Let Me Crazy - Contraflow

Huntington, New York (thanks, Chris!) rock and roll band writes an incredible record about time spent in New Orleans and how it sucks to live in a hurricane. Has that blue-collar punk rock vibe. Good God/Bad God transitioning into the next track, Birdbath, is the way all midpoints of records should sound. Like, if this was on vinyl, it'd be like Birdbath ends, Side A ends, you go, "Fuck," and the silent period where you flip the record over is your own little intermission, let's you get excited about what's going to happen next.

DL

John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman

I am having a difficult time trying to describe this album without sounding cheesy, but I can't. This shit is fucking beautiful. Johnny Hartman has a smooth and strong bass voice that keeps the normally I'm-on-fucking-heroin-I-just-played-thirty-different-notes-in-a-millisecond John Coltrane a lot mellower, more appreciative of the standards he's sharing with such a good conventional voice.

All the songs are jazz ballads in the sense that they capture a mood that not many other music genres can. And if you don't want to try the whole record, at least listen to Lush Life, and introduce yourself to the song you should listen to after a long night of drinking and you're feeling sad in a good way.

By the way, if anyone out there plays jazz and is reading this, I am willing to concede that I have no idea what the fuck I am talking about so long as it helps you keep your cool.

DL

ampersand.

Great 22-minute record of, yeah, this I'd call indie pop. Guitars are nice and jangly, songs sound a lot like a sad dude in flannel with a sweatshirt tied around his torso. Spent a good couple of months listening to "Picture Perfect" over and over. Sorry for keeping this under wraps for such a long time.

DL

The Dentists - Dressed

One more before I go hit on lesbians.

Big collection of music by early 90s British band. Indie pop? I hear it and I think of Polaris, the Pete and Pete band, but with a little more of a 60s edge, a little more stuck in the past.

Funny story, looked them up on Wikipedia to find this disclaimer:

This band is unrelated to the short-lived Nazi punk band of the same name.

So if you're gonna reference The Dentists in casual conversation, might be safe to add "You know, the ones that weren't Nazis."

DL

Teengenerate - Get Action!

Or maybe you prefer your Reservoir Dog punk a little more pimply and Japanese. Features a Queers cover and other shit. Apparently this is big on the blogosphere, but fuck it, I found this guy on Soulseek years ago, so technically I was first.

Also did not know they were Japanese until right now.

DL

Marked Men - S/T

Hey, I hear you like playing air guitar in a standing/crouching position with one leg bent up into your belly like you were deflecting blows and the other leg on the ground but the knee bent in a hoppy jaunty manner. Also you like having your mouth open while you play so you sort of look like Mick Jagger. Classic Chuck Berry pose.

You know who I think you'd like? The Marked Men. You know, they got the punk sensibilities but there's a little chic behind that. I mean, you see that album cover, right? Reservoir Dog punk. After the show we'll hang out with the Make-Up or something.

DL

Bomb the Music Industry! - To Leave or Die on Long Island

Few years ago (more like one decade, fuck) dude freaked about music and started writing full rock albums backed only by Garage Band. Since then dude put together a real band, tours extensively, invites fans to bring their own instruments and play onstage, bring their own tee shirts and get a free band logo stenciled on them.

Get ready for crazy tempos, crazy instrumentation (video game synths? glockenspiels? drum machines?), lyrics about drinking being poor and depressed, and soundbites from Spongebob Squarepants. To quote dude in question, "I do it 'cause I like it and I like it because you don't."

DL

Go to donation-based label www.quoteunquoterecords.com for more of this.

Ava Luna - Services EP

Ava Luna is this Brooklyn band who does the Jamie Lidell thing except with a full band and the lead singer has a Germs tattoo. The Jamie Lidell thing is funky and soulful with a little bit of an electronic tint to it. Trust me, I have seen both of them, and I mean this all in the best way possible.

By the way I'm new here.

