Sharing the sharing.
Portland, Oregon 3 piece, Lubec, are back with a new release, Cosmic Debt. Like, The Thrall (their 2014 debut), Lubec comes at you in full force again, with more fuzzed-out, swirling guitars and killer three-part vocal harmonies. For a taste, give the standout track “Breakup Haricut” (below) a spin. Cosmic Debt is available on cassette and digitally via Disposable America and Lubec’s Bandcamp page. Enjoy.
Lubec – Breakup Haircut from Cosmic Debt (2016)
20 tracks to hopefully get your springtime started off on the right foot!
1. The Gain – You Should Know (vinyl rip)
2. Thee Oh Sees – Bloody Water
3. Gang of Four – Glass
4. DiCaprio – Ectoslavia
5. Tomorrow’s Tulips – Hotel Nowhere
6. Karriem Riggins – Other Side of The Track
7. DJ Okawari – Bounce (feat. Talib Kweli)
8. Grandaddy – That’s What You Get For Gettin’ Outta Bed
9. Say Hi – Elouise
10. Gum Country – Whoa Oh
11. Nice Legs – Ashtrays
12. Ultramagnetic MC’s – Critical Beatdown
13. Oddisee – Digging Deep
14. Pilkington – All Around The Neighborhood
15. Easy Love – I Want You To Know
16. Molly Burch – Please Be Mine
17. No Vacation – Mind Field
18. Idles – Well Done
19. Elastica – Stutter
20. Damaged Bug – Bog Dash
According to Spotify, Monster Treasure has only 44 monthly listeners. That’s gotta be a typo, or glitch, or data breach, or whatever the right modern term is… All I can say is I’m happy to be #45. This Stockton, California, trio has been on repeat since I found out about their 2016 self-titled album (somewhat circuitously) by way of the UK label Leisure + District. It’s a potent sonic cocktail of punk, garage, pop, and shoegaze that manages to bounce between giddy and melancholy, rambunctious and introspective, without missing a beat. Have a listen and see if you don’t become the next monthly listener. Or better yet, plunk down a few bucks for the long-player in the Co-op Shop. You won’t regret it.
Toronto 4-piece Century Palm may wear their influences on their collective sleeves (bands like NEU! and Wire) but that doesn’t, in the least, diminish their take on angular pop/post-punk.
Their new album, Meet You, is a gold mine of tasty “post-punk/cold-wave” (I stole that from Sam) nuggets. Check out my favorite track “King of John St”, along with “Trapped Here” below.
Meet You belongs on your turntable, it’s a shoo-in for my Top 10 of 2017. I can’t stop spinning it. Enjoy!
[We have Meet You on shiny black vinyl in the 3hive Co-op Shop, while supplies last.]
Former Dim Peaks member, Niilo Smeds’ recently released new album Once You Were A Baby is a lo-fi, country-like album of finger-plucked ballads and haunting instrumentals that are definitely worth your time . Check out “Marker of Days” and “Toward A More Thorough Rejection” below.
[Snag Niilo Smeds’ Once You Were A Baby on shiny black vinyl in the 3hive Co-op Shop, while supplies last.]
Trementina describe their latest album as “music for lucid dreaming”. Not a bad “file under” for a band intent on evolving beyond the My Bloody Valentine tributes that drew listeners to 2014’s solid shoegazer effort Almost Reach the Sun.
New influences and elements mark each track, from the lilting Beach House sound of “Please, Let’s Go Away” to the cavernous dub of “A Place Up in the Sky”. The modulated wall of guitar and rumbling drums get traded for otherworldly atmospherics with a backbone of machine beats, clearing a bigger space for singer Vanessa Cea to fill with her angelic vocals. Given Cea’s presence it’s tempting to compare her to a coherent Robin Guthrie or playful Siouxsie Sioux but, taking the album in as a whole, her range is too wide to peg.
Compared to earlier recordings, the album feels more connected to its origins: the band’s home studio in the remote town of Valdivia, Chile (its title, 810, refers to the distance in kilometers from the capitol city of Santiago). While I’ve never been, these songs seem to evoke the moods and mindset of a place only the band knows well enough to communicate.
810 is escapist and intimate at the same time, and one of my favorites of 2017 so far.
[Buy Trementina’s 810 on shiny new vinyl in the 3hive Co-op Shop, while supplies last.]
John Dwyer might be the busiest guy in indie rock; releasing an album almost every six months with his band Thee Oh Sees while maintaining a yearly release as Damaged Bug – his weirdo, space-pop solo project.
For those familiar with Dwyer’s Damaged Bug project; his latest album, Bunker Funk, isn’t much of a departure from previous DB releases. For the uninitiated, Bunker Funk is a beat driven, otherworldly, bizarro noise-pop record that will thrill you and weird you out at the same time. Enjoy.
[We have Bunker Funk (2 x LP with etched bug on side 4) on beautiful black vinyl – in the 3hive Co-op Shop, while supplies last.]
Brisbane band Pious Faults play an eardrum-melting brand of hardcore punk that’s highly recommended for any fans of the early Dischord days. Their six-song, five-and-a-half-minute, self-titled cassette (out on Tenth Court Records) will pummel your ears and leave you wanting for more.
I’m a big fan of The Blind Shake, when I found out that Jim Blaha had another another band – Jim And The French Vanilla – I was all ears. Turns out, this is Jim’s 3rd release under the Jim And The French Vanilla moniker, his previous two releases were solo, acoustic efforts that were super limited and released on CDR. For this new album, Afraid of The House, Jim recruited his brother (also in Blind Shake) Mike Blaha, and together they’ve turned out a 26 minute beat down of blistering, scuzzy, garage rock goodness. Give “When You’re Down” and “Eye For An Eye” (below) a spin. Enjoy.
[We have Afraid of The House on beautiful black vinyl – in the 3hive Co-op Shop, while supplies last.]
Prolific singer/songwriter Ty Segall released his 9th full length album earlier this year, with the help of usual suspects (his live band) Emmett Kelly, Mikal Cronin and Charles Moothart playing behind him.
As on previous releases, Ty and his guitar are king, as he shreds through tracks like ‘Break A Guitar’, ‘The Only One’ and ‘Thank You Mr. K’. There is plenty of jangle, and pop on this bad boy as well, like on ‘Orange Color Queen’, included (below) for your downloading/listening pleasure – build a mixtape with it, I dare you.
This is Segall’s strongest effort to date, definitely worthy of your time. Enjoy.
[We have Ty Segall’s S/T new release – in the 3hive Co-op Shop, while supplies last.]
Ty Segall – Orange Color Queen from S/T (2017)