Hits From The Box #55 - Bolt Of Clarity

OK, so second week of Olympics and I'm still slightly disgruntled about the whole Aussie sore losers thing. Don't get me wrong - I'm loving watching it now - just trying to avoid most of the Aussie coverage. Sally Pearson, Anna Meares, the sailing boys - incredible work! But claiming that our country is a disaster is some of the worst tall poppy rubbish I've heard in a long long time. I love our successes, but I'm finding more solace in our unexpected success stories (IE the 19 year old 400m runner who came 8th in the final, but wasn't expected to figure in the heats), and of course Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps and the true champions of the world.

Plus, you can put it on mute and listen to this week's tenuous-at-best Olympics-themed Hits From The Box...


Sheffield, UK's grottiest lo-fi punksters Collider supposedly brought out this cassette through Tye Die Tapes not that long ago, but I can't find it anywhere. The track I have, 'You Didn't Think This Through', is pretty damn ace though, and I'm hoping that the label (that includes the great Slowcoaches amongst their roster) aren't pulling my leg on this one. So despite my obvious failure at navigating Google properly, here is said track. Plus, the title reminds me of Aussie swimmer Emily Seebohm's decision to declare her Twitter obsession as the catalyst for her pool failure. What a gaffe. I'm struggling to see why I should be altruistic about this girl - she is human and therefore fallible, but just accept you have the ability to be the best in the world, but tight at this moment you are second. Ah well. Lesson? At least I'm kicking arse on Google Hurdles and Kayaking...and if that's all you get from this, a free killer track, an aversion to social media addicts and an impulse to play simplistic keyboard-mash games, Collider have won.

Collider - You Didn't Think This Through


These guys are called Sunglasses. This track has been sitting in my inbox for months because I didn't believe that they were actually called Sunglasses. But seeing as the track is called 'Swim', and what with the Olympics and all, I thought it was time to track these pesky dudes down. Seems that the duo, harking from Savannah from all places, put this track out on cassette EP a couple months back. So I grabbed said EP (out through Lefse Records), and it's pretty good. Sweeping glossiness, rose-tinted...ah, I see where this is going! Could have propelled some people along to great heights. 'Swim' is the languid highlight for me though. Check em out below.

Sunglasses - Swim
Sunglasses - Namesake


I thought I'd throw Washington dreampop trio Western Affairs into the Olympic ring because their new album is called 2000, which is clearly not a reference to anything interstellar like 2001: A Space Odyssey and instead focuses on the power and the passion that was the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Kangaroos as BMX bandits? Hills hoists? Victa grass mowers? You better believe it. 2000 is also a nice brush across the likes of more maudlin Flaming Lips, a more synth-led Nada Surf or a dancier Twilight Sad. Very pretty. Very Sydney.

Western Affairs - Iowa
Western Affairs - 1999
Western Affairs - Laura


Now, Portland's resident weirdo (well, one of them) Oxykitten has a few releases out this year that deserve recognition, if only for the whacked-out song titles (the opener to The Cutting Room is called 'Dog Fisting My Unicorn'...). Firstly there is the collaboration with Adderall Canyonly called The Cutting Room, then his/her own release Octagonal Wax (on Field Hymns Records). Its inclusion on this HFTB stems merely from song titles, although this mesh of synth-line instrumentals are much more palatable than seeing a unicorn getting fisted might suggest. Well worth trying (the music, I mean...)

Adderall Canyonly & Oxykitten - Cruising For A Losing (insert disappointment here, I guess...)

Oxykitten - 50 Times Higher Than Any Normal Man (SM dedicates this to Michael Phelps)
Oxykitten - Drowning Inside (to the loving memory of Eric The Eel)


Nose is a noise-rock band based in Scarborough in Western Australia. That's all I really know. And they aren't lying, it is pretty bloody noisy. But their chaotic mess is here because of the ire that so called 'experts' wax lyrical about shit they know nothing about (I can see how such a statement, put in another context, could be fired squarely at me - time to attach the critique-proof Kevlar...). Still seething about the arseholes that Australian media pundits have generally proven themselves to be. They can all go fuck themselves. Hence...

Nose - Intellectual Inbreeding (geddit?)
Nose - Giant Parasitic Worm (this is kind relevant also, come to think of it...)


By now (hopefully for the eagle-eyed of you, from the first sentence of this longwinded post) you will realise that I'm just tying these six bands to the Olympic flag with the flimsiest, frayed piece of string I can find. I'll return to England, the current hotbed of Olympic euphoria and heartbreak, and let Bedfordshire quirksters Grubby Mitts set the standard then with their track...er, 'Standard'. It's off their great Standard 7" (out here), hoping to hear more in the near future. Plus, it would be awesome for a indie Olympics montage don't you think?

