The Superior Viaduct label drops the bomb with these first-ever domestic vinyl issues of the legendary Hardcore Devo albums… The label will fill you in with all the vitals here:
"DEVO’s Hardcore documents the group’s beginning as pre-punk outcasts in the fertile Akron, Ohio, underground rock scene. Spawned at the nearby college of Kent State, site of the infamous May 4 Massacre, DEVO formed as a conceptual art project armed with the radical philosophy of de-evolution. Brothers Mothersbaugh (Mark, Bob and Jim) and Brothers Casale (Jerry and Bob) along with drummer Alan Myers soon whipped up an otherworldly brand of “devolved blues” that could hold its own alongside the beatnik groove of 15-60-75 (a.k.a. The Numbers Band) or the primal rock poetry of The Bizarros. Recorded on various four-track machines and in tiny studios, basements and garages between 1974-1977, Hardcore reveals their strikingly clear vision: rock ’n’ roll stripped bare of its collective cool and jerked back into propaganda fit for post-modern man. It’s no surprise that these transmissions would soon catch the eye and ear of Brian Eno, who later produced their landmark 1978 debut album. Noisy synth, strangled guitar chops and a primitive rhythmic thud power the early DEVO sound. Threaded beneath it all are lyrical themes of post-McCarthy paranoia, middle-class ephemera and DEVO’s long-running topic of choice: sex, or lack thereof. Few moments in pop music history can match the grinding, pent-up energy of “Mongoloid” and the spastic bounce and sputter of “Jocko Homo” (two anthems presented in their earlier and superior versions here). Cult favorites like “Mechanical Man” and “Auto-Modown” make Volume 1 essential listening. Superior Viaduct and Booji Boy Records are proud to present DEVO’s Hardcore to a new generation of spuds, lovingly packaged with Moshe Brakha’s stunning cover photography. As David Bowie said in 1977, DEVO is indeed “the band of the future."
!!!! We've long spun our CD versions of these Devo "demos" and to finally get these on wax is an absolute blessing. Akron, OH's favorite sons Devo's 4 track recordings of future hits and mutant pop have all been compiled here on two volumes; here you'll find early workings of their ever evolving genius and tracks that considering some were tracked as early as 1974 are flat out jaw droppers that'll bring a joy to your life that thus far was unknown. Dip into the larval stages of one of the greatest bands to ever grace this puny planet with its unyielding originality. Don't even balk at getting just one as both of these volumes are absolute must owns for any and all record collections. Beyond Recommended. Essential.
The Superior Viaduct label drops the bomb with these first-ever domestic vinyl issues of the legendary Hardcore Devo albums… The label will fill you in with all the vitals here:
"DEVO’s Hardcore documents the group’s beginning as pre-punk outcasts in the fertile Akron, Ohio, underground rock scene. Spawned at the nearby college of Kent State, site of the infamous May 4 Massacre, DEVO formed as a conceptual art project armed with the radical philosophy of de-evolution. Brothers Mothersbaugh (Mark, Bob and Jim) and Brothers Casale (Jerry and Bob) along with drummer Alan Myers soon whipped up an otherworldly brand of “devolved blues” that could hold its own alongside the beatnik groove of 15-60-75 (a.k.a. The Numbers Band) or the primal rock poetry of The Bizarros. Recorded on various four-track machines and in tiny studios, basements and garages between 1974-1977, Hardcore reveals their strikingly clear vision: rock ’n’ roll stripped bare of its collective cool and jerked back into propaganda fit for post-modern man. It’s no surprise that these transmissions would soon catch the eye and ear of Brian Eno, who later produced their landmark 1978 debut album. Noisy synth, strangled guitar chops and a primitive rhythmic thud power the early DEVO sound. Threaded beneath it all are lyrical themes of post-McCarthy paranoia, middle-class ephemera and DEVO’s long-running topic of choice: sex, or lack thereof. Volume 2 digs further into the band’s cranial bunker with the caveman hit “Be Stiff,” the space age surf-blues of “Clockout” and even a demented take on bubblegum pop, “Goo Goo Itch.” This 2xLP set includes four previously unreleased tracks: “Man from the Past,” “Doghouse Doghouse,” “Hubert House” and “Shimmy Shake.” Superior Viaduct and Booji Boy Records are proud to present DEVO’s Hardcore to a new generation of spuds, lovingly packaged with Moshe Brakha’s stunning cover photography. As David Bowie said in 1977, DEVO is indeed “the band of the future."
