May 4th mix

Another installment already? I hoped to wrap up another one within two weeks but it took me an extra few days. Now here I sit on such a nice day wrapping it up while I was outdoors on Friday which was one of the worst spring days I've encountered my entire life! Winter has got to be over with now though..... right?!?

So yeah. Tons more records the past few weeks. Let's get right into this!

Quick track listing:

1. Zero Boys - Stick To Your Guns
2. The Night Marchers - And I Keep Holding On
3. Challenger - The Angry Engineer
4. The Estranged - Through The Night
5. Make Believe - Just Green Enough
6. Meneguar - We Own We Sell
7. Echo Is Your Love - A Song For Sea Scouts
8. Colin Newman - & Jury
9. Acts Of Sedition - Black Coffee And Black Flag
10. Cloak Dagger - She Cracked
11. Dustheads - Altered States
12. Uber - Agonizando Hasta El Final
13. Saccharine Trust - I Have...
14. Blank Dogs - The Dorrbell Fire
15. Finest Dearest - Your Hometown
16. Autoclave - Still Here
17. Portraits Of Past - Implications Of A Sinkhole Personality
18. Funeral Diner - Wearing Thin
19. Loser Life - Undressing You With My Mind
20. Crime Desire - Succubus
21. Amebix - Winter
22. Complications - Last Journey
23. The Cure - Love Song

The full story:

Zero Boys - "Stick To Your Guns"

Grabbed this one off of the Killed By Death Volume #4 LP. I don't know why I don't already own most of these wacky bootleg series but I don't. They're usually always available so I just guess it's a case of waiting for one to come into the store used. I'm pretty sure this is off of the 7" that my pal Phil came across while working at Cheapo last year. Lucky bastard! But you need these sort of benefits to come your way working for a place like that. It makes it worth it. Anyway, you'll never be as lucky as Phil and come across the original for anything less than $500 I'm sure so stop by Extreme Noise and pick up any random Killed By... compilation. You won't be sorry.

By the way, I'm not even sure that it's possible even though I witnessed it with my own eyes 2 years ago but this band is back together and still rips. It's hard to comprehend, I know.

The Night Marchers - "And I Keep Holding On"

First off, this is John Reis (a.k.a. Speedo) of Hot Snakes and Rocket From The Crypt fames new band. Maybe you've already heard about them. Anyway, I grabbed this off the internet since it's available only on CD right now on the completely worthless Vagrant Records label. A vinyl release on Reis' own Swami Records was supposed to come out simultaneously with the CD. I've made a few efforts to try and get details about the vinyl release but the label didn't even return my e-mail inquiry. I was also trying to set up some method of ordering direct for our store since their distributor Fontana, is impossible to work with for indie stores (they ask that you order "at least 100 units a month" to set up an account). When Swami gets their shit together and releases this on vinyl I will certainly post about it here. The CD is available now at Extreme Noise and probably everywhere else you can think of but seriously, who fucking buys CDs anymore? Download it and wait for the vinyl.

Challenger "The Angry Engineer"

Al Burian and Dave Laney of Milemarker. Through their first 3 LPs, Milemarker were one of my favorite bands. Their home base in the late '90s was still North Carolina so they would come visit us back in Auburn Alabama on many occasions. Most would agree Milemarker took a serious turn for the worse once they signed to Jade Tree in 2001. I do remember listening to Anaesthetic with Lani during our shift at Extreme Noise that year and we weren't even able to finish side 1! 2 years later they returned with a new band Challenger and I couldn't have been happier. None of the bullshit that plagued later period Milemaker. Straight forward and catchy with some of the smartest lyrics around. I still play this LP Give People What They Want In Lethal Doses and their next EP on Day After, When Friends Turn Against You often. I even sing along! Check the used bins for vinyl on these. Unless you're planning on ordering from Day After. It appears they even still have copies of Give People.. on vinyl.

The Estranged "Through The Night"

The description card for their other 7" at Extreme Noise reads "clearly influenced by the Wipers." Very true. Also some "Weathered Statues" and "Dance With Me" era T.S.O.L. as well. I'm super into this band. Somehow I thought there were former Observers members in the band but that's not the case. Members of Hellshock and Remains of The Day. They are on tour coming to MPLS this summer with The Red Dons! Both Estranged 7"s should be in stock right now at Noise. They won't last long though! Otherwise pick them up from Green Noise / Dirtnap. LP very soon on Dirtnap as well!

