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The Living Eyes

living_eyes

The Living Eyes
Living Large
Agitated Records

The Saints have come back and are marching in, but Australia’s The Living Eyes don’t wanna be in that number, they wanna do their own number. And that number isn’t the D4, erstwhile and ersatz garage punks. This lot sure as hell know their product and they totally own it. In fact they sell it hard. While Tame Impala and Pond do the hippy dippy do, with thousand yard stares and degrees in distortion, The Living Eyes combine the song writing sass of The Clean with the bare knuckle vigour of The Hard Ons. And if King Gizzard did garage psych, this lot do garage psycho. Less likely to hit the superfuzz pedal than do a super big piddle on your shoes.

As you might imagine from the title this is a party record, and one which Andrew WK the professional party idiot might approve. Hooky as hell, it recalls compatriot’s Eddy Current Surpression Ring, and last year’s excellent Meatbodies album, and wouldn’t be out of place in San Francisco or on Castle Face, In The Red or Goner Records. But in fact they’re on Agitated Records. This is their second album but their first was put out on bandleader Billy Gardner’s own Antifade records, a man staking his claim as a Melbourne Ty Segall by also playing in bands enticingly called Ausmuteants and Wet Blankets.

Stand-out and hair on neck stand up song ‘Guilty Pleasures’ starts off like Adam & The Ants’ ‘Antmusic’, goes all Dick Dale and ends up like The Damned before dying abruptly in a brick wall of feedback. I won’t pretend that this is high-brow, in fact it’s more like deep set monobrow but it’s one furrow that I don’t mind ploughing.

Nick Hutchings

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Purling Hiss

purlinghiss_weirdonPURLING HISS
Weirdon
(Drag City)

As a band name Purling Hiss is a pleasing Spoonerism, nearly as satisfying as when Jeremy Hunt, Cultural Secretary’s name was catastrophically mispronounced by James Naughtie on Radio 4’s Today programme.

Weirdon is also a catchy if not mind boggling title for an album. You wonder what causes a weirdon, and is it something you can hide by crossing your legs. Released at the tail (no pun intended) end of last year on Drag City, this one slipped under the radar, but much like the record by Ultimate Painting – it’s a real grower. Part Archers of Loaf, part Pavement, part Tall Dwarfs, and at its gnarliest Male Bonding, this pop is not just angular it’s so wonky that the shelf holding the vinyl copy has just fallen off the wall of Ikea and squashed your meat balls.

Purling Hiss is basically Mike Polizze, and he makes sounding lop sided effortless even though you know his fretwork is spotless. Easily on a par with recent records by Mikal Cronin and Kelley Stoltz, it’s not razing trees to the ground, it’s not ripping them up, but it is making them bend back like Thunderbird 2 emerging from its Tracy Island lair ready to ping in your face. Like an international rescue from your January stupor.

Weirdon is out now on Drag City.

Nick Hutchings

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Fuzz Fucked

fuzz_fucked
Various artists
Blooming (A Fuzz-Fucked Compilation)
Fleeting Youth Records

The Texan tape label that showed us the deafening sounds of Clouder, Le Rug, Rasputin’s Secret Police and countless others are back with a compilation of mind melting noise to feed your crippling addiction. Fleeting Youth Records’ Blooming is exactly what it says on the sleeve, A Fuzz Fucked Compilation.

Blooming trawls through the darkest corners of sludgy, fuzz-pedal-fuelled, distorted garage rock noise to bring you a selection of 33 bands with 33 individual tracks of loud! Stream it below and head here to purchase and support this fiercely independent label.

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King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard

King_GizzardKing Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard
I’m In Your Mind Fuzz
Heavenly Recordings

Ok, just checking, we’ve all got over guffawing about the band’s name, right? We can just listen to the music, yeah? Cool. And you know what lies beneath the surface belies the goofiness. Roger Daltrey could see for miles and miles, but if he was standing in the Australian outback, home-ish to King Gizzard & The you know the rest, he could see even further and let me tell you, he’d (probably) be psyched by I’m In Your Mind Fuzz. King Gizzard probably couldn’t give a XXXX (ask your rowdy dad).

Like Thee Oh Sees, once this locks into a groove it doesn’t let go, like a dingo with a steak in his molars, and it doesn’t get more John Dwyer than on the song ‘Am I In Heaven?’

It’s unorthodox to have a seven piece band, but unsurprising given the intense blast of sonic thrust, particularly on the first four songs which come on like a suite. There are no gaps, just movements, and unerring ones at that, I haven’t heard such an explosive first half to a record since Fits by White Denim. The songs hang together so well they even only have slight variations in the titles – ‘I’m In Your Mind’, ‘I’m Not In Your Mind’ and ‘I’m In Your Mind Fuzz’ only held apart by a thin layer of a song named ‘Cellophane’. They also have a sense of humour as their skittish diversion into ‘The Streets of Cairo’ (otherwise known as the Snake Charmer song) demonstrates with venomous aplomb.

