Low Life

Aussie three-piece Low Life recorded this in 2011 but setbacks sidelined the release until recently with some help from R.I.P. Society (seriously why are you not paying attention to R.I.P. Society?). The record is a brutal slash and bash that smacks of fellow South Hemi heavies Constant Mongrel but with a bit more life breathed into the seams. The LP plays out like a litany of excess, recounting tales of gambling, football, drugs, sex, Rhianna (seriously) and life on the constant shit end of the stick played out over the kind of brutal sonic assault that deserves those themes. There seem to be few sunny days in the scope of Dogging but that's ok, sometimes its best to lean into the shit, just let it wash over you and accept that occasionally the only way out is to dig down. Low Life lives in the muck, revel in it and seem confused as to why you're not happy about it. They're unconcerned as to why the clouds have blotted out the sun. Who cares, its dark in this bar anyhow and soon the night will come soon to wash these concerns away. Its not often that a band knows just when to surf the negativity into a kind of burnt clean break, but these three are doing it well and you should damn well be listening in.

Listen:


Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

	The Woolen Men - Quick Trips EP More tip-of-the-tongue feelings from Woolen Men, this time expanding from their NZ jangle tendencies and breaking further into the 80's college rock heart. The four songs here have that kind of worked grit that feels at once bored and accusatory, just the
type that would have spun between a set full of Wipers singles and nuggets from The Clean. Its only four cuts but that's enough to see that the band is digging further into the fidelity pile, cleaning up a bit of the smudges from their Woodsist LP. Here's hoping they don't push it too far, that little bit of hangover haze swaying over the background is part of their charm, no need to go cleaning that all up. All in all though a solid couple of tracks that leave another hole in your wallet for the greater good. Listen: Support the artist. Buy it HERE

Woodbines & Spiders

The Ghost Box fan in me can't help but geek out a little bit on this one as alums The Advisory Circle and Moon Wiring Club have paired up for a collaboration as Woodbines & Spiders. The album has been in the works for some time but it acts as proof that good things can't be rushed. Employing 80's tape decks, a Playstation with music software and a rack of modular synths the pair have wormed their way down darker hallways than one would rightly expect. Though, perhaps is just Ian Hodgson (Moon Wiring Club) rubbing off a little on Jon Brooks (The Advisory Circle); as the former spends plenty of time wandering weird corners of the musical spectrum while the latter has always had a penchant for the pastoral. Here though, their combined psyches take on a fever dream direction, pulsing synths shot through the fish-eye lens of half remembered dreams and ether induced hallucinations. That drugged and delirious vibe lends to it the kind of horror soundtrack feeling that's been rife in the synth world lately, though W&S seem more on the level of 'The Island of Doctor Moreau' than 'Halloween'. Disembodied voices ring through modulated tones and a host of laudanum lidded moments scratching at your darker consciousness. This is definitely not a record for the faint-hearted, but rather a Radiophonic flicker from the fourth dimension.

Listen:


Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Siinai

Albums from Finnish instrumentalists Siinai tend to pinpoint on a theme, their previous album taking on the jubilation of competition and glory of victory as subject matter. Here they move on to an attempt to encapsulate supermarket culture, ostensibly working to capture the drudgery of a necessary chore in their incessant chugging beats and the slick flicker of fluorescent in their Vangelis sheen. Now the idea seems to be that somewhere between the repeated imagery of cans on a shelf and the sensory deprivation of recycled air people snap into automaton territory. I for one rather enjoy grocery shopping, with bins of produce inspiring nights of cooking but the bigger the box store that this is happening in the more their disorienting grooves seem prescient. If, say, this was to soundtrack a hellish tape loop visit to Walmart that winds up with endless aisle walking, hoping vainly for some assistance from anyone in a stenciled vest, then yeah the sense of unease and dread at the edges of Supermarket are on the nose. Its certainly an album of its time, though rooted in the Krautrock burbling of plastic synth, it transcends is influences to lock right in to our societal need to calm through consumption. Maybe with a pair of headphones and some light wandering, the next trip to the store can be more of an odyssey than a chore with Siinai at the helm.

Listen:


Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Cold Beat

Grass Widow were always an RSTB favorite, so its nice to see that in their absence the band's Hannah Lew has a new project popping up on her own Crime in the Water label. Over Me isn't entirely off base from the sound that Lew pursued in the bounds of Grass Widow, its a thrumming bit of post-punk that gets delightfully lost in her combination of hazy vocals and introspective lyrics. The record receives a couple of production and mixing boosts from two familiar names around these parts, Phil Manley and Mikey Young respectively tackling the technical side of things here. The album is packed with a feeling of heavy summer air, the kind that's filled with a cold humidity, bringing both a light sweat and a chill simultaneously. Lew's songs are alternatively wrapped tightly around coiled spring guitars and shot through with a breathiness that's metered and patient; the two forces rubbing against one another and waiting to spark at any moment. In the end though its not the spark but the friction that proves the most engaging.

