MUSIC REVIEWS

We review LPs, EPs, 7"s, CDs, CD-Rs & cassettes. We'll take digital files, but we like physical copies too, so let's get physical. Got something for review? Send us an e-mail.

RHYTON
Self-titled (Thrill Jockey)
Rhyton is an improvisational musical outfit—a jam band of sorts—a Brooklyn trio of like minds who lay out songs, riffs and free-form progressions with little or no pre-planned structural consideration. Organic and experimental yet never quite aimless and not like listening to your stoner next-door-neighbors wank ‘til dawn, although the five tracks on their self-titled debut certainly owe a debt to late-night bull sessions where this or that might be passed around to facilitate some sort of process. One would think anyway. “Stone Colored” meanders to the twelve minute “Pontian Grave” which may or may not be about a genocide. "Teké" abandons even the minimal outline of a plan, going in for effects over notes. "Dale Odalíski" further devolves into the primordial murk which allows "Shank Raids" to march into the fray with a purpose that might otherwise not seem as valiant—Jubson Jones [Rhyton]

WOODEN SHJIPS
Remixes 12" (Thrill Jockey)
Fans of the San Fran band, Wooden Shjips, as well as fans of vinyl and 12” remixes, will be happy with this new Thrill Jockey release—as will fans of stuff that's limited edition, as well as fans of droning, spacey stoner music. The Remixes EP features three songs utilitzing the mixing and production talents of Andrew Weatherall, Sonic Boom (Pete Kember of Spacemen 3) and Kandodo (aka Simon Price of The Heads). In Weatherall’s hands, the first track “Crossing” (from last year's West LP) slows down the pace of the origninal, strips out the guitar, ups the bass and adds some synth to the mix, thus creating a more electronic edge than previously present. Pete Kember, who helped master the West album, took it upon his ownself to cook up "Wiking Stew (aka Red Krayola-ing)" as a mashup of tunes from that record. For "Ursus Maritimus (Last Bear’s Lament)" The Shjip’s Ripley Johnson laid down the main structure for Kandodo, who added various instrumentation to create a droning, twelve minute collage that is haunting in its stark chain-gang clang—like breaking rocks, not in the hot sun, but under a black moon. You feel me?—Jubson Jones [Wooden Shjips]

MERMAID BONES
The End of Days (self-released)
Fall 1989, the first time I saw guitarist Dave Gill: One night a groovy, now defunct, Hyde Park coffee house found room on the schedule for all the usual suspects. The rumor going around being, some radical noise guitarist is killing it, duo style, with an effects cat. Their operating moniker: !Glrnaap. So I glugged a slug from the jug, took a few tokes and made my way to the Fullerton el stop. When I got to the performance I wasn't late, but the show had already started. Some academic music school characters were considering how it would look on paper. Gill proceeded to set up his flea market light show, plug in a 25-watt practice amp, and level the room. The last audible remark I heard was a reference to frog sterilization. A few years later I would hear Gill perform more times than I can remember with the wildly popular and critically acclaimed Hog Lady.

And now this! The End of Days is an absolute masterpiece. Track 4 "December" is worth the price of admission alone. When the vocals kick in the result is nothing less than chilling. After a pause, the hook and riff will leave the most consummate of professional musician blushing with jealousy. Lead vocalist Sophia Anita possesses a huge voice. I don't know if the limited vocal range she tends to hover in is really that limited, or she just prefers to maintain the power there. This is definitely not daddy's little girl cooing lullabies. In any event, her ears produce juicy, hard-to-forget melodic lines. Track 2 is a whopper, clocking in at 20 minutes of brutal prog. Even after multiple listening, I'm still caught, not catching the razor sharp changes. The excellent minimal bass playing, Chase Carter, locks in and propels formidable drummer Brian Davy. This rhythm section provides an exquisite platform for Gill to launch into his signature extraterrestrial solos.

Word on the street is The End of Days marks the end of Mermaid Bones. I don't know what could possibly compel this band of once-in-a-lifetime collaborators to proclaim such a thing. What could possibly prevent them from performing from time to time, at least locally in their West Coast Bay Area region, I don't know... Whatever it is, I hope these kids can find a way to continue to make music of this caliber. Anyone with the slightest affinity for rock music deserves to give this a listen—Dr. Heironeous B. Naughty Has brain will travel.

