V/A : Killed By Deathrock Volume 1

Sacred Bones have just come out with a fantastic compilation called 'Killed By Deathrock Vol.1'.  The eleven exhumed songs cull obscure, internet un-friendly singles released via modest labels from 1980-88 .  Deathrock deals with the charred Post Punk and Goth sounds, shedding a spotlight on some unsung treasures of the time.  Highlights for me are the first two tracks, 

Your Funeral "I Wanna Be You" (Denver, Colorado female three piece):

 

...and Kitchen & The Plastic Spoons "Liberty" (Swedish band who had little output before calling it a day): 

'Killed By Deathrock Vol.1' started as a project for Sacred Bones label founder Caleb Braaten back in 2007.  Both European and US bands are closely knitted together through their experiments in dark punk on this cohesive, exhaustively researched compilation.  This is probably your only shot at getting these songs at all physically, and it's not an opportunity you want to pass up.

 

Rat Columns : I Wonder

David West, James Vinciguerra, Matt Bleyle and Jon Young make the line up the for Rat Columns.  Some may already be familiar with these guys from their work in Rank/Xerox, Total Control, Lace Curtain, Burning Sensation, Orgy Of The Undead, Frank & The Can I Speaklys, Whalehammer, Pualine Mason, Nosedive, KBA, Sopors, Abi Yoyos and Violent Change.  

Rat Columns recent show opening for Rank/Xerox at The Lexington was one of my favourites this year, their set was completely arresting and I had to pick up this 7" (the LPs had already sold out).  Rat Columns started primarily as a solo project and that's what I think we hear on this single.  These 4 songs of Post punk wanderings recall 80s British Indie with it's dejected vocals paired with lush guitars, alongside a Joy Division-esque bass line and drum machine - best shown on BSide "Glass Coffin".  Rat Columns album 'Sceptre Hole' is out now featuring the full line up which pushes things over the edge with songs becoming more ballistic, more pop and more psychedelic shrouded under a cloud of drone.  All releases so far have been on Smart Guy records and you can pick up copies here

Rat Columns : Tumblr Bandcamp 

Video for "I Wonder" by Hannah Lew

Rat Columns "I Wonder" from Aubree Bernier-Clarke on Vimeo.

The Spectrometers : Off

The always great SDZ Records/Crudite Tapes have been pretty busy lately with a slew of new releases.  First up is a tape by The Spectrometers called 'Off', a chilling post-punk piece utilizing drum machines and archaic analogue sounds.  I didn't come up with much after researching The Spectrometers except their bandcamp which cited, "French minimal electronics / old school industrial band".  The fact it's hard to discern whether this is a new tape influenced by said genres or unearthed recordings speak volumes about the authentic sound on 'Off'.  Title track and opener "Off" sets an isolating tone with raspy tape hissing.  "Fallacy" follows with looped beats, sharp synthesizers and a low repetitive bass line.  It's a sense of paranoia that threads through the tracks, made all the more tense by the tracks never quite resolve themselves - aptly displayed on one of my faves "Orgone".  Locked into one arcing arrangement "Orgone" intensifies and as it reaches a point of climax plaintively ends, then repeated.  'Off' is a great listen as there's no release from the fraught atmosphere propelling a state of anxiety throughout.  Available now as a download or tape here.

Slug Guts 'Scum' : Official Video

Another new video, this time by Slug Guts for track 'Scum' taken from new album 'Playin' In Time With The Deadbeat' on Sacred Bones. I mean to employ no sort of hyperbole when I say this is a front runner for favourite record of the year...savage, scuzzy and stunning.

Find Copies here Slug Guts Facebook

Slug Guts 'Playin' in Time With the Deadbeat'

Slug Guts have delved deeper into the abyss and somehow have achieved twelve songs even more damaged than 2010's 'Howlin' Gang'. Returning with their third album, second for Sacred Bones, the pack draw from tragedies the band have dealt with over the last year facing jail, death, psychiatric units, trials at court and rehab so it's no wonder 'Playing in Time With the Deadbeat' is their most turbulent work yet. Their new album plays out acute feelings of very Australian ennui utilizing discordant melodies tarred with gritty beats and tumultuous vocals, with all the moxie of post-punk that you might find in bands like feedtime touched by the cold sounds of industrialism.