Listen:


Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

_________
ALBUMS
_________

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - Oddments (BUY)
Together Pangea - Badillac (BUY)
Warm Soda - Young Reckless Hearts (BUY)
Woods - With Light and With Love (BUY)
The Skygreen Leopards - Family Crimes (BUY)
The Fresh & Onlys - House of Spirits (BUY)
Total Control - Typical System (BUY)
The Soundcarriers - Entropicalia (BUY)
Paco Sala - Put Your Hands On Me (BUY)
Nun - Nun (BUY)
New Bums - Voices In a Rented Room (BUY)
Thee Oh Sees - Drop (BUY)
Austmuteants - Amusements (BUY)
Natural Child - Dancin' With Wolves(BUY)
Blank Realm - Grassed Inn (BUY)

Step-Panther - "Nowhere" Video

Gonna go for an Aussie twofer today. In the past I've been on the fence about Step-Panther. I dug their track from the Nuggets tribute that came out a few years ago and listened to the album and couple of EPs to span between then and now but their direction seemed to bounce a few places without sticking. However, the first taster from their upcoming LP Strange But Nice is looking up. The garage has mellowed, but rather nicely into a pulsing bit of low key pop that lets space play a bit more of a role in their songs. Perhaps this is the influence of Big Scary's Tom Iansek who produced the album (never really been sold on Big Scary either but the combo seems to make for a good one). Anyhow it the track has a nice flow and its paired with an off-kilter bit of animation from Basko Sao. Looking forward to see what else this meeting of the minds has wrought.

Support the artist. Buy it HERE.

	Dick Diver - New Name Blues 7" Sometimes the best releases come when musical my musical interests intersect. One of RSTB's best of 2013 was Calendar Days from Dick Diver, a leaps and bounds bump up from their debut and just one of those records that seems to enjoy an
endless place on the repeat play pile. So it’s thrilling to see that the band's first true US release comes as a single for the fledgling Fruits & Flowers label run by Glenn Donaldson and Chris Berry, a couple of favorites around here as well. The single gives reason to be excited for any album on the horizon from the Divers, stretching out into a kind of lazy afternoon country that's still stuck with that sense of jangle they've relied on, but adding this lovesick bit of twang to the mix that seems to perfectly entwine with their sound. The flip is a cover of "Lonely Life" by Aussie 80's band Coloured Stone that seems to complement the original nicely. Pick it up below and cross a few fingers for a new full length from the band soon. Listen: Support the artist. Buy it HERE

	The Shivvers - The Shivvers Been waiting for this one to come in the mail for some time, but more to the point for someone to reissue the work of Milwaukee's sorely underrated Shivvers on vinyl for ages. Thankfully, Sing Sing Records comes to the rescue of one of power pop's most strident
voices. The band was mostly known for their sweet and bouncy song "Teen Line," one of the genre's essential tracks, but also for straddling the lines between New Wave and punk while ending up more in the ranks of The Raspberries, Nick Lowe and Big Star. Aside from her breezy, jangling songwriting the band stood out on the swoon n snap vocals of singer Jill Kossoris who grounded the band in a crystalline pop that provided one of the few examples of female fronted power pop. The band picked up momentum earning opening slots for The Romantics and Iggy Pop and subsequently began contemplating a move from the Midwest to the East Coast or West Coast to record an album proper with The Raspberries' Eric Carmen. The band worked on a move to Boston but Kossoris became ill and couldn't make the trip which began a splinter in the group, eventually leading to their disbanding. So, while the group have no album proper, most of the songs here were intended as singles and recorded as such, this acts as a great stand in. The fact that each song was intended to stand on its own merits means they all hit with the kind of punch that leaves a mark. If you're unfamiliar, its about time you get acquainted with The Shivvers. Listen: Support the artist. Buy it HERE

The Pheromoans

Though they've been plugging away for some time, it was on their last album that The Pheromoans finally won me over. They jumped things up a notch and emerged from the murk a bit, not to crystalline pop or anything so brash, but to a clearer picture of their mulled wine version of post-punk, crackling at the edges of British DIY and paying just enough homage to their forbears as to snap into focus for an album's worth of shambolic fun. They continue this tradition on Hearts of Gold, still drifting down a few alleys for aimless stumbles but just as often snapping the right latches on their scuffed briefcase full of jangled n' jostled pop gems that they remind you they have a pretty good handle on the kind of bristled pop they're going for. They seem to have found an amiable balance between the Formica snap of synth and gnarled jangle of guitar here, letting space breathe through the tracks and stretching their sound out into the kind of half cocked slouch that gives the best DIY its bite. They're still not kicking at a hundred percent, but hell its pretty close, and once the album rolls into the midsection it gets damn fun in a tumble to the finish.

