Flying Fucking V's

So we took a long break to deal with school, johnny law, and an untimely trip to Jupiter, so sorry about the lack of posts over the two months. Since we last left you, the '07 resurgence of the lo-fi indie rock variety had reached obnoxious new heights with the release of Wavves. A s/t affair released by solo guitarist Nathan Williams, Wavves hail from Southern California and their sounds hearken the landscape quite well. Admittedly at first I was all about some Wavves, rocking out to "I'm So Bored" at work while my partner in crime and fellow blogger, Tom, was not sold at all. Well after a few months I have to say that my stance has changed greatly and Tom well I'll give him this one... in the ass HA! While Williams definitely has a sense of punky urgency in his jams, it also suffers from his mostly abhorrent "wooh, wooh's" I have heard since that song "Diamonds and Guns" by the Transplants. Wavves have a few things going for them, one being that most ignorant blokes would assume the band are in a league of their own and "trailblazers" of some sort... too bad for Wavves they will never be the pro basketball team in Portland. Bands like Guided by Voices have been doing the lo-fi shuffle for years and on a much higher level, Wire had the scuzzy , sophistipunk thing down before you were pooping in yr diapers Nathan. Sure the usual suspects (cough PF cough) are slobbering all over this stuff and all the hipster-children (aged 11-23) are dancing to the six-stringed, muffled sway but I'm not sold (anymore) because this group is just another riding the dying wavves of regurgitated and watered down styles of yesteryear.

Since I'm a stubborn bastard (at least most of the time) I will leave the readers with this laughable nugget from a Wavves set at the recent Primavera fest in Barecelona, Spain. The best part is at around 2:13... Also be sure to subscribe because we plan on posting every single fucking day... Best. Summer. Job. Ever!

Take it away, Black Dice!

When listening to the noise-rocking sound-scapers, Black Dice, it is always a make or break experience. You may regard the sound of the Brooklyn based group as ground-breaking or you could get super frustrated and think of it as a pretentious hodge-podge of sounds and noises. No matter how you may have felt about past Black Dice releases, their new album Repo is clearly their most accessible yet. Their second release on label Paw Tracks, Repo replaces the hardcore clash of previous albums with a more funky sound driven by fun samples throughout the record.

The album begins with the first single entitled “Nite Creme” a song that begins with a metallic overture and then melts into high pitched Dan Deacon-esque voice samples, and cyclical licks of synth. Despite its push as the lead single, I feel like “Nite Creme” doesn’t really represent what the rest of the new album is all about, if anything it would have better fit on previous albums such as Load Blown or Broken Ear Record. The next track, “Glazin” is the first of many on the album to start off with a tinny funk sample and uses it to fuel a beatscape filled with distorted snares and other assorted sounds.

After several lackadaisical tracks, Eric and Bjorn Copeland and Aaron Warren barrel headfirst into the track “Lazy TV” which is loaded with chopped and screwed vocals and aquatic sound effects that sound a lot like the underwater levels on the first Sonic the Hedgehog. The band harkens back to the crashing, hardcore sound of their earlier material on the track “Ten Inches” and in a complete 180°display a tinge of psych-folk influences from label mates Animal Collective on the track “Vegetable”. The final track of the album is without a doubt the crowning achievement of Repo; “Ultra Vomit Craze” is the closest thing to hip hop that the group has ever released. With a steady beat and underlying booty-bass, it should find its way to an iPod dance party mix near you.

In most cases when a band moves towards mainstream sound it’s a cause for uproar but in the case of Black Dice maybe a move towards a more accessible sound isn’t such a bad thing after all.

Black Dice - Ultra Vomit Craze

Marching in Place

I'm on my way out the door to attend a meeting, but I wanted to you leave you with this quickie... It's the new video for the song "No One Does It Like You" by Department of Eagles. For those not familiar, DoE is the side project of sorts of Daniel Rossen of the band Grizzly Bear. This is one my favorite cuts of the group's 2008 effort In Ear Park; a plodding number complete with ethereal vocals and catchy- as- fuck melodies. If only all wars / music vids included dancing ghosts, anarchists, and revolutionary war era soldiers....

Department of Eagles - No One Does It Like You

how can abrasive and smutty be so catchy?

I Collect vinyl records and Ive been going kinda hay wire on ebay lately. One rare out of print LP I picked up was Arab on radars "Rough day at the Orifice." (this sloping economy is making rare records a steal). I had heard of this band a few times and finally checked out their myspace page a few weeks ago. I was rather amused by the unique sound while at the same time feeling uncomfortable at the same time. I dont think there are many bands that sound liek this nor have such a bizarre subject matter. In all honesty I havent taken it off my turntable in the last 3 weeks. Its an abrasive sound yet itstill keeps you interested.


