelling) self-titled EP from the lovely folks at Free Loving Anarchists. This Ep consists of four cuts of dreamy shoegaze haze pop in the vein of My Bloddy Valentine, Royal Baths, Hot Guts or even City Center. Walls of vacuum cleaner guitar atmospheres, a steady back beat and reverbed vocals mixing in the textures combine to make catchy melodies that spiral through the sky and wash over the listener like warm waves of light and cloud puff bliss. This was released back in 2010 but we just got hipped to it recently and have been diggin' it so much we just had to share it with youalls. Better late than never right? Oh yeah, it's also Mega Recommended.
After blowing our minds with "Hazed Dream" (also birthed by Sacred Bones) in 2011 the Psychic Ills have returned once again with a killer new album of desert saunter bliss rock.
When we heard "Hazed Dream" we refered to it as "Brian Jonestown Massacre on a Planet Caravan" which seemed pretty fitting but on this new long player, the Psychic Ills have infused some serious "Exile On Mainstreet" whiteboy downer blues to their repertoire and it really adds some serious attitude to the tracks. Psychic Ills has morphed into a full fledged rock act and they've done it pretty seamlessly too, so put on some shades, turn up the volume and lose yourself in the psychedelic cloud dust late night strut of "One Track Mind". Recommended
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The long awaited second solo LP from Cheap Time frontman Jeffrey Novak is here. Dudes we've been waiting for this one for years now, but hell when a record's this good, the wait is well worth it.
"Baron In The Trees" has been aging on the shelf for years like a good wine, but it's one fine wine we here at P-Rex will soon be drunk on. Diving deep into the strange psych world of Sky Saxon, Alex Chilton, Skip Spence and yes Syd Barrett, Jeffrey Novak's solo LP "Baron In The Trees" is a down the rabbit hole and back out again baroque psych meets glam rock n roll masterpiece.
Exploring new sonic territory and weirdo pop melodies that wouldn't fit into the mold of his main project Cheap Time, Jeffrey Novak mines the power pop of Big Star, glitter of David Bowie, the outsider trash rock of Kim Fowley and the acid soaked songwriting of those later Seeds lps to create an album of deranged yet beautiful psych rock. Genre twisting, super melodic and art bent, "Baron In The Trees" is a surprising and entrancing spin every time it hits your turntable.
Mr. Novak has way upped the ante for his contemporaries like White Fence, Sonny Smith and John Dwyer and his Oh Sees, who are all swimming in the same lysergic waters as him. And though Jeffrey Novak's second solo lp is a must own on its own accord, the sad caveat that this album was one of the last projects that the late great Jay Reatard produced and played on makes it even more necessary. Both Jeffrey and Jay can do no wrong in our book, so of course this is HANDS DOWN RECOMMENDED.
Holy Shit! Iceage damn near took over 2011 with their monster debut "New Brigade" and now after several tours they've made the jump to the Matador family and unleashed this brand spankin' new record "You're Nothing".
"New Brigade" got all sorts of crazy (and much deserved) praise from folks of all walks of life and with this new monster of an album Iceage have furthered their frenzied post punk bashers. There is tad more bottom end to these primal, angst ridden agitated rippers and you can hear a band that is growing and expanding with their sound. But don't fret, all the unbridled full bore hardcore energy is still fully intact and "You're Nothing" is a walloping blur of punk intensity so jump on board and hold the fuck on cuz "You're Nothing" is a take no prisoners onslaught of the gnarliest order. Super Recommended.
The Rocket Recordings label, the darlings that brought us Goat's "World Music" LP has returned with another winner of an album in tote. This time around they're bringing the mainman of The Heads, Paul Allen's new project Anthroprophh.
Anthroprophh is some seriously unique music with a total soundtrack feel to it. It has some strange lo-fi-ish Morricone crossed with Corum mixed with Hawkwind vibe to it that gives the music an unsettling presence but compels the listener further into unknown realms. Heads' heads will definitely not want to miss this one, cray cray psyche guitar majesty unlimited is the name of the game.
