P-Rex Tote Bags Are Back!!!
Black Bag/White print. 4in gusset and extra long handle for across body wear. Lightweight canvas. 18in x 14in x 4in.
Boss ass art by Ryan Duggan!
LIMITED INDIE-ONLY GREEN VINYL DELUXE EDITION WITH BONUS 7"
Everyday at Permanent Records is day to celebrate cuz there's always killer stuff coming out but the day when a new Wooden Shjips album comes out is a very special day indeed. Thrill Jockey released this into the wild and has the full story here, read on:
"Wooden Shjips’ rise to prominence from the psychedelic underground to the rock and roll overground has been a steady sojourn. With each consecutive release, the band has found new ways of transforming heady psychedelic rock into minimalist masterpieces, bridging the gap between the woozy freeness of Les Rallizes Denudes and Crazy Horse and the tightly wound simplicity of Suicide and the Velvet Underground. Back To Land, the quartet’s follow-up to West, is the first Wooden Shjips record to be conceived outside of San Francisco. Ripley Johnson and Omar Ahsanuddin moved to Oregon, where the lush climates became a major influence on the songwriting. The band’s scope expanded to include more earthy, grounded tones, such as the acoustic guitar, without abandoning their modernist psych core.
There is an increased brightness to many of the songs on Back To Land, an easiness with which the band has flirted with in the past but never fully realized until now. The nervy urgency of West has evolved into an assured confidence, from the alliterative, interlocking guitar and organ groove of “Ruins” to the languidly compelling guitar solos of “Servants.” The addition of the acoustic guitar to the band’s textural palate is coupled here with some of the most melodically direct songs the band has written.
Still, there are still plenty of signature Shjips songs, with distorted riffs, modal keys, and a steady, crisp drum sound unfolding intensely while the elongated melodic guitar lines drift in and out of the foreground. On Back to Land this energy is captured in clear detail, designed as an immersive experience rather than a passive blasting. Back To Land was laid to tape at Jackpot Recording Studios in Portland by Kendra Lynn and mixed by Larry Crane. It was recorded over an 11-day session, resulting in some of the most detailed and spacious recordings of their career.
Back To Land is a breakthrough record for the Wooden Shjips: nuanced, varied and utterly addictive. The band will be touring extensively in the US and Europe November through February."
After releasing 2 jaw dropping albums on Holy Mountain starting back in 2007, as well as to singles collections also on Holy Mountain the Wooden Shjips sidled over to Thrill Jockey Records to release 2011's "West" and album we still spin on the regs. And now we get this latest blast of "Back To Land" with all the swirling organ groan, fuzz/flange guitars, ready-steady drum drone and reverbed whispers creating psychedelic layer after psychedelic layer of drone bop perfection. Wooden Shjips never disappoint they just keep getting better and better with each new nuanced release and we're gonna keep spinning "Back To Land" for days, months and years to come fer sure. We're sure this one is gonna make several year end lists as it should so P-Rex regulars should also know by now that this one is Supremely Recommended.
LIMITED COLOR VINYL EDITION! ALREADY SOLD OUT AT SOURCE!
OUI!!!!!! Our favorite French rock n rollers, Limiñanas, are back with their third long player, "Costa Blanca", on Trouble In Mind!!!!
"The Limiñanas are back on Trouble In Mind with their third album, “Costa Blanca”! Once again recorded at their home in the south of France by Lio himself, “Costa Blanca” pushes the envelope of their signature Franc-o-phonic sound; the coloeur café cool of Gainsbourg, the hypnotic drone of VU-era Cale, and the spiky fuzz of Davie Allan. This time around the band laces the tunes with a dramatic flair of French New Wave soundtracks and the percussive sonic accents found in Morricone’s work in Il Gruppo, particularly “The Feed-Back” whose funk-laced tracks incorporate elements of avant-classical and experimental sonic elements.
Fans of the band will no doubt hear familiar passages; melodic themes that appear and disappear not only over the course of this album, but that also reference The Limiñanas’ entire oeuvre - melodic “jump-cuts” that are sonic echoes of previous tunes and future melodies. Thematically, “Costa Blanca” is an insular record, with subjects that reference Lio’s youth growing up in Spain in the 1970’s near the Mediterranean Sea and lyrics which are nostalgic odes to the music, films, girls, books and cars that shaped his world. The first edition of “Costa Blanca” is pressed on 150gm mixed vinyl, includes a printed inner sleeve, and a download code.