VERMILLION SANDS
"Summer Mellody" b/w "A Sweet Bitter Winter" 7" (Shit Music for Shit People)
The Italian band Vermillion Sands give us the two seasons on this 7" record. Vivaldi would certainly roll over in his grave and laugh (possibly outloud) at the thought of excluding fall and winter from any musical work concerning the seasons. But then maybe Vivaldi would've had the bread to kick in for a double seven inch. Yeah, that's true, he did die poor, but I was thinking more like when he was at the height of his popularity—like when Charles VI was all up on his jock. Well, that's ridiculous and a completely unnecesary digression at any rate. "Summer Mellody" is provided for the A side and it is bouncy and infectious and has a carnival-like vibe that would make it hard for Vivaldi not to smile and tap a toe along too. "A Sweet Bitter Winter" on the other hand, is also an upbeat number but in a garage/blues kinda way. I must confess, I have not a clue how Antonio V. would feel about it, but I like it—J.S. Bach [Vermillion Sands]

ROBYN HITCHCOCK
Chronology (Yep Roc)
Robyn Hitchcock is one of those rare musicians that there just aren't enough of—or maybe there are. Maybe there shouldn't be too many like him. Maybe it would get a little too crowded in the pantheon of highly prolific artists with decades-spanning careers and reputations for producing consistently great work, even throwing in a classic album every five years or so. Maybe.

Chronology is Hitchcock’s current offering—no doubt just a placeholder while he continues work on some other musical project or another, with whatever group of musicians he's currently chosen to conspire with. The songs on this digital-only album display some of Hitchcock's best work, at least according to him—Hitchcock selected all sixteen tracks for the record—and I agree. With three songs coming from the Soft Boy's 1980 classic Underwater Moonlight, through his early solo recordings (including my fav "If You Were a Priest" from 1986's Element of Light) and work with the Egyptians and a reunited Soft Boys whose six minute "Mr. Kennedy" from 2002's Nextdoorland features an excellent double guitar solo that ranks right up there with the best of Television's Marquee Moon—proof positive that the boys did not get soft. Three more recent solo songs end the album including the beautiful "Full Moon in My Soul" from 2003's Spooked.

Chronology is as good an intro as any into the world of Robyn Hitchcock but it really barely scratches the surface of a remarkable career that shows no signs of slowing down—Manfred Lightbulbhead [Robyn Hitchcock]

PTERODACTYL
Spills Out (Brah)
Pterodactyl take the falsetto vocals of early Who, Beatles and Beach Boys, bring it to a boil in Brooklyn, then bake it in the studio for days on end before serving it to an unsuspecting public. The result is a delicious blend of shimmering pop tunes with plenty of hooks and almost more sounds than a soft squishy brain can absorb in one sitting. That’s understandable, the record is layered with vocals and guitar tracks, organs, megaphones and toy keyboards which has the tendency to send songs into the realm of otherworldliness—they seem to want to scatter and veer off into every different direction at once. Surprisingly, however, they are secured by some sort of invisible fence that keeps it all together... might be the rhythm section doing that anchoring but it's tough to tell. It's something that I'd rather appreciate without thinking too much about—Jubson Jones [Pterodactyl]

MICHAEL YONKERS WITH THE BLIND SHAKE
Period (S.S. Records)
Michael Yonkers is the kind of musical figure that music geeks really like to geek out over (no offense to geeks): He’s obscure, he’s got an unfortunate back story, he suffers from an unfortunate back injury and he's got a back catalog that stretches back over five decades. Yonker’s tale of failure in the mainstream music industry was the shelving of his Miniature Love record by Sire in the late 60s. Now considered a psychedelic masterpiece by more than a few aficionados of the genre, it has since been released by both De Stilj Records and Sub Pop. Yonker's wrote a series of bleak folk albums after Microminature Love which have also seen re-release on various small labels, but his work with Blind Shake is his return to form in terms of heavy, challenging pysch rock. Which brings us to their latest collaboration, Period. This eleven song album of heavy, metallic blues and crushing noise guitar is a terminal punctuation point with Yonker's deadpan vocal delivery cutting through the chaos to make us feel just a little more alienated. Not that we need any help driving in that direction. Hopefully, this period doesn't mark the end of Yonker's output but refers rather to a particular section of time. Or maybe I'm just reading too much into that title. Probably—Jubson Jones [Michael Yonkers]