After the desert storm come slower, more psychedelic tropes, still with an Eastern mystic charm – think Jonathan Richman ‘Egyptian Reggae’ meets Tame Impala, except this is less tame than an impala, more like a disturbed rattler. A latecomer to this year’s garage party, I’m In Your Mind Fuzz will definitely still be on the mind come the New Year no matter how fuzzy you’re feeling.

Nick Hutchings

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OOZING WOUND

oozing_wound_earth_suckOOZING WOUND
Earth Suck
Thrill Jockey

Chicago’s Oozing Wound first rocked my world to its seismic core when I heard their fragrantly titled Split LP with Black Pus, Brian Chippendale from Lightning Bolt’s side project. Their song ‘Ganja Gremlin’ and its wry take on an anti-drugs campaign showed that these guys took life with a pinch of -ahem- salt, even though their willingness to thrash is deadly serious.

On a similar vein, ‘Hippie Speedball’, from their second proper album Earth Suck (gravity to you and me) is, in the words of singer Zack Weil, about “the finest pairing of the succulent Cannabis Sativa to the delectable Coffea Arabica. It’s about weed and coffee, dude”.

To call them self-effacing is an understatement – they use a quote from the New Yorker magazine about being “happy to be a cheap imitation of Metallica and Slayer” as their social media tagline. They are no comedy band though, their musicality is super tight and their record collections obviously expansive – I can hear elements of Dischord label bands in amongst the death metal darkness. Give it a go, not least so you can watch your friends and family’s reaction when you tell them you love Oozing Wound.

Nick Hutchings

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ODB Mixtape

old_dirty_bastard

It’s been a decade to the day since Wu Tang rapper Ol’ Dirty Bastard left the universe by way of an overdose after many years of success with his unique Shimmy Shimmy Ya. Prison spells for crack cocaine possession, shot wounds in the abdomen and aggressive lyrics aside, his legacy lives on as a killer MC who went way too early, so take some of this dope new mixtape that dropped today in homage over on the I.D site put together by NYC producer Tanner.

RIP.

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Die! Die! Die!

die!_die!_die!Die! Die! Die!
Swim
Small Town America

Having spent the best part of the last eight years on the road sharing stages with everyone from Franz Ferdinand to Wolfmother, working with the likes of Steve Albini and Kevin S. McMahon, and releasing a shed load of EP’s and albums worth of relentless noisy post-punk, Die! Die! Die! return triumphantly with their new Small Town America release, and fifth LP to date, Swim.

Straight off the mark, Die! Die! Die!’s incentives are clear. They want to make your head hurt. These three New Zealanders kick out the snottiest, riff driven wall of sound you’ll ever need, and follow suit with countless other three pieces that apply the following golden rule to music making – make more noise than any band with more people in it could ever make and more!

For better or worse, the album’s opening and title track is its barefaced forte. The unhinged guitar riffs that swirl around your ear with each chorus almost sound out of time as they’re executed with such speed and zest. It’s desperately exciting and feels as though it could fall apart at any second. Coupled with Andrew Wilson’s compelling vocal line, this opening track boasts a seamless blend of snarl and melody that will have you hitting the repeat button multiple times.

Despite favouring the crash bang wallop approach rather than crafting a serene and sensitive ditty, Die! Die! Die! are not opposed to dynamic change. Songs like ‘Don’t Try’ see the three-piece take their foot off the gas for a minute to take things to a slightly more poignant place. Similarly, ‘Angel’s “ooh’s” and “ah’s” make for an agreeable melodic passage slap bang in the middle of the record, giving you a slight breather from the ruthless fuzz.

Die! Die! Die! roam through their twelve tracks strong Swim with gusto, spitting out chorus after chorus with malicious intent, backed by a wall of thundering bass fuzz and sincere whammy bar manipulation. For those that revel in the fusion of punk energy with wall of sound electric guitars, you are in for a sure treat. The high-energy, adrenalized aural assault that Die! Die! Die! employ to nearly every track on this album will undoubtedly leave your ears exhausted and your head throbbing.

Swim is out now on Small Town America Records.

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The Xcerts

The_Xcerts_There_Is_Only_YouThe Xcerts
There Is Only You
Raygun Music

It’s been a long four years since their last release, now Aberdeen’s The Xcerts return with their third, and what looks to be their most defining and immediate record to date, There Is Only You. Revisiting both the streamlined power-pop from debut In The Cold Wind We Smile, and an exorcised version of their sophomore release Scatterbrain, a relentless touring schedule has shaped The Xcerts into a leaner, sharper three-piece, ready to (at last) step out from the shadows of their peers. Chorus after infectious chorus and melody after melody, There Is Only You has earned them the right to do just that.

Opening with the morose, string-leaden ‘2.12.12’, any expectations of a slow, delicate introduction to the album are laid to waste with ‘Live Like This’, a dense and crushing statement of intent. This song, much like the rest of There Is Only You, is heavy but never cold – guitarist Murray Macleod’s desire for the lustful and beautiful fuzz of the Smashing Pumpkins seems to have been fully realised.