RIYL: Sérge Gainsbourg, Velvet Underground, Kim Fowley, Ennio Morricone, Stereolab, Stereo Total"
On "Costa Blanca" the Limiñanas have hit their hypnotic stride!!! Hazy melodies waft through the air, sexy vocals twist and turn around the droning psych, fuzzed out ye-ye morphs into garage jangle and then vanishes into thin air. "Costa Blanca" is a place you've never been before, a new wave French film you've never seen, a good memory that's gonna repeat itself, a dream you spend all day revisiting and remembering, an aural journey you're gonna want to take over and over again. No French band going these days swirls together such an addicting mix of Gainsbourg and VU like the Limiñanas. So grab yer sunglasses and yer pack of Gauloises, and head out for the "Costa Blanca." It's where you need to be. Vous besoin de cela. Très recommandé!!!!
LIMITED COLOR VINYL EDITION!
There's no stopping Cheap Time frontman, Jeffrey Novak, who just dropped another killer solo effort, "Lemon Kid" this time on local RnR purveyors Trouble In Mind !!!!!
"If there’s one thing you need to remember about Nashville-ian Jeffrey Novak is that he never stops. Like... never. Between his main band Cheap Time’s relentless touring schedule and recording (they probably have a new album out by the time you read this), he somehow finds the time to record solo material under his own name. His debut solo effort, “After The Ball” came out of nowhere - self released on his own Sonic Assault Records in 2009 to very little fanfare, it showcased a very different side of Novak. Gone were his blown-out, trashy Reatards/Oblivians/Persuaders worship, replaced with a sincere understanding of the maudlin melodies and pop music from the Early Seventies inspired by the likes of Ray Davies, John Cale, Brian Eno and the pervy balladry of Kevin Ayers.
“Lemon Kid” is undoubtedly his most focused solo work to date, distilling all that came before into one succinct and engaging listen. Guitars squeal and synths unravel from song to song, with Novak pushing the envelope of what in takes to create music in a pop setting, teasing sonic boundaries while retaining what makes a song great - the hooks. The first edition of “Lemon Kid” is pressed on 150gm randomly-mixed vinyl, includes a download code and is housed in a full-color, tip-on sleeve.
RIYL: Kevin Ayers, Brian Eno, Ty Segall, Van Der Generator, Jay Reatard"
If you haven't been paying attention to Jeffrey Novak and/or Cheap Time, now is the time. Hot on the heels of his previous solo effort "Baron In The Trees" and Cheap Time's widely celebrated album "Wallpaper Music" (both on In The Red) comes "Lemon Kid" his most succinct and earworming album yet. Combining the best of arty UK psych, garage rock and glam indebted punk, Jeffrey Novak's third LP is wild roller coaster that leaves you something different every spin. Sometimes it's hints of "Taking Tiger Mountain", other times it's warped pop of the first Soft Machine, but mostly it rocks just as hard as "Electric Warrior" and "Blood Visions". And if you own those classics, you need "Lemon Kid" STAT!!!! A SUPER RECOMMENDED ALBUM from one of our go-to faves. (Ps, grab one now before the color wax is all gone!!!!)
COKE-BOTTLE CLEAR VINYL - LIMITED TO 200 COPIES!!!
Alex Cuervo, garage punk extrordinaire who you know from various killer bands, is back on the scene with whole a new spooky sound and his new horror synth project, Espectrostatic. Trouble In Mind wants you to cross over to the darkside now, so read on:
"Alex Cuervo has been rattling skulls for years in punk and garage bands like The Hex Dispensers, Blacktop, This Damn Town and Feast of Snakes. 2011 saw the release of two solo EPs under his own name, exploring his interest in darker, synth-oriented punk music. Since then, the Texan native has not only honed his skills on the synthesizer, but constructed this 13-song suite of instrumentals that owe a serious debt to the pioneers of late-seventies horror soundtracks like John Carpenter, Italo-prog masters Goblin and the work of German pioneers Tangerine Dream.
“Espectrostatic” unfolds like the soundtrack to a lost horror classic, with it’s pulsing synths and ominous passages inferring the unleashing of an ancient, horror creating a Lovecraft-ian musical journey. The tracks range from near ambient clouds of dread (”Consulting The Necronauts”) to throbbing tunes that could almost be mistaken for the goth-club floor-fillers created by Skinny Puppy and Soft Cell (”Phantom Swarm”). This is music made for the night and all things that reside therein. The LP edition of “Espectrostatic” is pressed on 150gm black vinyl and includes a download code. Features sleeve design from reknowned designer/illustrator Jason Willis.
RIYL: Goblin, Fabio Frizzi, John Carpenter, Tangerine Dream, Umberto, Skinny Puppy"
COUNT US IN!!!!! We've fans of anything synth heavy around the shop and Alex Cuervo's Espectrostatic is nothing short of a mind melting spin!!!! Think of the eerie moments of Umberto mixed with the electro kraut ambience of Klaus Schulze's sonic experiments, as well as the more menacing Death Waltz reissued work of John Carpenter and Alan Howarth. Yes if you consider yourself a fan of Italo horror, minimal synth and/or German komische musik, you'll need some Espectrostatic is yer life right away! HAUNTINGLY RECOMMENDED!!!!!
HI CARL!!!
In The Red Records is way stoked to release the self-titled debut LP from our NYC buds, Pampers !!!!
"After two incredible 7-inch singles released on the band’s own excellent Jack Shack Records, Brooklyn’s Pampers are proud to announce their debut full-length on In The Red. Pampers are a four-piece—two guitars, bass and drums, plus echo-laden vocals—and there’s a postmodern art-punk angle afoot here, yet the band’s relentless, breakneck tempos and all-out aggression tilt more punk than art. Self-described as “thug pop,” the band’s sound is a brutal, psyched-out pummeling with hooks fighting to be heard beneath the din. It’s certainly more thug than pop. Produced by Ben Greenberg of The Men, Pampers’ twelve tracks explode with opener “Eruptions” and don’t let up until “Head Bag” fizzles out in a whirl of guitar noise and equipment buzz. Everything in between is a cavernous whomp of mongoloid vox, primitive drumming and a cloud of warped sonics swirling above the rock ’n’ roll thud."
HOLY HELL this LP's a ripper. Pampers have been slinking around Brooklyn with likeminded bands Foster Care and Hank Wood And The Hammerheads just outta the spotlight for awhile now, releasing their singles on JKSHK Records to rave reviews. So it's about time the rest of the world take note. Their self-titled LP is just as rowdy as those classic Oblivians and Reatards records, just as fierce as anything you've heard from LiveFastDie or the Manateees recently and just as art bent and weird as those old Urinals and Electric Eels singles. So yeah it's a fucking garage punk riot that's gonna destroy yer stereo and yer mind. Just ask anyone who witnessed them slay. A soon to be classic and WAY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!!!!!
Get ready to blast off in to the stratosphere with Sweden's newest cosmic adventurers, Yuri Gagarin, and their self titled debut album on zine-turned-label, Levande Begravd !!!! Here with some words for the occasion is our friends over at Terminal Boredom:
"Debut LP from Swedish space-rockers named after a Soviet astronaut. Whereas the real life Gagarin was the first man in space, the band named after him is another in a very very long line of spacerockers and psychedelic cosmonauts dating all the way back to Hawkwind, the band YG are obviously the most influenced by. Nothing wrong with some wind hawking, especially when it's done as heavily and respectfully as these guys do it. Swedish rock might not be a very original scene, but they replicate other locales and genres very very well. Two massive instrumental tunes per side, and I was at first worried that there were no vox, but after soaking in this for a few spins I'm glad there's no voice to distract me from the hypnodrone. Two guitar attack, one doubles up with the bass for propulsion and the other is the explorer venturing out on solo missions. The real key here is the synths/FX guy who makes the whole outerspace trip work with ring modulators, multiple synth layers and drones, squeals and lasers, and whatever machine makes that deep space whoosh sound that is in the background on every one of these songs. I'm going to call it an orgone accumulator. It's a pretty cool tone and essential to space travel emulation on record. This thing doesn't go in for any of that doom-rock or stoner Sabbath worship, they just stay on mission and traverse the outer reaches of the galaxy for a good hour or so, like a heavier modern update of 'In Search of Space'. They keep it crisp and smart and don't fall victim to the dum-dum moves that makes bad stoner rock bands a dime a dozen (and again, this thing it not stoner rock, although I imagine it would be conducive to the puffing of some herb). A very good genre piece, and a fantastic record to zone out to. Artwork looks like a collaboration between Moebius and Roger Dean ripped from the pages of Heavy Metal. It certainly does the trick. (RK)"
Man oh man it's difficult to return to earth after one side of Yuri Gagarin's debut album, even more so after the whole LP. A heady mix of Amon Duul II / Hawkwind meets Loop / Monoshock cosmic travelling, "Yuri Gagarin" fits right in with all the kraut obsessed space rock bands we can't get enough of here at the shop. Guitars explode, synths swirl, lysergic grooves suck you deep into the outer realms of the universe, where you might never return from, and that would be fine by us. Junkies for Mind!, Tjutjuna, Wooden Shjips, Our Solar System, White Hills and Oscillation might just have a new favorite band. Levande Begravd couldn't have picked a better album to start their label with!!!! COSMICALLY RECOMMENDED!!!!!!!!
Cleveland, OH's Murderedman dropped by the Chicago shop recently and blew our collective doors off. Murderedman's sonic assault is abrasive, acidic and unstoppable that is both intelligent and primitive. It seems Cleveland bands love to fuck with time signatures and Murderedman is indeed one of those bands, changing up time signatures on the drop of dime while never relenting in brutality and force. We're hearing hints of Craw, Twin Stumps and Brainbombs with dashes of feedback and whitenoise further distorting unhinged moans and yelps from a vocalist that is providing pure paranoid terror. Noise attack guitar nihilism, distorted bass grooves and bone shaking drum pummel all combine with frantic howls to make one of 2013's most menacing full lengths. "Love In Danger" is 8 tracks of urban annihilation and misanthropic pig fuck dirge, it comes in a screen printed jacket with a screen printed insert brought you by the A Soundesign Recording label and it most assuredly comes with our highest of Recommendations. This one is supremely brutal gang so don't sleep cuz we're not sure if and when we can get these back.
The Desire Records label has lovingly reissued this looooonng unavailable classic single for a whole new generation of punks and music lovers alike! Get the full scoop directly from the label:
"Cult Melbourne band Primitive Calculators cut a single in 1979 before splitting in the true punk fashion. A posthumous eponymous live album was released in 1981 and that was it. These two tracks are as fresh now as they were more than 30 years ago: in a style not dissimilar to the Screamers or Cabaret Voltaire (circa Nag Nag Nag), Primitive Calculators used raw monophonic synth lines with scratchy guitars and screaming vocals, but the songs stood on their own (as the unplugged version of ""Do That Dance"" that appears on the Primitive Calculators and Friends 1979-82 could testify). The original 7"" is now incredibly rare and hard to find and this reissue is its exact replica. First pressing limited to 500 copies. "
Australia's Primitive Calculators were early purveyors of synth drenched post punk and this, their lone single from 1980 is two cuts of skittering electronics and frenzied moans of mutant punkoid bangers. And now the Desire Records label has pressed up an exact repro of this classic single and given it a second life. If you dig the sounds of Suicide, Cabaret Voltaire, 39 Clocks or Silver Apples then grab this catchy yet caustic single immediately! Super Recommended.
We just got a batch of the latest album from Brooklyn, NY's Eidetic Seeing called "Against Nature" and boy is it a doozy. 5 cuts of fuzzed out, down-tuned psychedelic space rock that bobs and weaves from slow burn head nod blues tinged doom, acid damaged stoner grooves to hyperdrive feedback drenched speedfreak powerhouses. There's touches of Earthless, Heads, White Hills, Earth and some classic Sabbath worship at play here, but Eidetic Seeing are blazing their own lysergic path of psychedelic crunch and "Against Nature" is further proof of the time put into song craft and countless hours spent experimenting with dynamics and pushing ever forward into further reaches of the cosmos. There is some serious musical chops on display here with nuanced yet frantic guitar playing, bass moves that slither while rattling yer insides and some damn fine drumming going on. This is self-released and comes with a complete download of the album as well as our heaviest Recommendations.
12in - Kurt Vile And The VIolators - It's A Big World Out There (And I Am Scared) - $11.99 - BUY
- LISTEN 
- LISTEN Our pal Kurt Vile drops a vital EP just before 2013 ends on the ever stellar Matador records. Matador has all the details here:
"Between genre/era/lifetime-defining full lengths, Kurt Vile has made a name for himself with limited vinyl edition EPs.
The it's a big world out there (and i am scared) 12" continues this tradition with its inclusion of "Never Run Away" from 2013's breakthrough LP, Wakin On A Pretty Daze - this time with the beef'd up "string synth" version
The 12" also includes brand new tracks: the fingerpicked earworm "feel My Pain" and the bedroom psych moves of "the Ghost of Freddie Roach". Wakin standouts "snowflakes Are Falling" and "Air Bud" are also reprised here a "Snowflakes Extended" and "Wedding Budz", respectively. "
After his stunning "Wakin On A Pretty Daze" LP, Kurt Vile returns with this EP of 7 dreamy tracks of fingerpicked drifters and fleshed out re-workings of album tracks and all are ear pleasers from start to finish. There's a handful of new tracks and the reprised tracks make "It's A Big World Out There (And I Am Scared)" a perfect companion piece to the album. Recommended.
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES
HOO BABY we're stoked beyond belief to see another Greg Ashley solo record comin' our way! Gris Gris were (and remain) one of our faves o'er at the shop and Greg's one talented mofo! Ashley throws another curveball at us with this fairly reverent cover of Leonard Cohen's album "Death Of A Ladies' Man"! This is the sophomore release from Guitars and Bongos Records, so let's hear their eulogy for Ashley's take on 'Death of a Ladies' Man':
"GREG ASHLEY’s 4th album under his own name, his first since 2009’s Requiem Mass (Birdman), signals yet another change in direction for this multi-instrumentalist / producer / arranger / singer / songwriter / bandleader. Death of a Ladies' Man is a reverential song-for-song treatment of Leonard Cohen’s least ‘reverential’ album: the 1977 Phil Spector-produced album of the same name. Greg’s cover photo replaces actual women with two mannequins, but in almost every other way Greg’s stripped down arrangements with a basic bar band lineup give the original animal more human warmth, making the album more accessible than it’s ever been behind that bloated fortress Phil built. Ultimately, Ashley’s Death of a Ladies' Man pays tribute to the songwriting team of Cohen/Spector. Greg’s rock and roll background informs his Death of a Ladies' Man, but the tenderness, and the mid-life crisis evident in Cohen’s lyrics is highlighted, and conveys the meaning of the songs in ways even Cohen might appreciate. Greg also brings the sensibility he honed in the Oakland bar circuit, and his country-tinged ‘One Thin Heroine/ Misery Again’ single (Mexican Summer), to make ‘Fingerprints’ a much more convincing country rocker than it does in Spector’s version.”—Chris Stroffolino, from the liner notes. Edition of 500 copies with download code."
Cover albums are a tricky business and can go horribly wrong in a heartbeat, but Ashley is so-well acquainted with Cohen's work and his world that this could conceivably be mistaken for an Ashley record on it's own! Seriously, SO MUCH new life is breathed into these tunes, we MIGHT actually prefer it over Cohen's original! Much of the pathos and pain glossed over by the smoke and (cocaine) mirrors of Phil Spector's production is brought to the forefront by Ashley's own sensitive, no-nonsense recording technique. Ashley plays much of the record himself, assisted by a host of able-bodied West Coast guest-players from both the R'n'R/Garage rock and Jazz worlds (including The Wrong Words' Josh Miller and Kimberly Morrison a.k.a. "The Duchess" from The Duchess and The Duke!) A killer tribute to a killer album and an appetizing teaser to tide us over until Ashley's next solo album next year on Trouble In Mind! Is this worth it? YOU BET IT IS. Grab a snifter of cognac, unbutton the top three buttons of your shirt and throw this one on to ease away the pain of existence! RECOMMENDED!
Australia is never too far from our turntables and both the Circle Pit and Straight Arrows records had ample spins on our decks, so this solo album "Turning" from CP/SA member Angie is makin' us sweat with antici....... pation. Released on Memphis label/distro Easter Bilby in conjunction with Rice Is Nice, the Noisey blog had some words for this big one:
"You might already know Angela Garrick from her years playing and recording in bands, lending her bass skills to Circle Pit, Southern Comfort, Ruined Fortune, and Straight Arrows. Despite her already impressive call sheet she’s trying a different direction, and adopting a new name. Under the moniker Angie she has released Turning, and we’re feeling pretty lucky to be premiering it.
Turning is the first time she’s worked alone; she described the process as an, “exercise in patience, repetition and swift decision making”. She might have stepped out of her comfort zone, but away from the communal environment she was comfortable with she could experiment with the possibilities for guitar and her own shoegaze vocals.
Angie has described her droning album with its duelling guitars as sad; which is somewhat surprising considering how infectious is it. In Turning she lends a new voice to an increasingly Australian sound, and we couldn’t be happier to have her at the party."
"Turning" doesn't stray too far from the territory Circle Pit trod upon, but Angie plays less of the straight-up Royal Trux worship in favor of more 80's/90's Sonic Youth/Pain Teens vibe; dissonant, somewhat gothy and covered in a layer of analog grit. MUSICALLY at times we're even hearing Hole (circa 'Pretty on The Inside" - a.k.a the good shit) with guitars scratching at the speakers in a way we've not heard since Sub Pop 100 was a new release! There's also plenty of sleazy Aussie grime on here too, perpetrated by Angie's producer/engineer Owen Penglis who makes these tunes sound absolutely incendiary on wax! This is sunglasses wearing, lipstick-smearing, wet leather, back-alley R'n'R that's reaching for your Scientists record collection just so it can stomp them into tiny pieces. This is unequivocally recommended, DO NOT hesitate on this one... GREAT!! Destined for some year-end "Best-of's"...
More cryptic, pagan folk-punk from Sean Bailey, a.k.a Lakes! "Blood of the Grove"" is his newest album released on Aussie label No Patience Records! No Patience have prepared the lambs for slaughter, so let's polish our knives and take heed:
"‘Blood of the Grove’ – The fifth full length album from Melbourne’s LAKES, and the second to feature the project as a full band featuring members of TAX, ZOND, SPITEHOUSE, TEARGAS, and more. Dark folk meets post punk delivered with military like precision, perhaps best described as ‘medieval chants for the modern age’.
10 track LP for fans of DEATH IN JUNE, ABOVE THE RUINS, JOY DIVISON, and even groups like AMEBIX, mixing bleak pop with an underlying aggression, delivering stark melodies with understated power.
Far and away the most realized LAKES offering to date, this beautiful record comes housed in a full colour, matte coated, 20pt jacket with printed inner sleeve on heavy cardstock."
Whoah! Lakes' second album recorded as a full-band (and fifth album overall) is a powerful distillation of Bailey's clear interest in the darker, arcane side of music. Flange'd guitars jangle over pounding drums and lumbering bass runs all executed with just enough casual precision to accentuate the ragged, gypsy rhythms of many of these tunes. Echoes of former R'n'R shadow-dwellers like Bauhaus, 45 Grave, Coil, Sisters Of Mercy and even "Dance With Me"-era TSOL run rampant thru these tunes like half-naked acolytes in a witches coven! We've never participated in a ritual blood-letting, but after a few listens of "Blood Of The Grove", we're half-tempted to renounce the light and head down the dark path! A great record executed with enough reverence to elevate it above the din of all the new-wave of Goth-poseurs! These guys wear black on the outside 'cuz black is how they feel on the inside - RECOMMENDED!!
Gooch Palms hail from Newcastle, New South Wales, which is in... you guessed it - AUSTRALIA. Released by the fine folks over at Anti-Fade (who also released that Living Eyes LP too) - check out the trim from the critical aficionados over at Termbo:
"Debut long player after two EPs from this Newcastle duo. Frontman/guitarist Leroy Macqueen is the kooky one, apparently the type of guy who likes to get naked and wild during shows, while stand-up drummer Kat Friend plays the straight man and also contributes vocals along with the beats. Macqueen's vox contain the zaniness of Fred Schneider, a bit of Lux Interior's punkabilly yelp and he can do the white-boy soul croon too. Kat's vocals are solid female punkola, not screechy or wild but having more of a Joan Jett directness. Songwise, they do a lot of styles - early Sixities-sounding ballads ("You"), indie-garage ("We Get By", what could be the hit off this one), garage-punk stomp ("False Identity"), Crampsy muck gone pop ("A Sun, A Moon"), Ramones radio-punk ("Hungry") and more all driven by primitive drumming and with Macqueen's vocals really being the attention grabber. Reminds me of a King Khan and BBQ set-up, with traces of doo wop and Fifties sockhop moves as well, making sure the live show is a party. Your liking of this will hinge largely on your appreciation of this guy's singing. Should appeal to Burger Records fans, Nobunny devotees and other pop-minded sorts who like it a little bit weird, but in a friendly way."
Gooch Palms are definitely squatting in the same stall as their lo-fi compadrés like Nobunnz and KKBBQ, but there does exist a definite (and extremely interesting) lean towards a more minimal new-wave/DIY songwriting aesthetic, particularly on tunes like "We Get By", "Hungry", and the title cut. At times we're reminded of not only things like Devo, B-52's, or Romeo Void; a lil' off-kilter and raw. We can dig it! Not sure how many of these there are in the world, but the Aussie stuff comes and goes with a quickness, so grip this one before "Novo's" becomes "No-Mo's"... eh? eh?... RECOMMENDED!
LP - One Of You - One Of You - $14.99 - BUY
LIMITED TO 500 COPIES!
The Mississippi and Little Axe labels have co-released this haunting collection and have the details here:
"ONE OF YOU fled the Czech Republic in 1968 right before the Prague Spring. She was filled with hope about her new life in the west, but was shaken by the immense alienation and loneliness of urban life in North America. Her reaction to a new harsh reality was writing these songs, accompanying herself on the synthesizer. She never learned how to compose music developing her own notation and singular style. Side A consists of three self released 7"s from the early 1980s while the B side is a collection of unreleased acoustic demos sung in Czech. Limited 500 pressing."
The A side is mostly tunes consisiting simply of organ and voice creating dark and sombre outsider music with an Eastern European accented female croon that sounds almost like cabaret style singing, whether intentional or not it really adds to the woeful intensity of the overall feel. The B side is not nearly as dark and is mostly sparse guitar based Eastern European folk songs sung entirely in Czech that has an otherworldy quality to it. Gentle dabs of reverb are peppered throughout giving the music subtle psychedelic vibe. As all things from the Mississippi/Little Axe camp go, this one is extremely unique, extremely limited and extremely Recommended.
ONE OF THREE UNIQUE FRONT-COVER DESIGNS!
Superior Viaduct is already on our short-list for reissue label of 2013 (those Devo reissues alone - I mean, RIGHT?!?!) but the late-breaking addition of this right here - the Solaris soundtrack which makes it to the vinyl format in it's original, official version featuring composer Eduard Artemiev's original score for the film - SV's got your in-depth info right here:
"It’s only appropriate that Solaris, Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky’s psychological sci-fi classic from 1972, contains an equally original and mind-bending score. Solaris explores the inadequacies of time and memory on an enigmatic planet below a derelict space station. To reinforce the film’s chilling setting, Tarkovsky commissioned composer Eduard Artemiev to construct an electronic soundscape reflecting planet Solaris’ amorphous and mysterious surface; Artemiev rose to the challenge with a prophetic work that defies the era’s technological limitations while evoking unparalleled emotional responses even today. Artemiev’s score—centered around variations on Bach’s “Chorale Prelude in F-Minor,” a somber piece for solo organ—sounds majestic alongside dissonant crescendos and formless, ambient tracks. Armed with the massive ANS synthesizer (aptly named after Russian occultist Alexander Nikolayevich Scriabin, who pioneered thought behind the synesthesiatic effects of music), Artemiev drafted sine waves on glass plates for the machine to interpret. The only prototype of the ANS was destroyed shortly after the Solaris soundtrack was recorded. Luckily this artifact of transcendent composition married with technological innovation endures as a masterpiece of early electronic music. Superior Viaduct is honored to present the first-time official release of Artemiev’s original soundtrack for the film (not to be confused with the previously available re-recording of the music). This deluxe package comes with three unique front-cover designs and is recommended for fans of Cluster, Iannis Xenakis, and Louis and Bebe Barron’s Forbidden Planet."
We're not sure if you dudes remember the music from the movie Solaris, but the pieces composed by Artemiev are haunting, claustrophobic soundscapes that accurately represent the oppressive loneliness and ennui portrayed in the film to terrifying results. These pieces sound like what we'd imagine the themes to the end of the universe would sound like - space folding in on itself until nothing exists, save a single galactic tear. If you're not already depressed by how insignificant you are in the grand scope of the infinite universe, just throw this platter on and take the space shuttle to planet bummer. We're pretty stoked to hear the original recordings by Artemiev - never on wax (officially) until now! Superior Viaduct has a finger on the pulse of the collector out there too, releasing this bad boy in THREE different handmade editions - collect them all! WELL WORTH your time and money - get this now and you can thank us later. RECOMMENDED.
ORIGINALS SELL FOR $250 and UP!