Something akin to the long form hypno-mantras from the Carlton Melton camp is what Anthroprophh is laying out with some frantic guitar flourishes a la Kraus, King Blood and Chrome. With looped percussion, curious blips, hypno-groove bass lines and textured drones creating a floaty environment for slithering psyche-burn guitar passages to guide this mystic journey of far-out reaches. Supremely Recommended.
Wicked analog madness coming at you live from Streetwalker, the duo comprised of one dude from Mutant Beat Dance and another from White Car.
Aptly titled, "Future Fusion" mixes tons of synth based music into one sinister concoction that sounds vaguely familiar but decidedly unique. Any fans of other things Minimal Wave has put out, especially the gloomier tunes, should snag this record immediately and head to the nearest dimly lit discotheque. Or, jump in a car and drive around like you're on the lam from crooked cops in a dystopian wasteland. Hugely reccomended!
Pittsburgh's Modey Lemon made rambunctious clattering garage punk in the late 90's and early aughts and we shit you not Phil Boyd and Paul Quattrone have returned along with Sara McElhaney on a Roland Sp-404 as Shockwave Riderz.
Both McElhaney and Boyd handle dual vocal duties and this trio spits out high-octane motorik synth punk. It's got the gelatinous bulge of Modey Lemon's throbbing muscle drum with a dollop of the fuzz/fried manic mutant pop of Thee Oh Sees. These 3 cuts fly by in a blur but are ultra catchy and demand to be played on repeat at top volume. This one sided 45 RPM EP is self released, comes housed in a plain white DJ sleeve and contains download for the tech crowd out there.
This is some deliriously catchy fun as fuck stuff so cop a hit of this now cuz its tremendously Recommended.
The These Are Not Records imprint has pressed up a lovely little EP by P-Rex faves Food Pyramid!!!!
Whether it's naviagting arps with Roy Orb D.mt, splitting 7's with Deep Earth or bringing in the dawn with their "Mango Sunrise" we're digging the tunes that Food Pyramid are bringing to the fray. "Creation Beat EP" is further proof of the spectacular sounds this group is achieving and their sound is an ever evoling and improving thing that we hope continues to keep up such top notch output. What we get here is four cuts of synthesizer wizardy, pumping beats and studied textures.
Creation Beat starts things off as high energy club banger with blurred vocal chants scattered throughout before moving onto Eat Street which adds in some 80's soundtrack guitar skree to the pulse. After a simple flip we venture into hyper drive fractal pulse of Crosshatch before heading into closer My House which is all cough syurp Sade-ian bliss late night sexy sexy. Totally Recommended.
El Paraiso Records returns to the fold with the third ablum by Copenhagen psych trio Papir !!!!
We've dug the snot outta all the records we get from El Paraiso Records, Causa Sui, Jonas Munk's solo outting and Papir's previous "Stundum" got tons of love here at the shop and this latest album, "III" is already getting plenty spins. Papir's swirling psyschedelic rock is a potent mixture of guitar driven fuzz burners and groove-y rhythms that promises interstellar posi-vibes for days. Recommended.
DUDES, the frustratingly delayed second Night Marchers lp is fianlly here !!!
Wait who are the Night Marchers again?
Um just the 3/4 of the Hot Snakes reconstituted in full on rock n roll snarl mode!!!
And you might just recognized the fearless leader, John Reis, from a few of his other little known projects like Drive Like Jehu and Rocket From The Crypt !!!!
Need we say more?
Night Marchers are the next installment in John Reis' furious, aggro and epic rock n roll resume, and we here at the shop just can't get enough of "Allez Allez." Continuing on where Drive Like Jehu and Hot Snakes left off and facing off against former bandmate Rick Froberg's Obits, Night Marchers rip through some of the best high octane blown out rock n roll around. Bluesy swagger, punk frothing and all sorts of manic guitar playing set to a California surf / garage template, "Allez Allez" doesn't ride the wave off internet hyped genres. This is just rock n roll as its meant to be played, LOUD DRUNK AND IN YER FACE.
If we can't have another Hot Snakes lp, the Night Marchers will more than quench our thirst for angsty feedback punk. Dudes, if you like any of the aforementioned bands, just grab "Allez Allez" now. You need to get pummeled like this. (And we hope that John Reis and Rick Froberg continue to try and out do each other with their new bands cuz everyone wins in that war.)
FURIOUSLY RECOMMENDED.
No Quarter lands another stoney crop of Endless Boogie with "Long Island".
First the Endless Boogiemen were Smoking Figs In The Yard on "Focus Level" and then they were spending time in Tarmac City on "Full House Head", both full lengths released by No Quarter and now they've returned to Take Out The Trash on "Long Island". Endless Boogie bring the long haired blistered guitar jams that ride a steady groove and keep the vibes to a slow burning smolder while frontman Paul Major growls, grumbles, and spouts stream of consciousness maniacal weirdness overtop.
Drink up some o' this "Long Island" and get to choooooooglin'. Recommended.
The Mie Music label has ponied up and unleashed this punishing platter of heaviness by the one and only BONG.
"Live At St. mary's Old Church And Burial Ground" is two side long pieces of crushing hated drenched pitch black doom. This is a work of extreme volume and hypnotic by way of endurance intensity. Blasted extreme darkness is what BONG specialize in and this live document is testament to their powers. Not for the faint of heart, but seriously Recommended.
It's 1972 time again around here, after bringing us amazing reissues by the likes of Stereolab, Jesus And Mary Chain, Echo and The Bunnymen and even The Sound's first two albums, they have returned to give a second life to The Sound's "All Fall Down".
We were pleased as punch to get "Jeopardy" and "From The Lion's Mouth", The Sound's first two albums and now to get their absolute masterpiece "All Fall Down" is a joyuos occasion indeed. Though contemporaries with such classic acts as The Chameleons, Echo And The Bunnymen and The Psychedelic Furs, The Sound for whatever never reached the leve of success as the acts they shared stages with, which is too bad cuz the neo pop/post-punk that The Sound created is some of the best music to come outta the UK in the 80's to say the least.
We'll be spinning our copies on repeat for any and all who'll listen if it helps spread the sound of The Sound! Soundly Recommended.
LP - Various Artists - A Short Life Of Trouble - Popular American Ballads 1927-1943 - $11.99 - BUY - LISTEN
- LISTEN
MISSISSIPPI RECORDS ALERT !!!
Mississippi Records strikes again, this time with the early country and bluesy folk comp "A Short Life Of Trouble." Chock full of melancholy pre-war singles from long forgotten 78s, this collectionis a necessary addition to your Americana record collection.
Usually collections of old 78 sides sound crackly and hollow (transferring songs from old shellac records is a bit tricky), but "Short Life Of Trouble" sounds clear and fresh as they day they were recorded, almost if these records weren't gathering dust for years. The comp swings from dour murder ballads to the early banjo backed bluegrass numbers and on towards a treasure trove of country folk ballads that immediately grab your attention with their intensity and sparse instrumentation. Those who don't have an old Victrola and a stack of records from Depression era folk artists need "Short Life Of Trouble."
Absolutely haunting and beautiful, anyone with a taste for the history of American music from Charlie Patton to Roscoe Holcomb will dig this comp. SERIOUSLY RECOMMENDED.
LP - Various Artists - Assiyo Bellema - Golden Years Of Modern Ethiopian Music - $12.99 - BUY - LISTEN
- LISTEN
MISSISSIPPI RECORDS ALERT!
Hey! Put on some comfortable shoes and get ready to dance. This slew of rug cutters is gonna get your feet moving. Mississippi Records keeps their winning streak going with this well curated compilation of Ethiopian rhythm and blues.
