Dishital Weekly: Big Happy, Dryclean, Milk Leg, Roga Raph, Slurry

Dishital Weekly is Counterzine’s weekly roundup of 5 digital only releases we think are worthy of your attention. The only rules are that we like it and there’s no readily available physical version at the timing of writing. When it was released, genre, platform: none of these matter. If it’s new to us and it’s new to you, it’s new.

 

1. Big Happy – Shonen Bat

Ohio’s Charlie Parsons is Big Happy, a misnomer of a DIY indie project characterized by its unmastered recording, floaty compositions, and vivid, surreal lyrics imagery. His debut album is a scattered emotional outpour that could be describe as something between Avey Tare and Panda Bear’s Spirit They’re Gone Spirit They’ve Vanished and The Microphones’ The Glow Pt. 2. An incredible introduction.

 

2. Dryclean – Tired + Wired

Released on the fourth of July this year, Brooklyn garage/post-punk band deliver their sophomore EP Tired + Wired. From the tempo shifting opening stomper “I Don’t Know” (which takes a stoned, grungy detour around the two-minute-mark), to the bouncy, raw, tight earworm “Technodrome”, to the deliberately paced closer “Wired”, its three songs showcase competence and versatility in high measure.

We also recommend their debut s/t EP from late last year. Between the two, you should have a solid chunk of Dryclean to dig into.

 

 

3. Milk Leg – s/t

Released in September of last year, Houston noise rock band Milk Leg’s s/t EP is a brutal, chaotic post-apocalyptic nightmare with a dark sense of humor. The guitar work is some of the best we’ve heard in a long while (it, no exaggeration, sounds like a goddamn siren on “Meat In the Pie”), but we also can’t sell short the delightfully sarcastic vocals and violent, pummeling drums. This one could be considering ‘arty’ with how off-kilter it is, but it does nothing to to inhibit its raw power, only enhancing it.

 

4. Roga Raph – Current-Space

The second project to come from New York’s Roga Raph this year following February’s Nostalgiks, Current-Space is a rock solid and polished jazz rap album. Just take a listen to single “Mortul” and tell us you’re not taken back to the early ninties days of Tribe. Raph’s flow is butter, the beats are butter, this fucker’s just smooth.

Nostaligiks is worth a listen, too: a more urgent, hooky record, but still excellent and the beats again are awesome.

 

 

 

5. Slurry – I Know You Do It Too

Released back in 2017, Slurry and their debut EP I Know You Do It Too are yet another example of the incredible independent music scene in Toronto. A heady slice of DIY post-punk/new wave with clever lyrics, idiosyncratic vocals, and expansive and cathartic compositions, I Know You Do It Too would’ve launched Slurry into the stratosphere in a just world but we’ll have to settle for them as hidden gem for the moment.

The band has since released a digital single with “Given” / “So So”, also highly recommended. “Given” has a wonderful country flair mixed in with the band’s signature style, and “So So” reminds of classic Pretenders.

 

Dishital Weekly: Bruno and the Outrageous Methods of Presentation, Harley Cream, Joe Misterovich, Shinichiro Yokota, Underwater Around People

Dishital Weekly is COUNTERZINE’s weekly roundup of 5 digital only releases we think are worthy of your attention. The only rules are that we like it and there’s no readily available physical version at the timing of writing. When it was released, genre, platform: none of these matter. If it’s new to us and it’s new to you, it’s new.

 

1. Bruno and the Outrageous Methods of Presentation – This Is Real Now

We kick off this week with the only good 13-year-old, Bristol’s Bruno Wilkinson and his Outrageous Methods of Presentation. While we’re generally more about tag scouring when on Bandcamp, this kid was brought to our through a great Bandcamp Daily feature and we’re very glad he was. You wouldn’t expect the average 13-year-old to have a recording project, much less one so utterly dedicated to the untarnished vision of outsider art. Wilkinson is not fucking around, this is not teeny bopper pop punk: this is crazed, brilliant, minimalist experimental post-punk. If Mark E. Smith, Captain Beefhart, and Kim Fowley were all raised from the grave by a tweaking necromancer and charged to raise a babe from infancy to teenhood, you might get something akin to Bruno Wilkinson. His catalog is already massive and it’s difficult to say where exactly to start, but we’ll go with This Is Real Now, as it does include his two-part ‘mission statement’ and “Breathe for Me”, which is the #1 on the UK Singles Chart in the dimension where unhinged heroin den dance hits are the public’s greatest demand. Immensely promising talent.

 

2. Harley Cream – Hexenplatz

Harley Cream’s most recent EP Hexenplatz on lgbtqxyz netlabel GAY Records! is an excellent sampling of queer industrial electronic dance music, full of peculiar rhythms and shifts. We especially love the title track, where the second half sounds a bit like a witch house take on The Garden.

Hexenplatz is much too short at only three tracks, so also worth mentioning is Cream’s split album with now Counterzine regular Toxic Chicken entitled The Sperminators. It is also very GAY (Records!) and we are also very about it.

 

3. Joe Misterovich – Be Who You Are

Normalcy is relative and this week, the bizarre is normal and normal is bizarre. Thus Joe Misterovich’s lovely and sweet indie pop EP Be Who You Are is this edition’s greatest oddity. The Springfield, Missouri native delivers a three song set of catchy, breezy power pop rife with effortlessly addictive melodies and beautiful harmonies alongside collaborator Anna Redmond that are sure to delight fans of Sloan. Solid as they come throughout, but we especially love the country-flavored opener “Hurt a Little While”.

 

4. Shinichiro Yokota – I Know You Like It

One of the year’s best house releases comes courtesy of Japanese producer Shinichiro Yokota with his newest album I Know You Like It on Far East Recording. Initially known for collaborative works with Far East founder Soichi Terada such as the stellar “Got to Be Real” back in 1991, he just recently embarked upon his solo path in 2016 with Do It Again and Again, which was well-received. I Know You Like It is generating even greater buzz among the underground, and with good reason: it’s warm, playful, tasteful, and addicting dance music. The Tape Deck did a great write-up on this one where they referred to it as “recommended for getting trapped in the Midnight Channel”. We couldn’t put it better: if the Persona 4 OST brought you any joy, we figure this will as well. History would suggest this gets an eventual physical release, so keep an eye out.

 

 

5. Underwater Around People – Swimming Antenna Exhibit

Brattleboro, Vermont seems to have a nice little scene going! Shortly after covering Lahnah in the Dishital Weekly from two weeks ago, this gem of an EP, Underwater Around People’s Swimming Antenna Exhibit, is brought to our attention. Unlike many a band name, this one is actually indicative of what you’ll hear: ‘underwater’ post-punk. These are the sounds of a man who’s perpetually drowning but could easily get head above water if he could simply be fucked to do so.

It’s fun, a bit weird, and a bit sad. “Out of Play Doh” reminds us a whole lot of King Missile as well, if that’s your jam (it is ours).

Dishital Weekly: B.R.U.C.E., COOZY, El Valerie, Lucas Van Lenten, Sicayda

Dishital Weekly is COUNTERZINE’s weekly roundup of 5 digital only releases we think are worthy of your attention. The only rules are that we like it and there’s no readily available physical version at the timing of writing. When it was released, genre, platform: none of these matter. If it’s new to us and it’s new to you, it’s new.

 

1. B.R.U.C.E. – ASMR

Kicking off this week’s column is Portland, Oregon garage punk band B.R.U.C.E. with their savage and cathartic EP ASMR. The band’s acronym name stands for Burn Rapists Until Crispy and Enjoy and tells you a good deal about the group’s aggression, message, and sense of humor. Opener “AHHHHHHHH” starts as a goofy chakra alignment skit before exploding into a hardcore blast beat freakout, “Ride It Like I Stole It” is delightfully sex positive, and “SEX BED” is a slow, heavy jam where vocalist Anna just screams “SEX BEEEEEEEEEEED!” at the top of her lungs (which have a very high top, by the way). The two most powerful tracks though are “More/Less” and “Repeat(Repeat)”, which both more directly address the attached statement: “This album is dedicated to everyone fighting to break the cycle of abuse”. “More/Less” focuses on self-worth, while “Repeat(Repeat)” is symbolic of the cycle itself with its Pixies/Breeders-like quiet-loud structure.

Fun, but with important shit to say, this is absolutely a punk band to watch. Cassettes seem to exist but also seem to be exclusive to shows at the moment. I’d keep an eye out in hopes that this changes but in the meantime, it’s available to stream and download.

 

 

2. COOZY – “I Hate It Here”

Released in May, COOZY’s “I Hate It Here” is one of the weirdest, most depressive, and most fucked up records we’ve heard all year. No wave that moves at a defeated shuffle step, the album is more or less a concept album about how much COOZY fucking hates Alabama. COOZY is actually an alternate name for Blotchouts, with the the difference being, according to their Bandcamp, “BLOTCHOUTS has hope and COOZY has none”. If you’re not convinced yet, there’s a Shaggs cover. If that doesn’t do it for you, you’re impossible. Also it’s free. Check out Blotchouts too, this shit is really doing our degenerate bum souls good.

 

3. El Valerie – I D A

El Valerie has been quite busy this year.

Having just released her album Electro Pampas in April via Perth label Haunted Attics Records and before that an EP in January titled Métier Moue, New York’s El Valerie delivers another solid full-length with I D A. Perhaps best described as art pop, her music is minimalist and soulful, colored with sparse drum machine, humming ambiance, bluesy guitar, and clear crooning. We couldn’t find any concrete info on a physical release, but considering Electro Pampas‘ cassette release, we wouldn’t be shocked to see this receive one as well. As added incentive for picking up the digital in July, 100% of I D A‘s first month sales are going to RAICES Texas, a non-profit human rights organization. Good deal.

 

4. Lucas Van Lenten – Low Spokes

Hey, we said release date doesn’t matter.

