mnttaB - Rocky 4​,​2 and 3 EP [2012]

Here is a submission from down in Melbourne, Australia. mnttaB (pronounce it 'Mount Tab') is a noisy synth-punk apocalypse that sounds kind of like what the cover art looks like -- i.e., a violent freak experiment of science and athletic training (and tattoos). They place special emphasis on infectious grooves, whether the drums are struck or programmed. Lots of yelling and general chaos that will make you want to jump around. This came out about two weeks ago, and is available for free on their bandcamp, along with their previous releases. All worth hearing.

There will be a European/US tour this summer, so keep an eye out for gig dates.

mnttaB bandcamp
mnttaB soundcloud

Sad Family - Separate Lives CS [2011]

Sad Family are a band I've been meaning to post for a while now, so here it is. Melodic, dynamic post-punk from Peoria, a town of about 115,000 in the middle of Illinois. This tape compiles a bunch of live performances with a few different lineups, but it plays through like a cohesive album. I haven't seen them play yet but going by these recordings I need to.

This came out on Crippled Sound, based in Urbana, Illinois.

Sad Family bandcamp
Get one of the few remaining copies at Red Dye
Crippled Sound store

The New Yorker - Living Among Winners and Losers 12" [2012]

From lastfm:

(1) The New Yorker is an American magazine that publishes reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, cartoons, poetry and fiction. Originally a weekly, the magazine is now published 47 times per year with five (usually more expansive) issues covering two-week spans.

(2) The New Yorker is a melodic punk/post-hardcore band from Northwest Indiana. 

Now that you're all sad about Raw Nerve being gone, have yourself a listen to this slice of Chicago/NW Indiana melodic hardcore. Members of this band are also in Lord Snow and Expendable Youth, and one was in Raw Nerve. Furious bass playing, harmonic feedback tunes, and drums that sound like a roll of M-80s going off. The melodic chord changes bring to mind the late Witch Hunt, or perhaps Syracuse, NY's Shoppers. Fans of those, or emotional hardcore in the vein of Rites of Spring, will dig this record. The ten songs are all about a minute-ish long and the whole thing runs through so nice you'll listen to it twice.

The New Yorker Bandcamp
Buy the records

Raw Nerve - Everything I currently have by them [2009-2011]

So the last ever Raw Nerve show is tonight. Probably going on right now, actually. I'm stuck 130 miles from Chicago, so here's my way of seeing them off. I'm just glad I did get to see them a couple of times while they were around. At the moment I've got their music on blast -- hopefully it will sufficiently irritate my wannabe-fratboy neighbors.

For those who don't know, Raw Nerve has been one of the best hardcore bands around Chicago in the past few years. Lots of throat-shredding vocals and screaming feedback and all that. The drums are fine-tuned to generate the maximum amount of crowd movement. But they're hardly by-the-book hardcore. They've laid down some interesting coversongs -- including a gut-wrenching version of X-Ray Spex's "I Am a Cliche" -- and there are a few passages, especially on the self-titled LP, that suggest something "bigger than hardcore" going on, but never for long enough for the hardcore-or-die types to complain about it. What do you want me to say? This is punk rock -- it's fast and it's loud, and it's the easiest possible music to judge for yourself.

Raw Nerve has one final release, an EP entitled Every Problem Solved, that is being released right about now. You can hear one of the songs here:

Demo Tape [2009]

Teens in Heat 7" [2009]

Raw Nerve LP [2010]

Midnight EP [2011]

Buy Midnight (on white vinyl!) from Youth Attack

Nervous Habits CS [2011]

While you're downloading all this stuff for free, you should take a look at the long list of currently-available releases over at Youth Attack. Records, tapes, tshirts, razor blades, and all variety of other good stuff can be found there.

Youth Attack releases

Brother Gruesome - Mesa Session [2012]

Brother Gruesome hail from Oklahoma City, a place I know nothing about. I saw them play here in Urbana the other night, and I really dug it. They are a guitar and drum duo who play some melodious jams that can also kick your ass. The sound has a good sense of dynamics, and they're able to get away with some actually good stretches of lyric-less music -- which a lot of people can't manage as just a two-person band. I could make comparisons to the likes of No Age and Pink Reason, or perhaps say they have a kind of a Neil Young thing going on, but that is just the impression I got from the gig. Stream and download this, and figure it out for yerself.

