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.