Grubby Mitts - Standard

This is the worst post, right? Whatever. Put these bands on and watch Bolt ad nauseum, it'll restore your faith in humankind.

HAPPY THURSDAY!

Hits From The Box #54 -Olympretard

I love the Olympics. Seriously. I have many weird and wonderful memories of Olympics past. But I'm finding myself somewhat alienated by the way the media is ravaging the Australians, particularly the hotly touted swimming team, for their "lacklustre" performance thus far in the pool. I'm sorry, but we are bred to believe we are the best and deserve the gold? Fuck off. The fact that these people slog their guts out for four years, are in a pool with the seven others that make up the best in the world, seems to allude everyone. The fact they are representing their country seems to be a point lost to most people. I'm more than a little ashamed to be Australian when these things happen. And Emily Seebohm, pull your head in! Don't go blaming Twitter for coming second. You want to read what people are saying about you, then you need to roll with the punches. Besides, you came SECOND. Some may say second is the first loser, but most others will say you came second IN THE WORLD. Be proud of your achievements, then better them.

Ahem. Sorry, tough day at the office, and this was the most inoffensive yet enraging thing I could think of to vent about. So...let's have some music!


Field Hymns recently put out Vital Organs, a dark trance swirl of a record by Minneapolis artist Detainee. Kicking off with manic, disturbed 'Speed Demon', this record never lets up, a dark hallucinogenic downward spiral through an America that is retro-futuristic, whose sleekness is juxtaposed by 16 bit jerkiness, that is all about leather, latex and Death Races. I don't think I've liked an electronic album more than this other than Errors' Have Some Faith In Magic, and yet that is with much more live instrumentation in mind. Dark, twisted, fantastic. You can grab Vital Organs on cassette here.

Detainee - Speed Demon
Detainee - California


Continuing the cassette craziness is WaMu and their Viafukt release. This is batshit crazy stuff, something in between The Plot To Blow Up The Eiffel Tower and Foot Village - with violins and lots of screaming, something they themselves have coined as shrillwave. Eric Ostrowski, once part of noise duo Noggin and accomplished solo violinist and filmmaker decided to join forces with Garrett Kelly & Rachel LeBlanc, the master minds behind Seattle’s self-declared worst band My Printer Broke,. Brittnie Fuller joined shortly after to fill out the sound. It's ramshackle, bordering on implosion kind of stuff, blurring the line between premeditation and accident, all at top velocity and volume. Brace yourselves... Viafukt is out through Talking Helps Records - get it here.

WaMu - Diana & The Deep Bore Tunnel
WaMu - Celebrate/Celebait


In keeping with my trans-Tasman allegiance with Hits From The Box, next we'll look at the excellently warped psychedelia from the self-titled release from New Zealand band The All Seeing Hand. Primarily based around heavy, improv drums, dark foreboding synth and turntables, and throat vocals (really), this is one hell of a trip - that overwhelmingly works. Its a rad album that deserves far more exposure, Please, check this out - it is some of the best percussive psychedelic intensities that you are ever going to take in and space out to. Grab the album here.

The All Seeing Hand - Throat


More cassettes! Very cassette heavy today. DZ Tapes sent this to me AGES ago, but I have only recently gotten around to getting a cassette player (I cannot believe that I have a cassette recorder in 2012 haha!). The release - Unscharfe, a split between the Berlin-based shambling spectral jammers Ghostandthesong and Texan organic drone divinist Chris Rehm. It's actually a honest record which fits together somewhat seamlessly, something that isn't always the case with split releases, and there are some tasty songs to be mined here. Grab Unscharfe here.

Ghostandthestory - Dress To Fail
Ghostandthestory - 01000001
Chris Rehm - Free William Cosby


Now flying towards the Arctic Circle, we are touching down in the otherworldly richness that is Iceland, and a band that is drinking what's in the water is Ourlives. Out of Place is their debut EP (out now on Spartan Records), and follows in the emotive, quiet/loud epicness aesthetic that Sigur Ros mine, and although they don't hold a candle to that band (and at times waver on the side of MOR stadium anthemics a la Coldplay or Snow Patrol - easy there boys...), there is much to like here.

Ourlives - Where Is The Way?