PANDA KID
Scary Monster Juice (Already Dead Tapes)
Panda Kid is a one man band from Vicenza, Italy who bashes out batches of home recordings that will play well on blown out speakers. With a guitar (acoustic or electric), a couple drums, harmonica and maybe some keys, Panda Kid works out his lo-fi muse on fuzzy indie rock. The Kid rides alternate waves from track to track, surfing from island pop ("Surfer Girl") to catchy hooks ("Junkie Girl"), lush pop washouts ("Confidences") to short instrumental weirdness ("Panda in Space") all in the span of a ten track cassette tape. And not only that, Scary Monster Juice sports a 3-D cover. Take the that James Cameron, you hack!—Jubson Jones [Panda Kid]

WOODEN SHJIPS
West (Thrill Jockey)
Wooden Shjips (pronounced Shjips) are not afraid to sail out into a stoner rock squall. Aye, these four shjipmates are likely to throw up a jib and stretch out leeward or aft for the better part of ten minutes if they get a taste for it. Not in a jam band sorta way, mind you, but with more of a trance-like, hypnotic repetition that harkens back across time and the ocean to Brit band Loop or maybe even Monster Magnet circa Tab...25 back east stateside. “Black Smoke Rise” kicks off this seven song set with fuzzed out guitar, followed by reverb-soaked keys and vocals. That's the Shjip's template for the most part; those elements winding and wafting their way through a hazy tour of intermittent guitar solos, guitar washes and assorted studio effects. There are some slight zigs and the occasional zag of departure: “Lazy Bones” ironically enough, steps up the tempo; “Home” flirts coyly with a classic rock riff; “Looking Out” is downright bouncy like a midnight carnival on psychedelics (or quality REM sleep) and “Rising” just flips the script by being all backwards. When taken together, it all combines to make West the perfect destination for when you want to go somewhere but just don't feel like getting out your chair—Chris Auman [Wooden Shjips]

BAD COP
I Can't Slow Down Digital EP
Bad Cop are some young dudes from Nashville who do a pretty dang good bang-up job of playing garage rock. They seem to pay as much attention to the fuzz as to the hook and the chorus and the song as a whole—not always the case in the genre. This 3 song, 2 video EP is not just adrenaline pumping (there’s certainly that), but it's got substance too. Lead-off track “Animal” exemplifies that previous point, reminding one of Screaming Trees, who also paid homage with tips of the hat. “Maniac" is in the middle and a smidge more manic. "Gloom Bank," is gloomy, sure, but still suitable for buggin’ out. Videos for "Gloom Bank" and "Maniac" comprise the difference. They're low budget, low brow and bloody, just how you like 'em. And it’s free to download, so download it freely here—Jubson Jones [Bad Cop]

Read the Reglar Wiglar Interview with Bad Cop!

MIKE MOUNTAIN
Hiding in the Rock (75 Words or Less)
Mike Mountain (Mike Mtn. for short) is a four-piece rock band from New Bedford, MA. They play your basic blues-based rock music. Nothing new there. However, what makes this band unique from say, any number of bands jamming and drinking in garages, basements and practice spaces all across the universe right now (and there are millions) is the bizarre quality of the lyrics. Let me give you a taste from the lead-off track “Acid at the Funeral”:

Cut my feet on glass/Eighth-grade mustache
The natives in my head/have a banquet and some cash

These are either cut & paste, stream of conscious or both. The record continues in this thematic lyrical vein with "Las Vegas Waltz" which sounds like it's about Lyme disease but isn't, nor is it a waltz; "Freebird 33-1/3 " does not sound like Skynyrd on vinyl played at long-player speed; "Two Little Bossmen" is demented Dylan and "Put 'Em on Ice" name checks Slick Rick, of all people. So, if you're getting the impression that Mike Mountain is a little off, then I've done my job—Jubson Jones [Mike Mountain]

