Some reviews I recently huffed out…Andrew Earles’ Still Single ‘Best of…’ August 2012
Originally appeared @ http://still-single.tumblr.com/
Axeman – Arrive LP (Darkest Heavy)
One-man (Volahn, member of much-murmured-about Los Angeleno Black Metal/drug-enjoying collective, Black Twilight Circle) band that never deviates from the Left-Hand Path (not an Entombed reference…) and will hopefully find fans of Destroyer 666, really early-Sepultura and if it existed, a quite fidelity-challenged Absu, as they will be tickled giddy at the sounds that feverishly-claw out of this LP. Oh, throw “better-recorded Darkthrone” into that mix, too. If Fenriz hasn’t hammered his seal of approval all over this thing by the time you read this, it’s only a matter of time or circumstance (red vinyl pressing has already vamoosed). Travels cult-ish thrash w/ acoustic blink-and-miss-its and rocks high-register (aka “Blackened”_____) vocals. Song structures are stretched so that only three proper tracks are included within; giving things a proggy feel, too. We won’t be thanking God, but let’s thank something that this wasn’t done at 33 1/3 RPM. Fans of Hell’s Headbangers, NWN! Productions limited editions and the associated Crepusculo Negro Label are finding this and snapping it up – a fate it well deserves, so get this if you just read anything that would normally pull out the “need!” list. Oh, and Axeman blew brains apart at this year’s Chaos in Tejas, so the whisperings go. (http://darkestheavy.bigcartel.com)
(Andrew Earles)
The Cheebacabra – Pass the Information 2xLP (Makrosoft, LLC)
This is some Dust Brothers hanger-on who began to epitomize the just-because-everyone-can-doesn’t-mean-everyone-should maxim in 2003 by self-releasing some truly tired and horrible crap on vinyl. He even goes by the name “Cheeba” If you thought this was going to be one of those “despite the band name and everything else hitting me upside the fucking head, this is sort of good!” moments, I must ask one question: “How could the band name and little bit of already-written evidence produce a sum that even approaches that of ‘Should Exist’?” So what if it’s Mr. Cheeba and a gazillion of his friends coming together to make live-band versions of dog-shit that DJ Food wouldn’t even glance at during the lowest moment of his late-90’s, turntablists-casualty career? Mr. I Chose The Dumbest Slang For Weed As A Performing/Creative-Outlet Moniker actually has bio content with credits like “cleaning out bongs” and “editing tape together” when he spent his days undoubtedly bugging the shit out of the Dust Bros. Guess what? Given that information, this two-LP set sounds exactly like it should! Jam-band people probably laugh at the existence of Pass The Information, just like they did at Mr. Cheeba’s TWO PREVIOUS full-length vinyl releases. Godawful music that shouldn’t have been awarded the resources of a pressing plant and printing facility? Yes! It happens way outside of the Weird Vibes domain, too! On black vinyl. In an edition of 500, which is 500 too many. (http://cheebacabra.bandcamp.com)
(Andrew Earles)
Cynarae – s/t 12” EP (A389 Records)
This first popped up about a year ago but this 12” may or may not have resulted in a signing to A389 for these Pacific Northwest geniuses of … wait for it … Atmospheric Power-Violence. And the A-word is not meant to imply some lack of impact or anything else that has defined the PV genre over the last quarter-century or so. Instead, this record is really creepy and NO BULLSHIT. One entire side of this 12” is made up of a one-two punch via some of the longest PV I’ve ever heard (at least 4 to 5 minutes per track), and some of the weirdest as well, in the best and truest of creatively-unconscious senses. Who woulda thunk that running the drum track backwards, along with what may be more tracks, could produce some of the moodiest, best and most forward-thinking heavy music to reach ears in the last 24 months? This is not dunderheaded stuff, here people … this is thinking-man’s discontent, best served up in long-EP/short-LP format due to its intensity and ability to fill every sonic space with exactly what was planned. Highly recommended, but not for the power-violence curious (for whom I recommend repeated turns with T.G.’s “Hamburger Lady”) or anyone with scream/bellow/growl allergies. On what the label calls “bark/bone” vinyl, but what I call white and rusty-brown … done up all pretty and such. (http://www.a389records.com)
(Andrew Earles)
Spencey Dude and the Doodles – Night Problems LP (California Clap)
A lot better than their 7” which invaded my home in 2009 (sorry, dogg – Ed.), but that’s like saying that worrying about cancer for six months only to become convinced of silliness and hypochondria, is a lot better than worrying about it for three then having a camera go up your butthole so a doctor can tell you, out loud and in front of your mother (who has to drive your drugged ass home), that you wiped a hemorrhoid too hard with really cheap TP. Right now, I’m doing that “which hand is holding the heavier weight” gesticulation like I’m impersonating the cover art of the Metallica record I used to like a lot until its lack of bass truly hit home (way too late). Do you subscribe to the “sad is bad” school? Do you songs armed with melodies that strike the threshold between public-domain catchiness and actual hooks? Do you own more than one title on Burger Records? This is yours. Now go make an unfunny joke about Zima or comic-irony dream-catchers or some shit. (http://spenceydude.bandcamp.com)
(Andrew Earles)
Homewrecker – Worms & Dirt 12” EP (A389)
Arms-crossed, pining-for-a-parking-lot-beatdown hardcore with a Kerry King fixation. Not nearly as interesting as other A389 fare, though some of the riffs get by in that you can fit eight tiny ones in the spaces between these big ones when the band decides to get all abstract and slowed down, which is about 30% of the time. Usually, it’s dawgs bellowing/screaming/roaring (standard fare you might even hear in your sleep) for each second or two of silence punctuating the palm-jobbed chunk-a-chug. Read some blurbage comparing this to Integrity, but that’s impulsive referencing based on surface listening. Integrity is good and interesting because of the two-decades of seasoning and singular metal appropriation at hand, though it takes more than a cursory toe-dip to hear that stuff. Homewrecker is devoid of those goods, but something tells me a bad review is all it takes to get one’s home wrecked by these tough guys, rather than the drive to make a better album next time. Too bad. (http://www.a389recordings.com)
(Andrew Earles)
Lilacs & Champagne – s/t LP (Mexican Summer)
This is the “production team” from Grails (“two dudes from Grails”) and perhaps and what they are attempting here is an avant-deviation of Ashford & Simpson or Gamble & Huff by the utilization of weird ambient soundscapes and samples. Or rather, the samples sound like either of those ‘70s soft-soul entities on the other side of a mild windstorm … sometimes. Other times it locks into what the Avalanches’ Since I Left You might have sounded like if covered by high-school kids with West Nile Disease. The concept, when read about prior to putting on the record, made me think about Milk Cult (look it up if you need to), but I’m only mentioning this as a warning in case the same thing happens to any potential listeners. I’m now realizing, after coming to grips with how negative this review really is, that some of you might be into this, because in no way is the music therein painful, tedious, or even boring. My assessment of this record has everything to do with disappointment at what could have worked but doesn’t to these ears. This LP is a perfectly pleasant soundtrack to doing anything but paying attention to or trying to enjoy what is coming out of the stereo, if that makes sense. Already out of print (hey, either this found an audience or the Grails’ stamp of unit-moving action worked) but used copies are around for not-so-out-of-print prices. (http://www.mexicansummer.com)
(Andrew Earles)
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