Whereas other Bay Area garage rockers draw more from the psychedelia of the Beach Boys and Syd Barrett, The Royal Baths seem determined to infuse their musical brand with less jangle and more post-punk. Maybe it's the recent influence of their move to New York, maybe the Baths just like it dark, but there's a lot more swamp and stomp on their second full length lp, Better Luck Next Life, like all they've been listening to is The Birthday Party and The Black Keys and the Velvets. It's not really breaking any new musical ground, but that's okay; it's how all the various parts are put together that matters. The bass and drums pound out a bluesy rhythm while the guitars swirl jaggedly above. The vocals guide the songs into shape with warbly whisperings. At times, when Jigmae Baer and Jeremy Cox's voices harmonize and the guitar sails through some brief clear skies, Better Luck verges on the downright pretty. There's just enough dissonance, though, to keep the mood bleak, and that prettiness never lasts more than a chorus or two. Mostly mid-tempo, the Baths mix things up by slowing down and drawing blood rather than offering the listener run of the mill garage-pop candy. This is not a record that makes you want to dance. This is a record that makes you want to high, and then get lost in these dark, dark sounds...
Litanies is the debut from SF garage gloom poppers Royal Baths, who have crafted a gorgeously hazy and murky bit of rhythmic hypnopop, equally indebted to the Velvet Underground, Spacemen 3, and of course the current crop of retro reverb junkies that have been spilling from garages all over the Bay Area.
Gauzy and druggy, looped and mesmerizing, the drums simple and motorik, a distinctly Mo Tucker like pound, the sound reverby and cavernous, as if they recorded in an old cistern, the vocals a lazy melodic drawl, but often supported by gorgeous Beach Boys like harmonies, and the guitars, chiming and jangly one minute, howling and distorted the next, slipping from muted chug, to buzzing drone, to grinding crunch, often in the same song. All of that wrapped around crazy hooks, irresistible melodies, and some seriously kick ass songs.
"After Death" is definitely a contender for song of the year, spidery echo drenched guitars hover over a primitive rhythmic thud, the vocals sweetly melancholic, gorgeous boy/girl harmonies, plenty of sixties pop vocal "Bop Bob Baaaa"s, some cool strangely angular riffage, an explosive bridge that crunches and pounds, the whole thing so deliriously druggy and impossibly catchy. And that's only one of a clutch of killer jams, "Nikki Don't" is the Velvets by way of the Beach Boys, a murky low slung slither, but infused with plenty of unlikely sunshininess. "Needle And Thread" is total Loop / Spacemen 3 style buzzdrone murk pop, washed out and woozily dreamlike, with warbly basslines and some seriously fierce fuzz guitar. "Sitting In My Room" is like Wooden Ship on tranquilizers, hypnotic and psychedelic, but so gloriously wasted sounding.
Easily one of our new favorite records, and new favorite bands, druggy droney garagerock krautpop, like a SF garage rock mix tape (Ty Segall, Thee Oh Sees, the Mantles, Sic Alps) that's been chopped and screwed, the Fuzztones via the Velvets, the Beach Boys filtered through plenty of Loop, Spacemen 3 covering the Lyres, however you slice it, this totally rules!
Local artist Rroland creates videogame soundtrack worthy synth-scapes with Reflections On A Past Life. These fifteen compositions proffer whimsical prog transmitted through some pretty lo-fi production. The single instrument used throughout is indeed a Roland synth. He seems to have a bit of an infatuation with Momus as per some hints on his website, but we won't hold that against him. Bring us more, Rroland!
Folks who lived in San Francisco in the nineties may remember the band rRope, but odds are probably no one anywhere else does. A fairly obscure, but super awesome band who was part of a seriously ruling scene. Bakamono, Nitre Pit (pre-Deerhoof), Thinking Fellers Union Local 282, Caroliner, Henry's Dress, A Minor Forest, Fibulator, Lowercase, Trackstar, Hickey, so many great shows happening all the time, touring bands, loads of cool clubs and weird places to play, and so many bands that seemed destined for bigger and better things. One of which was most definitely rRope, a quartet who built their own amps and fused jagged Sonic Youth like noisiness to blissed out My Bloody Valentine like shoegaze, their songs a barrage of intricate tangled progged out post punk rhythms wrapped around chiming jangly melodies and dense chaotic drumming. Crazy catchy hooks doused in wild squalls of noise rock freakouts, glitched out experimental ambience coalesce into loping post rock mesmer. And some truly unique expressive vocals, that added a whole 'nother art rock dimension to the proceedings. The band never shied away from weird sonic experimentation either, whether it was twang flecked Tortoise-y grooves or free form avant rock meander, Jon Wayne styled garbled cowpunk or woozy math rock weirdness, often in the same song (check out "Pocket Song"), noisy blissed out drone-punk or spaced out desert-y drift, their entire sound would change from record to record, even from song to song, but there was definitely a distinctive, if ineffable something that held it all together, but just barely. One of those amazing bands that sounded impossibly tight and constantly on the verge of collapse at the same time.