Dishital Weekly usually features music released in the past 12 months, but Lucas Van Lenten’s brilliant 2013 indie pop record Low Spokes is too good to discriminate against. Great art doesn’t expire and Van Lenten’s playful yet mature blend stays fresh all these years later. From bouncy opener “San Sebastian” to tavern gambler “Gold Monkey”, it’s a little trippy, a little folksy, and all good. We also recommend 2004’s Slowpoke, a very different record that’s largely instrumental (though not entirely) and features more peculiar arrangements. Van Lenten states on his Bandcamp that he looks to crank out an album every five to six years. While the nine year gap between his first two (actually a bit of a slowpoke, innit?) gives us a bit of pause, the fact that this is there now seems to hint that something new is on the way soon. In any case, based on these two, it should be worth the wait. Shout out to our friends at Houdini Mansions for bringing this one to our attention.

 

5. Sicayda – Sown

I feel like we cover Toronto almost too much, but by god do they continue to deliver.

This time, they give us Sicayda and their debut EP Sown, a sweet and delicious shoegaze layer cake of fuzz, sugary vocals, and powerful drumming. Youthful nostalgia is absolutely dripping off of this one. Our favorite has to be “Struggle Bug”: we like to imagine it was directly named for the Pokemon move, but beyond that, it just rocks the shit and makes our souls soar. The chiming, ambient outro is absolutely gorgeous as well. This one is name-your-price: no excuses.

Dishital Weekly: Buster Crabtree, Fellow Robot, Lahnah, Tears of Joy, Weatherday

Dishital Weekly is COUNTERZINE’s weekly roundup of 5 digital only releases we think are worthy of your attention. The only rules are that we like it and there’s no readily available physical version at the timing of writing. When it was released, genre, platform: none of these matter. If it’s new to us and it’s new to you, it’s new.

 

1. Buster Crabtree – Zoo Pop

Toronto continues to prove itself as one of the most consistent sources of quality power pop in the world with Buster Crabtree’s Zoo Pop. Crabtree delivers eight delightfully quirky and idiosyncratic lo-fi smash hits that fall somewhere between T. Rex and Mike Krol. Special mention to “Oh No What Did I Do (Mannequins Are Jumping Rope to the Zoo)” for having an amazing title and also being the catchiest thing ever written, as well as “Take All (Rotten Egg Inside an Ice Cream Cone)” for also having the best title and working that acoustic guitar/loud bass interplay at S-tier level. We are forever grooving.

 

2. Fellow Robot – “Bernie T-Shirt”

We usually don’t feature stand-alone singles on Dishital Weekly, but we’re making an exception for SoCal indie rock band Fellow Robot’s latest track “Bernie T-Shirt”. Why? Well, we don’t see it appearing on an album or EP anytime soon, but mostly because it rocks, candidate-specific political songs are usually rough and this isn’t, and while we know in our heads that the lyric is really “the candidates are killing me”, our hearts willfully mishear it as “the candy dicks are killing me”, and really, what are most politicians if not a bunch of candy dicks?

If you couldn’t gather, Fellow Robot are pro-Bernie Sanders 2020 and bring a lot of energy to the table to prove it. If the snarling, growling vocals and take-downs of the others don’t convince you, we don’t know what to tell you. Maybe “uh huh”?

 

3. Lahnah – Family Songs

Previously known as Father Spatter, Brattleboro, Vermont’s Lahnah released their album Family Songs this February, a weary collection of indie/country rock songs revolving around small town life and, yes, family. That genre tag sells the album a bit short though: across its nine songs, you’ll hear elements of psychedelia, post-rock, and slowcore flavoring its exhausted auditory bouquet. Listening to it feels akin to an out-of-body experience, with its thematic content grounded in reality but still ever so slightly off seeming (as reality often is) and its sound less trippy and more potently inebriating. It makes us feel like we’re taking a dissociative stroll around a just kinda seedy town at night while buzzed, not hammered. Fans of Smog, Silver Jews, and Tindersticks should appreciate this one.

 

4. Tears of Joy – Unhinged

More excellent power pop this edition courtesy of Pittsburgh’s Tear of Joy’s perhaps mis-titled Unhinged, a super solid set of four tunes that seamlessly blend breezy, deft melodies with deep, punchy mixes and performances that make sure they blow through your body and make you sway about rather than just floating past. Favorite is a pick ’em, but we’ll go “Elton John Records” for the big Cleaners From Venus vibes. We also really, really love the drums on this baby, fantastic power and momentum.

 

5. Weatherday – Come In

While the traditional blogosphere hasn’t really jumped on this one just yet, Weatherday’s Come In has seen something of an underground blow-up, particularly on RateYourMusic, where it’s currently sitting at a very respectable 3.63 with nearly 200 user ratings: basically unheard of with records like this. What do we mean by records like this? Bedroom pop with literally no push, just put up on Bandcamp to spread organically among the people. Weatherday is Sweden’s Sputnik, and Come In is a deeply personal queer lo-fi indie rock epic that has already drawn favorable comparison to Car Seat Headrest’s Twin Fantasy and the work of Brave Little Abacus. It’s easy to see why, with the 14-minute centerpiece “My Sputnik Sweetheart” in particular really seeming like the record’s “Beach Life-in-Death”.

A really raw, naked, beautiful album that deserves all the attention it’s getting and more.

Dishital Weekly: Benchmark, Commander Spoon, Fluorescent Half Dome, Makeunder, Yoshe Malkus

Dishital Weekly is Counterzine’s weekly roundup of 5 digital only releases we think are worthy of your attention. The only rules are that we like it and there’s no readily available physical version at the timing of writing. When it was released, genre, platform: none of these matter. If it’s new to us and it’s new to you, it’s new.