There are two other releases worth checking out on their bancamp. This stuff is all free to download (+pay what you want), but you can grab a tape or perhaps a 7" for cheap if you're going to be in Dallas, TX on April 20.

Brother Gruesome bandcamp

Easter - Demonstration [2011]

On Sunday Mr. J.H. Christ regains consciousness in a dank, cavernous tomb. "Oh my Dad, what happened this weekend?" he thinks. "I must have been pretty hammered for two days to go by like that. I think we had a good time on Friday ... shit." Looking through his hands and feet, he exclaims, "I really got hammered." So he crawls out of the cave on his holy hands and knees into town to find some falafel to try and keep down. His twelve friends came by later to see if he was still passed out, but he had Risen.

So happy Easter to ya, heathen. This band's name is Easter, which is why I'm posting it today. Here is a sixteen-minute demo EP that Kyle down here in Champaign made last year. It's some really good Calvin Johnson-inspired stuff. I think he recorded everything on here himself, but Easter has been playing shows around town as a full band. The sound is unapologetically poppy, but has nonetheless spurred some frenzied moshpits. Have a listen for yourself -- it's as sweet as the chocolate eggs you're scarfing down today.

Easter bandcamp

re-up'd: Les Rallizes Dénudés - Heavier Than a Death in the Family [1977]

Les Rallizes Dénudés (「裸のラリーズ」"Naked Rallizes" in Japanese) are more or less a contrarian underground rock fan's wet dream: from Japan, gigged fairly steadily for three decades, released virtually no official material (but are extensively bootlegged), contains a lot of guitar noise, had a bass player commit some kind of radical leftist plane hijacking -- I could go on but it would belabor the point. With 'backstory' like this surrounding such a reclusive band, there are many who come in with expectations that are somehow not met by the music. So here's the straight dope on this band.

The sound concept is fairly simple -- repetitive rock and doo-wop bass mantras washed over by massive guitar surges, punctuated by Takashi Mizutani's vocal yelps and stretched out to 10 minute(+) sonic endeavors. The insanity is tempered by the electric folk balladry that formed the skeleton of the music when they came together in the late 1960s. Many of the songs were originally developed alongside experimental theater/performance pieces. The vibe is a combination of kosmische punk, dub, and soaring damaged pop greatness. Think of '67-'68 Velvets guitar supernovae out at the far corners of the universe, and the cosmic feedback that such cataclysms would emit. Mizutani's guitar makes the sound of the sky falling, only to rise through the stratosphere at the next moment.

Heavier Than a Death in the Family's tracks are mostly pulled from performances in 1977 (some of them appear on the Rallizes double-disc ur-text '77 Live), one of a number of high points in the band's existence. However, possibly the best piece on here is the ten-minute "People Can Choose," recorded in 1973. It's a powerful motorik beast. Also, for those hundreds of you who downloaded the Dirty Beaches album I posted in my end of 2011 post, you might like to know that this is the stuff that guy was channeling/sampling on "A Hundred Highways."

Basically everyone from Keiji Haino, to Asahito Nanjo (High Rise, Mainliner, etc.), to Acid Mothers Temple, to anyone who claims to play 'shoegaze' takes cues from these guys. It's not so much word-of-mouth as it is word-of-amp. And for some reason, a lot of people are into it. I'm personally hooked. I wouldn't expect everyone to like this -- but for those who do, this is a golden god of Rock.

Rallizes remain largely unacknowledged, both in and outside of Japan. The only people I ever met in Japan who knew of them were record store owners, and even they weren't aware of the recent vinyl reissues being put out in the UK and US. However, with the age of the internet upon us, they are being gradually introduced to the masses, lifted from the depths of the underground and into your auspicious ears.

