Ep 99 – `Quarantine 3: April Madness’ FEAT: Rasputina, Axxa/Abraxas, Cloud City Caskets, Toga!, Lavender Blue, The Humms

Ep 99 – `Quarantine 3: April Madness’ FEAT: Rasputina, Axxa/Abraxas, Cloud City Caskets, Toga!, Lavender Blue, The Humms

 

Best of the underground, week of March 31, 2020: Hey! We talked endlessly about our upcoming April Madness shows, but forgot to say when or where: They start April 1 and will be streaming on FACEBOOK LIVE- WOOO. Check the holy crap records facebook page 👍 (All podcasts and reviews are on www.hlycrp.com, and you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.) (–>Watch those shows! And place your bets!)

 

This week we played:

Holocaust of the Giants by Rasputina

Lowbrow Art and Petty Crime by Cloud City Caskets

With You by Lavender Blue

Outlaw Village by Toga!

Waiting for the Postman by Axxa/Abraxas

Don’t Think About Death by the Humms

“Sinking As A Stone” Vaadat Charigim

“Sinking As A Stone” Vaadat Charigim

This is an aching epic of beauty, walls and waves of sound, driven along to some far shore by drums and siren wails. I try to imagine what the singer means, where this forlorn voyage will take us. There is some danger and resolution and rejoicing. Vaadat Charigim may be inspired by 80s shoegaze but the landscapes they create are massive and wondorous. 

Want to hear us talk about this song? Check out episode #96 of our podcast at hlycrp.com.

Listen to the song here: https://vaadatcharigim18.bandcamp.com/album/sinking-as-a-stone

“Only Good With His Hands” and “My Cat is So Fat” – Hotdoggrrrl and the Sesame Buns

“Only Good With His Hands” and “My Cat is So Fat” – Hotdoggrrrl and the Sesame Buns

Hinde Roughi is one of my buddies. I adore people who drive their art out into the extreme depths of the universe – and Hotdoggrrl and the Sesame Buns is an extreme expression of art, if your preferred art is debauched raunchy songs of love and perversion and failed love – backed by the most ferocious garage rock. I can teeter on the brink of darkness and these songs bring me up to the surface again. They make me smile and laugh and believe there is hope for this world. In case you are wondering – “Only Good WIth His Hands” is a song about someone who is only good with his hands. And “My Cat is So Fat” is about Hinde’s cat, which is sooooo fat. 

Want to hear us talk about this song? Check out episode #96 of our podcast at hlycrp.com.

Listen to Hotdoggrrl and the Sesame Buns here: https://hotdoggrrrlandthesesamebuns.bandcamp.com/

999 by Paint Fumes

999 by Paint Fumes

This is one of my favorite bands, and they have been for several years. These are pure rock n’ rollers, Paint Fumes has everything cool in spades. The band just returned home from an insane European Tour that had them narrowly escaping death, having all their gear stolen, and nearly not being allowed to return to the USA. I don’t think they are even fazed by it! (you guys need to write a book, not kidding.)

999 is raw and unpolished, powerful and precise. Its loose and bouncy, driving and tough. It’s unabashed, dirty and glorious.

Textures and tones run wild in 999. From the weaving twangy fuzz guitars to the pounding punk heartbeat of the drums, to Elijah’s revved-for-a-fight vocals, this is the perfect song to listen to while speeding along in your post-apocalyptic, machine gun equipped, armored car that you started building yesterday.

Want to hear us talk about this song? Check out episode #96 of our podcast at hlycrp.com.

Listen to the song here: https://slovenly.bandcamp.com/album/paint-fumes-uck-life-lp

Cowboy Mouth by Partition

Cowboy Mouth by Partition

Partition would have played arenas if they existed in 1992. The bass starts off on its own, followed by crisp drums, clean guitar, and dirty lyrics. All the best things of the 90’s are executed perfectly here…the soft/hard dynamics, the doubled vocals like Cobain learned from Lennon, and a true grittiness.

Partition is a clever band, the kind of clever where you are aware that you are clever, so you are ironic to downplay the cleverness.

I can’t believe I am this songs 6th viewer/listener on youtube. This is a great group with beautiful style! I could see these guys being very popular.

Want to hear us talk about this song? Check out episode #96 of our podcast at hlycrp.com.

Find the song here: https://partition.bandcamp.com/track/cowboy-mouth

“Cemetery Date” by Newcastle

“Cemetery Date” by Newcastle

In aggressive fashion, Cemetery Date holds and hits in all the right places. I think the song is in Spanish, and the poetic flow and rhyme is obvious, transcending language barriers even. The vocals are doubled and raw, a perfect contrast to the super-tight crisp instrumentation of the song. The rhythm section is tight, with pauses and dynamics that recall the pop-punk 2000’s, while the guitar riff shines over the song in major key straight-runs that remind me of the strokes when they were still good.

This is what happens when you harness the powers of mixing similar genres and styles. Well done Newcastle!

Want to hear us talk about this song? Check out episode #96 of our podcast at hlycrp.com.

You can find the music here: https://newcastle2.bandcamp.com/album/newcastle-cemetry-date

 

 

Ep 98 – `Quarantine 2: Animal Wisdom’ FEAT: Scott Yoder, Remember Sports, Lo Wolf, Harry Harrison, Soft Talk, Tucker Riggleman and the Cheap Dates

Ep 98 – `Quarantine 2: Animal Wisdom’ FEAT: Scott Yoder, Remember Sports, Lo Wolf, Harry Harrison, Soft Talk, Tucker Riggleman and the Cheap Dates

Best of the underground, week of March 24, 2020: Perhaps our strangest episode so far, recorded entirely live from the road to nowhere, in which Cinnamon cries and John jumps into a freezing lake #mood (All podcasts and reviews are on, www.hlycrp.com, and you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.) Musicians: We are thinking of you and holding you in our hearts
We played:
No Longer Apart by Scott Yoder

Nowhere to Be by Remember Sports

Alabama by Lo Wolf

Hold Me Tight by Harry Harrison

Exploding Heart Technique by Soft Talk

Telecaster by Tucker Riggleman & the Cheap Dates

HOUSE CAT, “Girlfriend”

HOUSE CAT, “Girlfriend”

I’m feeling sweary – probably cause I have mood swings from being locked inside my house while the world falls apart. But this is fucking good. This is all I need – kicking off with a snide snicker and then bringing this fuzzed out guitar garage rocker goodness.  I love the repetition of “I’ve got a girl and there’s something about her.” I’m just a sucker for repetition. As long as it’s catchy repetition. This is what my soul looks like today. Fuck you. I love it – and I bet it plays good live too. 

Want to hear us talk about this song? Check out episode #95 of our podcast at hlycrp.com.

FLOATING ACTION, “Matador”

FLOATING ACTION, “Matador”

Floating Action is my white whale – not least because Seth Kaufman lives two miles away from me, is a session musician for people Lana Del Rey (they mistook my kindness for weakness) and Dan Auerbach, and everyone in the area thinks he is the greatest. Including me. When I heard Floating Action play “matador” I thought it was the future of rock-n-roll. The song opens with a bleating loop that has a hiccup in it – perfectly handcrafted and homemade humanity in that one glitch. Then it has the killer chorus – “just like a matador you drove it straight through the heart.” I’ve been searching all my life for a killer line like that. 

Want to hear us talk about this song? Check out episode #95 of our podcast at hlycrp.com