EP Grab Bag vol. 39

fydhws – 9 (2013)

Macedonia is about as far away from the rock epicenter as you can get, which explains this great piece of music. There is little rock here, much more of a film score using very creepy atmospheric tones and sounds. I played this while I was reading the morning paper and it provided perfect accompaniment to the horrors presented in those pages. 

RAAF – KRA! (2013)

This band’s name perfectly sums up their sound. Not sure how, but it does. This group form the Netherlands put together a short little single that takes equally from Shoegaze and foot-stomping rock anthems.  It is big, scary, and rocking. The group is playing a bunch of shows around Dutch speaking lands, and will hopefully drop a full EP on us soon. 

Velttenz – Live or Die (2013)

Jumping down to Brazil we get a fist full of garage dynamite from these lovely lads. Everything you want and nothing you don’t from your punk infused garage rock. It gets to the point, kicks in your eardrums, and tries to fuck your girlfriend. You might have to punch one of the group’s members during their set, but that’s half their charm. 

Remedies – Inanimate EP (2013)

After getting my ass kicked in, I need to take things down a notch and nurse my sore bum. I pop in Remedies and it does the trick. Chill electronic jams that could still scare your local yoga instructor away from using them as meditation tools. When the reverb soaked vocals come in to Dyybuk (the strongest track on this EP), it just about pushes everything else out of my mind. Sure, they are from Alabama, but I won’t hold that against them. If they are playing music like this in bedrooms across the state, I will have to fly in sometime.

Little Big League - ST 7 Inch (2013)

You know you are old when you see a style of music come, go, come back, fall out of fashion, and re-surge yet again. Granted, this is not my first life on this earth, but that is beside the point. Now that Emo has gone through its “hair metal” phase, the best parts of the genre have bubbled out of the underground yet again.  Case in point: Little Big League from Philadelphia.

Simple guitar arrangements are used, but it’s the restraint on the vocal end that really makes this a great little 7 inch. Michelle Zauner I not new to the party, and has performed with some other notable acts like Post Post, and puts just enough poetic flair and angst into these tracks, allowing the group to avoid the trappings of other notable Emo acts. 

Tiny Engines is putting this one out, and they have been especially strong with their release schedule as of late. Grab a copy of this before they are all stored away and cherished in adolescent record collections across the country. 

Get it here:

Little Big League – ST 7 Inch (2013)

EP Grab Bag vol. 38

Another mountain of submissions. Here are some I blasted in my car more than once.

White Lodge – Volume II: Black Moss (2013)

Straight forward, infectious garage rock from Australia is what this is. I could see my band putting out a split record with music this fun and unpretentious. “Tune for the One Armed Man” is may favorite snarled track from this short cassette, demonstrating that these kids know that infectious garage rock requires but a few minutes to capture an imagination. 

The Beers – Beer Meets World (2013)

Beer is a prerequisite to most music in my world. Everything sounds better once I have thrown a few cold ones back. The fact that not one decided to call their band beer before this Ohio group is shocking even to someone as old as I. This set is lo-fi but very clean sounding, with a hazy surf feel without any Brian Wilson harmonies to complicate things. JUST FUCKIN’ FUN.

The Crytearions – I See What it is and I am Scared (2013)

I remember reading an interview with Ian MacKaye from Minor Threat and Fugazi, and he recounted a meeting he had with Bad Brains. His band at the time (Teen Idles), was complaining that they couldn’t sound good with the gear they had. Bad Brains picked up the same set of instruments and rocked harder than Ian had ever heard. He knew that the quality of your gear was bullshit, and that great tunes could be made with the crappiest of equipment. The Crytearions are blown out riff rawk to the max; no studio time here folks. Catchy tracks that are fuzzy as hell? Well, that is a recipe for quality in my book. 

