AFS v. 211 ~ Nobody Knows This is Somewhere!

It's a great time to be in Sacto or Davis this week 'cos Freeform KDVS 90.3 FM is presenting Tyvek twice this week: on Wednesday 2/25 at the UC-Davis Coffeehouse with Th' Losin' Streaks and GGreen, and on Friday 02/27 in Sacto at Luigi's Fungarden with San Kazakgascar, Desario (ex-Holiday Flyer and Rocketship there for ya!), and Not an Airplane. Of course, Tyvek are one of the preeminent funmaker bands on the planet today. Another hot show is happening at the "Goobertarium" on Thursday 2/26 (1819 23rd Street in Sac) with Ganglians, Dadfag, and one of my tip-top favorite discoveries of 2008, Long Legged Woman, who finally have copies of their self-released LP which is outstanding! It's kinda like the Mayyors in that they can pummel you severely and relentlessly with mean riffs and braincell-devastating scuzz, but you can also go wild and party with them. And there's a little smack of Dinosaur Jr. in there. (The right smack to be sure!) Sometimes they mellow out and play kinda pretty. It all comes together brilliantly. 9pm start. And if you're early, you can even catch Sam McPheeters (you remember him from Born Against, Men's Recovery Project, etc.) reading from his CLOG fiction zine at Time Tested Books (1114 21st Street in Sac @ 7pm).

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EL JESUS DE MAGICO | Elohim City | Scalping the Guru | Columbus Discount *new
OUTER SPACIST | I Walk With Telepathy, Baby | The Mind Is As Outer Space 7" | Columbus Discount *new
PILLOW TALK | The Sutan's Wish | Down Town Unga Wunga 7" | Columbus Discount *new
PILLOW TALK | Columbus Ohio Phone Conversation (skit)
SPIDER | Tonight at 10:00 | v/a: Puget Power 5 7" | Regal Select *new
TUNNELS | Crouched in the Dark | v/a: Post-Alarmist Dracula Safari | Oms-B *new
INDIAN JEWELRY | Zing Zang | split 12" w/ Future Blondes | Dull Knife *new
DAN MELCHIOR UND DAS MENACE | Blue Tentacles | Thankyou Very Much 2xLP | SS Records *new
BEACH BOYS | Be With Me | Wild Honey | Reprise 1967
GANGLIANS | Lost Words | split 7" w/ Eat Skull | Dulc-I-Tone *new
TYVEK | untitled | split 7" w/ Cygnus | no label 2007
KEVIN BOYER | Something's Gonna Come Up | Something's Gonna Come Up 7" | What's Your Rupture? *new
TYVEK | Honda | Mary Ellen Claims 7" | X! Records 2006
TYVEK | Give It Up | Summer Burns 2x7" | What's Your Rupture? 2007
YUPPIES | Leper Blood | split 7" w/ Noah's Ark Was a Spaceship | Dutch Hall *new
LONG LEGGED WOMAN | He Was a Narc, but We Loved Him Anyway | Nobody Knows This Is Nowhere | Pollen Season *new
LONG LEGGED WOMAN | I Have a Scheme
BLASTOCYST | Marjoe Works for Free | split LP w/ Reverse Mouth | Heat Retention/Phase 2007
MEN'S RECOVERY PROJECT | Conquer Your Honor | v/a: Today the Planet, Tomorrow the World 7" | Thin the Herd 1997
MEN'S RECOVERY PROJECT | Experimental Music Is Consumer Fraud
BORN AGAINST | Mount the Pavement | Nine Patriotic Hymns for Children | Vermiform 1991
XBXRX | untitled | split 2x5" w/ Total Shutdown | Rock Is Hell 2008
MATT K. SHRUGG | Games of Blaze | Mentor to Wall CDR | Guiness Book of World Records *new
TIK///TIK | Diamondz from the Dude | Diamond Hand Hold 3" CDR | EMR 2007
KAWAIIETLY PLEASE | Capsuled Confessions and Coffee, Please | v/a: DBA 095 CDR | Deathbomb Arc *new
AXEMEN | Big Cheap Motel | Big Cheap Motel | Siltbreeze *new (orig 1984)
LEMON BEAR | Sad Sad Sad | Lemon CDR | Chocolate Monk *new
LEMON BEAR | 005 | All New CDR | Liquor Store & Laboratory *new
CHEATER SLICKS | Part 1 | Bats in the Dead Trees | Lost Treasures of the Underworld *new

