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The latest in a long line of 'post rock' bands actually trying to stretch the boundaries of everyone's favorite non-genre. Some of the sounds are the same, but presented here, by these guys, it sounds pretty fresh and new. Ultra precise, and with a complete mastery of their chosen dynamics, Lynx mange to kick serious ass (without the unnecessary showiness of Don Caballero) while crafting actual 'songs' that you may find stuck in your head after repeated listens. Maybe not as far out or as mind blowing as AQ faves Fuehler, but Lynx still pack quite a wallop, easily out-posting their post rock peers. Definitely for fans of Shellac.
Hey! Check out this new female duo from LA who call themselves The Lynx Technique! Their smart energetic pop struts with a little bit of swaggerin' attitude. April and Grace seem to be channeling the stellar spirit, sound and songwriting of Throwing Muses's Kristen Hersh and Tanya Donnelly. This five song ep features lots of craftily arranged crunchy guitars, interesting tempo'n'mood changes and cool vocals that alternate between a slinky coo and a snarky sneer. This is a terrific debut cd stunningly packaged in a special screenprinted digipak, and comes with 1" buttons for the band and label. Fans of Pretty Girls Make Graves, Tegan & Sara and Metric just might appreciate the non-textbook, tuneful schooling of The Lynx Technique's Algebra.
Psst, plus these goodhearted gals not only named themselves after the endangered North American Lynx, but they're also donating 1% of this cd's proceeds to non-profit organizations who aid endangered species.
Lyoto Music was a short-lived collaboration by the Italian noise technicians Pietro Mazzocchin (aka Swastika Kommando, Observation Clinique, etc.) and Pierpaolo Zoppo (Mauthausen Orchestra). The history of this project is a bit murky at best, with Zoppo having died back in 2012 and the only bit of historical context provided by Andrea Cernotto - the label boss of Aquilifer Sodality, which released this, and a bunch of Mauthausen Orchestra cassettes back in the early '80s. All that Cernatto recalls is a blistering concert played by Lyoto Music in which he was the only audience member. Oof. How sad given how thorough a noise assault these two delivered on their one and only recording, which was produced in 1984. Both sides of the record make for extended paroxysms of roiling distortion, asynchronous synth-noise, and ignominious vocal barks. One can hear the feedback abuse that's one of the signatures for the Mauthausen Orchestra side of the equation, and there's a leaden smoldering from the enveloping noise that smacks of what Mazzochin had produced as Swastika Kommando. The final six minutes bristle with a Leichenschrei / Leibstandarte SS MB drum machine march that struggles to crack through the noise in its lurching, yet clinical pulse. The unrelenting force from these two pieces as well as their extended durations makes for an exhausting / exhilarating album. Quite a rarity indeed, as the original tapes were highly prized amongst the noise collectors; and this reissue, which was remastered by Cenotto under supervision of Mazzochin, comes in an edition of just 199 copies.
Jeff "Monoman" Conolly has gotta be one of rock 'n' roll's awesomest unsung legends. First off, he fronted DMZ, Boston's garage punk answer to the likes of the Stooges and the New York Dolls, in the mid-'70s. Then, out of the ashes of DMZ, he formed Lyres, who traded in some (just some) of DMZ's scuzzed out heaviness for retro Vox organ driven power poppiness in the style of the best '60s Nuggets outfits. There's a new cd that brings both bands together, half the disc DMZ demos from '76, the other half Lyres live in '82. It's also available as two separate vinyl releases, this one's the Lyres half, with a line up featuring 4/5s of DMZ, live at an Italian restaurant that doubled as a punk rock venue by night, back in the day. As with the DMZ set, there's lotsa killer covers among these 15 tracks (The Wailers, The Sonics, The Young Rascals, Kenny and the Kasuals...) and they do a DMZ tune too - but the main attraction might be the raw, raucous versions of Lyres own songs, Conolly compositions that shoulda been big hits, like early single sides "Help You Ann" (Andee's favorite Lyres song EVER) and "I Really Want You Right Now". Considering that reissues of Lyres studio albums are not easy to come by these days (why oh why are they out of print?), the release of this live recording, which makes up for in sheer energy what it might lack in high fidelity, is quite a boon both to fans and folks who, upon hearing it, will immediately become fans!
