26.Jan.2012 Two-fer Thursday: New Jams by Terry Malts and Dirty Ghosts
The fuzz pop of San Francisco’s Terry Malts is equally indebted to the flapping, mop tops and punk rock of The Ramones and the disaffected stares of UK shoegazers. Yet, if one were to choose, pogo or pout, shout or sulk, songs like “Nauseous,” should make the choice easy — Make yourself a pit, do [...]
19.Jan.2012 Three-fer Thursday: New Jams by Cloud Nothings, and Digital Leather, and Xray Eyeballs
Have you heard Cleveland’s Cloud Nothings have a new album out next Tuesday? It was produced by Steve Albini. You may have heard of him. Maybe you read the interview where the Cloud Nothings’ Dylan Baldi dished on Albini’s Scrabble playing ways. It’s also a rockier and edgier sound for a band who’ve made their [...]
03.Aug.2011 Moving Pictures: “Black Smoke Rise” by Wodden Shjips
While “Black Smoke Rise,” isn’t big on expanding the sound of Wooden Shjips — Take one part krautrock and one part west-cost psych and blaze away — It still has some thrills. Most notably, there’s a nasty, stinging guitar riff that hits around the 2:30 mark and it shoots straight for your spine with the [...]
Moving Pictures: “Axe Man” by The People’s Temple
Let’s take a trip back to May 2011, for it was during that month I reviewed The People’s Temple debut record for Hozac Records and noted, “(On ‘Axe Man’) The Peoples Temple, incorporate elements of early 21st century garage rockers like The Strokes or Franz Ferdinand into their mix. The bass line is positively danceable, [...]
19.May.2011 “You Make the Sun Fry” by Ty Segall
Without taking too much crunch out of the mix, “You Make the Sun Fry,” finds San Francisco garage-rocker Ty Segall going mellow on us. Hooks were always rampant in his music, even as some in the biz (Myself included) were brandishing him as the next Jay Reatard, but now, with a mid-tempo groove backing him [...]
04.May.2011 “Hands” by King Tuff
King Tuff’s “Hands” isn’t a complicated jam, as big guitars, a bomping beat, and some well timed screams are just about all there is to it. Yet, with Kyle Thomas in control, and a positively electric, glam-rock vibe following him, it’s hard not to get behind this party-stomper. What are you waiting for? Get off [...]
03.May.2011 The Rockometer: Sons of Stone by The Peoples Temple
The Peoples Temple Sons of Stone Hozac Records Yes, the comparisons to artists like Spacemen 3, The Sonics, The Rolling Stones, and The Brian Jonestown Massacre are immediate on The Peoples Temple debut LP, Sons of Stone. The recording itself is thin, like a relic from the ’60s, but not without an abundance of guitar [...]
26.Apr.2011 “I Need Seed” by Thee Oh Sees
“I Need Seed,” the first preview track from Thee Oh Sees’ soon-to-be released, Castlemania, is relatively sedate when compared to much of the output of San Francisco’s John Dwyer and Thee Oh Sees. Instead of a whipped-up pop frenzy of garage rock, we get Dwyer doing laid back, psychedelic Stones, or Brian Jonestown Massacre. Not [...]
