Nancy - S/T CS [2013]

Punk n roll channeling the sort of AM radio sounds that probably inspired the Heartbreakers or the Dictators, or the more rockin' moments of Big Star. None of those name-drops are very accurate in describing Nancy, though. For a style that's been done to death for the past 60+ years, it amazes me that a band could come up with tunes that sink in as deep as these ones do. Really though I don't spend much time thinking about influences or the merits of 'originality' when I'm listening to this, because the songs quickly make that shit irrelevant.  And there are some serious earworms on here -- just try to remove "Midnight" or "Malt Licker" from your head once you've heard 'em. Hands down, this is one of the best releases of 2013.

Listen here, then get yerself a copy from Eat the Life (second pressing is now available!). And keep an eye out for the Nancy 7", comin' at you some time soon.

NORA & the JANITORS

Whatever kind of alienation I might experience in the bland drunken cornfield that is a Big Ten college town, I have to imagine it's orders of magnitude worse in North Dakota. That backwater state seems to be coming up more and more in the news, as cannibalistic oil conglomerates sniff around for new sources of global warmth for the rest of us to bake in. They're already burning off enough crude for the flames to be visible from space. Meanwhile, regressive politicians play off their constituents' latent rural misogyny to close the state's one abortion clinic, tugging the nation backwards with the most stringent ban in the country.

Enter Nora & the Janitors, slamming their head against a brick wall of willful ignorance in the most listenable way possible. These two tunes bounce along somewhat like Orange Juice, but instead of said band's carefree joviality, this reeks of  the bitter resignation I associate with '80s Siberian punks like GrOb or Yanka. It can't be easy to work such desperate howling -- with lines like "fell asleep, it was July // woke up, it was November // did I kill that cop? I can't remember" -- into synthed-out, guitar-driven pop songs  and have it come off as well as it does. I dunno, people will probably compare this to the Smiths, but I get the feeling that's not where Nora et al are coming from. Whatever it is, I've had "Banister" on repeat for weeks now, and have yet to tire of it. Maybe my favorite song of 2013 so far. I shouldn't even be devoting this much text to a two-song single. But this stuff really affected me, and it deserves a wider audience.

These two songs are coming out on a tape split with a Minneapolis band I can't find any information on. For now, get this single at N&tJ's bandcamp.

Kowabunga! Kid - Surf Witchery b/w Wolf Luv CS [2012]

Since I saw these wolf luvvers the other night, I thought I should share their tape with you. As you can probably tell from the cover, this was released for the occasion of All Hallow's Eve. The title track is the tale of a witch who surfs in the moonlight, set to a mid-tempo hardcore beat sure to have you stomping across the room. On the other side is a instant-classic murder ballad about a wolf who solves the problem of unrequited love by killing all the friends of his beloved. On this release K!K incorporate black metal howls into hook-laden, lo-fi pop tunes so intuitively I'm still scratching my head in confusion. Throw this on when the moon gets full and see what happens.

Listen/download here. This tape is part of a Halloween Cassingle series, released in conjunction with southern Illinois bands Lumpy & the Dumpers and Trauma Harness. All good! Lumpy's tape features a cover of fellow Bellevillers Max Load, whom you might remember from a Killed By Death Compilation (#17?). Check them all out at Spotted Race.

VA - DeKalb Brawl City [2012]

This comp arrived in my mailbox some weeks ago, and finally I can share it with you. For those of you who don't live in Illinois, DeKalb is a town at the western extreme of Chicagoland, out on the Emperor Reagan Expressway. It's isolated enough from Chicago to have grown its own punk scene in the past few years, and the label Don't Panic, It's a Distro have assembled this compilation of the town's premier DIY artists. Sounds range from the thrashpunk of Sick/Tired (featuring members of MK Ultra & Weekend Nachos) to the World Inferno-infused ska stylings of Danger Boy to the blink-and-you'll-miss-it electronic glitch of Gonzo Violence to the folkpunk of Davey Dynamite ... you get the idea. For a comp with such a variety of genres, one might be tempted to write it off as being 'all over the place.' Truth is, it works together really well. Usually you can't pay me to listen to metal, but when the tracks from Minimum Wage Assassins and Baptism came on, I actually kept listening. It's possible you won't dig every track on here, but there's definitely something for everyone.

1. Hasta Lumbago - Race Car

2. Turbo Vamps - For My Boys

3. Sick/Tired - Sky High

4. "Richardson" Richardson - Beard Option / Incestuous Scene

5. Danger Boy - Dinosaur Neil

6. The Stockyards - Dead Roses

7. Minimum Wage Assassins - Chopped Up Burnt Left for Dead

8. MZRCDXVL - Pace

9. The Rales - First World Decay

10. Nobelium 102 - Unicorn Genocide

11. Davey Dynamite (& Friends) - Up and Down (Live from College Ave)

12. Gonzo Violence - Ghetto Tactics

13. Seasonal Men's Wear - Ice Climbers

14. Baptism - Ezway

15. A - DeKalb Raw Pity

16. Sleeping Under 47 - Rain Comin'

17. Jim Crowbot - DeKalb Brawl City

DeKalb Brawl City - listen/download here
Don't Panic, It's a Distro

[p.s. - 100th post! here's to the next hundred]

XAXAXA - Siromašni i Bogati [2012]

Nothing like a new submission to knock me out of the bullshit-stress-induced apathy and malaise that has kept me from updating this space. Writing about bands is certainly a welcome break from reading about nanoscopic interactions of hydrated clay particles, but I digress.

