Part one of the TVD Record Store Club’s look at the new or reissued wax presently in stores for April, 2016.
The Adverts, Crossing the Red Sea with the Adverts and Cast of Thousands (Fire) Deserving reissues of the killer debut and underrated follow-up by these crucial UK punkers. Sharpened through gigs, Crossing is a rare punk LP that’s fantastic from start to finish, its highlights including their monster early 45 cuts plus album-only doozies like “On the Roof.” Brandishing more ambitious songs and execution, less punk orthodoxy and occasional non-toxic pop gestures (e.g. keyboards), Cast’s rep has steadily grown over the decades. Fire gives both spiffy new covers and bonus tracks. A/A-
Loren Auerbach with Bert Jansch, Colours Are Fading Fast (Earth Recordings) An eye-opening set surely appropriate for Jansch heavies, though amongst numerous contributors this is still firmly Auerbach’s show, rounding up her mid-‘80s albums Playing the Game and After the Long Night and adding an LP of unreleased material. The label notes the difficulty in fathoming the heretofore modest appreciation for her gifts as a vocalist, a point well taken as the music’s original issue on her own Christabel label undoubtedly limited her exposure. This loving collection sets things right. A-
Bardo Pond, Acid Guru Pond (Fire) One of the finest heavy-psych bands of the last 25 years joins up with prolific Japanese contemporaries Acid Mothers Temple and Krautrock survivors Guru Guru (the number of participants from each band isn’t exactly clear) for an extravaganza of expansiveness spread across four sides of vinyl. Studio meetings of this type tend to fall short of expectations, but the Pond’s style of pulse-drone psych fits well with a loose jamming atmosphere, and these five tracks never falter into aimlessness or self-indulgence. A-
Jaye Bartell, Light Enough (Sinderlyn) Wielding a voice not necessarily unconventional but certainly distinctive, Bartell’s background as a poet shines through (influences cited: Spalding Gray, Eileen Myles, Charles Olson) as the verses on his second album sidestep the commonplace with ease. Enhanced by a folky framework, the work of Leonard Cohen and to a lesser extent Bill Callahan does spring to mind on occasion, but Bartell’s ultimately up to something different here. The title track serves as a good entry point and “The Ceiling” expands things very nicely. Excellent cover, as well. A-
Beastwars, The Death of All Things (Destroy) Third installment in a post-apocalyptic trilogy from this Kiwi sludge-doom combo; amongst other talents they brandish a real knack for Frazetta-esque fantasy paperback-style cover art. Opener “Call to the Mountain” is the highlight, delivering a slab of pummeling aggression that effectively sets the stage for most of what follows. Although a few spots find them flirting with mere heaviness, singer Matt Hyde’s presence never wears thin and the execution avoids triteness, even during the late-album bid for range “The Devil Took Her.” B+
Bonehawk, Albino Rhino (Ripple) This Michigan outfit’s Jim Diamond-produced 2014 debut has blown through two vinyl pressings; now it gets a CD run via Ripple. Stoner rock with a little NWOBHM inflection is the game, and it’s executed very well; the rhythm section is consistently on the money, the dual guitar attack never slips into parody even amidst numerous solo flights, and the singing never gets stupid. All they need now is to add a personal twist; in lieu of that, more monsters like the closing title number, please B+
Charles Bradley, Changes (Dunham/Daptone) Bradley can be tagged as a throwback, but he’s no copyist, instead, blending the communication skills of Al Green with touches of James Brown-like exclamatory fervor as he and Menahan Street Band (plus members of his touring group The Extraordinaries) have hindsight on their side; this applies to the justly ballyhooed Black Sabbath cover titling the album and to a lesser extent the superb horn interpolation from Seals & Crofts, but also to the raucous live-in-the-studio atmosphere of “Ain’t It a Sin” and the early ‘70s vocal group vibe of “Things We Do For Love.” A-
The James Brown Revue, Live at the Apollo Volume IV (Get on Down) As enthralling as the 1962 Apollo set? Of course not, but this is something quite different, specifically, an extended dose of the J.B.’s in action with ample helpings of Lyn “The Female Preacher” Collins, Bobby Byrd, and Brown himself; naturally the playing is of high quality throughout, and if the revue approach isn’t as ass-pinning as a plunge into wall-to-wall Brown fervor would be, this set is still a treat. A-
John Carpenter, Lost Themes II (Sacred Bones) As a director it took Carpenter over 20 years and 15 features to dish out a sequel (that’d be 1996’s Escape from L.A.), but as a non-soundtrack musician he gets there in a little over a year via his second album. Like nearly all sequels, this is a lesser and somewhat disappointing affair, though its mild pleasures do inspire hopes that the most comparable aspect in Carpenter’s film career turns out to be his role as producer of the Halloween trilogy; here’s to a prospective Lost Themes III being as leftfield loopy as Season of the Witch (no, I’m not kidding). B
CFM, Still Life of Citrus and Slime (In the Red) For a record reportedly spawned from a breakup, this LP from California garage punk fixture (Culture Kids, Moonhearts, Mikal Cronin) and noted Ty Segall collaborator (Perverts, Fuzz) Charles Moothart is a surprisingly cohesive listen. Of course this is relative; the first song abruptly cuts off (others follow suit) and the last track is a murky instrumental as additional looseness intermittently burbles to the surface in between, but the whole does retain focus. Although not a cover of the NNB classic, “Slack” is still a highlight. B+
The Chills, “Pyramid / When the Poor Can Reach the Moon” (Fire) Spotlighting a standout moment from last year’s terrific studio comeback, specifically a two-tiered eight minute gem fully deserving of an a-side all to its lonesome. Any old Martin Phillipps fans hesitant to plunge into his new stuff should use this is a taste; they’ll be in line with copies of Silver Bullets in no time. Flip side holds high-quality (and exclusive) 2013 versions of Chills nuggets “Night of the Chill Blue” and “Walk on the Beach,” so if Silver Bullets is already on the shelf there is still reason to contemplate picking up this one. A-
John Congleton and the Nighty Nite, Until the Horror Goes (Fat Possum) I’m fond of Congleton’s defunct prior outfit The Paper Chase and enjoy quite a few of his production credits, so it’s somewhat disappointing that his debut with the Nighty Nite (which apparently includes the input of former Paper Chaser Jason Garner) has yet to really move me. The bold electro veneer helps this to stand out, but it still reminds me of John Darnielle if he went bombastic and unabashedly strove for Big Themes. Use of the phrase “chaos reigns” brings to mind the talking fox in Lars Von Trier’s daffy-assed Antichrist. B-
Devo, EZ Listening Muzak (Futurismo) Deluxe reissue of a frequently shat upon Spud Kings’ footnote; quickly apparent after getting reacquainted with this batch of thematic self-covers, initially released as two Fan Club cassettes in ’81 and ’84 and combined onto CD by Rykodisc in ’87, is the inclination toward easy listening kitsch (mirrored in the bachelor pad angle of Futurismo’s package design) over the wallpaper-like innocuousness of Muzak. Quality varies wildly from track to track; the best moments are vaguely Residential retro-futurist sonic doodles. Includes one new bonus cut. B
Dinner, Psychic Lovers (Captured Tracks) History has proven that an unconventional voice can be an asset, but unfortunately Dane Anders Rhedin sounds like a Nico-channeling sock puppet backed by unexceptional and sometimes awkward synth-pop, making it difficult to not dismiss this as a meta-gag. Track title “Cool as Ice” points to the recurring banality of the album’s lyrics, a likely deliberate and not a bit endearing tactic. Frustratingly, “A.F.Y.” shows Rhedin as capable of strong stuff. Hey, at least this isn’t boring. C
Divine Weeks, See Those Landing Lights (Self-released) I’m old enough to remember the video for Divine Weeks’ “In the Country (For Jim Carroll)” landing a few late night plays on MTV. Back then they were signed to Down There (the Dream Syndicate’s Steve Wynn’s label) and were poised for a breakout that never happened. This return to activity obviously derives from personal satisfaction rather than any sort of brass ring grab; the best moments nod to power-pop roots as anthemic rock defines the whole right down to a finale inspiring visions of couples in swaying embrace with flaming lighters held aloft. B-