This sprawling triple lp collects everything the band ever recorded, including albums, 7"s, demos, and live tracks, specifically a set from 1998, right before the band broke up, opening for Sonic Youth at the Fillmore, a performance that reportedly has SY inviting them to tour the US, a tour that would sadly never happen, as the band would hang it up not long afterwards.
A totally mind blowing nostalgia trip for those of who were there, and an insanely exciting discovery for everyone else who wasn't�
LIMITED TO 300 COPIES!!
Eccentric Bay Area band Rube Waddell have gone back and remastered their albums so now a whole new bunch of folks can dig these guys' fun and oddball approach to music making! The beloved local trio make great use of the usual rock instruments, but also include more oddball sound making devices such as sousa horn, jaw harp, mahogany and koa wood ukuleles, accordion, glass harmonica, marimba, autoharp, and much more. Rube Waddell's sound is a little bit acousticky punk, a little bit Tom Waitsian drunken carousing, a touch of twangy silliness, and a pinch of gravely blues rowdiness. An SF institution!
The madcap post-modern musical quartet from SF have returned! They bring with them their trademark bulging grab bag of homespun instruments and styles such as zydeco, vaudeville, exotica, swing jazz, Appalachian folk, swamp blues... the list is endless. Musically they're often quite reminiscent of the eccentric'n'eclectic Captain Beefheart, Ween and Frank Zappa. Vocally, they possess the disgruntled yet endearing gruffness commonly associated with the likes of Tom Waits. The big picture is usually quite loosey goosey in mood, razor-sharp irreverently witty lyric-wise, but always expertly and imaginatively performed. Really, who can resist a song about one of the Mission District's icons -- the late night saviour of three-sheets-to-the-wind growling bellies, the Tamale Lady!! Note: Greatest Hits is actually an album of all brand new songs, not a best of per se... 'though we guess time will tell if the album's title rings true. Nonetheless, always a wacky good time!
Local darlings who had the balls to play their idiosyncratic brand of jump blues punk twang outside Leeds shoe store on Mission Street. Reissue of their first album with 6 extra tracks (two are previously unreleased!)
We thought they broke up but it appears our beloved mathrock quartet have reunited once again, playing shows, and releasing this fine second album of insanely gorgeous instrumentals. Shimmering with detail, on the dime stops and starts, with a hazy wash of wistful melody over it all. Really quite nice. Music to drive to.
Truly rad cover art again provided by Jeremiah Maddock.
Local quartet Rumah Sakit's possibly last release (they broke up) is an EP from Temporary Residence's first Travels in Constants series. Since Rumah is local, they've graced us with a few copies of this disc, of which copies were sent only to the series
Their long awaited debut! Intense instrumental mathrock from this stellar local group featuring ex-Tarentel founding member/bassist Kenseth Thibideau. Rumah Sakit obviously owe a huge debt to Louisville's Rodan. With an arsenal of time changes, complex time signatures, and bizarre arrangements, the band wander briefly through pseudo-jazz/post-rock territory before getting right back on track with a handful of muscular mathrock riffs. And damn, if the first 30 seconds don't sound exactly like Primus' 'Frizzle Fry'. Rumah Sakit has a bit more sensitive boy jangle than say, Shellac or Don Caballero, but has much more of a bite than anything on Thrill Jockey (except A Minor Forest, duh).
For those who've dug into the groovy instrumental sounds of Run Return's recent debut album Metro-North (or for those just looking for a quick samplin'), you can get your fix right here on the vinyl format! Mind you, the title track does reappear on the cd, but it is a really good one though! Imagine a chops'n'creativity meeting of Fly Pan Am and Tortoise.
