Faves of 2012 – Tevs #03

List time folks!  No countdowns or limits, just rad musical thangs that kicked buns this year.  Away we go! 

Longer:

Digital Leather ‘Modern Problems’ LP- P. Trash/FDH

Guided By Voices ‘Let’s Go Eat The Factory’ LP- GBV Inc.

The Atom Age ‘The Hottest Thing That’s Cool’ LP- Asian Man

Gentleman Jesse & His Men ‘Leaving Atlanta’ LP- Douchemaster

White Wires ‘III’ LP- Dirtnap

Ex-Cult S/T LP- Goner

E.D. Sedgwick ‘We Wear White’ LP- Dischord

Legendary Wings ‘Making Paper Roses’ LP- Dirtnap

Retisonic ‘Robots Fucking’ LP- Arctic Rodeo

Mrs. Magician ‘Strange Heaven’ LP- Swami

Royal Headache S/T LP- What’s Your Rupture?/R.I.P. Society

Ty Segall ‘Twins’ LP- Drag City

Shorter:

Yacht Club ‘Nonavera’ Digital Mixtape

Warm Soda ‘Reaction b/w In Another World’ 7”- Southpaw

The Suicide Notes ‘Suicide Note b/w Beach Song’ 7”- Hovercraft

The Ballantynes ‘Misery’ 7”- La-Ti-Da

Jacco Gardner ‘Where Will You Go b/w Summer’s Game’ 7”- Trouble In Mind

Young Guv & The Scuzz ‘A Love Too Strong’ 12” EP- Southpaw

The Resonars ‘Long Long Thoughts’ 7” EP- Trouble In Mind

Cops ‘Premonitions’ 7” EP- Rob’s House

Business:

Total Punk Records- Hottest Singles Series

Hosehead Records- Coolest Cassette Label

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The Resonars= Mind Blowing!

Ex-Cult S/T LP – Brand Spankin’ #11

Released November 2012

The self-titled debut album from Ex-Cult (FKA Sex Cult) is, quite simply, a ripper.  I’ve heard them referred to as “future punk” and that’s a pretty fitting description.  Plus it sounds cool as shit.  Ex-Cult blasts fuzzy, angular and cave-person-like tunes without over indulging in one particular style.  There’s urgency to the delivery and it comes with just a touch of pop to hold the fun-yet-ragged edges together.  Produced by Ty Segall and released by Goner Records, this debut delivers instant gratification while leaving more to discover upon repeated listens.  For you Goner fans out there, Ex-Cult could easily wind up being the flagship band of their future.  Either way, Ex-Cult is here and you better hop on before you get left in their space dust.

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E.D. Sedgwick ‘We Wear White’ LP – Brand Spankin’ #10

Released November 2012

The musical trajectory that is E.D. Sedgwick is a nice little ride.  In the beginning, 1999 to be exact, the act was dubbed Edie Sedgwick and featured constant mainstay Justin Moyer along with collaborator Ryan Hicks doing jazzy post-punk tunes about celebrities.  Some time went by and Mr. Moyer picked back up solo in 2004 with more songs about celebrities in a sparse-dancey-electronic fashion.  In 2011 Justin picked up a band, stopped singing about celebrities and started adding more rock elements back into the fold.  That brings us to ‘We Wear White’, the latest effort from the newly spelled E.D. Sedgwick, courtesy of the always-interesting Dischord Records.  The album features Moyer (who goes by E.D. Sedgwick btw) on guitar/vox, JosaFeen Wells on vox, Kristina Buddenhagen on bass/vox and Jess Matthews on drums.  ‘We Wear White’ is a fantastic album of art and aesthetic.  Angular and soulful, the band perfectly executes a unique sound that is as full of attitude as it is memorable hooks.  Tight rhythms, call-and-response vocals, clever lyrics and jagged guitar propel the album from start to finish.  Everything that E.D. Sedgwick hinted it could be over the years has now come to fruition.  If you’re looking for something fresh and creative, look no further than ‘We Wear White’.

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Link Wray And The Raymen ‘Big City After Dark’ 2 X 7” – Reissue! #02

Released November 2012

Until recently, I was familiar with Link Wray mostly by reputation and the song ‘Rumble’.  He was one of those guys on my list to get more acquainted with.  Well as fortune would have it, I grabbed the ‘Big City After Dark’ double 45 reissue from Sundazed during the latest Record Store Day event.  Credited to Link Wray And The Raymen (his brothers and friends), this set features two rare singles originally released by the Mala label in 1962.  I was pretty excited to open up the mini-gatefold jacket and throw the first side on the turntable.  What came out of the speakers next was mind melting!   Featuring overdriven guitar bends with heavy protopunk leanings and backed by a tight classic rock ‘n’ roll rhythm section, ‘Big City After Dark’ sounds like what many of the latest wave of garage rockers have been striving for.  The innovation and energy of Link’s guitar playing jumps right out and doesn’t let up through the entire set of tunes.  ‘Hold It’ is even more aggressive than ‘Big City After Dark’ and ‘Dance Party Pts. 1 & 2’ sound like awesome ragers.  Link sings a bit on those ones too.  I’m not typically into instrumentals in the rock realm, but Link Wray transcends the notion of an “instrumental” and blasts it to pieces.  Link deserves even more credit than he already gets and I’m looking forward to searching for more great cuts from him and his fabulous Raymen.

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Tune courtesy of Surfadelic

Bikini Kill 12” EP – Reissue! #01

Released November 2012

The first Bikini Kill 12” EP just got the 20^th Anniversary royal reissue treatment.  Originally released in 1992 by Kill Rock Stars, this EP now comes to us courtesy of the band’s own Bikini Kill Records.  Bikini Kill was punk, fierce, smart and funny.  They demanded “revolution girl style now!” and they got it.  The positive effects of the Riot Grrrl movement are still being felt 20 years later.  What’s more, the core ethos of the movement took on a life of it’s own after it’s first incarnation and stretched out in many different directions.  The female-centric counter culture it inspired is still present in everything from music and art (think Denver’s own Titwrench Fest) to small businesses and beyond.  Now back to the record itself.  As soon as the needle dropped on the first track and that famous quote faded into the pummeling riff that begins ‘Double Dare Ya’ I was re-hooked.  The songs on this record are immediate and raw and they still hold up today.  Their best music was yet to come, but this was a statement record.  Kathleen, Tobi, Kathi and Billy were announcing themselves and letting anyone who listened know they had something to say.  The rest is pretty much history.  The reissue includes a new fanzine poster and some cool liner notes.   Although the Reissue! category of this blog was formulated to cover obscurities, this EP is most widely know as the first half of ‘The CD Version Of The First Two Records’, so having it rereleased in the original format is close enough.  I’m looking forward to more vinyl reissues from Bikini Kill, especially since CD’s suck my left one.  Wink!

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Ty Segall “Twins” LP – Brand Spankin’ #09

Released October 2012

SF, CA’s Ty Segall consistently cranks out great tunes.  Whether on his own, with his band or with collaborators the guy is a rock machine.  While the quantity of his output is impressive, the quantity pales in comparison to its quality.  Enter “Twins”, Ty’s latest album recently released by Drag City.  Mind= Blown!  I’m pretty sure this is his best album.  It is pure blown-out, psych-fuzz, garage-punk genius.  “Twins” now takes the top spot of my fave albums of the year and it’s gonna take a mighty effort for it to be displaced.  Yes, it’s that good.  There’s not much else to say.  Go have a listen.  If you don’t agree, listen again!

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