Yosa Buson and the Revolutionary Independence Movement (2013)

The name is a mouthful, but it is more tight psychedelic experiments from California’s Yosa Buson and whoever he happened to pull together to make this recorded. I have a soft spot for any freak out session recorded straight to tape with no alterations in the process, and these kids put together some very fine tracks that may have taken me to hell and back.

Vinter - Vinter II (2010)

It was unknown to me when it was released a few years back, but this gem forwarded to me last week would have surely been on my best of that year. This Swedish band crafts some of the best haunting psych-folk I have heard. This is music that captures the sensation of dark mist rolling over snow-capped mountains. Mold clinging to the dead and the living. Ancient spirits reaching out from the hills, pulling you along with the slow moving wind. This is music made for the darkness and the loneliness felt in an unknown, distant landscape. 

This is patient, frigid music that makes the most out of the lo-fi ascetic and builds without the customary crashing peaks. This is titled “Vinter II,” and while I am unsure if there ever was a “I”, this should be a fine point in introducing yourself to the group. I only hope they have new music on the horizon.

So turn out the lights, forge a fire, and let this bring the old gods into your room. 

Get it here:

Vinter - Vinter II (2010)

EP Grab Bag vol. 37

A heavy night of rockin’ and drinkin’ has taken a toll on poor old Elvis Dracula. He attempts to recover the morning after with a stack of recent submissions. 

Haunted Leather – Red Road (2013)

When your head is splitting after a night of hard spirits, you have to ask yourself, “will Baileys in my coffee help me this morning or put me back into the grave?” This morning requires just a dash. Or maybe a dash of acid…nah, I think Haunted Leather will do just fine.  These British rockers take the sludgy and slow end of the psychedelic stream, and weave together some great sludgy riffs. Available digitally, but the red vinyl looks like it may be a portal to another world. 

Nobody, Ever – This Wall is Dedicated to Liam and His Mates (2013)

I don’t know if Emo ever left completely, but it has seen a resurgence of late with new groups digging from the faster and jangly side of scene and eschewing some of the lame fashion and edifying elements.  Nobody, Ever is from the UK and they hit some of the more common beats you would be familiar with if you own a couple things from Vagrant Records. It isn’t bad, not my cup-of-tea mind you, but some adolescent teenager is just waiting to make this their favorite record to scrawl on their notebook. 

White Poppy – Drifters Gold (2013)

This is a bit more soothing now that the hangover has really kicked in. Dreamy, lush waves of synth and piano roll right over my head as this Oakland based groups cassette spins in the deck. There are a lot of folks making this kind of stuff nowadays, but I would put this a bit above a great deal of the competition. The selective use of samples, and the eerie quality some of the loops produce, makes this more than just New-Age inspired background noise. 

Pyramidal – Change of Heart (2013)

We make a leap across the pond for this next release, and a change of pace (literally). This set of instrumental hip-hop tracks from Holland plays to one of my soft spots: left-field experimental dance music. Try saying that three times quickly, hipster! But really, this is music you can dance around your room to on a moonless night while not entirely making the leap into club music territory. If you only listen to one track, check out “Night Train.”

Children of Leir – ST (2013)

It seems like this round of submissions is heavy on UK acts. Are the British responsible for my hangover? Was Lyndon LaRouche right all along? No wait…fuck that asshole.

This is a great record to finish my coffee to. The monotheistic religions of the world may not hold back the zombie apocalypse, but the primitivism embodied in this spiritual, chant-like psychedelic music may just do the trick. The vocalist lacks some of the bombast, but I get a Lungish vibe from these tracks. The first track, “Oranj,” clocks in at a measly nine and half minutes, building to a fevered pitch that only rock and roll can accomplish. Highly recommended. 

Summer/Like – The Poor Mouth (2013)

Ok, time to get off to work. Ending with a few psychedelic pop songs from this California based band is fine retreat towards the working day. Strange and off the wall, these lo-fi creations are dedicated to a fallen author that may have never gotten his dues. If you enjoy a mix of 80s synth music paired with 60s fantasy laden lyrics, you have your fit.