Make Believe "Just Green Enough"

I never really paid too much attention to these guys. Chicago.... post-emo.... quirky indie pop.... Kinsella brothers... I got tired of this sort of thing somewhere around 1999. I was fine with everything I'd already heard but wasn't interested in pursuing anything anything more after seeing bands like Paris Texas and Mid Carson July come through Auburn. I went to go see Make Believe at 7th Street last year and I've since taken notice again. I downloaded this album 2 months ago and bought the vinyl the day we got it in at Noise. I'm absolutely hooked! Expect to see more Make Believe on this blog. I think we may still have a copy of this LP left at the store and I might even see it's reordered. No CD, just 1000 on vinyl with a mp3 digital download coupon. Fuck yeah. You can also pick it up from the label, Flameshovel. I plan on buying their first 2 LPs here real soon.

Meneguar "We Own We Sell"

Plenty of people are already slamming this new Meneguar LP on Woodsist. To me it seems to be the logical progression of this band. They home record their other neo-folk band Woods and have their hands in plenty of other projects that don't sound anything like Meneguar... so I knew this was coming. It's still Meneguar, only lo-fi and home recorded with elements of Woods. I'm into it. Expect to see more from the new Meneguar LP on this blog. Our store sold out of this quick! We will try and get more but it's also available from Woodsist / Fuck It Tapes.

Echo Is Your Love "A Song For Sea Scouts"

I fucking love Echo Is Your Love!!! They plan on putting out a new LP this year. Can't wait! This is off their first full length, 8 Hours. In the States check Stickfigure for their stuff. In Europe check in with If Society. Hi Riku!

Colin Newman "& Jury"

Just listened to this again the other day. I figured I'd share it with you. This is off his first solo LP after Wire parted ways the first time. Much of what wound up on this LP was written for the 4th Wire album which didn't come out until 1987. Don't bother with that crap though. Track down "A-Z"! This particular song is probably the closest to early Wire as the LP gets. The rest is more of the atmospheric experimentation of 154 thanks in part to Mike Thorne's contribution. Still very, very good! Check used bins or Ebay for this LP!

Acts of Sedition "Black Flag and Black Coffee"

Not very Black Flag-y but this song leads into some Black Flag territory from the next two bands on this mix. This is off Acts of Sedition's newish 7" "Crown Victoria" available now at Noise or through the Bloodtown label. Now with 2 guitars I feel Acts have moved to totally next level shit. I booked them a show here a little over a week ago and they fucking laid waste to MPLS for the third time in a row. If all goes according to plan I hope to go out to the Bay Area and visit them and everyone else out there this fall.

Cloak Dagger "She Cracked"

A Modern Lovers cover off the B-side of their new 7" on Grave Mistake. The A-side turns out isn't that special. It was already released on their Jade Tree CD "We Are" that came out last year. As expected, Jade Tree continued their ridiculous vinyl hate and left the band to release it themselves. 8 months later and we're still waiting. Word is that Grave Mistake is going to press it later on this year. I'm really digging that label of late.

Dustheads "Altered States"

This sounds like Black Flag in the same style as Annihilation Time did early on. This 7" rages! I'm still searching for their Tall Tales I 7". Both I and II went OOP rapidly last summer. I had them booked on the Yo Man Go / Bridge And Tunnel / Signal To Trust show last summer at the Triple Rock but their van blew up just outta New York state I was told. Bummer. That would've been rad to see them. Are they still together? I haven't heard much out of them since these records.

Uber "Agonizando Hasta El Final"

Not much foreign stuff this time around. Uber here are from Barcelona. I picked up their first 7" after reading the description card on it at our store that compared them to the Formaldehyde Junkies. This song which completely rips "Gimme Gimme Gimme" off with the intro is off of their second 7" on Sell Our Souls. I saw that Grave Mistake's distro had this so I ordered it from them. I got nervous that we wouldn't get any at our store but they're there now. Check it out. My pick for 7" of the week! Excellent!

