T.R.A.S.E. - Electronic Rock 7" Finders Keepers continue to dig through the piled ephemera for hte rest of us and scoop out the cream from the bins of dusted vinyl. They've turned up this gem from a 16 year old, created as an extension of his woodwork, metal shop
and science classes and dubbed Tape Recorder And Synthesiser Ensemble. Andy Popplewell created his own hommade synthesizer for these tracks and owing to a love of 70's sci-fi horror and Gary Numan, the kid laid down some rather excellent buzzing synth nuggets. Built from the Chorosynth kit module, an old junk shop piano keyboard and some hand-me-down tools, he cobbled together an impressive one man band that's paired with lyrics that belie and alienated youth. Definitely splitting the commonalities between John Carpenter's dystopian soundscapes, Kraftwerk's pulse and Tubeway Army's robotic impulses, the songs here show stunningly high level initiative for a kid at home in his bedroom in the days prior to easy pro-tools and GarageBand access made bedroom recording the norm. Poppelwell would wind up working as an engineer for the BBC, putting his skills to great use for the company and is now one of the country’s leading independent tape engineers/editors/archivists. Listen: Support the artist, buy it HERE

Down to the Silver Sea

Moon Wiring Club's Gecophonic label rounds up a cast of characters from their periphery that includes Pye Corner Audio (here under the name Howling Moss), Jon Brooks, Time Attendant and newcomer Sarah Angliss for a languid descent into the fragrant hallucinations of summer. Much of the crew has appeared in and around the Ghost Box label as well (Angliss has a new LP on the way for them) and their decadent / nostalgic tones drip all over this imagined soundtrack. The tracks fit together in a blur of curio shop wanderings, endless drives through the English countryside and walks through gardens and graveyards draped with the mossy smell of peat and time. For fans of both labels this should be a no brainer, its psychedelic Britain at its best wrapped into an imaginary narrative that feels lost even to itself. Probably not for the most outgoing of summer days, but for the indoor kids on rainy days, this is a must.

Listen:


Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

	The Shirts - The Shirts One of the lesser known bands in the CBGB canon, The Shirts began opening for bands like Television and Talking Heads, after auditioning for Hilly Kristal, who would eventually become their manager. The band didn't adhere to either the stripped punk sound of
the majority of the club’s artists or higher art rock aspirations of the Heads. Instead they split somewhere between the two and would lean towards a much more traditional pop sound than some of their compatriots playing CB's and Max's. They eventually drew the attention of EMI/Harvest and would become much more popular in the UK and Europe than at home and wound up opening for Peter Gabriel shortly after the album was released. Around the time that they recorded the album in London, singer Annie Golden was also shuttling between the studio and back home where she starred in Milos Foreman's film version of Hair and some of that theatricality certainly ekes its way into their debut record. It’s more than a footnote in the history of the downtown music scene, and the band would go on to record two more albums. There were contractual issues between EMI and their US label Capitol, who took over the direction of the third album, and eventually led to poor promotion and the band's demise. Listen: Buy it HERE. (you could also probably do a few searches and turn it up digitally in a less official format as its between official versions right now).

The Dirtbombs

The Dirtbombs make good on their longstanding threat to come out with a bubblegum pop record and it’s as fizzy and frothy and that threat promises. Rather than taking the obvious route, being a band that's covered plenty in their time, they've decided not to dig into the past but rather to interpret it and use it for inspiration. So here is Ooey Gooey Chewy Ka-Blooey! which refracts Mick Collins' garage-soul swagger through some candied lenses and into the world of The Archies, Josie & the Pussycats, Lancelot Link & the Evolution Revolution (a personal fave) and 1910 Fruitgum Company. The gamble totally plays off; with the band capturing the squeaky clean vibes of cartoon bands that were backed by hit factory singlesmiths from the 60's. I say next step is a full on tour with some matching outfits and possibly a furry mascot to get things in the right mindset. Stranger things have happened. Ok Ok, I'd also settle for a Dirtbombs cartoon. Make it happen Hollywood.

