Archers - Eggy Tape (2011)

I'm old and I want to drink when watching bands, not stand next to giggly teenage girls flirting with pepperoni-faced Bieber impersonators. This year, however, I may have to go to Portland's annual, all-ages summer festival called PDX Pop Now! judging by all the great music that's on the festival's accompanying 2012 compilation (being released sometime in early June, in case anyone's interested).

Archers is one such band. Their music harkens to late 70's/early 80's punk and power pop, but with both an amplified tenacity as well as 60's rock influence. Really engaging and accessible punk rock and I can't believe I haven't listened to them until now. At times they sound like The Nerves, other times The Wipers. There's also elements of The Who in here. The Soft Boys are also a definite influence, and at times the vocals seem to almost channel Robyn Hitchcock.

This is a great 6 song ep they put out on Eggy Records, an awesome label run by a member of another great local band, The Woolen Men. It looks like the tape itself is sold out, but if you like their stuff, there's a link on the righthand side of their bandcamp page to buy a limited edition 7" for $5... when I bought mine there were only 9 left.

Archers are deserving of the attention they're getting in town, and I hope to catch them live soon.

Archers - Eggy Tape

Monster Rally - Beyond the Sea (2012)

I'm very aware I've been promising and hoping to make more frequent posts and utterly failing to deliver for months, but that's the fucking rub I suppose. However, there's little better reason to emerge from a temporary silence to spread the word about this new LP by Monster Rally. This guy's been written up here and on several blogs I admire for his previous releases and everything that made those so meritorious can consistently be heard on Beyond the Sea. For those unfamiliar with Monster Rally's music, it is a fantastic example of what some term glo-fi, which I think of as lo-fi electronic music with heavy usage of samples and looping to create something oddly nostalgic yet unique. Moreover, all his songs have a tropical exotica theme that makes it absolutely wonderful for listening to while baking under the summertime sun that's been scorching Detroit and various other locales recently. Finally, while the digital version has been released in a "name your price' scheme, there's a vinyl version coming out in June with pre-ordering going down now.

To be had here:
Monster Rally - Beyond the Sea

U.S. Maple - Long Hair In Three Stages (1995)

I don't know why I came into work today ...I should be eating meat and drinking beer in honor of those who have served this crazy nation. Though I don't know how anyone can eat meat after hearing about what happened in Miami this weekend. And while I can't imagine what would be going through my head if a naked man was eating my face, I can imagine the soundtrack to such a scene sounding like U.S. Maple's Long Hair In Three Stages.

This is a band that no one sounded like before and no one will sound like ever again. They formed with the express intention to deconstruct rock music. All the key elements are still there; melody, harmony, rhythm. But there isn't any chorus you can sing along to, as vocalist Al Johnson wheezes and coos unintelligible lyrics. Years ago, my brother likened his singing style to cartoon character Snagglepuss talking with his tongue cut out... and I still think that's pretty spot on. There are no major or minor chords in the guitars ...they squeal, meander and buzz in a drunken and mechanized, insectile anger. The rhythm section is probably the most conventional element to the band, keeping the insanity of the guitars and vocals grounded into something discernible as rock music. 

If you're at all into dissonant bands like Brainiac or The Jesus Lizard, you might like this. Not for everyone's tastes but worth a listen if you want to hear something new and strange.

Produced by Jim O'Rourke, who has produced records by Sonic Youth, Smog, and Wilco... among many other greats.

U.S. Maple - Long Hair In Three Stages

Jeffery Drag Summer 'O12 Sampler

It's infrequent that I post up sampler albums from labels, but also it is uncommon for me to get one filled with so much great garage rock. Jeffery Drag Records really has its shit together and has cobbled together a fantastic line-up of musicians. All ten of these tracks are finely done lo-fi garage that should appeal to any fans of Ty Segall, the Gories or Mark Sultan (who I finally hope to see tomorrow night). To my shame only Useless Eaters, Natural Child and Ghost Dance (by way of their kindly referring me to the sampler) were known to me. Too much time shelving used books and too little time trolling the internet for sounds. Has taught me that I'm gonna have to breakdown and pay those motherfuckers the extortionist fee for home internet. Or I can just bitch about it while posting this stuff up at a local watering hole as always, in either case more music will be sought and I'm happier for knowing of these bands.

