NOMEANSNO The Day Everything Became Nothing / Small Parts Isolated And Destroyed (Alternative Tentacles) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

NOMEANSNO Wrong (Alternative Tentacles) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

NOMEANSNO Wrong (Wrong Records) cd 13.98
When reviewing a record you've had and treasured and loved for years, or decades, the pressure to do it justice is immense, so much so, that it seems almost impossible. But once in a while you gotta try. So here we go. Two of the MOST essential punk rock / post punk records ever, recently remastered and reissued, which gives us the opportunity to not only gush about records that have been on constant rotation since we were in our early twenties, records that totally changed the way we listened to music, but to also hopefully turn on the few folks who may have missed out, or who may not have even been alive when these records came out.
Nomeansno, from Canada, most folks know the name, but not everyone has actually heard these guys, but almost every single person we know who has, was never the same. The sound is super rhythmic and mathy, punk rock, but totally proggy as well, the focal point is on the bass and drums, manned by two brothers, Rob and John Wright, one of, if not THEE, tightest rhythm sections ever, the bass lines thick and throbbing and distorted, the drums chaotic but so tight and precise, the guitar, handled by a member who always remained unnamed - "Someone (but we're not sure who)" credited with "other things" on one record, or "none of your fucking business" on another - which is ironic cuz the guitar playing besides being BAD ASS was also so integral to the sound, they were a punk rock band after all. And the vocals, super high in the mix, dramatic, howled, crooned and yelped, melodic but raw and rough, sometimes sort of spoken, but always sharp tongued, spewing some of the best and funniest and intense lyrics. And as always, none of that would mean shit if the songs weren't great, and these songs are GREAT, so hooky and heavy and weird, a testament to these guys is that even the most obtuse tangled whatthefuck jam will stay lodged in your head forever.
Then there's the funky aspect, which we had planned to discuss at length, but listening to this again, the funkiness is implied, subtle, based entirely on the fact that almost all the songs are bass driven, and some are weirdly stripped down to just bass and drums and vocals, but this is not bullshit funky, this is elements of funk used the way they were meant to be, mixed into a churning, super complex, angular, jagged set of songs that manage to be both heavy and crushing and confusionally complex while still being poppy and hook filled and so goddamn catchy.
We tried to pick just one of these reissues to focus on, but eventually could only get it down to two, so both seemed like ideal candidates for Record Of The Week, especially considering that at least half of the folks here freaked the fuck out when we got these back in. We'll talk about each separately, but we have to suggest just buying both, you won't regret it, they're equally classic and timeless and heavy and catchy and far out and freaking awesome!
Wrong, from 1989, was the follow up to the life changing Small Parts album and The Day Everything 12" from the year before, and guess what, it too was life changing, managing to take the sounds and songs from the records before and make them heavier, more complex, more intense. The opener "It's Catching Up" is just so heavy and intense and brutal, the bass about as thick and distorted as it can get and still nail the flurry of rapid fire notes, the drums are devastating, not sure why this guy wasn't a drum god to all the aspiring drummers out there (although he was to Andee, who did get his autograph way back in the day), the guitars sharp and jagged, all wrapped around an insanely catchy hook, and somehow they manage to make it sound punk as fuck at the same time. "The Tower" might be our favorite here (amongst a record full of favorites), with its dirgey Black Flag vibe, more impossibly thick and distorted bass, and a weird staccato chorus, with one of the strangest and most anguished vocal parts ever, but so hooky, which leads right into a killer tangle of head spinning mathiness. Another favorite (like we said, they ALL rule), is "Rags And Bones", with easily one of the best bass lines ever, and some tangled complex drumming to go with it, some bizarre lyrics and a total pure pop chorus, of course doused in distortion and punked up a bit. "Brainless Wonder" is impossibly dense and heavy, like a skipping Black Flag record, before it slips into something a bit more groovy. "Two Lips, Two Lungs And One Tongue" is a short sharp blast of weird vocal / instrumental tangle, with the band locked into the repeated titular phrase. And then there's "All Lies" which is sort of the "Real Love" of Wrong, an epic punk rock prog rock sort-of-ballad, long sprawling moody breakdowns set between dense tribal math rock workouts, moving and emotional and dramatic, all building slowly to a killer super catchy stop start chorus.
Phew, we're just about gushed out. If you can't tell, we love this record A LOT, and The Day Everything Became Isolated And Destroyed, both are easily all time favorites, desert island discs for you list making nerds, essential listening for anyone into punk rock, post punk, pop punk, heaviness, hookiness, great music... as we were listening to this again, Allan asked me why bands weren't good anymore, and I couldn't really think of an answer. Absolutely and totally and utterly recommended.
This remastered reissued has two bonus tracks from a 7" released by Mr Wrong, aka NMN bassist Rob Wright, which sound a whole lot like the record proper!
MPEG Stream: "It's Catching Up"
MPEG Stream: "The Tower"
MPEG Stream: "All Lies"
MPEG Stream: "Rags And Bones"
MPEG Stream: "Two Lips, Two Lungs And One Tongue"

NORA Loser's Intuition (Trustkill) cd 13.98
This is easily one of the best new metal-core bands we've heard. We had a split cd of theirs a while back, but three songs wasn't nearly enough to realise what these guys were truly capable of. Certainly worthy heirs to the Coalesce/Converge/Deadguy throne. Super heavy and well produced. They actually kind of sound like a heavy metal Jesus Lizard. Distorted bass with lots of bass-and-drums breakdowns. Completely catchy and melodic rock n' roll parts nestled between bellowing, half-time chugging METAL. So good.
RealAudio clip: "My Bloody Clownsuit"
RealAudio clip: "Wave Goodbye"

NORMA JEAN O God, The Aftermath (Solid State) cd 14.98

NOTEKILLERS (1977-1981) (Ecstatic Peace) cd 14.98
Thank you, Thurston! This cd of material by an obscure late '70s no-wave instrumental punk ouftit from Philly called the Notekillers comes to us via Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace label, and it was Thurston's enthusiasm for the lone 1978 7" single by the band, specifically its A-side, "The Zipper", that eventually resulted in this compact disc release, and now that we've heard it too we can understand why he's such a fan! You'll find the "The Zipper" and its B-side "Clock Wise" and 13 more unreleased tracks from the band's reel-to-reel and cassette archives here, two of 'em studio tracks intended for their aborted second 7" release and the rest live/rehearsal/demo material. All of them have an aggro, alienated, avant-punk energy that reminds us of elements of a host of different bands from Pavement to Polvo to Stinking Lizaveta to Simply Saucer... The Notekillers were definitely forging their own sonic path and it's cool that finally the world gets to hear some of what they put down on tape. The liner notes from guitarist David First/Hirsch talk about how the band was all about pushing the limits -- *their* limits anyways -- and as difficult as that may have been for them back then, that struggle is what kept a bunch of musical weirdos in a Philadelphia basement going. Yet "only if we failed would we succeed" he thought. Well, now they've sort of done both and I hope they feel good about it, 'cause they should. This Notekillers record is one of those lost, buried "historical" releases that has been disinterred with a still-beating heart.
MPEG Stream: "The Zipper"
MPEG Stream: "Ricochet"

NOXAGT The Iron Point (Load) cd 13.98
Second Load release from this dark and weird instrumental band from Norway featuring our pal Kjetil Brandsdal, whom the more 'experimental' among you might know as a solo drone musician. But playing bass and baritone guitar in Noxagt he makes a much more *rock* racket. Actually Noxagt are hard to pin down, surely fitting in among the other Load label misfits while doing something unlike anyone else. That's because their sound has evolved from the short sharp 'Nor Wave' punk fuckery of their earlier releases into something...folky. But very heavy. The instrumentation is key. Along with Kjetil's bass, and the drumming of Jan Kyvik, what stands out is the viola (and violin and piano) played by Nils Erga. The Iron Point is an album his of cyclic string drones wedded to crunching, spronging bass and sometimes almost black metallish blasting drums. With sudden prog-rock changes, punk/metal urgency, and the aforementioned folkish melody...all instrumental except for the vocals of guest Hagbard Heien on traditional tune "Kling No Klokka" which is a fine surprise. Speaking of surprises, the disc concludes with Noxagt covering "Regions of May" by Tom Rapp of Pearls Before Swine! Gentle yet bomastic, it's lighter than what's come before yet totally fits in on an album that overall we think is Noxagt's best yet, wherein they've really developed into something more melodic, more 'folky' yet even heavier and more focussed than before. And, continuing a tradition begun on their last album, there's smart ass liner notes courtesy of noted British smart ass Stefan Jaworzyn (ex-Skullflower). Also, again production by noted producer Billy Anderson, who knows as much as anyone about heaviness. (Nice cover/design by the way -- you can tell Kjetil is a big record collector.)
MPEG Stream: "Acasta Gneiss"
MPEG Stream: "Svartevatn"

