Scribbler – My Old Lady 7″

Probably a little over a month ago by now, I went out to a record store and found this gem sitting on the shelf. I bought it not knowing what I was getting into, and it was dirt cheap, so I didn’t really have anything to lose. Don’t ask me why, but I didn’t listen to it for weeks. It took me even longer to get it posted up here, as I’m finally getting around to it today, about 2 months after I bought it. Possibly even more. But that’s besides the point.

The name of the band is SCRIBBLER, and they come from up north in a place called Halifax in Nova Scotia, Canada. The record is a 6-song vinyl debut EP for the band, and it’s made up of tracks from all different environments and without a doubt, different varieties of music. Some songs sound as if they were recorded right in somebody’s bedroom, while other tracks were taken from live shows these guys have put on in the past. You can hear the audience and everything, which makes for a pretty interesting listen of this beyond-mysterious release from this beyond-mysterious band.

The reason I use the word ‘mysterious’ is due to the second half of this record. Some of the tracks are just short, face-splitting noise tracks that if you listened to long enough would certainly give you a headache. I have a few of the songs for you to listen to below, so please check’em out. If you like it, you should consider buying the 7″. Why you ask? 1.) It’s pretty damn cheap, and 2.) It’s limited to 300 copies, so it’s not going to be around forever. The sleeves were all hand made and silk-screened, and the labels on the actual record were hand-drawn. So you’re definitely getting your moneys worth with this one. I think it’s a good thing to say that I am looking forward to the next release from these guys, whatever it may be, and whatever it may include.

My Old Lady –

A Girl Should –

Ocean Floor –

My Rating: 7/10
Genre/ Tags: Lo-Fi, Experimental, Noise Rock
My Old Lady 7″: Tracklist:
1.) My Old Lady
2.) A Girl Should
3.) Ocean Floor
4.) A Few Days of Storm
5.) Nothing but Pain
6.) zzzzzz

Scribbler on Myspace
BUY the Scribbler 7″ directly from Stumparumper Records

Deep Sht – Weird You 7″

Hey guys, I have kind of another short post for you today. That’s because a new pair of Nike’s are being released this morning and I’m trying to snag a pair before it’s too late. They’re limited edition Nike SB Dunk Highs designed by skater Eric Koston, and they’re supposed to represent the temples in Thailand. Check them out right here. If it’s still early and there’s a decent skateshop in your town, it might not be too late to get them yourself! All this Nike talk makes me wonder why this isn’t a Nike SB/Music blog. Hmmmmmmmm…………

Well, for our music entry today, I have something that has been making some waves across the blogosphere lately. At least in the places I’ve been looking anyway. This time it’s a band called Deep Sht, and it sounds like we have another one-man bedroom pop band on our hands again. Deep Sht is the moniker of a man named Tom Watson, and his Myspace says he’s from London in the United Kingdom. He plays sluggish, drowned out pop music that sounds like it could lean a bit towards the “shitgaze” sound, and it’s quite awesome. Other words like “slowgaze” and “slowcore” could be used to describe the minimally awesome blissed-out sound that is Deep Sht. Every song from this 7″ EP could qualify as a highlight, but some of the hazy, euphoric goodness still stands out before the rest. Tracks like “Hector” and the spacey, far-out ones like “Weird You” and the final track “No No Mr. Greenspan” are all certainly worth hearing. Watson sings in them all, and his voice sounds like a buzzing wasp in the mix that is at some points very hard to understand. Sometimes he whispers, and things get a bit eerie. Find out for yourself by listening to the songs below! Farewell, and good luck if you’re hoping to grab a pair of these beauties today!

Hector –

Weird You –

No No Mr. Greenspan –

My Rating: 8/10
Genre/ Tags: Lo-Fi, Shoegaze, Slowcore
Weird You: Tracklist:
1.) Hector
2.) Other Peoples Lives
3.) Loose Lips Sink Deep Shit
4.) Weird You
5.) No No Mr. Greenspan

Deep Sht on Myspace
Deep Sht Blogspot
Download the 7″ from No Pain in Pop (for a small fee)

Mon Insomnie – Barbed Wires 7″

Hailing from somewhere out of the Czech Republic comes Mon Insomnie. Mon Insomnie is the name of a one-man bedroom pop outfit, and that’s about as far as I could get when it came to finding some information on the band. I couldn’t even figure out the lead singers name, but I did figure out the record label – Monster Heart Records. While they don’t quite have any physical releases to buy just yet, they seem to be in the process of getting that ready for us.

