Banned Books – Man Maker EP

Just two days ago I had an e-mail in my inbox from the wonderful spaz-rock trio BANNED BOOKS. They’re making the rounds on the internet and sending out their brand new EP “Man Maker” to the masses, and it’s already proving to pay off for these guys. If you can remember back to last time, the album of interest was the fantastic “Mission Creep” mini-LP, and now they’re back once again with another batch of ridiculously strained and rigid songs, which includes even less time to breathe than we had on “Mission Creep”! Seriously! These guys are relentless, and it fucking rules!

So this time around the Banned Books sound is slightly different from the last, but you would still know it’s Banned Books. One of the biggest contrasts I noticed from “Mission Creep” is that they take a step back on the quiet parts on this EP – instead of changing things up from madness to silence like they did on “Mission Creep”, this time they just ditch the quiet and give you the full-throttle surprise, all the time (well, most of the time).

The EP features five brand new, unheard songs from the band, and they’re about as tense and frantic as they come. Each track is a well organized mess of guitars, drums, and bass, and you can tell that the band puts a shit-ton of time and effort into their music, and it definitely shows. The guitars are staggeringly heavy and screeching at just about every possible chance, while lead singer Zane Kanevsky acts as our tour guide through the EP. His soft, delicate vocals can go from one extreme to the other in a matter of seconds, and they go hand-in-hand with their relentless style of music. One of the quietest moments on the EP comes during the title-track “Man Maker”, but it doesn’t stay this way for long before it all goes to shit during the final minute. Screeching, spiny guitars then take over the mix, and the poor listeners (us!) are left wondering what the hell just happened! You’ll probably need to rewind the song a bit just to make sure you didn’t miss anything.

Perhaps one of the most jaw-dropping moments comes towards the end of the EP, and it’s called “The Meat that Eats Itself” (Kind of a horrifying name, don’t you think? Just picture that in your head). Right from the get-go this song is already sprawling in all directions, and it doesn’t loosen it’s grasp for all two minutes and eighteen seconds. Kanevsky howls over the mix while it sounds like everybody else in the band just beats the piss out of their instruments – and the face-destroying madness is good enough to force you to put the track on for another spin. I’ve uploaded this track for you guys below, so please don’t miss this one. You guys really need to hear this and see what you think, because I’m sure you’ll all have different opinions. One thing I am sure about though is this: Banned Books love to surprise us, and that’s just what they did here with this EP. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to their next release…

PS – You can download their new EP entirely for FREE!!!

Man Maker –

The Meat that Eats Itself –

My Rating: 9/10
Genre/ Tags: Experimental, Noise Rock, Post Punk
Man Maker EP: Tracklist:
1.) Intergalactic Singalong
2.) Man Maker
3.) Human Head
4.) The Meat that Eats Itself
5.) The Dress

Banned Books on Myspace!
DOWNLOAD their entire EP completely for free – courtesy of Banned Books!
Check out “Mission Creep” by Banned Books that was previously posted on the Styrofoam Drone

Dead Luke – American Haircut

Hey guys. So as some of you may know, last week was definitely a Jacuzzi Boys kind of week. When it was all said and done, I went over to Florida’s Dying to pick up their wonderful “No Seasons” LP. In doing so, I came across something else that they have that I thought I’d like to give a listen. The name of the band is DEAD LUKE, and the release I’m speaking of is called “American Haircut”. They have the LP for a ridiculously cheap price of $10 over at Florida’s Dying, and I think what sealed the deal for me was the awesome little description of the record – “No sun in these parts, just dead vegetation and an iced over ground where a ghostly voice repeats over and over ‘You know you’re bringing me down.'” After reading a description like that, I was beyond curious what Dead Luke was all about, so here I am today.

“American Haircut” definitely isn’t your normal batch of songs, but that’s probably why you went out of your way to check this dude out, right? Most of the time on the record, you’ll find yourself immersed in these dark, ambient tracks with endless layers of reverb, and at times it almost feels like you’re listening to the music from an underwater point-of-view (or in this case, point-of-listening), and at times it can be quite haunting – for example, the song “Sunrise”. But don’t get me wrong, not every song is creepy or haunting like that. There’s a bunch of other songs from the record with a much more inviting sound, such as “God Bless the Midwest, God Roast the East”, or “Lil’ Red Riding Hood”, which could probably be the most accessible song from the album. Except for “Trapped in Lust”, “Lil’ Red Riding Hood” might be the only track with a noticeable acoustic guitar right from the get-go. And it’s also got a broken keyboard solo throughout the song that’s pretty sweet.

