Caddywhompus - Remainder (Community, 2010)

Caddywhompus - Big Fun


First, DOWNLOAD THIS (or buy it). Now. That way when you're done reading this review, you won't have to wait any extra minutes to listen to this beautiful mess in its entirety.

Caddywhompus is that dude Chris Rehm (who made the incredibly blissful Salivary Stones tape (also free)) and his pal Sean doing some fantastic rockin noise pop shit. And pleeease understand that when I tell you Remainder is the fucking tits, that I speak the truth.

This album is a loud piece of killer pop that deserves to be cranked until your speakers blow. There's so many influences going on here it's hard to name 'em all, but I'll try. There's blistering Oxes style freakouts, stop 'n' start spasms only found in Hella worshipers, pop hooks & vocals like Dodos or Antlers, and rounded out with a Mae Shi chaos.

I honestly can't listen to Remainder enough. It's just so goddamn incredible & catchy and it fucking ROCKS. Every song is 100%. If I knew what the words were, I'd be yelling along while simultaneously air drumming & guitaring, just going crazy with enthusiasm because there is no other way to listen to this.

Now go unzip that shit and have a blast. Or drop $15 for the vinyl AND CD. The choice is yours.

OOPs: The Advantage - Underwear: SO BIG! (self released, 2006)

The Advantage - Gremlins II


You should already know The Advantage. The dudes who play punk math rock covers of video game tunes? And Spencer Seim, the guitarist for Hella, plays drums?

Well, I saw them back in 2006 and they were selling this tour only EP called Underwear: SO BIG! so I obviously bought it. The tracklisting speaks for itself. Clearly, you need to hear every single one of these songs.

Fester's Quest
Gremlins II
Gradius II: Boss
TMNT II: Technodrome
Megaman III: Sparkman
TMNT: Minefield
Solar Jetman: Truckstop
Final Fantasy

Yes, Gremlins II, Solar fucking Jetman, and the damn near impossible Minefield level from Ninja Turtles. These guys pick some of the coolest games to cover and they make them sound so badass. Like "Fester's Quest" is pure fucking evil. I know there are a lot of video game cover bands out there but The Advantage is hands down the best one ever. And I can't think of a single reason you shouldn't download this.

NES FTW

Haiku Review: Banzai / Fiasco - Fabulous Bozo EP (self released, 2009)

Fiasco - Cutis Anserina


Banzai / Fiasco
Fabulous Bozo EP (download)
/a little math funk/
/some video game styled rock/
/two snuffy covers/

The Brown Book - Thirty-Nothing (unreleased)

The Brown Book - Deer Heads


The Brown Book has been touted lately by themselves and others about how their new album, Thirty-Nothing, was produced by Keith Souza (Battles, Lightning Bolt, Neptune) and mastered by Alan Douches (Animal Collective, Don Caballero) and I said to myself, "Don't bring that shit up in your review. It doesn't matter. It's all about the music." But, I just did. So deal with it.

Imagine a destruction derby with (yeah) Battles, Lightning Bolt, and (this one's mine) Oxes all driving their little destructo-machines, smashing into each other, creating ridiculous amounts of energy and friction. They're all dukin' it out, being as fucking intense and vicious as possible. Eventually, Oxes win, and their prize is Thirty-Nothing, a record that is fucking dense and a half.

I'm not gonna lie to you (I'm not a god damn monster), there's not a whole ton of original sounds coming from The Brown Book. Thirty-Nothing is a savage beast that sounds a lot like it's sources. But this is different because it's not Battles, it's not Oxes, it's The Brown Book. And I can pretty much guarantee you haven't heard them. So it's new. And it's good. The journey is still an exciting one and a few surprises do turn up. So when this comes out, grab a copy and whole up until Oxxxxxxxxes comes out.

Catch Of The Week: Fuck Christmas Music

Man, I hate commercial Christmas music. Enough already. Please. I just heard a funk version of "Santa Clause Is Coming To Town" and I wanted to kill myself. So I play music like this instead.


Marnie Stern - Steely (from This Is It...)

Marnie Stern and Zach Hill should just get married already. Their music is so alike it's uncanny. And then their babies would make the most spastic mathy drum rock ever. It'll be great! "Steely" is one of my faves from the infinitely long This Is It.... It has a killer riff and the lyrics are so catchy. "Tell me your name! This is no accident!" ""I'm like a raging animation. I wonder what it's like to be one." "I'm hoping it's true! I'm hoping for you!" That whole chorus is nuts. I love it.



