Black Mamba Beat VS Wake Up Dead

New cassette tape from London based South Africans Black Mamba Beat is a split featuring new project Wake Up Dead. Black Mamba Beat have so far released material on European labels Clan Destine and Jeet Kune and now have aptly found a new home across the pond at Kind Turkey Records to debut Wake Up Dead songs. The quartet's current line up features members of Black Time, Atari, Live Fast Die, Black Mamba Beat, Snakes and Music, The Splinters and The Jazz June, AKA: Koala, Lemmy Caution, Mr. Stix and Mouse.

Side A: Black Mamba Beat! Full of rubbery bass, bashing rhythms and one male torpid voice accompanied by barking yelps and shouts. Abrasiveness from some of the vocals is balanced out nicely from simple and heady guitar melodies, especially on track 'Don't Care Show Me'. 'Hibernating' and 'Note From the Moat' break up this side well by including some piano arrangements and take things to a slower darker place. Side A finishes on a high note and somewhat echos how it started with a Cramps-esque style guitar intro.

Side B: Wake Up Dead. Still in the Punk Rock vein but colder, darker, I can't help feel like opening track 'Zombie Love' wouldn't sound totally out of place on a Misfits album. The out of tune guitar parts in 'Hospital' are curiously pleasant making this track a high light. Like Side A the recording fittingly has that made in a basement, bedroom feel to it eschewing any glitz or 'studio magic'. The bands' blog Shabeen Scene teases that they have just gone into More or Less Mono Studios to record some more songs. I hope this tape is a taste of things to come.

This tape is limited to 100 copies - first 25 are hand-painted and includes an insert! Black Mamba Beat VS Wake Up Dead is Kind Turkey Records first release and their website says there are less than 15 copies of this left - exclusively available globally, as in everywhere, as in right now!

10 of '10

It's that time of year where everyone is making their Top 10 lists, so if you'll indulge me, I made one too...


















ALBUMS
Nobunny - First Blood, Goner
Tyvek - Nothing Fits, In The Red
Wounded Lion - S/T, In The Red
Dikes of Holland - S/T, Sundae Records
Black Mamba Beat - S/T, Jeet Kune
Cheap Time - Fantastic Explanations (and Similar Situations), In The Red
Ty Segal - Melted, Goner
Sun City Girls - Funeral Mariachi, Abduction
Ex Humans - Ex Humans, Rob's House
The Fall - Your Future Our Clutter, Domino
The Young, Voyagers of Legend, Mexican Summer




















REISSUES
Ron House - Blind Boy in the Backseat, Columbus Discount
Sibylle Baier - Colour Green, Orange Twin
Witch - Lazy Bones!!, Shadocks Music
Blank Realm - Heartless Ark, Not Not Fun
Carl Simmons - Honeysuckle Tendrals, Sacred Bones
Flying Nun Reissues!
Fucking Flying Aheads - Swiss Cheese Back, De Stijl
Hasil Adkins - White Light/White Meat, Norton
Gibson Bros - Build a Raft, Columbus Discount
Abner Jay - Folk Song Stylist, Mississippi
Something Is Wrong - Vintage Recordings From East Africa, Honest Jons










SONGS
Nerve City - Sleepwalker, Sleepwalker EP
Puppy Hearts - When Kingdom Come, Yeti 9 compilation
Teenage Panzerkorps - Turn Your Lights Out, Yeti 9 compilation
Mannequin Men - Hobby Girl, Hozac 7"
Grass Widows - 11 of Diamonds, Past Times
Sibylle Baier - Tonight, Colour Green
Carl Simmons - Scotty Guffy Sings, Honeysuckle Tendrals
Rayon Beach - Wave Pool Ether, Memory Teeth EP
Eddy Current Suppression Ring - Second Guessing, Rush to Relax
Flight - My Business, Flight 10"
Magik Markers - White Map Laid With White Inks On White Walls, Tour Split 12" w/Sic Alps



















SHOWS
The Fall - Electric Ballroom
The Dead C - The Garage
Quintron & Miss Pussycat - The Dome
Magik Markers - Union Pool
The Ex - The Dome
Sic Alps - Bardens Boudouir
The Swans & James Blackshaw - Koko
Eat Skull - XOYO
Raionbashi & Kutzkelina - Lowest Form of Music Festival
The Rita - The Grovsenor

Dikes of Holland 'Dikes of Holland'

Exciting new bands have been erupting from Austin's bedrooms, basements and bars solidly for quite some time now. Earlier in the year this was celebrated on Matador's 'Casual Victim Pile Austin 2010' compilation. This garage rock treasure trove has seen many of the then unsigned bands snapped up and gone on to release their first albums. This is how I was introduced to the Dikes of Holland. (Track 'Little City Girl' featured on said compilation and isn't on this new record.)