Although this trio have been together since 1999, Metro-North is Run Return's full length debut. It features some exceptionally well done dark groovy city scene soundscapes -- a generous serving of eighteen! Each of them sound as though they were composed specifically for a rain-soaked midnight hour. Check out two of the album's best tracks -- the very Chicago post-rock sounding, jazzy glider "Sea Plane" and the perfect-for-late-night-driving thirteenth track which is also the title track of their recent 7" "Animals Are Beautiful People". Captures a chill-out mellowness but is also sonically and rhythmically active enough to keep you on your toes.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
This is the first self released cdep by Bay Area multicultural folk artist Rupa! La Pecheuse shines with a warm earthy light. Her voice and guitar are complemented wonderfully by Ed Laskerville on cello. An impressive debut!
Bay Area songstress Rupa Marya follows up her solo self released debut La Pecheuse with the considerably more elaborate and impassioned Extraordinary Rendition. Four of the original seven songs make a reappearance here. This time Rupa's joined by an excellent backing band. The April Fishes are trumpeteer Marcus Cohen, Adrian Jost on accordion, cellist Ed Baskerville (who also played on La Pecheuse), Eliyahu Sills on upright bass and the peculiarly tagged 'contraptionist' Aaron Kierbel. They sing and play together with such wonderful ease and gusto, it's as if they've been playing together for years. Their multilingual music draws from cross-cultural influences and source material -- Indian ragas, tango, French chanson, bossa nova, jazz, not to mention numerous forms of folk music from around the world -- which conjures words like slinky, fevered, hypnotic and intoxicating. Vocally, Ms Rupa has drawn comparisons to the sultry formidable likes of Lhasa and Mia Doi Todd, but she can also take a very Cat Poweresque, down-home folk pop turn as is sweetly evident on the closing number "Wishful Thinking". They'll surely have many fans in common in the near future!
This legendary local DJ assembles brilliant musicians (Ustad Salamat Ali Khan, K. Sridhar, Ustad Sultan Khan, Mala Ganguly and the unavoidable Bill Laswell) to create beautiful ambience and soundscapes, bringing together classical Hindustani music and the chill room. "Traditional ragas meet 'DJ science'" it says here. Fans of Talvin Singh, for one, should find this to their liking.
Now this was a surprise. Two former members of Bay Area stoner sludge metal heroes Sleep (not the guy who's now in High On Fire) venture back into the rock n' roll arena with a new band called The Sabians that we have to admit we really hadn't heard many good things about (we'd been told they were terrible live). And, upon hearing this, their debut album, I can kinda understand the naysayers... Number 1, this sure *doesn't* sound like Sleep (it IS heavy, but very different -- High On Fire sounds MUCH more like Sleep for sure) and number 2, it's, well, weird. Just read the sticker on the album cover: "the Sabians' sound is a combination of punk, folk, metal, and chant." What? So we were a bit apprehensive ourselves. But, the truth is, this is kinda cool, and, yeah, weird! Stoner/Sleep fans will have to admit that even track one has its moments of Sabbathian rifferama but it also reminds us of The Pogues! (That's the folk bit.) As the album progesses, it remains dark and dynamic and different, with the sounds of acoustic strum, metal guitar, and even falling rain welded together into earnest, anthemic songs with polished production courtesy Alex Newport. Definitely the one thing you have to get used to is the vocals (a clearly-enunciating Michael Stipe? no, that's not it. A wimpier James Hetfield with a fake European accent?) but if you do, you might really like this. Really, one of the weirdest things about this band is how melodic they are! They actually kinda sound like a hypothetical catchy, radio-friendly Neurosis -- or an art-rock Metallica. But if Tool could get big (another band these guys remind us of) then maybe The Sabians will someday be heard on Live105 too. Anyway, kudos to these guys for trying to do something different and original, and more-or-less succeeding.
