Ridiculously catchy lofi garage pop from Chicago’s barely illegal Smith Westerns. The recording levels are way into the red, causing many parts to be a cacophony. A cacophony of catchy timbres, delicious hooks and bright jangle pop bits! A highly dance-able record and even the slower jams are total sway&twist&snap material. I keep coming back to Gimme Some Time and My Heart, but in all honesty almost any pairing of songs off this release is strong enough to be a 7 inch single.
Two two-piece-lofi-beach-pop bands contribute two tracks each to this split 7 inch. Eternal Summers switch up duties on lead vocals+guitar and drums. Reading Rainbow is happy just to play loud and with tons of reverb. None of that tricky who’s on drums business. Reading Rainbow’s two songs are much more laid back in tempo as well, but no less awesome; Be My Sunrise gets the golden banana sticker. Ah, heck… two golden banana stickers for everyone!
Fall Be Kind assembles material that wasn’t quite ready for Merriweather Post Pavilion but was worth jamming live and some new material recorded this summer. Or so the story goes. What Would I Want? Sky sounds pretty rad in its studio incarnation and after just 2 spins I really dig On A Highway and I Think I Can.
Victoria Legrand has had an awesome year, I would assume. Contributing vocals to two of my favourite Grizzly Bear songs; “Two Weeks” & the not-so-guilty pleasure of “Slow Life” from the Twilight: New Moon Soundtrack. These would not be the same without her beautiful vocals. Incontrovertible! Touring alongside Grizzly Bear undoubtably was pretty rad too.
Forgive me if I am way excited about Teen Dream. Hopefully you are too, and that makes it easy.
Shying away from the nap time dynamics of their Self-titled and Devotion releases, Beach House has bumped up the scale of their songs. The pieces are all the same: Clean slide guitar, drum machines, rich organ textures/melody drones, and of course Victoria’s longing vocals. In many ways its a natural evolution. The guitar is more varied with a larger sound platte. The drum machines feel less preset-esq, while still retaining their simplistic charm. The organ textures remain the same, but this is for the best.
And the songwriting has improved too. The lead single “Norway” shows a refined design and stronger nod to the pop in their dream pop. Teen Dream definitely has Beach House’s past charms (yay!) included with its own unique and engaging personality.
Distributed only at Yamataka Eye’s exhibit in the Galaxy Gallery(Osaka, Japan), this is a very limited release (maybe 20? 30?) of garage, punk and acid rock. Its sourced completely from rare cassette tapes, and there is a large chance you haven’t ever heard anything on this. You will not likely have a chance to hear this material any other way. Each of the CD’s covers was hand painted by EYE; The show, if you’re curious, consisted mostly of car hood painted with Yamataka Eye’s visual art. There were also pieces from past Boredoms projects.
Rippin’ it up, shreddin’ through static & smashing their kit. With vocals. You know, its a lofi punk duo! They really crammed this 7” full. None of that A side B side 50’s doo-wop here; Raw content. Pretty much every bridge on this reenforces the post-pop-punk sensibilities overrunning this release. Sounds like it was recorded in a basement or bedroom or blanket fort. No kidding maybe even a tree fort…
Comes with bonus tracks not found on the 7”! Careful with the vid; Bursts of noise included.
This is such an exciting album; Super raw and full of great ideals. ALASKAS is getting some serious business done in Seattle with just a microphone and some effect boxes. The floor tom and electric guitar are great additions, and This Cloud On My Side is a favourite, but the heart of this is looped up vocals. Songs build, layer by layer; New bits of Dillon James Rego’s voice appear, distort, echo, and fade into a sea of information. Sometimes he imitates percussion, sometimes he screams, mostly the content is delivered somewhere between singing and yelling; Unshackled is amazing for including all of this. The difference between singing and yelling is something you can learn (and I suspect ALASKAS learned) during the course(creation) of this sonic work.
The upbeat message of Sun Was High (So Was I) is way infectious, even if its delivered with a bit of angst. And here it is, just in time for flu season! So Gone & That’s The Way Boys Are share the same vibe as the Where the Boys Are cassingle; Bummed out girl band beach pop available now, only on Art Fag Recordings (or catch Beth in person, say hi and trade her monies for it. That is acceptable too).
Best Coast Sun Way High (So Was I) LP version
Best Coast Sun Was High (So Was I) Live in a Bathroom for FADER
Fully realized psych garage from the late 60s. These Canadian jammers got the tunes down, generally sticking to the more baroque pop stylings. They drop 2 epic length jams, the 10 minute You Don’t Care & the 9 minute Civilization Machine. Plays front to back with no worries; The fuzz is warm, the drums defined, and the vocal harmonies are rich (if not a bit echoey).
Featuring members of Destroy Tokyo & Brother, Religious Girls sketch out their own spot somewhere between experimental folk, post-rock and Nobou Uematsu. Which is to say, sonically, its parallel to more recent Animal Collective output. But more chaotic & noisy. On record, they are pretty interesting; They really shine while doing their thing live. Each member sings, chants or otherwise uses their vocals; 3 out of the four plays a synth AND 3 out of the 4 plays drums. You do the math.
Highly recommend their set at Filmed in Stereo if you dig the rise and fall of White Mage.
Religious Girls White Mage (People with epilepsy, BEWARE)