To our ears, there's only a few legendary compilations out there that can make the claims to being TRULY, truly essential; "Back From The Grave", "Killed By Death", "Cleveland Confidential", "Not So Quiet On The Western Front", "This Is Boston Not LA" and "No New York" have all had a lasting effect on the minds of youths (including US here at PRex) since their original release. "Yes LA" was Los Angeles' (and amazing punk label du jour Dangerhouse Records') answer to "No New York" (Yes, LA - get it?). OGs are pretty scarce, but the good folks at Frontier have done a faithful reissue of the original compilation - even going so far as to repro the single-sided, screen-printed vinyl and cardboard insert! Cop a squat and read the dish from Frontier:
"In the late '70s, Dangerhouse Records--that most legendary of punk rock labels--released a handful of indispensable 7-inches and two 12-inches: records that everyone knows, worships and collects. One of the 12-inches was Black Randy's Pass the Dust, I Think I'm Bowie, and the other, released in 1979, was the one-sided, six-song, silkscreened picture EP, Yes LA. The title was a take-off on the seminal No Wave compilation album released a year earlier, No New York, and the Dangerhouse kids even went so far as to include the disclaimer "Not produced by Brian Eno" on the record. The original was limited to 2,000 copies, every one screened by hand and packaged in a clear bag with a white cardboard backing. Frontier (with the help of the meticulous Cliff and company at The Factory) has taken great pains to reproduce every detail of the original, from the ink to the bag and cardboard, right down to custom-cut mylar seals for the flap (check out these photos of the "making-of"). Still, there are a couple of difference, but we'll let you discover them for yourself. 34 years out-of-print, originals of Yes LA have sold for $250 and up. Now you can get your own copy of this fabled LA punk classic and put the gougers out of business!"
HELL YES - if you have even a passing fancy for punk rock, you've no doubt heard the tracks on this bad-boy - their classics, all of 'em with seminal cuts from LA legends like The Germs, The Bags, X, Black Randy and The Metrosquad, Alley Cats, and The Eyes! This is one bad MOFO. The presentation is killer too - the screen print looks nice and the tuneage sounds even nicer... don't miss this shot to own this amazing comp! We say YES to 'Yes LA' RECOMMENDED.
7in - George Brigman and Split - Blowin Smoke (Autographed Original 1977 Pressing) - $9.99 - BUY - LISTEN
- LISTEN
BACK IN STOCK!!!
ORIGINAL 1977 STOCK!
ORIGINAL 1977 STOCK!
Got another batch of this amazing single of original 1977 stock in! We nearly wet ourselves when the "Jungle Rot" LP got reissued earlier in 2013 so to get these 2 raw killer jams back is a mega bonus!
Killer lead guitar parts are all over the A-side of George Brigman's 1977 single Blowin' Smoke. The single was comped on the sweet Cherrystones Word comp alongside some killer psych/punk tracks by Dead Moon, Chrome, Brainbox, Deviants, and more. We (dumb us) just realized that Brigman reissued the single in 2007 as a 30th Anniversary Edition. This edition includes the original pressing on Solid Records of the single in an all new hand-numbered sleeve (which it never had originally). The sleeve is autographed by Brigman to boot. The B-side Drifting is a decent meandering, instrumental psych jam, but Blowin' Smoke will blow your mind.
There were only 500 of these left in '07 and we couldn't imagine there'd be many more left in '09, yet lo and behold miraculously a few copies are mercifully still available in 2013, but even if there were an infinite amount of these in the world, we'd recommend picking one up.
BACK IN STOCK!!!
ORIGINAL 1985 STOCK!
ORIGINAL 1985 STOCK!
More Brigman madness here! Both the "Jungle Rot" LP and the "Blowin' Smoke" single are essential George Brigman must owns. And now we scored yet another brain melting single from George Brigman and Split. Bona Fide Records has original 1985 stock of the esoteric "Silent Bones" EP. George Brigman and Split are supplying 5 tracks that lay out sleazy heavy blues rock that sound like Pentagram outtakes and strange instrumental jams that sound like hippied-out Chrome and Minutemen/Firehose or the early 80's SST roster. The two cuts with vocals feature Wayne Hastings glam tinged howl while all cuts are sportin' Brigman's signature guitar sorcery, locked-in rhythms and some damn fine bass noodling. If you dig the outsider jams of the Bonehead Crunchers comps, the Clone Records stuff or Michael Yonkers then you best add this to your collection as another single like this you won't hear anytime soon. Recommended.
