You know Alec Empire, he's been around the block a fair few times; first with Die Kinder, then with the infinitely more popular Atari Teenage Riot, alone through a thousand different style changes and a one-time partnership with Big Pink guitarist Robbie Furze. After all that it seems Empire's now coming into his own, knotting up all the loose ends of a 25 year journey with tracks like "1000 Eyes", a recent single that proceeds all wasted and stately while noise and electronic machinery whirr away in the background. It's still counterculture but it's not ashamed to be classic, and why should it? Empire's earned it, his a voice worth listening to.
Sounds Like: Lou Reed, The Jesus And Mary Chain, Primal Scream
Alec Empire - 1000 Eyes
Previously:
Alec Empire - If You Live Or Die
Alec Empire's RCRD LBL Page
Have we got any Roy Orbison in the RCRD LBL vaults to link through to? No? I didn't even check truth be told. Still, Girls are here now and their doo-wop'll do just fine; "Solitude" a throwback to a simpler era when all you needed to communicate lovesickness were slow guitar arpeggios and a wobbling croon. A song so tender you feel the physical version of it would bruise when you picked it up.
Sounds Like: Deerhunter, Ancient Crux, Roy Orbison
Girls - Solitude
Previously:
Girls - Hellhole Ratrace
Girls' RCRD LBL Page
(Photo: Funury)
It's about time Blank Dogs graced RCRD LBL's hallowed cyberturf. If you're into lo-fi guitar-pop acts like Wavves, Vivian Girls, Graffiti Island et cetera then Mike Sniper is at the centre of your world; the Brooklyn resident's musical project is revered among the flanneled hordes, his label Captured Tracks spewing forth endless runs of quality vinyl. I was supposed to be helping put on a Blank Dogs show with No Pain In Pop in London this Saturday - Sniper had visa problems and so won't be over til the autumn, but we've never received so many pleas to play. One band even said they were prepared to eat human flesh in order to support tracks like the glorious "Tin Birds", the absurdist imagery of rusting, land-bound wings apt for a sound so heavy it seems light, Sniper's guttural growl emerging through a fog of metal textures and febrile euphoria.
Sounds Like: Wavves, The Smiths, The Damned
Blank Dogs - Tin Birds
Blank Dogs' RCRD LBL Page
It's extremely difficult not to like Graffiti Island. I suspect this is because, a) the songs don't do or last long enough for anti- feelings to build and b) what's there is gold anyway. The three of them live in London, are part American and pull together to blast a type of punk that has brains but likes to surf, which is pretty much a winning combination - want us 2 hook u 2 up? Jam "Demonic Cat" and "Head Hunters" below to find music stark; flu-nosed frontman Pete D filling the gaps with stories about cannibals, demons and freaks. "Demonic Cat" is one of two Graffiti Island tracks to appear on a six-song cassette split with London amigos PENS and Male Bonding, who are both well-worth your precious time, too.
Sounds Like: Beat Happening, The Sticks, Red Cross before they were Redd Kross
Graffiti Island - Demonic Cat
Graffiti Island - Head Hunters
Graffiti Island's RCRD LBL Page