!!!! We've long spun our CD versions of these Devo "demos" and to finally get these on wax is an absolute blessing. Akron, OH's favorite sons Devo's 4 track recordings of future hits and mutant pop have all been compiled here on two volumes; here you'll find early workings of their ever evolving genius and tracks that considering some were tracked as early as 1974 are flat out jaw droppers that'll bring a joy to your life that thus far was unknown. Dip into the larval stages of one of the greatest bands to ever grace this puny planet with its unyielding originality. Don't even balk at getting just one as both of these volumes are absolute must owns for any and all record collections. Beyond Recommended. Essential.
LIMITED TO 300 COPIES!
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK YES. Welcome to your new favorite band! East Link released a criminally limited cassette last year (which we managed to score a few copies of) that blew our ears off! NOW they make their vinyl debut from - where else - Aussie mega-label Aarght Records (home of Ooga Boogas, Total Control, UV Race, ECSR and more!). Aarght sums it up nicely here:
"Al UV drums and sings while either three or four other guys play guitar. The two best songs taken from their cassette release of 2011. Really fucking good. Working on an LP now."
REALLY FUCKING GOOD indeed! Both tracks are ragged, post-apocalyptic death punk, with riffs raging into the sunset - repetitive and caked with the mud and blood of every Aussie rocker from the dawn of rock and roll! Fans of the current brave new world of dystopian Aus-someness like Exhaustion, UV Race, and Total Control, or their American brothers-in-chains A-Frames, Intelligence or Nothing People will definitely have their whiskers tickled by this 2-sided banger! Don't sleep on this one, ya slackers 'cuz at 300 copies, this one may have you spending yer own 'blood money' like a ravenous 'wild dog', and we KNOW you wanna say 'you were there first' when their debut long player is released on In The Red in the very near future! What would our highest absolute recommendation be? Well whatever that is, consider it bestowed upon this MASSIVE slab of wax! RECOMMENDED!
The Every Night Is A Saturday Night Records folks have the backstory on these unsavory tunes here:
“Move along ’cause there’s nothing to see here,” roars bassist Thomy Sloane on ‘Loose Screws’, the standout song on this glorious first Batpiss album. It’s a stock line from the popular imagination, but its appearance is newly ironic in this context. That’s because Nuclear Winter is the opposite of a record that you half-listen to before shrugging and proceeding merrily on your way. It’s loud, weird, sprawling and intensely gripping.
It’s also not afraid to be ridiculous, its whole approach balanced between brutal misshapenness and a comically exaggerated version of that. And, yes, the band are called Batpiss, lodging themselves in the proud tradition of perverse Melbourne products like Spider Vomit and Bits of Shit."
Yep, that's right yet another great act outta Australia! Melbourne's Batpiss are bringing the AmRep/Touch and Go/Feedtime swamped-out scuzzy misanthropy bigtime on "Nuclear Winter" and we are diggin' it tons. Sludgy 3 piece noise rock with dirgey basslines, strangulated guitars, concussion causing drums and scratchy throated howls of unease are definitely right up our alley and we're guessing upon dropping the needle on this one you all are sure to agree. So gobble this one up and add it all the other amazing Aussie noise rock records on your shelves.
LIMITED TO 200 COPIES!
Skrot Up Records fills in the details behind their highly anticipated latest:
"German Army (LP) The foreboding shadow cast by the Los Angeles duo German Army has grown exponentially in nuance with the unit's prolific output since their debut release in 2011.
Leaving a trail of highly praised releases on international labels such as Night-People, Hobo Cult, Clan Destine Records, Electric Voice, No Kings, Chondritic Sound, and Skrot Up, German Army also managed to climb to the top of the UK-blog 20JazzFunkGreats Best-of-2012 list. German Army, the group's self-titled LP, opens with the pungent beat of Guinea Strong Arm, a dubbed out mix of early electronic sci-fi soundtrack meets liquid post punk with an underlying riff that sounds like it was lifted from a Trashmen instrumental. Followed by the sinkhole bassline and chopped rhythm of Folded Skin, a strangely calm and soothing voice recites words from what might be ancient scripts on desert fauna, or a faded TV-Guide. Side one ends with Ox Cart, the audio equivalent of a chance encounter between Dr. Moreau and Kurt Weill. Pulling Lashes, Translate Person, and Saxon Skull take up side two, expanding the slow burn stomp with more leaking synth patterns, surreal modulation, and murky low end slithering and creeping beneath the dank surface.