To be had here:
JDR Sampler 2k12

Weather Balloons - Ape The Greats "to scare the spooks" (2011)

One of my favorite things, while flying into or out of a city at night, is imagining all the music being made down there. At that exact moment, while flying out of New York or Seattle or wherever, is music being recorded that I'll hear at some point over the course of my life. It's pointless to think about really, because there's nothing on the back of a record that says "recorded during that one time you flew over Austin on your way to Thanksgiving with the parents" that can remind you of those mid-flight musings. It's just one of those things I find myself doing ...lights on buildings that could be music clubs, street lamps under which musicians could be drumming on buckets, dim lights in apartment buildings where someone could be laboring over a 4-track and a drum machine... cities are like giant, electric english muffins, where in every nook and cranny is a light where someone is making or listening to music.

In one cranny of Brooklyn is a guy writing and recording music under the moniker Weather Balloons. The music is lo-fi twee punk with flares of indie, garage, and psychedelia all making appearances. Super catchy stuff. It's almost like a pop-punk Guided By Voices with vocals that, at times, remind me of Art Mitchell from the cartoon-punk band, Supernova. Also reminds me a little of another lo-fi Brooklyn band, who I think there's connection to, called Shark? (I'm not asking, that's the band's name). Interesting to note, looking over the Weather Balloons bandcamp page, you'll find a humor-meets-conspiracy-theory theme running throughout much of the design... firstly with the choice of Weather Balloons for the project's name... and then with titles like "JFKFC" and "Modern Warfare Is Free Marketing", a nod to hedonistic mystic Aleister Crowley's "The Book of The Law"(here retitled "The Book of The RAW"), and a faux JFK Jr. quote on his Facebook page that reads "George Bush Jr had nothing to do with my death." You get the picture.  I think his music is appealing enough without the touches of absurdity, but also do enjoy the unique twist.

12 songs, free from the artist.

Weather Balloons - Ape The Greats "to scare the spooks"

Teen Suicide - DC Snuff Film (2012)

Thanks to the reader, Dr. Bill, that sent me an email alerting me to these guys. Best I can figure is that this is a Maryland based group that way into making lo-fi music. Wouldn't call it noise rock, perhaps that nebulous term noise pop is best. Not doing the best job conveying what I mean here, however it'll be pretty immediately evident once you listen to it. Point is that its exciting and loud, reminding me of Nohopekids, Fungi Girls, and some of Cloud Nothings stuff. I'll tell ya, I'm thankful as much of this kind of noisy lo-fi music as I can get. Now that I'm working again and exerting physical labor is important (not to mention dealing with the general public), this sort of music has become a kind of crunch for me to sneak off a lean on when the bosses aren't watching. What's better than illicitly listening to rock and roll? It is done well and can't beat the price (free, naturally).

To be had here:
Teen Suicide - DC Snuff Film

Lightning Slim - We Gotta Rock Tonight (1986)

Lightning Slim (often billed Lightnin' Slim) was a blues musician born in St. Louis but ended up in Michigan working in a foundry when not playing. This is a posthumous compilation of some of his songs that cross the divide of blues and rock and roll (yet obviously blues-heavy rock). Numbers like "It Been A Long Time" and "Solider Boy Blues" are great examples of electronic blues, and others like the titular song "We Gotta Rock Tonight" show this guy knew how to play rock as well. He was recorded later than many of the bluesmen I've posted, only get on a single in 1954 and he was dead 20 years later of stomach cancer in Detroit. Nonetheless, he seems to be of relatively small fame compared to contemporaries and predecessors, but this cannot be due to lack of talent. Plus he must have one of my favorite monikers of all the blues musicians I'm familiar with.

To be had here
Lightning Slim - We Gotta Rock Tonight [320 kbps]

The Woolen Men - Pavilion (2009)

There's no debate that a tomato straight off the vine tastes monumentally better than those from the supermarket produce aisle. In the same vain, music straight from the "bedroom" carries with it something you can't get from mainstream music. There's an intimacy that escapes the refined output from major label studios... low budget recordings are more authentic. It's easier to attach humanness to it and, for that reason, it's more palpable. You can close your eyes while listening to a Guided By Voices record and almost smell the musty basement they recorded it in, because you've been in basements before. Few of us have ever been in a recording studio... who knows what one smells like? 