 

1. Benchmark – All of the Possible Outcomes

Maybrook, New York’s Benchmark deliver up a solid slice of indie rock with their third EP All of the Possible Outcomes. The band’s sound exists as something of a blend of the nineties’ most prominent alternative stylings, with rousing power pop jams such as “Feel It Out” and “All In” and the brief downbeat grunge ballad “Foam”, all with a light through-line tinge of emo, one could assume they were raised on a steady diet of early Weezer, Nirvana, and Third Eye Blind.

No physicals as of right now, but last year’s Blossom, Bloom did see a CD run, so keep an eye out.

 

2. Commander Spoon – Facing

From saxophonist Pierre Spataro’s Belgian quartet Commander Spoon comes Facing, the third in a series of scintillating nu jazz EPs, following last year’s Introducing and Declining. As with those releases, Facing is a four-part-suite of generally moody, atmospheric, laid back sax-led pieces, though our favorite section is probably Part II with its more speedy tempo, active drumming and deft guitar work (when Part III goes heavy metal on us in its final minute-and-a-half comes really close).

We also highly recommend those other two EPs mentioned: they share a clear kinship and we personally feel a physical compilation of the three would definitely be worth getting our hands on.

 

 

 

3. Fluorescent Half Dome – Cool Trash Magazine Has Your Diary!

Released in October of last year, Cool Trash Magazine Has Your Diary! is the sophomore EP from Nashville’s Krista Glover aka Fluorescent Half Dome. A hyper addictive set of new wave/dream pop tunes, we’re somewhat shocked that songs such as “Summer Blessing” haven’t gone ‘viral’, as the nu internet says. The algorithm is known to be fickle, but THIS fickle? So Glover isn’t a household name yet, but we’re happy to champion her early so we can cash those “I told you so” checks later.

 

4. Makeunder – Pale Cicada

Makeunder is Oakland, California’s Hamilton Ulmer, an art pop/R&B artist with his first major release since 2015’s Great Headless Blank in Pale Cicada, his debut LP on Good Eye Records. The experimental production qualities along with Ulmer’s own vocal cadence are highly reminiscent of David Longstreth’s Dirty Projectors, but the form in which they’re presented is more akin to the funk/dance-pop of Prince and Stevie Wonder, with single “In Between My Dead-End Jobs” especially likely to please fans of the latter. While we couldn’t find any information on a physical release at the time of writing this, Great Headless Blank did receive a vinyl press, so we wouldn’t be shocked to learn about this getting one as well in the near future.

 

5. Yoshe Malkus – Darker

There’s no sugar-coating it: Yoshe Malkus’ Darker is an immensely daunting behemoth of a record, and one only the truly patient and likely crazy will see through all the way to the end. Luckily here at Counterzine, we’re kinda fucking crazy, but unluckily, we’ve basically no idea how to communicate what exactly this is short of a 20,000 word essay. At 27 tracks, more than a handful of which reach the double-digit minutes mark (including the epic 42-minute closer “Catharsis”) is an avant-garde record with seemingly unmatched ambition, blending experimental rock, neofolk, psychedelia, ambient, drone and basically anything you can think of into a monument to sound itself. We’re actually very conflicted in including it here, simply because it deserves more. For now, if you can make the time (the album is broken up into three still very large chapters and we’d suggest one at a time), just listen. This is one of the year’s best without question, and maybe one day we’ll get around to that essay.

 

Dishital Weekly: absinthe father, Dracula and his band the Draculas, JEEZ LOUISE, The Modern Folk, West Vegetable

Dishital Weekly is Counterzine’s weekly roundup of 5 digital only releases we think are worthy of your attention. The only rules are that we like it and there’s no readily available physical version at the timing of writing. When it was released, genre, platform: none of these matter. If it’s new to us and it’s new to you, it’s new.

 

1. absinthe father – soften

Haley Butters, beyond running the popular this band fucks twitter account, is absinthe father, a Philadelphia-based lo-fi dream pop project. The first new material from Butters since jane in October of last year, the 3-song collection soften was written and recorded within the span of a few hours, the result of an immediate bolt of inspiration not overly fussed with, beautiful and unfiltered. soften also marks the first new material since Butter’s sobriety, and the cover art is a family photo of their mother, both adding to overall personal qualities of this small and lovely package.

 

2. Dracula and his band the Draculas – Halloween Jamboree

Under most circumstances, we’d save this one for Halloween, but as time waits for no man, Draculas and his band the Draculas didn’t wait for October and neither will we. Halloween Jamboree is a novelty rock ‘n roll record released earlier this month via Ded Sullivan Productions based on the theme of being a collection of recordings found in Dracula’s castle in Encino, California after his band failed to take over the modern American modern pop charts. Dracula might’ve had an easier time doing so six plus decades ago, with songs such as “Vampyre Münch Münch” greatly reminiscent of that era’s best novelty hits. While they may have come short of Billboard domination, Dracula and his band the Draculas have succeed in making an album that’s fun despite being released at the wrong time on about 666 different levels.