This hard-to-categorize, paradoxical Bay Area bunch are back with their second album of doubtlessly avant-garde and original yet at the same time almost totally mainstream rock/metal. The Sabians feature former members of seminal SF doomsters Sleep, the guys who *didn't* go the expected stoner rock route a la the ex-Sleeper who formed the popular High On Fire. Nope, though The Sabians are still a heavy proposition, they've pretty much nixed the overt Sabbath worship in favor of a much more modern, melodic mixture of Tool (lots o' Tool) and Metallica, with maybe some hints of an Irish/Pogues thing. Dark, rockin', heavy, hummable, and a bit weird. If you liked their debut from last year, this too will def float yr boat. Still haven't heard 'em on the radio, but if they keep at it, who knows?
Whereas *this* drums/bass duo (male and female) relocated from San Francisco to Prague, for a much more prog sound than COA. Also, they are all instrumental. This is their second album, it's quite nice.
While currently spending his days surrounded by Berlin's techno digerati, Matthew Curry (aka Safety Scissors) pines for his hometown of San Francisco... or at least that's where his musical heart still is. "Parts Water" is Safety Scissors' debut album
Heads up! Here comes another wave of limited edition 7"s from 333 Records! Each release in this series is pressed in an ultra small quantity of 333! The latest additions are this one by Sagan and one by Girl Talk. Plus: The first 100 of this Sagan single comes with a little extra something -- a bonus 3"cdr! Don't fret too much if you do miss the first 100 though 'cause we've been assured that the track will be available online for download too. The ever mischievous and crafty trio of Jay Lesser, Blevin Blectum, Wobbly pour out the prickly tickles, thick bass thuddery, and druggy effected vocals for these two short heavily processed and distorted tracks. Always entertaining! We've only got a handful of these. Snoooze'n'loooze, kiddie!
We've been getting more and more tired of electronic music recently. How could you not? It seems that every week there's a hundred more glitchy wannabe Autechres or Aphex Twins. But thankfully, there are always groups of folks, quietly doing their own thing, thinking weird thoughts and making weird sounds, turning unlikely concepts into reality, and offering us amazing alternatives to the usual crap we are forced to sift through day after day. Thus we have Sagan. With a pedigree that would have us expecting no less. Jay Lesser, Bevin Blectum, Wobbly, fim maker Ryan Junell, and the label run by Drew And Martin of Matmos. You'd almost find yourself shouting 'supergroup' if yo didn't know that such behavior would get you a punch in the nose.
A massive concept album based on Carl Sagan and just good 'ol science in general, Unseen Forces is a heaping sensory overload of sonic irregularites and visual fuckery. The audio disc is a lot more listenable that you might expect from audio terrorists like Lesser and Blectum. It's a far spacier affair, channelling classic Tangerine Dream, Pink Floyd swoosh, Hawkwind spaciness, as well as modern glitch into a slowly swirling galaxy of shimmery synths, and stuttering starbursts, throbbing techno broadcast from a distant galaxy, and garbled through the light years into a smeary ambient blur, demarcated by chirps and clicks, thumps and throbs. A space opera for the IDM set.
We were a bit wary of the accompanying film, fearing at best, some sort of cool music videos, and at worst, home movies of band members mugging and acting silly. Well, somehow it's actually both, but the sum of those parts is infinitely more watchable than you might think and so completely compliments Sagan's techno space glitch swirl. So much so that after watching the film, every time we listen to the record now, all we can picture is the scenes from the film! Various historical scientific discoveries and encounters are fictionalized and re-enacted by the band members as well as the guys from Matmos and AQ pal Dave Cerf. Gorgeously filmed and masterfully edited, the grainy Viewmaster menus and segues perfectly balance the silent movie feel of the vignettes, with the action skipping and hiccupping to the music. Funny and fascinating, silly but emminently watchable. Also the opening sequence and the closing credits are AMAZING looking. This record and film have been in the works for a LONG time, but we are happy to report that the wait was worth it!
Also, the hybrid DVD contains 9 shows with over 6 hours of music!
Another solo disc from the Anticon posse, Personal Journal is MC Sage Francis' long-in-the-works earnestly-autobiographical album. With producers odd nosdam, Sixtoo, mayonnaise, Controller 7, and more, all of whom keep his voice right out front.
Man, does this record remind me of Scrawl.
And I feel like no one in the band is probably that into Scrawl, but it's definitely a good reference point for St. Andre's sound. Kind of a weird mix of that classic 80's Homestead Records sound, meandering Polvo-ish detuned guitars, noisy walls of guitar (ala Sonic Youth) and soaring female vocals that start as a smooth croon and occasionally leap out in a fit of Sleater Kinney yelps. Melodies and scraggly guitar lines battle pounding drums and bursts of noise, and occasionally dissipate into dreamy droning post rock. This may be their last recording, as they are all going their seperate ways (one to watch making school!).