Opener 'Scum' throws you into the pit with James Dalgliesh's belligerent vocals sounding like he's boiling nails deep in his throat apace with menacing guitars, frenetic sax and crashing rhythms. Amongst the stormy dissonance on 'Playing in Time With the Deadbeat' are infectious, bright hooks that secure a core grounding reverb and distortion. This is brilliantly shown on "Moving Heat", with a mirage of dueling licks from spooked guitars played alongside an unhinged sax wafting through forthright beats. "Stranglin' You Too", which also featured as a single for Hozac is another highlight with sanguine tinged melodies and rubbery bass. "...and I'll stay here" Dalgliesh's despairing voice calls out and gets lost in layers of reverberations, it's this sense of climbing-up-the-walls that best sums up tracks on 'Playing in Time With the Deadbeat'. Slug Guts new album is an oeuvre of frustration, dejection and turmoil, it's their pure and honest approach that makes this album hard to stop listening to.



Out on July 24th - find copies through Sacred Bones

Slug Guts on Facebook

Swell Maps 'A Trip to Marineville' & 'Jane Occupied Europe' Reissues

The brothers known as Nikki Sudden and Epic Soundtracks had been playing music together in their hometown of Solihull, Birmingham for several years before Jowe Head and Richard Earl joined the fold in 1976. That was on the cusp of the punk and d.i.y. explosion that radically changed the British music scene, and Swell Maps took full form; they released two albums, a handful of singles and then called it quits by the mid-'80s. Like so many other great bands of the era, Swell Maps went largely unnoticed outside of their own little scene, but their music has had a long-lasting impact on the shape of the underground; although the group's debut 7" "Read About Seymour" (released on their own imprint, Rather Records) got them signed to Rough Trade, it seems only in hindsight that Swell Maps' pivotal role in the birth of post-punk has been recognized. An amalgam of labels over the years have endeavored to keep the band's two studio albums, A Trip to Marineville and Jane from Occupied Europe, in circulation, and Secretly Canadian has now issued these top-quality vinyl versions to go along with their CD releases from a few years back.

Following a second single, 1979's A Trip to Marineville was made shortly after a live session for John Peel, recorded at WMRS Studios along with new band members David Barrington and John Cockrill. This album debuted Swell Maps' own take on T. Rex-inspired rock crossed with punk and touched by Krautrock's experimentalism, creating something ballistic and innovative. "Do you believe in art?" Nikki Sudden asks atonally in opener "H.S. Art" apace with clattering rhythms, crunchy guitars and ramshackle piano -- this track puts the 'raw' in 'raucous.' My personal highlight, however, is "Spitfire Parade," which delivers a heady rush from feverish guitars and pummeling rhythms anchored by a low rubbery bass, pushing to the edge before plaintively imploding. Breaking away from the archetypal guitar, drums and bass arrangement, toy saxophones, xylophones and harmonicas are incorporated into the album, and A Trip to Marineville certainly marked a shift in underground music. A no-brainer for anyone with a soft-spot for post-punk, this reissue features the original track listing along with a bonus 7" of "Loin of the Surf" that came with the original LP release.

Released a year later, Jane from Occupied Europe was the ambitious second and final album for Swell Maps. Krautrock acts as a connecting thread between both records, but Jane separates itself by delving into noisier industrial sounds. This is best shown on "Big Maz in the Desert," a warped instrumental number with crooked guitars, curious scratching and cawing effects alongside forthright drumming cemented at the core. And sure enough, this album has rockier moments too; "Border Country" and "The Helicopter Spies" feature familiar strident guitars, unmannered vocals and rattled rhythms. Jane from Occupied Europe shows a band not satisfied with just creating a new sound but testing the limits of it, so it's easy to understand why Sonic Youth, Pavement and Dinosaur Jr. have all sung Swell Maps praises.

It has been more than two decades since these albums have been available in vinyl format, but with the LPs finally back on the shelves and featuring original artwork, track listings and bonus material, you won't find a better time to pick up this pair of absolutely essential records than right now.
(written for edited by Other Music)



Copies available:
US Other Music
UK Norman Records

Tronics 'Shark Fucks/Time Off'

What’s Your Rupture? kick off their 2012 roster in fine style by reissuing a slice of UK/DIY history, Tronics 45 'Shark Fucks/Time Off' released with original art-work; any friend of a blood splattered head is a friend of mine.