Just last month Sundae Records released Dikes of Hollands' debut self titled LP, with art work by Jeff Swanson. Recorded by John Paul Bohon at the band's home studio, The Neck Beard Ranch, it sure does sounds like these guys rolled up, plugged in and belted the 11 songs out. In its energy the record brings the Carbonas stuff to mind. Make no mistake though, 'Dikes of Holland' is a solid party garage rock piece. The quintet amalgamates that familiar jangly sound that can be heard in contemporary acts, (Harlem are a one of my favourites for that) and 80s garage rock revival. Spewing catchy-as-hell hooks and unrelenting clobbering rhythms Dikes of Holland morphs 30 minutes of your time into a pummeling party. One for the Christmas list.

Tyvek 'Nothing Fits'

Looking around the ICA's bookshop recently I stumbled on some short essays by John Berger, the first of which was on Van Gogh. Berger wrote about the inspiration Van Gogh found in everyday objects, people and scenes. He made art out of the mundane and environment that surrounded him. This got me thinking about Detroit's Tyvek. Even down to prosaically naming the group after a polyethylene fiber, it's these banal details of normal life that Tyvek take their queues from.

The new line up of the band, now a quartet must have discovered Wire in their formative years and channel that pummeling fury from 'Pink Flag' into second full length 'Nothing Fits', which even tears open with a blistering '4-3-1-2'! Full of feedback and distortion, 'Nothing Fits' should not be confused with lo-fi. Tyvek extracts the charged hostility from their first record and distills it into a concise 30 minute punk record.

Following a slew of flawless 7"s and debut LP there may be some who are apprehensive about 'Nothing Fits', can it be as good as their first? Is it possible to do a song I love even more than 'Honda' or 'Frustration Rock'?! When something is this good you don't need to question it, when you hear it, those speculations will be forgotten. Tyvek have gone and outdone themselves. These 12 new songs break down the boring and frustrating parts of the daily grind into brilliant 1:18 punk bursts. Don't over think it, you'll be sorry for not buying this record. In with a bullet one of my favorite releases of the year.

The Doozer 'Great Explorers'

Originally released here in the UK on Pickled Eggs Records, (Le Bleu, Daniel Johnston)
Cambridge's The Doozer has found a new home across the pond aptly at Siltbreeze following an introduction to the label from Matt Valentine (Tower Recordings). The one man act has already earned accolades from Byron Coley and Thurston Moore for second album 'Great Explorers'. The Doozer has drawn many comparisons to Syd Barrett, and sure it totally makes sense, for me though the first artists that came to mind were Tommy Jay and Ron House. But you get the idea nevertheless. His loner psyched out folk is completely hypnotic, full of drum machines accompanied with assuaging vocals and seamlessly incorporates spoken word passages throughout the songs. 'Great Explorers' is an outsider artist psych folk gem. Limited to a 500 pressing with download.

Puberty

Just before 6th album 'Males' hit the streets in August Intelligence launched a new project 'Puberty' and announced on Facebook that 'We Are Recording'! The Seattle based outfit are; Lars Finberg (ex A Frames, Intelligence), Susanna Welbourne (Intelligence), Drew Church, Curtis James, Dave Hernandez, Ryan Leyva and Mike Jawarski. So far, demos are available to hear on Facebook where they pledge their own genre of 'Sewer Pop'. There's an undeniable creepy underbelly to Puberty. Trance like, unaffected boy/girl vocals delivered in eerie two part harmonies are consistent through the 4 songs. 'Invitations' in all of it's slinky glory is a stand out track for sure, while 'Haunt My Trash' kinda reminds me of TV Ghost a little. Remembering, these are still demos of material it's going to be awesome to hear the finished product, as new band Puberty is hitting all the right spots - for this blogger anyway...

Super Wild Horses 'Fifteen'

Super Wild Horses is the latest band budding from the garages, basements and bedrooms of Australia's humming music scene. Their debut full length 'Fifteen' is out on 'Aarght!' in Australia, and HoZac for everywhere else. Amy Franz and Hayley Mckee make up the girl duo both playing keyboards, guitar and drums. The girls have already toured with the likes of Jon Spencer, The Drones and Eddy Current Suppression Ring. Mikey Young of ECSR also recorded their first (sold out) EP and went on to work on 'Fifteen' as well. 'Fifteen' is full of playful two part harmonies, minimalistic post punk wrapped up with 90s a pop feel to it. The Breeders, Black Tambourine both come to mind, but some of their songs wouldn't sound out of place on a Wetdog record either. These 12 new killer songs show just what these girls are capable of while being fun and unassuming at the same time, which makes the record that much more endearing.


Read full review of Fifteen - Super Wild Horses on Boomkat.com ©