The first book from world wanderin' gal Sara Sandberg! Prior to this 95-page fictional work, she's penned a number of zines including The American Girl and Double Ears. An SF punk-pop girl at heart, Sara writes of "the history of one car". That's right, the life and times of one Ford Fairlane! Four decades riddled with encounters involving punks, car thieves, farmers, and much much
Hot on the heels of their awesome new 12" Duck Duck Goose, the ladies of The Sandwitches are wasting no time continuing their hot streak with these two brand new songs that continue to display what a cool range of sounds they're capable of conjuring. The A side "Makes Me Sick" is one of the most full on folk sounding songs we've heard from them yet filled with such a nice punch. Kind of like an updated version of a Karen Dalton track doused with a nice kick of piss & vinegar. The B side is the track we've been so obsessed with. "Idiot Savant" is so sparse and haunting, bringing us into a hypnotic world of sound filled with cobwebs and antique Oujia boards. With every step they take we keep falling for these ladies more and more. So good!
In a day an age when so many bands are getting huge due to hype from blogs, or one YouTube clip, The Sandwitches are a really refreshing reminder of how gratifying it feels to follow a band who are establishing themselves the old fashioned way. Playing shows around town and on the road, releasing tons of singles/ep's/collaborations, and refining their chops and songwriting prowess along the way. We've been huge fans of everything they've released so far and this brand new 7" keeps their perfect record alive.
"The Pearl" is an awesome campfire spell of a song, where Sandwitches take the influence of folks like The Roches and Fleetwood Mac and place them in a much more rustic and raw setting. The B side "Benny's Memory Palace" is a really cool slightly warped track that makes us think of Sinead O'connor on K records covering Billy Bragg. Once again these fine ladies hit the bullseye with yet another awesome slab of wax.
One of the really cool things about working at a record store is how you get to watch as a band gets more and more popular... One day they are just a name on a record no one has heard of and then just weeks later they become a band that everyone calls and asks about. Such is the case with San Francisco's The Sandwitches. We were just as clueless about them as everyone else when we first got their debut lp on Turn Up, but once we heard it we became hooked like so many other folks.
Once you hear their totally refreshing, unique and endearing living room lo-fi garage folk jams, it's pretty impossible to resist. This new 7" gives an awesome alternate version of the song "Back To The Sea" which was on the full length, this time out it's even more of a foot stomper, like The Shaggs doing a Bill Haley & His Comets cover. The B side "Beatle Screams" is a haunting slow burner with a nice pump organ groove running throughout conjuring up images of some kind of wonderfully haunted circus or a state fair gone way weird.
Lots of folks have heard these fine ladies via their amazing back up vocals on The Fresh & Only's records as well as from playing in bands like Pillars Of Silence and Brilliant Colors. But if they keep creating such amazing songs, The Sandwitches will become a household name, you know at least in the kind of houses we all tend to live in!
Over the last year The Sandwitches debut lp, How To Make Ambient Sadcake proved to be a record with major legs. As we still have a hard time keeping it in stock as it sells out just about every week as people get turned on to what a unique and intimate sound these ladies have carved out. These brand new songs show that The Sandwitches are only getting better, with a set of songs filled with such warmth and a haunting glow. We hear hints of Karen Dalton, Vashti Bunyan, Christine McVie, Pentangle, Sybille Baier as well as contemporary artists like Tara Jane O'Neil, Jana Hunter, Marissa Nadler, Rio En Medio, Beach House, Tiny Vipers and Metallic Falcons. Or what it might sound like if Mimi from Low and Georgia from Yo La Tengo did lonely dark tinged covers of Red House Painters songs. The record has this timeless sound that makes us think of crawling up to the attic of our weird/cool aunt's house and finding an unmarked dusty record that we put on play as it turns to dusk outside and we flip through boxes of old photographs and torn out journal entries. Recorded & produced by Wymond Miles from The Fresh & Onlys, this ep really raises the bar for their sound. One of the most warm, eerie, yet comforting collection of songs we've heard all year. Stamped on one-sided vinyl and limited to 500 copies. Highly recommended!