Zarjaz (a nickname based on a futuristic comic book ‘2000 AD’) began playing music in his early teens on the fringes of West London. Touted as the “essence of Rock ‘n’ Roll” by Melody Maker, Zarjaz otherwise received little to no promotion, he had only played a handful of shows with a modest out put of records before facing scenes of teen hysteria. Too much attention from over zealous fans, and not enough from the music industry turned Zarjaz into a recluse. These days Zarjaz remains an elusive character partially due to ongoing mental health issues, yet curiously continues to retain success whilst virtually being an anonymous artist in the UK.

At 16 Zarjaz recorded Tronic’s first single ‘Suzy b/w Favourite Girls’ produced by John Edwards linked to The Who producer Shil Talmy. What’s pivotal about this release was support from Rough Trade’s Geoff Travis who encouraged and partly funded the pressing. This first single would become, arguably, a pre-cursor for English Post Punk and Indie music.

Hot off the heels of this single came a cassette that would change the game for independent music. In 1980 self released cassette 'The Tronics', described by NME as the original “Indie Album”, became the first independent record to be distributed internationally. A trend was born that saw countless artists follow suit; home recording, self-releasing, taking things into their own hands. If any further testimony is needed as to how crucial this tape was, look around today, cassettes are experiencing resurgence for these very reasons.

BSide ‘Time Off’ is taken from this very cassette, an attention flipping number switching from sultry to skittish whilst provocative in equal measure. The first half of the song features a flirtatious spoken word piece, interjected by acerbic pop-inspired post punk allowing Zarjaz to yelp his words across. “Why don’t we take the day off?” he asks in a playful yet toneless manner alongside a saccharine guitar, keys and saxophone.

ASide ‘Shark Fucks’, originally released through Alien Records, is a song quintessentially quotidian and British as you’ll ever hear. Taken from album ‘What’s the Hubbub Bub’ where Zarjaz experimented recording live in the kitchen of his Earls Court flat. His trash-poetry is delivered catatonically with repetitive guitars built on a base of minimal tapping rhythms. Tronics output isn't one to be aligned or compared with bands that came before rather, Tronics are referenced as an influence by bands who came after.

I’m looking at you messthetics-heads, LoFi-fiends, post-punk-people-oids, if you’re looking for a copy of this single that isn’t scratched the search is over! If Tronics are just coming on to your radar, What’s Your Rupture? has made it super easy (and infinitely cheaper than coughing up for the original pressing) to pick up a seminal piece of UK Underground music.



Find copies at What's Your Rupture? and Other Music

Wax Idols 'No Future'

Wax Idols are a quartet formed by Hether Fortune in Oakland featuring a classic line up of guitar, bass and bass. Thus far in the Wax Idols cannon one single 'All Too Human/William Says' on Hozac Records precedes their debut 'No Future' on the same label. After being kicked out of Bare Wires and Hunx & His Punx Hether Fortune took the bull by the horns to front her own band as well as playing in Blasted Canyons currently, and it's not a shock to find that 'No Future' sounds nothing like previous groups she's played in. Wax Idols deliver splintered, melody heavy guitars, rubbery bass and direct, heady rhythms lead by vocals sung with a whole load of gusto. These new songs echo bands like Joy Division in that they hand out happy and sad in equal measure. Saccharine tinged guitars carries melodies through opener "Dead Like You", disturbed towards the end by a blood curdling scream giving a taste of things to follow as bright pop is shadowed by moody undercurrents. Another highlight is "Human Condition" a song dealing with feeling curiously sung in disaffected, vacant vocals as though challenging those trapped in a life long trance - going through the motions, and this is what I take away from listening to 'No Future', eleven songs going through paces of human emotion. This debut is 35 minutes of carefully crafted pop songs slickly recorded whilst sounding as though they were made by a neighbour playing too loud through the bedroom wall. I can't wait to see what the next album will sound like...

Wax Idols - Hotel Room by Gilded Gutter



Get the album from Hozac

Wax Idols Facebook Twitter Tumblr

Total Control 'Henge Beat'

Total Control's run of 7"s leading up to debut 'Henge Beat' had already won me over. It was surprising that after immediately enjoying singles like 'Retiree' (Iron Lung Records, 2009) and 'Total Control' (Aarght Records! 2008) this new full length didn't have the same instant impact. Instead, 'Henge Beat' has proven to be a grower and is another great example of how when something doesn't grab you straight away it pays off to persevere with it. Australia's Total Control are; Mikey Young, Guitar (Eddy Current Suppression Ring, Ooga Boogas, Brain Children) and Dan Stewart, Vocals (UV Race, Straitjacket Nation, Stained Circles, Distort zine), Alistair Montfort, Guitar (UV Race), Zephyr Pavey, Bass (a photographer), James Vinciguerra, Drums (The Collapse, AIDS) . These eleven bleak songs brimming with paranoia are akin to English Post Punk bands like The Prefects, Swell Maps and Glaxo Babies. Personal highlights are "One More Night", "Love Performance" and "Carpet Rash", this album isn't to be missed and is more rewarding with each listen.

Total Control Bandcamp

Scrotum Poles 'Revelation' EP

I first learned of the Scrotum Poles through Messthetics and until now those compilations seemed to be the only way to acquire their songs. Dulc-i-Tone have stepped in and reissued their 1980 single 'Revelation', a 7" which back in the day the lads handmade and released themselves. The group from Dundee, Scotland called it quits a year later in 1981 but continued careers in the arts. Some went on to play in Pigs are Cute, Synthetic Dreams and Summerbees while, Steve Grimmond became the Director of Music, Art and Cultural Services at Dundee District Council.

If there is a better example of quality over quantity I'd like to see it, in these five tracks you really get your money's worth. Irresistible bedroom pop numbers 'Pick Cat's Eyes Out' and 'Helicopter Honeymoon' feature on the EP. Even on the Messthetics compilations incredibly extensive track lists these two songs outshone the wealth of other bands and their infectious quality leaves you humming their songs long after they're finished. The Scrotum Poles' LoFi recording quality would give the very best acts on Siltbreeze or Woodsist a run for their money making this 7" just as relevant today as it was thirty years ago. Limited to 500 copies!!!

Some places that have copies left.
Yakamashi
Goner
Florida's Dying

http://www.mediafire.com/?67k57874nze88c4

The Pheromoans 'My Mind Is On The Anti-Climb Paint'

Sandwiched between Convulsive Record's February release 'It Still Rankles' and upcoming LP on Red Lounge, Onec has put out 12" 'My Mind Is On The Anti-Climb Paint' from London's Pheromoans, with the sleeve masterfully hand crafted by band member James.

Opener "Limited Scope 1&2" features a steady bass and metronomic rhythms shuffling in the first part of the song apace with Russell Walker's spoken word confessions, "eye of the storm, I was always anticipating disaster". Interference from electrical bleeps at a radar pace tuning in (or out?) otherworldly fairground-like music. A curious slap from reality comes from sounds of cutlery and crockery scrapping together alongside prickling guitars feels brilliantly unsettling. "Newsagent Hop" is an out of tune urgent track coupling humor and apathy in the lyrics and it's this unique take on the tragicomic that remains a constant theme in The Pheromoans material. This is best summed up in final track "Conviction St. 1&2", "come back merchant all is forgiven, the man who liked to look at himself spoke like ninja turtle" is sung/spoken alongside bleak, sinking violins closing "it feels good to be in the eye of the storm". This 12" is a must have for anyone following the band if not just for the seven magnificent songs on here, but also the meticulous and lovingly hand made art work. The Pheromoans are going from strength to strength and this blogger is keeping her peepers peeled for that new LP on Red Lounge.