Hot Lava - Mummy Beach (from Lavalogy)

I posted the video for Hot Lava's "Brainex" about a month ago and while that song is super catchy, it can't compare to the sheer campy horror ridiculousness of "Mummy Beach." It's a song about a beach with mummies on it. "We got mummies at the beach. Mummies! We got mummies in the sand. Mummies! We got mummies in the souvenir shop. Why won't they stop? They'll never stop." The lyrics are amazing. Whatever songs you planned on writing about mummies? Forget about it. They'll never be cooler than this.



Rainbo Video - Xenoglossy 17 (unreleased...maybe?)

Hey, this song is pretty cool. Dancey electro club stuff. I can get my groove on to this. Wait... Is that..? Holy shit. He just sampled Duncan Sheik. And it's good? Bravo Rainbo Video. Bravo.

Neptune, Parts & Labor, Big Bear, Thief Thief at The Middle East Upstairs

Big Bear
Neptune
Parts & Labor
Thief Thief

I've seen Neptune, Parts & Labor, and Big Bear play shows with each other in various combinations but this is the first time all 3 of them have played at once. Is it even possible that this show could have been any better? No. Well, yes, but I'm pretty sure that would just make me greedy.

First surprise of the night: My two friends who I thought weren't going to be there showed up. And that was cool. If there's anything we've learned from Into The Wild, it's that it's better to share experiences.

Thief Thief opened up with their fucking tight as shit math rock. Totally awesome. Thief Thief were one of the only ways the night could have been ruined. If they sucked, it could have put me in a bad mood. Fortunately, they were entirely worthy of playing a show with 3 of the best bands ever.

Big Bear came on with their still-new-to-me lineup with a different drummer and a keyboardist who replaced their second guitarist. Jordyn had her necessary thigh pad for intense tambourine smashing and after the obligatory excessive tuning, they tore the place up. All technically "new" songs but only because they haven't put out a record in over 3 years. One song actually was new, though. #23. Hadn't heard that one before but it's fucking badass and I hope it makes it onto the new album. Sadly, the banter was slightly sub par supposedly due to Jordyn's lack of caffeine. Hey, whatever. As long as you make my ears bleed, I'm a happy customer.

I think I was most looking forward to Parts & Labor as I've only seen them 4 times (as opposed to the dozens of times I've seen Big Bear and Neptune) and the fact that they were the only band playing that night that had put out a new record since I'd last seen them. Their newest album Receivers made my year end top 10 list and I was stoked to hear some of it live. Also, they morphed from a trio to a quartet and I was curious to see if that changed anything in their live show. Hardly. They were as awesome as ever and certainly didn't disappoint. Lots of new material was played, as well as some good ol' classics. They also played "an old song," something that had the word "Devil" in the name, I think. Couldn't find any info about it online but I assure you it was a fantastic song.

Here's where I thought the show could be just a bit better. In between sets, they were playing Big Business and I thought, "Hey, they should've played this show too." Only then could it have been better. But like I said, that's just asking a little bit too much.

Neptune played last, played a set consisting almost entirely of material from Gong Lake, and everyone loved them. I'm definitely looking forward to hearing some new stuff from them. The past 3 or 4 times I've seen them they've played the same songs. Fucking amazing songs, but always the same fucking amazing songs. So, yeah. They rock, I love them, I just want more.

sBACH - sBACH

sBACH - Untitled 5


I love when shit like this happens. You take a guitarist from one amazingly ridiculous band (Spencer Seim of Hella), give him an Atari, and let him go crazy. What you end up with is sBACH (like from Star Trek, get it?).

sBACH is noisy, catchy, 8-bit math rawk. But Seim didn't forsake traditional instruments on this record and that's what makes it so great. He's in fine form and does triple+ duty with drums, guitar, electronics, and who knows what else and it comes out sounding like gold.

It really has to be heard to understand, because I don't think anyone else is really doing anything like this right now. Yeah there's rock bands that incorporate the 8 bit (Anamanguchi, The Depreciation Guild) but it's nothing like this. They're more straight up rock with 8 bit elements. sBACH is like Hella decided to add 3 dudes who's sole purpose was to make video game sounds. We got electronics everywhere, melody, rhythm, and wherever they aren't, real instruments fill in the gaps.

Everything is wicked stuttery, going from full out hyper blast to muddy slow jam and back again within a single song. Some of the songs are fucking epic ("Untitled 5") and some are kinda creepy ("Untitled 9" and "Untitled 13") but they're all awesome and should be played at full volume. If you ever wished Hella and Kid 606 had an 8 bit baby so you could get your dance on, your dreams have come true. Lets hope sBACH isn't just a one-off deal and Seim has enough time to do Hella, The Advantage, sBACH, and whatever else he feels like dipping his hands in.

And here's the video for "Untitled 2" where Seim is in a junkyard, taking apart cars and stuff. Pretty cool.