Lately some of our favorite Bay Area music makers have added record label head honcho to their resumes. John Dwyer (Thee Oh Sees) started his label Castle Face a few years ago, and Kelley Stoltz started Chuffed last year and now Marc Dantona of Conspiracy Of Beards and the now sadly defunct Pillars Of Silence has just launched his own label, Turn Up. The Sandwitches are the perfect band to be the first release on the label, as their smart approach to wide spanning pop shows what happens when folk minded musicians take it to the garage. The three ladies in the band have done time in great San Francisco bands like Brilliant Colors, The Fresh & Onlys, Pillars Of Silence and it is kind of cool how if you did put all three of those bands in a blender the sound of the Sandwitches can really be imagined. So many bands of late seem to be so dialed into such a narrow and small palette of sounds so it's really refreshing to hear a band who are no one trick pony, but instead cover lots of musical ground but do so with a cohesiveness that is often really tricky to pull off like The Sandwitches do on this debut. In lots of ways the record makes us think of what it would sound like for a band on Woodsist to cover Fleetwood Mac's amazing record Tusk.
There is also something so honest and sincere about their delivery that you get the feeling they would play these songs with as much conviction and emotion in their living room filled with a few friends as much as they would on stage at a packed venue. Can't wait to hear what Turn Up unleash in the future and if this debut release is any indication this is going to be a label to keep your eyes on!
These fine ladies from San Francisco have been quite busy ever since we first fell for them so hard, a couple years back, with their debut full length How To Make Ambient Sadcake. Since then they have been playing out like crazy and releasing 7"s and 12"s at a dizzying pace. We love how they have taken advantage of the different formats to play with and display different sides of their sound. With their new full length outing, Mrs. Jones' Cookies, they've released their most satisfying and coherent recording yet. We've loved everything they've put out so far, but all those releases felt way more about the individual songs, while this one really feels like they've mastered the ability to create an overall mood and feeling with a set of songs that flow so well with each other.
Mrs. Jones' Cookies is what it might sound like if Neko Case or Jolie Holland did way stripped down, haunting covers of The Roches, Fleetwood Mac, The Incredible String Band, and Karen Dalton. The Sandwitches greatest strength is that while you can tell they have such a rich and strong understanding of music's past they never sound like some nostalgic act, as there is such an immediate and fresh perspective that they deliver in all of their songs. So good!
We love The Sandwitches and are totally digging how they have developed this warped sort of split personality. They can create songs so warm, tender and haunting, while also able to whip up jams that are way more playful, childlike, and seemingly lost in a dusty daydream. This new split does a great job showing off both of their wonderful sides. At first we thought the A side was going to be a cover of a song by their pals The Fresh & Only's (the ladies in the Sandwitches add their warm vocals to many Fresh & Only's songs) but instead it's one of their most spirited tracks, mixing elements of gospel, garage and a warped pop sensibility. The B side is the one really finding its way into our hearts, showing that warm and glowing side to their sound but laced with just enough of a haunting vibe to keep us totally enchanted and under their spell.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Local black/death metallers Sangre Amado finally release a (non-demo) cd, and it's wicked and dark and really good. Obviously influenced by the blackest of Norwegian metal technology, with nasty rasping (female!) vokills and epic riffing. Atypical of their Nordic heroes, however, Sangre Amado utilizes lots of scary cinematic sampling (Gummo perhaps?) in-between songs. Lastly, the raging drumming is courtesy of Li'l Sunshine, last heard on the amazing Weakling album!
Local laidback rockers Sappington sure take their own sweet time. Their first cdep came out in late 2000 and we've not heard a recorded peep from them since. They do play out occasionally though which reassured us that they were still making music. To refresh your memory, this trio makes lovely, drowsy, starry sky tunes. In the time since that first release, it appears they've grown quite a bit. Their sound is much more confident, developed and detailed. The male and female vocals are much more robust and front and center than I recall. The latter are very reminiscent of Carly Simon or Rebecca Gates, and they're warmly effective in contrast to the fuzzy washes of electronics in their "Airtight" remix which closes the second side of the 10". So dreamy and mellow, this entry fits well in the Dreams By Degrees seasonal series which also includes fellow mellows Colophon (Jef from Tarentel), Loquat, and Coastal.
