DOWNLOAD: The Yolks - I Do What I Do + Don't Blame Me
Saying that Chicago's the Yolks channel the Pharaohs, the Mummies, Jimmie Rodgers and Ray Davies might make your ears think they've heard that sound before. And while there's nothing remotely "progressive" about the tunes of the Yolks, it's pretty undeniable that these three fellas know how to write a pop song. Instantly catchy without being washed in fuzz, featuring your classic guitar, bass and organ sounds, the Yolks don't disappoint. Minus the fact that they say "steez," in "I Do What I Do," from their 7" Introducing the Yolks, the song could easily be playing on your local Oldies station. "Don't Blame Me" from the Wandering 7" is decidedly more lo-fi, but it could easily pop up on the "lost 45s" late nite show and nary a baby boomer could contest it. The fellas are playing with the Black Lips post Lollapalooza at the Empty Bottle on August 1, if you're in Chicago you should be fittin to be there.
Sounds Like: CoCoComa, the Smith Westerns, Lover!, the Okmoniks
Download: The Yolks - I Do What I Do
VIDEO: T2 - Heartbroken
This doesn't really constitute a THRWBCK because this video came out last year, but this week out friends in Night Slugs re-introduced us to "Heartbroken" by British garage/bassline producer T2. It peaked at #2 on the UK charts 8 months ago, and it's totally addictive. Somehow it didn't really break America, which is weird because it's AWESOME.
DOWNLOAD: The Okmoniks - It's Not You + Rustle Up Some Action
Photo: Chris Anderson
You've got the opening lines, "After school is over we can have some fun/Bring the boys and baby I want you to come," and "I started out at a different high school (ooh ooh ooh)/ I got a mask and a different hairdo (ooh ooh ooh)." Now tell me. Which one is from "442 Glenwood Avenue" by the Pixies Three circa 1963 and which one is from "It's Not You," by the Okmoniks circa now?
In the grand tradition of songs about high school, boys being untrue and girls totally ruling with sing along "oooh ooohs," hand claps, rollicking organ riffs and simple drumming, the Okmoniks present Party Fever!!! Yes. That's right. Three !!!'s! It's that much of a party. This is music you can imagine listening to with your Dad, him bobbing his head, figuring out the chorus by the second time around and singing along. That's pretty much the gist of Party Fever!!!
But then you've got "Rustle Up Some Action," which is the Rizzo anthem to the rest of the Pink Ladies record. Shit gets so good around the 1:20 mark you need to scream. If there's this much of a party on record, imagine how much fun this sock hop is live. The Okmoniks are on tour now - and play the Empty Bottle tonight in Chicago.
Sounds like: The Donnas, The Pixies Three, The Supremes, CoCoComa, The Ting Tings
Download: The Okmoniks - It's Not You
EXCLUSIVE DOWNLOAD: Birthday Suits - Automatic Oh Oh Yeah Yeah + Kids Fire, Run Fire
If you're going to see Birthday Suits live, you should get there early. What you'll be witness to will be Hideo stretching out behind the merch table and Matthew doing some barefoot calisthenics. Yes friends, this is a band that preps for rocking not by getting wasted beyond the ability to annunciate or wooing mothers and daughters backstage. No, this is a band that prepares to give you a goddamned show by stretching the fuck out.
Birthday Suits are a two former members of Sweet J.A.P. who decided to keep on sweating and screaming for your entertainment after the band broke up, settled in Minneapolis, and continue to tour and churn out undeniably ferocious songs. From their LP Cherry Blue on Nice & Neat Records, "Automatic Oh Oh Yeah Yeah," is more high-kick inducing than Van Halen's only #1 single and in 90 seconds manages to create a more crushing riff than most bands can muster in twice the time. "Kids Fire, Run Fire," has got the classic Birthday Suits stop on a dime, insert harmonies, restart kicking ass trick that they do so well and has only appeared on a promo compilation CD in the past, so grab and enjoy - although you might want to stretch your hammies out before you start.
Sounds Like: Lover!, Tyrades, Jay Reatard, Tweak Bird, No Age
Download: Birthday Suits - Automatic Oh Oh Yeah Yeah
DOWNLOAD: Daily Void - The Man Without A Face + Tapewurm
They're called the Daily Void. They have songs called "The Man Without A Face," and "Tapewurm." Their 'Top Friends' on MySpace are Santa Claus, The Moon, Anti-Christ and Hugo Ball. Their album art looks like MC Escher caught in a nightmare. Their band photos look like final pictures taken on a cadaver. The "ha ha ha ha" chorus on "The Man Without A Face,” sounds like the maniacal cackle of a serial killer stabbing you to death. There are bands that write songs and play shows and then there are bands that so carefully craft every aspect of what they put out they become the rulers of their own little world.
Welcome to the Daily Void kingdom. This is rock/punk/noise/whatever you want to call it, at its dirtiest. It's murky and full of banging, snarling and a sneer so permanent that when they sing lines like "I am him laughing," it sounds more like a threat than a description of anything resembling joy. Think Something Wicked This Way Comes meets Silence of the Lambs and you'll begin to understand the world of Daily Void.
Sounds Like: Jay Reatard, Lover!, Panthers, Tyrades, Witch
Download: Daily Void - The Man Without A Face
DOWNLOAD: Judi Chicago - Mad Ape + Chick Filler
Do you like to dance dirty? Yes, you do. Much dirtier than Swayze. Do you enjoy rocking out? Why, of course— what a silly question. Well, great! Good news arrives today in the form of Atlanta genre-tossers Judi Chicago, two foul-mouthed dudes with a knack for laying funky punky, spitfire guitar work over love pump house beats.