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	Swiftumz - Luv Ya 4EVA 7" Its been awhile since we've heard from Swiftumz so this single out on Rocinante comes as a nice surprise. Taking one of the strongest tracks from his Holy Mountain LP, Don't Trip, Chris McVicker recasts the electro pop tweak of "4EVA" as a full
band power pop bouncer and christens it "Luv Ya 4EVA". The added kick of the live to tape take brings out the sunburst blast of energy it always had inside it and boils it to the surface. On the flip they offer up a new track in the form of "Klik Klack" that takes a bit of a slower pace but still utilizes the full band's potential for a wistful summer jam that makes this single a double shot of fun. Reports are Swiftumz has another single on the way and an LP in the works and if its in the vein of these two offerings then it stands to be a real treat on the way. Listen: Support the artist, buy it HERE

Oneohtrix Point Never

Daniel Lopatin makes a jump to Warp for his latest album and the label shift sees him focus his sound into something slightly more song based than his floating waves of terraformed Kosmiche that have dotted his back catalog. Though he's certainly not emerged from the ether, there are spines of rhythm that propel many of the tracks, bumping against layered vocals that cut through the chopped territory of Prefuse 73. Lopatin's gift emerges as he finds a way to make tracks both languidly calm and eerily on edge at the same time, as if lured into a false feeling of security by the shimmering bouts of velveteen synth only to have a wave of anxiety wash over upon learning that the perfect surroundings keep shifting in order to disorient you. There's something inherit in R Plus Seven that feels like it belongs pre-programmed into the house of tomorrow, to be played as sedative to ease the edge off the day when the occupants walk through the door, or to highlight the glint of ozone on the horizon as the blinds open automatically in the morning. It feels bioorganic in a way that many new synth albums have been striving for the last few years. Lopatin has always been a head above his peers and here he just pushes away from the pack on castors, leaving them far far behind.

Listen:

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Together Pangea - "Snakedog" Video

Bonus from the release of Together Pangea's (ok we'll use the new name) Snakedog single out soon on Harvest. A rowdy crowd scene that pretty much sums up the fun of the band and the energy of this track. We've already done our bit of fawning over the single, which you can check out from Friday's post, but in short, the visual representation of this song is as good as just rockin' the track itself.

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

	Craig Leon - Nommos Best known for his production and recording work, and as an A&R for Sire records during the 70's, its not always an expectation that the man who helped shape the recording of The Ramones' debut, a producer who laid down tracks for Blondie
and Richard Hell, would bring his own musical vision much closer to that of Cluster or Ash Ra Temple. Though maybe his production work on Suicide may have been more of a tip off to the direction that Nommos takes. The album is named after a group of Malian deities known to have descended from the sky in a vessel accompanied by fire and thunder, so this may give some insight to the album's blend of technological, tribal and meditative qualities. Whatever the impetus, the outcome is a floating world of buzzing tones and trance inducing beats that seem far ahead of their time, and otherworldly even now. Made just as the veteran producer was uprooting himself to the UK to work with bands that would dot the history of dance-centric pop, it begins to make more sense as the Leon's saga evolves. Originally issued on John Fahey's Takoma records of all places, the album now sees a proper reissue via rescuers of obscure gems, Superior Viaduct and it bears more than a few listens. Nommos is definitely a piece of musical history that slipped between the cracks and is now getting a welcome light cast in its direction. Best pay attention. Listen: Support the artist, buy it HERE.

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard

Turning in their second album of the year, it would be hard for Melbourne's King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard to top the strange intensity of their Morricone Western epic Eyes Like The Sky but they manage to come close with deeper psychedelic currents on Float Along - Fill Your Lungs. The album expands their scope, from the sitar accents on the 16-minute freakout of an opener to massively blown out fuzz blues that rear their heads throughout the album and even a touch of cracked R&B on "Let Me Mend The Past." Holding court as an anchor in the Aussie garage scene, the band digests their love for 60s fuzz rumble and the aforementioned psych accoutrements and layer them into their own bent universe of churning guitar froth and synthesizer fizzle. Lock it all down hard with a pop penchant for grooves that, while they might not always crystallize into radio ready choruses, still lodge a sticking impression as they give into the fury of a sonic assault on the senses. With this one, they give proper follow up to their strong willed debut and bite hard into 2013 with their experimental and hard grit sides of the musical coin. Each listen to this opens it up wider and only makes me wish they weren't so damned far away, as there's no way this isn't a killer album on stage as well as wax.