Four quietly dreamy numbers from this young San Francisco trio. Two voices slowly weave their way around the often-subdued guitar, sampled dialogue and twinkling space sounds. For fans of For Stars or Tarentel.
Saros, featuring the (amazing, need we say?) drummer from the legendary Weakling, is one of San Francisco's up and coming heavy metal outfits, playing a blend of thrash, black and speed metal that takes no prisoners live (and now, on record). Saros are all about old school rippage mixed with weird black metal epic experimentation... On their debut full-length Five Pointed Tongue you get a fierce lesson in modern metal melding, the band both galloping and trudging (depending) through five fairly long tracks (43 minutes total) that mix up blackened rasps, clean vocal melodies, some acoustic guitar, prog-rock song structures, widdly solos, and plenty of traditional Bay Area 'banging. No matter the twists and turns, in one of Saros' songs you're never far from a blast of icy riffage. And quite a beating when it comes to the drums! Requisite obscure metal nerd reference: I wonder if these guys are at all familiar with French Canadian tech metallers Obliveon? I think they'd like them.
Wow. This new 'zine is not only full of awesome readin', looks great, and comes with a button, but also is dirt cheap! Just $4. Real goddamn fanzines are few and far between these days, kudos to editor Cory Linstrum and friends for putting this one out, and making it so killer too. It shows those blogs a thing or two. Savage Damage Digest is all about music that you don't really read about all that often, and all in one place, thought the artists covered all make total sense together here, you'll see: Link Wray, Teenage Head, Jean-Pierre Massiera, Dave Kilgour & The Clean, Hanoi Rocks, Tank's Algy Ward, Nick Lowe & Brinsley Schwarz! And this debut ish features the only article we've ever come across about the uniquely Australian youth sub-culture of "Sharpies", outside of the liner notes to those Coloured Balls cd reissues, fascinating stuff. 70 pages, lots of vintage photos and magazine ads, nice use of spot color inside, and rounded corners, it's a handsome 'zine all right. Totally recommended to anyone interested in semi-obscure music from the '60s 'til now that ROCKS. Or is weird. Or both.
The cover story on Link is all about his "lost years" in the early-to-mid '70s, albums that tend to get ignored but, having read about 'em here, we want to hear! It's super in-depth, enthused and informative, like all the other articles here. This is sort of 'zine that will definitely turn you on to stuff you need to know about, and we can only hope that issue #2 isn't that far off. This has a lot of potential to be a favorite new regular read... For those who miss the likes of Black To Comm, or Motorbooty, or Fuzz (not to mention Bomp! or Creem)... check this out!!
Whoo-hoo! SDD #2!! Well, in "zine time" getting 2 issues done in as many years isn't that bad. At least, at last, it's here: the 2nd issue of Savage Damage Digest, a 'zine that with but one issue became one of our faves in the realm of enthusiastic dead-tree rock n' roll writin'. As good as the first issue was, this one's maybe even better, it's got great stuff about a wide variety of long-lost legends... '60s UK popsyke geniuses July, '60 NZ garage gods Chants R&B, '70s pub rockers Ducks Deluxe, and more... The cover story, especially interesting for those of us located in the Bay Area, is about '70s San Francisco proto-punks La Rue. No, never heard 'em, but boy do we want to now.
What we love about SDD is that it's the sort of thing that really puts the FAN in fanzine. We mean, they even devote two pages to some non-musical fandom - about the special San Francisco ice cream sandwich known as an It's It! And, most amazingly, there's pages and pages about guitarist Ross The Boss and his various bands over the years: The Dictators, Shakin' Street, Manitoba's Wild Kingdom, and... Manowar!! The Manowar stuff, especially, makes this issue required reading. We just tend to think that a lot of "typical" SDD readers and AQ customers might not already be Manowar fans, but this is the sort of thing that just might covert 'em (you?).
And, this issue comes with a free button, bearing the Vertigo records label swirl design! With accompanying label appreciation essay for anyone not already aware of just how cool UK '70s prog imprint Vertigo was.
Hopefully it won't be another 2 years before issue 3 of Savage Damage Digest comes out, though we won't be holding our breath. But we will be looking forward to it. And, let's say, the highest form of praise we can give a 'zine like SDD is that it makes us want to get to work on our own 'zines, like some of us used to do back in the day.