As the self-proclaimed purveyors of ‘distorted-pop’, this mantle has never sounded more accurate than on the album’s lead singles, ‘Shaking In The Water’ and ‘Pop Song’. I remember hearing the former at a gig in Exeter two years ago, and that chorus line buried itself into my subconscious even then – if these aren’t already live anthems, they soon will be. In fact, just about every song has a lyrical hookworm in there somewhere, you’ll realise it when you’re mumbling a spare line a few days later.

Despite revelling in heartache and love-lost lyrically, a great buoyancy and optimism weaves through the entire album. The sorrow is disguised by the music itself – the feel-good grind of ‘Kids On Drugs’, the twinkle-rock beginnings of ‘I Don’t Care’, the upbeat bounce of ‘Kick It’ – it’s incredible what an egg-shaker and tambourine can do for a record’s mood. Only once are the happy/sad dynamics torn apart, during album-closer and title track ‘There Is Only You’. Starting out as a passionate and sorrowful lament, the album avoids a bitter endnote by reprising the hopefulness found earlier in the record. To take two contrasting parts and splice them together in this way is a profound and beautiful end to a fantastic collection of songs.

With over a decade already behind them, The Xcerts are veterans in their own right, but There Is Only You feels like a turning point – solid ground on which to build a long, impressive future. Any insecurity about their position on the rock music family tree should be a distant memory by now, for There Is Only You will surely be the album that introduces the world to The Xcerts.

Chris Bunt

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J Mascis

J_Mascis_Tied_To_A_StarJ Mascis
Tied To A Star
Sub Pop

Some were shocked when J Mascis used a synth on the opener to recent Dinosaur Jr album I Bet On Sky. Some were more surprised that the man behind the ear-bleeding band had released a (whisper it) “folky solo album”. Many were amused to see J dressed as a cult leader in the video for lead single ‘Every Morning’ from his second solo album Tied To A Star on Funny Or Die. Those people didn’t know the might of Mascis, but it’s been obvious all along to those who’ve looked close enough.

This album may be solo but it doesn’t lack punch, just like the adventures in synth didn’t turn Dinosaur into Depeche Mode. J’s always been able to craft a great song, ranging from the pop-like ‘Freak Scene’ to emo-ish ‘Out There’, it’s just that where it was once wrapped in a maelstrom of noise, here it’s more exposed, and, (without sounding wet) more beautiful. He’s also always had a sense of humour – think of that great Spike Jonze directed ‘Feel The Pain’ video with its urban golf and J’s plus fours and Pringles. And just look at that white beard which he wears so well. J was made to be a cult leader if ever I saw one.

There’s some real stand out moments on Tied To A Star, including opener ‘Me Again’ (lest we could ever forget) which displays his trademark vocal range which has aged like an oak-smoked whisky, and the aforementioned ‘Every Morning’ featuring Chan “the greatest” Marshall from Cat Power. There’s also the appealing Shangri-la-la-land of ‘Heal The Star’ and the poignant ‘Wide Awake’ – two ends of a phone call between lovers from a more innocent pre-Snapchat era. J Mascis’ star in rock music is assured, but it’s still shining brightly, even with the amp turned down below 5, and I’m still happy to hitch myself to it.

Nick Hutchings

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GOAT

GOAT_CommuneGOAT
Commune
Rocket Recordings

Fans of GOAT’s 2012 debut album will know that this band exist in higher sonic realms than to be branded as just ‘psych-rock’. World Music wasn’t your typical Pink Floyd homage, Nuggets era tribute or shrine to Roky Erickson and Commune sees these masked, mystic soothsayers still standing alone in their own sonic territory. Even more mind-bending than the first, GOAT’s sophomore album is a geographical journey. You could even liken this record to a small musical quest.

Fading into ‘Talk To God’, GOAT fuse Hindustani ragas with a vocal line that sounds like a banshee who found melody. Next thing you know they’re caught in a Zulu drumming circle. But just as the final tremolo’d chords of ‘Words’ ring out, ‘To Travel The Path Unknown’ sees GOAT veering far off the beaten track. The shimmering lead lines and rattle snake shakers scale across the desert sands of the Wild West, until ‘Goatslaves’ picks up the bongos and leads the charge deep into the jungle. Layering complex rhythms and percussion, a phased out guitar solo erupts conjuring a pandemonium of parrots to filter into the mix.

Lead single ‘Hide From The Sun’ rockets to a dangerously high sonic altitude, with penultimate track ‘Bondye’ drawing its namesake from ancient monotheistic Voodoo religion, literally translating as “the good god”. If that wasn’t enough to blow your mind, Commune’s closing track ‘Gathering of Ancient Tribes’ will. A whirlwind of an exit, boasting GOAT’s genre and culture-spanning influences. This band turn the world’s most primitive sounds into something utterly cosmic, be sure to catch them live at the Camden Roundhouse on October 3rd.

Commune is due for relase September 22nd via Rocket Recordings.