One highlight from “American Haircut” would have to be track two, titled “Dreaming Pt. 3”. The song starts out with these dizzying sound effects, and then moments later everything else joins in. The simple, buzzy bass line guides you through the song and keeps everything running smoothly while all sorts of crazy shit takes place – howling vocals, heavy guitars, pretty much anything you think you hear. As you listen you’ll notice the song gets extremely intense as it builds up into more and more with every passing second – just hang in there. Up next would be track three, “Luke is Not Dead”, and it’s immediately different from the last song. This one gets its point across much quicker as the song starts up right away, and then all the sudden things change up during the second minute, and you’re left with just a woozy sounding acoustic guitar. Definitely didn’t see that coming. Another track from the record that’s certainly worth your time is the final track, “The Best Drug I’ve Ever Done.” And what a perfect name for a song that sounds like it does! This is yet another ridiculously drowned out tune, but it’s got a somewhat inviting sound once you get into it. Little bursts of reverb come out throughout the song, and it’s just a deliciously awesome mess of darkness and noise that’s bound to make your head spin. I think that’s all for today guys, but please check out these few songs below – you won’t be sorry!

Dreaming Pt. 3 –

Lil’ Red Riding Hood –

The Best Drug I’ve Ever Done –

My Rating: 7.5/10
Genre/ Tags: Lo-Fi, Slowcore, Psychedelic, Noise Rock
American Haircut: Tracklist:
1.) Trapped in Lust
2.) Dreaming Pt. 3
3.) Luke is Not Dead
4.) Sunrise
5.) You’re Bringing Me Down
6.) God Bless the Midwest, God Roast the East
7.) Acid Forest
8.) Lil’ Red Riding Hood
9.) The Best Drug I’ve Ever Done

Dead Luke on Myspace – Not much to see…
BUY “American Haircut” directly from Florida’s Dying
BUY all available Dead Luke releases here at Insound
Dead Luke discography list from Discogs.com

Fungi Girls – Seafaring Pyramids

Hey guys. I hope you all weren’t too worried about me yesterday considering there wasn’t a new post. If you were, it’s okay now, because I’m back with something that I wish I had known about much, much sooner. Kind of like those Jacuzzi Boys we’ve been seeing here recently on the SD.

If it wasn’t for their most recent 7″, I don’t know if I ever would have came across these guys. After hearing what they had to offer from “Turquoise Hotel”, I couldn’t just sit around and wonder what else these guys had up their sleeve. I tracked down their full-length, and I am EXTREMELY glad I did. Upon first listen, I got an immediate feeling that this stuff was going to put me on my ass, and sure enough, it did. Which makes me go on to say that nothing can compare to the first listen of any song, but that’s a different story. Unfortunately for me, I have to go to work this morning, so I can’t get too in-depth with the music description this time around, but I’ll leave you guys with a few mp3’s so you can see what they’re all about. But before you listen, I’ll have you know that the crunchy, lo-fi qualities are definitely part of the Fungi Girls sound, and they do it all with their own unique, swingin’ blend of heavy garage rock, which includes psychedelic freak outs of all sorts. Just please listen for yourself, and hopefully the result will be your face looking like the one from their album cover – wide eyes, jaw dropped.

Pacifica Nostalgia –

Colour the Floor –

Crystal Roads –

My Rating: 8/10
Genre/ Tags: Lo-Fi, Garage Rock, Noise Rock, Psychedelic
Seafaring Pyramids: Tracklist:
1.) Pacifica Nostalgia
2.) Into the Cosmos
3.) Dystopic Vision
4.) Dream of Oz
5.) Colour the Floor
6.) Kowloon Walled City
7.) Clouds
8.) Crystal Roads

Fungi Girls – Official Website!
Fungi Girls on Myspace!
BUY the Fungi Girls full-length from Play Pinball! Records
Check out the Fungi Girls “Turquoise Hotel” 7″ that was recently posted.

Naked on the Vague – Heaps of Nothing

Back in April, Siltbreeze Records released a brand new LP from Australian goth-rockers NAKED ON THE VAGUE. It’s their second full-length LP to date, and I happened to pick this one up the other day while I was at the record store as well. It’s quite an interesting and mysterious listen, as most of the songs sound about as creepy and haunting as music can get. Pretty much all of the songs are dominated by thick, grimy guitars, and then sometimes we get these headache-inducing sound effects that may or may not at times be a bit too unbearable. But either way, the music can still be thoroughly enjoyed by any listener as some tracks tend to get a bit more intense than others.