Of course, the new Dan Melchior und Das Menace 2xLP is thee clincher among his bevy of new releases for 2009, but it's not quite out yet, so stay patient for a little while. Nary a dud track in the lot! But I've not found time yet to cuddle up to it since I only got my paws on it today, and my mind's not yet come back to earth since listening again to the newest CDR by Matt K. Shrugg, Mentor to Wall. Ten tracks, two thirds of it is really rockin' in the vein of his Plastic Idol 7"es that came out last year, and the other third gets really wild, like Matt's got Ben Wallers drunk on absinthe in the grips of a headlock while he wrestles him to the Rashied Ali's house (he's been rumored to be livin' in Sacto for years, y'know!) for a ruthless shock to the psyche. You just hafta hear tracks 9 & 10 back-to-back to see what I mean. Maybe I'll spin those both next time. I really wish this guy had a band together that could pull these songs off live, but he'd probably need to clone another four Matt K's. This guy plays with a rare quotient of soul, ferocity, and precision, and he's uncommonly long on ideas to work a definitive rock 'n' roll song for maximum catchiness, cleverness, and impact. Seriously, some DIY label honcho would be super-shrewd to issue this on a 12". It is absolutely vinyl-worthy next-level futurepunk.

AFS v. 210 ~ Raising the Bar

Leading off this week, we get a sneak preview from the upcoming Eat Skull LP--Wild & Inside--due out this spring on Siltbreeze. As I'm writing this, I'm listening to it for the fourth time back-to-back-to-back-to-back, AND THE ONLY WAY TO EXPRESS HOW BRILLIANT THIS RECORD'S GONNA BE IS TO USE ALL CAPS AND EXTRA EXCLAMATION MARKS!!! This totally exceeds my lofty expectations! There's a couple more songs from it on their MySpace, and I'm not gonna spoil the real surprises by playing certain other songs on upcoming AFS shows before the record comes out. But suffice it now to say that this record's dripping in picture-perfect pop brilliance more so than even the best individual songs of their 2008 releases. There's still some crucial anthems and wild rides--"Nuke Mecca" being the obvious 80's HC touch (is that an accidental re-write of "Breeders" by L.D.S.?)--but all of these songs reveal the songwriting to be uncommonly strong, and every little "weird" extra is absolutely purposeful (including field recordings from a busy kitchen and a to-die-for chorus sung by what sounds like a kids' choir). There's even moments of true beauty in the final five songs, which hang together just perfectly! If you're one of the naysayin' message-board trolls that say Eat Skull has typefied "weirdpunk" as too often "weird for the sake of weird" (I know I've read that more than once), I dare say that YOU need to let this one under your skin. In his fascinating interview in the new Z Gun, Dan Melchior talked about some of his favorite records of the past which he described as "haunted pop": Roy Orbison, darker moments of the Beach Boys you'd never hear on oldies radio, and so many records bearing the mark of Joe Meek or Phil Spector. I swear that Wild & Inside even captures that vibe. Is it live or is it Memorex? How about whether it's anachronistic or timeless? Not that it's a competition or anything, but this sets the bar really high for the rest of the year. 'Bout that new Z Gun...I intended this playlist to be a listening companion to this excellent new issue of the best music print zine since...since?...before the internet happened, I figure.