XAXAXA (pronounced HAHAHA, for those of you who don't recognize Cyrillic characters) hail from Skopje, Macedonia and contain member(s?) of the wonderful Bernays Propaganda, whom I have unconscionably neglected to feature here (to be rectified soon). The sounds, by their own admission, resemble the likes of Dag Nasty, Hüskers, Wipers, Rites of Spring etc., with some early Fugazi thrown in. Beyond these influences XAXAXA supplies a healthy dose of power pop hooks and political frustrations both personal and external. I can see myself spinning this stuff repeatedly, though I'm only on my first listen through as I write this.

Siromašni i Bogati will be released in physical formats by Junk Cola on September 8th. You can preorder it on CD or LP at Moonlee Trade Center.

On Friday, September 7th XAXAXA embarks on a European tour, so if you're on that continent in the next couple of months, check the dates below:

07 Sep (Fri) @ CUBE, Kumanovo/Mkd* xaxaxa only!
08 Sep (Sat) @ FEST, Belgrade/Srb
09 Sep (Sun) @ ATTACK, Zagreb/Cro
11 Sep (Tue) @ GROMKA, Ljubljana/Slo
12 Sep (Wed) @ PEKARNA, Maribor/Slo
13 Sep (Thu) @ SUB, Graz/Aut
14 Sep (Fri) @ tba,Viena/Aut
15 Sep (Sat) @ BOOGIE, Trencin/Svk
16 Sep (Sun) @ BORO, Brno/Cze
18 Sep (Tue) @ CAFÉ NA PUL CESTY, Prague/Cze
19 Sep (Wed) @ SZABAD AS A,Budapest/Hun
20 Sep (Thu) @ HAFFENKLANG, Hamburg/Ger
21 Sep (Fri) @ CONNI, Dresden/Ger
22 Sep (Sat) @ ZORO fest, Leipzig/Ger* Siz only!
23 Sep (Sun) @ Koma F, Berlin/Ger
25 Sep (Tue) @ BLACK FLECK, Potsdam/Ger
27 Sep (Thu) @ Glockenbachwerkstatt, Munich/Ger
28 Sep (Fri) @ DESERT,Lausane/Swiss
29 Sep (Sat) @ tba/Swiss
30 Sep (Sun) @ tba/Swiss
02 Oct (Tue) @ L’ AQUIL, Casematte/Ita
03 Oct (Wed) @ Rietti /Ita
04 Oct (Thu) @ MKC, Koper/Slo
05 Oct (Fri) @ Metelkova, Ljubljana/Slo* xaxaxa only!
06 Oct (Sat) @ CK 13, Novi Sad/Srb

XAXAXA bandcamp
XAXAXA page on Moonlee
Napravizaedno

Lark's Tongue - 3 Songs [2011]

Lark's Tongue are another great Peoria band, and I've been banging my head to their EP's stadium-sized heavy guitar jams for a while now. I'm sure the actual stadiums they play in are more basement-sized, which can only mean that seeing these guys live would be an event to pummel the eardrums. However, the best part of this EP might be the vocal harmonies, which come down on high to lift you out of the guitar cloud. Somebody in this band must dig old Smashing Pumpkins albums, and the results are good. 

Lark's Tongue seem to keep busy enough, playing in and around Peoria, throughout central Illinois, Chicago, Milwaukee, and as far as Denver. This demo EP came out at the start of 2011, but Lark's Tongue has a few vinyl releases planned, a 7" due out August 15 which will be available at their Brass Rail gig with Planes Mistaken for Stars, the Forecast, and Angry Gods, for those of you within driving distance of Peoria. September will bring a split 12" with fellow Peorians Men of Fortune. And if that wasn't enough, Cavity Records will be releasing a split 10" with Across Tundras from Nashville later in the fall. Pay attention, these dudes have plenty for you coming up.

Lark's Tongue/Bird Dialect label site
Sophisticated and tongue-tied

Kowabunga! Kid - Kowabunga! Kid CS [2012]

Kowabunga! Kid are a crowd pleaser here in the C-U. When these guys start playing, mouths turn to smiles and feet tap maniacally. That's about the best way I can describe Kowabunga! Kid's sound; it's punk-tempo power pop with sunny words that recalls the likes of Beat Happening or twee bands. The fi is low but the sound is clear, with jangly guitars and chordful bass melodies. And they make their songs dense with things to make you like them. My favorite K!K song is probably 'Crybaby,' with its classic doo-wop keyboard line and gorgeous female vocals. If you do not feel better immediately after hearing this than before, you may just be beyond saving.

K!K put this tape out just a few weeks ago I believe. I got mine already but you can get a copy at one of a couple out-of-town shows they're doing.

Kowabunga! Kid 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

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:

J.T. IV - Cosmic Lightning [197?-1980s]

Hit play and read:

The consummate loner punk J.T. IV [John Timmis IV] lived in and around the fringes of Chicago, and made some fantastically damaged glam-folk-punk tunes, first releasing the "Waiting for the CTA" 7" in 1980. It's a localized version of the Velvets song, sung over Blitzkrieg Bop chords. The song starts out pretty cheesy-sounding but devolves into a noisy mess foretelling the rest of this compilation of super-rare singles (with originals going for over $800). My favorite thing on here is the two-song folk lament suite "In the Can / Out of the Can," which communicates alienation and pathos as can only be done by a dude who's been institutionalized. On the rest of the songs there's all sorts of what Timmis called 'destructo rock,' an umbrella under which the MC5 and the Dead Boys would probably fit. All of this stuff languished in obscurity for the whole of Timmis's life (he died in 2002 in Nowhere, PA), but was released by Drag City in 2008. It's out of print now, but when it was available it came with a full-length DVD containing performances and home-movies (trailer below). More of his stuff remains unreleased and nearly impossible to find, but I hope it gets reissued like this album. If you can track that DVD down, let me know.

J.T. IV on Drag City

That's when I realize I'm starting to peak again