The LP kicks off on the hauntingly titled “Mysterious Oven”, and right off the bat you’ll see what these guys are going for and where I’m coming from as the listener. The thick, heavy guitars don’t take long to introduce themselves in the music, along with lead singer Lucy Cliche, while her moody, drony vocals come up pretty often. The second track on the album is called “Wrong Room”, and it’s a bit different than the first. They relax a bit in this song, and that becomes noticeable pretty quickly considering that this song sounds much more lazy and strung out than the previous. It might be a bit of a stretch, but one good word to describe the music might be ‘miserable’. I’m not referring to the band members themselves as being miserable – just referring to the way everything sounds. Towards the end of the song there is a sliding guitar solo that gets totally drowned out by everything else in the mix. Heavy stuff right here.

Moving on to maybe the most accessible song on the LP, this one is called “Treading Water”. You can check this one out below as I’ve uploaded it for your listening pleasure! This one definitely starts off with a slightly more welcoming sound than we’ve heard up until this point. Lucy Cliche frighteningly howls over the mix in this one, complete with some sweet keyboard/piano melodies that go a long way for holding the song together. Next up comes the longest song from the album, and it’s called “Sacred Youth”. It’s chock-full of all the noisy effects you’ve grown to love at this point, and it’s got a primitive, tribal sound to it that sticks around for more-or-less of the entire song. That endless dirge is probably due to the use of the tom-toms and the slow, strung-out nature of the song. Before the song comes to an end there’s a fantastic guitar solo that kind of sums everything up. These guys have such a staggering sound that it’s probably going to take a good listen or two before it really sinks in, but you should definitely give it a chance. The rest of the album follows a similar path – there’s obnoxiously screeching and crunchy guitars. Lazy, moody sounding vocals, and there is even an instrumental track (Black Lettuce). Don’t shy away, give these guys a chance. Listen to the two tracks below!

These Days –

Treading Water –

My Rating: 7/10
Genre/ Tags: Noise Rock, Lo-Fi, Psychedelic, Gothic
Heaps of Nothing: Tracklist:
1.) Mysterious Oven
2.) Wrong Room
3.) Treading Water
4.) Sacred Youth
5.) These Days
6.) The Joke
7.) Black Lettuce
8.) Blank Minds

Naked on the Vague on Myspace
Naked on the Vague – Official Website!
BUY the album directly from Midheaven Mailorder or Siltbreeze Records

Radical Sons – Throwing Knives

Hey all. This past Sunday was a great day. I made it to the record store for the first time in weeks, and while I was there I found some fantastic new records. Of the few things I picked up that day, one of them certainly stood out above the rest, and that record is called “Throwing Knives” by a band named RADICAL SONS. When I found it in the record store I had no idea what I was getting into. The main reason I bought it was because it was from the St. Ives label, and it wasn’t too pricey. With that being said, I can’t stress enough how good of a feeling it is to buy a record without any prior knowledge of the band, and then totally fall in the love with the music. Radical Sons totally caught me off guard considering my situation, and I hope you guys can enjoy these songs as much as I did.

The record has two sides (duh), but one side is all studio recordings, while the other is all demo takes of certain songs. According to the description on the Insound website, these demo tracks were recorded right at home, and the record sleeves were designed by the band members themselves. As the St. Ives label on the vinyl says, “The artist alone is to blame for the appearance of their St. Ives record.”, so if there are any problems with your record, you know who to blame! But seriously, how could you get mad at these guys after making such an awesome record?

The band originally started back in 2008 with Ben Goldstein and Nick Risler when they still lived in St. Louis, and since then they’ve moved to Brooklyn, NY (no surprise there), and then they released their first record “Throwing Knives”, which is why I am here today. You can listen to three of the songs below, ripped directly from the vinyl itself. Some parts of the songs get noisy, other parts sound like tropical calypso music (the beginning of Planes & Trains), and other parts they just rock out, but they always manage to do all of these things while staying within the confines of their own sound. Hey, thanks for coming by again today, and as always, enjoy the music!

I’m So Sick of the 21st Century –

Throwing Knives –

Planes & Trains –

My Rating: 9/10
Genre/ Tags: Garage Rock, Noise Rock, Indie Rock
Throwing Knives: Tracklist:
1.) I’m So Sick of the 21st Century
2.) River City
3.) Throwing Knives
4.) All Signs Show
5.) Planes & Trains
6.) Midnight Reducers (Demo)
7.) River City (Demo)
8.) All Signs Show (Demo)
9.) Planes & Trains (Demo)
10.) Scavengers (Demo)

Check out Radical Sons on Myspace!
You can buy it at insound!