This bands use of effects and slide guitar use reminds me very much of the no wave scene. The harsh pedals, strange tuning and slide guitar give a almost metal scraping metal sound very much like Teenage Jesus and the Jerks. The First song to pop in my head in relations to Arabs sound was Teenage jesus's "Red alert." The difference from the No wave is that fact that the subject matter is very smutty while delivered in a almost creepy yelping style. The drums are spastic yet keeping the guitars in check. After reading about this band, I found out their first album had a bassist so Im curious as to what it sounded like.

I recently downloaded and bunch of their discography, Im interested checking out the rest of their catalog. I found the song #5 on youtube and loved it. This band live looked nothing but interesting and entertaining. The singer flails around like as does the rest of the band. While performing their uniform consisted of matching dickie pants and work shirts (hurray for team unity). There is jsut something very uncomfortable about this band while at the same very interesting. Check them out,

Enjoy the video
Tom

YEah Yeah YEah's...... No Dice

I recently downloaded a leaked copy of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs third proper release "It's Blitz." Ive been a huge fan of this band for a long time and was rather disappointed by this release. The last two albums were manic guitar and drum soak songs with lyrics that either grabbed you close or smacked you in the face. Its not too often a band rocks hard with a girl singer.

With "Its Blitz" the band moves towards being a more dancey elctro type band. Nick Zinner drops the guitar and replaces it with synthesizers. Most of the songs are very catchy and enjoyable but at times I found myself looking around wondering when the song will go nuts. It seems liek the songs lack a sense of danger the last two releases had.

As band members they had a history of being volatile which I always found intriguing becasue it seemed very parelleled to their sound. This album they seem to be way too comfortable and happy with one another.

To me this album is soft. Its not a bad album, its jsut not what I visioned where the band would go to next (I hoped they would get harder and more unpolished). There seems to be enough indie synth pop bands around now a days, I jsut dont get why they want to be part of the masses.

Disclaimer!!
This link will take you off our site, so click at yr own risk aight!
link to album

Get Some Spring in Yr Step

Springtime... is there really any better time of the year for some nice love-makin? I mean it's the season of boot-knockin ya'll.. everyone from Emu's to Armadillo's are bangin it out right now, so why aren't you?! Anyhow here's a few releases that I think will provide the proverbial "lotion" for yr motion *cue bass heavy porno grooves*

Well it appears as though Mr. Oberst will be gettin' down with something a bit more freaky than Digital Ash... now just replace Bright with Brown and you get the picture. On a more serious note, the singer/songwriter's new album, Outer South, will be dropping May 5 (the soundtrack for Cinco de Mayo '09 perhaps?) courtesy of Merge Records. Similar to Oberst's previous effort, 2008's Conor Oberst, the Mystic Valley Band will tag along to provide you with more neo-country rock and BDSM gang-bangs... LOLZ!

Conor Oberst - I Don't Wanna Die (In the Hospital)





Beat makin', record scratchin, and jet-setting madman DJ A-Trak will be dropping his long awaited mix CD, Infinity +1, and based on previous efforts this will be anything but serene. March will have been a busy month for the Quebecois rhythm connoisseur as he will be releasing the mix March 31, mere days after having rocked the house at SXSW in Austin. If that's not enough, he'll be headed down to Miami (BIG WILLY STYLE!) to rock several beach side parties from the 26th thru 28th. So if you find yrself trippin face on some Molly or whatever the kids take these days, A-Trak is sure to provide you with fuel for the dance floor or wherever else yr horny ass ends up!

A-Trak - Infinity +1 Preview




I'm quite the city-slicker, but deep down I enjoy the great outdoors... I really do! So when I sit down and listen to a band like the Felice Brothers, I can't help but invoke images of rural-ness, like say hiking or drinking some whiskey and shootin' Coke cans with a BB gun. This four-piece from New York City, by way of the Catskill Mountains up state, are amongst a new generation of Americana that has rightfully followed in the footsteps of the Dylans and the Youngs. While clearly drawing influence from the former, the bands vibe falls somewhere between the sing-a-long excitement of Old Crow Medicine Show and the freewheeling melodies of My Morning Jacket, the Bros (Yes they are related!) will be releasing their fourth album, Yonder Is The Clock, on April 7 via Team Love Records. So if you want some earthy eargasms on the trail, be sure to check out the Felice Brothers... it'll make yr offers of a date to rural and secluded area seem much less creepy, I promise!

Felice Brothers - Frankie's Gun






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Hot pies is a Music blog set up between two friends to review music they Love, Currently into or trying out.

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