One of two new reissues from legendary garage rockers the Lyres, founded in the late seventies by Jeff Conolly, after the break up of the seminal punk rock outfit DMZ, and before he would go on to found the Monomen. And while sonically, the Lyres were only one of many bands doing that sort of organ-heavy sixties inspired garage rock, they were most definitely one of the groups doing it BEST, combining classic sixties Beatles-y pop, classic Yellow Pills style power pop, garage rock crunch and swaggery RnB style stomp, into something fierce and catchy, super rocking, jangly and groovy, slithery and snarly, elsewhere on this week's list you'll also find the Lyres 1984 debut On Fyre, but this one here is their 1985 follow up, Lyres Lyres, which has all the energy and catchiness of their debut, but is way more well produced, and is much heavier on the covers, most of them super obscure, so much so that we never even knew they were covers until recently. This record also features a different lineup than their debut, and finds Conolly's voice even more powerful, dramatic and soulful this time around.
Right off the bat, the band start off with the groovy soulful stomp of "Not Looking Back" with a blatant "Live For Today" organ riff that the band make their own, and transform into some serious garage soul swagger. They group quickly switch gears for the brooding ballad "She Pays The Rent", with Conolly singing his heart out, over effects laden guitar, simple stripped down drums and swirling organ, groovy and darkly soulful. Then the band tackle the oft covered "You'll Never Do It Baby" (maybe most famously by the Pretty Things), which is a crunchy, swaggery garage rock blowout that totally sounds like a Lyres original. "I Love Her Still, I Always Will" revolves around a "House Of The Rising Sun" riff, and blossoms into a cool swirling groove, all shimmery guitars and funky drumming,
And so it goes, the rest of the record a pretty even split between covers and originals, the sound fantastic throughout, the power poppiness of "No Reasons To Complain", the woozy waltzy druggy dreaminess of "The Only Thing", the churning distorted guitar driven swagger of "How Do You Know?, and the band's "You Won't Be Sad Anymore" a total power pop garage rock gem, all jangle guitar and whirring organ, and vocals that transform the lyrics into near gibberish, sounding a lot like a slowed down garage rock Dickies! The reissue also tags on four bonus tracks, which are as good as anything on the record proper.
So great, and a whole lot different than the group's debut, so much so, that lots of fans were freaked out, not understanding what happened to the raw feral garage rock energy of On Fyre, but listening to both back to back, they sound pretty perfect together, definitely different, but weirdly complimentary, it makes sense that they were reissued together, and while lots of folks will prefer one over the other, we're pretty sure if you're anything like us (and would you be reading this if you weren't?) odds are you're probably gonna want both!
If you've never heard the Lyres before, just listen to the sound sample below for "Help You Ann", we'll wait...
Odds are, if you're anything like us, that song is all it'll take to convince you how goddamn great the Lyres were. And are! Especially with the current crop of garage rock combos, it's easy to forget, that bands were doing something similar, and in some cases, WAY BETTER, more than 25 years ago. Case in point the Lyres (another case in point, the Fuzztones, who we'll no doubt gush over once there's a fancy new reissue), a garage rock outfit founded in Boston in the late seventies by Jeff "Monoman" Conolly, after the break up of the seminal punk rock outfit DMZ, and before he would go on to found the Monomen. And while sonically, the Lyres were only one of many bands doing that sort of organ-heavy sixties garage rock, they were most definitely one of the groups doing it BEST, combining classic sixties Beatles-y pop, classic Yellow Pills style power pop, garage rock crunch and swaggery RnB style stomp, into something fierce and catchy, super rocking, jangly and groovy, slithery and snarly.
On Fyre, the Lyres 1984 debut, is one of THEE sweetest slabs of garage rock EVER, there's "Help You Ann", which is obviously a stone cold classic, but opener "Don't Give It Up Now" is nearly as good, full of swirling organ, wild drumming, killer jangle guitar, Jeff Conolly's snarly soulful vocals. It's super energetic, intense, the sort of sweat soaked garage rock energy groups like Thee Oh Sees traffic in, but three decades earlier. But the sound isn't all fuzzed out jangle and pound, tracks like "I Confess" display the group's poppier side, lilting and jangly and catchy as all get out, hearing this stuff now, it's hard to believe more folks aren't totally obsessed with these guys. Then there's the "You Really Got Me" riff of "I'm Tellin' You Girl", the vocals super raspy and soulfully feral, that main hook splintering into a weird almost proggy stuttery breakdown, weird and so cool. They also do a killer version of the Kinks' "Tired Of Waiting", their version a bit more loose and ramshackle, but the song suits them, and totally sounds like it could have been a Lyres original.
