From The South

Time to jump back into some Aussie jangle-pop today with a record by Melbourne's From The South. The band riffs on a Paisley Underground vibe evoking some of the more countrified mooments in the E6 catalog (ala Beachwood Sparks) with some early R.E.M. ekeing through the cracks as well on Cool, Cool Memories. The record locks into a hazy summer vibe early on springing forth natural desire for some front porch listening as the sun dips over the horizon. The band skews further into those psych tendencies as the album progresses, even bringing to mind local heroes The Triffids on closer "Hollow Tree," which along with "Wrong Wit of a Nomad" brings some darker moments to this laid-back affair, adding shading and texture to an album that's more than just a sum of desirable influencs. This is largely due to the wistful mystery of Conor Hutchison's lyrics which come with a dose of shrouded poetics that dance around some eerie lonliness and weary charm. There's also just something about the record that amplifies with proximity, a certain secret warmth that shines brighter next to the speakers or seeping out of headphones so keep a pair close just in case as there are plenty of moments that send you back to drag the tone arm to the beginning for another listen.

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Gezan

Sometimes I say to myself, you know, it has been a while since a great Japanese noise-rocker came this way. And like that, Important Records comes through with a US issue of Gezan's 2010 album It Was Once Said To Be A Song, an album that surely missed a whole slew of Stateside folks on its initial release (including RSTB). The band tears things up with reverence to past masters Boredoms, Ni Hao, mid-period Boris and DMBQ. Its the kind of album that seems to glow through the crevices and practically burst at the seams with a boundless energy. The tracks shift gears in whiplash fashion, from heavy thrash to aluminum chewed noise spew, down to a crawl of psychedelic creep and back into gear with a boot to the chest that only serves to inspire the kind of pit flung chaos that lives in the live realm. The album comes with a hat tip recommendation to the Important crew from none other than Kawabata Makoto of Acid Mothers Temple so if you needed any more of a reason to put this on your list of volume shredded essentials, that's it right there.

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Millie & Andrea

Killer collaboration from Andy Stott and Miles Whittaker (Demdike Stare, Miles) that moves on from the pair's early 12"s and into a heavy, rhythmic space that's choked, dark and raw. The compositions are aimed at the dancefloor but through 40-grit abrasive haze that shapes the sound into a jagged ball of movement, inciting all sorts of sonic lacerations in the process. Nowhere near as heady as either of the pair's solo stints, instead of heading through the hypnogogic jungle, Whittaker and Stott have instead taken their pop influences to task, letting the thump lead the cause on Drop the Vowels, but where others could simply let this act as a blowoff and quickly devolve into rote bro club jams, Millie & Andrea keep their jagged edge throughout, weaving ambiance, ether and even a bit of field recording into the DNA of dance. The album acts as an experimental Trojan Horse, letting the weird in through the crush of digestible beat.

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	The Fourmyula - Inside the Hutt: New Zealand's Pop Psych Kingpins A huge chunk of New Zealand's flower pop past lies in searching out The Fourmyula's recordings. The band, one of few at the time that produced mainly original compositions, swung between garage pop swingers and psych
laden bits that wandered into some twee territory on their homey Green 'B' Holiday. The albums themselves prove incredibly difficult to track down in their original forms but this singles collection gives a proper overview of the band's journey from the early days of breezy tunes into Kinksian love of country and some early Zep / late Small Faces influence before they eventually call it a day. The band traveled to Abbey Road to record portions of their catalog, quite fitting for a band often referred to as the Kiwi Beatles, though their sound may fall closer to fellow South Hemi travelers Bee Gees in their earlier days. Eventually things like their trip to the UK would leave them broke, and discouraged their efforts just a bit, their last album even sat unreleased for years until a small issue in 2010. Though, they've gained international notoriety of late when their song "Nature" was voted the best Kiwi song of the last 75 years. Following their demise, the band's Chris Parry would stick around England and act as producer on works by The Jam and founded the Fiction label which would go on to become the home of recordings by The Cure and power poppers Purple Hearts. Other members would form the excellent Human Instinct. Listen: Support the artist. Buy it HERE