DL

Kleenex Girl Wonder - Ponyoak

Kleenex Girl Wonder is this guy named Graham Smith. In the late nineties he put out a lo-fi pop record of home recordings called "Ponyoak." The album is 25 songs with 5 extra bonus tracks. It has that early Guided by Voices short song brilliance, and Smith has a solid ear for melodic hooks. And sure, with 30 songs there are bound to be some stinkers ("Anne Marie" is wretched) but the amount of good to great songs is almost astounding.

I'd recommend listening a few times to let the weird ones sink in, and if you're on the fence at all listen to "Now I Got A Feeling" to jump right in. That song has numerous bridges, a late-song key change, and little to no repetition at all in the verses and choruses. Basically, a really catchy song that takes an absurd amount of listens to get tiresome. The songwriting reminds me of Capstan Shafts, and Pollard, and if you like either I'd suggest giving "Ponyoak" a listen.

DL

caUSE Co-MOTION! - It's Time

Short songs. They sound like they were recorded on shit instruments in basements. But this is one of those records where the songs themselves are the selling point. Pop melodies, catchy guitar work, great drumming. After a few listens all the songs sound like hits.

DL

Young Adults - Black Hole

Boston band Young Adults' first full length. Thick guitars, pounding drums, and shouted choruses. I think it's appropriate to post this after that Orange Juice album because Black Hole has a song called "Rip It Up" and just like the former bands' biggest hit there are lyrics saying "rip it up" and "start again," which can't be a coincidence.

This is so goddamn good. If you like Mission of Burma you'll get behind this modern post-punk.

DL

Orange Juice - BBC Sessions

Here are some cool BBC (John Peel included) cuts of a bunch of Orange Juice's best songs. The guitar and base are very crisp and yet Edwyn Collins' affected voice still overrides everything. Good melodies all around. They get listed as post-punk but this is really just pop music. It's all pop.

Also includes an interview. Check it out.

DL

The Mice - Unreleased Album (Canterbury Bells)

I've been trying to track down the full version of this non-album for a while but I can't find it anywhere so I've just decided to post what I have. Included here are 10 cuts for the "Scooter" follow-up that never happened. I particularly like Nearly a Mile Away, Resurrection Day, Run Away, and Something Pushed. I'm not too into Music Here, which is pretty unremarkable in every way, or Phone in my Car, which is about the ridiculous notion of having a phone in your car because "you have so much to say." Bill Fox clearly didn't make any money investing in cell phone companies.

The ten cuts are supposedly accompanied by live songs, and other rarities. The live set has some classic rock covers that I didn't care too much about but there were also some mystery moments. I have managed to track down the Mice's first single (also included here with a track number of 21 so we have 10 unaccounted for songs at least) "Can You Walk on the Water Baby?," and while it pales next to their other releases it is interesting to see their entire progression as a band.

If you have a lead on the full record drop a comment. Otherwise enjoy this rare ass shit.

DL

Teenage Cool Kids - Queer Salutations

Power-pop punk. I've been listening to this album heavy since the summer. Great hooks and the lyrics are actually funny. "Awkward Type of Girl" rips on indie girls who wear vintage dresses. "Write Back Soon" talks about "white girl dreads" and $500 fixed gear bikes. I didn't really listen to the lyrics the first dozen times, and you don't need to because the songs work on their own. "Self Abuse" is an awesome fucking song, and as with the rest of the album - this shit is fun.

DL

Rooftop Vigilantes - Carrot Atlas

Okay, so Guided By Voices came through Detroit last weekend so I can stop boring you with all those EPs and shit. I've got a bunch of good stuff that I've wanted to post for a while so I'll try to get them all out before Christmas.

First up is Rooftop Vigilantes from Lawrence, KS. These dudes came through Detroit a few weeks ago and played at the CAID. They play this great combination of 50's keyboard pop, raw punk and accents of screamed choruses. They also clearly don't take themselves very seriously as noted by the track titles (ex. "Oscar want 7," "Brad Shanks Tells A Joke," where Brad Shanks from Blood on the Wall tells a nonsensical thirty second joke, and "Charley No Want Girlfriend"). Hasn't left my speakers since I got it.

DL

They tore it up when they were here, video below: