Stress Waves - Orphic Ruin (2014)

It is nice to see when the Australians are paying attention to the blog, as I never intended for this blog to have any degree of localized scope and I'm genuinely thrilled to get submissions from all across the world. Some of you may recall the post of the very excellent garage rock group, White Lodge, from a couple of weeks ago. That write-up seems to have piqued some interest from follow Queenlanders, Stress Waves. Unlike their geography, their music isn't terribly close stylistically, yet they are very similar inasmuch that they both make very good music.

Orphic Ruin is an excellent name for the album Stress Waves have put together. The very word Orphic summons decadent imagery, to make a literary reference. The songs are gloomy, moaning and intangible. This is done artfully as fuck though, with the snyths really taking a starring role as the sound off against the constant percussion and droning backgrounds of mechanical regularity. Basically, it isn't party music, but it is very emotionally evocative. I have already listened to the album all the way through several times, and each time I find myself picking out more from the songs, as the lyrics are increasingly decipherable and the rhythms more clearly recognizable. I'd liken the experience to spending time taking in a painting, the longer one dwells on it the more there is to like about it and experiences to take away from it. If this is what "cold wave" sounds like then I am one hundred percent on board, but I think that for most of us it'd be easiest to called it post-punk. However you label it, these Brisbane musicians know how to make a powerful sound.

To be had here:
Stress Waves - Orphic Ruin

Yuko Yuko - Cultlove (2014)

Once again, I find myself braving the rental market of Portland after 5 blissful years living within the city's large Forest Park. It's a demoralizing process, especially for an introvert, because for any one potential prospect you are met by a sea of home-hungry go-getters. Add a 65 lb chow-mix into the picture, and you'll be lucky if they even run your application.

Facing such a situation makes one long for the simpler times of childhood, when a phrase like "security deposit" was from a language more foreign than Spanish, in which you could at least count to 5 and say a couple swear words.... a time where one's biggest concerns included getting up early enough on a Saturday morning to watch Camp Candy.

Yuko Yuko's music harkens back to this age of simplicity. The solo project of a young Netherlander named Elias, who interestingly enough is signed to a Mexico-based label called Bad Pop. One of many releases, "Cultlove" has that early 1980's synthpop vibe...  when the genre was still a bit weird and not too dance-oriented. Think Soft Cell recording a demo in their bedroom, or the obscure new wave synthpop band, Trees. I'm really loving the track "Angel Jane", definitely a nice track for hot and hazy summer evenings where sleep encroaches slowly. 

8 tracks.

Yuko Yuko - Cultlove 

Henri Claudel - Technology (2014)

You have got to love how open and appropriating the music community is today. When I first started going to metal/punk shows in the 90s, bands were forced to play with relatively similar acts. Rarely would you get any cross-pollination between music communities. Perhaps it is the remix culture that exists today (and discussed in a previous episode of our podcast) that is responsible for this desire to fuse and borrow from just about every sound on the planet.

I don't know what "Cold Wave" is, but this Scottish band is apparently that. All I know is that it is awesome retro-inspired synth pop that clearly borrows from the past and yet still sounds vibrant and fresh. The awesome Russian label Singapore Sling Tapes has put this out on cassette, which fits this style well. Sure everything is better on cassette, but I could totally see Marty McFly blasting this from his Delorean on one of his time traveling trips. Well my friend, he fucked up the past as a result, and now we have this relic of our possible dystopian future. Highly recommended.

Get it here:
Henri Claudel - Technology (2014)

EP Grab Bag vol. 40

Labor Day weekend is upon us here in the States, and I am having a BBQ with some of my favorite ghouls. Here are some of the records spun at our little get-together.

Walrus – Okay b/w Pale Blue Light (2013)

The sun sits at high-noon out at our desert palisade in SlabCity, California. When that suns starts to beat down on you, you need some cool beer and some good tunes to keep your mind from melting. Walrus out of Canada provide just that. These kids throw down well polished psychedelic pop music that is enjoyed by Mummy and Frankenstein alike (a difficult task, I assure you). Just one track (Walrus), and the other side of the tape being another group called Pale Blue Light. Walrus is the best of the two, with its ethereal vocals and splendid guitar work. 

The Balcony Stars – She’s Going Down (2013)

Chupacabra is requesting we put on something English and upbeat, so Liverpool’s Balcony Stars is put on the turntable. Big guitar riffs and just enough drums to keep you on task, and it gets everyone onto the dance floor. Then the guitar lead kicks in and pulls everyone’s hands into the air. She may be going down as the vocalist reiterates, but we are all pulled up by this 7 inch. 

Heatwarmer – Keep Shining Through (2013)

Witchy Rhonda is hoping to get closer to Kid Dracula and requests a sweeter tune in which to push his heart towards hers. Seattle’s Heatwarmer is just the act to do so. “Keep pushing me, and I’ll keep pushing you” says the front man as a keyboard solo trails in to compliment the Genesis-inspired synth pulses. Very polished pop music, and best of all, it got Witchy Rhonda a kiss. 