Listen:

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	Together Pangea - Snakedog 7" Pangea stole RSTB's heart a long time ago, but with each new release they seem to grip it a bit tighter. The band's recently gone on to the big leagues with a name change to Together Pangea (ah legal issues) and a jump to Harvest
Records. Their first single for the label sees the band wade even further into pop's waters in a "so good it makes me angry" kind of way without ever leaving behind their cratered punk punch. The A-side is a fiery shock of pop matching the current amplifier assault of cracked guitar slingers like Ty Segall (inevitable comparisons abound) and John Dwyer. But for all the fire of that shredder the flip, "Offer", comes in ready to soothe the burn with the power-jangle and an accompanying fragile croon that opens like the sore wound, a trait that's come to mark each of their releases between the bouts of fury. Can't say RSTB didn't warn ya, back when they dropped Living Dummy on your unsuspecting asses, that this band would come to dominate turntables in the near future and with this taste and an LP on the way, those visions are coming to fruition. The band shredded Austin and now they're coming for your children. Be ready. Buy two copies. Listen: Support the artist, buy it HERE

King Tuff - "Sun Medallion" Video

Six years after first appearing on CD-r, King Tuff's "Sun Medallion gets a video and as expected the crowd favorite still packs a punch. Excellently rendered Tuff gonzoisms offset the upbeat strums of the track, making it one of the best visual representations associated with KT since that Goreburger episode. Killer as usual!

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Bad Sports

Denton's Bad Sports return for round three, with a new record for the home of scuffed knees punk, Dirtnap. Their latest tempers the tempos slightly from their last, but its still full of plenty of garage bounce that borders on the power pop and punk precipices equally. Its a tougher record all around, produced by Marked Men's Mark Ryan and Jeff Burke, who bring something of the '77 punk grit to the band's usually bright sound. The sneer fits them nicely, and belaying the smirking pun that the record's title evokes, Bras is the band's step towards a harder knuckle punch of punk that shoots for Dead Boys territory but still has that exuberant snap of Cheap Trick in tow. Ultimately the band can't help but throw in more pop fodder in the melody department, but we're never gonna fault them for that around here. Maybe its Orville Neeley's residency in fellow Texan proto-punkers OBN III's that's spurred the extra layer of skin on Bras. The record's certainly not anywhere as vicious as the bite they put down, but the mixture of tough exterior and those same old chewy centers has made for an album of heft that leaves the starry eyes behind but packs a whallop all its own.

Listen:
[Download] Bad Sports - Terrible Place

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Ty Segall

After a hushed buildup, Sleeper arrives and its a sweeter and more pensive side of Segall's oeuvre than he's really let loose with before. As the album is a reflection on the death of the artist's late father, it’s easy to see why there was little fanfare to herald its arrival on Segall's part and possibly why he's chosen to focus more on his Fuzz project in interviews. Honestly I can understand that impulse. Sleeper is a measured and mostly acoustic affair, dipping nicely into the pop waters that fellow traveler and collaborator Mikal Cronin has of late, with orchestral arrangements and large pop embraces weaving between the spare acoustic tracks. Of all his past works, the songs ring closest to the b-sides to his first Drag City single, "I Can't Feel It". On the flip of that, "Falling Hair" and more closely "Children of Paul" showed Segall's aptitude for medium tempo sway, and he expands on those two aberrations in his catalog nicely here, only occasionally allowing the crackle of fuzz to reach the surface. In its place he finds a new intensity in lyrical ferocity and raw nerve folk that wanders from "Ride A White Swan"-style Bolan-isms to the orchestral pomp of Moody Blues and dark waters of John Martyn. But comparisons often fall short and what remains is that Segall has crafted a mature, poignant and moving ode to paternal loss and in his grieving process we all gain a musical gem.

Listen:
Stream in full over at NPR.
Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

	Penetration - Moving Targets Riding in on a wave of British punk, Penetration were a solid entry into the class of '78. Lead by the soaring vocals of Pauline Murray, whose voice locked itself nicely between Poly Styrene and Exene Cervenka territorially, though the band would afterward tend to dip
further from the fury of either of those two bands musically. They had a well received early single in "Don't Dictate" (which appears on reissues but not on the album proper) and found their footing with an abrasive, yet melodically solid brand of punk that let in some more atmospheric touches than many of their contemporaries. In fact the band didn't adhere too tightly to the punk tag itself and following Moving Targets they'd steer much closer to the encroaching New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Still this album cements them amongst the best bands of the flickering candle of 70's punk and, while not always included on lists of essentials, its certainly worth getting acquainted with. Listen: Support the artist, buy it HERE.