Finishing with Yourself In Peace, a project started in Los Angeles by college students Westley Ulit (Drums/Synth/Vocals) and Justin Corral (Lead Vocals/Guitar), it's good to delve into a band that are in it just to hang out and make tunes, valuing surrealism over going for gold (ahem, sorry about that segue, but don't you love continuity!?!) Their take on pop is to infuse it with shoegaze, lo-fi folk and more abstract textured, or in their words, they "make beats and whine over them". The self-titled EP is pretty good for all this malarkey, and you can grab it here.

Yourself In Peace - Watch You Breathe
Yourself In Peace - In Transit

HAPPY THURSDAY!!

Hits From The Box #53 - TWO WEEKS

Today is the beginning of two weeks' holiday for me. Im not heading anywhere. Im glued to the couch, watching TV shows and films I need to catch up on (just watched both Bad Lieutenant films to kick it all off), reading books Ive had on the shelf since before English was invented, playing "old school" PS2 games (Splinter Cell collective, here I come), and talking about music to you guys. Because this is the kind of thing that kills it for me. Well, travelling to awesome places are great and all, but after ten weeks of killer lessons, my Masters degree and illness, Im happy to go into self-induced seclusion...at least until I go to see Supersuckers' Eddie Spaghetti on Thursday, at least. But I'd never leave you out in the cold! So here is another icy cold six pack from the box to get you nice and toasted.


I'm gonna kick off proceedings nice and slow with Paris-London pan-European folk collective Balthazar B and the Beatitudes. They have just released their debut record I Am The Tide, and it's a solid effort, swinging from blues growl, gypsy jitter and folk eloquence. I threw it on on Saturday when I had a splitter of a headache due to finishing work, my Masters degree and a thousand Polish beers, and it went down a treat. You can grab it here - you can also grab 'Hold On To Me' and 'The Greatest Story' (which has a bit of Broken Social Scene to its opening quarter) for free.




Tennessee's Dire Con are not good for a hangover. Instead these gritty tracks are all about hard southern living, strained through a roughly hewn grunge sieve (think of Violent Soho covering Incesticide on 'Miss Patty' for example). El Deth Recordings (who put out COP's excellent Urgency record) helped put this sucker out, and whilst a little too much like its Seattle forebears at times, there are some tracks such as 'Pills' and 'Wasted Youth' that offers enough light and originality to proffer repeated listens.

Dire Con - Pills
Dire Con - Wasted Youth


With a name like Panther Ray, I was expecting serrated, snotty garage punk or some such variation. Instead I got this Minnesota . Parallel Motions is their LP, and it is a weird hybrid of experimental sound compositions ('Soar', 'Color Tilt'), lo-fi pop thrown into a battered wood chipper (the great 'Water Towers', Deerhunter-esque 'Burning Palms', the Beatles on heroin 'Memory Bank'), with the occassional burst of rock licking at the corners. Actually reminds me a fair bit of Meth Teeth, although not as emaciated and rusted out - which fares well for the quartet. I really like this record, and reckon that such loopy multi-instrumental energy would be electric live. Do yourself a massive favour and grab Parallel Motions here.

Panther Ray - Stalemate
Panther Ray - The Bottom Down


Let's keep rolling on the left-of-centre angle here with Alan Watts. Their EP ...Is The Fantasy Band is...well, different. 'Africa Bats' offers bat screeches, incoherent dronal vocals, distorted synth and a swirling shoegaze guitar that comes off decidedly early Animal Collective, whilst 'Lee's Child' holds a bit more relevance to the shoegaze moevement that first brought the group together. On that, I'll let the trio speak for themselves...

"In a year, Alan Watts shifted shapes three times. We were founded in the basement of Party Expo (Bushwick) last spring, on a strict diet of industrial shoegaze ("Thank You, Spectral Void" EP). By fall we were consumed with finding the communal meeting point of glossy rave and the ghosts of No New York ("Post-Fantasy").
For the recording of ...Is The Fantasy Band, we ventured from bong-ripped basement chaos to a more ecstatic set of sounds: crate dug beats, über bass, trance guitar, howling angels, and the casio funk, all of which were wrapped up and recorded live at Shea Stadium on one night last November. We would like to thank the years 1913 and 2016, and the letters P and F. Peace to boom bap and Pizza the Hut. Ghosts in the machine are real."

Fair dues. You can get ...Is The Fantasy Band here.


Alan Watts - Africa Bats
Alan Watts - Lee's Child


Now for some dreamy fuzzed out guitar pop from Dublin, or more specifically September Girls (a spelling correction from the excellent Big Star track, I presume?). The quintet (Caoimhe, Jessie, Lauren, Paula & Sarah) love their 60s touchstones, reverb tsunamis and drum explosions, wrapping it all in trademark class. Their Wanting More cassette sold out in days, but there is a seven inch on its way coming out on Soft Power Records which is well worth getting ready for. The title track is the better of the two, musically and production wise, and gives a honest indication that they are the real deal. What with Girls Names coming out of the Emerald Isle also, Ireland is kicking serious goals in this genre of the musical void.

September Girls - Wanting More


I'll end today on Brooklyn-based duo Lushes. 'Harsh' is their first track proper, and I can't get it out of my head, partly due to the production by Bachelorette (aka Annabel Alpers) and mixing by Adam Cooke (Beach House, Double Dagger), two class acts, but the track itself holds real resonance, and promises so much more. Apparently their other tracks are more complex/experimental, so if this is their "mainstream" track we are in for a treat. They have a record in the wings that will hopefully see the light of day by the end of the year. Don't take just my word for it - they recently played a show opposite a veritable who's who of great 2012 acts such as Dope Body, Guardian Alien and Roomrunner (ex-Double Dagger drummer Denny Bowen's band). Lushes, ay? I'll drink to that.

Lushes - Harsh

Happy Monday!

Hits From The Box #52 - Man Flu

I just blew my nose. That occurrence has taken place well over 100 times in the past four days. My nose looks leprous. Nasty. Mucus and beards do not mix either. Sometimes it pays to stay in bed. Actually, for a guy who looks like me, I'll NEVER get paid for that. So I'll just have to suck it up. Then hawk it up later in an alleyway.

Hits From The Box, anyone?


I've decided to bookend today's batch with some wild experimental fare. First up we have Alex Tedesco and his release Pretty Lies. These 14 songs are great - in parts. His voice is strong and entrancing, yet I'm not a big fan of the way that most of the songs are cut in half, with some effect or noise or even compositional direction comes in to totally rearrange the mood of the song. Something ambient becomes tinnily abrasive; something rocking gets sucked into a wired portal of static; something somnolent becomes a meandering screech. Then again, maybe that album title is the point - Tedesco keeps you on your toes, for what he promises is never where we end up. He claims that his sound encapsulates a folk-based break up album torn apart and put together completely wrong, as overseen by members of This Heat. Well, there is enough here to make me want to listen to what else he has up his mismatched sleeves. Grab the free record here.

Alex Tedesco - Ruining The Symbol


Now onto some slightly more brain friendly fare. Kash is from Italy, and their deal is Full Of (out on Sick Room Records), which has pulled out the bells and whistles what with Steve Albini on board to produce and Bob Weston shoring up the mix. For me when they go all out it suffers from the singer's penchant to sound almost Nickelback-ish in his stadium growl (sorry...), but when they pare it back, like on 'Physical Swimming', there is more than a hint of Young Widows about their menacing groove. These guys have something - let's just see if they can harness it on their next release.

Kash - Physical Swimming


I feel like some bluesy rock, so step up Glimpse Trio. This trio (duh!) have an album coming out in July called Garage, their 2nd, and it's unashamed to rip as much 70s riff rock as it can. It's good fun though.

Glimpse Trio - Going To Hell


It wouldn't be a Hits From The Box if a New Zealand act wasn't floating around the ether, and Christchurch's Zen Mantra is a worthy taker. This is a bit lazy, but this lil press release says it all:
"Spawned in Christchurch, New Zealand, Zen Mantra channel trippy vibes with a smattering of young 'fuck the world' punkittude. Like a male-led Summer of Love girl group jamming surf rock in outer space, Zen Mantra will make you feel warm and fuzzy - much like a wake 'n' bake."
Nice. Weird, sunny grunge skronk could only come from the Land of the Long White Cloud - or a massive bowl.

Zen Mantra - Change
Zen Mantra - La La La La La



Kam Kama come from Indiana, and after hanging out for a couple years have put forth this debut EP, The Tiled House. Whilst a press release comparison to TV Ghost doesn't really hold up to these six tracks, what we do get are slabs of insidious post-punk weirdness. Think of Joy Division and The Cure mashed up in a helium balloon perhaps. Consistently good, this is the perfect launchpad to something quite special, methinks... You can grab The Tiled House on white 12" vinyl from Sister Cylinder here - not a bad purchase I reckon.

Kam Kama - Halfway Hotel
Kam Kama - Called Up


And then we end with Monks & Melrose. This is quite similar to Alex Tedesco in its audacity and tedium for me, but once again there are glaring rays of light. Admittedly the venture is the moniker for Seamus Patterson, a 17 year old dude from Ottawa, whiling his time away in his room. The result, instead of a multitude of cement-grade tissues, is Ottawa (ah, fitting). Before it crumbles into offensive nothingness, 'Foreigner' is a great track. 'Birds & Wings' meanders nervously around a dreamy ambient vortex, whilst 'Clear View' could very well be a Minimum Chips B-side (a very strong compliment, kiddo). Well worth checking out, and checking in on in the near future (I believe he has an Ottawa Pt 2 on the way...)

Monks & Melrose - Clear View
Monks & Melrose - Birds & Wings

Done. Now I'm off to drink rum and watch football - that cures the common cold, doesn't it?

Happy Wednesday!

Hits From The Box #51 - Free Swearing Day

Today it is free dress day at work. Now for me that actually means something, as I dress as a quasi suit for most of the year, and it's the one day that I can just roll out of bed. The womenfolk at work however wear pretty much what they want anyway, so they laugh at my giddiness. Ah, inadequacies... ANYway, it reminds me of this thing my sister and I used to do. Whenever our parents weren't around, we'd yell out FREE SWEARING DAY and let go. It was the funniest thing ever. I never dropped the c-bomb - that was anathema to me up to about five years ago, but now it's my third most used word behind beer and diazapem - but everything else was fair play. Ah, innocence. How I fucking miss thee.


OK, so let's start the next half-century of Hits From The Box with Walk, a Los Angeles four-piece whose debut album Icebreaker (through Manzam Records), offers some great grooving tracks that maintain the pop hook mentality whilst ramping up the guitars. When they quieten down, it doesn't always gel, but on 'Caveman Game' in particular they really get things right.

Walk - Icebreaker
Walk - Caveman Game


Next we have Sheffield dude Stewart Green, who performs his electronic multi-instrumental shtick under the moniker Carnivals. Absences/Ino (Pts 1 & 2) is a single release that came out at the turn of the year, so it's been a long time coming, but Ive just warmed to the A-side more and more as I have started utilising my iPod once more (it's been dormant for months and months - don't ask...). It's ambient drone, nice piano line, distorted vocals, glitch heavy middle third then surprise jumped-up close offers five minutes of brave eclecticism. Green has shown in the past his adherence to strange mixtures of tempo and sound, and on these tracks he does some alchemical wonders.

Carnivals - Absences


III is the name of Minneapolis psychgazers Is/Is debut record (out last month on ___), and it's a real cracker. They play around with convention - on single 'Hate Smile' for example, the drums remain buried behind a chugging bluesy riff for the first section of the track - whilst frontwoman Sarah Rose's vocals are perfectly suited for this genre, really rich and gutsy. The whole album really surprised me - whilst a couple tracks commit the sin of repetition, there is a lot of breadth on a sound that sticks to the narrow terrain that True Widow were trampling last year, yet like that band Is/Is mine gold - which is an inimitably good thing.

Is/Is - Hate Smile
Is/Is - Sun Tsunami


Gulcher Records flung this record by Tim Carroll my way a little while ago, and it's a nice throwback on 50s/60s garage rock that actually sounds like the era rather than someone else's pastiche of it. Look Out! perfectly displays Carroll's punk roots (having played in The Gizmos and The Blue Chieftains in the 80s) entrenched in Nashville country aesthetics. It's no wonder that this is solid - this is Carroll's ninth album after all - yet on tracks like 'Talk To God' (which has some of that brilliantly sloppy Neil Young & Crazy Horse feel) it is all so effortless and genuine that it is a refreshing slab of sunlight to the ears. It swings from blues to country to other windswept climes (earning him comparisons to Tom Petty and Kurt Vile, the latter of which had his record Constant Hitmaker put out by Gulcher also), but above all Look Out! rocks.

Tim Carroll - Talk To God
Tim Carroll - One More Step


Jacob Turnbloom is the singer/songwriter for Mrs Magician, a band that I covered not too long ago (and if you haven't checked em out yet, go here and fix that promptly). Grizzly Records put out a massive chunk of Turnbloom's solo recordings on a cassette called Death Tape, all rough four-track lo-fi pipe dreams (think Elliot Smith jamming with Ben Gibbard after a bender where some dirty deeds were done dirt cheap). There are a couple scuzzy rockers, but most of it is contemplative experimental pop items, and there are some real jewels to be found here. You can buy Death Tape here - it's worth it.

Jacob Turnbloom - DJ Anarcho Fight Punx
Jacob Turnbloom - Everything Dies
Jacob Turnbloom - An Officer & A Gentleman


Finally we have alt-country rockers Slow Country, who offer another connection to Kurt Vile due to member Boyd Shropshire. His unresolved, spacey rock with Mascis-style vocals are offset by Chase King’s more earnest country-flecked fare. Their debut record, The Late Great Slow Country, weaves a tapestry of pastoral folk and country with an infusion of off-kilter rock, where the gamut from Modest Mouse to Giant Sand are covered. It makes for a laconic finish to today's proceedings. You can get the album through Wonderland Archives here.

Slow Country - Land I Love

Happy Wednesday!

Hits From The Box #50 - Half Century Blues

And they said it wouldn't last...but here we are, two and a third years into the bizniz and fifty Hits From The Box later. Lots have gone down since we thunk up this bloody thing over booze, drugs and a broiling broth of curry, but one thing is certain - music is everything. So before we start getting all misty-eyed, let's have at it, shall we? And let's get as eclectic as ever...


Remember that night that Hawkwind and Can made out and mutated babies and their progeny formed a band too? No? That's because it never happened. But if it had happened, said band would be Eyes. A Candle In The Crown Of The Dawn is a frenetic release, relentless with its rhythmic assault (seriously, the drummer doesn't quit!), 'Far & Away', the opening track, is a parallel ancient Greek soundtrack - with V shaped guitars and bongs! It rocks and is a hell of a lot of fun. The groove slows down, but the intent to snuggle inside the 70s stoner prog afterbirth remains. It's out now through excellent Portland label Field Hymns, grab it here. NB - this is actually TWO YEARS OLD! They have two other releases out, Ill aim to do a follow up shortly!)

EYES - Far & Away
EYES - Grey Moss


Coming from the same label stable, Susurrus is a Portland electronic noise outfit that offer some serious nose-exploding industrial drone. Starting off with two minutes of dead air, 'Mvt. 1' winds up the tension. It ebbs and flows, offering orchestral flourishes amongst the artificial squalls and screeches. 'Mvt.2' is just as synthetic, yet is creepier in a fashion, utilising the silences between musical stages and incorporating sounds like mobile phones and frog croaks. It's techno horror, yet somehow beautifully rendered, an incredibly interesting listen. Great headphone music - but not whilst walking alone at night...perfect 21st century horror soundtrack right here, something like The Signal or Pulse... Susurrus is out here.

Susurrus - Mvt.2


Offering a change of pace, the alluring Ariel Starling is a 20 year old Austinite (IE lives in Austin Texas). Starling claims to spend most of her time in the closet recording weirdly thoughtful pop songs about vultures and dead babies on cassette. Sounds fair to me. Her debut EP Black Dust is sparse, mostly Starling and her electric guitar, and is equal parts melancholic, introspective, yet on 'Armadillo' we see her rock side. Overall, a lovely introduction. Time to get out of the closet and onto the street.

Ariel Starling - Celeritas
Ariel Starling - Armadillo


Who wants some backwards music? Lucky that we have Edward Korft in the back pocket, then. The Brooklyn musician has created some excellent sinuous ambient grooves here. You can grab it, and his new track 'I've Got The Shit To Pull This Off', here.

Edward Korft - modnaromem
Edward Korft - enola


Funny/Not Funny Records have helped to put out No Jams, the second record for North Carolina band Naked Gods (and 1st on the label). It's jam-packed full of short guitar pop numbers that love their guitars and whimsical lyricism (listen to the excellent 'Shaq & Diane' for evidence - oh, the pun there, zing!). There is an element of White Denim in the schizophrenic nature of these tracks, which is a great thing. Grab No Jams here.

Naked Gods - Shaq & DianeNaked Gods - Soft Drugs


And because we can never have enough raucous punk rock from New Zealand, we will finish off this 50th HFTB with Raplh. The duo played in band FATANGRYMAN that I spoke about last year here, whilst Jessica went on to Kitsunegari and Ary was in Onesie. Both bands have unfortunately broken up, so they started Ralph together. It's similar discordant snotty grungey punk to their initial times shackled together in the dustbins of rock, a bit like current faves Fever Fever and Bitches, but with more rabies, which is more than fine with me. Hopefully we can hear more from them in the near future.

Ralph - Broley Westenra
Ralph - Reek

Happy Wednesday!

Hits From The Box #49 - Salt & Pepper Wells In My Eyes

Despite the fact that this blog pays SOOOOOOO well, it is important for me to give a little back to the local community (IE pay the bills). So over the summer months I coached a under 14s cricket squad. We were one of the most consistent teams in the competition - we lost every match, convincingly. And to celebrate, we had a break-up - at Sizzlers. Yep, I'm a high flyer. But I'm also stupid. Because wherever there are all you can eat sugar mountains - there are crazy-arse kids tripping off their balls. And I had to put up with these boys snorting pepper and drinking ice-cream and crayon sundaes for two and a half hours. Still...the cheesy bread was great.

I can barely function due to the headache last night wrought, but I have enough energy left to do this week's Hits From The Box.


Bonfire Nights hail from my hometown of Brisbane, are now based in London, and are making some tremors around the world thanks to their self-made EP. Their J&MC-meets-Morning After Girls esque psych pop doesn't always click with me, but I think this is more a work in progress than the problems of the band. Why? Because they can get it incredibly right, as on 'Own Worst Enemy'. The more given over to these guys, the better they sound. A promising beginning.

Bonfire Nights - Own Worst Enemy


Now I feel bad about this double-whammy, because I received the digital copy of this eons ago, but received the lathe-cut clear 7" yesterday. Thanks Cory! His band Lizard Kisses released this split with atypical tropical pop from British Columbian band My Friend Wallis, coming together even down to the cover art. Both bands made collages for their respective sides of the 7", making each one unique and one of a kind. You can view all 35 individual record sleeves here. The clear lathe cut records were hand-pressed to a numbered edition of 35 and include typed inserts on vellum. So sweet - I love this! Buy it here. 'Water Tap' is Lizard Kisses' effort, featuring extended family members Jordan Lee (of Mutual Benefit) and Andrew Morehart (of Share-a-tories). 'The Colour Of Water' . It's all really sweet, the perfect soundtrack to lazing about in a sunny park, cheese platters and cold beers at hand, carefree. We need more tracks like these as the winter heads over the dividing range... There is something honest and authentic about these tracks which I really connect with. Lizard Kisses also found one of their tracks on the Beko 100, a playlist of 100 songs that are all pretty ace. Check that one out here. Ill be keeping a close eye on this Brooklyn duo - they're something special.

Lizard Kisses - Water Tap



Another grimy group from the Phatry Records label, Wisconsin's Disguised As Birds double-EP (the brand new Black Circles added to 2009's New Demons) pendulums between a dreamlike meander and an explosive regurgitation of hard-boiled rock. Fans of Jawbox might find a lot to like here, although Young Widows acolytes might find a lot to love also.

Disguised As Birds - Black Circles
Disguised As Birds - Let The Boy Watch


The watery electronic drips that open up San Francisco's Kapowski's single Section 8 segues into lead Jesse Rimler's Akron/Family-esque vocals, a languid sonic experiment that glories in its left-of-centre pop stylings. Listen to that organ! Those soaring choral voices! I am yet to hear anything else from this collective, but I have to say I like them so far. This track is deceptively infectious. Debut record Boy Detective (recorded by Eli Crews, whose previous works include Tune-Yards and Deerhoof) is well worth hunting down (Here is a good review of it if you doubt me) (And a name inspired by Tiffany-Amber Thiessen's Saved By The Bell character is well worth supporting, in my opinion...)

Kapowski - Section Eight



The American Dollar may sound familiar. That's because their elegiac ambient/post-rock soundscapes have recently fallen in favour with the television trailer crowd (excerpts of their songs have soundtracked cuts from Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close and Up In The Air). Now it may be a surprise to most of you, but this Brooklyn-based duo have been plying their trade for seven years, with five albums several EPs and remix releases under their belt. Awake In The City is their latest sojourn into sonorous states, and it's a good un.

The American Dollar - Heavy Eyes Ignite


Finally we have Folks, a simple moniker for a rollicking throwback sextet from NW England. Their album I See Cathedrals has gotten a bit of buzz, and listening to single 'Skull & Bones' I can see why. This isn't the best thing I've ever heard, but that bouncy piano and grooving chorus, chirpy guitar, and throws me into a 70s tailspin. White Denim do this so much better - so do Band Of Skulls, to be honest - but this is a good effort, with warm room for improvement, and has me keen to hear the album in full. Mission accomplished, then!

Folks - Skull & Bones

Happy Wednesday!

Hits From The Box #48 - Holidays Taste Sweeter On A Black Friday

I never thought I'd say this, but...I'm loving being in Sydney right about now. The highlights - lots of crazy boutique bars, good cheap music, good (not so cheap) food, sun, surf, Harbour Bridge... Sadly I'm about to run the red lights and wing my way back to Brisbane. Not sad in that I don't want to go back - just that the holiday is over. Back to the grind, as it were. So let's find some tunes that will help me on that depressing drive back into reality...


Let's ease into things with Red Nightfall. The Toronto quartet released their debut self-titled album late last year, and their self-prescribed "sad bastard indie-rock" can be heavy going, but there is majesty in their austere approach to indie-folk, offering deceptively intricate foundations to their tracks. The genre has had a major resurgence due to the likes of Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver doing their tweaking, and whilst there isn't anything of the latter insofar of inventiveness, it's a solid record well worth a listen. Here is the opening track to Red Nightfall, and you can get the album here.

Red Nightfall - Forever Leaving


Cecilia Spectrum is the new moniker for Germany Germany collaborator Drew Harris. The first major effort is Eclipse, which can be viewed as either a 15-minute 7-part song, or a 15-minute 7-song mixtape. In Harris' words, "it's electronic and ambient and experimental or something." Such modesty will get you nowhere! This is an affecting suite of sound that elevates itself above mere ambient soundscapes and proves to be more of a dreamtych (yep, made that word up) that soundtracks your deepest slumbers. You can grab Eclipse for free here - it is well worth it, the perfect opening salvo.

Cecilia Spectrum - Untitled

Subburbia is an interesting beast. Hailing from Brazil, the foursome have pumped out PENTAGRAMA, a 24 hour expulsion of sound and noise. Describing their new sound as "witty, sexy, and chaotic," Subburbia are getting the inevitable comparisons to fellow Brazilians CSS, and whilst such notions aren't totally disparate, there are elements on the EP that suggest that they may break the mould there. There is definite synth driven numbers, all about getting people to move, yet there's a bit more snarl than bubblegum which I like. They have a new single out in June - will be interesting to see how that pans out.




London-based scuzzy pop/shoegaze three piece Model Railway Exhibition have released a cassette (through Verulamium Records) of their single (yep, a cassingle!!) 'Jennifer's Brother.' Funnily enough, I find the B-sides to be more alluring, yet there is enough moxy in these three songs to have me begging for something more substantial. I know it's in ya, fellas! Plus, for whatever reason, I love the crummy drum machine - almost unheard of in these here parts...




Another Verulamium Records release is the new mini-album by Palmz (AKA Lexie Corfiatis) called Grow. The rose-covered artwork and the bubbly, 80s high school font are a bit of a misleading notion, as underpinning this soaring sepia-tinged girl guitar pop is the combination of a 50's beach party with hazy, dreamy shoegaze guitars, effortlessly beautiful vocals and some delicious melancholia. The Californian band have released the EP on limited red tape - sweet!.

Palmz - I Only Want Good Things For You
Palmz - I Will Never, Never, EVER, Feel Again


It's been a while since I've skipped across the Tasman for some new talent (although Seth Frightening and God Bows To Math are two great NZ additions Ive been championing lately), so I thought I would shed some light on Christchurch's Hush House. The brainchild of Year 12 student Harry Guy, Hush House shows great maturity, with first single 'Objects' offering a love of psych pop and surf music that goes beyond mere apery, although there is a certain Nathan Williams-esque delivery here. He has been playing some shows recently, and is supposed to be releasing a five track EP also, which is entirely performed, recorded, mixed and mastered by him. For an outlet to relieve boredom, Guy has got something going on here...

Hush House - Objects


And lastly, to get me through the twilight hours and into the metropolis that is Brisbane, I have San Francisco rockers The Midnight Snackers who have just released their Sudden Death EP. Recorded in 72 hours in a one weekend splurge, the "champagne garage rockers" have done an excellent job of expanding their elemental horizons by placing such restraints on themselves. Is that the sound of sleeplessness and rancid liquor coming out of the pores? Quite possibly. "There was a moment, I think it was around hour sixty, when things got real difficult," recalls bassist Aaron Sankin. "I had been pounding my forehead on the baby grand for what felt like a solid 20 minutes pathetically mumbling, 'Is this a song?' at an oddly shaped stain on the wall when I think we all very strongly considered giving up and vowing to never speak of it again." But they stuck to their guns, and Sudden Death is an amazingly cohesive record as a result. I don't know how SF does it, but there is a glut of great rock bands working tirelessly to push themselves to the limit and beyond. Plus they have an LCD Soundsystem reference, and some slower songs that kill just as hard as the high octane burners - all is well in their world. Grab the EP here.

The Midnight Snackers - Thank You James Murphy (For The Fiber-Optic Cowbell That You Gave Me)
The Midnight Snackers - Borrowed Names

Happy Wednesday!