Going by the Mon Insomnie Bandcamp page, there is only a handful of music to listen to, with some of that being from their first 7″ record. The 7″ is three songs long, and it’s definitely worth a quick listen. The songs all evoke a longing feeling whether you like it or not – like you’re trying to reach out to something you just can’t grasp. The first two tracks, “Barbed Wires” and “Keep Love” definitely fall into the same vein, but the last track “They Left Me Here Where No One’s Around” is somewhat haunting, and more of an instrumental piano track that’s bound to paint a picture in your head. For some reason it reminds me of playing Resident Evil or something like that. But you should listen to these songs – head on over to the Bandcamp page so you can download them too!

Barbed Wires –

Keep Love –

They Left Me Here… –

My Rating: 6/10
Genre/ Tags: Lo-Fi, Singer/Songwriter, Bedroom Pop
Barbed Wires 7″: Tracklist:
1.) Barbed Wires
2.) Keep Love
3.) They Left Me Here Where No One’s Around

Mon Insomnie on Myspace
Mon Insomnie on Tumblr
Download the 7″ from the Mon Insomnie Bandcamp page

Kurt Vile – Square Shells EP

Hey! So I’ve had this one sitting around for a few days, and I just kind of forgot to listen to it. For whatever reason I remembered I had it just yesterday and decided to give it a spin for the first time. Not too long ago the good people over at Matador Records were nice enough to set the brand new EP free and give everybody a chance to download it “for the next 24 hours, or so.” Sadly, it’s way past that “24 hours or so” limit, but I’m going to share a few of the brand new, hazy Kurt Vile tunes with you here today, so you shouldn’t get too upset. If you’ve been looking to buy the EP, you can head on over to their store and buy it at this very moment! And I know this comes up here a lot on the blog, and it even says it on the Matador page, but these 7 new tracks are perfect summery jams and they came out just in time for summer.

Opening track “Ocean City” starts off with just Kurt and his lovely sounding acoustic guitar, as he sings about not being too sure about a new “best friend”, suggesting that “If it stinks it makes you think, maybe baby, I love you more.” The song continues on while Vile strums away on his guitar, and during the final minute some shape-shifting sound effects come into play, and then the songs fades out. Next up is the track that had been floating around on the web before the EP came out, and it’s called “Invisibility: Nonexistent”. It’s a psyched-out 7 minute jam as Kurt plays his trusty acoustic guitar over top of some grimy sound effects. You can easily get lost in a long, drawn out song such as this one, and at some point you may ask yourself when it’s going to end, but the song fades out and next comes “Losing Momentum”.

Unlike the others we’ve heard so far, this one is a bit more on the soundscape side of things, as it kind of forces you to paint a picture in your head to go along with the music, similar to the track “The Finder” found later on the EP. Following up would be the track “I Wanted Everything”. This is a perfect example of a breezy summer jam if there ever was one from this EP. Kurt continues to “strum away” for us on the EP as he says in the track “I Know I Got Religion”, and it all comes to a close on the lazy sounding final track “Hey, Now I’m Moving”. Kurt whips out the harmonica at the end of this one, and it works great for the song. A fantastic way to bring the EP to an end. Check out the songs below to hear for yourself! Thanks for coming by, and LET’S GO FLYERS. We’re just two wins away from becoming NHL Champions. Too much excitement!

Invisibility: Nonexistent –

I Wanted Everything –

I Know I Got Religion –

My Rating: 7/10
Genre/ Tags: Acoustic, Psychedelic, Lo-Fi
Square Shells EP: Tracklist:
1.) Ocean City
2.) Invisibility: Nonexistent
3.) Losing Momentum (for Jim Jarmusch)
4.) I Wanted Everything
5.) I Know I Got Religion
6.) The Finder
7.) Hey, Now I’m Moving

Kurt Vile on Myspace
Kurt Vile – Official Website (Coming soon)
BUY the EP directly from Matador Records

Navies – Seeing Hands 7″

Now here’s something I don’t think you’re going to be too familiar with. This is exactly why I like going to my local record stores to dig around and find something new and fairly unknown. I didn’t know a thing about what I was buying that day, but it was only $2.99, so I almost felt like I had to buy it.

What I speak of is a beautiful 7″ record by none other than a band called NAVIES, and believe it or not, I almost can’t find ANYTHING about this band anywhere on the web. The furthest I got was with this entry over at the Discogs database, which means somebody else out there has this 7″. I wish I had found that sooner, because I actually went downstairs to scan the cover art for blog-entry purposes because I didn’t think I would find it anywhere else on the web.

But this awesome 7″ comes on a beautiful slab of clear yellow (or gold) vinyl, complete with an insert giving some background information on the release and also the lyrics. If it wasn’t for the insert, I would be completely lost on what to say. And I’m just noticing this now, but apparently this 7″ came out in 2004. So how long was this sitting around in the record store without a home? Well, I gave it one, and without further to say, I give you Navies.

The 7″ only has two tracks (as you probably expected), with one song on each side. The total time is just shy of 8 minutes, and it’s 8 minutes of noisy, sloppy, shambolic post-punk with nods to bands like Double Dagger or any other punk-related band who bring the action full-throttle all the time. The best part about that is Double Dagger frontman Nolen Strals is mentioned on the insert included with the 7″ for credits on the design and printing of the record. Awesome. But moving on.

Navies seems as if it’s a 3 piece band, consisting of members Sean McGuinness, Ed Brant, and Mike Petillo. I’m just going by what this insert tells me. The music was recorded and mixed on 4 tracks during January and Feburary of 2004 by none other than the Navies boys at places called Eternal Life and Invisible Hand in Washington D.C. The name of the record label is FOLIAGE, and they actually have a website listed for the band (www.naviesband.org), but that shit don’t work. I went to even greater lengths to share the music with you guys, and I ripped the music right from the vinyl so you could listen to it below, so please enjoy! If you want to see more pictures of the record or pictures of the insert, just send me an e-mail!

Seeing Hands –

A Surveyor’s Measure –

My Rating: 7/10
Genre/ Tags: Noise Rock, Post-Punk, Lo-Fi
Seeing Hands 7″: Tracklist
1.) Seeing Hands
2.) A Surveyor’s Message

Navies on Last.fm
Navies – Seeing Hands 7″ on the Discogs Database
Edit (Nov. 30th, 2010) – just found this stuff below
Found this about NAVIES too
Navies – An Estate LP
Navies – 2 Song 7″

Pure Ecstasy – Voices 7″

Just the other day I got a brand new 7″ record in the mail from Acéphale Records, which I believe it based out of somewhere in New York. The 7″ features just under 8 minutes of brand new material from the hazed out beach rockers in Pure Ecstasy. Pure Ecstasy hail from Austin, Texas, and their music always finds a way to crawl under your skin. Going by their last 7″ we covered, they didn’t change too much for this 7″, but that’s totally okay with me. As far as I’m concerned, we haven’t gotten enough material from this band yet, which is why it’s 100% okay that they keep putting out these quick little 7″ gems. On their Myspace it says “LP coming soon”, so hopefully they won’t keep us waiting too long for that. Until then, maybe we can continue to see new singles released here and there.

This new 7″ features two brand new songs – one on the A-side and one on the B-side. The A-side is a track called “Voices”, and Nate Grace is there right away to greet us with “I know, I know, I know.” At times in these Pure Ecstasy songs, instead of an intense guitar solo, it seems like the guitar is being used to create a sort of texture before anything else. A bit past the 1 minute mark of this song and you’ll know what I’m talking about. Instead of coming off as a solo, it comes off more as a hazy wall of sound that gives the song a bit more depth. Flipping over to the B-side now, this track is called “Alexandria”. Right away you’re face to face with a ground shaking bass line, and it continues on this way for the entire song. It’s songs like these that are responsible for being stuck in your head for days at a time. Graces guitar is once again swirling away in the mix, creating textures and evoking hot summer days. Grace howls away towards the middle, giving this track that sense of longing that can be heard in most of these Pure Ecstasy songs.

While the music on this single is one thing, the vinyl itself is a completely different story. Acéphale puts the utmost care into their vinyl, and it shows with this release. The single is limited to 500 copies with no repress; the first 150 come pressed on a swirled maroon/beige vinyl with the remainder being maroon/black; and to top it all off they give the record sleeve a matté finish, which certainly gives it professional look and feel. Just take a look at this picture.
Be sure to listen to “Alexandria” below, and you can listen to the A-side “Voices” over on the Pure Ecstasy Myspace. Enjoy!