Mangled into a dreamy and indeterminate genre virus spawned by rock that doesn't rock and dance music you can't dance to, German Army keep their intentions as obscure as their song titles and leave it up to the listener to decipher whether their austere incantations make him -or her want to sway or cry.
The album is being released in a limited edition of 200 copies featuring full-color paste-on artwork (front + back), and insert (red, yellow, blue, or green). Download included."
German Army's dubbed out industrial post-punk is some seriously thought-provoking workings of modern sonics. Their eerie laid-back tracks move steadily along while simultaneously filling the listener with dread. Hints of Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV, Suicide, 39 Clocks and Chrisma come to mind, but with a fully individual take on minimal/industrial creeper sounds making up the bulk of this here record, LA's German Army are currently wiping the floor with any and all contemporaries. This self-titled album of ghostly dubbed-out shadow music needs to be heard immediately. Supremely Recommended.
LIMITED TO 300 COPIES!
We got some utterly terrifying sounds from the Rural Isolation Project label; we'll let them set the scene for this group of Texas weirdos:
"The shadowy, bleary-eyed Austin crew lead by MATT TURNER (passed out on the lawn) serves up Texas-style sludge with layer upon layer of in-the-red fuzz, feedback, vomit, claustrophobia, no eye contact, distorted 808 beats, wind-up glam drums, suspicious voices from other rooms, Tejano transmissions, and EDP Wasp synthesizer. Includes a wind tunnel cover of George Brigman’s “DMT,” for all the heads. Past involvements include Austin psych stumblers RUBBLE, SAME SAC and ’90s free noise questionables ABRASION ENSEMBLE. 180-gram, deep purple vinyl. Edition of 300."
Much like Texas noise legends (and P-Rex faves) Shit and Shine, Quttinirpaaq are sending out mutated industrial tribal noise transmissions that are short circuiting our brains and we like that plenty. "No Visitors" is a staggering collection of fried and fucked experimental unpleasantries; layer upon layer of fuzz, feedback, distortion and heinous death march drum loops, factory tool symphonies and the occasional heebie-geebie inducing "vocals". If nightmare soundscape torment is as much your thing as it is ours then buddy we just found your new favorite record. Playing this at extreme volumes will certainly yield extreme results and it might get you evicted. Oh and HOLY SHIT! They do a freakin' AMAZEBALLS George Brigman cover… swoooooon!!!! For fans of Shit and Shine, Godflesh, Rusted Shut, Pain Teens and hearing loss. Deleriously Recommended.
LIMITED TO 350 COPIES!
Scrappy and promising DIY punk from this Brighton combo! Released on UK label Nominal Records, we'll allow them to pontificate for a bit:
"With their four-track demo recorded in a friend's flat, Brighton's IRREPARABLES stripped away the excess of some 35 years of punk rock and found perfection in its most rudimentary elements. The ghosts of Ramones, Dead Moon, Wipers, The Cure, and The Shaggs remain. In an increasingly contrived world, reaffirmation is found in their simple, direct nature. Innocence and longing ("I Wanna Make a Fanzine," "Dear Mixtape," "Broken Sound") stand beside contempt and disgust ("Bendito sea Dios," "Spit on the Pope," "Release the Hounds," "Digested System"). These 10 songs make up the totality of Irreparables' recorded existence. Features members of CISMA, DESTRUCCION, FIRMEZA 10, OTAN, LAS TIMIDAS, and others. Edition of 350 copies with download."
The Irreparables debut is chock full of succinct and catchy tunes that crackle off the wax with an immediacy and enthusiasm of 3 teens on a sugar high with a serious chip on their shoulder! There's an earnestness and a ragged intensity that calls to mind a slew of not only U.K. DIY like Crisis or The Fall, but also some of our favorite Expressway bands like The Terminals or The Gordons! We're catching vapors of some early Kill Rock Stars up in there too - Beat Happening, Mecca Normal - that allllllllmost competent musicianship that is overcome by a severe dose of enthusiasm. Also - the lyrics are sung in both Spanish and English - how continental! In all seriousness, it's a killer record that deserves your attention, so, you know - GET IT. You get the picture? RECOMMENDED.