NOXAGT The Iron Point (Load) lp 10.98
Second Load release from this dark and weird instrumental band from Norway featuring our pal Kjetil Brandsdal, whom the more 'experimental' among you might know as a solo drone musician. But playing bass and baritone guitar in Noxagt he makes a much more *rock* racket. Actually Noxagt are hard to pin down, surely fitting in among the other Load label misfits while doing something unlike anyone else. That's because their sound has evolved from the short sharp 'Nor Wave' punk fuckery of their earlier releases into something...folky. But very heavy. The instrumentation is key. Along with Kjetil's bass, and the drumming of Jan Kyvik, what stands out is the viola (and violin and piano) played by Nils Erga. The Iron Point is an album of his cyclic string drones wedded to crunching, spronging bass and sometimes almost black metallish blasting drums. With sudden prog-rock changes, punk/metal urgency, and the aforementioned folkish melody...all instrumental except for the vocals of guest Hagbard Heien on traditional tune "Kling No Klokka" which is a fine surprise. Speaking of surprises, the disc concludes with Noxagt covering "Regions of May" by Tom Rapp of Pearls Before Swine! Gentle yet bomastic, it's lighter than what's come before yet totally fits in on an album that overall we think is Noxagt's best yet, wherein they've really developed into something more melodic, more 'folky' yet even heavier and more focussed than before. And, continuing a tradition begun on their last album, there's smart ass liner notes courtesy of noted British smart ass Stefan Jaworzyn (ex-Skullflower). Also, again production by noted producer Billy Anderson, who knows as much as anyone about heaviness. (Nice cover/design by the way -- you can tell Kjetil is a big record collector.)
MPEG Stream: "Acasta Gneiss"
MPEG Stream: "Svartevatn"

NUIT NOIRE Fantomatic Plentitude (Armageddon) cd 9.98
Faerical blasting punk rocker!!! France's new wave black crust dynamic duo Nuit Noire. We went nuts for this band the first time we heard them, expecting some sort of grim black buzz, seeing as they were signed to a black metal label, were distributed by black metal distros, etc., but instead we had our blocks knocked totally off, by their furious short sharp bursts of super tweaked angular riffing, flurries of chaotic drumming, and some of the most tweaked damaged whiny yelpingly brilliant vocals ever! All tangled up into a confusional blackened aggro metallic pop, part punk rock, part grim buzz, part no wave, part new wave.
In the past we described Nuit Noire as sounding like a black metal Rudimentary Peni, but we're also hearing plenty of Christian Death, Joy Division, Crass and weirdly enough, on this new one more than ever, the Toy Dolls, mostly due to vocalist Tenebras' voice which is a dead ringer for the Toy Dolls' Olga.
This new disc is half new tracks, half older classics recorded live. All of em fantastic of course. The new tracks are even shorter and poppier and more fucked up than before. Take the second track "I Am A Fairy", a crusty gloomy jam, with a killer main riff, streaks of high end new wave squiggle, and the vocals, just repeating the title over and over and over, super fast, then drawn out and crooned, while the music beneath shifts from hooky and poppy to blasting and buzzing. Or how about "I Love You", another furious eighties crust punk jam, but with some black buzz spread over the top, and a totally strange, but incredibly catchy vocal line, sung sort of like "I love yooooooooooooo, I love yooooooooooooou". The rest of the tracks range from loping eighties grooves to washed out dreamy murk to chaotic old school punk rock to full on lo-fi grim black metal, usually all in the same song.
It's really hard to describe the sound, we're pretty surprised this stuff appeals to black metallers at all, there is some buzz and some serious riffing, but it's way more punk, and way more new wave, and the vocals are so strange and high and hysterical and freaked out and over the top, they sort of define Nuit Noire's sound, and are definitely the element that will make it or break it for you.
The live tracks are awesome. And if we didn't know it would have been hard pressed to even realize they were live. Almost the exact sound quality (maybe they're just live in the studio, but then why re-record old songs?) heavy and buzzy and furious and catchy as fuck. Even a wicked version of their "Faeries Of Paper" a song we proclaimed to be one of "the best songs EVER" with one of the greatest catchiest weirdest riffs we've ever heard. A few of the other live tracks we hadn't heard before and are just as good, if not even better than the songs we already loved.
Need more reasons to love these guys? Howabout the cool pencil drawings of the band members, one depicted as a huge monster-armed drumming demon, head cloaked in shadow, the other a faerie, in tunic and cape, big eyes and pointed ears, mic cable wrapped around a broadsword stuck in the ground. Or howabout the photo on the back of the cd, a very skinny, nearly naked band member, clad in a loin cloth and a cape, holding a guitar aloft in one hand, a sword in the other, cape spread out like the wings of a bat.
C'mon!!! How much more perfect can a band be? So goddamn recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Les Fees Volent Dans La Nuit"
MPEG Stream: "I Am A Fairy"
MPEG Stream: "Fantomatic Plentitude"
MPEG Stream: "Nuit Blanche"

NUIT NOIRE Infantile Espieglery (Todestrieb) cd 12.98
We love this band so much. We were never able to get enough of their last record to list, but now that the new one is here, it's time to finally share our crazy love of this band with the loyal AQ faithful.
Ostensibly a black metal band, but sonically anything but. Imagine a super lo-fi, sort of new wave, gothy crusty punk rock band but with buzzing insectoid riffing and occasional furious blast beats. Sort of like a black metal Rudimentary Peni, with a vocalist who sounds a bit like a cross between Roz Williams of Christian Death and Mark E. Smith from the Fall. Whiney and snotty, super dramatic and over the top, even at their most buzzing and black, the vocals kick in and the band is transformed back into some crusty black new wave weirdness. And the guitar parts are super weird, strange harmonies, a little new wave, but a little NO wave as well. But the band themselves don't consider their music to be black metal anyway. A quick look at their website reveals the fact that they consider themselves "faerical blasting punk!" Just check out the note from the band on their website:
"Nuit Noire is the only faerical blasting punk band in the world. The music comes directly from the depths of the night, where the fairies stay hidden from the humans. We love them and they love us."
Woah. Just one more reason to love these guys. Weird angular guitars, fucked up arrangements, damaged new wave riffing, some black blasts, a demonic shriek here and there, all that and faeries too!!
MPEG Stream: "Creatures Of The Night"
MPEG Stream: "Are You Ready For The Night?"
MPEG Stream: "Turn On Your Light"
MPEG Stream: "Enfant Spectre"

NUIT NOIRE / HIS ELECTRO BLUE VOICE split (Avant!) 7" 7.98
The return of our favorite masters of faerical blasting punk! Who else could it be but Nuit Noire? We just raved about their most recent disc, the brilliantly titled Fantomatic Plentitude, and were already hankering for more when what should show up, but MORE!
This split 7" matches up Nuit Noire with Italian noisy new wavers His Electro Blue Voice, who end up being a perfect match for the Nuit Noire.
What can we say about Nuit Noire that we haven't said before. A blackened buzz wrapped around spiky crusty new wave-d punk rock. A blackened Rudimentary Peni. The guitars kinetic and buzzy, the drums rapid fire and frenetic, the vocals a wild caterwaul. These two new tracks are awesome. Crusty and catchy, lo-fi and super rocking. The opener is mostly instrumental, an epic extended intro, leading up to what could very well be the NN theme song: "Faerie Punk", ultra catchy and with some of the best lyrics EVER:
Stardust all around the drums
Stardust all around the guitar
Stardust blown away from the high speakers
Stardust everywhere on stage
Faerie punk in the moonlight
Faerie punk in the starlight
Faerie punk far in the night
Faerie punk on stage tonight
Hell yeah! The lyrics just reaffirm what the music is already saying. Wild forest faerie freaked out black new wave crusty punk pop madness.
So who could possible share a split with these guys? His Electro Blue Voice are up to the challenge, and are a pretty good match, their moody bass heavy new wave post punk, perfectly balancing NN's high end howl. Their sound is very 45 Grave, like some band you might have seen play the Scream in LA in 1985. Murky Joy Division riffing, wrapped around lugubrious Cure rhythms, the vocals a throaty gothy croon, the first track playing out lie a more metal Smiths, the second, some sort of dark doleful surf rock, with a Dick Dale riff stretched across and expanse of moody melancholia.