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

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″

Girls Names – Girls Names EP

This is pretty interesting. The band Girls Names formed in January of 2009, and they had their first gig booked before ever playing a show together. How do you even book a gig without any music to show for it? That’s what I want to know. Does that mean they hadn’t practiced at all either? If so then that’s pretty awesome, but at this point Girls Names are way beyond that. Having been a band for over a year now, Girls Names hail from Belfast in Northern Ireland, the capital and largest city in Ireland. Up until this point they have released a mini-album on Tough Love Records, a cassette tape split with the band Heavy Hawaii on Cass/Flick, and last but not least the 12″ EP put out by Captured Tracks. The Captured Tracks EP features 4 original tracks from the band, and it clocks it at just over 10 minutes of noisy, strung out, reverb drenched guitar driven garage/surf rock.

At times when listening to this short EP, the band Crystal Stilts would come to mind. I think that would mainly be due to the droned out, howling vocals of lead singer Cathal, and also because of that primitive and simple-but-complex drumming style of drummer Neil (I couldn’t figure out their last names). The second track on the EP, “Warm Hands, Cold Heart”, is a great example of this. Lead singer Cathal hangs over the mix while the frantic drums and urgent guitars push the song almost into surf-rock territory. The first track “I Guess” also takes a stroll into the surf-rock side of things.

Moving onto the last track on the EP, “Graveyard” starts out with some welcoming guitars, and again this track goes deep into the surf rock side of things as the guitars almost become a quick Hawaiian dance jig as they switch it up a bit past the midway point of the song. One thing that is certain is that a graveyard will never evoke the same feeling that this song does. If yr interested, you can check out two of those four songs right here. If these aren’t enough for you, shoot on over to their Myspace where you can check out a bunch more of their songs. That’s all for today!

Warm Hands, Cold Heart –

Graveyard –

My Rating: 7/10
Genre/ Tags: Garage Rock, Surf Rock, Noise Rock
Girls Names EP: Tracklist
1.) I Guess
2.) Warm Hands, Cold Heart
3.) Don’t Let Me In
4.) Graveyard

Girls Names on Myspace
Girls Names Official Blogspot
BUY the 12″ EP directly from Captured Tracks

Girls in the Eighties – Teenage Royalty

Hey. Last night I came across this album, although I wish I had a lot sooner. The name of the band is Girls in the Eighties, and they hail from Nashville, Tennessee. Their first official release, “Teenage Royalty”, was put out in Feburary, 2010, and it was recorded in late 2008 in Nashville at a place called the Red Room. It features Chase on guitar, bass, vocals and other stuff, Matt plays the keyboards, and Josh plays the drums. While I don’t know a damn thing about Nashville or the Red Room, I can tell you about Girls in the Eighties.

The first thing I learned is that they have a lot of technical difficulties when trying to release new stuff, but that’s besides the point. Girls in the Eighties play noisy punk rock gems infused with a tinge of electronic elements/sounds that’s balanced almost too perfectly. It’s neither entirely electronic, and neither is it entirely noisy punk rock – it falls somewhere right in the middle. At times when listening to Chase’s vocals, I can’t help but think of the Smith Westerns, but that doesn’t go for every aspect of the music, just the vocals really. While you may not agree with that statement, one thing that is certainly true is that yesterdays really don’t mean shit. Woo! Such a triumphant listen! Nothing else matters when you listen to this song! You can listen to the first four tracks from the album below, so why not give it a shot? “Teenage Royalty” is an enjoyable listen from end to start, and it won’t hurt one bit, I promise!

Vacation –

Yesterdays Don’t Mean Shit –

Teenage Royalty –

Too Cool for This Crowd –

My Rating: 8/10
Genre/ Tags: Noise Rock, Pop, Punk, Shoegaze
Teenage Royalty: Tracklist
1.) Vacation
2.) Yesterdays Don’t Mean Shit
3.) Teenage Royalty
4.) Too Cool for This Crowd
5.) Burn Your Riches
6.) Slow Motion
7.) Glory Fades
8.) The Duke Boys Anthem
9.) The Seconds After an Explosion
10.) No More Last Goodbyes
11.) Youth Experiment
12.) Future Years
13.) Strange Lights

Girls in the Eighties on Myspace!
BUY a copy of the “Teenage Royalty” CD right here!
Download “Teenage Royalty” right here! (This link was on their Myspace blog)

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