Les Rallizes Denudes fan site (日本語だけ)
Alleged lyrics
Total cultural assault

Dive Signals - 10,000 Tropics [2012]

Come inhale the mellowness of this submission from Orange, California. Dive Signals is the one-man drone/electronic project of Angel Ortega. This is pretty much exactly what I'd expect to manifest from a place like southern California (but outside of L.A.): the sum-total "good feeling" resulting from the warmth, wind chimes, the waves, palm trees bobbing in the breeze, and all that pleasant stuff. It also gets fairly cosmic on some of the songs. If you're into krauty, electronic drone-type stuff this will be right up your alley. I've found it also makes for great music for reading, studying, or drifting off to sleep. Whether you listen while trying to focus or zone out, it's best heard as one continuous piece. Mr. Ortega recommends headphones and so do I.

10,000 Tropics came out in digital format (free + pay what you want/can) a couple weeks ago, and a physical release is in the works. Keep an eye on Static Reason for details.

Dive Signals bandcamp
Dive Signals tumblr

Nude Beach - II [2012]

A little over a week ago I had the pleasure of seeing the Men in Chicago. It was great show, which involved my being inadvertently crowdsurfed for a good 90 seconds or so ("let me the fuck down!"). But since the Men are pretty well-hyped as of late -- get their new album, Open Your Heart, on Sacred Bones -- I'll write about their fellow New Yorker tourmates Nude Beach. They bring the melody and songwriting and punch you in the head with it. Easy-to-hear sonic influences would be Let It Be-era Replacements, Springsteen, and Big Star, and maybe a little Tom Petty (in a good way). As far as current bands go, you'll probably like these guys if you're into the Men or Kurt Vile/The War on Drugs. Sounds good right? So hit play and download this, or buy an LP.

Nude Beach bandcamp

Buy II at Katorga Works -- they've also got great records by Brown Sugar, Hoax, Rational Animals, Creem, Pop. 1280, Tenement, Crazy Spirit, and many more.

P.S. Somebody taped the Men's set, so enjoy it here:

Disciplina Kičme - Ja imam šarene oči [1985]

This is the second record by Serbian postpunks Disciplina Kičme. It continues in the psyched-out industrial dirge of the first record, and it is just as good. Not a lot of bands utilize a 'lead bass' position, but holy christ is it effective here. The synthesis of massive drum grooves and electrified bridge cable bass clamor give this band an undeniable, heavy swing. Discogs actually has DK listed as a funk/soul band, and while superficially that's way off the mark, it does sort of make sense. The riddm is king on this slab. There's also some free jazz horn wailing on here, but nothing like the sort-of-goofy-sounding Balkan brass arrangements that materialized on later DK records.

I originally heard this from a post at Puke Skywalker some years ago, but that link is dead so I put up my own file.

Ja imam šarene oči Discogs page
Novac neće doći

Disciplina Kičme - Sviđa mi se da ti ne bude prijatno [1983]

Music like this is what compels me to love the internet. It's highly unlikely I would come across something like this any other way. Disciplina Kičme formed in 1981 in Belgrade, Serbia. It sounds like an acid-fried Jimi Hendrix playing bass in a dark post-punk band, informed by the same kind of muddiness that, say, drove the Screamers to eschew guitars for dissonant synths. Yep, no guitar here either -- just bass and drums (well, plus all the pedals). But this is some of the greatest stuff I have ever heard. Fans of Wire, High Rise, and any other Serbian/Slovenian/Bosnian/other Yugoslav stuff from this period will all be at home listening to this band. They had one other great EP, which I will also post. After that, they added a bunch of horns and drum machines and stuff, which was maybe/maybe not good (definitely different) but these first couple of records are essential.

Wiki page on this album
Youth does not justify unconsciousness

Psychic Blood - Strain 7" [2011]

Psychic Blood are a group of noisy punks from Holyoke, Massachusetts. There is a lot of GUITARS on here. It sounds kind of Hüskers-ish -- right up my alley, and many of yours, I'm sure. The idea seems to be 'cram a folk melody under 30 tons of feedback,' and it sounds like flying down a highway at night with the windows down. Bands like this have a tendency to fall flat relying on the noise to cover their lack of songwriting. But that can't be said here. Thankfully, in Psychic Blood's case, the melody comes across pretty much intact, bringing with it all the cool additive chord voicings and resonance that it picked up in the feedback field. This stuff is really good.