 

3. JEEZ LOUISE – DEMONSTRATION RECORDING

Post-Nancy, Joe (now JOE JOE JEEZ) has formed JEEZ LOUISE and released the band’s DEMONSTRATION RECORDING, far too perfect to be called just a demo. A delicious power-pop-punk candy milkshake with bits of Ramones, Dickies, and Coneheads in it, JEEZ LOUISE blast through seven sweet and crunchy hook-laden masterpieces in fewer than ten minutes. As the artwork above suggests, there seem to be cassettes floating around somewhere, but they seem to be limited to shows. In fact, despite the Nancy connection, it’s not all that easy to find much info on this project at all unless you’re local or friends with the members. The release is doing well considering the complete lack of intentional push, which is a testament to just how great it is.

 

4. The Modern Folk – History of the Modern Folk, Vol. 1

Dabbling in the world of digital-only releases, young tape label Hypnic Jerk has recently released History of the Modern Folk, Vol. 1, an assorted compilation series of Josh Moss’ work as The Modern Folk, Vol. 1 consisting of recordings made between the years of 2011 and 2016. While this material has been previously released, Moss’ catalog is daunting at more than 40 albums and this compilation is focused in theme. Josh’s friend Ben Telfer made selections across his catalog consisting entirely of Moss’ interpretations of traditional American folk and blues songs. While the compilation itself is not a comprehensive overview of The Modern Folk, it seems to be the beginning of one: it looks to be the first in a series that attempts to abridge Moss’ catalog for the initially overwhelmed.

 

 

5. West Vegetable – s/t

St. Cloud, Minnesota’s Jeff Varner, the brilliantly dumb mind behind such projects as the Christmas-oriented Fountain Dew and mock ‘local metal’ band Brundlefly (whose Demo CD-R we reviewed earlier this year), has a new project in West Vegetable, which takes form as a super weird blend of lo-fi garage punk and synthwave, but definitely not synth punk. Varner’s signature topical idiocy is on full display with songs such as “Mickey Moose”, “Leroy Jenkums”, and “Get Off Your Ass, Assy”, but also feels less tied to a gimmick when compared to his other recent projects. If Varner were to have a ‘main’ project with regular output, it feels like this could be it.

Favorites include opener the propulsive opener “Just Shapes Baby” and the previously mentioned “Get Off Your Ass, Assy”, which is the most vocally aggressive (“GET OFF YOUR ASS, ASSY / WE’VE GOT PLACES TO BE”) but musically subdued with its slow synth and bass groove. We like to imagine that if Assy McGee ever came back, this’d be a great song for Sanchez to finally lash out on his partner to.

Dishital Weekly: Arusha, DYED, Fruit & Nut, Greg Mendez, MOON DUNES

Dishital Weekly is COUNTERZINE’s weekly roundup of 5 digital-only releases we think are worthy of your attention. The only rules are that we like it and there’s no readily available physical version at the timing of writing. When it was released, genre, platform: none of these matter. If it’s new to us and it’s new to you, it’s new.

 

Arusha – Evolving Mysteries

The most recent EP from Sweden’s Arusha (as well as Irish psytrance netlabel Shunyata Records), Evolving Mysteries is the first goa trance release we’ve covered on the site. For uninitiated, it’s more or less psychedelic EDM, relying on fast, hypnotic grooves, squelching electronics, and steady shifts and builds that combine to evoke a feeling akin to fleeing from a relentless horde of killbots in a post-apocalyptic Indian jungle after consuming a fistful of mushrooms. Evolving Mysteries nails this while still finding plenty of room for deviation (“Katara Cat on the Run” for instance slows to a crawl around the three-and-a-half minute mark to introduce some spacy whispered vocal samples before re-emerging at a hyper frantic clip). A very strong example of the genre.

 

DYED – s/t

Seattle’s DYED deliver their debut self-titled EP, a diverse set of four tunes that blend electroclash and post-punk to varying ends, from the dance-oriented, synth-heavy opener “Bebe” to the raw, snotty and angular “Pigs” (where the band comes across as a sort of Gang of Four/X-Ray Spex hybrid) to the seven-and-a-half-minute brooding, bass-driven slow burn closer “First Bourne”.

Cassettes exist, but as of now seem to be exclusive to their recent tour with Black Marble and Froth. Here’s hoping that changes, but for now, the digital is available to stream and buy and we highly recommend you check it out.

 

Fruit & Nut – Answers to Come

To think we almost didn’t get this.

Answers to Come is a three song EP by Australia’s Fruit & Nut, originally recorded in 2016 with the intent for it be a 7″ release and finally released just two weeks ago digitally on Bandcamp. The band’s sound could be broadly described as ‘art rock’ but broken down into components could be looked at as XTC’s new wave meets the Slits’ dub meets Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s prog rock (with the second track’s title “Aquatarkus” seemingly referencing that band’s “Tarkus” and Jethro Tull’s “Aqualung”). It’s a wild, thrilling listen, and while we generally don’t like to play favorites on Dishital Weekly, if you only listen to one of these releases, make it this one. It’s free to download and only 69 American cents to add to your collection, so there’s no excuse here.