The Dark Entries label lands another astonishing blow to our domes with this amazing collection. Here's what the label's sayin':
"ALGEBRA SUICIDE was the married couple LYDIA TOMKIW (lyrics/vocals) and DON HEDEKER (guitars/keyboards). They formed in Chicago in 1982, and their first four song EP, True Romance At The World's Fair, was self-released that year. It featured a ‘60s Vox Guitar Organ, a precursor to the synthesizer guitar, and a Multivox Rhythm Ace drum machine. In 1984 they released a second 4 song EP, An Explanation For That Flock Of Crows, ditching the guitar organ but adding the Casiotone MT-40. The Big Skin cassette was released in 1986 and featured 13 new compositions with more complex arrangements. A compilation album, The Secret Like Crazy, was released in 1988. It collected 20 tracks picked from the first two EPs and the Big Skin cassette, plus unreleased songs. Feminine Squared is an 18 track compilation that collects all 8 songs from the first two EPs, 4 songs from the Big Skin cassette, 4 songs from The Secret Like Crazy, a song from the Pas De Deux compilation, and a previously unreleased song. Lydia and Don call their approach ""Avant Garage"" citing inspiration from Patti Smith, Frank O'Hara, Leonard Cohen and Lou Reed. Don plays guitar in a hauntingly stark style like Glenn Branca, Tom Verlaine, or Vini Reilly. He then adds Casio keyboards and minimal electronic percussion, creating a moody, atmospheric backdrop for Lydia's poems. Lydia's words span a broad range of twisted real-life observations, and are delivered in a deadpan fashion with her distinct Midwestern accent. All songs have been remastered for vinyl by George Horn at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. The vinyl comes housed in a glossy black and white jacket featuring the cut up faces of Don and Lydia from An Explanation For That Flock Of Crows EP. Each LP includes a newsprint zine with lyrics, photos, liner notes, and clippings. Also included is a full length DVD featuring a 12-song Algebra Suicide concert from 1984, recorded at the Noise Factory in Chicago. Though Lydia passed away in 2007, her genius lives on in these recordings. Please respect her decadence."
"Feminine Squared" is a quirky collection of early minimal wave tracks hailing from sweet home Chicago from the early 80's and it is getting some serious facetime with our turntable. If you've been digging the Minimal Wave label's output and the always stellar Dark Entries catalog then listen close to these languid oddities. With Durutti Column style guitar work and Fabulous Stains-esque vocal work and hints of Young Marble Giants, Algebra Suicide are supplying a sound all their own. This new collection comes with TONS of extras and goodies so you'll have plenty to pore over as you're sailing along with these goodtime tunes. Recommended.
LP - Solitary Mutant Series - Volume Two - (Tarantisimo Summit Volume Number Three) - $11.99 - BUY
- LISTEN 
- LISTEN Bat Shit Records saddles up with its second installment of this heavily experimental series. This outing features the unique sonics of Gary Wrong (Gary Wrong Group, Wizzard Sleeve, Mangina), Johnny LZR (Human Eye, Conspiracy of Owls), ALX NVA (ET Habit, Curtains, Onyx System) and Xunholm (Ga'an, ET Habit). This collection of outsider tunes is chock fulla found sounds, looped oddities, fantasy-esque pseudo prog, dark tinged experimentalism and way-out soundscapes for the listener looking for some challenging sounds. Solitary Mutant Series - Volume Two features Ilth-arific cover collage work just like the first one and also like the first one comes with our highest recommendation!
It's always a good day when a new batch of Sing Sing reissues swing thru the door - we're always sure to find one title we'd overlooked in our many years of vinyl hunting! The fellas over at S.S.H.Q. have decided to pick thru the Glitter bin and collect the entire recorded output by U.K. act Jook! Briefly surmised - here's Sing Sing with the goods:
"Jook came on like bastard sons of The Who and, if this first ever collection of the band's entire recorded works achieves anything, it should be to elevate the band from the Glitter Bin, and back to their rightful place as one of the greatest rock n’ roll acts ever."
Jook never quite hit the heights that their tunes would deserve - they were too far ahead of everyone, pre-supposing punk and power pop, and even adopting the "boots and braces" glam image in the U.K. - apparently The Bay City Rollers stole that very look after playing shows with them in Scotland. The tunes are punchy and have hooks that go on for days - from the proto-punk thrasher "Crazy Kids" (our fave), to anthemic rockers ("Aggravation Place" - linked below). You can ad these guys to the ever-growing list of music-biz casualties - a band that had it all; great image, KILLER tunes, and a live show to back it up but were never able to connect with the public consciousness - CRIMINAL in our opinion. Brought back into our consciousness by the EXCELLENT "Glitter From The Litter Bin" CD compilation back in 2003 and then compiled on CD ONLY in 2005 by RPM, we've been chomping at the bit for this vinyl to get back on our turntables where it belongs! Grab a bag of glitter, yer best gal and crank both of these LPs until yer neighbors can't stand ya, and remember - Jook Rule, OK? RECOMMENDED. Fuckin-A!
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES!
Our pals over at local Chicago label Lion Productions have a real knack for reissuing titles that we want to hear - like all the time... Non-stop. Jerusalem, Sainte Anthony's Fyre, Hollins and Starr, Kim-Jung Mi... the list goes on and on... This time Lion turns it's eyes and ears to loner-folk guitar virtuoso Scott Key and his rare private-press gem "This Forest and The Sea". Lion's done the legwork, so why don't we let them sort this all out:
"Excellent 1976 private press acoustic album, self-recorded at various places in Colorado, and filled with beautiful fingerstyle acoustic guitar, plus some atonal bottleneck slide, string scrapes and drones (at times, very Ry Cooder/“Paris, Texas” about six years before that soundtrack existed). Although almost completely instrumental, what lyrics there are tend towards the dark and the satiric. The obvious points of comparison are John Fahey and Leo Kottke, although Scott Key certainly has his own presence and style, differences in tone and color and attack, which he attributes to his background in rock bands. Overall, there is a brooding, loner folk/psych feel, most evident on the phenomenal, effects-heavy, almost 11-minute long title track, ‘This Forest and the Sea.’ "I was coming to terms with what it mean to exist… and saw the world in pure black and white—there was no room for grey,” Key said. “I saw an American Culture devoid of any understanding of its place in the universe, how we learn nothing save what we see on television, how our existence is tainted by intellectual laziness, and how our gift of life is defiled by the taking of it." This deluxe 180-gram vinyl LP edition of “This Forest and the Sea” comes with an insert which sports engaging, funny, and insightful notes by Key, photos, plus the text to poem that inspired the title track; as a nod to the forest, the insert is printed on FSC recycled, chlorine-free, 100% post-consumer fiber paper manufactured using biogas energy. A very rare album that seems to have flown under almost everyone’s radar—although thankfully not Doug McGowan’s (Yoga Records), who sent this our way. One record collector said to us, and we now say to you: “Have a listen because this rates up there with classics by Bob Desper, Perry Leopold, Robbie Basho, and Phil Yost, with dark moods similar to John Fahey and Nick Drake.”
We are loving this record! Perfect for those early morns or late nights here in the shop (or wherever, ya know?) Key is one helluva player and the fingerpick'd odysseys he's trippin' on range from intensely dexterous instrumental workouts ("Cat Soup" and "Buzzard Blues") to delicately folk'd out desert mantras ("The Moonshiners Are Gone"). Key even drops some monotone-vocal, blues-folk ragas like the bewitching tune "Friend" on side one. A tremendous find and a killer addition to the ever-expanding slew of private-press gems being made available once again! Don't wait too long to partake, 'cuz at 500 copies it's bound to be gone before ya know it! FOLK-ING RECOMMENDED!
LIMITED TO 475 COPIES! AN ORIGINAL HAS SOLD FOR OVER $400!!!
Damin Eih, A.L.K. And Brother Clark's musical union lasted for but one album - this one right here, "Never Mind" and if... IF you were even able to find an original copy, you'd have to pay thru, in, and around the nose for it! We're talking MOUTHWATERINGLY RARE private-press psychedelia here people... but FEAR NOT, "Never Mind" has been lovingly reissued by the good folks over at Nero's Neptune (at least for as long as this pressing lasts). Mind what they have to say - read on:
“An ultra-deluxe, limited edition of 475 copies of an LP on many hard-core psych collectors’ Top 10 lists. Insanely rare and impossible-to-describe 1973 brain-fryer from Minneapolis is utterly soaked with mystic, thoroughly-dosed higher key psychedelia. Damin Eih rambled off to India to clear his head after leaving behind this lone, legendary offering, never to be heard from again. Painstakingly and spectacularly re-mastered from two virgin copies of the original vinyl, this treasure is now rescued from the deepest catacombs of psychedelic fatso obscurity for you to hear. 180 gram vinyl, original insert reproduction, and 28 pt. craft stock with old school paste-on sleeves---this is nicer than most Shadoks releases in all respects)."