Strain will be released as a 7" sometime soon, and Psychic Blood is in the process of finishing up their first full-length LP. In the meantime, put these guys in your hard drive and your ears. At Psychic Blood's soundcloud, you can also listen to their other two releases. All worth hearing.

Psychic Blood website
Strain

Puke Skywalker - Tripper Crust EP [2012]

Puke Skywalker is one of the first music blogs I ever started following, and is responsible for introducing me to some of the bands I love most (Can, Les Rallizes Dénudés, Grazhdanskaya Oborona, etc.). Posting dropped off for a good while there, only to return with some creations of the author himself.

This EP is a bunch of punk/hardcore/crust songs sampled and cut up to create new 'songs.' Which makes perfect sense if you think about it: bands constantly rehash and rearrange chord changes, guitar leads, vocal rhythms, and drum beats when making 'real' punk music; Puke Skywalker is different from that only technically. I'm honestly surprised I haven't heard other people doing this (I assume they're out there).

Anyway, the music is intense as fuck and samples Infest, Anal Cunt, and some other stuff I'm not really familiar with. But I gotta say, there is something incredibly gratifying about hearing blast beats at a speed that may or may not be humanly possible. Also, the artwork is sick.

Fuck the Machine

re-up'd: Disappears - Pre Language [2012]

Here's the recently-released third album from Chicago's Disappears. I remember seeing them for free at Millenium Park a few summers ago; back then they were riding one-chord guitar noise waves punctuated by tight motorik rhythms in a garage sort of style (here's a Chicago Reader article about them from the time). I really liked that whole schtick, and their first two albums, Lux and Guider, nailed down the aesthetic without making the consciously limited style become stale. Since the recording of those two, they've added Sonic Youth's Steve Shelley to their drumkit, and he has definitely helped develop Disappears' sound further.

Pre Language is quite a bit different from what came before, most obviously in the rhythm section. Mr. Shelley and bassist Damon Carruesco carve out their grooves in more subtle and diverse ways than the band did on previous records. The Johnathan Richman-telling-you-what's-up vocals haven't changed much, but no need to fix what ain't broke. The guitars are still noisily psyched-out with plenty of reverb, but the idea this time seems a little closer to Wire than Neu!. I guess that's the biggest difference I could notice on this record; some of the krauty garage scooched over to make room for post-punk.

The songwriting and production are what will get you into this. The intent behind the songs remains rooted in the idea of not getting too fancy -- nobody could ever accuse Disappears of noodling. Instead, they churn out some masterfully-crafted psych-punk jams. And they sound better than ever, thanks to recording in Sonic Youth's personal studio.

I could tell you about the indivdual songs but you should really just get them into your ear without my words diluting the experience. Here's the first song:

Disappears website/tour info
Buy Pre Language on Kranky Records [came out this week, so don't be stingy yo]
Is it real or replicate

MaoTzu - Doodles [2011]

Here is a sweet submission from Chicago. It's another one-man avant-pop project, this one by a certain Jamarcus Drake, and it's pretty crazy. Supposedly created by turning on some TV show and making music while the show is muted, the songs are meant to be partially formed by the subconscious inspiration provided by the shows' images. Or something. It doesn't really need any backstory to be appreciated -- this album's worth hearing on its own merits. The different songs all have pretty different moods, and the music ranges from weird ambience to fully-structured pop (but still kinda weird) songs. There seem to be quite a few instruments one here, all played by Mr. Drake.

The fifth song, 'The Good Ol' Jay Turser, Back in Action,' sounds like Future Days-era Can, which I've really not heard a lot of people steal from very often. Some other sounds I can hear in various parts of the album are Pavement and Sonic Youth-isms, but there is too much originality throughout (jazz breaks, unexpected vocal harmonies, drum solos, boogie piano, beatboxing, wildly optimistic-sounding guitar melodies, etc.) to dismiss this as derivative or something. I dunno, hearing this will give you a better idea than I can provide in words. Best heard in sequence, all in one go.

This album (as well as two other releases) are available for free on MaoTzu's bandcamp.

Don't take lyrics for the truth, I'm probably just sad and high