Currently, Mississippi is the Annie Oakley of record labels, all hits and no misses. Grab it now.
LP - Various Artists - The United Sacred Harp Convention - The Alan Lomax Recordings, 1959 - $11.99 - BUY - LISTEN
- LISTEN
MISSISSIPPI RECORDS ALERT!
After a stint in Europe recording the folk music of England, Spain, Italy and elsewhere, Alan Lomax returned to the US to once more dive head first in the folk music of his Southern roots. While on multi-state tour in the later half of 1959, Lomax recorded hours upon hours of undiscovered and intense folk musicians of all varieties, from bluegrass to country, from sacred to the blues (this was the trip in which he discovered Mississippi Fred McDowell). Many of those recordings still lay merely cataloged, untouched and sadly locked up at the Library Congress, but not if Mississippi and Change Records have anything to do about it. Together they've just issued "United Sacred Harp Convention - The Alan Lomax Recordings, 1959", a powerful piece of sacred folk music.
Sacred Harp Singing is little known offshoot of southern gospel and oh what a phenomenon it must be to witness in person. Performed acappella by large groups without leader or instrumentation, this is powerful, pew shaking, unruly, polyphonic gospel singing that you won't find in your average church. Sacred Harp owes debts to the country folk and the secular bluegrass music that it sprung up next to in the hill country of the South, but seriously stands all on its own--something you just gotta hear to believe. Fans of the Louvin Brothers, the Carter Family, Alan Lomax's field recordings, gospel music and outsider folk in general will need to grab "The United Sacred Harp Convention" now.
Super limited pressing as always from Mississippi. So don't miss out. Holy Holy Holy Recommended!
LP - Orchestre Regional de Mauritanie - Orchestre Regional de Mauritanie - $12.99 - BUY
MISSISSIPPI RECORDS ALERT
Mississippi: record label or aural archeologists? On this co-release with Sahel Sounds, Mississippi unearth a stellar batch of Mauritanian scorchers that juxtapose Western instrumentation and West African traditions.
Currently, Mississippi is the Annie Oakley of record labels, all hits and no misses. Grab it now.
ORIGINALS HAVE GONE FOR $2000!!!!
Psych and Prog Rock Junkies Behold !!! The holy grail of the late sixites British psych scene - Pussy's 1969 album "Plays" - has been reissued!!!!
This one was so rare that finding more than a single Youtube video of any of these songs was next to impossible (until now). Copies of "Plays" have sold for thousands of dollars, at least when someone is crazy enough to part with an original. But scarcity aside, Pussy is the missing link between the bluesier psych scene of the late 60s and the artier prog rock experimentation of the 70s. An visionary band that was breaking ground right alongside more well known English bands of the time that just unfortunately never got their due. Thankfully Morgan Town Blue Records rescued Pussy from the footnotes of psych rock history.
Is doesn't matter how mysterious or obscure a record is unless it rips, and Pussy sure conjures up some of the most killer keyboard-heavy proto prog rock around. Part Keith Emerson organ bombast, part psychedelic soul ala Procul Harum, the same sort of waped art school pop bending as Soft Machine and a whole helluva taking aim at Pink Floyd for title of best psych rocking / mind altering band around.
Fans of the King Crimson, Gong, The Nice and the aforementioned bands will more than dig the hallucinogenic grooves awaiting you in Pussy's classic fucking album "Plays." And the lp has a lysergic cat on the cover, what could be better!!!!
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED !!!! This will be outta print in a hot minute !!!!
ORIGINALS HAVE SOLD FOR OVER $900!!!
WHOAH. Our good pals at the ever-reliable Lion Productions in conjunction with Vintage Records have reissued this holy grail, hard-rockin' masterwork from New Jersey devils Sainte Anthony's Fyre!
Gonzo, hard-rockin' madness! We're DEFINITELY feeling this one - it's like Marty McFly time-travelled back in time and created a band that was executed per our exact taste!