The LP is sold out and they saved the last copy for auction to raise money for the Japan Tsunami Appeal, for more information click here

Interview from Russell for Gilded Gutter

Pheromoans Facebook

MP3s for 'My Mind Is On The Anti-Climb Paint' here

Chalk Circle 'Reflection'

It's surprising to learn that Chalk Circle were a part of the Washington DC Punk/Hardcore scene, given their euro-centric sound and that the group was ruled by girls. Formed through connections Sharon Cheslow made working at Yesterday and Today records in 1979, a hub for kids to hang out at the time, an early incarnation of the band included fellow vocalist/guitarist Ann Bonafede, Cheryl Celso (who won the lead singer slot over Henry Garfield) and Bert Quieroz from The Untouchables filling in on bass. It was Cheslow who thought up the name Chalk Circle based on Bertolt Brecht’s book “Caucasian Chalk Circle”.

The Washington DC music scene was governed by men, Chalk Circle experienced how palpable this was at the Unheard Music Festival in 1980 debuting the areas new hardcore bands, none of which featured girls. It was at this time Cheryl left the group and by March 1981 Chalk Circle was an all female affair with; Mary Green (vocals/guitar), Sharon Cheslow (vocals/guitar), Jan Pumphrey (bass), and Anne Bonafede (drums). In 1981 Tamera Edminster would become permanent bassist until moving to New York and forming SHE a year later, with Chris Niblack taking her place before the band called it a day in 1983.

Mississippi Records has compiled twelve songs culled from Outside Records and WGNS compilations, live recordings and unreleased works. Chalk Circles vocals flip from sedated to spry alongside heady bass, swarming guitars with amphetamine rhythms behind the driving force of the songs. "The Look" is a rejection of the rat race, utilizing sound effects of a clanking hammer intermittently personifies the monotony of the daily grind and Chalk Circle's rebellion against it. "High Stress" is a highlight on the album perfectly capturing how their songs run with a caffeine rush pulse.

Accompanied by a 16 page booklet put together by Sharon Cheslow shedding light on Chalk Circle's history along with photos, press clippings and liner notes from Don Fleming, whose group Velvet Monkeys, Chalk Circle opened for on their first few shows. With the resurgence of Post Punk at the moment this reissue has come out at the perfect time. What makes this worth your while is the unexpected place this music comes from. They didn't fit in to the humdrum of daily life nor the mold set by piers in their own music scene, making Chalk Circle one of a kind truly outsider band.

http://www.mediafire.com/?6uc1c2ui3tkco8u

Kebab 'We Live In A System'

Soft Spot Music unearthed this lost gem at the tail end of last year. This Belgian quartet create insular Post Punk influenced by Crass Records DIY mindset where spikey guitars and drum machines are coupled with Slit-esque vocals. The first side cultivates all of their known studio recordings and rare 1982 single "Life It's A Joke". The second side is demo cassette HUP! which, in 1981 when released, was only available in a meager quantity of 30. All the tracks have been remastered and the LP comes with a lyric sheet, photos and interview from back in the day.

http://www.mediafire.com/?y0dmyq5qj79up42

Kleenex/Liliput - Vinyl LP Box Set

For those familiar with this compilation, whether you nabbed the original 1993 double disc set released through Off Course Records, or if you got the 2001 reissue from Kill Rock Stars, Mississippi has upped the ante with a four LP 12 page booklet box set.

When they formed, the girls were put under pressure by company Kimberly Clark to change their name as the sanitary organization planned on using 'Kleenex' to brand tampons. Liliput was chosen to replace it but, now feels like a moniker that never fully stuck leaving both names synonymously existing next to each other. Kleenex/Liliput were together for five years before they disbanded. Forming in 1978 they spent the first four years as a group touring with The Raincoats, Swell Maps and Subway Sect. It wasn't until a year before they split up in 1982 that they had released a full length album. Rough Trade put out their only two records, in addition, they had a meager three singles in the Kleenex/Liliput cannon. Their material went on to play a key part in influencing the Riot Grrrl movement and was championed on John Peel's Radio One Show (see 'Perfect Unpop Peel Show Hits & Long Lost LoFi Favourites 1976-1980').

The tracks have been organized in a slightly different order to the original compilation but all the good stuff is still there. Post punk has had a revivalism over the past few years encouraging a younger generation to bring new blood to the genre. I'm not old enough to have experienced post punk first hand, as much as I enjoy this new breed of bands Mississippi's compilation highlights where it all came from. Kleenex/Liliput's material remains unmatched even by today's standards, which is why it's relevant and so valuable to have these songs reissued once more.