The Woolen Men are a prolific Portland 3-piece whose lo-fi recordings are all recorded live. They've been around for about four years and, during that time, have played over 70 shows and released 5 cassettes, most of which have been released through member Raf Spielman's well-established tape/vinyl label, Eggy Records. Each member takes turns writing songs and singing, akin to Sebadoh, but here the end product sounds like power-pop meets garage. Guided By Voices comes to mind, as does Camper Van Beethoven. In interviews the band sites the 80's-90's New Zealand band, The Clean, as being a big influence... which is evident in the immediate appeal of their songs. David Kilgour's pop prowess isn't lost on The Woolen Men, and you can be sure that the songs on this, their first tape, will get you hooked.


"Land of Laughs" and "Today" sound like power-pop classics from some band that time forgot. 

This video is for a great cut from a later release.


Music straight off the vine ...probably my favorite band in Portland right now. If you like what you hear, be sure to visit Eggy Records or their bandcamp page and toss them a few dollars. Three songwriters who share that knack for writing melodies that make you immediately nostalgic for certain times, places, and/or people.


The Woolen Men - Pavilion

Assorted Spilts

I've gotten enough split EPs in lately I've decided to make them into a post of their own instead of throwing them into the EP Grab Bag (cause even at my ideal bimonthly rate there's more than I can reasonably post). So here three release with six bands, like a bunch of double barrel shotguns staring you in the face.

To be had here:
War Party/Doom Ghost - Lo-Life Recordings: Love at First Fight vol. 1 (2012)


This spilt put out by the small label Lo-Life Recordings features two lo-fi rock acts with sinister names. The first three tracks are by War Party, whose sound is somewhere between shoegaze and pop-rock. Makes me think of another submitted act, Fun Guns, which is good for I've really been digging those cats still. Second three are from Doom Ghost and are more eclectic. Starts with a garage rock song, a British-esque rock number (think Follying Molly), and one's a shimmery lo-fi pop ditty that invokes the Beat Happening. Must admit both bands are impressive and a finely complimenting spilt.

Mother Night/Dropouts - Garbage Fire Spilt (2012)

More from the several times featured band, Mother Night, but this time with friends sharing the bill. The two bands contrast more strongly than the previous spilt. Mother Night plays their finely done math rock, especially well on "Uprising of the Beast." The Dropouts on the other hand are some intense, abrasive metal that'll packed to the gills with powerful guitar and hollering vocals. A palate cleanser for sure, yet enjoyed by even a non-metal fan such as myself.

The Top Grossing Films of 1984/Nate Henricks - Hang Out Lay Low (2012)

Another returning artist, Nate Henricks, shares more of his E6-style lo-fi psych-pop. This time with an epic track that exceeds 15 minutes. The Top Grossing Films of 1984, other than bearing a lengthy name, are a minimalistic lo-fi psych-folk that has qualities of Weird America stuff. For whatever reason the split this release into their respective bandcamp pages so to get it all you've got to go to each, so just click on each name to get there.

Nolan Strong & The Diablos - Fortune 1 & 2: Motor City Detroit Doo-Wops

So I've mentioned Nolan Strong & The Diablos before, went so far as to share the compilation tribute album of their songs. However, I didn't share their music itself so far as it took me a minute to download a suitably high bit rate version of the two part Fortune compilation containing many of their numbers. Time has come though, as I've been preaching the amazing qualities of Nolan Strong's most astounding voice to all my friends so naturally they're asking why I've not shared it yet. Now, these guys will be familiar to some surely, but for those unacquainted Nolan Strong & The Diablos were a Detroit doo-wop/R&B band active in the 50s and 60s that achieved a moderate amount of success, especially with the songs "The Wind" and "Mind Over Matter." Yet to reduce them to these examples would be unjustifiable, for there are literally over a dozen tracks that I think merit being unqualified masterpieces. I can't get enough of "Blue Moon," "Do You Remember What You Did," "Harriet, it's You" and "Yeah Baby, it's Because of You" (this last track I've been familiar with even before I knew it was theirs through a garage rock version done by the Fondas). This band is the first I've obsessed over so intensely in a long ass time, listening to them sometimes exclusively for a whole day. I've even had to stop listening before I go to work or I'll have it stuck in my head until I go to bed. If all that means nothing, chew on this supposedly true quote from Lou Reed: "If I could really sing, I'd be Nolan Strong."

To be had here:





Fortune 1: Motor City Detroit Doo-Wops












Fortune 2: Motor City Detroit Doo-Wops