Pop 1280

Pop 1280 turn in their sophomore album for Sacred Bones (and third release overall) and the band shows no signs of gaining a sunny worldview over the course of ten brutally bare and biting tracks. Imps of Perversion gnashes its teeth and bites down hard on the dystopian vein that the band has been pumping over the last couple of years, licking the wounds of a disheveled city with an acid tongue of post-punk and battered scraps of industrial ethos. Easily the band that could be voted most likely to play the Thunderdome once the supports crumble from an indulgent society, Pop 1280 are 20 years ahead of all of us in their brand of sternum cracking vitriol and ruination sleaze. Their Brave New World vision has tightened and flexed with the aid of production work via Martin Bisi (Sonic Youth, Cop Shoot Cop, Swan) who gives the record its due space while also gathering a few extra threatening clouds from his years of experience with the cream of the disgruntled crop. Its the kind of record that exists because Sacred Bones exists, and in that respect that the cracked heavens it does. The world needs a bit of reminding of the dark vibes creeping up from under its feet.

Listen:

Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

The Sufis

The Sufis follow pretty quickly on their album from last year, unsticking themselves from their Barrett obsessions and delving further into the psych-tinged nuggets of the 60s. Wading through Ray Davies, Mickie Most and some heavy Lennon/McCartney waters, they crack open some nicely sunny harmonies and a wellspring of love for the 45's decade. The band aren't the only one's careening through the tail end of the summer of love but they seem to do it well, picking up many of the touchstones without getting too bogged down in the excesses. As with their last record, its not plowing any new fields but its tending the garden well and for those who have love for the trappings of the time period it should only serve to stoke those fires. Again getting a pickup from the folks over at Burger, and you know that's usually a pretty good stamp of quality on anything these days.

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Constant Mongrel

Much like their debut (an album sorely found too late here at RSTB) Constant Mongrel brings a buzzing bit of tension and a cloud of negativity to the proceedings but manages to do so in a way that's welcome like a sedative kick to the head at the end of a long day. A cleaner affair than its predecessor, Heavy Breathing pulls at the tails of post-punk heroes and shaves their sound to bone, laying down a convincing bounce and more often pummel over the course of eight songs that reach their conclusion far too quickly, leading to plenty of repeat play. The band make no mistakes about where they lie and how they want to be perceived, the sound is a steady bone crush, but each of the songs feels like its own spiral of negative creeping towards the drain. Not to make it all seem like the razors are on the wrists, its a celebration of negativity and in that it becomes much more than a mere whine about subjects varied, instead it grits its teeth in the muck and filth and ends up with heads raised high. Its nihilism swinging in all directions and more often than not hitting its targets square on the jaw.

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The Ketamines

Ketamines follow up on their solid album from 2012, and a rather fun and buoyant single from earlier in the year, with a proper full length, again for Southpaw, dubbed You Can't Serve Two Masters. The album plays up melody more than Lawton and co have in the past, shining the diamond of their past tracks into a gloss coated odyssey that's both crisp and inventive. That gloss doesn’t mean they’re playing it safe here though, with songs plowing into more psychedelic touches than ever before, but always with hooks lodged deftly into their cores. It seems that finding that balance between genre experimentation and solid garage pop is a theme at Southpaw this year, with both Ketamines and labelmates The Hussy exploding the core of John Dwyers' Oh Sees palette wide open and building mountains from the wreckage. Ketamines have found the delight in the details here, adding to their pop-tarted tracks with fuzzed out blasts, cartoon-indebted backing tracks, moody guitar washes and synth stabs that all seem pulled from their personal obsessions then melted, sewn and stapled together into an album that feels as personally seamless as it is aesthetically schizophrenic. In that way it’s perfectly suited to all us imperfect humans who can't stay on any direct track and can't resist a chewy pop center for the life of us.