The Cosmic Dead

Scotland's Cosmic Dead have been ravaging the EU/UK with their hypnotic brand of psych onslaught for some time now but they've reached new heights on the epic Easterfaust. The album consists of one long cut split Jethro Tull style between sides of this beast. Creeping in slow and steady from the darkness "Easterfaust pt. 1" builds from the blackness to a heady Krautrock chug, mixing in elements of Hawkwind's space ritual to the blend of Popul Vuh / Amon Düül froth that they kick up as the storm brews. The second side launches into full on sonic attack, teeth bared and ready to slice a few inches of gray matter from the listener's brain before defenses could possibly be raised then, improbably, keeps that level of squall and shred for the duration bringing the walls crumbling to a close in the last few minutes. Definitely an album for headphone fiends and kosmik travelers alike, the behemoth arrives via venerable EU stalwarts Sound of Cobra on marbled vinyl in damned limited numbers, so best be quick about adding this to your stack of psych.

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Ancient Ocean

One listen to the longform cave drones on Wien and it should come as no surprise that the band has spent time touring with fellow vibrational travelers Expo '70. Feathered Coyote Records captured two performances of John Bohannon's project to tape and both are presented as each side of this cassette release, showcasing a solo show in Vienna and a duo performance in Brooklyn peppered with some studio overdubs. Dark guitar and synth float that growl and hum with the psychoacoustic crumble of sonic civilizations, each track builds to a tower of evil drone that threatens to consume the very room around it before dissipating into the ether and leaving behind the smoldering remains of an audience. Fans of Barn Owl and Expo '70 take note, this one is clearly crafted with you in mind. Pick up the limited tape before they dissipate just as quickly as the drones.

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Dylan Shearer

RSTB has seen Dylan Shearer's releases grow from a limited smattering you were lucky just to get your hands on to well supported full releases that brought him out of the shell of crate dug obscurity, if ever so slightly. Now Shearer has taken that evolution one step further by entering the studio and taking his home recorded whimsy to a larger scale with the addition of Petey Dammit (Thee Oh Sees) on bass and Noel von Harmonson (Comets on Fire) on drums. He's also got a producer in his corner this time 'round with the great Eric Bauer stepping behind the boards. All this change hasn't really altered Shearer's vision though. The tracks are certainly crisper, and fleshed out with the band pushing along behind him, but Shearer remains a songwriter for lonely Saturdays and lost lovers, his songs forever ringed in an ashen, cloudy hue. His soulful poetics, having long been compared here and elsewhere to Syd Barrett, Skip Spence and Kevin Ayers, still remain locked into a palpable sadness that seems to emanate from the very grooves of the record itself. Given a larger stage to croon from, Shearer still feels like he's locked in those same bedrooms and playing that same dusty corner lounge to barflies and drunks who feel a pang every time he hits their emotional nail on the head. And even with the added layer of production it still seems warranted to double check the date on the album, to combat the feeling that Shearer is playing these songs from across a span of decades pocked by emotional debris, still a voice out of time echoing on the wind.

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	Coloured Balls - Ball Power There's been a lot of time spent on Australia's new frontier here, so now its time to pay some respects to those that laid down the rock gauntlet so many years ago. Radio Birdman, The Saints and The Scientists often get their due but not as often Aussie proto-punks
Coloured Balls. The band unleashed their classic Ball Power in 1973 which puts them well ahead of the punk growl that would eventually unfold in their wake. They take the rough shod rock of Pink Fairies and volume of MC5 and knock it in the head with a dose of snarl that's wrapped around the guitar antics of Lobby Loyde (Purple Hearts, Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs, Wild Cherries), already a legend in his own right at the time this album was released. The band was associated with and supported by suburban "Sharpie Gangs" which lead to a certain degree of violence at their shows and would eventually impact their ability to find available venues due to fear of property damage. They released a sophomore album, Heavy Metal Kid that spawned a top 40 hit, but would disband in 1974 with Loyde going on to join Rose Tattoo and pursuing solo work. Still, this remains a classic of the turning point in Aussie heavy rock and a rather influential guitar album for years to come. Listen: Support the artist. Buy it HERE

