So if we thought yesterday's Lorrie Matheson 7" was niche, this one is totally weird, seeing the songwriter teaming up with the elementary school-aged son of Saved By Vinyl empresario Dawn Loucks for four short, kind of random songs. Matheson supplies short, catchy tunes and Poutanen supplies stream-of-consciousness lyrics that befit his young age. If you're thinking that sounds like a strange mix it is - but it's fun, and "Sometimes You Have To Be Alone" is in fact quite good and makes this single worth checking out.
Sunday 15 May 2022
Saturday 14 May 2022
Lorrie Matheson & the Brass Tacks/The Maykings - Tolerance. A Tribute to Grant Hart. (2005)
Get it here.
Friday 13 May 2022
Azeda Booth - Pink and Lime (2008)
Thursday 12 May 2022
¡Olé! - ...lost it all on Slepnir in the third (2008)
Alright, let's get loud for a bit. These four doomy and sludgy tracks from ¡Olé! are pretty great - and considering the band's membership, we shouldn't be surprised. With Placebo guitarist Kieran McAuley bringing the riffs and future Mares of Thrace frontperson Thérèse Lanz adding the growling, guttural vocals, this sits in a comfortable place somewhere between metal and hardcore. Oh, and we shouldn't neglect to mention the contributions of drummer turned experimental vocalist Mark Fleischhaker and punk rock bingo host Beau Barker.
Tuesday 10 May 2022
Sheglank'd Shoulders - The Final Grind (2008)
While the Motherfuckers are his bread and butter, Sheglank'd Shoulders are probably our favourite Dan Izzo band (although, to be honest, we're also quite fond of the Spastic Panthers). This band lined up Izzo's hyperactive antics with the equally hyperactive guitar of Tiemen Kuipers, the rock-solid drumming of Adam Oberg, and Todd Harkness' no-nonsense bass. These are songs to skateboard to - assuming one knows how to skate. Which, as we've covered before, we do not. Sigh.
The download (and physical copies of this single!) is over at the Sheglank'd Shoulders bandcamp.
Monday 9 May 2022
Motherfuckers - I Wanna Be a Cop... So I Can Fuck You Up! (2008)
Sunday 8 May 2022
Ex-Boyfriends - It's Christmas, Baby/ It's Your Birthday, Baby (2007)
We've waxed on and on about the brilliance of Djewel Davidson and the Ex-Boyfriends, so here's a fun single that we're almost tempted to classify as a novelty record. Side one is a fuzzed-out garage rocker, "It's Christmas, Baby," while side two... recycles the music, switches to a more classic rock and roll arrangement (featuring Kenna Burima on keys), and changes up the lyrics for "It's Your Birthday, Baby." We certainly appreciate the economy of the approach.
It's worth noting that this features Summerlad drummer Dean Martin and the Ostrich's Chris Milne on bass - while the core of Djewel and Michael Paton has stayed constant, the rhythm section has been in flux in recent years. We have NO recollection who the bassist was in this clip:
It looks like this isn't available thru the Ex-Boyfriends' bandcamp, so you can grab the download here.
Saturday 7 May 2022
Summerlad - Carnus Magi/Everone Scolds The Wolf (2006)
This Summerlad single has always struck us as a bit of an oddity in the band's discography, though it's one we certainly like as much as the rest of their releases. Unlike the shoegaze-tinged sounds of their other releases, the two tracks on here are a blast of what the kids might call punk rock. Fast, furious, and concise, this is the antithesis of their epic City of Noise LP/High Performance Rodeo piece. Maybe what we like so much about this is its direct line to early Primrods tracks like "Feraltine." And the fact that this gives us an excuse to invoke the name of the Primrods.
We're unclear if the membership on here includes guitarist Sean Grier or keyboardist Liz Collins; either way, you can grab the download here.