Tuesday, August 24, 2010

AFS v. 280 ~ Ihren Nächsten Favoriten


This week in AFS...

* SS Records tilts the year-end-best playing field
* ...but the new Druid Perfume LP is still a competitor!
* priming the Aussie-bands-on-tour-in-USA pump
* the old guys still got it!
* and Liz Allbee's stunning new joint

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...)

UV Race | I'm So Tired | v/a: The World's Lousy With Ideas vol 7 7" | Almost Ready 2009
TOTAL CONTROL | Total Control | self-titled 7-inch | Aarght! 2008
TOTAL CONTROL | Full Moon [Swell Maps]
BANQUE ALLEMANDE | The Baumarkt Nation | Eins, Zwei | S.S. Records *new
COLIN NEWMAN | I've Waited Ages | A-Z | Beggars Banquet 1980
THE DULL | I Hate the Motorcyclist | v/a: Barricaded Suspects | Toxic Shock 1983
THE CHINESE RESTAURANTS | Summer Romance | Summer Romance 7" | S.S. Records *new
G. GREEN | The Garden | I Will Not Withdraw This Statement 7" | Malt Duck *new
SCRAPS | A Salty Sea | A Salty Sea 7" | Dirty Knobby *new
NIGHT BEATS | H-Bomb | H-Bomb 7" | Trouble in Mind *new
DISTRACTION BOYS | Pay Off the Cops | Live on Ave. B 7-inch | Cryptovision 1985
BRIAN WILSON SHOCK TREATMENT | I Hear Voices | Druid Time Lords | Poe/Slutfish *new
CRAWLSPACE | Blame it on the Universe | Ignorance is Bliss | Gulcher *new
ROCKET FROM THE TOMBS | I Sell Soul | I Sell Soul 7" | Hearpen 2010
RALPH CARNEY & DAVID THOMAS | Sunset in Hibernia | v/a: Bowling Balls from Hell | Clone 1980
DENIS DEFRANGE & MARK FRAZIER | The Manikin Shuffle | v/a: Bowling Balls from Hell
FRANZ KULTUR ET LES KRAMES | Ultime Atome | self-titled | Memoire Neuve *new (orig 1983)
CRASH NORMAL | Like a Horse | v/a: Stuffs vol. 1 | Compost Modern Art *new
THE DICTAPHONE | Temporary Muse | self-titled | Kill Shaman *new
DRUID PERFUME | Blue Light | Tin Boat to Tuna Town | Bumbo *new
LIZ ALLBEE | The Undersides | Theseus vs. | Resipiscent *new
FABULOUS DIAMONDS | 11 mins, 21 sec | Fabulous Diamonds II | Siltbreeze *new
PSYCHIC BAGGAGE | Dreams, Sir | self-titled | Endless Melt *new
THE NORTH SEA | Missed Court Dates | Bloodlines | Type *new
SIGHTINGS | We All Amplify | City of Straw | Brah 2010

I hope I won't be too self-conscious about putting too many S.S. Records titles in my best-of-2010 list in December or January. Mr. Soriano's making it pretty difficult to exclude anything his label has issued, and with the new LP of Germany's Banque Allemande and the latest 7" of the wonderfully whacked The Chinese Restaurants, there's two more S.S. titles rocketing to the top of the list. I can't really add anything that Scott doesn't already cover in his own description of the band other than to say that everything he said is absolutely true, and therefore, this might just be your (and my) next favorite band:

"While Berlin, Germany isn’t exactly 'nowhere', the amount of attention garnered by Banque Allemande since their inception in 2005 they might as well be from Quedlinberg. When I stumbled on them and was blown away by their songs, I started to wonder 'What the fuck is wrong with you people?' Actually nothing: Banque Allemande (also known as dbZwoVier) have spent the last 5 years avoiding Berlin’s rock scene, choosing to play subway cars (watch for the visual, not the sounds!), a hamburger grill, and the like. They recorded a couple albums worth of fantastic songs, but never spread them around. What was posted on myspace got lost in the flood of bands there. They lurk in the shadows no longer.

"Banque Allemande has a relentlessness that reminds me of The Gordons and Rema Rema, the thuggish charm of Feedtime, and some 1-2-3-4 yucks of 'i dunno, name some late 70s euro punk outfit' - but that’s me hearing them. Their background is in the bands Discounter, Trumpf As, and Moser Indian. Their ears are attuned to the hammering beats of Boys Noize. Or as they describe their sound: minimalistic, cut-down songstructures - yes please. rough sounds, straight beats - yes please.. if what comes out is called “punk” - whatthefuck.