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	The Human Expression - Love at Psychedelic Velocity Mississippi branches out and rescues a garage nugget from further obscurity with a reissue of The Human Expression's Love at Psychedelic Velocity. The L.A. band is known for their single "Optical Sound" that,
speaking of Nuggets, showed up on the famed compilation of the same name. The band was more than just that single trick, and more often than not eschewed that song's effects reliant psychedelia for a tougher edged garage rock as evident from the single's flip "Calm Me Down", and especially as represented by the unreleased version of "Calm Me Down" also included here. The band's career was essentially three solid singles, all present and accounted for here, and its not exactly the album its always been presented as in earlier reissues, but it's a solid collection of tracks even with no through line. The singles are aided by recording from Wally Heider, who would also come to be known for his work with The Dead. Notably, the band has been picked out for passing on recording a version of "Born to Be Wild" when the demo was picked up and presented to them by their manager as a possible single. They recorded another song by the song's author, "Sweet Child of Nothingness", which lacks much of the punch of the Steppenwolf classic. The band falls in easily with comparisons to other notable, tough skinned bands of the time, often skirting the traits of The Seeds and Thirteenth Floor Elevators alike. Mississippi, of course, gives the collection its proper due with a limited pressing complete with bonus 7". It marks the first time this has been on vinyl, following a few CD and digital issues of the comp in the past and is limited to a run of 2000. Listen: Support the artist, buy it HERE.

Gunslingers

After a solo excursion for Mexican Summer last year GR returns with Aluk Todolo members Antoine & Matthieu in tow for a proper bit of Gunslingers guitar fury; a onesided 12" with two huge tracks built on the blueprint of guitar fury and high octane brain fry. Over the years the trio has proven that a juggernaut of psych weirdness brews inside the typically calm and collected French music scene and nowhere do they prove that more than on this double-shot of ozone choked insanity. As usual GR is the centerpiece of the tracks, slicing through the most sinewy of riffs with the kind of mastery that seems at both visionary and cracked, constantly at odds with itself and fighting for air every minute. Add to the rumpus the steady hands of Antoine & Matthieu locking down rhythms that seem to surf the chaos deftly and the record winds itself into a taut snarl of razor-wired rock. As mentioned in the pages of RSTB before, GR is in a league of his own, only sometimes populated by the flayed and fried likes of Plastic Crimewave and Human Eye. Its best to tap in and ride it out while you can.

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The Ketamines - "You Can't Serve Two Masters" Video

The Ketamines follow up their recent garage-funk gem of a 7", All The Colours of Your Heart, with a vibrant LP for Southpaw/Mammoth Records. They precede the LP (out August 31st) with an excellently trippy video that recalls old Warner Bros and Ren & Stimpy cartoons alike, each dosed with even more mind bending humor than usual though. The band have really stepped things up this year and this is just a taste of the excellent LP.

Support the artist. Buy it HERE.

	Woods - God's Children 7" Woods reconfigure their song "Be All Easy" from the 2011 album Sun and Shade to match what its evolved to in the live setting. The resulting track is fuller and more robust than the album version, giving new shades to the originals sparse
arrangements. Its still classically blissful Woods, flown overhead with Jeremy Earl's smile inducing falsetto but now blossomed into a summertime jam among friends; a backporch anthem that can't help but brighten any day. On the b-side they cover the Kinks' oft forgotten track "God's Children" off the soundtrack to the '71 film Percy. The band makes it their own, capturing the homespun nuance of the original and opening it up to their sunburst brand of pastoral folk-rock. The whole release acts as the end of an era for the band, its the final two recordings laid down at the band's long time home studio, Rear House. Its a sweet and fitting send-off and as they embrace a new home for future projects this will cap an era in which they came into their own as a band. Listen: Support the artist, buy it HERE

Expo '70

Justin Wright and his juggernaut of dark psychedelia, Expo '70, have been kicking around for a good while now, and showing up in the pages of RSTB with a regularity that might rival some of my top obsessions. This new release was recorded in 2012 prior to Kansas City's Psychfest and with the current trio lineup employed by the band. Over the last year or so the band has transitioned from floating drone warriors to Krautrock hypnotists to a power trio of psychedelic doombringers. The current lineup has a gift for balancing ominous restraint with wrathful fury, a combination that leads to one of the darker releases of the year and a jewel in Expo '70's already bursting catalog. As with any Expo '70 jaunt, the tracks extend into side-long, or nearly side-long lengths, the band at its best when embracing their improvisation-heavy style of recording. Locked in like they're sharing a unified, burning need to set fire to the studio through the intensity of their playing, the band scorches the first couple of tracks here with their own brand of vicious flame. These two lock into cosmic force with a tendency to reach deep down into that Krautrock obsession that's reared its head in the past, but as they ease into the final chapter the band lets loose their sci-fi impulses and floats heavily into a Kosmiche journey through synth swirl that hearkens back to some of their early, drummerless beginnings, while dipping nicely into headier waters. Again, one of the band's highlights in a career of necessary releases.

Listen:


Support the artist. Buy it: HERE