This is a good week for those, like us, who love old school print fanzines! Up above, you'll see we've got the new Chips & Beer, and then there's this, issue #3 of rock n' roll 'zine Savage Damage Digest, from East Bay based editor Cory Lindstrum, who, along with a helpful contingent of likeminded contributors, brings us the dope on a whole bunch of obscure and/or cult music-makers and drug-takers from way cooler times than now. As Cory is the first to admit, it's been far too long since the last issue but at last it's here, and plus he pledges that "as long as I'm still listening to, reading up on, watching, living, breathing, and eating Rock 'n' Roll - I will share with you my opinions and observations of this subject on a printed page" so we the likelihood is that we will have an issue #4 to look forward to, eventually! In any event, #3 is here, let's dig in and dig it.
Interview subjects include, among others, seminal '70s San Francisco punkers The Avengers, teenage '70s New York power poppers The Speedies, frontman Peter Daltrey of '60s psychedelic favorites Kaleidoscope (UK), and veteran power pop punk icons Redd Kross. And boy do the interviewers know their stuff.
Speaking of knowing stuff, not an interview, but an extremely in-depth eleven-page write-up, is devoted to guitarist Larry Wallis of Shagrat, Pink Fairies and Motorhead fame (the latest in Savage Damage's trademark "Triple Threat" series).
Then, there's the "skimpy" reviews section (not so skimpy, really) which among other things, reveals Cory's love for old school death/doom metallers Hellhammer.
You will be cooler than you are now after you're done reading this, trust us.
80 digest (duh) sized pages, some in full color. Plus, this issue comes with a free Stiff Records button!
If we picked our Records Of The Week based on how likely they were to inspire massive bouts of head banging and air guitaring (and come to think of it, why the heck don't we?) then this new album from San Francisco's Saviours would easily be the Record Of The Week this week. And maybe next week too, and again and again for some weeks to come, since we don't know who'd want to mess with 'em, they might be tough to dethrone. Do you feel lucky, punk? they'd be asking all future pretenders to Record Of The Week status. Seriously, maybe the only reason we just made this a highlight on our list instead is that while Saviours are so good at what they do, what they do is perhaps a bit more circumscribed than the sort of metal we would make a Record Of The Week (such as the more eccentric likes of The Lord Weird Slough Feg's Ape Uprising a while back... though we'd definitely imagine any fan of that band would dig a lot of what's happenin' on this Saviours platter). But if you're in the mood for ragin' METAL and nothin' but, have we got a record for you!
Saviours, whom most metal inclined AQ customers already know we hope, are punkish proponents of adrenaline fuelled, NWOBHM lovin', thrash infected, uber metal up your ass gallop. Punkish maybe only 'cause they ooze attitude, also in part from the hoarse and shouty nature of the vocals (which we dig more on this album than in the past it must be said). As we have come to expect, then, Accelerated Living is in large part the sound of triumphant twin axes rampaging together, wet and red with poseurs' blood, lashing out left and right with slash and burn soloing. There's of course plenty of crushing low end heaviness and dominating battery propelling things along at a breakneck pace. But number one in our book are the guitars, dealing out heroic harmonies and rambunctious riffery. Oh yeah, this has got riffs, good ones. Riffs piling upon riffs. As much as we liked the Skeletonwitch album reviewed last time, THIS is way catchier and more memorable (maybe 'cause it lacks the more modern and monotonous black/death aspect, going only for the thrash/punk and trad '80s metal thing). We're even ready to sing along with the vocals, dammit! This is the type of album where it's tough to pick which tracks to make sound samples of for our review, 'cause they're almost all standouts. We kept thinking, ok, this one, then we'd listen to the next track, and be like, this one too, and on and on through the record. Of course, in the end that meant we could pick any 3 random tracks to sample and that'd be fine, let's just that sample making out of the way so we can put the album on again from the beginning, loud, and bang our heads!!
Our appetite for this rad, rippin' release was whetted by the limited edition trilogy of 7"s that preceded it, featuring spirited covers of Saxon and Judas Priest as well as demo versions of some of Accelerated Living's songs. They sound even better here, the album produced by Phil Manley (of Trans Am, The Fucking Champs, etc.). Recommended, if you couldn't tell.
FYI vinyl of this is forthcoming, not out yet though, we should have the LP version later in November.