"So once again you are asked to take the S.S. challenge, the leap of faith you took when S.S. released records by the A Frames, Intelligence, Cheveu, Nothing People, Los Llamarada, XYX, Krysmopompas, and Billy Bao before no more than a handful of people knew they existed. I am pretty confident you will dig this one, too."

You can pick up these new utmost-recommended titles here...
http://207.228.243.82/ss/cat.html
...and if you've forgotten to cop that A Frames triple-LP or Ozzie double-LP, then you should get caught before it's too late.

Further solidifying their place as the best saxophone-rock band since No Doctors' Hunting Season (and Funhouse before that!), the new Druid Perfume LP is even better than their stupendous debut. That and the new Liz Allbee CD get my other highest recommendations this week. Alas, Theseus vs. is only on CD, but it comes in a brilliantly screened carboard box with a puffy shim to protect the CD from flopping around in the box. It's limited to 350, and once it runs out, I challenge any label of supreme taste in exquisite experimental creep-you-out-late-at-night-all-alone music to make a vinyl issue of this. If you enjoyed Carla Bozulich's Evangelista, this should suit you quite well. Its subtlety unfolds slowly over repeated listens, so it'll surely keep you enthralled for a long time to come. Format fetishists shouldn't be kept from knowing the brilliance of this woman, co-conspirator in Neung Phak and formerly the most sublime-sounding member of Le Flange du Mal, who were my favorite mayhem-bringers of the Bay Area's mid-2000s heyday. Theseus vs. has a peerless production value which strikes me in much the same way that Through the Panama by Sightings did in 2007. This is the perfect antidote to the lofi zeitgeist right now.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

AFS v. 279 ~ the Puffies live @ KDVS + Vacation Recount


ACHTUNG, scuzz-fiends! Puffy Areolas played/slayed a live performance at KDVS in Studio A last Thurssday with the honorable Fenris Wulf presiding over the controls and Sacto sax assassins and Repressive Proteins members Davy Bui (of Antennas Erupt) and Chad Stockdale (of Klondike & York and D.M.P.H.) guesting with the band. To hear the entire hour-long performance, right-click and save the link below this playlist. I just drove 2200 miles following G. Green and Mayyors around the Pacific Northwest, and I barely made it back from Portland in time for this week's program, so therefore, this week in AFS...

* A gang of new HoZac, Sacred Bones, and Siltbreeze titles
* A very special Puffy Areolas block including and excerpt of their live-@-KDVS performance
* San Francisco Water Cooler on a properly functioning turntable
* Warm Climate unleash another stunner!
* Taste-testing the upcoming week in Sacto shows
* Vacation highlights

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...)

SONSKULL | Control Control | Birth Scene/Rewind EP 12" | Perennial *new
SONSKULL | Cement Mixer
WHITE BOSS | Meld | self-titled | Perennial *new
WHITE BOSS | Darkness/Lightness
PUFFY AREOLAS | title unknown/1981/Deathcraze | Live in Studio A @ KDVS, 8/12/10
PUFFY AREOLAS | title unknown | 2010 Tour Tape | no label *new
PUFFY AREOLAS | Rock n Roll Express | Rock n Roll Express 7" | Die Stasi *new
MEERCAZ | Lovesick | self-titled | Tic Tac Totally 2010
PROCEDURE CLUB | Nautical Song | Doomed Forever | Slumberland *new
PROCEDURE CLUB | Rather
SUPER WILD HORSES | Mess Around | Fifteen | HoZac/Aarght! *new
SUPER WILD HORSES | World's Gone Bad | Enigma (You Say Go) 7" | HoZac *new
GRASS WIDOW | 11 of Diamonds | Past Time | Kill Rock Stars *new
THE BITTERS | Master of Sleep | Have a Nap Hotel EP 12" | Sacred Bones *new
FABULOUS DIAMONDS | 3 Minutes 40 Seconds | Fabulous Diamonds II | Siltbreeze *new
THIS HEART ELECTRIC | Nowhere to Run... | Polar 7" | Die Stasi *new
MAC BLACKOUT | Sometimes | Don't Let Your Love Die 7" | Sacred Bones *new
ELECTRIC BUNNIES | Pretty Joanna | Pretty Joanna 7" | Sacred Bones *new
SEX CHURCH | Paralyze | 209 7" | HoZac *new
SAN FRANCISCO WATER COOLER | Your Life is a River | II | Sun Sneeze *new
SAN FRANCISCO WATER COOLER | August Receipt
WARM CLIMATE | Voice Over Headlights | Camouflage on the River Wretched CS | Stunned *new
WARM CLIMATE | Two Stones
ALASTAIR GALBRAITH | Bridge of Burning Bubblegum | Mass | Siltbreeze *new
ALASTAIR GALBRAITH | Tin Town
AMEN DUNES | Murder Dull Mind | Murder Dull Mind EP 12" | Sacred Bones *new
G. GREEN | The Garden | I Will Not Withdraw This Statement 7" | Malt Duck *new
WHITE FANG | Eat My Shred | Whatever | Marriage 2009
HOT FACE | The Patch | 5-song demo CDR | no label *new
ESPECIALLY LIKELY SLOTH | Hammer Smashed Face [Cannibal Corpse] | v/a: Roots II (The Return) | Root of All Evil 1998
RATTLE DICK | some songs | demo CS | no label *new
J GUY LAUGHLIN | untitled | Solo Percussion vol. I CS | Wagon *new