AZITA
Disturbing the Air (Drag City)
The twelve songs on Disturbing the Air probably won’t get stuck in your head. Having been freed from AZITA’s mind, they aren't likely to be confined ever again. What may linger, however, is the melancholy feeling and dark mood created by her sparse piano ballads. I don't know that AZITA creates outsider art, but she definitely works on the outside of conventional music. She always has, despite her training in classical piano. From her time in no wave bands, Scissor Girls and Bride of No No, AZITA has always brought a challenge to the turntable. What was once loud, abrasive and impossible to ignore has become equally challenging and confrontational on a different emotional level. With just her voice and simple, at times atonal, piano lines, AZITA creates haunting songs of emptiness and loneliness that won’t quickly fade from your psyche—Chris Auman [Azita]

VERNON SELAVY
7" (Shit Music for Shit People)
Vernon Sélavy is Vincenzo Marando (Movie Star Junkies) and Roberto Grosso Sategna (Ten Dogs) from San Salvario in Turin, Italy. Yes Italy, but listening to this record, you wouldn't necesarily know that these guys didn't live down the street from the Black Lips or The Black Keys. They don't just sing in English, they play in American. This seven inch features three tunes saturated in the sound of the American South: gospel, rhythm and blues, maybe a hint of soul and a touch of folk. These musical influences are still as sacred today as they ever were and apparently that's not a sentiment limited to these shores. Limited edition of 300 copies. Features a pretty cool two-color woodcut print by artist and fellow musician Mojomatt Bordin—Shroudy O'Turin [Vernon Sélavy]

FOLLOWED BY STATIC
Bacon Bear EP (Fuzz Pop)
Austin, Texas band, Followed by Static, play a brand a lo-fi guitar rock that contains more than a hint of psychedelicness. The four songs on the Bacon Bear EP harkens my brain back to an earlier time of Oklahoma and the young, dosed Flaming Lips circa Here it Is. But the sound actually goes back farther than that. There's a 60s garage rock influence evident on "Bacon Bear" and "Cop Gloves," which also benefit from a bouncy countrified beat. "Trash" jumps a decade forward sounding like a 70s slow churning rock monster and the eerie "Hey Skeleton," like Austin itself, just gets weird—Rick Perry

THE SENTINELS
Music of the Pleistocene (Imperius Rex)
I prefer the music of the Holocene Epoch myself, but I guess they were really just building on what was already going on in the Pleistocene Epoch, creatively speaking. At any rate, Music of the Pleistocene is a strong debut from the Chicago four piece, The Sentinels. The instrumental core of the band is comprised of a few local rock veterans you may remember as being The Tuffets a few years back. The Sentinels sound nothing like that proto metalling trio. No, this band comes at you from a straight rock angle, employing the requisite riffs and rhythms to allow vocalist Liz Elle to work it out on the mic. Which she does by trafficking in such human emotions as love, loss and lusting after girls (you read that right). The record sounds great, the songs are well-thought out, the choruses are as catchy as they should be, which leads me to the conclusion that The Sentinels are, in fact, Guardians of Rock—Clyde Drexler [Sentinels]

TOM COMERFORD
Archive + Spiral (Spacesuit Records)
Tom Comerford, he of the long-running Chicago outfit, Kaspar Hauser, has brought forth a solo record unto the world. Using a different cast of musician friends and peers, Tom and Company recorded the eight songs of Archive + Spiral at a place called the Glamour Hole. Despite that studio's name, the resulting record is more ragged glory than razzle dazzle. While the record sounds undoubtedly like a Kaspar Hauser album, with its well-worn Americana sound and Tom's distinctive vocal delivery, Archive + Spiral might just be a little more laid back and a touch more melancholy. The songs themselves sound more subdued than his previous work. There certainly seems to be a wider variety of instrumentation: mandolin, 12-string and baritone guitars, piano, organ, even handclaps fill out the arrangements. Traces of Tom's long-time influences: early REM and the Velvet Underground become evident at a listen, (there's even a countrified version of "Sunday Morning)" and the song "Dear Stephen Hauser" sounds like an American version of an 80s Robyn Hitchcock song. Archive + Spiral fits nicely into the Comerford/Kaspar Hauser canon of releases that sound both old and new, familiar yet unique—Chris Auman

Read the Reglar Wiglar Interview with Tom Comerford!