And with that obligatory description of their sound out of the way, please direct your attention to the above photo. Looks fun, doesn't it? Science says that if you drove by these two young men on that interstate and saw them jumping around and mixing it up the way they are, you'd probably want nothing more than pull over and kick it too. Don't you think? You totally would. Listen, look, feel GNARLY.
Sounds Like: Beck, LCD Soundsystem
DOWNLOAD: Tyrades - Let Down + Couples + I Am Homicide
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Sometimes it just feels good to be kicked in the balls by a rock band. There are nine songs on the Tyrades S/T album and it's done in 22 minutes. Live, you're lucky to get that much. But it just doesn't seem to matter because any amount of assault from the Tyrades is enough to leave your ears ringing, your neck aching and an inexplicable thirst at the bottom of your throat. "Let Down" is a frenzy of back and forth male female vocals that refuses to let up until the final venom-filled exchange. Tyrades get more 'experimental' and show they aren't afraid of a 'tempo change' or two in "Couples," all the while sounding like they're coming through your speakers filtered by decades of smoke and whiskey consumption. "I Am Homicide" comes form a Killed By Death 7" and starts like every song in their live set, "I AM HOMICIDE! GO!" It's that kind of practiced professionalism and premeditated perfection that makes the Tyrades the Symphony Orchestra of punk music. (Insert sarcasm here).
Sounds Like: Lover!, CoCoComa, Be Your Own Pet
MEGA DOWNLOAD: Dim Mak catalog special
Straight up, one of the best shows we’ve ever seen was Dim Mak’s 2003 CMJ showcase, in the main space at the Knitting Factory. The bill was Panthers, Dance Disaster Movement, Pretty Girls Make Graves, and the Gossip. And while all those bands are amazing, it’s DDM that sticks out in our mind the most—the sheer energy of the performance, coupled with the brilliance of their single “I Want Your Sass” was too much for our little bodies. It was at the height of the whole punk-funk throwback and people were just getting wild and dancey and venues again, so the crowd was wild. Also, someone openly called them “Dance Dance Revolution”, which is hilarious.
Speaking of the Gossip, we were also super into Die Monitr Batss, Nathan from the Gossip’s side project that released really dirty garage punk experiments. Far from the bouncy soul of Ditto & Co., their tracks are dark and ominous.
We assume that Foreign Born’s “Union Hall” is a musical shout-out to our favorite Park Slope haunt, where the drinks are cheap and the booking is tight (and you can stand in front of all those books in the front and feel really studious and stuff). The song is a bubbly slice of Californian rock, akin to Broken Social Scene if they were magically pieced together by the Polyphonic Spree.
Finally, we were big Icarus Line fans in high school, as we weren’t old and sad and/or emotionally damaged enough to really appreciate Joy Division and all that. Also, listening to people scream made us feel edgy and cool (it still does). Dude, you just don’t get us! Listen to “Black Presents” to get with the cool kids.
We thought we’d share some catalog MP3s from Dim Mak with you guys, as it’s Friday and we’re all in need to good tunes for the weekend. Enjoy, and check the Dim Mak RCRD LBL blog for updates!
Download: Dance Disaster Movement - I Want Your Sass
Download: Foreign Born - Union Hall
INTERVIEW: Mark Arm of Mudhoney
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A lot may have changed since Mudhoney and Seattle became rock 'n roll monuments twenty years ago, but the band's new LP, Lucky Ones, is as good an indicator as any that there is still much howling and teeth-gnashing to be done. We took five with frontman Mark Arm just as their new baby was making its way onto shelves. Jams below and a short interview after the jump!
Download: Mudhoney - In 'N' Out of Grace
EXCLUSIVE DOWNLOAD: Lover! - I'll Be There + Forced To The Ground + I'm Not A Gnome
How does it happen that a man who has put out 2 LPs, a handful of singles, 7"s, EPs and writes perfect pop songs remains virtually unknown in the States? Well, you put out your records on labels based in Spain and Germany, you take a gig on an offshore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico instead of capitalizing on your musical association with Jay Reatard (Jay mixed and mastered the second Lover! LP Gathered In the Graveyard and they were in the same band), you record songs all on your own on a tape recorder in your room, and you call yourself the ungoogleable "Lover!"
In cities like Atlanta, Chicago and Memphis, where Rich Crook has called home for more than a decade, the ubiquitous sound of the oldies station still resonates through abandoned lots, house parties and late night stoop sits. In Rich's songs as Lover! there is a sunniness and open road feeling that brings to mind all the best bits of 60s pop. You've probably only been able to cruise to "I'll Be There" and "Forced To The Ground" if you live in Spain or were shit-dumb lucky enough to stumble upon Rich and his mish-mash group of a backing band on the road (where he is going to be careening on the East Coast, West Coast, Australia and Europe for the rest of 08). Grab those tunes and the previously unreleased "I'm Not A Gnome," roll up a pack of smokes in the sleeve of your T-shirt, roll down the top to your car and head for the beach. Summer is for Lover!
Photo: Chris Anderson
Sounds Like: The Beach Boys, Jay Reatard, Sean Na Na, Vampire Hands
Download: Lover! - I'll Be There
Download: Lover! - Forced To The Ground
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