Alexandria –

My Rating: 8/10
Genre/ Tags: Dream Pop, Lo-Fi, Psychedelic
Voices 7″: Tracklist
1.) Voices
2.) Alexandria

You can buy it at insound!
Easy 7″ previously posted on the Styrofoam Drone
Pure Ecstasy on Myspace
Pure Ecstasy on Tumblr

Friendo – Cold Toads

Friendo is a 3-piece band who hail from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. If you already know about Friendo, chances are it’s because Michael Wallace, drummer of the band Women, plays guitar and takes singer/songwriter duties in Friendo. This is his first time ever coming out from behind the drum set to take the necessary duties to be the frontman. He is backed up by band mates Nicole – who I am assuming takes the bass guitar – and then Henry, who holds down the drumming. It also happens to be Henry’s first time playing behind the drum set in any band, so most of these guys seem to be going into uncharted territory when it comes to making music. After listening to the record, you probably never would have guessed these kinds of things either.

They used whatever recording equipment they could find around the house for the recording process of this oddly named “Cold Toads” record, such as tape decks, four-tracks, and just about anything else you can imagine. The result? This wonderful new record that comes from the St. Ives imprint – a division of Secretly Canadian – in which each record goes through a very specific process, just read their Manifesto. With that being said, it’s absolutely appropriate that “Cold Toads” was released by St. Ives.

As for the music, “Their songs range anywhere from breezy, effortless jams, to pulse-pounding post-punk outbursts. The multi-instrumentalist members love to mix harmony with noise, creating their own seasonal landscape,” said in the artist description on their Last.fm page. One perfect example of Friendo mixing harmony with noise would be on the gem “Oversees” or the closer “Young Fellows”, while the song “Callers” definitely fits into the “breezy, effortless jams” category – although they’re not effortless in the literal meaning of the word. The track “New Sibley” is arguably a “pulse-pounding post-punk outburst”, so whoever wrote that short description did a hell of a job. Do yourself a favor and check out the songs below, because I think you’re going to like them.

My Rating: 8/10
Genre/ Tags: Lo-Fi, Post-Punk, Noise Rock
Cold Toads: Tracklist
1.) Counter/Time
2.) Liner
3.) Callers
4.) Oversees
5.) Hailey Omen
6.) New Sibley
7.) Young Fellows

Friendo on Myspace
St. Ives Official Website
St. Ives Mailorder
Secretly Canadian Mailorder
BUY “Cold Toads” on cassette tape directly from Bart Records

Florida – Icarus 7″

Not long ago we covered the latest Haunted House 7″ from the band Florida. Now were going to take a closer look at their debut 7″ entitled “Icarus”, which was put out by the one and only SHDWPLY Records. Although the record is now sold out, you can still find it if you search hard enough, like right here. It’s pretty cool – the 7″ comes with a pair of 3D glasses unlike any other record I’ve ever bought. So if you’re wondering if you should buy that, 3D glasses are a pretty good incentive.

Like the previous 7″, this one has just two tracks, one on each side, and they’re just about as creepy and shiny as the last batch of Florida songs. Creepy mostly fits in with the opening track “Icarus” as lead singer Daniel Rineer’s voice is towering over everything as he sings “You can fly but you’ll put out an eye or two before you come down.” About halfway through the track they change things up a bit and Rineer can be heard howling into the mix. Flipping over to the b-side “Once Yr In It”, this track is glistening with a chiming sound effect in the background for just about the entire length of the song. Rineer’s voice sails smoothly over the mix as things build up more and more in the song until about the final minute and a half. Suddenly the guitar solo comes through almost simultaneously with the roll of the drums. They draw out this sweet jam session for a short bit until the song comes to an end. That’s all for this 7″, but you can check out more music from Florida right over on their Myspace.

Icarus –

Once Yr In It –

My Rating: 7/10
Genre/ Tags: Psychedelic, Lo-Fi
Icarus 7″: Tracklist
1.) Icarus
2.) Once Yr In It

Florida on Myspace
BUY the Haunted House 7″ and a bunch of other gems from SHDWPLY Records
BUY the Icarus 7″ directly from Goner-Records.com

The Babies – All Things Come to Pass 7″

About two weeks ago we covered the latest 7″ single from Brooklyn super group The Babies. Now, today, we have the original debut 7″ from these guys. The 7″ was put out by Wild Word Records, and they’re actually sold out of them at this point, but there’s a message there that says a repress is coming soon. Be patient, we’ll just have to wait for that one. As opposed to the latter 7″, Cassie Ramone takes lead vocal duties on this one while Kevin Morby takes care of the guitar. Justin Sullivan plays the drums, and Nate Stark plays the bass. These guys all play in other bands from New York – Vivian Girls, Woods, Bossy, and Stupid Party, respectively.