THE CYNICS
Spinning Wheel Motel CD (Get Hip)
Were I more fluent in the language and history of garage rock, I would spout off a littany of ancient band names and sacred recordings from which the Cynics undoubtedly draw inspiration. However, I'm not, so I won't. What I can say is that the Cynics have been playing Nuggets-inspired garage rock psychedelia for so long, you can hardly call it revivalism. At this point, it's beyond retro. It's their genre and they're sticking to it. The result has been a half dozen albums and a whole mess of singles over three decades—it's no wonder then that The Cynics are so good at this stuff. From the jangly rockin' opener of "I Need More" to slower, more reflective tunes like "Bells and Trains" and the title track "Spinning Wheel Motel," The Cynics seemed to have cracked the code for making classic-sounding records no matter what decade they find themselves in—Jubson Jones

THE MEDIUMS
Shiny Void Blues LP (E.V.P. / I.T.C)
Chicago garage psych masters, The Mediums, come heavy with the blues-based freakouts. Seems like the Mediums have moved on from the straight-up 60s garage rock sound and into a more blues-based concept. Easily recognizable riffs pop up only to veer left or right at the last minute. Side two is when the sonic fury really comes to bear with frenzied guitar riffage breaking out hither and yon and then back hither—Joey Germ

Read the Reglar Wiglar Interview with The Mediums!

BACHELORETTE
Bachelorette LP/CD (Drag City)
Annabel Alpers is Bachelorette and as such she creates spacy, dreamy soundscapes that seem to transcend her earthly bindings. Alpers, who is from (down under and over) Auckland, NZ, wrote and recorded the music for this record while on tour across several continents. Whatever geographic location gave inception to the songs, they seem to float untethered from any natural or imaginary borders. Alpers fuses together organic and electronic elements to create her music, which might be technically called techno or synth pop, but her strongest suit is her own hypnotic voice. Overall, a completely digable album that cleverly sneaks into the brain where it hides and lies dormant until the most unsuspecting moments—P.C. Jones

THE ETERNALS
Approaching the Energy Field LP (Addenda)
I've always imagined The Eternals to be a bit of a spiritual incarnation of the Clash—like they started with side seven of Sandinista and just kept going from there. They are definitely adept at genre blending, experimenting with effects, pushing the boundaries and sometimes they feel like funkin' it up. They're also not necessarily as concerned with pleasing the public as they are with charting their own course. Unlike the Clash, yet very like Wayne and Damon's previous band Trenchmouth, The Eternals may be one of the most underrated and overlooked bands putting out records today (and yes this is a real vinyl record). Kinda hard to figure. Their blend of hip hop, dub and rock produces beats that, while might not play well in the clubs, I would think would have appeal to the hip hop kids, especially those more politically attuned and left of center. Approaching the Energy Field is an album in the true sense and it needs to be listened to as such. There's a continuity to it, it's sequenced to flow and, as far as I can tell, there's some narrative continuity to it lyrically as well. It's a friggin' good record by a band that just keeps getting better because they never stop trying to be better. The Etenals may not be well known in Chicago or even the States, but Brazillians of people appreciate them in South America at least—Joey Germ

THE HIGH LLAMAS
Talahomi Way (Drag City)
It’s interesting that we should receive this album the same week as Heidecker & Wood's Starting from Nowhere. They’re very similar in their approach to pop music. The High Llamas have been at it for a lot longer of course and it’s hard to determine exactly where Heidecker & Wood are coming from. The Llamas, led by founder Sean O'Hagan, have been at it since 1992 releasing nine records in that near twenty year span. I have not heard any of the band's preceding eight efforts, nor am I familiar with O'Hagan's previous bands Fatima Mansions or Microdisney. I can only assume that he, like many artists with any sort of career longevity, started at one point and arrived at another. Beach Boy comparisons have been a theme throughout the Llama's career and O'Hagan has professed a love of Burt Bacharach, so the lush and orchestrated music on Talahomi Way is no surprise. And is that a harp I hear? Probably. I can picture this record playing softly at a Yonkers as people shop for shoes. That's not to say that it's cheesy or the work of hacks. Quite contrary, it's very well crafted. Every note seems to have been meticulously plotted and every arrangement painstakingly planned. Lead off track "Berry Adams" is the standout tune for me, although "To the Abbey" is its rival with a catchy, breezy hook. If there's one single thing that The Llamas do especially well is create music that has a timeless quality to it, yet stills seems very specific to a certain time—PC Jones

