Forget the overhyped Record Store Day, there’s only one piece of vinyl you need in April 2016.
Brooklyn favourites The Mad Doctors and Sun Voyager have teamed up and issued two new tracks on a split 7″ release. The release marks the eve of yet another spell on the road for The Docs, while for Sun Voyager, it should get those ears ready for the promised full length waiting somewhere in the wings.
UK garage blues band Band of Skulls have added five more shows to their Euro tour itinerary. The full list of dates can be seen below.
In 2014, as one of the first batch of releases issued by cassette specialists King Pizza Records, Brooklyn’s ¡Vamanos! dropped a handful of tracks that truly set the pace with regard to two-man garage blues noise-making. The five tracks demonstrated a powerhouse performance, culminating with perhaps the filthiest rendition of ‘Death Letter’ committed to tape. The live shows, of course, were even more intense – “disgusting”, even, to quote their label boss. At the beginning of 2016, Alex (g/v) and Tyler (d/v) returned to Danny Rose’s studio – the location of prior recordings – to try and capture an even rawer and more intense representation of the band.
Sometimes a release appears and instantly achieves the status of cult classic. Such is the case with the UK’s Ray Gun, whose debut cassette is so brilliantly DIY. In fact, had this band been spawned from Brooklyn, this release would surely have been snapped up by the King Pizza label and Ray Gun would be going head to head with The Rizzos and The Fucktons, such is their retro charm and wanton lo-fi discord.
At the beginning of 2015, Brooklyn’s The Rizzos released their debut EP ‘No Parents, No Rules’. Far from perfect, it showed a great promise for the future and was worth checking out for ‘Vomit Kiss’, a punky number that showed the energy within the band in a brattish and youthful manner. That glimpsed promise comes really through on this seven track cassette – issued just six months later – where The Rizzos really hit their mark consistently, blending their garage rock roots with some serious early sixties bubblegum vibes and some classy power pop.