 

Greg Mendez – Home Videos (2006-2018)

Do you love Elliott Smith? Do you dream of a world where his brand of soft, sweet, emotional, brilliantly written folk pop was still being released? If the answer is yes, you’re going to love Greg Mendez. The Philadelphia singer-songwriter’s Home Videos (2006-2018) compiles 14 beautiful ‘demos’ (much of Mendez’s output could technically be called such, but they sound excellent), ‘mostly’ home-recorded between the years of, you guessed it, 2006 and 2018. As such, it’s arguably the best overview and entry point to his music.

Mendez also recently released a brand new EP two days ago called Heavy Metal High. If it weren’t the first time we were covering Mendez, it’d be the focus, but it’s both very brief and a large deviation from his other material, at least in form: it’s an electropop record. Still a very solid project and we recommend checking it out once you’ve gotten a handle on his usual output.

 

MOON DUNES – Are You Kind?

MOON DUNES are a four-piece psychedelic rock band from San Marcos, Texas who describe themselves as “bright eyed, nature loving artists creating music made to melt your heart in a positive flow of ancient rhythm and future peace”. If you truncated that to ‘hippies’, well, you wouldn’t necessarily be wrong. Their new album Are You Kind? wants to travel to space with you, but also lets take your odyssey at a relaxed pace that allows you to take in the sights. The band does a great job of blending the throwback elements of 60s psychedelia with more modern ones to form a sound that’s a good bit tighter than many of their contemporaries while still sounding new and fresh. It’s a trip, but a mellow and pleasant one, while still rocking hard enough to avoid being considered soft or psych ‘pop’.

Dishital Weekly: AC Church, Menagerie, Nic Sanderson, The Roving Minstrels, Space Kiddettes

Dishital Weekly is COUNTERZINE’s weekly roundup of 5 digital-only releases we think are worthy of your attention. The only rules are that we like it and there’s no readily available physical version at the timing of writing. When it was released, genre, platform: none of these matter. If it’s new to us and it’s new to you, it’s new.

 

AC Church – Sirocco Investments

Moscow’s Evgeny Smirnov is AC Church, a psychedelic artist who crafts conceptual instrumental albums that, in his words, soundtrack the “dystopian post-global warming catastrophe world”. His third album, Sirocco Investments, sees him more fully embrace elements of experimental and noise rock, while still applying the ambient and electronic sounds that characterized his previous work. The opening title track is something of a party before the hangover, a cheery, Tropicália-infused guitar-led piece that, yes, could be described as ‘sunny’. In quick fashion, however, the temperature boils over as the album descends into Mad Max territory where the noisy, echoed, reverb-drenched guitars scorch your flesh and warp your senses and the off-kilter percussion evokes the post-industrial wasteland, rattling your brain and grinding you down into the desert sands. It’s a violent and aggressive album, but not in the traditional sense. Sirocco Investments is content to let you bake to death from over-exposure rather than outright murder you: fitting, given its themes.

 

Menagerie – De Niro

Japan’s Menagerie deliver the ‘cool boy romantic’ power pop punk goodness on De Niro, the band’s second all-too-brief but absolutely stellar and addicting EP. Every song is an absolute smash hit, but we’re especially fond of the joyful “Travolta”, which is so cool that they tell you outright the hand claps are coming, and they never do, and the sweet, slow closer “Unreliable Man” (which we’ll admit is adorable and a just a bit funny as the opening lyric sounds quite a bit like “I am the library man”, even though we know that’s not it).

If you’re desperate to fill the whole in your life the Exploding Hearts left, Menagerie should be on the absolute top of your priority list. Dirtnap should also probably sign them. Eight minutes is nowhere near enough Menagerie, so make sure you check out their debut EP J. Fox as well.

 

Nic Sanderson – Eater EP

Philadelphia’s Nic Sanderson returns with his Eater EP, five tracks of woozy lo-fi post-punk. A departure from his more stripped down, high energy debut LP Blurry Being, Eater EP is more brooding and experimental in nature, with hypnagogic production qualities and a heavy emphasis on synths. If we had to make a comparison, imagine Mike Krol fronting Total Control. Be sure to check out his debut as well which is, again, a whole different but equally impressive beast. We’ll make another low-rent comparison here: Violent Femmes goes garage rock.

 

The Roving Minstrels – s/t

New York’s The Roving Minstrels make the type of intimate, lightly produced rock ‘n’ roll that delights in trapping you with a false sense of security, with its warm horns soothing the listener into a relaxed state before exploding into riotous out-pours of emotional vocals and blues guitar riffs that rattle and chug at breakneck speed. The foremost example of this is opener “Drunken Sailor”, the second half of which is about as headbanging as a song gets without fully transforming into metal or punk. No duds here, but we especially love that one and “Tala”, the album’s cozy, romantic ballad. It’s all about the horns.

 

Space Kiddettes – Domestic Adventures

Domestic Adventures represents an artistic leap forward for queer Houstonian DIY pop duo Space Kiddettes in every conceivable way, from songwriting to production to performance to straight up confidence. Devin Will and Trent Lira’s music occupies the bizarre cross-section of eighties LGBTQ+ synthpop (standout “Plain” moves like a Pet Shop Boys tune with its downtrodden verses leading into cascading synth choruses, but its lyrical content is reminiscent of Soft Cell’s “Frustration”), retro gaming worship (the opening of “Process Ü” and pulsing laser lead adorned “OutRun”, named for the Sega arcade racer), glee club, and kid’s show music, with just a touch of experimentation (the modulated Coyote Bloodbath spoken-word section bleeding into the punk bridge on “Square”).

Recently signed to Wormhole Records, the duo have also just released a video for their new song “P.S.A.”, which is to be featured on an upcoming collaboration-focused LP. The glee club aspect is really cranked up on this one, with a hint of the Buggles shining through, particularly on the back-and-forth layered vocal bridge. Hip-hop/pop diva STOO (who will be releasing their debut album SUPERSUIT next month) is the feature here, delivering an unmistakable and anachronistic verse that forcibly yanks the VHS aesthetic of the video into the 21st century (“I’m the bomb dot com / Can’t be duplicated”). It might all be a bit too ‘pop’, if only it weren’t so tongue-in-cheek and absolutely nuts.

Dishital Weekly: Dynamilla, eodum, Self-Help, Toxic Chicken, Zado & the Frail Bodies

Dishital Weekly is COUNTERZINE’s weekly roundup of 5 digital-only releases we think are worthy of your attention. The only rules are that we like it and there’s no readily available physical version at the timing of writing. When it was released, genre, platform: none of these matter. If it’s new to us and it’s new to you, it’s new.

 

Dynamilla – The You II Demonstration

If Destroyer’s Dan Bejar were to apply his signature phrasing, verbosity, and eccentric minstrel-isms to the stylings of sixties psychedelic garage rock, the end result might end up a bit like Peter Christian Ness’ Dynamilla. His debut album The You II Demonstration sees him run through eight guitar-led jams: some forward-propelling blasts of dynamic energy (“Under Dog Spawn”), some adorned with harmonica (“When the Clock Strikes Gold”), some acoustic folk fare (“Farewell Faded Memory”), some rousing theme songs (the titular “Dynamilla”) and even two instrumentals. However, more often than not, Ness has something to say. A lot to say. At least some of it is about power structures, and the not liking of them. Ness has also more recently released his “Police Elections // Aye Says I Nays Says Me” digital single (yeah, he doesn’t like cops), with the latter a bomb of mainstream success set to blow with enough luck, featuring with a hyper-addictive melody and guitar tone. A real freewheeling and refreshing project out of Victoria where ‘rules’ don’t seem to be much of a bother.

 

eodum – the sequence of events

Eugene, Oregon’s Britt Brady is eodum, a producer blending elements of IDM, experimental electronica, ambient, and hip-hop to craft beats grounded in a grainy, earthly aesthetic but not opposed to flirting with the ethereal. There are moments on the sequence of events that are strongly reminiscent of J. Dilla’s Donuts (“geombop” sounds like an undiscovered donut), which given the circumstances isn’t all that surprising. the sequence of events, beyond simply being a beat tape, is a conceptual record concerning the loss of his father and grandfather and as such is similarly inexorably linked to tragedy. What results is a powerful emotional through-line that lifts it far above much of its ilk. As an aside, Brady is also a founding member of doinksoft, the development team behind recent Devolver Digital-published Meowtroidvania Gato Roboto. Brady also composed the OST for that game, so if you’ve been enjoying the sounds tracking your search for mechsuit upgrades for Kiki, there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy the sequence of events as well.

 

Self-Help – No Returns

North Carolina’s Self-Help are in the business of peddling catchy, relaxing indie jangle pop, and if that were all, that’d be fine. However, what makes this 4-piece particularly special is the technicality of their melodies. Lead guitarist Edward Rojas’ style is comparable to that of many math rock axemen, but rather than using this prowess to craft leads that might be overly mathematical or stilted, he applies it in such a way that Self-Help come across as a more melodically engaging take on the Real Estate formula, or, taking into account the elements of psychedelia and light smatterings of country influence, a calmer, less weird golden age Meat Puppets. There’s a slight shift from the former to the latter over the course of the five tracks of No Returns, and with much of the lyrical matter tackling subjects of depression, anxiety, and philosophy, these comparisons hold further water. Perfect music for those who have trouble getting out of bed in the morning.

 

Toxic Chicken – Noodle Soup

The absolute madman behind our favorite absurdist music blog Yeah I Know It Sucks, Dutch transplant and Bangkok resident Kai Nobuko is Toxic Chicken, an experimental electropop artist who handles the ridiculous the way a noodle master hand-pulls noodles. On Noodle Soup, Nobuko is the noodle master, pulling your noodle and stretching it until it’s become delicious starch to be consumed whole by their swarm of electronics, misfit musical toys, and hypnotic, repeated mantras.

Toxic Chicken also has a new CD out June 7 on Wormhole World, fittingly titled Wormhole. While the self-imposed rules of Dishital Weekly prohibit us from shining the full spotlight on it here, surely our readers won’t rip off our noodles if we just give it a mention and drop a link to lead single “Down the Wormhole”, a perhaps more serious, ambitious, and beautiful instrumental piece, but still delightfully odd.