The D.O.C., No One Can Do It Better (Get on Down) Under the stage name The D.O.C., Tracy Lynn Curry will likely always be associated with N.W.A.; it’s an understandable circumstance since he guests on Straight Outta Compton and the once feared now revered group is all over this, his ’89 debut. This album is less Gangsta-inclined than one might expect, however; originally from Dallas as part of the Fila Fresh Crew (where his handle was Doc-T), The D.O.C. was clearly impacted by East Coast affairs of the period. The LP starts out strong, levels off without dragging, and remains funky throughout. B+
Elephant Tree, s/t (Magnetic Eye) The second album from this London-based doom/ stoner hybrid reveals them to be a quite cohesive instrumental unit. I won’t deny the vocals took a little getting used to, but after a few spins coming to terms with that aspect the band’s achievement wasn’t a problem. While a modest success overall, this set provided a solid listen. B
Karen Haglof, Perseverance and Grace (Self-released) Ex-Rhys Chatham/ Band of Susans guitarist and practicing physician Haglof reemerged in 2014 with Western Holiday, a terrific set of Americana-infused art-pop. Here she retains the veteran musical core of Steve Almaas and C.P. Roth as Mitch Easter once again mixes the whole and contributes lead guitar to one track, matching its predecessor in terms of quality as the stylistic compass drifts slightly in the direction of the urban. Ears in search of the visceral should look elsewhere; this is a mature CD by an assured artist with hopefully more in store. A-
The Herms, Welcome All Tourists (Narnack) After a decade absence this once Bay Area but now L.A.-based trio returns to active duty, though some may remember a singles comp from a few years back on John Dwyer’s Castle Face label, and this fine garage LP comes courtesy of the also rekindled Narnack enterprise. A few spots mildly and briefly recall Narnack-signees Thee Oh Sees and/or other groups in Dwyer’s sphere, but there’s plenty of diversity; opener “Parades” could be mistaken for a Norton 45 and at other places The Herms come off like a slightly grittier Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet. B+
Hunt, Branches (Lövely) Based upon Driving Rain (covered last time), the Nightmen (see part two) and the second full-length by this Swedish quartet, Lövely is a label to watch. The other two outfits reach back a bit farther for the rudiments of their sounds as Hunt delves into a contempo mixture of dream pop, post-rock and even a little post-punk. If short of mindblowing, the results are far more than serviceable, particularly Susanna Brandin’s vocals. B
Ill Wicker, Untamed (The Sign) Sounds descended from prime-grade acid-folk are something of a rarity these days, so this Swedish ensemble’s sophomore full-length is very welcome. Coming through immediately is a high level of dedication as they hover near the darker end of the spectrum, with the title of their first LP Under Diana a direct homage to cult psych-folk group Comus. If that name triggers ripples of warm recognition then it’s safe to cite Untamed as a very good bet; while not equaling Comus’ First Utterance it gets much closer than expected and avoids mere imitation. B+
Bert Jansch, “Black Birds of Brittany” b/w “Cuckoo” (Earth) The a-side was recorded around the same time as the superb Avocet LP (also recently reissued by Earth) and was initially half of a split single with Shirley Collins; here it gets previously unreleased backing deepening the ornithological theme and further underlining Jansch as a treasure of Brit-folk. Excellent use of bowed strings to replicate a ship’s horn on “Black Birds of Brittany”; the flip will likely sound splendid on many an early summer morning. A-
Landscapes, Modern Earth (Pure Noise) Copious raw-throated shouting in tandem with what’s been described as a melodic hardcore template, though the impact of harder-edged metallic affairs is also apparent; a little sub-sub-Rollins spoken word gets added to broaden the scope. The stamina required to pull this off is undeniable, but that doesn’t make it inherently admirable. The best of early hardcore could sound borderline unhinged, but this just registers as blustery and from a musical standpoint it doesn’t even connect as all that heavy. C+