Download the Puffy Areolas live at KDVS within two months at this link...
CLICK HERE for 192kbps rate.
or
CLICK HERE for 320kbps rate.


Vacation highlights...

* Twin Falls, Idaho! When I first learned that G. Green had scheduled a show at a place called the Meth House in Twin Falls--with a band called Meth House Party Band, no less!--I was very concerned that they'd made a huge mistake, and that the show would be either totally deserted except for some methy wastoids, or the show'd be packed with sXe Christian jocks and/or juggalos (well, I guess all the juggalos woulda been predisposed at the Gathering to fling feces at Tila Tequila (endless kudos 'n faygo's to ya, boys!)), and I was extra-concerned that if they stayed the night there, they'd never stand a chance of making it to their Seattle show the following night. But, to my surprise and relief, Twin Falls turned out to be tremendously fun. I've sampled some scenes like Lakeport, Yuba City, Redding, Anderson, Klamath Falls, Medford, etc., and although there's always potential for the fun-starved to freak out when they finally get the chance to enjoy good music in their town, it usually turns out to be depressing or scary. Twin Falls was a complete 180° turn from what I expected: the Meth House was actually pretty nice and not methy, the fans were friendly, super-appreciative, and open-minded, and even the local bands were really good, especially that Meth House Party Band. With a name like that, I thought they'd be some sorta one-off/ad-hoc band that would do some Misfits covers and jam some other things out. But no...they had some damn catchy songs in the fast melodic garage-punk vein, sometimes verging on Queer Pills-era Samoans. The only thing I expected to happen that did indeed happen was that the crowd was very moshy. They moshed to the slowest and most romantic of G. Green songs. The boys even ripped their shirts off. G. Green got 'em pumped! If your band is ever traveling between the Salt Lake Valley or Missoula and either of the Pacific Northwest metropolises, you can do a lot worse than Twin Falls, but for the sake of having fun and making new friends, you might not do better than Meth House for your entire tour. I wholeheartedly recommend the Meth House and the Meth House Party Band. Also...see Shoshone Falls when you're there. It's worth it even when the falls are at half-flow.

* Best bites....Can a $17.48 burger combo be worth it? Even without a soft drink? Only if that burger is the bison, bacon, and cheeseburger at Boise Fry Company, and only if those fries are the Fry Co's "bourgeois fries" fresh from a bath in duck fat and dunked in such incredible condiments as blueberry ketchup and curried fry sauce. Best meal of the trip for sure! I found my new best chicken fried steak (fried lightly in flour and seasoning) at a top-drawer old-fashioned diner called The Griddle in Winnemucca, Nevada. Also, the honey, walnut, coriander, and cardamom milkshake at Pereira Crepes in the magnetic late-night foodcart mecca at SE Hawthorne @ 12th Ave in Portland impressed once again. I'd been dreaming about it since last year, and it didn't disappoint.

