AFS v. 254 ~ Wellspring Has Sprung!

This week in AFS...

* sneak-peeks at The Whines and Inservibles!
* the latest in Charles Albright news, including his new Megacools LP!
* a gang o' debuts including Nothing People, Chinese Restaurants, and Nudge Squidfish!
* lotsa Can-Con again (and snappy, crunchy punks from Spain, too)!

Next week, tune in for live-in-studio sets by Moon Duo from SF and the Dead Ghosts and Indian Wars from Vancouver, Canada! (If you wanna be part of the studio audience, you must RSVP to me ASAP at rickele (at) gmail (dot) com.)

Download this program within two months at this link...
CLICK HERE for 192kbps rate.
or
CLICK HERE for 320kbps rate.
or, if you have a slower/20th century connection
STREAM IT HERE by next Monday night!

(Email me with any downloading problem questions...)

BEWARE OF THE KNIGHT | Sponge Whistle | Numb Burr Four CDR | no label *new
CHARLES ALBRIGHT | Headphones | Albright Comes Alive CDR | no label 2009
THE MEGACOOLS | God vs. Drugs | Introducing the Fun Police | Sacramento *new
THE MEGACOOLS | Fun Police II
CRUDDY | Berlin Wall | self-titled 7" | Basement Screams/Let's Pretend *new
MUJERES | Yella | 3 Canciones de Muerte y Sudor 7" | Discos Humeantes *new
LOS DAGGERS | Ternera No | Ponte a Patinar 7" | Discos Humeantes *new
VENEREANS | Don't Step Cockroachs | Future Primitive | Tic Tac Totally/Discos Humeantes *new
RATAS DEL VATICANO | Estaria Chido que no Hubiera Ley | Chido E.P. 7" | Volar *new
INSERVIBLES | Aselto Mental | Cultura Pendeja EP | HBSP-2X *forthcoming
POISON IDEA | Thing Called Progress | Pick Your King | Fatal Erection 1983
POISON IDEA | In My Headache
ROT SHIT | Hipster Grandma | You're Welcome 7" | Columbus Discount *new
ROT SHIT | Local Band Forever
THE JAWAS | Mocking U | What Gos Haha Bonk? 7" | Nation of Kids 1995
THE JAWAS | Express Lane | Guy Cut in 1/2 7" | Nation of Kids 1995
NASA SPACE UNIVERSE | Apache Blood Overdrive Destroys Oprah Winfrey | self-titled 7" | Gradual Limbo 2008
RED ASPHALT | Red Asphalt | self-titled 7" | Egg and Anvil 1981
RANK/XEROX | Masking/Confessions | self-titled 7" | Mongo Bongo *new
THE CHINESE RESTAURANTS | River of Shit | River of Shit 7" | SS Records *new
MEN/EJECT | Apologize | Apologize b/w Draw 7" | no label 1980
CABARET VOLTAIRE | Walls of Jericho | Eddie's Out 12" EP | Rough Trade 1981
MOON DUO | In the Trees | Escape EP | Woodsist *new
NOTHING PEOPLE | Reinstall | You're Invited 7" | Permanent *new
NOTHING PEOPLE | Remember How Cold It Was (part one) | Soft Crash | SS Records *new
ELECTRIC BUNNIES | You're Not Just Eating Pancakes | Through the Magical Door | Florida's Dying *new
KREAMY 'LECTRIC SANTA | Mindy Cohn | Operation Spacetime Cynderblock | Starcleaner *new
U.S. GIRLS | I Don't Have a Mind of My Own [Mark Charron] | Go Grey | Siltbreeze *new
U.S. GIRLS | His Son's Future
BIRD | Green Shoes | Hoy en Dia CS | Goaty Tapes 2009
NUDGE SQUIDFISH | Part Cherokee | Twenty Thousand Leagues Under Nashville | Columbus Discount *new (orig 1985)
N.213 | Send Her My Love | split LP w/ Reflektionss | Need More RAM *forthcoming
N.213 | Future Decay
BOT | Damn It Feels Good... | split CS w/ Shearing Pinx | Isolated Now Waves 2009
POMPOIR | Unrequited | Exploding Time 12" EP | Isolated Now Waves *new
DEAD GHOSTS | She Likes It | split 7" w/ Smith Westerns | Bachelor 2009
DEAD GHOSTS | Holy Ghost | Holy Ghost 7" | Boom Chick 2008
THE WHINES | For Your Safety | Hell to Play | Meds *forthcoming
NERVE CITY | Golden City | Recordings 2007-2008 | Sweet Rot *new

Get ready for that new Whines' Hell to Play LP coming soon from Meds because it's gonna be brilliant! As I said in AFS v. 213 that "[t]he style of this young Portland band is kinda like the more ruminative moments of The Hunches, thanks to the shimmering sprawls of psych-punk guitar that spiral toward the edges of the incredibly stalwart rhythm section"; that's still completely true, but with confidence, they've outgrown the sorta kid sibling status and into their own shoes which kick so much ass that they're surely one of the best bands on the west coast now. Powerful when stonefaced and beautiful when emotionally vulnerable, this album's range is rare and tremendous. It's everything I hoped it would be after seeing them wallop their debut 7" when they played live. Look for the band to come down the I-5 corridor for a tour to kick off promotion of this new album in March. Dates will be announced here when they are known.

Could the third LP by the Nothing People really be even better than the 2nd, which was better than the 1st, which was also really great? Has any other band from 2000-2010 succeeded in outdoing themselves three times in a row after such auspicious beginnings? The Hospitals? Yes, but I can't think of another off-hand. I don't wanna render my final verdict 'til I let this sink in some more (two at-length listens so far), but I have a hunch it's true. Soft Crash has a more driving pulse than Late Night, but it's just as psychedelic and delightfully dazed.

Sacramento treasure Charles Albright has a new LP out, but not a solo effort. It's the first album of his band The Megacools, a trio also including his better half (she also drums for The Pizzas). Fans of last year's Charles Albright solo 7" on SS (and previously self-released in an edition of 100) will surely dig this LP. Maybe even just as much! It's quite a riot of wild punchy riffs, hooky melodies, and humorous goofball surprises including some of the best-integrated TV and movie samples since Spazz and No Le$$ succeeded in that arena during the powerviolence era. This record is totally Charles-style which means homemade and limited to 100. If you wanna get this thing....gee, I don't know what to tell you exactly. Do you still use MySpace? Does he even? The band hasn't logged in since November. You might as well just email me and I'll forward it along. Otherwise, if you wanna hear more outta Charles, reportedly there's a solo album to pick up where the 7" left off coming from Permanent Records, so stay tuned to their channels for forthcoming release info!