This reissue tacks on a handful of tracks that were recorded at the same time but were left off the album proper (although they were included on an older reissue), and they're all pretty much just as good as the album tracks, the bluesy groove of "Never Met A Girl Like You", the propulsive punkiness of "Busy Body", and more more more (yep, three more!).
The whole record is brimming with garage rock classics, that sound as fresh today as they did nearly thirty years ago, and hopefully this reissue will turn a whole new generation of garage rockers on to one of the bands that made it possible for all the bands they love to even exist in the first place!
Sometime last year we made reissues of the first and second records from legendary Boston garage rockers the Lyres, our Records Of The Week, and for good reason, both records brimming with incredible garage pop jams, hooky as hell, timelessly kick ass, and displaying a sound that somehow ended up being as relevant today as it was then, with a whole new crop of young'uns aping that sound: Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall, Blasted Canyons, heck pretty much everything on Castleface and In The Red and a ton of others, owe a little tip of the hat to the Lyres, and that genius actually didn't stop with record number two. Here's 1988's A Promise Is A Promise, finally getting the deluxe reissue treatment as well, and pretty much takes up right where Lyres Lyres left off. A heady concoction of classic garage rock, sixties freakbeat, another killer mix of originals and covers, and for those not super well versed in the era, it's actually hard to tell which is which, speaking to both the Lyres radness, and the impeccable song choice.
Beginning with "Here's A Heart", which we would have just assumed as a Lyres original, but is in fact a cover, Jeff Conolly (previously of seminal punks DMZ) joined by Stiv Bators from the Dead Boys on vocals, the song super catchy classic sixties pop roughed up and transformed into a fuzzed out Lyres style garage rock classic.
Which leads directly into the second track, an original called "On Fyre", and that's where the band remain for the duration, on fire, crunchy guitars, wild drum pound, Conolly's feral raspy how, plenty of Stoogesy stomp, whirring organs, woozy basslines, and as mentioned a whole batch of killer covers, "Jagged Time Lapse" by John's Children (Marc Bolan pre T-Rex), the first half of which is all shimmery power pop jangle, until the vocals come in, and it gets super weird, and catchy, then there's "She's Got Eyes That Tell Lies" originally by Him & The Others, all slithery creep and minor key twang, with a wicked catchy chorus, dark and ominous, and again, EASILY could have been a Lyres original, there's also a live version of the Sonics' "Witch", and it's on the live tracks that you can really hear the power and intensity of the band, the organ driving everything, the vocals blown out and crazy sounding, fierce and freaked out and so goddamn good! They also give an old DMZ jam a Lyres makeover. It's all great stuff, and needless to say if you dug both of the previous Lyres Records Of The Week, you're gonna probably want this one too. And while On Fyre might be our all time favorite, A Promise Is A Promise is pretty goddamn great too. And like the other two is HIGHLY recommended.
Comes in a mini gatefold lp style sleeve, with one of those band family trees printed in the gatefold, and a big booklet filled with liner notes and rare photos.
This is some slick sunbathed California-style hip hop, folks. From start to finish, inclusive of its warm illustrative artwork, this album never loses its composure. Seven of the 15 songs are brilliantly remade/remixed from previously released tracks. They fit in like perfect pieces to a remarkably pleasant puzzle. Awesome!
Yes, it's true, Jason Lytle's solo album sounds remarkably like the sprawling yet cozy aural blanket of his old band Grandaddy, but maybe slightly more direct in its approach... and that's a super good thing because many fans were terribly crestfallen when that band decided to call it a day a few years ago. So needless to say, there's much for their devotees and most other folks to love here. Yours Truly is definitely a keeper for any lover of splendid, swirling sun-dappled pop! Unmistakably a descendent of that delicious '70s West Coast soft rock sound, this is a dozen finely crafted pop songs that strike a balance between the intimate and the epic, the warm'n'fuzzy and the glisteningly orchestral, the heart-swellingly bittersweet and the breezily blithe. This is an album that'll gently draw you into its snuggly embrace! Really recommended!