Listen:


Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Mother's Children

I stumbled on Ottawa power poppers Mother's Children a year or so too late to cover their last LP, the cheekily designed That's Who. An EP followed but hadn't grabbed me as tightly as the album, but the band returns triumphant with Lemon, their second full length and a buoyant, fizzing bit of power pop as ever rolled down the halls of RSTB. The band hardly takes a breath over the course of Lemon, spiking the sweet sway of quietly lusting choruses on top the full hip swagger of guitar punch. Its that punch that pushes them into that perfect pantheon of power pop that's just a touch tougher, the way the best of the classics played out; when the songs crackle like rock candy in a blender, that's the formula. There are certainly a few bands who are carrying the true power pop torch that The Quick, Milk n' Cookies and The Records left behind and along with Warm Soda, Mother's Children seem to be leading the pack.

Listen:


Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Deaf Center

Its been quite a while since Deaf Center have graced the world with an album, and it looks to be longer still, but in the interim the duo are releasing a 'mini-album' comprised of two new tracks recorded live in 2008 and 2012. Keeping true to the pair's style, both compositions are creeping, hazy, contemplative works, voiced in sadness and a kind of isolation that eats at the stomach lining. Deaf Center, much like the various offshoots of member Erik Skodvin (Svarte Greiner, B/B/S) has always crept through the bleak corners of the soul, a beautiful, but gnawing sound that produces a full-bodied ache as a response to the spectral tones and harrowing weep of strings they present. This short form release is just as much a part of that canon as any other release the band has crafted, proving also that in the live environment the two have a feel for space and a way of wrapping their compositions around the walls and deep into the subconscious with lasting effects that are hard to shake for hours, if not the rest of the day. Its not a full album, but there's more than enough here to audibly chew on until the day that arrives.

Listen:


Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Tijunana Panthers - "Four Horsemen" Video

Stickin' with some more California garage rock today, Tijuana Panthers clean up their sound for their best effort yet. First single "Four Horsemen" is taut and and wiry and the visuals complement well, clothed in a black, red and white color palette and an air of nervous energy.

Support the artist. Buy it HERE.

Haunted Hearts

Having been a fan of both Crocodiles and Dum Dum Girls from the outset, the side project whim of Haunted Hearts seems pretty tailor made for RSTB. The record lies somewhere in the lysergic desert between the two halves of its makers, roping in the goth-pop coos of Dee Dee's past with the buzzing studio wall of guitars that often accompanies Crocodiles' records. The duo seem to have embraced the glam undertones running through Initiation in the accompanying promo and it seems apt, the Warhol n' Alan Vega mix of imagery works with their cracked pink visions here. Both sides of their previous single sit in nicely with the new material and if anything it begs to be a bit longer at only eight tracks, but like a brief and hazy storm the album comes and goes with a humid flash and then dissipates into its own fuzz burnt ether.

Listen:


Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

Mystic Braves

L.A.'s Mystic Braves follow up their album from last year with another sun-spackled garage rocker that seems to channel hazy beach vibes from '68-'71, sucking salt air and keeping things generally low key in a very West Coast way. The band fits in well with contemporaries The Allah-Las but they tend to lean on the warble of organ more heavily than that pack. The album is pretty much bursting with California charms, from the surf strums and low slung jangles to the stabs of cantina horns that fleck "Valley Rat." They work off of those tip of the tongue, edge of the ear type of tracks that feel familiar (partly because, yes indeed they tread some well worn garage rock ground) but it feels grown up into itself, not merely reveling in the pastiche and dress up of 60's styles. Desert Island is a scant thirty-five minutes and easily one of those albums whose last notes ring in your ear just right, leaving the tone arm begging to be racked back to the beginning.

Listen:


Support the artist. Buy it: HERE

The Fresh & Onlys

At this point, its not uncommon knowledge that you should be anticipating each new move from The Fresh & Onlys, but it certainly bears repeating. The band's latest long player is steeped in their tangled, and now widescreen sonic vision. The last album was bent on pinpointing the walk-up and fall down of love; this one seems to have lodged itself into that moment between dreaming and wakefulness, a place that seems somehow more apt than any for The Fresh & Onlys. Tim Cohen's lyrics paint unsettling portraits of realizing your home may not be all you thought, a sort of paradise lost that's underpinned with some of the band's best musical moments; buzzing static giving way to velvet synth textures and the kind of choruses that hit you like a cool breeze. The rest of their touchstones remain firmly ingrained in the record, the subtle hand of psych, the high desert twang of Morricone that showed its head on Soothsayer, the new wave feel that ties them to memories of high school loves, its all there in perfect balance. The band has a way with never over indulging in an influence, they know when to lean in and when to back off and let the song's heart lead rather than affected styles. Its an incredibly strong follow-up to The Long Slow Dance and proof as usual that this is a band for the long haul, still making albums for albums' sake for those of us who think that's a great idea.

Listen:


Support the artist. Buy it: HERE