I know I said this before, but switching back and forth between the two 7″ singles from this band, it’s almost like two completely different bands. That would be due to the vocal switch up, as Kevin Morby takes the mic on the latest Babies 7″, while Ramone holds down the vocals on this one. The 7″ kicks off on the poppy self-titled track “All Things Come to Pass”, and this one is bound to put a smile on your face. Ramone reminds us not to be “sad when it’s over and done”, but that’s posing to be very difficult considering how uplifting and happy this song can be. Flipping over to the b-side “Caroline”, they change things up a bit. For the first two minutes of the track, Morby builds up the momentum with some fantastic guitar work, and slowly but surely he is joined by the rest of the band. They begin to get louder as the cymbals start crashing, and Ramone sings almost as if she’s trying to get somebodies attention. In this case, it’s Caroline. Check it out for yourself right below!

All Things Come to Pass –

Caroline –

My Rating: 8/10
Genre/ Tags: Pop, Lo-Fi
All Things Come to Pass 7″: Tracklist
1.) All Things Come to Pass
2.) Caroline

The Babies on Myspace
BUY the All Things Come to Pass 7″ directly from Wild World Records
Meet Me in the City 7″ previously posted on the Styrofoam Drone!
Watch the Babies and Titus Andronicus perform live in Philly!

Top Surprise – Everything Must Go EP

Top Surprise is a brand new band formed out of the unexpected country of Brazil. Before listening to these guys for the first time, all I could say I knew about them was their name. I downloaded their album (FOR FREE!) about a week ago, and since then, I’m finding it very difficult to not listen to these guys. Before I go any further, I would like to announce that you too can download this great EP, entirely for free! Just click this link! It’s that simple. These guys play hard, and they play loud. This is one of those albums that you need to play with the volume all the way up. It’s noisy. It’s loud. It’s mothafuckin’ Top Surprise.

Opening track “Samsara” starts off the EP, and it certainly doesn’t take long before things get loud. Any listener will know right away whether they’re going to like this band or not, because noisy pop rock certainly isn’t for everybody. Lead singer André takes lead vocals, and he is backed up by female counterpart known as Boo, who at times can be very difficult to hear in the mix, but she’s there, just listen carefully! Following track “Saturn (The Season)” starts off with the boy-girl vocal duo, and this one starts to get deep into the noise. Drummer Fil starts beating the hell out of his drum set a bit past the 1 minute mark, and that’s when the noise comes in. Screeching guitars and indecipherable lyrics dominate the mix, and shortly after the 2 minute mark they give you a chance to catch your breath. The drawn out guitars and snare hits progressively get softer and softer, giving this part of the song a demonic feel, and before you know it the shit hits the fan and they’re at it again.

Next track “More than Cool” can definitely be tagged as a highlight for this EP. Unfortunately it’s less than 2 minutes long, but it brings a lot to the Top Surprise table. The rhythm guitar screams nothing other than having a good time, while the squealing solos in this one are enough to melt the skin right off of your precious face. An unexpectedly satisfying song this one was. I’m not entirely sure how this band does it, but they keep hitting that mark. You really need to listen to this song below. Next track “Home” starts off with a murky bass line and quick little noise blasts from the guitar. Things continue on this way for most of the song until the end when they turn up the intensity a bit. The guitars become even more overbearing and the bass line gets drowned in yet another layer of fuzz. Skipping ahead to the longest song on the EP “I Shoot the Devil”. This one starts out sounding like a rip-rockin’ good time, followed by more of lead singer André and backup singer Boo and their completely unintelligible boy-girl vocals. Some nice little guitar licks come up on this one, and as the song comes to a close they speed things up, only to slow back down to bring the song to its end. Last but not least would be the final track “80 Comes”, which isn’t quite like the rest of the EP. This one falls into a category of its own, and like myself, chances are you won’t see this one coming. It’s simple, laid back, and easy going. The acoustic guitar has a welcoming tone, and you can actually hear lead singer André in this one! Guys, don’t waste any more of your time. Hurry up and download the EP and start listening right away. You’ll be happy you did. And as always, thanks for coming by, and be sure to check back again tomorrow!

Saturn (The Season) –

More than Cool –

I Shoot the Devil –

My Rating: 9/10
Genre/ Tags: Noise Rock, Lo-Fi, Pop
Everything Must Go EP: Tracklist
1.) Samsara
2.) Saturn (The Season)
3.) More than Cool
4.) Home
5.) Lagarto Drugs
6.) I Shoot the Devil
7.) 80 Comes

Top Surprise on Myspace
BUY the EP on cassette directly from Pug Records!
DOWNLOAD the entire EP, completely for free!