NULL AND VOID Possibilities (Bunkerpop) lp 16.98
Usually when the description of a band is too good to be true, it actually is. We can't even count the times we've gotten descriptions of bands to check out that read like "Nirvana, with John Bonham behind the kit, playing ELP style prog epics, but in the style of Sabbath, all remixed by the Caretaker", okay, that actually does sound amazing, but our point exactly, that's not even remotely possible, and if it is, we promise to listen to nothing else forever! But in most cases, that hyperbolic and entirely inaccurate description ends up being essentially worthless, as not a single part of the description, applies to any element of the music. So when this long lost slab of classic California post punk was described to us as Chrome's Half Machine Lip Moves meets Brian Eno's Here Come The Warm Jets, we were most definitely suspicious, and skeptical. And when we threw it on, we were even more confused, the record opening with a track called "Bach Variations", which is in fact Bach, but played in the midst of a wild thunderstorm, pelted with crashes of thunder, wreathed in the sound of rainfall, lots of tape hiss and sonic detritus, it's weird and not a little bit Caretaker-y, and then "Japanese Forest" comes in, and while we're no less confused, we're into this big time. No surprise that this had been making the blog rounds for ages. Apparently this was Null & Void's third record, and was rejected at the time for being too weird, which is tragic, cuz it's so good, but they were right, it IS weird, seriously warped and gloriously fucked up. "Japanese Forest", adds a distinctly Asian melody, to moaning slo-mo synth throbs, and a laconic laid back vocal, the result is haunting and beautiful and darkly poppy. But then as soon as "When I Fell Down" started up, that whole Chrome/Eno thing didn't seem so far fetched, we'd maybe throw in some Bowie as well. Glammy and swaggery, fractured and lo-fi, total warts and all recording, streaks of feedback, sudden stop/starts, all adding a distinctive whatthefuck factor to the proceedings.
"Einstein's Theory Of Relativity, No. 2" is another creepy industrial sci-fi glam ballad, that has a total Eno / Chrome / Bowie vibe, and is laced with awesomely weird bursts of white noise static, disrupting an otherwise sweet slab of garage glam swagger, which then slows down into a woozy washed out psychedelic echo drenched dirge, before big booming drums start things up again.
Check out "Our New Life", which might be the 'hit' here, way better produced, and with a killer pounding new wave / punk rock vibe, with swirling synths and fuzzed out bass, the song splintering into a weird sing-songy sort-of-chorus part way through, the buzzing synths mirroring the vox, before the whole thing explodes into a serious chunk of blown out Warm Jets style blissout, before a final bit of drum driven glam rock croon. So twisted, and so fucking great!
And it never lets up, the rest of the record flitting from classic glammy weirdo pop, to groovy, almost funky grooviness, to almost Suicide like drone-pop, to free form synth freakouts, to violin flecked classic rock super jams, rife with progged out organs, tangled psych guitars, and shredding leads, before finishing off with the three part songsuite "A Dream Wah!", which begins as a piano ballad, before splintering into some sort of avant glam-psych breakdown, before shifting into a garage rock shuffle, all soft focus jam band groove, which quickly devolves into a dark sprawl of ominous crooning, only to blossom into one more glamrock stomp, before fading into a weird collaged outro, sort of bookending the rainstorm outro, all tape hiss, and found sounds, murky melodies, and mysterious voices, disappearing into the background of hiss and hum.
Reissue of the year hands down!!! Absolutely essential and totally recommended!!!
MPEG Stream: "Bach Variations"
MPEG Stream: "Japanese Forest"
MPEG Stream: "Einstein's Theory Of Relativity, No. 2"
MPEG Stream: "The Motorcycle Song"
MPEG Stream: "The Philosophy Song"

OBITS I Blame You (Sub Pop) cd 13.98
We know, we know, it's too much to hope for, and it's never gonna happen, but somehow we just can't seem to stop thinking about it, and we're sure these guys are sick of hearing it too, and will no doubt be annoyed that it gets mentioned in ANOTHER review, but heck, that's what happens when your frontman fronted one of the greatest post punk bands of all time! And yeah, we're talking about a Drive Like Jehu reunion, and yeah, we called them post punk, cuz what else do you call a band like that, a band that is essentially sounds like no one else. But whatever, we're wiping it from our minds. Then though, there's Hot Snakes to contend with Rick From Jehu's post-Jehu and pre-Obits combo, who were nothing like Jehu, but instead were a raw, sloppy, garage-y ball of super rocking fire. Which brings us to the Obits, who on first listen do in fact sound quite a bit like the Hot Snakes, due in no small part to the fact that it's Rick Froberg (or as Rick From Jehu as he's still know to many) singing and playing guitar, but this is altogether something new, a bit more refined and perhaps, a little like an older wiser Hot Snakes maybe, where the Hot Snakes were all pent up aggression, and wild thrashing garage stomp, the Obits traffic in something much more measured, but no less rocking. Still garage-y and super stomping, but tighter, more varied. Froberg sings as much as he howls and wails, the guitars here don't just crash and clang, they shimmer and twang, there's definitely a surf element, the drums crisp and tight, the guitars spidery and crystalline more than crunchy and heavy. These guys played at our SXSW showcase and were awesome, so kick ass and energetic, and so so tight, taking that garage rock thing they have down pat and adding in all sorts of unlikely -other- stuff, some Beefheart bits, plenty of Mudhoney rawk swagger, but all filtered through the Obits unique take on rock and roll, and that's basically what this is, rock and roll, not punk rock, not post punk, not post rock. Just rock, or okay, maybe RAWK.
Needless to say, if you're a fan of any of Froberg's bands, especially Hot Snakes, this will definitely hit the spot. But even if you don't know what the hell we're talking about, Jehu this, Hot Snakes that, as long as you're into bad ass rock and roll, groovy garage, indie jangle, or any combination thereof, you should definitely check these guys out.
Cool packaging too (Froberg's an incredible artist as well btw!), all vintage and old comic book looking, the cd is in a cool Japanese style mini gatefold jacket with an equally cool (sort of creepy) printed inner sleeve, the lp similarly housed...
MPEG Stream: "Widow Of My Dreams"
MPEG Stream: "Pine On"
MPEG Stream: "Fake Kinkade"

OBITS I Blame You (Sub Pop) lp 14.98
We know, we know, it's too much to hope for, and it's never gonna happen, but somehow we just can't seem to stop thinking about it, and we're sure these guys are sick of hearing it too, and will no doubt be annoyed that it gets mentioned in ANOTHER review, but heck, that's what happens when your frontman fronted one of the greatest post punk bands of all time! And yeah, we're talking about a Drive Like Jehu reunion, and yeah, we called them post punk, cuz what else do you call a band like that, a band that is essentially sounds like no one else. But whatever, we're wiping it from our minds. Then though, there's Hot Snakes to contend with Rick From Jehu's post-Jehu and pre-Obits combo, who were nothing like Jehu, but instead were a raw, sloppy, garage-y ball of super rocking fire. Which brings us to the Obits, who on first listen do in fact sound quite a bit like the Hot Snakes, due in no small part to the fact that it's Rick Froberg (or as Rick From Jehu as he's still know to many) singing and playing guitar, but this is altogether something new, a bit more refined and perhaps, a little like an older wiser Hot Snakes maybe, where the Hot Snakes were all pent up aggression, and wild thrashing garage stomp, the Obits traffic in something much more measured, but no less rocking. Still garage-y and super stomping, but tighter, more varied. Froberg sings as much as he howls and wails, the guitars here don't just crash and clang, they shimmer and twang, there's definitely a surf element, the drums crisp and tight, the guitars spidery and crystalline more than crunchy and heavy. These guys played at our SXSW showcase and were awesome, so kick ass and energetic, and so so tight, taking that garage rock thing they have down pat and adding in all sorts of unlikely -other- stuff, some Beefheart bits, plenty of Mudhoney rawk swagger, but all filtered through the Obits unique take on rock and roll, and that's basically what this is, rock and roll, not punk rock, not post punk, not post rock. Just rock, or okay, maybe RAWK.
Needless to say, if you're a fan of any of Froberg's bands, especially Hot Snakes, this will definitely hit the spot. But even if you don't know what the hell we're talking about, Jehu this, Hot Snakes that, as long as you're into bad ass rock and roll, groovy garage, indie jangle, or any combination thereof, you should definitely check these guys out.
Cool packaging too (Froberg's an incredible artist as well btw!), all vintage and old comic book looking, the cd is in a cool Japanese style mini gatefold jacket with an equally cool (sort of creepy) printed inner sleeve, the lp similarly housed...
MPEG Stream: "Widow Of My Dreams"
MPEG Stream: "Pine On"
MPEG Stream: "Fake Kinkade"

OBITS Moody, Standard And Poor (Sub Pop) cd 13.98
It's really kinda hard to know what to say about Obits, when we first HEARD ABOUT the band, we were basically already primed to be blown away, c'mon, this was the new band fronted by Rick Froberg, he of late great math rock/post punk masters Drive Like Jehu, not to mention the mighty and mighty missed Hot Snakes. Froberg's guitar playing and super distinctive wail (rivaled only perhaps by his labelmate Mark Arm of Mudhoney) are indie rock underground treasures, and wherever they end up, you can bet, we'll be there front and center, digging the sounds. And we are digging this new Obits big time, it's not a huge departure from their Sub Pop debut I Blame You, which already was a bit of a shift from the looser, more rocking Snakes... Obits offered up the same sort of garagey rock, but maybe it's that the band was no longer youngsters, in fact most were married with kids and thus, the sound was way more mature, in a good way, the songwriting concise and tightly wound, and if anything, they continue to shift in that direction on Moody, Standard And Poor, the sound still low slung and swaggery, stomping and propulsive, but even more broody and dark, the sound much more stripped down, a serious Wipers vibe to these ears, that same sort of classic songsmithery, wreathed in more modern post Stoogesy stomp. And the songs here are fantastic, they suit a more minimal approach, it's like a modern punk rock take on classic rock, harkening back to a time when bands were as concerned with songs as they were with songs, and thus, these are the kind of songs that will remain lodged in your head. The sort of record, that sounds pretty great on first listen, but by listen 10, and then 20, and beyond, well, then it gets harder and harder to imagine listening to anything else. Easily one of our new favorite records. So good.
MPEG Stream: "You Gotta Lose"
MPEG Stream: "I Want Results"
MPEG Stream: "I Blame Myself"