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EAT SKULL | Killed by Rooms | Wild & Inside | Siltbreeze *forthcoming
EAT SKULL | Double Wasted | split 7" w/ Ganglians | Dulc-i-Tone *new
KEVIN BOYER | I Was Born | Something's Gonna Come Up 7" | What's Your Rupture? *new
HOME BLITZ | Apocalyptic Grades 2005 A.D. | Apocalyptic Grades 2005 A.D. 7" | no label 2005
HOME BLITZ | Thin Ice | v/a: The World Is Lousy With Ideas #1 7" | Almost Ready 2007
FEEDTIME | Mandead/Searching the Desert | Feedtime | Megadisc 1985
FEEDTIME | Fractured | Shovel | Aberrant 1986
BILLY BAO | Borders of Mass Deception | Fuck Separation 10" | S-S Records 2007
RATAS DEL VATICANO | Disparame ya no Quiero Toser | Mocosos Pateticos | Siltbreeze *new
RATAS DEL VATICANO | Himno al Rock n' Roll
TV GHOST | Nodoz | TV Ghost | Die Stasi 2008
LEPER PRINT | Dead Flowers | Coma 7" | Die Stasi 2008
DAN MELCHIOR UND DAS MENACE | The Post Office Line | The Post Office Line 7" | Columbus Discount *new
DAN MELCHIOR | Claptrap Thing | The Covert Stomp | Smart Guy 2004 (orig 1999)
DAN MELCHIOR | Natural Misanthrope | This is Not the Medway Sound | Smart Guy 2003
DAN MELCHIOR UND DAS MENACE | Cockroaches in Yr Handbag | The Pink Scream 12" EP | Shake Appeal 2007
GANDALF | Nature Boy | Gandalf | Capitol 1969
LEFT BANKE | Lazy Day | There's Gonna Be a Storm | Mercury | 1992 (orig 1967)
TORNADOS '66 | No More You and Me | v/a: Joe Meek Freakbeat: You're Holding Me Down | Castle 2006 (orig 1966)
THE TWINKEYZ | Cartoon Land | Aliens in Our Midst | Anopheles 1998 (orig 1978)
MATT K. SHRUGG | (We Aren't Here for) Yesterday | Mentor to Wall CDR | Guiness Book of World Records *new
CHARLES ALBRIGHT | I'm Just a Fine Young Man... | I'm on Drugs 7" | no label *new
PACK | Nobody Can Tell Us | Com'On 7" | Eversongs/Aggressive Noise *new (orig 1978)
GOD IS MY CO-PILOT | I Hate My Friends | On a Wing & a Prayer 7" | Funky Mushroom 1992
GOD IS MY CO-PILOT | Submissive | Gender Is As Gender Does 7" | Funky Mushroom 1992
HUGGY BEAR | Her Jazz | Her Jazz 7" | Wiiija/Catcall 1993
PUSSYCAT TRASH | Punk Xerox Connections | The Brat Years: 1992-1995 | Troubleman Unlimited 2001
SKINNED TEEN | Starch | split LP/CD w/ Raooul | Lookout/Wiiija 1994
FRUMPIES | She's a Real Cutie Pie | Babies and Bunnies 7" | Kill Rock Stars 1993
BOYCOTT | Barbie Doll Death | Boycott 7" | Trench 1994
CEBE BARNS BAND | You Use Me For Fashion | Height of Fashion 7" | Horsekitty 1996
KICKING GIANT | Dubious | She's Real 7" | K Records 1994
KICKING GIANT | Wire | Alien I.D. | K Records 1994
SLEATER-KINNEY | The Last Song | Sleater-Kinney 10" | Villa Villakula 1995 *request
MUTATING MELTDOWN | Six Minutes Underground | Fantasy 7" | M'Lady's *new
ZOLA JESUS | Dog | Poor Sons 7" | Die Stasi 2008
LUXURY PREVENTION | Tenable Fort | v/a: XXperiments | Die Stasi *new
WET HAIR | White Strobe Void | 2nd CS | Night People *new
JAMES FERRARO | Subterranean Pipe Dream | Chameleon Ballet | Olde English Spelling Bee *new