Woods

There are very few bands whose new albums I look forward to as much as Woods. Always a bright spot in any year, their brand of Dead-indebted psych has drifted from breezy strums to 9+ minute workouts that tangle them in a squall of noise but always seem to return to a sunset pink hue that spreads through the body like faint warmth. On their seventh album proper (not counting a few tangential releases as Family Band) they amp up the country vibes, wafting in some guitar twang from the very first moments of "Shepherd" and from there they wrap the album in a veil of 70's country rock that's only really broken by the dark storm of the title track. The band have locked into a new chapter as the move upstate and further from the original Rear House days has brought on a level of production that's only crystallized their sound. Once just crackling through the tape, now they've reached a plateau of studio sheen that's on par with the Graham Nash / Gene Clark records they've always had their eye on. With Light and Love is without a doubt the most high fidelity, widescreened version of Woods that's been captured to the crevices and pumped out of a stylus and yet somehow it just feels like coming home. Its Woods as you've always known them, just a clearer picture of the smoke curling from the tips of their guitars and the high, sweet croon of Jeremy Earl ringing out through the distant mountains in perfect clarity.

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	Gäy - Blue Blue Heart 7" Been a while since we've had a single to review around here, seems they're getting fewer and further between these days. Still some great labels soldier on in the pursuit of a good double shot first impression and Zoo Music always
seems to come across with the quality pickups. This time they snag the Danish troupe Gäy who keep things delighfully lo-fi and off the cuff with their first single for the label. The a-side is all catchy jangle and vintage drum machine stomp with tales of love gone wrong, a topic that never seems to wear thin. Muffled strums and a woozy music box keyboard give way to the swooning vocals that make up the centerpiece here, taking their catchy refrain straight to your own blue blue heart. Flip side strips things back even further to an acoustic romp that crackles with a teenaged intensity that befits no frills delivery. Interested to see what this group can do given some time and production but for now they're starting things off on a good foot. Listen: Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

The Skull Defeks

The Defekts have had a long history around here and with each successive release they've only dug themselves deeper into the weirdo framework of the world. Since adding on Daniel Higgs to the roster with 2011's Peer Amid, it seemed that things could only get darker and perhaps noisier, though against expectations his presence has lent a balancing factor to the group. They struck out to make their most challenging set of songs to date, and yet Dances in Dreams of the Known Unknown has some of their more accessible material running through its veins. Though take that with a grain of salt the size of a festering tumor because accessible for The Skull Defekts doesn't necessarily mean that its summer barbecue fodder (well maybe not the way you barbecue). The album is, as usual, fraught with tension and urgency, scraping guitars and dark rhythmic pulses converging with the vocals of Higgs, Joachim Nordwall and Daniel Fagerstroem bleating out metered accusations and shamanistic curses throughout. Just the sort of dark Scandinavian storms I'd expect from a Skull Defekts record, and a perfect maelstrom of nihilistic twitch taking the intertwining of noise and post-punk to a new plateau.

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	Moon Martin - Escape From Domination This is one I've been meaning to writeup since the review of that Craig Leon reissue. Leon produced Martin, along with The Ramones, Blondie, Richard Hell and Suicide. Though more tellingly Leon also produced albums by
Dwight Twilley and The Records and its that soft pop / new wave axis that Martin hits so well. Probably best known for writing songs that were covered and made far more well known by others (Robert Palmer, Mink DeVille) his sophomore album excels as a complete piece rather than just a collection of singles, with the mood overtly leaning to the lost and lonely lover, something not hard to picture from the first look at Martin's Rick Moranis in a Dorthy Hamill pageboy cover shot. However as with all true troubadour geeks, Martin channels his pining into some truly superb pop gems aided ably by the aforementioned Leon, who shapes them into sparkling if brittle examples of New Wave jangle. Martin would go on to record two further albums in the 80's but they never retained the immediacy and oddity that made his first two records compelling (though not hits unfortunately in his case). Listen: Support the artist. Buy it HERE

Warm Soda

Matthew Melton continues the cream soda cavalcade of his current incarnation; a confection of soft punk punch, power pop and just the right amount of glitter that owes no short debt to The Quick and Milk n' Cookies. Their sophomore LP is just as plentiful with the hooks but richer in texture than their first offering. Melton has spent his career beating denim, dirt and leather garage stompers into shape with Bare Wires and Snake Flower II, but its nice to see him lean into the lightness of 70's power pop with such a stalwart attention to detail. Fans of his earlier material may lament the lack of that leather snap, but digging into Young Reckless Hearts affords many rewards, with his songwriting beating a soft pink glow that lures the listener in with its batted eyes only to cut a few jagged slashes with the guitar crunch rolling under the billow of Melton's vocals. There will always be a place set aside in my heart for Bare Wires but to be honest Warm Soda's really developed into a pop juggernaut that I return to again and again.