OBITS Moody, Standard And Poor (Sub Pop) lp 16.98
It's really kinda hard to know what to say about Obits, when we first HEARD ABOUT the band, we were basically already primed to be blown away, c'mon, this was the new band fronted by Rick Froberg, he of late great math rock/post punk masters Drive Like Jehu, not to mention the mighty and mighty missed Hot Snakes. Froberg's guitar playing and super distinctive wail (rivaled only perhaps by his labelmate Mark Arm of Mudhoney) are indie rock underground treasures, and wherever they end up, you can bet, we'll be there front and center, digging the sounds. And we are digging this new Obits big time, it's not a huge departure from their Sub Pop debut I Blame You, which already was a bit of a shift from the looser, more rocking Snakes... Obits offered up the same sort of garagey rock, but maybe it's that the band was no longer youngsters, in fact most were married with kids and thus, the sound was way more mature, in a good way, the songwriting concise and tightly wound, and if anything, they continue to shift in that direction on Moody, Standard And Poor, the sound still low slung and swaggery, stomping and propulsive, but even more broody and dark, the sound much more stripped down, a serious Wipers vibe to these ears, that same sort of classic songsmithery, wreathed in more modern post Stoogesy stomp. And the songs here are fantastic, they suit a more minimal approach, it's like a modern punk rock take on classic rock, harkening back to a time when bands were as concerned with songs as they were with songs, and thus, these are the kind of songs that will remain lodged in your head. The sort of record, that sounds pretty great on first listen, but by listen 10, and then 20, and beyond, well, then it gets harder and harder to imagine listening to anything else. Easily one of our new favorite records. So good.
MPEG Stream: "You Gotta Lose"
MPEG Stream: "I Want Results"
MPEG Stream: "I Blame Myself"

OCRILIM The Purging Trilogy: Sacreth / Ixoltion / Hymns (Rock Is Hell) 3lp box 45.00
Any one familiar with Mick Barr, most likely knows all about his dense, insane shredding axework and super obtuse metalisms in groups like Crom-Tech, Orthrelm, Octis, Krallice and of course Ocrilim. This super deluxe, super limited boxset collects three out of print cd-r's, and presents them on vinyl, and all three taken as a single body of work might just comprise the most listenable stuff we've ever heard from Barr.
Annothrith Hymns is the prettiest of the bunch, a collection of short form solo guitarscapes, ostensibly black metal, but just the guitars, loosed from any griminty and instead allowed to soar majestically, layered and lush and lyrical, the sounds pulse and undulating, the tremolo picked riffs blurred into sweet soaring ur-drone epicness. Somehow buzzy and metal but still ethereal and mesmerizingly dreamy, even the Xasthur cover is transformed into something more crystalline and lovely.
Ixoltion immediately sounds like some epic, Norwegian style black metal, until you realize, that once again, it's just guitar, and the sound is not so much buzzy, so much as again, like the first lp, soaring and majestic, single riffs expanded to fill up a whole side, sprawling riffscapes that manage to remain black metal, while becoming something completely other, some sort of mesmerizing, looped, minimal blackened riffdronebuzz bliss out. Heavy sure, maybe, but more hypnotic and trancelike.
Finally, Sacreth, which complete the trilogy, and in some weird way, sounds like the first two combined, this is actual black metal, blasting and buzzing, but still minimal, the programmed beats proggy and intricate, matching the unlikely riffing, super hypnotic, the arrangements quite strange as well, lots of stop/starts, super mathy and complex, but still remaining epic and majestic, and weirdest of all, seriously melodic and poppy. It's almost like the three records are a slow build to Sacreth's black metal, but each part functioning fantastically on its own. So good. And even those of you who might have been put off in the past by Barr's gnarled noisy metallic tangle, this might surprise you as much as it did us.
LIMITED TO 200 COPIES. Hand screened, hand glued silkscreened sleeves in a silk screened cardboard box, the records pressed on 180 gram vinyl, with a silkscreened insert, handnumbered.

OFF! Compared To What (Southern Lord) 7" 6.50

OFF! First Four EPs (Vice) cd 14.98
Everyone's always saying they just don't make punk rock like they used to, and for the most part that's pretty much true. But, these guys do. Really. Just like the old days. In fact, if you didn't know better, you might find yourself wondering what old SST 7" this is playing, or thinking it must be produced by Spot, assuming they're probably from Hermosa Beach, pretty sure we saw them open for Black Flag, the record probably has cover art by Raymond PettibonÉ well ONE of those is true (the cover art), even though this record sounds like they ALL must be.
Off! is most definitely a punk rock super group, Keith Morris (Circle Jerks, Black Flag) on vocals, Steven McDonald (Redd Kross) on bass, Mario Rubalcaba (Earthless, Clickitat Ikitawi, etc) on drums, and Dimitri Coats (Burning Brides) on guitar. Sort of an unlikely lineup, but you'll only think that until you hear these guys play. Blasting, hooky, three chord old school hardcore / punk rock, 16 songs in 18 minutes, originally released as four 7" singles, these songs are short and sharp and are dead ringers for all the bands we loved back in the day. Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Redd Kross, Fear, the Germs, listening to these totally brings all that right back, Morris' distinctive yowl (sounding more and more like Jello Biafra), those killer riffs, the pounding propulsive drumming, the lo-fi production, and the songs, simple but catchy as hell. The jams KILL.
Awesome Pettibon cover art just seals the deal. It's been THIRTY years since the Decline Of Western Civilization came out and introduced punk rock to a whole new audience, and Western civilization is still in decline, and this shit still sounds better than most of the music released over the last three decades...
MPEG Stream: "Black Thoughts"
MPEG Stream: "Poison City"
MPEG Stream: "Panic Attack"
MPEG Stream: "Fuck People"

OFF! s/t (Vice) cd 12.98
What else needs to be said about these guys that we didn't say first time around? A kick ass punk rock super group, featuring members of some of our favorite bands, doing pitch perfect eighties punk rock / hardcore, that sounds EXACTLY like from back in the day. Dimitri Coats from Burning Brides, Keith Morris from the Circle Jerks and Black Flag, Steven McDonald from current AQ Record Of The Weekers Redd Kross, and Mario Rubalcaba from Earthless, Clikatat Ikatowi, etc. all kicking out the jams, short and sharp, swaggery and snotty, brief blast of serious punk energy, catchy as hell, check out "Wiped Out" which is a dead ringer for Black Flag's "Nervous Breakdown", and really you might find yourselves constantly casting back to classic punk jams and/or experiencing a permanent case of sonic deja vu, which in this case is not a bad thing at all.
MPEG Stream: "Wiped Out"
MPEG Stream: "I Got News For You"
MPEG Stream: "Elimination"
MPEG Stream: "Cracked"

OFF! s/t (Vice) lp 17.98
What else needs to be said about these guys that we didn't say first time around? A kick ass punk rock super group, featuring members of some of our favorite bands, doing pitch perfect eighties punk rock / hardcore, that sounds EXACTLY like from back in the day. Dimitri Coats from Burning Brides, Keith Morris from the Circle Jerks and Black Flag, Steven McDonald from current AQ Record Of The Weekers Redd Kross, and Mario Rubalcaba from Earthless, Clikatat Ikatowi, etc. all kicking out the jams, short and sharp, swaggery and snotty, brief blast of serious punk energy, catchy as hell, check out "Wiped Out" which is a dead ringer for Black Flag's "Nervous Breakdown", and really you might find yourselves constantly casting back to classic punk jams and/or experiencing a permanent case of sonic deja vu, which in this case is not a bad thing at all.
MPEG Stream: "Wiped Out"
MPEG Stream: "I Got News For You"
MPEG Stream: "Elimination"
MPEG Stream: "Cracked"

OH SEES, THEE Blood In Your Ear / Friends (Rock Is Hell) 7" 8.50
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
You know the drill by now. Dwyer and company kick up some fuzzy, distorted lo-fi sixties pop infused garage rock that totally rocks. Crunchy, distorted, fuzzy, groovy, doused in reverb and delay, the vocals a distorted yelp, the guitars all jangly, this time around there's even some harmonica, stomping and hooky and kick ass. That's just the A side. The flipside just might be one of our favorite Oh Sees jams yet, all brooding and power poppy, reminding us of the Wipers, but with strange bloopy keyboards, and a weary washed out minor key vibe, so super catchy, we find ourselves humming it through the days, and running to the front of the store when it gets played. Awesome.
Insanely limited, to only 638 copies, we got about 50, which is probably all we'll ever get. Hand screened covers, in all sorts of different colors and variations, same with the vinyl, white, black, pink, blue, green, and all sorts of marbled in betweens, it's random though so don't ask, you'll get what you get, and it will be cool. Includes an insert with original Dwyer art and of course each one is hand numbered!