* Mayyors ruled on both nights. G. Green ruled especially hard in Twin Falls, but also at the Portland house show. Wounded Lion and The Lamps ruled as usual. Last ever Meth Teeth show was a heart-string tugger. Geeking out with Canadian friends is always a treat. Our hosts were great each night...thanks to all of you. Also, on Saturday at the Mayyors/G. Green/Big Black Cloud house show in Portland, I experienced two surprise bands I'd never heard before, and they were both fantastic....the Velvetsy Psychic Feline and the now-wavey Hot Face, a new band featuring Daniel, formerly of Sucks and The Freebasers before he left Sacramento for Portland. Hot Face have the twin cyclonic guitar scribble/scrabble and the speeding-away-from-police-despite-a-blown-out-tire rhtyhmic lurch of AIDS Wolf. You could say they're biters, but you'd hafta be impressed by how strident they were. Dan-Dan has become a beastly basher, and this lady vokillist is a riot. The demo shows promise, but I'd love to have them come get recorded here with Fenris so he could bring out more low-end punishment. Videos exist of their first show on a weird river beach...

Hot Face live at Industrial Beach (part 1) from BLACK SUMMER on Vimeo.



Hot Face live at Industrial Beach (part 2) from BLACK SUMMER on Vimeo.



...but I'd say their 2nd show ever was even more a winner! This third vid involves the same lady and maybe some of the same co-conspirators and ably traipses through other contemporary genre ghettoes with a literal puke-fest in-between. I'd say Hot Face knows how to party.

06//28//10 from BLACK SUMMER on Vimeo.



Tuesday, August 03, 2010

AFS v. 278 ~ Bust 'em, G. Green!


This week in AFS...

* World-exclusive debut of G. Green debut 7"!
* G. Green departs on their first real tour today!
* Again, don't miss Puffy Areolas on tour!

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...)

WHITE BOY & THE AVERAGE RAT BAND | Neon Warriors | self-titled | Roach *new (orig 1979)
PUFFY AREOLAS | Lutzko Lives | Lutzko Lives 7" | Columbus Discount 2009
PUFFY AREOLAS | El Jita | v/a: Skulls Without Borders | Siltbreeze 2009
PUFFY AREOLAS | Heart Attack | In the Army 1981 | Siltbreeze *new
CERAMIC HOBS | Psychic Vampires | Straight Outta Rampton | Pumf 2001
CERAMIC HOBS | Scotch Mist | 72 Hour Drink Binge Alcopop Madness 7" | Pumf 1997
SEVERED HEADS | Sam Loves You | Come Visit the Big Bigot | Nettwerk 1986
THE ENCHANTMENTS | Rockin' at the Lost & Found | The Heavenly Sounds of... | no label *new
VIRGIN PRUNES | The King of Junk | Over the Rainbow | Baby 1985
REMA REMA | Instrumental/Fond Affections | Wheel in the Roses 12" EP | 4AD 1980
JOSEF K | Sense of Guilt | The Only Fun in Town | LTM 1990 (orig 1980)
TWIN CRYSTALS | Bones | split 7" w/ Shearing Pinx | Reluctant *new
SEX CHURCH | Mistaken | 6 Songs 12" EP | Convulsive *new *request
THE BEEZ | Easy | Easy 7" | Edible 1979
MICKEY | Wild Kind | Highway Bound 7" | Florida's Dying *new
SLIPPERY SLOPES | Shake That Bear | v/a: Party Platter | Florida's Dying *new
PERSONAL & THE PIZZAS | I Ain't Taking You Out | Raw Pie | 1-2-3-4 GO! *new
LIVELY ONES | Bustin' Surfboards | Surf Drums | Del-Fi 1963
G. GREEN | I Will Not Withdraw This Statement | brand-new 7" | Malt Duck *available now on tour!
THE YUPPIES | Bones | I've Been Touched 7" | Grotto *new
BLACK TIME | Harley Davidson [S. Gainsbourg] | More Songs About Motorcycles & Death | Wrench *new
SAN FRANCISCO WATER COOLER | Reverie/Pond Leak | II | Sun Sneeze *new
EZEE TIGER | Crush Medley (a stupid rock opera kinda) | split LP w/ Country Teasers | Holy Mountain 2009
EZEE TIGER | The Tiger Bounce | self-titled | Kimosciotic 2004
WHITE DRUGS | Unmaker | Gold Magic | Kunstwaffe/Amphetamine Reptile *new
SHORTY | Kaput | Kaput! 7" | Skin Graft 1993
DEATH OF SAMANTHA | Harlequin Tragedy | Where the Women Wear the Glory and the Men Wear the Pants | Homestead 1988
THE YOUNG | Smiling God | Voyagers of Legend | Mexican Summer *new

First, from the Corrections Department....Did I actually announce the Virgin Prunes as the March Violets? Whoops! And don't go thinking that new San Francisco Water Cooler LP is a letdown! Our 3rd turntable in the studio was playing at erratic speeds, but it wasn't too perceptible until it was too late. Sorry, everybody. Just trust me...this new LP is outstanding. I'll be giving it its due in the very next AFS (in two weeks!).