Like I said....Z Gun is the best print zine out there in quite some time. Unless you can take your laptop into your W.C. everytime you take a ruthless duke, you really do need this thing. It's got tons of well-done reviews of a variety of punk, garage, and tangential musics as usual, plus superb interviews with the likes of Mattin and Billy Bao, feedtime, Home Blitz, Dan Melchior, and the DIYCEO of Die Stasi Records, AND a toughtful examination of crucial records and tapes from the heyday of riot grrl. As Ryan Wells wrote in his introduction, riot grrl music was never treated well by critics. During that early heyday, professional music journalists rarely dealt with the music of riot grrl, but focused instead on the social and political aspects of it as a movement. Surely riot grrls with their own zines covered the music, but mostly, they completely lacked the ability or willingness to be critical. Truly, this kinda piece is long overdue. Now you can have a riot grrl grails list. Happy hunting! Let's hope this attention inspires a compilation to bring these sounds to the non-collector-scum. My finger will be on the mousebutton ready to paypal.

If you're in the Sacramento Valley, you can get it at Time Tested Books at 1114 21st Street in Midtown Sac. If you're anywhere else, CLICK HERE to find out how to cop it.

AFS v. 209 ~ Down With Hope!

Lock up the razor blades, kids! This week's AFS is soaked in overbearing blight and horror. Phil must still be haunting the studio, with Lux in tow. Death to Pigs set the course for this bummer trip with a faithful tribute to the Brainbombs' implacable downcast riff oppression, followed by the exquisitely punishing new pukefests by the strident Basque blastmaster of bleakness, Mattin, whose new 7" slab dishes three live tracks that are violent, nasty, noisy, and stark, yet also mining territory adjacent to hardcore. It immediately made Deep Jew and Dynasty spring to mind, but this is much more dynamic. The new 7" from Germany's Rock Is Hell label (pictured here) is limited to 150, so hurry! There's no quick relief afterward...behold the agonizing atmospherics of Prurient, and then back to the thorough riff-pummelling with FNU Ronnies (that surely belongs on vinyl eventually). About the only thing that could make you feel more hopeless is to watch Threads on GoogleVideo. Don't, dont' do it!

Download this program within three weeks at either link...
CLICK HERE for 192kbps rate.
(~ 173kB)
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DAN MELCHIOR UND DAS MENACE | Tourists | The Post Office Line 7" | Columbus Discount *new
BEYOND THE IMPLODE | This Atmosphere | This Atmosphere 7" | Siltbreeze (orig 1979) *new
COLD SUN | For Ever | Dark Shadows | World in Sound *new (orig 1970)
MEERCAZ | Defeated at Home | Meercaz | Gulcher *new
DEATH | Politicians in My Eyes | ...For the Whole World to See | Drag City *new (orig 1975)
BOULDER | Scream of the Iron Messiah [Black Death] | split 7" w/ Thin Lizzy | Flexovit 1997
DEATH TO PIGS | (It's a) Burning Hell [Brainbombs] | La Horse 10" | Down Boy/213/Bands Noire *new
MATTIN, DEAN ROBERTS & DD KERN | untitled #5/MMMMM | 7" | Rock Is Hell *new
PRURIENT | Historically, Women Use Poison to Kill | Cocaine Death | Hospital Productions 2008
FNU RONNIES | Golem Smoke | Golem CDR | Skrot Up *new
COUSINS OF REGGAE | You Can Do It to Me and I Can Do It to You | Methridge | Olde English Spelling Bee *new (orig 2005)
COUSINS OF REGGAE | The Edge of the Babysitter
ALARMIST | Ignition | demo CDR | no label 2003
ARGUMENTIX & BIRD COSTUMES | Nostalgia Escaped Unscathed | Armageddon...Maybe Later CDR | Below PDX 2006
ARGUMENTIX W/ TIK///TIK | Gentle Push | v/a: Dracula Safari: Post-Alarmist | Oms-B *new
GHOST TO FALCO | Home Smoke | Hold Back The Dark CDR | no label *new
BROMP TREB | Twins | Twins 7" | Breaking World Records *new
DANNY & THE DRESSMAKERS | Eggs on Legs | v/a: Messthetics Greatest Hiss | Hyped2Death *new (orig 1979)
HIGH MARKS | The Family Year | Closing Doors CDR | Persistent Midnight *new
NOSZTALGIA DIREKTIVA | Tegnapok | Tegnapok 7" | Enfant Terrible *new
ADOLF FILTER | 1982 | The Other Hand on the Knob 7" | Enfant Terrible *new
BLANK DOGS | Spinning | The Fields 12" EP | Woodsist 2008
RODENT PLAGUE | Abyssinia | Evacuations CS | Jerkwave Tapes 2008
YEAR OF THE LIPS | Vomitorium | Year of the Lips CDR | no label *new
CRO MAGNON | Apple Orchard | first 7" | Bruit Direct *new
RUTH WHITE | Owls | Flowers of Evil | Limelight 1969
THE SHADOW RING | The Iron Ark | Life Review (1993-2003) 2xCD | KYE *new
THE SHADOW RING | Veehay