OH SEES, THEE Carrion Crawler / The Dream (In The Red) lp 14.98
Latest from SF garage pop wrecking crew Thee Oh Sees, originally meant to be released as two separate eps, and presented here as a sort of two on one, it's another killer collection of crazy varied weirdo pop radness from John Dwyer and his compatriots, opening with what might be their most classic sounding pop jam to date in the form of the first ep's title track, all driving wandering bassline, echoey vox, simple shuffling propulsive drumming, and Dwyer's distinctive croon, not to mention all manner of tangled guitar melodies, and a bit of sax skronk right at the beginning, which leads right into a fat fuzzy chunk of Stax infused organ driven fuzz rock that kills, the trippy vox transforming it into something that could only be Thee Oh Sees, with a cool sing along chorus, and some seriously fierce guitaring, in fact, this is one of the best sounding Oh Sees records yet, thick and crunchy and fuzzy. But like all their records, the sound veers dramatically all over the place, "Robber Barons" is all lush and fuzzed out, almost shoegazey, the sounds blurred into a hazy back drop for some surprisingly sweet vocals, and with a killer main melody, which leads right into the punky pop stomp of "Chem-Farmer" with its organ stabs, loping bassline and big drums, it's like the 'break down' of some classic sixties soul groover transformed into a whole song, and finally Carrion Crawler finishes off with a short blast of killer fuzzy psych pop.
Which is where The Dream takes over, ep #2, and while they were both recorded during the same session, we were maybe expecting something totally different, but it's like Carrion Crawler part two, the opening title track another winner, with Dwyer going full falsetto, and the organs buzzing all over the place, the sound getting seriously sixties for sure. The rest of The Dream seems to be a bit more lo-fi and reverby, "Crack In Your Eye" might be our favorite, reminding us of the Crystal Stilts, that sort of dour organ driven downer pop, but Thee Oh Sees add some extra tangles of psych guitar, but keep it droney and fantastically hypnotic, before finishing off with "Heavy Doctor" a fuzzy jangle fest, based around a wicked riff, and some more of that super active driving bass, Dwyer's vocals riding above the crunch and buzz, with some super catchy melodies, and some seriously rad psychguitar.
What more to say? Fans already know they want this, and odds are, even if you've never heard these guys before, once you do, you'll be a fan as well...
MPEG Stream: "Carrion Crawler"
MPEG Stream: "Contraption / Soul Desert"
MPEG Stream: "The Dream"

OH SEES, THEE Carrion Crawler / The Dreamq (In The Red) cd 13.98
Latest from SF garage pop wrecking crew Thee Oh Sees, originally meant to be released as two separate eps, and presented here as a sort of two on one, it's another killer collection of crazy varied weirdo pop radness from John Dwyer and his compatriots, opening with what might be their most classic sounding pop jam to date in the form of the first ep's title track, all driving wandering bassline, echoey vox, simple shuffling propulsive drumming, and Dwyer's distinctive croon, not to mention all manner of tangled guitar melodies, and a bit of sax skronk right at the beginning, which leads right into a fat fuzzy chunk of Stax infused organ driven fuzz rock that kills, the trippy vox transforming it into something that could only be Thee Oh Sees, with a cool sing along chorus, and some seriously fierce guitaring, in fact, this is one of the best sounding Oh Sees records yet, thick and crunchy and fuzzy. But like all their records, the sound veers dramatically all over the place, "Robber Barons" is all lush and fuzzed out, almost shoegazey, the sounds blurred into a hazy back drop for some surprisingly sweet vocals, and with a killer main melody, which leads right into the punky pop stomp of "Chem-Farmer" with its organ stabs, loping bassline and big drums, it's like the 'break down' of some classic sixties soul groover transformed into a whole song, and finally Carrion Crawler finishes off with a short blast of killer fuzzy psych pop.
Which is where The Dream takes over, ep #2, and while they were both recorded during the same session, we were maybe expecting something totally different, but it's like Carrion Crawler part two, the opening title track another winner, with Dwyer going full falsetto, and the organs buzzing all over the place, the sound getting seriously sixties for sure. The rest of The Dream seems to be a bit more lo-fi and reverby, "Crack In Your Eye" might be our favorite, reminding us of the Crystal Stilts, that sort of dour organ driven downer pop, but Thee Oh Sees add some extra tangles of psych guitar, but keep it droney and fantastically hypnotic, before finishing off with "Heavy Doctor" a fuzzy jangle fest, based around a wicked riff, and some more of that super active driving bass, Dwyer's vocals riding above the crunch and buzz, with some super catchy melodies, and some seriously rad psychguitar.
What more to say? Fans already know they want this, and odds are, even if you've never heard these guys before, once you do, you'll be a fan as well...
MPEG Stream: "Carrion Crawler"
MPEG Stream: "Contraption / Soul Desert"
MPEG Stream: "The Dream"

OLDEST s/t (Sleeping Giant Glossolalia) lp 14.98
From our pal Mike at the amazing Sleeping Giant Glossolalia comes this latest blast of gnarled metallic guitar heavy whatthefuck from long time aQ fave Mick Barr (Krallice, Ocrilim, Octis, Orthrelm, Crom-Tech) who in Oldest, is teamed up with Brooks Headley (Born Against, Universal Order Of Armageddon), who besides being a rad drummer, is now a fairly well known pastry chef! However, as curious as we would be to hear/see Headley's pastries combined with Barr's axe-work, it is in his role as drummer, that he completes the Oldest duo, which Barr describes as sounding like Voivod meets Darkthrone, but which in fact sounds a lot like Barr's late great Crom-Tech combo. A wild mathy tech metal grindpunk noise-prog blowout that finds the duo unleashing frenzied stretches of tranced out guitars, frantic riffing, the melodies angular and atonal, the drumming dense and complex, the arrangements fractured and fucked up, the vocals a punkish shriek. Intricate and heavy, dizzying and chaotic, the songs super fluid, droney, cyclical and near static one second, lurching stop/start stutter the next, slipping occasionally into chugging classic metal mode or soaring blackened buzz, but always returning to that distinctive twisted technical grinding math/meth metal crush that Barr seems to have a lock on. Fucking awesome. And not even really out until next month, so for now, an aQ exclusive!
MPEG Stream: "Survivalist Compounds"
MPEG Stream: "Incessant Mortal Creation"
MPEG Stream: "Tower Mockery"

ON s/t (Celebrate Psi Phenomenon) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This one is a total mystery. Not sure where they're from (New Zealand we guess) or what their story is, other than the fact that it was released on Campbell Kneale's (Birchville Cat Motel) Celebrate Psi Phenomenon label, and that it is one seriously blown out punked up slab of garage-y scuzz and roll. Heavy and noisy, spastic and sludgy, when this was playing in the front of the store, Allan went up to see what black metal record was playing if that tells you anything. Filthy and crumbling ultra distorted guitars, boy girl vocals WAY down in the mix, riffs that go from paint peeling shred to gut churning rumble. Some ungodly hybrid of vintage Dead C, the Butthole Surfers, The Germs, Flipper, recent AQ faves the Violent Students, and recent Siltbreeze noisemakers Times New Viking. This is definitely punk as fuck, but wrapped in layer after layer of guitar grit and broken amp splatter, classic punk rock swallowed whole, chewed up and spit out in huge sludgy gobs of grrrrr and rrrroooaaar. Epic sludgescapes of pound and churn, showered with wild lightning bolts of squealing feedback. There seem to be pop songs in there somewhere, but don't even try to dig that deep, you'll just end up bruised and bloodied, or you'll lose a hand or an arm. Best to just lay back, close your eyes real tight, clamp your hands tight over your ears, let these noise rockers just back their ten ton punksludge steamroller right over you and pray you survive.
MPEG Stream: "We've Got TV"
MPEG Stream: "Fire Down Below"
MPEG Stream: "My Head"

OOPS, THEE Happy Charlie EP (Slovenly) cd ep 12.98
Initially we were mostly intrigued by this new ep from Italian punx Thee Oops, cuz the six year old daughter of a friend of ours, has a band called the Oops, where she and her same aged friend, each sit at a drum kit, and try to hit all the drums without hitting the cymbals, and every time they do, they both shout "OOPS!"
This record is by no means as cute as that, but then what really could be? Instead, these guys have tacked on an extra E and delivered 10 short sharp blasts of furious, catchy as fuck punk rock, nothing twisted or weird or experimental, just three chords, pounding drums, yowled vox, and hooks galore. Like all the best punk rock, these songs are essentially pop songs, super charged, revved up and let loose. Opener "1994" has been stuck in our head for weeks, even after only a handful of listens, and the more we listen to this (ten songs in a little over 12 minutes, so it's a lot!), the more it's true of pretty much every song here. Wild little squalls of lead guitar, crazy catchy choruses, some kick ass riffs, the songs flitting from anthemic singalongs to crunchy almost metallic punk to J-Church / Jawbreaker style pop punk to fuzzy midtempo UK punk rock to Toy Dolls style hyper pop. They even do a Beastie Boys cover (as in old punk rock BB!!). So great!
Vinyl folks, fyi, this will be coming out as a double 7" sometime soon.
MPEG Stream: "1994"
MPEG Stream: "Happy Charlie"
MPEG Stream: "Global Warming"
MPEG Stream: "Hope You Die Tonight"