Saccharine Trust "I Have..."

Early SST stuff here. If all you've ever heard was their song "Human Certainty" off of "The Blasting Concept" compilation then you need to check out the rest of their "Pagan Icons" 12". Their later material is pretty hit and miss as far as I know. This shit is classic though.

Blank Dogs " The Doorbell Fire"

Off of one of the many 7"s released this past year. Much buzz around this "band" for the past 7 or so months. It turns out no one knows who "they" are but in all actuality it's just one dude and his synthesizers. All songs are available via free download here. Most of the actual vinyl is now OOP but the new LP on Troubleman is still available at Extreme Noise. I like this stuff more every time I hear it. Expect to see some songs off the LP here in the coming weeks. Hopefully I can track down some more of the vinyl before it all winds up on Ebay....

Finest Dearest "Your Hometown"

Excellent new indie rock from San Francisco with my new friend Christine who was just here with her other band Drowning With Our Anchors last month. These folks played an odd show at the Terminal Bar last Wednesday. Christine and I had a conversation about some of the negative aspects of the current hardcore scene but at the end of this bar show she said "I take back everything I said about the hardcore scene!!" In the end the bar show wasn't as bad as it seemed. We all had plenty of laughs. These are some more people I hope to visit this fall in the Bay Area. This song is off of their 2x10" on Bloodtown Records. If anyone is interested in buying a copy of this record please let me know. It's not exactly the kind of record we'll stock too heavy at Noise but if you're interested I'll see that we pick one up for you.

Autoclave "Still Here"

I thought about this old DC band while listening to Finest Dearest the other day. Pre - Helium, Slant 6, etc. They only released a 10" and a 7". This was all compiled posthumously by Dischord on a CD you can buy here.

Portraits of Past "Implications of A Sinkhole Personality"

I'm doing a show for the drummer of this old '90s emo hardcore great's
new band in a week here and I'm super excited about it! The new band is called Who Calls So Loud. I still remember the day this LP showed up in my PO Box back in Jackson. It was a sunny May day in 1997 much like today. I think I may have also received a box of Dawnbreed LPs for my distro that day too. I took the bus home rather than walking so I could get home quicker and listen to this! It took over a year to come out and the band was already long gone by that point. A true classic.

Funeral Diner "Wearing Thin"

From their split LP with Dead City which was some of my favorite material from this band. Matt from Portraits Of Past continued on with this band. Totally epic emo hardcore for the 2000's.

Loser Life "Undressing You With My Mind"

New 12" from Loser Life. My buddy Steven is in this band. He also has a music blog but doesn't give you any free music with his. What a cheapskate, I know! You can find it here. This 12" is still available at Extreme Noise or from Going Underground. Expect a 7" out later this year on the local label Rock Bottom.

Crime Desire "Succubus"

I promised more Crime Desire last time around. The full LP is now out. One of my current favorites for sure. They've slowed down a bit and Colin's vocal stylings have changed dramatically (I liked the high pitched ones from 3 years ago too!). Mid-paced and powerful hardcore with some good twisted lyrics. I really wish they would tour again someday. This LP should still be available at Noise or through Going Underground..

Amebix "Winter"

Amebix needs no introduction. Alternative Tentacles finally got ahold of the early Spiderleg recordings from Southern Studios and put out this LP/7" of all the lost early Amebix recordings. I am very pleased to finally have this stuff on vinyl! Extreme Noise got a bunch of these but we probably should've got a bunch more. If we run out be patient with us. It's something we're certain to restock.

Complications "Last Journey"

I said quite a bit about them last entry. If anyone needs the full demo let me know and I'll send you a link to it. Right now they just have the 7" on Feral Ward. Expect an LP by the end of the year.

The Cure "Love Song"

What do you need to know about this? "Disintegration" is flawless. Goodnight!

***** Download link for MegaUpload here!

Can't do downloads but live in the Twin Cities? Get in touch or stop by Extreme Noise Tuesdays 12-8 for a CD-r!

Like what you hear? Please let me know. Something you'd like to hear? Let me know!

prisoncity@hotmail.com or newgranadampls@gmail.com