Really, though....the cheeriest news of the day is that the new installment of the Columbus Discount Singles Club came in the mail today, and it's possibly the wildest 7" yet by Dan Melchior und das Menace. We lead off tonight with the schizoid B-side that alternately rambles with sweet guitar and cloys with jarring keys, but it's surely as tight and purposeful as any Melchior song, and Dan still makes his point with authority. I never expected him to veer so close to the "synthpunk" zeitgeist, but that's exactly what you'll hear on the A-side, and it's exemplary as a best-of in the genre. I can hear the alacrity and aggression of TV Ghost, but also the appreciable kinda maturity that helps such an assault hit its target perfectly. And there's another 7" by Melchior and his Menace coming any day now on Columbus Discount which is already available for order even for non-subscribers to the Singles Club. It's coming in a killer batch of new titles by such cool rulers as El Jesus de Magico (full length!)!!

And yet more consoling is available in the form of these great new reissues and retrospective releases...

Siltbreeze's new 7" featuring Beyond the Implode is just in time to take advantage of heightened curiosity in DIY pop and postpunk, like the kind chronicled by the Messthetics series, and rekindled interest in the sublime sounds of 80s kiwi pop and psyched-tinged adjacencies. This English band's 1979 home recordings definitely sounds like a perfect combination of the two, and it is surely already in short supply, so go cop it right now! Also check out the new LP by Detroit Afro-proto-punks Death, due out on February 17, plus a re-ish of early 70s Austin psych-trippers Cold Sun, a still-too-scarce vinyl edition of drastic neo-no-wave scuzz by Cousins of Reggae (surely one of the very best bands of this particular ilk!), and a double-CD by The Shadow Ring that shall surely send you scouring for their entire discography once you let it creep under your skin. Rumor has it, more Shadow Ring reissues are on the way.

AFS v. 208 ~ Lynott Bumps in the Night

Sorry...gonna hafta put off flipping that Post-Alarmist Dracula Safari over for another week; after speeding over here from my office, I didn't have the time to prepare a proper spotlight segment. Sorry also for the technical difficulty with that "Thin Lizzy" record. Either that, or it was the ghost of Phil Lynott swooping down to foul everything up. Sorry, Phil. Go haunt Scott Gorham instead. I am really glad that I was able to get that record on the airwaves after all, though. It's truly a hilarious glimpse at ex-rockstars at their wartiest! War, Stillers! War, heroin and sluts! War, me warring on AFS! See you next week, clones!!!

One more thing: Please excuse my mis-announcing of the Noah's Ark Was a Spaceship song! The KDVS copy of that split 7" with The Yuppies has reversed inner labels. I could hardly believe my ears when I heard the song and thought "Jeez...those Yuppies really changed their style!" You'll definitely be hearing more from both of these young and precocious Nebraska bands.

Download this program within three weeks at either link...
CLICK HERE for 192kbps rate.
(~ 173kB)
or CLICK HERE for 320kbps rate.
(~ 346kB)

TOTAL CONTROL | Meds | Total Control 7"| Aarght! 2008
SOFT DRINKS | Pepsi Cola | v/a: The Thing from the Crypt | Dead Hedgehog 1981
COLD CAVE | An Understanding | 3-way split 7" w/ Blessure Grave & Crocodiles | Down in the Ground *new
HOLLOW TONGUES | trk 7 | some CDR | no label *new
SIDS | Winter | Winter 7" | Rob's House *new
KOMMUNITY FK | To Blame | The Vision and the Voice | Independent Project 1983
BLESSURE GRAVES | trk 2 | Cult of Youth CDR | no label *new
AUTOPILOT | Love Is a Process | Love Is a Process 7" | no label 1979
NOAH'S ARK WAS A SPACESHIP | Flamingo's Our Father | split 7" w/ The Yuppies | Dutch Hall *new
EAN ERASER | It Does Not Matter to Me | Illegitimate Love 7" | no label 2008
AUDACITY | Twilight Zone | Power Drowning | Burger *new
NODZZZ | I Was My Parents' Vision | Nodzzz | What's Your Rupture? 2008
THE RANTOULS | Chug a Lug | The Rantouls 7" | Chocolate Covered 2008
NOBUNNY | Motorhead With Me | Give It to Me 7" | HoZac *new *request
PHOTOBOOTH | You | Da Me Tus Besos 7" | Daggerman *new
BOX ELDERS | One Foot In Front of The Other | Hole in My Head 7" | Grotto 2008
THE WHINES | Insane OK | Insane OK 7" | Just for the Hell of It *new
THE HUNCHES | From This Window | Exit Dreams | In The Red *new
EDDY CURRENT SUPPRESSION RING | That Time of Day | That Time of Day 7" | Nervous Jerk *new
THEE OH SEES | Carol Ann | Carol Ann 7" | Slowboy *new
THE UP | Just Like an Aborigine | v/a: A-Square (of Course) | Big Beat 2008 (orig 1970)
DRUID PERFUME | Goat Skin Glue | A Fascinating Lesson in Glue 7" | Italy *new
BEWARE OF THE KNIGHT | Space Sores | Third Canker From the Rock CDR | no label 2007
TERRIBLE TWOS | Creep Cloud | Grey Ghost Street 7" | Italy *new
HENRY FIAT'S OPEN SORE | P.S. Send More Ammo | Mondo Blotto | Alien Snatch 2008
SINKS | No Money | No Money 7" | Kenrock 2008
RATAS DEL VATICANO | Te Apuñalare en el Recto | Mocosos Pateticos | Siltbreeze *new
RATAS DEL VATICANO | Encandenado a la Rutina
RED MASS | Terrorizer | Red Mass 12" EP | Psychic Handshake 2008
DEATH TO PIGS | Muslim Lady (You Drive Me Crazy) | La Horse 10" | Down Boy/213/Bands Noire *new
ICON GALLERY | Retribution | Demo 7" | Dear Skull *new
BOULDER | Anchored Down | split 7" w/ Dimbulb | Alley Sweeper 1995
MIND POWER | Pretty One | Famous Voodoo Rituals & Spells 7" | Praise Dobbs 1992
BORON & THE GREBES | You're a Horrible Person | You're a Horrible Person 7" | no label *new
THIN LIZZY | Black Stache White Wax | split 7" w/ Boulder | Flexovit 1997