OOPS, THEE Happy Charlie EP (Slovenly) 2x7" 12.98
Here's the vinyl version! Initially we were mostly intrigued by this new ep from Italian punx Thee Oops, cuz the six year old daughter of a friend of ours, has a band called the Oops, where she and her same aged friend, each sit at a drum kit, and try to hit all the drums without hitting the cymbals, and every time they do, they both shout "OOPS!"
This record is by no means as cute as that, but then what really could be? Instead, these guys have tacked on an extra E and delivered 10 short sharp blasts of furious, catchy as fuck punk rock, nothing twisted or weird or experimental, just three chords, pounding drums, yowled vox, and hooks galore. Like all the best punk rock, these songs are essentially pop songs, super charged, revved up and let loose. Opener "1994" has been stuck in our head for weeks, even after only a handful of listens, and the more we listen to this (ten songs in a little over 12 minutes, so it's a lot!), the more it's true of pretty much every song here. Wild little squalls of lead guitar, crazy catchy choruses, some kick ass riffs, the songs flitting from anthemic singalongs to crunchy almost metallic punk to J-Church / Jawbreaker style pop punk to fuzzy midtempo UK punk rock to Toy Dolls style hyper pop. They even do a Beastie Boys cover (as in old punk rock BB!!). So great!
MPEG Stream: "1994"
MPEG Stream: "Happy Charlie"
MPEG Stream: "Global Warming"
MPEG Stream: "Hope You Die Tonight"

ORCHID Totality (Clean Plate) cd 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Orchid has to be the best of all the emo / screamo / math metal / hardcore bands around. Or -were- the best, they seem to have hung it up recently (some of the guys went on to form the brilliantly monickered Bucket Full Of Teeth). Furiously heavy, super dense sound, HUGE guitars, killer riffs, impossibly complex songs, and somehow with all that going on they manage to be one of the catchiest heavy bands EVER. Not poppy or hooky exactly, but every convoluted riff, every unlikely memory sticks in your head like crazy. When people salivate over bands like the Locust and the Daughters, as much as we like those bands, the Orchid totally crush them, heavier and catchier and weirder (without being gimmicky). Hard to explain exactly why this stuff is so good, it just sounds so fucking huge and heavy, all the best parts of punk rock and metal wrapped up in a big spiky fiery ball of pent up aggression and musical brutality. Often referred to as chaotic emo grind, and we're not sure we could come up with anything better or more accurate. Totality collects all the long out of print seven inches, splits and compilation tracks, all on cd for the first time. Packaged in a cool silkscreened red jewel case.
MPEG Stream: "New Ideas in Mathematics"
MPEG Stream: "She Has A Cold, Cold Heart"
MPEG Stream: "Panopticism"

ORTHRELM Asristir Veildrioxe (Troubleman Unlimited) cd 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Second release from former Crom-Tech guitarist Mick Barr and Josh Blair (of ABCS) following their debut on Tolotta. Ninety-nine tracks fly by at a warp speed twelve-and-a-half minutes. Naked City meets Yngwie Malmsteen gone hardcore pretty much sums it up. Ridiculous, but I'm sure these guys are so dedicated and serious to this shit. Ridiculous, indeed.
RealAudio clip: "Track 99"
RealAudio clip: "Track 97"
RealAudio clip: "Track 79"
RealAudio clip: "Track 66"
RealAudio clip: "Track 4"

ORTHRELM Asristir Veildrioxe (Troubleman Unlimited) lp 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Second release from former Crom-Tech guitarist Mick Barr and Josh Blair (of ABCS) following their debut on Tolotta. Ninety-nine tracks fly by at a warp speed twelve-and-a-half minutes. Naked City meets Yngwie Malmsteen gone hardcore pretty much sums it up. Ridiculous, but I'm sure these guys are so dedicated and serious to this shit. Ridiculous, indeed. Vinyl is one sided with an etching by Barr on the flip.

ORTHRELM Iorxhscimtor (Tolotta) cd ep 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Ok, we were wrong back on AQ-L 117 when we said that former Crom Tech guitarist Mick Barr's Octis project was "the polar opposite" of his other band, Orthrelm. For some reason we had gotten the idea that while Octis specializes in short, fast, squiggly guitar mayhem (over drum machine backing), Orthrelm was some sort of droney, doomy thing with super-long songs. Nope. Not at all. Now that Tolotta has released this 16 minute long, 12 track Orthrelm cd debut, we can't figure out what the distinction between Mick's two projects really is supposed to be (except that Orthrelm boasts an actual human drummer, Josh Blair). Mick's modus operandi is the same here: trebly, twisted guitar soloing over rapid-fire drum beats. A metallic fretboard frenzy. Spastic, spiraling, skronky stuff that's almost silly. These twelve tracks sound like segments of one sixteen minute long "song", with pauses for breath every minute or two. Just as insane as Octis, and thus pretty cool if you're into such stuff, kind of like a cross between Lightning Bolt and Necrophagist or something -- but we'd still like to hear the Orthrelm we'd imagined. (Can anyone clue us into the source of our misconception? Like, does Mr. Barr have yet another band, one that's slow and epic?)
RealAudio clip: "track 2"
RealAudio clip: "track 7"

ORTHRELM Ov (Ipecac) cd 15.98
Orthrelm spells...? Not relief from headache, that's for sure! Notorious guitarist Mick Barr (ex-Crom Tech, and of Octis and Flying Luttenbachers infamy also) and drummer Josh Blair continue their assault on musical sanity with Ov, newly released by Mike Patton's envelope-pushing Ipecac label. Ov leaves the envelope pretty much pushed beyond what most people can take -- it will be quite the endurance test for some, but pure bliss for a select few. By the end of this review you should know who you are if you don't already (owning other records involving Barr is one clue).
Way back when we reviewed Orthrelm's debut ep Iorxhscimtor, we admitted that we'd been under the mistaken impression that Orthrelm was supposed to be "some sort of droney, doomy thing with super-long songs". It wasn't... but now it is. Sort of. Unlike previous Orthrelm releases (and Barr's other project Octis), Ov isn't about a million trebly tracks of stop-start skronk. No, here the duo's frenetic drumming and insidious ADD guitar squiggle are harnessed into a single, 45 minute long track of intense, almost metallic, repetitive minimalism. A high-pitched, note-dense, trance-inducing (maybe seizures too?), insectoid symphony that slowly shifts gears and builds tension but offers little respite or resolution until its 45 minutes are up or your ears/speakers/the disc iself shatters from the stress. Yet, if you can take it, Ov's continuous rumble of drums and precision frenzies of tinny guitar shred also create a thing of static, maddening beauty. I think...or maybe I've lost it. Am I crazy when I think that some of the feedbackier parts remind me of moments of the Boredoms' Super Ae? Or that this is not entirely unlike something that Boris or SUNNO))) would do... but with a million times more emphasis on the high end, and the notion of motion on the micro if not macro level??
MPEG Stream: "Ov [excerpt 1]"
MPEG Stream: "Ov [excerpt 2]"

ORTHRELM / TOUCHDOWN split (Troubleman Unlimited) cd 12.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Look out, here's a split release from two off-the-hook instrumental rock duos, Orthrelm and Touchdown. Both bands tend to get described with ridiculous hyper-hyphenated terms like avant-thrash-free-jazz-math-rock.
New Jersey's Orthrelm -- spasmo guitarist extraordinaire Mick Barr (Octis, Quix*o*tic, ex-Crom Tech) and human drum machine Josh Blair -- contribute four tracks of gnarly, twisted stuff with maddeningly fast and convoluted squeaky guitar and hectic stop-start drums, but perhaps more in the way of actual song-structure than on previous outings. Now, probably either you're already an Orthrelm fan (or you can't stand 'em), but this is a fine example of their art for newcomers and fans alike.
Touchdown, from nearby Brooklyn, are a two-piece a la Orthrelm, but with bass instead of guitar. Their nine songs here represent their recorded debut. They do sound a lot like what you'll hear earlier in the disc from Orthrelm, but with the high-end guitar replaced by equally busy low-end bass (which makes 'em sound a bit Ruins-like). Short-attention-span post-hardcore madness to massage your brain and bother your housemates. If this split was a contest, I'd have to award the prize to Orthrelm, for their more metallic, more manic, totally fucked attack, but that's just me. Do you like insects buzzing in your ear?
RealAudio clip: ORTHRELM "track two"
RealAudio clip: TOUCHDOWN "Low Pressure Storm System"