:3 – Mindless Eating (2013)

When this band submitted their new record, they said they played “lo-fi cat songs about death, anxiety, and death.” How could I not spin that at our desert shindig? This is experimental stuff that happened to clear the dancefloor, but Igor enjoyed the change of pace and willingness to distort the pop and rock rules while we worked the BBQ pit. “They Know” is the best track on the record in my opinion. Igor liked “Pea Soup Rapture Blues.”

Teen Brigade – August (2013)

Ok, time to pick things up a bit. Everyone has had more than a few beers and is looking for a way to shake out a few calories. I put on this Indiana groups well constructed collage pop and like a group of Sufi spiritualists, the group begins spinning in unison.  Tracks like “3 August 1888, Linz” demonstrate the group’s ability to create danceable tracks while staying true to their cult like admiration for the peculiar. 

The Antlers of the Midnight Sun – The Electric Nail Comes (2013)

The turntable is put aside for a bit as we bring in some of our fellow monsters to play live. My comrade Wolfman Dracula grabs his guitar to rock out with his psychedelic riff-rawkers and starts to peel the paint off the wall with his vibrato laced, full throated chords of rock prowess.  Apeman says he thought he saw the devil on stage with the band, but that guy has a real drinking problem. 

Little Legend – Bailout (2013)

As expected, Wolfman Dracula smashes his guitar into a thousand pieces (the reason I put him behind the drums in my band) and the set is cut short. In desperation, I grab the next record in the stack which just so happens to save our desert party from premature destruction. This Wisconsin act slams together some larger-than-life sing alongs that Bruce Springsteen could make if he wasn’t trying to be the next Pete Seeger. I don’t know if this is about the financial bailout, but that shit pisses me off, and this song gets me all hot in bothered in just the right places.

Love Inks - E.S.P. (2011)

Maybe I should be ashamed that I haven't caught onto this shit sooner, but I am living in what amounts to a glorified prison cell in Detroit, so I must ask your pardon.I just Love Inks when the same day I downloaded Seapony, but it took me a minute or two longer to hear thoroughly. The holiday and shifting between the houses of family members, in addition a very annoying cold, has blocked me from being able to post it up to today. Nonetheless, it is a solid album of sleek indie pop featuring a most amazing female vocalist. If you're a fan of the Dum Dum Girls, Best Coast or the aforementioned Seapony. It is on the chiller side, of course, but this is a fine thing when done this well.

To be had here:
Love Inks - E.S.P. [224 VBR kbps]

EP Grab Bag vol. 6

Time for the EPs. I've been playing these largely at work because of the speaker crisis my life is experiencing, and admittedly the speakers at my job are wretched. I've made the effort to listen to each of them in my headphones outside of work at least once and will say I stand by what I write here.


Abchaum - Collision EP

Seems like I might try to post a batch of 'squeals' because I get so many repeated submissions from artists. That's hardly a complaint though, I'm always happy to get more of a good thing. Abchaum here has released this EP hot on the heels of his LP. If you liked the album then this is an exciting bonus of more wild snyth-pop. Can't wait to play this for my boss, he digs this sorta music.





Kent State - Walk Through Walls

Another band that has been previously featured on this blog, it is a good thing to see the return of Kent State. The neatly named Walk Through Walls is fresh bundle of lo-fi psychedelic rock songs. Features a cover of Guided by Voices to boot. Streamable and downloadable by track or entire EP on their blog.





Federer - Easy Breezin'

Perhaps one of the least expected of all types of music I thought I might get submitted. Federer makes some lo-fi "easy listening" as they've termed it. It sounds like what I'd imagine hearing in a club 30 years ago in a best-of-all-worlds scenario. For real, when I first heard it I got that same feel I have when I rediscover some strange dance songs in my parents' collection of 7" singles. So hit up their site for links to soundcloud streaming as well as a site to buy the cassette copy of some really sensational music.









Certain Death to Salamanders - Certain Death to Salamanders EP [320 kbps]

This is another project involving Travis Franklin, a Texan chap that sent in Wrestling Club and YALL. However, this shit is not the same as those, as it is really really heavy metal. Super fast guitars and loud as all hell. Oh, and the screams, they're there in spades. Not my usual fare, but I listened through and was happy I had.

Ra Cailum - Leaving EP (2010) & Walkabout (2010)

More of this glo-fi, or chillwave as I've seen it alternatively referred to, that has intrigued me. Ra Cailum is the moniker for a Midwestern electronic musician, taken from the popular anime show Gundam as far as I can tell. The music is synth-heavy and involves liberal samples of vocals and retro-sounding effects. Almost seems like the sort of music one might here in a Gundam-like show or a old sci-fi film but made far more appealing through deft composition. Ra Cailum does seem to be on the mellower side overall, at least compared to bands like Beat Connection or Neon Indian. Leaving EP fits well as a set up to the longer ablum, Walkabout. In fact, a track called "Evergreens" on the EP was a titular follow up on the full-length in "Evergreens (pt. II)." This makes sense, as they were release quite close to one another and contain the same mood throughout them. I know that Walkabout is being given out for free by the artist on last.fm and other places. I assume the same is the case for the Leaving EP but throw him a bone and see him live should you get a chance if it ain't too much trouble.

To be had here:




Leaving EP [320 kbps]













Walkabout [256 VBR kbps]