AJ Morocco: August 21, 2011

New Releases!

1. The Routes – Alligator (Dirty Water)

   
   
   Psychotic, high-energy garage rock from Japan.

2. Whalebones – LP (self released)

   Guitar driven psych rock from Seattle, falls squarely between drone and full-blown metal but (amazingly) never really lands in either category. Debut full length. Listen / download here

3. OFF! – Live At Generation Records 7” (Vice)

   
   
   Four song EP, taped live at Generation in NYC, released for Record Store Day 2011. Video filmed & directed by Jason Farrell of Swiz & Bluetip.

4. Sheer Terror – Spite 7” (Reaper)

   
   
   First new recordings in 16 years. 3 song EP, Sean Taggart artwork to boot. Paul Bearer is a modern day Henry Miller, trapped in New York City. Video is from their 1995 LP, Love Songs For The Unloved.

5. Scream – Complete Control Recording Sessions (Side One Dummy)

   
   
   Scream were one of the most important Dischord bands in the 1980’s, recording and touring well into the late 80’s. Originally formed in Virginia in 1981, they took the duel guitar sound of Articles of Faith and combined it with the urgency of DC Hardcore. First new recordings since 1993’s Fumble.

6. Spires – s/t EP (self released)

   New Denver band, solid dudes, excellent recording. Looking forward to seeing them live. Listen / download here

7. Hightower – Tower To The People (The Year Is One)

   
   
   Unapologetic live band from San Fran that is all about volume, constant touring and skateboarding. Musically they are all over the place, expect anything and everything from ambient prog rock to crossover. I’ve seen these guys 15 times and they never fail to deliver.

8. Cut Off Your Hands – Hollow (Frenchkiss)

   
   
   9 song LP, post-rock with significant Byrds and Johnny Marr worship. Very well done.

9. Zounds – The Curse of Zounds! LP (Broken Rekids)

   
   
   Reissued along with a Singles Collection LP on Broken. Originally released on Rough Trade in 1982, inventive & biting post punk by self-proclaimed English anarchists, the band uses strangely familiar harmonies set to claustrophobic rhythms.

10. Bad Brains – Bad Brains In The City (bootleg)

    29 song bootleg with rarities and some live unreleased songs, a great set from 82 in Philly and a 1985 set from Wabash Hall in San Diego. Interesting blog with a lot of good music, although I don’t agree with posting copyrighted material, especially when said material is still considered a source of revenue by the band. In 1997 I watched Mike Dijan practically reorganize a kid’s face after discovering that he was tape recording Breakdown live without permission. So I can only guess how they would react to the partial discography posted on this site, some of which was reissued in the last decade and is still commercially available. Then again, (just playing devil’s advocate) the blog does provide a valuable service by assembling all of the material and posting it for free, and it’s obvious that the owner cares deeply about the music. At any rate, the Bad Brains boot is worth “checking out”: http://bloggedquartered.blogspot.com/2011/07/bad-brains-rare-studio-and-live.html