Thursday, September 27, 2007

Art for Spastics v. 150


To DOWNLOAD this program, CLICK HERE (archived for 10 weeks).

To STREAM this show before October 4, GO HERE.

BARRABARRACUDA // Stone Cold Steve Austin at the Cold Stone Creamery // v/a: Thrash Sabbatical LP+2x7" // Deathbomb Arc *new *request
GEEKY DORKS // My Pussy Hurts // 7" // Slutfish 1999
SOCKEYE // Digital / Pizza with Ulysses S. Grant´s Face on It // Retards Hiss Past My Window // Jettison 1993
RANCID VAT // Deuteronomy on Drugs // Justice: This Is What We Do to Traitors // Horton/Reflex 1989
THE FUTURES // Pulse / Trash Bop / Dry Food // v/a: A Reason for Living...1999 3xLP // Dan Doh 1999 *request
SLAPPING BIKINI // Money Maker
U.G. MAN // Punkrocker Still Standing
DAVID COPPERFUCK // Hunting // Chalet Chalet 7" // Party Turtle 2007
CEBE BARNS BAND // You Use Me for Fashion // She´s a Winner 7" // Horsekitty 1996
BUDGET GIRLS // Pop-a-Wheelie Cop-a-Feelie // Get in Your Ear 7" // Planet Pimp 1996
THE DISSIMILARS // Santee Du-Plex // Jimmy's Room 7" // Out of Order 2005
DER SUBMARINE RACERS // Skatebored // Space Burrito 7" // Spin the Bottle *new
MATT K. SHRUGG // Overrated Basement // The Weird Shit... CDR // no label *new
FACTUMS // Computer // Alien Native // Siltbreeze *new
THE INTELLIGENCE // Bad Siren // Deuteronomy // In The Red *new

STATIC STATIC // ElectricWeGet // Black Fingers 7" // HoZac *new
PELICAN OSSMAN // Feces // v/a: 30 Seconds Over Portland // Hovercraft 2007
THE COATHANGERS // Don´t Touch My Shit! // self-titled // Rob's House *new
INFLATABLE BOY CLAMS // Sorry // 2x7" // Subterranean 1982
DAN MELCHIOR UND DAS MENACE // I Am a Lightbulb // The Pink Scream EP 12" // Shake Appeal *new
LOS KOGARS // Swing Along // v/a: Goode Tyme Jamboree // Planet Pimp 1995
SAINT-JUST ET LES SAUVAGES // Je Vais te Teur // ??? early 80s

ARLEQUIN // Génération Paumée // Génération Paumée 7" // self-released 1980
SCRATCH BONGOWAX // Girl That Puts Out // Zero Conformity Intuition // 1+2 1995
UNNATURAL HELPERS // Cardboard Swords // self-titled CD // self-released *new
FRUSTRATIONS // Chemicals // Glowing Red Pill // X! Records *new
TYVEK // Air Conditioner // Summer Burns 2x7" // What´s Your Rupture? *new
TYVEK // Future Junk // split 7" w/ Cheveu // S-S Records 2007
DISTRACTION BOYS // Pay Off the Cops // Live on Ave. B 7" // Cryptovision 1985
MENEGUAR // Death on Display // Strangers In Our House // Troubleman Unlimited *new
NUMBERS // Fantasy Life // Now You Are This // Kill Rock Stars *new
ABE VIGODA // All Night and Day // Animal Ghosts 7" // Post Present Medium *new
GAY BEAST // Good Government // Disrobics // DNT *new
MOUTHUS // Wave Through / The Gift of Sighs // Saw a Halo // Load *new
SIGHTINGS // Degraded Hours // Through the Panama // Load *forthcoming
KITES // Final Worship // Hallucination Guillotine/Final Worship // Load *new
RUSSIAN TSARLAG // Gatsbury Lake // Send Me a Shockwave cassette // Bonescraper *new
DRAGGING AN OX THROUGH WATER // Horror Toad // Rebukes! 7" // Smells Delicious *new

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

AFS v. 149 feat. Los Llamarada live in Studio A


Los Llamarada were outstanding live at the DAM House in Davis on Saturday, September 15, but they were especially stunning and sublime on this live performance in Studio A at Freeform KDVS the following day. I've included this performance in its entirety on this week's program. It was enhanced by a piano being available. Thanks to Andy Pastalaniec for engineering.

To DOWNLOAD this program, CLICK HERE (archived for 10 weeks).

To STREAM this show before September 27, GO HERE.

DER SUBMARINE RACERS // Space Burrito // Space Burrito b/w Skatebored 7" // Spin the Bottle *new
DIGGER & THE PUSSYCATS // Timebomb // split 10" w/ the Magnetix // Every Night Is a Saturday Night *new
RAXOLA // Kill Your Son // self-titled LP // Radio Heartbeat *new (orig 1978)
HUBBLE BUBBLE // I Wanna Die (but not Right Now) // self-titled LP // Radio Heartbeat/Daggerman *new (orig 1978)
HUBBLE BUBBLE // Faking // Faking // Radio Heartbeat/Daggerman *new (orig 1979)
THE LAMPS // Javelin // self-titled LP // In The Red *new
THE INTELLIGENCE // Sailor Dive // Deuteronomy // In The Red *new

THE INTELLIGENCE // The Receptionist
LEADERS // Crime Passionel // Synthesizer Sketchez & 4-Track Demos // no label *new
DAN MELCHIOR UND DAS MENACE // I'm Blue // The Pink Scream EP 12" // Shake Appeal *new
DAN MELCHIOR UND DAS MENACE // Hippy! // Elev to Mezz 7" // Daggerman *new
D.STOP // Traitement de Choc // Traitement de Choc 7" // Autoprod 1982
DEAD HEAT // Damnée Petite Sophie // Damnée Petite Sophie 7" // ??? 198?
TWIST NOIR // Ein Paar Tränen // self-titled 10" // Kernkrach *new (orig 1985)
HAIRCUT MOUNTAIN TRANSIT // Winona Rider Voice-Over // v/a: Thrash Sabbatical LP+2x7" // Deathbomb Arc *new
SIGHTINGS // Debt Depths // Through the Panama // Load *forthcoming
MOUTHUS // Armies Between // Saw a Halo // Load *new

*** LOS LLAMARADA // Live in Studio A, Sunday 09/16/2007 (48 mins) ***
I Remember the Rest
Julia Got Out
Never Found the Head
The Very Next Moment
A Chance to Become Transparent
Walk Look Climb
The North Is Death
I'm Sorry [Peggy Lee]
Sometimes
Nothing Changes
Second One Is Here!
WOODEN SHJIPS // Shine Like Suns // self-titled CD + bonus CD // Holy Mountain *new




I remember the first time I heard "Space Burrito" by Der Submarine Racers because it provoked such a fit of hilarity on my part; I'm pretty sure that was the last time that my drink came out through my nose. For all I know, this record and a Reed's Extra Ginger could do more harm to your mucus membranes than a sack of speed. It's been a year since that first listen on MySpace, but now the record's finally here, and the joke is still plenty funny. Just think if Darin had svengalied a budget-rock band led by Gilbert Gottfried instead of The Donnas..that's pretty close to Der Submariners' ballpark (I feel dangerously close to a Dan Quisenbury joke). Trashed-out, ultra-adenoidal, snotty, and fun.

Digger & the Pussycats sounds like it's at least a trio by name, but this Aussie two-man group tears a swath wider than most full-bands with hard-chargin' raw garagesleaze. Their thundering caveman drums and guitar like a killer bee swarm breaks no new ground, but they disturb the familiar soil very vigorously. On the flip, The Magnetix from France dish some cryptic cavestompers with some sweet organ riffs, making this split 10" a sure pleaser. Digger & the Pussycats have come to the States for a long tour which swings west in October.

9/24 NYC @ Fat Baby
9/25 Charlottesville, VA @ Atomic Burrito
9/29 Memphis, TN @ Gonerfest
9/30 Nashville, TN @ Alley Cat Lounge w/ Sweet Velvet
10/2 Chatanooga, TN @ TBA
10/5 Columbus, OH @ Cafe Bourbon Street w/ Grave Blankets
10/6 Lafayette, IN @ Zooleggers w/ the Mans
10/7 Three Rivers, MI @ Paisano's
10/8 Chicago, IL @ TBA
10/10 Omaha, NE @ O’Leavers Pub w/ the Boxed Elders
10/11 Denton, TX @ J & J’s Pizza
10/12 Austin, TX @ Beerland w/ John Schooley vs. John Wesley Coleman + Hex Dispensers + Pumpers
10/16 Tucson, AZ @ Vaudeville
10/17 Las Vegas, NV @ Divebar w/ the Mapes
10/19 Portland, OR @ Tonic Lounge w/ the Flip Tops & Pathogens
10/20 Olympia, WA @ Le Voyeur
10/22 Seattle, WA @ Funhouse w/ Ape City R&B
10/23 Portland, OR @ Ground Kontrol w/ Holy Shit!
10/25 Oakland, CA @ Stork Club, Budget Rock VI Showcase! w/ Husbands, Les Hormones, & the Cormans

...and then off to Korea!?!?! I'm definitely gonna try to catch them at Budget Rock VI.



Belgium had some of the best punk rock in Europe in the late 70s, and their three Bloodstains Across Belgium volumes were among the best of the entire series. Raxola and Hubble Bubble were two of the bands from that particular time and place who made an outstanding album, and now these records have been faithfully and legitimately reissued. The sound is certainly an upgrade from the bootlegs that came out about ten years ago. Hubble Bubble's second album Faking is a bit more of a powerpop record, but there's still a few nuggets for the punks, so you might as well get that, too.

Once again, we hear The Lamps, and if I haven't persuaded you to buy this new LP or CD in the last few weeks, "Javelin" is my new point of attack. Also new from In the Red and finally on AFS this week is Deuteronomy by The Intelligence. Early reports that it was "not as weird" or "cleaner sounding" almost had me worried that I'd be bored with it. How could I have second-guessed the songwriting of Lars Finberg? I'm ashamed of myself. Indeed, these songs all rule as they no less than inch toward pure pop perfection; actually, some of these songs even leap in that direction rather daringly. It's a growing album, too. Five listens in, and I'm especially enjoying it now.

I think I've shown you most of the Leaders' bag o'tricks from their first demo now, so surely all you label bigwigs must be drafting your contract proposals now. Get in early on the sneeringest art/synth/weirdpunk duo since the '78-'83 heyday.



Dan Melchior's never made a bad record, but his last few have been so incredible. My enjoyment and intrigue are ratcheting up to a whole new level even as he becomes seemingly more prolific. The Elev to Mezz and Pink Scream EPs are top-notch, comprising eight of the best examples of songcraft you may hear in 2007, and there's a new EP on Plastic Idol just around the corner. Plans are also coming together for Dan und Das Menace to tour, hitting the west coast in the first week of November. Surely, it's been said too often by lazy reviewers that Dan's music is "like the Country Teasers," and while I'd definitely recommend these records to any Teasers fans, such a one-sentence review is not a fair summation, and it does little to alleviate the confusion that exists about the man's music.

Most recordgeeks became familiar with Dan when the Broke Revue was anointed briefly as an up-and-coming "it" band in NYC, shortly after the time that Dan came to the States from his native England, where he had worked with Billy Childish and related projects such as Holly Golightly. The Revue even opened for much-hyped midmajor stars as Interpol, and my guess is that it looked like too much too soon for cred-conscious scene-honchos to hitch up to the bandwagon. I was skeptical, too. Probably a year or more went by before I learned that the Broke Revue's album on the In the Red was actually really good! And there were a buncha other records that came out around then by Dan which for me got lost in the shuffle, never bought, never heard. I thought I had him pegged as a bluespunker. I respected him for the raggedy edge and a unique singing voice, but I was afraid he was a little too prolific, and I felt late to the party after missing so many records.

Nowadays, Dan's music has become even more diversely influenced, and while it surely seems to share many influences with the Country Teasers, I also get the sense that Dan's got a subscription to the Messthetics series because The Pink Scream and Elev to Mezz sound as if they'd fit right into that (albeit, his music's blues edge is still more palpable than any of those British DIY bands of 1978-1980). There's keys and synths in there in places, even the occasional disco beat, but it's never the least bit cheesy, and like the Teasers' main man Ben Wallers (here's where the comparison does indeed ring very true), Dan's lyrics are enthralling enough to command close attention.



Next up, here's a couple of mysterious synth/wave records from France from the early to mid 80s. These are from Jacque's home stash, so thanks to him for letting us hear them. According to the site linked in the playlist beneath their band name, D.Stop also had this LP...



Anyone got a spare copy? I'm a payer for it...The promise of the single must be investigated! Dead Heat is even weirder, more minimal starkness with near zero melody and absurdly slow and sped up vocals. I can find no information anywhere about them. What does anyone know? Please tell!

Kernkrach just plucked this forgotten nugget of minimal synth/wave from Germany by Twist Noir, and unlike so much industrial music of that era (by 1985, it seemed that over 90% of industrial had become so homogenized that it was split into two camps: dancey EBM and metal-tinged industrial rock), this still sounds pretty fresh. If it's dated at all, it's a shining example of some of the best darkwave from the original heyday. The female vocals are sexy and cool, but not nearly as emotionally detached as most Germans on the cusp or splitting the uprights of EBM. Even the synths and beats are not as unflinching...maybe more like mid-era Tuxedomoon plus more aggression. The packaging is awesome as you should expect from Kernkrach; the 10" cover has spare graphics plus four daggerlike shards from a broken mirror. One shard has fake blood on the tip. Handle this with care.

Truly, Los Llamarada are such a miraculous band, and we feel lucky to have had them visit us ever so briefly. I realize that two of the members probably never want to get back on an airplane again, so unless we west coasters plan on next year's SxSW (which is never conveniently timed for me to take a vacation), we may never see them again. But this I pledge: If they get enough time off next year and fly out again in Summer 2008, I will drive them up and down the West Coast. It's really a shame more folks didn't get to see them.

New from Deathbomb Arc is this Thrash Sabbatical compilation, an imposing space-taker with a 12" and two 7-inches in an overlarge pizza box that's been spraypainted and screened. But I said it's a space-taker and not a space-waster. Within the grooves are some awesome sounds including extreme ends of the spectrum of the "New Noisy L.A." scene, plus three sides of Thurston Moore solo work. There's even a masterpiece of a post-riot grrl punk rock song by Barrabarracuda as heard last week on AFS v. 148 along with an ear-scouring stunner by Kevin Shields with help from Amy Vecchione of Yuma Nora, Gang Wizard, et al. This week, we hear Haircut Mountain Transit, bringing to mind the ferrous static sheetnoise of P16.D4 from two decades back. The pacing is well-done on these discs, so the variety is never too much to bear all at once. I like to think of Thurston's side as audio antacid to calm your stomach from the discombobulation of the whacked and cracked.



Haircut Mountain Transit is part of the ungodly dudecircle of L.A. noise artists collectively known as Men Who Can't Love. I saw them on July 3, 2005, at Food Hole in Portland, and it was like a harshnoise-style reenactment of Lord of the Flies...all neck-yoking moshpit mayhem. The premise behind a Men Who Can't Love show is that they are five or six individual members who each perform solos ranging from 30 seconds to five minutes. They simultaneously set up at once in different corners of the staging area, and the show begins when one member is forced to perform by all the others. It appeared to me that a "go" button was pushed, setting off wildly unstable circuitry, and then the "it" man would struggle to hit his "stop" button while his bandmate adversaries tried to prevent him from reaching it. His solo would continue for as long as everyone could block him from the button. Their mountain of speakers peaked just a few inches from Food Hole's ceiling, so it was quite frightening when the top speaker caught fire. (Yuma Nora played an awesome set right after that, and there was more burning plastic smell about midway through. I'll never forget that show.) Thrash Sabbatical's got a whole side of Men Who Can't Love, and it's essentially like listening to a Men Who Can't Love live show. The variety of sounds from the most extreme harshness (probably Privy Seals) to the most subdued and songlike (Solitary Hunter's folky bit) is very wide.



The new album by Sightings is due to drop just in time for their mid- to late-October tour of the Eastern U.S. and Canada, and through five listens, I'm certain now that this is THEE BEST Sightings album. Load CEO, cook, and bottle-washer Ben described their previous Load effort, Arrived in Gold, as "[dematerializing] any trace of guitar, bass and drums into proton dust floating microns on top of the speaker cone." On Through the Panama, Sightings' metal shavings, scrapings, and outright manglings are just as alien-weird, but they're oddly complimented by the sheeny gloss from Andrew W.K.'s production. This time, your speaker cones are gonna have a botox boost and the lushest, most luxurious moisturizer after they've received their most violent dermabrasion yet. Just as most power-electronics and harsh-noise sounds best with ultra-hifi recording, Sightings, perhaps the most extreme and harsh of the world's rock bands, also sounds great with high production value. This week's track selection is such a strange dichotomy of tonally correct singing (as much sweetness as the band can muster) over an atonal bed of nails and gauntlet of industrial furnace blasts that is more timbrally rich than anything I've heard all year.

The new Mouthus album on Load is a big winner, too! I'll have more to say about it next week.

There was a runaway rumor about Los Llamarada that they were all teenagers. I think it started from Siltblog's review of their SxSW performance, and then I probably did most of the running away with it. Llamarada's singer/keyboardist Sagan surmised that "Maybe he thought we were so young because it was such a dark room." And now that it turns out that they are actually academes who met in psychology class, I think they seem even more mythical.

The following night at the Delta of Venus, the Wooden Shjips capped off "Davis Feats of Strength II" with their strongest performance I've seen to date. Whereas the larger spaces and formal stages they've performed on feel so unlike their practice room, the Shjips said that the cozy Davis café felt more familiar to them than any venue they've played so far. Certainly, I've never seen them look more comfortable and less tentative. Here's some video that Brian Faulkner captured during the show...

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Art for Spastics v. 148


To DOWNLOAD this program, CLICK HERE (archived for 10 weeks).

To STREAM this show before September 20, GO HERE.

THE MAGNETIX // No Feel Pain // split 10" w/ Digger & the Pussycats // Every Night Is a Saturday Night *new
MATT K. SHRUGG // All I Do Is Write These Songs // The Weird Shit... CDR // no label *new
THE PIZZAS // Hideous Fashion // MySpace mp3 *new
UNNATUAL HELPERS // Becky Is a Bummer/Milk Break // self-titled CD // self-released *new
METH TEETH // Boring Artifacts // To My Good Friend CDR // self-released *new
GHOST ECHOES // So Good, So Fast // demo CDR // no label *new
BLANK DOGS // Planets // Diana (The Herald) 12" EP // Sacred Bones *new

LOS LLAMARADA // The Very Next Moment // The Very Next Moment 7" // S-S Records *new
BLIND SHAKE // Honeytown/Lap Dog // Rizzograph // Learning Curve *new
SHAUN FAILURE // Needles // mp3 *new
HAMMERHEAD // Zesta // Into the Vortex // Amphetamine Reptile 1994 *request
THE NEW FLESH // Dog // Dog 7" // Terra Firma/Human Conduct *new
BURMESE // Headmaster // Men // Load 2004
KEVIN SHIELDS // Paved Fury // v/a: Thrash Sabbatical LP+2x7" // Deathbomb Arc *new

PRIVY SEALS // Somniloquy // v/a: Thrash Sabbatical LP+2x7"
BARRABARRACUDA // Stone Cold Steve Austin at the Cold Stone Creamery // v/a: Thrash Sabbatical LP+2x7"
DEATH SENTENCE: PANDA! // Mr. Chip/Mrs. Fancy Lady Friend // Festival of Ghosts 10" // Upset the Rhythm 2007
FOOT VILLAGE // World Fantasy (feat. Weirdo/Begeirdo) // Fuck the Future // Deathbomb Arc 2006
FOOT VILLAGE // Follow Your Heart // v/a: Pisspounder 3xLP // Deathbomb Arc 2007
HEAVY WINGED // A Stretch of Time // We Grow // Not Not Fun 2007
ETERNAL TAPESTRY // Woodland Spirit // Altar of Grass CDR // Solar Commune *new

MICHAEL YONKERS // The Answer // Grimwood // De Stijl *new (orig 1969)
SUISHOU NO FUNE // In the Moonlight // Writhing Underground Flowers // Lotus Sound *new
SHEPHERDS // part 1 // Bush Babies 7" // DNT Records *new
U.S. GIRLS // Jungle Jokes // Introducing... CDR // self-released *new
OHIOAN // untitled // Ohioan and Adam Gnade CDR // Native Kin *new

Unnatural Helpers live on KDVS


Last night on Exodus: the Return Home hosted by DJ Oddy Knocky with special guest DJ Klinger, the Unnatural Helpers played a short, but sweet set live on the air, and now you can hear a whole eight songs of their clever smart-yin/dumb-yang garagepunk. The set begins at about the 67-minute mark of this two-hour program.

Download the mp3 AT THIS LINK within the next 10 weeks, or stream it AT THIS LINK before September 18, 2007.

This is the cover of their new self-titled CD.



We'll be hearing from it tonight on AFS v. 148, as well as catalog highlights from the stars of this weekend's "Davis Feats of Strength" II, including the brand-new 7" by Los Llamarada from S-S.

Here's Oddy Knocky's entire playlist...

DEATH SENTENCE: PANDA! // Yao Yao Tou
LOS LLAMARADA // Lies
BOYS CLUB // Gotta Get it Right
THE COATHANGERS // Parcheezzi
TERRIBLE TWOS // Reluctant Love
HOME BLITZ // Thin Ice
HOME BLITZ // Feeling Cold
THE FOXX // Frenchie
BLACK MOTH SUPER RAINBOW // Dandelion Gum
ALGEBRA MOTHERS // Strawberry Cheesecake
ALGEBRA SUICICDE // True Romance at the Worlds Fair
ALGEBRA SUICIDE // Please Respect Our Decadence
THE UNITS // High Pressure Days
BLANK DOGS // She's Violent Tonight
ALGEBRA SUICIDE // An Explanation for that Flock of Crows
ALGEBRA SUICIDE // Little Dead Bodies
MEGAWEAPON // Tranceformers 1
THE 1990s // Arcade Precint

UNNATURAL HELPERS // Live in Studio A

DIRTY PROJECTORS // Gimme Gimme Gimme [Black Flag]
MICE PARADE // Swing
ANDREW DOUGLAS ROTHBARD // Lucien
CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN // Take the Skinheads Bowling
CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN // Sometimes
WICKED HEMLOCKS // To Be Extremist
WOMEN & CHILDREN // Born TP
YACHT // I Love a Computer
DIRTY PROJECTORS // Obscure Wisdom
LAS VEGAS CLUB // W.W.M.D? (What Would Moses Do?)
WOMEN & CHILDREN // Virginia Creepers
CASIOTONE FOR THE PAINFULLY ALONE // International Spy
BEAT HAPPENING // I Spy

You've been hearing a lot of Algebra Suicide because poet/vocalist Lydia Tomkiw passed away last week. RIP.

Monday, September 10, 2007

Davis "Feats of Strength" Part 2


No sleep 'til Monday...
Gear up for the second Davis "Feats of Strength" Fest this weekend
beginning with...




Friday, Sept 14
@
Delta of Venus
122 B Street in Davis (map)
9:00 p.m., $5, all ages

Death Sentence: Panda!
SF's fun & frenzied stampeders
Burmese
SF's gnarliest glacial-grinders
Fuckwolf
SF's heaviest headswirlers

And then...



Saturday, Sept 15
@
DAM House
503 E Street in Davis (map)
7:00 sharp (ends @ 10!), donate $3-10, all ages
Food + Beer + N.A. drinks are FREE...come hungry!

Los Llamarada
Monterrey, Mexico's teen sensation of psych/weirdpunk
Captain Ahab
L.A.'s boffo-funtime ravesploitation rulers
Foot Village
L.A.'s all-drum HC edutainment for the geographically curious
+ debut of the Mayyors
Sacto/Davis supergroup of ex-FM Knives/Karate Party/Sexy Prison/Gift of Goats/etc.

And finally...

Sunday, Sept 16
@ Delta of Venus

9:00 p.m., $5, all ages

Suishou no Fune
Deep psych mindbenders from Japan
Wooden Shjips
Ur-groovin' SF psych wizardry
Numinous Eye
SF third-eye stimulators feat. Mason Jones
San Francisco Water Cooler
Straight outta Fiddletown psych-pop shimmerers

Sometimes you wanna thank your lucky stars for Davis, CA!

And you do know this is all because Freeform KDVS is in this town, right?

Thursday, September 06, 2007

Art for Spastics v. 147


To DOWNLOAD this program, CLICK HERE (archived for 10 weeks).

To STREAM this show before September 13, GO HERE.

BROTHER LOVE & HIS FAR OUT SPACE NUTS // Opium // Every Garden Grows One // New World of Sound 1993
ETERNAL TAPESTRY // New Dawn // Vibrations cassette // Not Not Fun *new
EDGAR BROUGHTON BAND // Evil // Wasa Wasa // Harvest 1969
UNNATURAL HELPERS // Earwax // Earwax 7" // Dirty Knobby *new
ANNIHILATION TIME // Reality? // Cosmic Unconsciousness 7" // Tank Crimes *new
BE BAD // Rat Race // Vision Correction // Divorce *new
RUPTURE // I'm Insane // Get Fucked, Cunt 7" // Incognito 1996

LAMPS // Axis Sally // self-titled LP // In the Red *new
TERRIBLE TWOS // Outdoors // A+A 7" // Big Neck *new
FONTANA // You're Obscene // I Feel Like a Jerk 7" // X! Records *new
DIGGER & THE PUSSYCATS // Suce Moi la Bite // split 10" w/ The Magnetix // Everyday's a Saturday Night *new
YOKOHAMA HOOKS // James Yer Out // split 7" w/ Flip Tops // Iron Goat *new
DIGITAL DINOSAURS // Fingers & Thumbs // v/a: Messthetics #103 // Hyped2Death 2007 (orig 1978)
DAN MELCHIOR UND DAS MENACE // The Pink Scream & the Middle Manager // The Pink Scream 12" EP // Shake Appeal *new

BLANK DOGS // My House Is Red // Diana (The Herald) 12" EP // Sacred Bones *new
MATTRESS // Mirror // In Your Pocket 7" // Malt Duck *new
LEADERS // Powervibes // Synthesizer Sketchez CDR // no label *new
JAM MIX // tracks 1-9 // CDR // no label *new
HUMAN HOST // The Realm // The Halloween Tree // Fall/Terra Firma *new
MERCURY 4°F // The Slow Process of Self Decay // Tinnitus 7" // Death by Blow Job 1995
FUZZ UNLIMITED // Florida Tags // Take a Hit // MT6 *new
ARTHUR BROWN'S KINGDOM COME // Time Captives // Journey // Passport 1973
CHRIS BROWN // Sonar Vacation // Master Switch Electroacoustic Music 1978-81 // no label 1998
RUSSIAN TSARLAG // Bleach Party // cassingle // Greentape *new
MLDRS // untitled // Yob Dur Paft CDR // no label *new
PUSSYGUTT // West (Creature) // Sea of Sand 2xLP // Olde English Spelling Bee *new




This week we begin with the best song from Brother Love's first record, a one-sided 12" of killer kiwi psych that begins with an authentic breezy West Coast '67 vibe but gradually coalesces into something heavier. We heard the first half of this last week, but I had to fade it out due to time constraints. By request, it's leading off so that you can enjoy it in its entirety. While his name has remained fairly obscure, Brother Love championed on throughout the 90s with the help of His Far Out Space Nuts and into the 2000s with the Free Association, and he's back to being solo, with a new album in each of the last two years. Reportedly, he's gone into a more C&W direction.

Also by popular demand, I've flipped the Vibrations cassette of Eternal Tapestry over. We heard the galvanic psych jam of side A a couple weeks ago (on AFS v. 144) which I have hailed in other dustier corners of the internet as the most rewarding patience test in recent memory, invoking positive comparisons to recent outings by Acid Mothers Temple. One of our listeners was bummed to discover that the supply of 100 tapes has already run out at Not Not Fun, but he wanted so badly to hear side B that I've also answered his request to play it in its entirety. Better not wait once that Mystic Inductions LP drops on Not Not Fun. It's due out sometime in the fall.

I've been long overdue in playing some Edgar Broughton Band on AFS. These anarchist proto-metallers grew outta the UK's psych scene of the late 60s and became proggier as time wore on. Surely fans of current bands like Danava and The Sword should dig out E.B.B., but for me, their finest material happened on their debut album, Wasa Wasa, and early singles ("Evil" was also the A-side of their first) such as "Out! Demons, Out!" (a rewrite of The Fugs' "Exorcising The Demons Out Of The Pentagon") and "Apache Dropout" (a sorta mash-up of "Apache" and Captain Beefheart's "Dropout Boogie"). Along with the Deviants, Groundhogs, and pre-TG art terrorism by Genesis P-Orridge and Cosey Fanni Tutti, the Broughtons should be considered as one of the most important and influential protopunkers of the UK.

My top recommendation for this weekend if you are in or near Sacramento is to go Sunday night to the Stoney Inn and eat the ½-lb. smothered burger and chase it with a very fine rock 'n' roll show featuring the Unnatural Helpers and Replicator. Elsewhere, you can catch the Helpers from Seattle on their west coast tour, and bring $5 extra to buy their brand-new 7"...

Saturday, 9/8 in Portland @ Clinton Street Pub
Sunday, 9/9 in Sacto @ The Stoney Inn, 1320 Del Paso Blvd
Monday, 9/10 early show (7:00) in SF @ The Hemlock Tavern
Tuesday, 9/11 on-air (7:00-9:00) on Freeform KDVS, 90.3 FM in Davis
Wednesday, 9/12 in L.A. @ The Echo
Friday, 9/14 in S.F. @ Bottom of the Hill
Saturday, 9/15 in Chico @ Off Limits

It's about damn time that we got this Annihilation Time 7" which actually came out in late 2006. This might be just about the best band to infuse hardcore with hard-chargin', ballsy blazin' riff rock since Death Side, Lip Cream, and the mid-period Poison Idea of nearly 20 years ago. Maybe Uncurbed did it best, but Annihilation Time is not merely a sped-up Mötörhead. Rupture might also take the cake for rockin'est HC ever, but we'll visit that later in this post. I will not be missing A.T. the next time they rip through this area.



Next up is another selection from the new album by Halifax, Nova Scotia's Be Bad, who to my ears sound like they might've been listening very recently to records dating back to the death of HC/emo circa 1997 through that scene's prolonged death-rale as heard on labels like GSL and Three.One.G; throw in some of the last 12 years of neo-no-wave on Skin Graft and Troubleman, but then trip into some of the more expansive psychedelic sounds that we old dudes scratch our beards to. This is an exciting intersection of styles for me to contemplate because I'll admit to being a fanboy of all that "kid stuff" and the many (often redundant or superfluous) "post-" and "-core" -fixes a decade and thirty pounds ago, and now here I am lookin' like Grizzly Adams lyin' on the couch listening to the Cherry Blossoms to get me more relaxed. I'm very familiar with the road Be Bad is travelling, and copping a phrase from the O.G. beardos--"The journey is the destination, man"--I gotta give these miscreants major credit for having arrived already. Vision Correction is a very strong album, a sharp sinister onslaught of spartan but muscular rhythms as sexy as the most menacing moments of the A Frames. Night Wounds and Duchesses are two more comparisons, but Be Bad are more heavy-handed on the downstrokes like post-HC that's still truer to HC. The lushness of the production showcases these tasty guitar textures very well but steers clear of any aftertaste of excess gloss. Effects send guitars and vocals sometimes soaring into the ethers, swirling out or fluttering, but there's still a lotta powerful wallop. I'll hafta show you on a future AFS, but track 7 locks into a motorik groove for the longhaul, and track 8 more than just dabbles in the acid...it's the one full-on psych bliss-blast. This is definitely a band to watch.

Last week, Ryan Wells wrote a great post for Static Party blog on the Get Fucked, Cunt EP by Rupture, positing this 7" as the antithesis of punk's P.C. movement which was peaking in the mid-90s just as these loathesome west Aussie scumbags were wantonly plummeting to depths of amorality rarely achieved. Go read it today. Four of the six songs on this record can be heard at links below the post, including "Herpes Fuck Farm" and the exceedingly criminal "Let's Go to the Primary School." I've played "I'm Insane" for you this week, and it's one of the two songs that you won't hear at Static Party. Strangely enough, it's also the only song on this EP that's playable on the radio at any hour.

The new Lamps album is still ruling me every week as I listen at home. As much as I liked the first 12" on In the Red, I think this one steps the game up bigtime and splits the goalposts between two of my all-time fave bands, Feedtime and The Intelligence. Leading lamp Monty Buckles also makes some of the finest videos for primo garage/artpunk bands that you might ever see on YouTube, but if you never saw this Lamps video when it was new at Victim of Time, watch it now...



When the Terrible Twos ripped through the west coast, I had hyped them as being an ex-member or two of the Piranhas, but apparently they are not related to that band at all. I had heard the ex-Piranhas thing last year when their "Plunderball" single had come out, and I've probably reported that here a few times since then. So, this is my retraction...sorry. I do strive to maintain accuracy here. So, this is a different new 7" besides their awesome Radical Tadpoles EP, and while their keyboards seem to be buried or indistinguishable or perhaps absent on this record, these three songs on A+A (a.k.a. "Alcohol + Adderal") are so raucous they take your breath away. Wild stuff!

more notes and reviews later, I hope...stay tuned!