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Coul Ghouls - "Queen Sophie" Video

One of our favorites from 2013, Cool Ghouls, have released a great clip for their track "Queen Sophie." Its a simple concept that comes across as a perfect extension on the party video with a dizzying train cam. If you haven't already picked this one up, its damn well time. One of the best bits from last year and this only makes us eager for a new offering from the band.

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Greg Ashley

Greg Ashley has poked into our lives around here numerous times, rearing up with his excellent garage pips The Mirrors and leveling the mid-2000s with The Gris Gris and his psych-pop littered solo efforts. It’s become so that the mere mention of Ashley's name almost instantaneously runs any subsequent dialog about him through a flange effect. So it's oddly refreshing to hear the man strip back the layers of psychedelic froth and pine for his inner Leonard Cohen and Lee Hazelwood moments on Another Generation of Slaves. Backed up by a cadre of seasoned session and jazz vets, his latest keeps things flush with ace playing but no flange to be found anywhere, just straightforward songs that let him play the part of the troubadour, bringing Ashley's songwriting and stark lyric portrayals to the forefront. Its one of the best, if not the best, set of songs that Ashley has ever put his name to. The production is bare bones, as if you can feel the room around you as the record takes shape. The cracked keys on the piano come through every note, Ashley's voice buzzes with just a hint of hiss in your ears and its hard not to lean in and try to listen for the click of the tape recorder to snap off at the end of each take. It’s always nice to see someone reach the next plateau and in this case its wonderful to hear it as well.

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Low Jack

Hypnotic dark currents here from French producer Low Jack, often known for intense house music and little else. This set was originally commissioned for the Quai Branly Museum of indigenous art in Paris with no actual intention of release. It was a onetime performance that saw Low Jack reach into the museum's archives and dig through samples of music from the Garifuna population of Honduras. However, following the performance the producer was persuaded to recreate it in studio form, having seemingly stepped far outside his boundaries of grimey dance and into some thing much more intense, haunting and chaotically immersive. The dancefloor left behind in most instances, this instead creeps down the corridors paved by Demdike Stare, Suum Cuique and Lee Gamble. Mechanical howl meets rhythmic stomp as these pieces chew themselves from the inside out, churning and chomping themselves to tatters. Its a welcome change for the artist and hopes are a few more people commission some works to keep his direction fresh.

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	Spirit - Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus Been a while since a Spirit album has appeared here and while the background's been wrought over at RSTB, this album stands out as a highlight in an exceptional catalog. Their debut gets its feet set with
ambitious orchestration and the beginnings of Randy California's songwriting career, their sophomore LP has the hit and the third loses stride a little but this, generally considered their "out there" record, is actually one of the strongest bits they laid down. Despite the psychedelic title and cover art, this is classic Spirit, wrapped in folk and rock bombast that's fleshed out with lush orchestration and some genuinely catchy hooks. Nothing comes close to "I Got A Line on You" in this set but as a whole, the album thrums with a vibrant activity that's the basis of any great Spirit album. The band is, it seems, always on the periphery of classic status but their catalog is well worth taking the time to explore. Listen: Support the artist. Buy it HERE

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard

No rest for the wicked I suppose, as King Gizzard unleash their fourth album in the span of two years on a ready and willing audience. They've moved from the dirt-soaked blues of their first LP to laying down a psychedelic country western epic to the psych-pop of last year's excellent Float Along - Fill Your Lungs with ease, and its the latter style they seem to be sticking with on their newest offering. The album's bubbling with a fevered elasticity that might just match Oddments' chaotic cover art, but it’s that ability to be ever mutable that makes them so instantly endearing. Opening with an intense salvo of an instrumental before smoothing into the kind of heatwave psych-soul that littered the best crevices of their previous album, then powering through a tossed off take at Australia's most famous condiment; they jumpstart the album nicely. The rest of the album spends its time tacking back into the belly of garage-soul beast; churning slow n' low jams splattered with just enough pop aplomb to stick nicely in the ears. Lead single "Vegemite" is the most overtly strummmy they get here, with the rest of the set gelling into their best and most consistent album to date. I've said it time and again around here but if you're not paying attention to the South Hemi, Aussie and New Zealand releases, then you're missing one of the best pockets of global music going today.

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