 

Zado & the Frail Bodies – s/t

Singapore’s Zado & the Frail Bodies pull you behind the bleachers and make sweet, late-seventies style power-pop-punk love to you. No frills, no gimmicks, Zado and Co.’s self-titled debut is about charm, energy, and song-craft at their highest levels, the way the used to be it back in the days of Undertones, Tours, and Buzzcocks. In fact, make your way through closer “Sleepless” and you’ll find the ‘second half’ is in fact a very solid cover of the latter’s “Promises”.

There are rumblings of physicals to come in June, but what these rumblings actually mean is unclear as of right now. Until then, what’s not unclear is just how fun this album is.

Dishital Weekly: Family Feast, Kevin and the Bikes, MOBVIBE, Two Meters, Wolf Party

Dishital Weekly is COUNTERZINE’s weekly roundup of 5 digital-only releases we think are worthy of your attention. The only rules are that we like it and there’s no readily available physical version at the timing of writing. When it was released, genre, platform: none of these matter. If it’s new to us and it’s new to you, it’s new.

 

Family Feast – Return on Investment 

Family Feast is a collective of artists based out of Toronto with a penchant for absurdity, concept records, and synths. Their latest album, Return on Investment, like their past work, blurs the line between compilation and album, with a cohesive theme and sound despite all nine tracks being written and performed by different artists. Return on Investment is a satirical take on the business world, featuring infectious and funky tunes about working overtime to trying to climb the corporate ladder and robot pop about analytics. This is the music of sniffing coke and trading stocks in the eighties. Their bizarre sense of humor combined with legitimate songwriting chops that disqualify them from being discarded as pure novelty is reminiscent of Ween, and like Ween, it’s definitely worth delving into their backlog after Return on Investment (they did a full St. Anger cover album and Maddy Wilde’s “Chateau du Spook” from World of Horrors is probably the best Halloween song of all-time).

 

Kevin and the Bikes – Dorkcore 101

You don’t know Kevin and the Bikes?! Get with the program, DORK!! What program? How about the 101-step-program Dorkcore 101? Yeah, the “101” doesn’t just mean introductory course. Dorkcore 101 features 101 songs, all of which are thematically tied to legendary Cartoon Network program Ed, Edd n Eddy. I can feel you desperately clinging to the ‘core’ portion of Dorkcore 101, pleading for them to be three-second-long grindcore blasts, BUT NO! This class is nearly four hours in length and includes lessons on noise rock, synth punk, jangle pop, jazz, podcasts, Weezer and Foster the People covers, and more! Wait, wait, don’t go! This is the type of idiocy that truly does circle around to brilliance. We just mentioned Ween when discussing Family Feast, but it applies here as well, particularly God Ween Satan: The Oneness (Half Japanese fans should also find quite a bit to like here). There’s an undeniably charm when creative friends come together to create something so ambitious with a core quality so stupid and generally unmarketable. And if you can’t find yourself setting aside four hours for songs about jawbreakers and Nazz, at least give “I Fucking Hate My Friends, They Don’t Understand My Love for the Eds” a listen: it should assuage any feelings that these guys are just a meme. An abridged CD version is on the way, but it’s not here yet and even if it was, everyone knows you’re not supposed to cut classes.

 

MOBVIBE – The Nusixties Invasion Pt. 1

You’ve heard of nu-metal, and now we’ve got “nusixties”. London’s MOBVIBE take the technological advancements of the 21st century and apply them to the songwriting styles popularized in the sixties to create an anachronistic take on the British Invasion. Their debut EP The Nusixties Invasion Pt. 1 is a tight 4-song introduction to the band’s sound, which plays out something like a mix between Beatles’ Merseybeat, Nuggets compilation bands, and the hip affair that populate modern British nightclubs. This is supposedly out or coming out on vinyl, but as the e-shop is currently under maintenance, we’re going to cheat and include it here (but keep an eye out on the MOBVIBE website should you be interested).

 

Two Meters – The Blue Jay EP

Recently released on digital imprint Very Jazzed, Tyler Costolo aka Two Meters’ sophomore effort The Blue Jay EP is a brief, slow burn emotional rollercoaster built on suspense and the subversion of expectation. Mixed by Yuuki Matthews of The Shins fame, The Blue Jay EP is a slowcore record where the drops come at you fast. No better example can be found than “Pools”, a gorgeous, gently floating, reverb-soaked indie rock piece that morphs into heavy, sludgy drone metal by the end of its run-time. Those interested in the dichotomy presented by Deafheaven’s music should appreciate how Costolo plays with polarized sounds and forms, though the work of Phil Elverum might be a more obvious comparison to make.

 

Wolf Party – No Tribe

Texas experimental musician Austin Davis is the mind behind Wolf Party, a project blending psychedelia, noise, drone, neo-tribalism, industrial, goth, and country. If that sounds bizarre and overwhelming, that’s because it is: No Tribe is a disturbing and pummeling record that sounds like the auditory equivalent to watching that one scene from Bone Tomahawk while on an acid and ketamine cocktail. We’d also be remiss to not mention Wolf Party’s newest single, “Walk the Floor”, which pitches up the country elements inherent in his work to craft something slightly closer to traditional. Operative word: slightly.