Mind Spiders 'The Mind Spiders'

Can you remember the last time hanging out in a bar a record came on that made you put down your drink and go 'What IS that?!'. For this blogger, it was Marked Men and this is how I got hip to them. Picking up a copy of 'Ghosts' faster than it took to bug the DJ that night, this album has gone everywhere with me since. After this release Jeff Burke who shares guitar duties with Mark Ryan left Denton, Texas for Japan and Ryan with some spare time on his hands. Luckily for us it wasn't long before Ryan started cranking out new material under latest project Mind Spiders also on Dirtnap (Bad Sports, Goodnight Loving, White Wires).

Listening to the two singles already available from Mind Spiders, these pop punk songs much like his previous band are little pieces of adrenaline. However, the singles do hint at exploring new sounds especially on B side 'Time Sucker' on the self titled 7", so don't be surprised to discover Ryan doesn't play it safe on this debut full length.

The album ducks and dives between party stompers and slower darker numbers with Ryan drawing from an amalgam of musical influences. Ryan could have been an Adverts fan in his formative years as 'The Mind Spiders' sounds influenced by them in the way that 'Blood Visions' unintentionally did. Opening with head turner 'Go!' most of the first side is a collection of brilliant high energy pop punk numbers slowing down a beat only for 'Read Your Mind'. 'Mind Spiders Theme' on Side A hints at the transformation the songs take on the later part of the album. A curious interpretation of Little Richard's 'Slippin and Sliddin'' on Side B has a lofty, sluggish sound you might associate with Spacemen 3. From here Ryan explores post punk in a style not dissimilar to Blank Dogs especially on track 'Your Soul'. These darker synthesized numbers bring more of the late great Jimmy Lee Lindsay projects to mind like Angry Angels and Lost Sounds, may be you'll hear it too? I don't know... The aptly titled track 'Close the Door' ends the album cooling off with Greg Rutherford's (Bad Sports/High Tension Wires) pulsating rhythms and Ryan's eerily sanguine tinged guitar and voice. Is it too early to have a favourite 2011 release? Nah, Mind Spiders are the band to beat.

Animals and Men

How much does this compilation RULE? Messthetics, true to form have released another essential and always epic collection.

Newest installment of the Messthetics series is from a DIY/Post Punk group based in Somerset, England. Revel in the Static, culled from Animals + Men demos and singles from '79 to '83 is compiled by renowned archivist Chuck Warner, who runs the Messthetics label.

The recordings on Revel in the Static are clear with the signature DIY guitar fuzz genius, unaffected female DIY vocals accompanied by minimal abrasive instruments. Highlights; "Man with the Steel Toe Shoes," "Don't Misbehave in the New Age" and "We Are Machines."

Revel in the Static is made for fans of Black Time.

This time last year, Animals + Men first got the reissue treatment from Mississippi on the Never Bought, Never Sold Singles from 79/83 LP. More recently, a six song 12" EP was released on Convulsive records.

Check out tracks here!
http://www.myspace.com/animalsandmenterraplanes


Read full review of Never Bought Never Sold - ANIMALS + MEN on Boomkat.com ©

Wet Dog 'Frauhaus'

London based trio follow up their 2008 debut on Angular (Long Blondes, These New Puritans) with sophomore album Frauhaus. Wetdog have brought their DIY synth/new wave pop aptly across the pond and found a home at Brooklyn's Captured Tracks. Playful and full of attitude, Frauhaus's post-punk authenticity has the potential to seduce its audience into believing the recording has come straight from 1977. Rivka Gillieron, Sarah Datblygu and Billy Easter deliver atonal harmonies and angular, spiky guitars. Lead singer Rivka's choleric vocals recall bands like Au Pairs, and Animals & Men. Post-punk and DIY are genres that have both been saturated lately with a revival, but Wetdog aren’t trying to be innovators; they’re new blood having some fun. Stand out tracks are "Tidy up Your Bedroom" and "Womens' Final."


The girls have also released a video for the track "Lower Leg" taken from the same album. Concept, filmed and directed by Wetdog, edited by Margarita Louca.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmYJFwfiz_s
http://www.myspace.com/wetdogthebest