Now...the main order of business is at hand...Getting your ass off the couch and in front of two of the raddest bands on the planet today. As I already mentioned, don't miss the Puffy Areolas as they make it out west. (Seattle, tell me something about Friday, huh?) ALSO...Don't miss Sacramento's best new band of the last year and a half...G. Green! Their new debut 7" from Malt Duck is in their hands. It won't be available publicly from Malt Duck for another couple of weeks, but if you are in the band's tour path, you can get it from them. Yes, they are my friends from my hometown, but trust me....looking at this as objectively as I can, I still give G. Green my highest recommendation. See 'em in these cities... (photo credit: me my damn self! --->)

AUGUST 2010
3rd Sacramento - The Hub (1819 23rd St.) w/ Slippery Slopes, Personal and the Pizzas
4th San Francisco - Fivepoints Art House (72 Tehama st.) w/ TBA
5th Ventura - TBA w/ Sea Lions, Catwalk
6th Los Angeles - Vlad the Retailer (4313 Melrose Ave.) w/ TBA
7th Los Angeles - daytime BBQ show (6411 Ruby St.) 2PM w/ Shark Toys, Shocka Khans
8th Tempe - Yobs House (509 W. 19th) w/ Peaking Lights
9th Las Vegas - TBA
10th Provo - Thee Compound (166S 100W) w/ Clear Coats, Broken Spells
11th Twin Falls - 8th Street House (1337 8th Ave East) w/ Meth House Party Band
12th Seattle - Funhouse (206 5th Avenue North) w/ Grave Babies, Young Prisms, Uzi Rash
13th Portland - Smmr Bmmr @ Plan B (1305 SE 8th) w/ Mayyors, Wounded Lion, Lamps, Burning Yellows, + more
14th Portland - Failing St. Rock (110 N. Failing) w/ Mayyors, Big Black Cloud
15th Olympia - TBA
16th Eugene - Badger Den (320 E. 13th Ave.) w/ White Fang, Hanging Coffins
17th Stockton - Plea For Peace (630 E Weber Ave) w/ White Fang, English Singles, Satan Wriders
18th Oakland - 21 Grand (416 25th Street) w/ White Fang, Uzi Rash

The new 7" is three songs of brilliant damaged pop with awesome and unique personality. Three songs is the best number of songs for a 7", especially when they blend into a perfect cocktail. Tonight's featured song is the titular song; its flavor is decidedly defiant. The next on the A-side is chirpy and chipper. The B-side is pensive until its tumultuous breakdown. The first and third songs unfold in layers. The second song is for dance parties. A perfectly round 7" in more ways than just the obvious. Those layered songs are particularly enchanting with their tastefully applied top-of-their-lungs harmony vocals and interweaving of rhythm-guitar-jangles and lead-shimmers yinning to the steady yang of brutish drum onslaught. A couple-three years ago, G. Green was a solo project of the singer/rhythm-guitarist, and while he was still a teenager, he hit the Sacto scene straight outta Utah with one of the most courageous and unique singing voices and unusual songwriting approach which confounded many people. I was dropping Jandek comparisons. Even with the band version of G. Green snapping his songs into more of a pop shape--and his nervous energy giving way to an air of confidence--he's still one of the most unique voices. Quite simply, this band fucking rules, and if you are a fan of this blog/podcast, I think you should catch this band on tour and buy the 7".

And from here, there's no looking back. They already laid down some tracks for a new LP a couple weeks ago, and here's an awesome new video offering a sneak peek of one of the new songs (and like I said before, you can see they have personality)...


G. Green's drummer also stars in this stunning video for Zach Hill's "Sacto Smile" video (which sounds something like a breakcore-damaged Mayyors)...


I'll be posting about the G. Green 7" again when it is officially available from Malt Duck. Give it a couple weeks.