The "Hard Stuff", with a hint of bluesy rockin, but with a definite proto-punk attitude and swagger that elevates this above your typical Seventies hard stuff. These guys had to have had their ears on the Motor City back in the day - we're hearing the unmistakable testosterone-fueled influence of the MC5 or The Rationals, as well as the sinister oil-caked, cabaret feel of Alice Cooper too. These dudes were apparently courted by the bigs back in the day (Felix Pappalardi even offered to produce, but ultimately wanted too much moolah) and was a hair away from signing with Atlantic, but ultimately facing restrictions that would dictate their sound, decided against it, and recorded/released this one themselves. Fuck yeah! The "rough" sound of the record really is an asset to the overall feel and probably ups the aggression and sinister feel overall, with the guitars fuzzed out and pushing the red zone to the maxx, bro.
If you dig Pentagram, Blue Cheer, Grand Funk, or even newer, backward-looking bands like Graveyard, Witchcraft and FUZZ, then prepare to feel the HEAT from the FYRE! Pressed up on gorgeous 180gm vinyl and packed with detailed liners/lyrics and a repro of the band's original promo poster, this is one NOT TO MISS (nice price too!). RECOMMENDED times 10,000,000,000!!!! Destined for 2013 "Reissue of the Year" status - Get this now!
Acid Archives aficionados take note! One of the finest Acid Archives inclusions, Vulcan's "Meet Your Ghost", has been reissued for a whole new generation of record lovers with a whole extra LP of bonus material. The gatefold jacket is super nice as well.
One of a kind, indeed! Fans of Raven's "Back To Ohio Blues", Simply Saucer's "Cyborgs Revisited", and the recently recommended Rob Jo Star Band LP will find a lot to love here and Private press, one-man-band, garage psych fans will flip over Vulcan! Originals have sold for nearly $300 and don't come with the extra tracks, which are arguably better than the original LP.
Are you going "The Devil's Birthday Party"?
7in - Guided By Voices - Flunky Minnows - $5.99 - BUY
GBV won't slow down ever! That much Robert Pollard can promise. Hot off an over productive last year (yes three albums in 2012), Guided By Voices wouldn't let more than a month pass without hooking up us indie rock junkies with another fix. So glad they're not stingy with the goods.
Dudes !!!! If GBV didn't continue to have moments of fuzzed out power popped genius, they would quit, they'd have too. But since they're still on a roll, why even talk about that scary year when there's no more GBV? Especially since this single is a perfect addition to their massive catalog.
"Flunky Minnows" could almost fit on Alien Lanes or Bee Thousand -- pretty much a classic treble pop banger from Mr Pollard and Co, YES!. The B-side showcases Robert Pollard's weirder, more blown and pop fragmenting self, kinda along the lines of his more recent solo stuff. But man can he tear a pop song apart at the seams. If this single is a preview of the forthcoming lp, English Little League, we're in for a treat. So grab this little teaser of a single, and hit repeat til the new album drops. GBV is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED as always.
Our pal Rob Fletcher aka Rob Vertigo of the Terminal Boredom enclave ditched the ratrace briefly so his number one lady and he could traverse the continental Untied States "On The Road" style in search of off beat out of the way thrills and oddities. He compiled various stories of their journeys along with contributions from other scribes stricken with a similar wanderlust in to this fantastic black and white DIY style fanzine. Dead Mecca is chock fulla photos and well written articles and interviews on various off the beaten path places like Salvation Mountain in California, Cave City in Kentucky, the Ravens Grin Inn in Illinois, Goner Records Elvis Impersonator Shrine in Tennessee, the King Kong Burger joint in Nebraska and a visit to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. They went mermaid hunting in damn near every state and included some book and film reviews of the travel oriented variety to flesh things out. All in all we're talking 30 pages of toner drenched travel tales of the weird and wild. Dead Mecca Issue 1 will make you want to pull out thee ol' atlas and start plotting out your next adventure for sure. Righteously Recommended.
