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The Gun Club – The Las Vegas Story (Drastic Plastic)
This brand new vinyl reissue of the incredible 3rd Gun Club Lp, 1984’s The Las Vegas Story comes from Omaha-based record store and reissue label Drastic Plastic. What a job they did, with inserts, lyrics, full cover art and a poem/short story from Jeffrey Lee Pierce. I don’t know if these were all part of the original as I don’t know own it, but boy does it look great. And the remastering sounds great, too, giving the album a sonic heft and depth that previous CD reissues (while fine) lack. The only drawback is that “Secret Fires”, included on the 2004 reissue on Sympathy for the Record Industry and one of my favorite Gun Club songs, is dropped as the last track. As this is how I’m used to hearing the album, it is a bit jarring to hear nothing after “Give Up the Sun”. Nevertheless, I’m glad I got it and if you want this, it’s limited to 1,000 on colored and 180 gram vinyl and it will probably go quickly!
Funstix – “Funstix Party”
This side project of Jessi Darlin and Linwood Regensburg of Those Darlins has, to the best of my knowledge, only one release and it is this song. It’s on a split 7” with their “parent” band, which has been known to play this fun and lyrically super-raunchy song at live shows.
Down by Law – Champions at Heart (DC Jam)
I have to be honest here. I’m not very familiar with Down by Law’s back catalog aside from their self-titled debut, though I have fond memories of seeing them open for ALL in the early ’90s. After hearing this, though, I now want to hear all their stuff. This is simply a fantastic melodic hardcore punk record. Vocalist and leader Dave Smalley can sell a song like no one else in the genre and guitarist Sam Williams is a marvel, often reminding me of Brian Baker‘s somewhat similar work with Dag Nasty (one of Smalley’s other bands, of course). Great work!
Rites of Spring – Six Song Demo EP (Dischord)
After years of only being able to procure this legendary tape via bootlegs, it now gets an official release as part of Dischord opening its vaults over the last few years with similar archival releases by Void, The Faith, Artificial Peace, Government Issue and others. Fans of this legendary mid ’80s DC band will notice that though all of the songs have been released before, they are all slowed down and rawer here with noticeable tape manipulation tricks that reveal vocalist Guy Picciotto‘s normally toned-down mid to late ’60s Beatles influence. I don’t have a physical copy yet, but have heard that the packaging is minimal. I’m sure the sound on the vinyl will be terrific, though, given the fantastic sound on their recently remastered classics and archival releases.
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart – “Jeremy”
The A-side of their just-released 7” is a Magnetic Fields cover (and a fantastic version to boot) while the B-side is a cover of East River Pipe‘s “My Life is Wrong”. Contrary to that B-side’s title, this band can do no wrong in my book!
Dry Feet – Highway to Heck EP (Secret Cookies)
This Philadelphia surf-punk band (led by JEFF the Brotherhood and Screaming Females roadie Perry Shall) has improved drastically in the last year or so. As opposed to their prior 7”, this one (released back in the spring) sounds much more like their live show. This has a distinct early Angry Samoans vibe (think Back from Samoa) and sense of fun, but again, mixed with surf riffs that make this an enjoyable thrill ride. You can listen to it here.
The Trolleyvox – “Rising Sun”
To the best of my knowledge, this is the first Trolleyvox recording to be released since their fantastic double CD set Your Secret Safe and Luzerne were released back in 2007. This is a typically beautiful song that’s part of Now You Are 50, a recently released tribute to The Dead Milkmen‘s Joe Jack Talcum on the occasion of his 50th birthday. You can hear The Trolleyvox’s contribution here.
Bleeding Rainbow – “Pink Ruff” EP (Kanine)
I know that I listed a recent single from this Philadelphia-based noise-pop band on my list last week, but BR fan Chris Zak alerted me to the fact that this track (which was released back in August as a teaser for their forthcoming full-length to be released on Kanine in January) is now part of a 7” single. If both sides of this gem are an indication, the Lp should be a corker.
Metz – Metz (Sub Pop)
This band and London’s explosive Savages, were the talk of CMJ last week. While I still haven’t seen either band, this Toronto-based recent Sub Pop signing is quite good on record. ’90s noise rock like Unwound, Shellac and Fugazi are often cited to describe them and while this isn’t totally off-base, I also hear the influence of more recent garage-punk like the late, great Jay Reatard in this album. Overall, this is a strong release.
The Raveonettes “I Wanna Be Adored”
Released as part of a CD celebrating 50 years of Dr. Martens back in 2010, this cover of The Stone Roses classic finds The Raveonettes staying close to the original arrangement. Still, one can’t help but to feel a chill from the way their beautiful harmonies just take this song to somewhere slightly different than Ian Brown, John Squire and company perhaps intended.