YES INDEEDILY-DOODILY, this LP is one bad mutha! Terrific packaging that spares no expense, but let's talk about what's inside for a minute, 'cuz most of those "impossibly-rare-private-press-killer-never-heard-amazing-record"s very often do not live up to the hype. "Never Mind" lives up to the hype and more! After kicking off with the earth shattering "Tourniquet"; a troglodyte stomper that would make Brigman blush, "Never Mind" ventures into more spritely territory, with Damin Eih's twelve-string jangling skyward amidst lush, folky harmonies. These three fellas have a definite musical chemistry - an alchemical collaborative connection that is palpable thru the tunes - groovin' high on the limitless freedoms of musical expression, cranking out acid folk, Eastern-tinged psychedelia and some general lysergic freakiness! DO NOT miss your chance to pick this one up - it's one of those records that sells instantly when we play it in the shop, and at 475 copies, that's not likely to be much longer! RECOMMENDED!!!!
YEEESSS!!! The Obscure Oxide label has gone and reissued this legendary album of punk blues. Take a quick look see at the thrilling story below and grab this sucker like yesterday cuz its not gonna leave your turntable for a spell:
"Released in 1975 by Baltimore teenager George Brigman, "Jungle Rot" was a self-produced slab of molten fuzz that had no chance of gaining an audience before the punk revolution. Conceived as a tribute to British psych-blues band the Groundhogs and their leader Tony McPhee, the album takes that bands' acid-fried boogie and warps it with primitive recoding techniques and the fevered isolation in which Brigman worked. The title track alone with its fuzz-damaged guitar pan and punishing four-on-the-floor rhythms is worth the price of admission, yet the rest of the album delivers equally inspired wallops of technical brilliance and blown-out acid shred. Predictably, the few hundred copies of the album that Brigman pressed quickly fell through the cracks and were promptly forgotten—until a music collector found a copy at a flea market in Maryland and started making noise about it. Reissued on disc for the first time in 2005, this is not only a lost classic, it’s one of the loudest, rawest, and most uncompromisingly great albums of the 70′s. Brigman might have been a self-confessed Groundhogs fan, but this buzz saw concerto sounds like it was created by Iggy Pop’s more demented younger brother. Sparkling new vinyl version from the original tapes, mastered by John Golden; the sound quality exceeds the original (poorly mastered and pressed) release in every way. Comes with a color insert, and exact copies of labels and cover art. Hear Brigman sing—with an ear-to-ear sneer from beneath an avalanche of distortion—"Remember what your father said / When the weather’s hot / Talking about all the young girls / Beware the jungle rot”, and you'll wonder why Jungle Rot hasn't been shouted from the roof tops in every Blue Cheer, Groundhogs and Stooges-loving ghetto the last three decades.
"The music is as advertised: gutbucket 1975 energy crisis blues, awash in FX and teenage hormones... (Brigman's) punk/blues approach also prefigured the White Stripes to whose fans Jungle Rot will appear to in particular.. it deep-mine(s) a moment that, because it has not yet been referenced to death, remains startling and vital." —Jon Savage, Mojo Magazine
"George Brigman has been popular for decades among underground music fans. he has an amazing voice full of snarl and venom, and uses layers of murky fuzz and phasing in the background. Jungle Rot is an original work that contains elements of psych, hardrock, and 1970's proto-punk, and it has garnered fans in all three fields. The lyrics hit the same renegade vibe as the music." —Patrick Lundborg, Acid Archives"
We've long hailed "Microminiature Love" by Michael Yonkers as one of Permanent's all time faves and if you dig that one then this will be right up your alley. Fans of the Bonehead Crunchers comps take note as well, George Brigman's unsung outsider masterpiece is one for the ages. Gobs and gobs of fuzzed out distorto blues that just bleed with honesty and hard earned authenticity is what Brigman is bringing and his blistering psychedelic punk is as pure as it gets. You can hear the long hair and feel the dirt under the fingernails as blazing guitar clatter spikes your eardrum like a prison shank hell bent on revenge and escape. If you dig blown out bizarro gutter jams with layer upon layer of fuzz and a frenzied voice baring his soul then cop this Baltimore born rip-roaring classic now. Absolutely Essential and Supremely Recommended.
LLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPPPPPPP! VVVVVVVVIIIIIIINNNNNNNYYYYYYYLLLLLLL!
HOLY SHIT. We thought this day would never come. We've loved this record for a long, long time now. When the CD reissue campaign went down a few years back, all of us here at Permanent flipped our lids, but we couldn't help but ask ourselves, when will these most excellent records get rightfully reissued on wax? Multiple emails to the label offering to license a vinyl release on Permanent and 3 or so years of spinning the CDs and our personal copies of the original vinyl, here we are ready to blow your minds with the first legit reissue of Loop's debut LP "Heaven's End". Every time we've ever played this record for fresh ears inquiries as to what is was followed. Vinyl-only buyers splurged for the CD version. It's that kind of record. It'll be at the top of my (Lance's) Best Reissues of 2012 list without a doubt. Fans of Spacemen 3, Jesus and Mary Chain, and/or anything fuzzed-out, feedback-laden, repetitive, psychedelic, and heavy, ABSOLUTELY NEED THIS RECORD! This may all sound like hyperbole, but we assure you it is not. If you dig good music and you don't already own this, just stop reading right now and drop this in yr cart. There'll be time enough for reading the back history when the dealing is done. Sceptics, feel free to read Reactor's description below:
"British primal psych band Loop was formed in London in 1986 by Robert Hampson on guitar and vocals and Beki Stewart (Bex) on drums. After finding bassist Glen Ray, Loop signed to Head Records, run by Jeff Barrett (Heavenly), and released the feedback-drenched 12-inch, 16 Dreams. With the arrival of James Endeacott on second guitar, drummer John Wills, and bassist Neil MacKay, Loop adopted a more primal, rhythmic approach and put out their debut full-length, 1987’s Heavens End.
The band hypnotized all with their discordant, trance-like spell which served as an antidote to the prevailing trends in British pop at the time; they resurrected the concept of loud, out-there rock for a new era, creating droning soundscapes of bleak beauty and harsh dissonance loosely influenced by The Velvet Underground, The Stooges, The MC5, but retaining the avant-garde and experimental edge of Can, Faust, Neu!, Rhys Chatham, Glenn Branca, and minimalist systems music. Live shows were revelatory—Loop pushed PAs to the very limit, delivering a sonic pummel that has yet to be experienced since.
Out of print on vinyl for the last two decades, Heaven’s End is finally available again in its original format."
Are you really still reading this description? What's holding you back? Maybe you think this all sounds too good to be true...it's not. It's all true. Even this part: "harsh dissonance loosely influenced by The Velvet Underground, The Stooges, The MC5, but retaining the avant-garde and experimental edge of Can, Faust, Neu!, Rhys Chatham, Glenn Branca". It's all true.
If you buy this record and don't like it, we'll buy it back for $12. How's that for a guarantee?
If you're still reading this description, trying to decide whether to pull the trigger or not, "I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill, and think things over". Just buy it. You won't be sorry you did.
HHHHHHHIIIIIIIGGGGGGGHHHHHHHLLLLLLLYYYYYYY RRRRRRREEEEEEECCCCCCCOOOOOOOMMMMMMMEEEEEEENNNNNNNDDDDDDDEEEEEEEDDDDDD!
Mag - Limited Readership - Issue 4 - $4.99 - BUY
We got another stack of killer UK zine Limited Readership (this time with a glossy cover even!) and man is it spilling out of its pages with awesome content. Issue 4 finds the LS folks supplying interviews with Stick Men With Rayguns, School Jerks, Kremlin and the legendary Raw Power as well as some quality music reviews, an article about the author's first trip to NYC and his thoughts on the hardcore fest he witnessed there as well as a great article about the entire Black Sabbath catalog cover artwork and some reflections, reasoning and recommendations of classic cinema. Stellar shit from start to finish. Super Recommended.