HEIDECKER & WOOD
Starting from Nowhere (Little Record Company)
Let's get this out of the way first: Tim Heidecker is the co-creator of Adult Swim's Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! and Davin Wood is a composer on that show as well. If you're familiar with the Awesome Show then it's really hard to listen to record as a serious musical effort. Watching the Awesome Show is like watching someone get punked over and over again and that someone is you. So, how do you take a song like "Cross Country Skiing" seriously given the background of these guys? It ain't easy. It's hard to find that thin line if you're looking for it. For example, "Weatherman" was a song that started out as a composition for the show, but was expanded upon by the duo and here it is on this LP. Keeping the satiric and ironic nature of the two separate in your brain proves difficult and maybe even pointless, especially considering songs like "The Grandest Canyon," "Wedding Song," and "Cross Country Skiing". Just where is that thin line between irony and sincerity? Remember after 9/11 when they told us this single tragic event would be the end of irony as we knew it (and action movies, and really tall buildings, etc.)? Well, Heidecker and Wood may truly single that end. Maybe the jokes on me. Maybe there is no joke. In fact, there probably isn't. This may simply be the duo's chance to unleash their 70s AM radio influences on a built-in audience. The end result is eleven songs and one bonus track of breezy yacht rock. Fleetwood Mac, Steely Dan, even Elvis Costello get thrown into the slow-jam stew, but I can't help feeling like I just got punked when I listen to this record. You can come out now, Kutcher!—PC Jones

BLASTED DIPLOMATS
Blasted Diplomats (Plus Tapes)
There's something instantly familiar about the Blasted Diplomats, which makes sense—all four members are long-time record store employees. Osmosis alone would mean these guys have absorbed thousands of hours of rock music and peeped plenty of album art. So at their heart, the Blast Mats are a product of that music overload. What comes through most evidently on this self-titled debut cassette is their affinity for the indie guitar rock of the early to mid 1990s and bands like Grifters, Archers of Loaf and Gaunt. The tape is comprised of ten songs—a mix of tracks recorded both live and in the studio. The studio tracks are pretty raw and stripped down while the live tracks show the Blast Mats working their boozy charm on a party crowd thus reinforcing the unpretentious attitude of the studio songs. Given its look to the previous decade for inspiration it's only fitting then that a cassette is the chosen format for this release. Fine by me, time to get blasted—P.C. Jones

Read the Reglar Wiglar Interview with Blasted Diplomats!

GENTLEMAN JESSE & HIS MEN
You’ve Got the Wrong Man b/w Stuborn Ghost (HoZac)
Georgian and Organ Donor (and Gentlman) Jesse Smith digs poppy, jangly 60s pop music. I know this because of the two songs on this record. The one hundred and fifty-five pound, six foot one, Gentle J. and the additional en rock and roll out two tuneful nuggets here that you can surely get the hand-clap machine going on if you got an inkling that way. Be sure to wish Jesse a happy birthday on May 17th. I believe he'll be thirty-one this year—P.C. Jones

THE GIRLS
Remote View b/w Lord Auch (HoZac)
"Remote View" opens with a nasty, descending guitar chord progression before blasting into chunks of alienating scuzzed out punk. I like chunks of that shit in my punk rock. "Lord Auch" delivers more of all that but also features a killer chorus in it's rabid attack. It's paranoid, it's skitzoid, it's Seattleoid—Joey T. Germ

HEAVY TIMES
No Plans b/w Ice Age (HoZac)
"No Plans" is a bouncy little number with a sixties pop guitar lick. "Ice Age" is similarily so and it flies by much quicker than you would expect an Ice Age to. This record is so lo-fi, it sounds like it was recorded in a parking lot in Paw Paw, Michigan. As it turns out, however, it was recorded in a parking lot in Ypsilanti—Paw Paw Pete

READING RAINBOW
Prism Eyes (HoZac)
Prism Eyes is kind of a delightful surprise. After listening to a slew of psych garage rock bands twist out spasms of static hiss, the Rainbow sounds nice—down right pretty at times. It’s also catchy as hell despite its hazy washed out sound. The dual harmony vocals of husband and wife team Sarah E. and Rob G. are the real hook however. Fans of pretty much any style of music from any decade will find something familiar and appealing about R. Rainbow's sound, and once you let it sink in, it tends to stay there awhile—P.C. Jones

Read the Reglar Wiglar Interview with Reading Rainbow!

TORTURED TONGUES
Let Me Down b/w Feed the Flys + To Death (HoZac)
If it were possible for Tortured Tongues to reach a level where they cared less about what anybody thought of their music, then I'm sure they would try to get there in a hurry. I'm showing my age here (eighty-five next week) but The Tongues remind me of the ultimate bad time band, Flipper and their brand of bummer rock. There's a similar unsettling effect with whatever is going on here. You've got to turn up the Loud and turn up the Angry if you're going to listen this record, and really bad ditchweed would only enhance the experience—Muggsy McMurphy

REVIEW ARCHIVES

1.4-1.1 21-20 19-18 17-16 15-14
13-12 11-10 9-7 6-4 3-1

SUMMER GIRLFRIENDS

Summer Girlfriends play an easy, breezy brand of rock music that connects the pop dots from the early sixties to the late 70s. They only have one summer under their belts as a band so far, but they've already released two songs via Facebook and have a full-length LP in the can (slated for an early 2012 release on Addenda Records).

What better way to get psyched for another long, cold, crappy winter than to daydream with (or about) Summer Girlfriends? Let's do that now!

Read the Interview

BAD COP

Bad Cop are some growed up kids from Nashville playin' punk rock and roll. They got signed to ROIR right quick after forming. Musta liked 'em. It's been balls out from there. Nashville correspondent Rebecca Seung interviewed frontman Adam Moult and filed this report.

Read the Article

BLASTED DIPLOMATS

Photo by John Sturdy

I guess we have Julian Assange and WikiLeaks to thank for the recent spate of diplomat blastings, but that has nothing to do with Chicago's Blasted Diplomats. Naw, there ain't nuthin' diplomatic about the way these dudes blast out their loud brand of good old fashioned guitar rock. So check 'em out and tell your friends, but remember, you can call them the Blast Mats, you can even call them the B. Mats, just don't call them Blasted Dips. Please!

Read the Interview

RADAR EYES

That growing blip on your radar screen ain't a UFO, genius, it's Radar Eyes. And that blip is set to go blop 'cause this Chicago quartet is about to follow up a good year with a better one. 2010 saw the band release a tape on local cassette label, plustapes and a 7" on HoZac, and in 2011 the Eyes are gearing up for an EP on Rococo and a full-length long-player for HoZac, as well as a jaunt down to Austin, Texas for that one music festival they have down there every year... South by Southwest, I think it's called. Proper!

Read the Interview

READING RAINBOW

Philly's Reading Rainbow are garnering a little bit of attention lately. It's no surprise really. Their music is infectious. Infectious in the sense that it will infect you (your brain in particular) with it's lush and reverby distorted goodness. The band's latest album (2010's Prism Eyes) is a forty minute good vibey trip through a hazy, dreamy, forgotten forest of furry melodies and fuzzy guitar. Does that make sense? I hope so. Reading Rainbow husband and wife team, Rob and Sarah, talked to the Reglar Wiglar about Philly, musical influences and stuff like that.

Read the Interview

LAMB OF GOD

Metal lords, Lamb Of God, have ruled this puny planet Earth for over fifteen years—that's ten years shy of a quarter of a century! Certainly nothing to sneeze at. To acknowledge this great feat of 'togethership', we sent Ace Reglar Wiglar Reporter, T. Bux on a mission to interview LOG bassist, John Campbell. Even though T. Bux lives in London and The Campbell lives in RVA USA, Bux succeeded in this mission with the help of some sort of Skype or Internet device or maybe it was a telephone.

Read the Interview!

KASPAR HAUSER

Tom Comerford is a Chicago musician and filmmaker who is also an adjunct professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I’ve known Tom Comerford for almost as long as he's been in town. Our bands have played a few shows together over the years; he in Kaspar Hauser and myself, more recently in Soft Targets but also in RNCD—in fact, Kaspar Hauser is now in possession of former RNCD drummer, Steve Kiraly. I also worked with Tom on a release of a Kapsar Hauser single for RoosterCow/Spacesuit Records in 2002. It may also be worth mentioning that I did a very brief stint in The Hauser as a second guitarist in the fall of 2006. As a result, I am hardly what you would call an objective journalist (or a journalist at all for that matter).

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COUPLESKATE

Coupleskate is notable for being an all-boy band. Besides that, they make dreamy, heartbreaking, pretty/dirty rock music. Also, they’re from Chicago.

Coupleskate released their first full length, Don’t Scare the Horses, in 2008. It was so good that it caused domestic disputes across the nation. You should order it off their website, or listen to it on one of their social medias: Myspace, Facebook, Website

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DINERO

Well heck, I've known Mike Wing for what? Fifteen years? Something like that. Wing and I met when we worked this veggie kitchen job in Chicago back in the day. We also played in a band together (with his now wife of ten plus years, Lori Kölb) and we've definitely drank a few hundred beers and listened to a few Thin Lizzy records together at Club Winthrop in Uptown. I even roadied for his band Booker Noe once on a trip from Chicago to Denver via Kansas City, after which it took about two weeks to expunge the whisky from my liver. Wing has been in countless bands since he was a teenager in Maumee, Ohio, including a long stint in the Chicago via Bowling Green trio, Vambo Marble Eye. And even though Wing has got to be well into his eighties by now, he is still out there writing, recording and performing rock and roll music, and for that the Reglar Wiglar salutes him. So without further adieu, from the same great state that gave us Balloon Boy and delicious Coors Light beer, ladies and gentlemen, Mike Wing and Colorado's own Dinero!

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BIRDS & ARROWS

Birds and Arrows is Andrea and Pete Connolly of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. They’ve been playing together for about three years, after meeting at a brewery where Pete was a brew master and Andrea was a bartender. With Andrea on guitar and vocals, and Pete on drums and vocals, they make beautiful music together. They also finish each other’s sentences – you’ve heard it before, but this time it’s actually true (read on for proof). I sat down with Birds and Arrows on a sunny Saturday this November and learned about being a married couple in a band, touring, and releasing their first full-length album, Starmaker. Reglar readers, please note Reglar Wiglar rookie and intern, Jon D., came along to learn the ropes and also ask questions, sometimes off subject but often eliciting interesting responses.

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KRIS POULIN

Sound and Recording Engineer, Kris Poulin has been behind the boards twisting knobs for hundreds of local and national touring bands spanning three decades now. He's run around the world running sound. He's faded this and set up that and fixed shit in the mix and played in a few bands of his own to boot. KP has provided his expertise in hundreds of recordings, in various studios around town, both above and below ground. This month Chicago will lose another of it's best kept secrets when K.P. heads to sunnier climes in San Diego, but not before we got him to answer a few e-mail questions from his secluded recording lair in Logan Square.

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THE MEDIUMS

Chicago's dirty psych-garage rock band The Mediums are comprised of two Scorpios and two Aries. But I have no idea if I made that up, or if that's true, or where I may have heard that, or even what possible relevance it could have either way—but that is hardly the point!

Ok then, now that I've completely and irreparably botched this introduction, let's just get right to it. Aided by trusty Reglar Wiglar Intern, Little Tim, I sat down to interview The Mediums in their dressing room after a scorching gig at the Bottom Lounge this past February.

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FROM THE VAULTS

Check out the Reglar Wiglar Archives for more interviews with your favorite stars!

BANDS
Bad Cop
Blasted Diplomats
DOA
Electric Frankenstein
Federation X
Fleshies
The Goblins
Kaspar Hauser
The Hold Steady
Lamb of God 2001
Lamb of God 2010
M.O.T.O.
The Mediums
Radar Eyes
Reading Rainbow
The Reigning Sound

COMIC ARTISTS
Peter Bagge
Jeffrey Brown
Dan Clowes
Jef Czekaj
Jesse Reklaw
Sam Henderson
Simon Gane
Gary Panter
Hans Rickheit
Johnny Ryan
Terry Laban