OXBOW King Of The Jews (Hydra Head) cd 17.98
If someone had never heard San Francisco's Oxbow before, and knew nothing about them - or for that matter knew nothing about Sammy Davis Jr. either - we wonder what they'd make of that album title/cover art? Definitely wouldn't help 'em guess what sort of music lies within, some of the earliest and insanest stuff by an AQ fave band we lovingly call "fucked rock geniuses". If you are one of those innocent souls who have never heard Oxbow before, well, dive in here and see if you can take it. And needless to say, if you are already an Oxbow fan, of course you NEED this if you don't have it already, which you might not, since until now Oxbow's 1991 sophomore album King Of The Jews has never been available as a domestic compact disc release. It has been paired previously with their 1989 debut Fuckfest as an abridged single cd, and then later as a double, both imports long out of print, as are of course the original vinyl lps on Oxbow's own label CFY Records. And this new Hydra Head reissue is the most deluxe and definitive, packaged in a nice paste-on mini lp-style sleeve, and enhanced with four bonus tracks, three of 'em previously unreleased.
Back when we reviewed Hydra Head's similarly presented, equally essential reissue of Fuckfest in 2009, we said that when they did King Of The Jews, we'd probably just write more or less the same review, that is, saying that this record also displays all the elements of Oxbow we appreciate: primal swampy skree and atmospheric loud-soft dynamics, lumbering slide guitar sickness and singer Eugene's regression therapy vocal histrionics... it's part Scratch Acid (or Jesus Lizard), part Butthole Surfers, part Birthday Party, part Cormac McCarthy novel, part primal psycho-sexual cabaret, part utterly alien WTF?!
This album's special guest star Lydia Lunch joins the madness on 2 of the cuts, "Daughter" and "Angel", utterly subsumed into the crazy, kecak-y, confusional handclap chaos of the former (what an album opener, damn!!), adding extra drama to the latter. Not that Oxbow needs much help in the drama department; Eugene's bedlamite mewlings and mutterings amidst the band's desolate atmospheres and sudden rock spasms are both bizarre and intense and go way beyond mere music-as-entertainment that's for sure.
Oxbow has been keeping rock weird for a long time now, and this is one of the most crucial documents in their entire discography. It'll clue you to the Oxbow formula of lots of tension, not so much release, though there's more of the latter here than on some other Oxbow outings... Highly, highly recommended!
MPEG Stream: "Daughter"
MPEG Stream: "Angel"
MPEG Stream: "Cat And Mouse"

OXES / ARAB ON RADAR split (wantage usa) 10" 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
There are rumors flying around that the Arab on Radar side of this record is in fact the Oxes paying a very convincing tribute to the Providence, RI quartet (which it is in fact!!). The fact that the recording is inconsistent with past AoR efforts, not to mention the similarities between the two bands' recordings here, plus the fact that the photographs on the front and back of this lp are of the same band (the rear being a mockery of AOR live -- most notably the drummer walking away from his kit in a state of disarray) furthers those rumors. A wonderfully annoying record nonetheless.

OXYKITTEN The Streets Were Paved With Circuit Boards (Field Hymns) cassette 7.98
Full length number two from this mysterious cinematic lo-fi synthscaper from the Pacific Northwest, whose first record was a surprise hit around these parts. A surprise in part because of the strange band name, that didn't and doesn't even begin to hint at the creepy synthy bliss that lurks inside. And if anything, this new one takes everything we loved about the first tape, and shapes it into something less lo-fi summer-synth party jam, and more haunting John Carpenter style cinematic 8 bit mood music. And holy shit is this stuff good. All the bands out there peddling their particular brand of retro futuristic synthesized sound, would do well to keep an eye on this guy, cuz if this stuff gets the attention it truly deserves, the rest of the synth wranglers out there are really gonna have to up their game.
Needless to say, if you're a fan of folks like Gatekeeper, Bitchin Bajas, Xander Harris, Nightsatan, Stellar Om Source, Umberto, Majeure, Roll The Dice, Solar Bears and all the rest, then odds are you're gonna love this. But Oxykitten definitely has his own take on that sound, adding flurries of old school 8 bit bleepage and bloopage, or some darkly propulsive krautrock groove, often in the same song. Robotic space funk turns into alien eighties soundtrack turns into droned out analog kosmische drift and back again, "Nar Nar Dargarstar" might be our favorite, a buzzy creep, with dense swaths of thick low end buzz, warped minor key melodies, and cool little high end trills, like the soundtrack for the NES version of Deep Red Or Suspiria. AWESOME.
Includes a download code as well.
MPEG Stream: "Nar Nar Dargarstar"
MPEG Stream: "Black Light Ejaculation"
MPEG Stream: "Standing On the Edge of Getting On the Verge"

OXYKITTEN Toucht (Field Hymns) cassette 7.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Everything about this cool little tape that showed up in the mail one day hit the spot, the bright red tape, with silver metallic lettering, the eye popping crocheted cover art... Everything that is except the band name, not sure why, but the name Oxykitten just had us imagining the music would be way too twee, to cutesy, too fey, a sort of Hello Kitty vibe, but in the interest of not judging a book by its cover, or a tape by its band name, we threw it on, and BAM. Or POW. Or KABLOW. Or whatever sound would indicate you that you just stumbled on the bad ass, old school electro synth lo-fi party jam of the summer. Or whenever. The opening track is a killer, with super buzzy synths, some simulated 'meow's, retro drum machines, thick deep ominous synth basslines, the melodies weirdly haunting, a weird combo of mysterious and groovy, creepy and funky, with some rad squiggly synth freakouts, very soundtracky, or like the music to the best video game you've never played. The closest reference might be Black Moth Super Rainbow or Tobacco, that sort of lo-fi 8-bit bastardized hip hop, but the sound here is way more retro, and weird. That aforementioned opener throws in some creepy John Carpenterisms too, as if Carpenter had scored Castlevania for the Sega Saturn.
The rest of the record definitely mixed it up, from super stripped down electro grooves, to goofy vocoder driven electropop, to fuzzed out Ed Banger style synth blowouts, to full on 8-bit videogame music, to wild and seriously damaged eighties party jams, to awesome, creepy soundtracky creepscapes, and on and on and on. Definite contender for party jam tape of the year, odds are a bunch of these songs will end up on summer fun mix tapes, or get blasted at full volume from car stereos, or at the very least, get pumped through those headphones, rollerskates, parachute pants and satin jackets optional.
Bright red cassette, full color eye popping covers, and a download code for those of you who no longer sport that walkman clipped to your belt...

PAGANS Pink Album ... Plus! (Crypt) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
From Cleveland, the land of Pere Ubu and The Electric Eels, comes the Pagans, totally essential, completely awesome late seventies scuzzed out punk rock. Noisy and sloppy and snotty and totally catchy. The lp includes 2 unreleased songs and two demos, one exclusive to the lp. The cd includes 3 unreleased tracks (as opposed to 4 on the vinyl) and tons of live stuff from 1979-1983 including tracks from their final tour and recordings. Also includes studio demos where the Pagans take on a handful of covers: Alice Cooper's 'Eighteen', Pere Ubu's 'Final Solution', Velvet UNderground's 'There She Goes Again'. Also contains a video! Nice.
RealAudio clip: "I'm Eighteen"
RealAudio clip: "Multiple Personalities"
RealAudio clip: "Nowhere To Run"

PAGANS Pink Album ... Plus! (Crypt) lp 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
From Cleveland, the land of Pere Ubu and The Electric Eels, comes the Pagans, totally essential, completely awesome late seventies scuzzed out punk rock. Noisy and sloppy and snotty and totally catchy. The lp includes 2 unreleased songs and two demos, one exclusive to the lp. The cd includes 3 unreleased tracks (as opposed to 4 on the vinyl) and tons of live stuff from 1979-1983 including tracks from their final tour and recordings. Also includes studio demos where the Pagans take on a handful of covers: Alice Cooper's 'Eighteen', Pere Ubu's 'Final Solution', Velvet Underground's 'There She Goes Again'. Also contains a video! Nice.

PAGANS Shit Street (Crypt) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
From Cleveland, the land of Pere Ubu and The Electric Eels, comes the Pagans, totally essential, completely awesome late seventies scuzzed out punk rock. Noisy and sloppy and snotty and totally catchy. The lp includes 3 unreleased tracks and 2 super rare tracks from 1979 including the studio demo of 'She's A Cadaver' which is only on the lp. The cd includes 4 extra studio tracks (as opposed to 5 on the vinyl) PLUS tons of live stuff, including 2 tracks featuring Cheetah Chrome and Jimmy Zero from the Dead Boys.

PAGANS Shit Street (Crypt) lp 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
From Cleveland, the land of Pere Ubu and The Electric Eels, comes the Pagans, totally essential, completely awesome late seventies scuzzed out punk rock. Noisy and sloppy and snotty and totally catchy. The lp includes 3 unreleased tracks and 2 super rare tracks from 1979 including the studio demo of 'She's A Cadaver' which is only on the lp. The cd includes 4 extra studio tracks (as opposed to 5 on the vinyl) PLUS tons of live stuff, including 2 tracks featuring Cheetah Chrome and Jimmy Zero from the Dead Boys.

PAGE NINETY NINE Document #8 (Robotic Empire) cd 13.98

MPEG Stream: "In Love With An Apparition"
MPEG Stream: "Your Face Is A Rape Scene"

PAJO Scream With Me (Black Tent Press) lp 23.00
For the first release from the newly launched Black Tent Press, comes this legendary recording, all acoustic covers of Misfits songs by Dave Pajo, he of Slint, Papa M, Aerial M and loads more. Recorded on a crappy hand held tape recorder way back in 2004, these recordings have been circulating for years, passed around from band to band on tour, duped and dubbed over and over, until it acquired near mythical status. Well now, it's finally available, proper like, and this is no crappy dubbed cassette, nope, it's now a super fancy deluxe lp!
As we mentioned above, Dave Pajo has been a part of so many records that we hold near and dear. First as a member of all-time AQ favorite's Slint and then guesting on records like The West by Matmos and a ton of solo records under his own name and as Papa M and Aerial M, as well as some serious arena rock action as a member of Zwan with Billy Corgan and Paz Lenchantin (who also has a rad limited edition LP on Black Tent, reviewed elsewhere on this list) and right now he's even a part of the touring band for the Yeah Yeah Yeah's. Phew!
But finally we get to hear Pajo playing a handful of classic Misfits songs, in his own hushed and stripped down style. Both a testament to how great Misfits songs were and Pajo's soft delicate touch, these songs sound perfect all hushed and acoustic, like he recorded them right in your bedroom not even using a microphone, just sitting on the edge of your bed, singing right in your ear. It's pretty amazing to hear Pajo sing some of these lyrics, we're reminded how totally scandalous these Misfits lyrics were back in the day, and if you couldn't understand them then, you sure can now! A cool juxtaposition of delicate acoustic prettiness, and bloody gory nasty brutishness. Pajo is definitely not the first to give the Misfits an acoustic makeover, even the Lemonheads did a gorgeous stripped down cover of "Skulls", but somehow tackling this whole set of songs, it just works, and minus the lyrics, Scream With Me could almost sound like some lost Pajo record, or some unreleased demo.
Incredible packaging, 130 gram vinyl, housed in a thick sleeve, with a 1 color spray painted serigraph on French paper, comes with a cd featuring all the music on the lp, and is LIMITED TO 1000 COPIES.
MPEG Stream: "Angelfuck"
MPEG Stream: "Teenagers From Mars"
MPEG Stream: "Attitude"

PANORAMA AFRO Afro Justice (Howling Bull) 7" 2.99
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
This is probably the weirdest band on Howling Bull. Chaotic, off kilter hardcore, mixed with sloppy funk and all out Boredoms-ish weirdness.

PANSY DIVISION W/ JELLO BIAFRA Average Men (Alternative Tentacles) 7" 5.98
We're actually surprised it's taken this long for Jello and Pansy Division to join forces, as they both have been some of the loudest, proudest and most subversive voices in rock n roll's underground for the last several decades. While of course Jello Biafra of Dead Kennedys fame and head honcho of Alternative Tentacles has been around forever it made us feel a bit old to find out this release is in celebration of Pansy Division's 20th year of being a band. "Average Men" is the track with Biafra on vocals and it's a perfect match as the lyrics have the same kind of sarcastic and smart ass bite as so many of his classics. The song takes aim at those average dudes sitting at the counter of a bar or restaurant whose lives revolve around the junk food they eat, the bad beer they drink and the high class Hooters restaurant they salivate over. The 'b' side is without Jello and it finds Pansy Division covering an early track by their friends and former touring mates Green Day. Here's hoping Jello & Pansy Division crank out some more subversive pop together and continue to agitate those who need it for several more decades to come!

PAVEMENT Quarantine The Past (Record Store Day Version) (Matador) 2lp 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

PEEESSEYE & TALIBAM! s/t (Invada) cd 12.98
We had been hearing about this collaboration for a while now, definitely excited but not sure what to expect from a meeting of the warped musical minds between weirdo outsider noise jazz terrorists Talibam! and just plain weirdos Peeesseye, who would prevail, jazz or noise? Would it be unlistenable? Would it be unlistenable in a GOOD WAY? Would it rock?
So while the answers are both, both, no, yes, yes, all you need to know is this is a serious chunk of psychedelic spaced out jazz flecked heaviness. It is on Invada after all, home to both the Heads and White Hills, so in that sense, this does sort of fit. The opening track is basically a super charged jazz kraut blow out, the guitars fuzzed out, the organ warbly and wild, everything wreathed in thick clouds of buzz and hiss, loads of effects, total post Hawkwind psych drone free jazz freakout, which shifts gears at some point and becomes even more of a krautrock jam, crunchy and distorted, with some weirdo vocals buried in the mix, eventually exploding into a frenzied freakout, before finishing off with a super distorted, in-the-red churning chugging space drone dirge finale. Phew.
The next track offers some recovery time, a gorgeous raga like buzzscape, minimal percussion, weird production, some abstract twang, but the core sound a thick shimmering layered dreamlike drone. Ten minutes of pure cosmic bliss.
But c'mon, that can't last long with these guys, "Everything for Everyone" is a crumbling, fractured noisefest, weirdly melodic, but chaotic and harsh, some slice and dice weirdness, fields of feedback, and more upper register drones, "A Grey Mountain of Shit" is full on freaked out psychedelic free jazz, with some incredible drumming, wild tangled guitaring, and a weirdo stumbling whatthefuck outro, all Tom Waits like growls, warped synths, and more wild unhinged drumming.
The record closes with the 17+ minute "Year of the Moral Orgy / Grit of the Ghost", which begins life as a sprawling bit of psychedelic dronefolk, a distant buzz, little curlicues of high end melody, random percussion, a smoldering minimally tense dronescape, which grows more and more chaotic and intense, the drone threatening to swallow the song whole, never fully exploding, instead, stumbling to a confusional halt, complete with garbled vox and a slowly collapsing universe of sound.
MPEG Stream: "You Tried (To Eat It)"
MPEG Stream: "New Vitality In The Biomass"

PEEESSEYE, THE Mayhem In The Mansion, Shivers In The Shack (Evolving Ear) cd 11.98
Fucked up far out sonic explorers Peeesseye (or PSI) return with a brand new disc that finds them sounding as weird and wacked as ever, and continuing to drift in the same direction as their last disc, Commuting Between The Surface & The Underworld. The first time we heard these guys, they were a much noisier proposition, spewing a caustic and fractured noise rock, that we liked quite a bit, but by record number two, they seemed to be exploring songs and melody more than noise and texture, their sound markedly prettier and folkier. On Mayhem In The Mansion, the band continue to drift through some strange folky forest, but being PSI, it's all glimpsed through some cracked funhouse mirror. A strummed acoustic guitar seems to root most of these songs, but that guitar is strewn upon skipping stuttering electronics, strangled yelps, random clatter and chaos, growled vocals, dense clouds of cymbal shimmer, stumbling tribal percussion, random bits of thump and rattle, distant moans and creaks, shimmering electric guitar melodies, furious squalls of static drenched psychnoise and lots and lots of effects.
It's definitely pretty and folky, but so completely out there. The prettiest parts somehow manage to get all tangled up with the obtuse angular bits, folky strum is smothered in buzz or bleep or both, but it works, it becomes some impossible artpop weirdness. A lot of this sounds like Avarus or No Neck, but more than anything it sounds sort of like Animal Collective, but with most of the hooks removed. Or better yet, like Animal Collective's deformed mutant twin brother. The one they keep locked in the basement. With just a busted up acoustic guitar, some effects with dying batteries and a 4track.
And shit, if that doesn't sound amazing, well, then we give up...
MPEG Stream: "Moon Vegetables"
MPEG Stream: "Plastic Grass"

PENS Hey Friend! What You Doing? (De Stijl) cd 13.98
'Tis the season for blown out and supercharged lo-fi burners and we can't say we mind one bit. Band after band, this eruption of buzzy stumbly hook filled garage-y pop is pretty impossible not to love. Pens are a great addition to the current crop of noise-poppers like Wavves, Dum Dum Girls, Vivian Girls, etc. Luckily they defiantly have their own take on that sound, as the record opens with what sounds like thumb piano before erupting into a full on garage pop anthem. Pens are a London trio who infuse wonderfully swirling psychedelic moments into their Shaggs like crash and burn approach to way-in-the-red and dizzyingly fucked up pop. There is something so spirited and punk rock about their sound and approach, imagine your favorite riot grrrrl band on Woodsist! Bikini Kill mixed with Wavves? You get the idea, a hectic, urgent and way damn pleasing musical ruckus!
MPEG Stream: "Horsies"
MPEG Stream: "Fuckufuckinfuck"
MPEG Stream: "High In The Cinema"