Today's Hotness: The Prefab Messiahs, Red Sea, R.M. Hendrix

>> Editor's Note: We're not dead, we're just extremely sleepy, as the coroner once said of Alan Stanwyck.

>> We first encountered Massachusetts’ superb psych-rock concern The Prefab Messiahs when they played The Lilypad with (who else?) Lilys back in 2013. While new to the publication then, the group's origins lie in the early 1980s, an era that for regional indie rock fans is synonymous with the truncated initial reign of legends Mission Of Burma. However, post-punk was only a slice of what the Bay State was cooking back then. The gentlemen behind The Prefab Messiahs reinvigorated their mojo in the past decade via a wealth of “DIY garage-pop-psych provocation.” This work, and the rubbing of shoulders with other garage-revival figureheads at the time of the quartet's 30th anniversary, has precipitated the imminent release of a new maxi-EP titled, awesomely, Keep Your Stupid Dreams Alive. Coming out as a co-release on KLYAM and Burger on virtually every format but DataPlay (so 10" vinyl via KLYAM, cassette via Burger, and CDs and digital downloads, too), the whole eight-song shebang is the band's first new release in 32 years, and it hits racks on March 10. Burger makes a lot of sense for The Prefab Messiahs, as many of the respected label's lo-fi, neon, classicist power-pop acts indeed sound like the grandchildren of psych-pop’s first revival that occurred around the time that the ‘Fabs four-med.

Your first look at and listen to Keep Your Stupid Dreams Alive comes via the overloaded, animated dose of a video for "Weirdoz Everywhere" posted above (longtime fans will also remember it was part of that aforementioned live set at The Lilypad). The EP kicks off with the tune "Ssydarthurr" which not only (re-)introduces the act’s freakbeat influences and straightforward tones, but also its low-key sense of humor, something that separates these gentlemen from many of their stone-faced peers. And that element, ultimately, is what so many adherents miss about the spirit of '67 at the acid gallery. Take Syd Barrett: for all of his pioneering sounds, he was not above the silly, sidelong lyric. The Prefabs' "College Radio" commences with some menacing staccato guitar work and slapdash backing vocals and echo effects, all the while cheekily celebrating left-of-the-dial culture with a supernatural twist. The title track (and EP highlight) rides a steady, mid-period Rolling Stones rhythm and a simple, soaring harmony throughout a delightfully wistful and catchy chorus. The stark march of "Keep Your Stupid Dreams Alive" builds in the bridge to a chaotic ending, marking the tune as both an economical and flippant piece of pop gold. Keep an eye on the KLYAM digital storefront and the Burger web dojo for pre-order info for Keep Your Stupid Dreams Alive, which incidentally was engineered by sometimes-Lilys Doug Tuttle and Jesse Gallagher. -- Edward Charlton

>> We were excited to see another publication spill some ink for Atlanta art-rock quartet Red Sea and its terrific release In The Salon, which we wrote about here last year. The mini-album is seeing its first physical release in the form of a cassette from Bayonet Records, a new label co-run by Beach Fossils' Dustin Payseur and Katie Garcia (Ms. Garcia, if you don't know, was previously the label manager for Captured Tracks). And, boy, are we equally excited for Bayonet. Not only do the couple have the good sense and taste to release Salon, but they have introduced this reviewer to Red Sea scene mates Warehouse, as well. Presenting a scrappier, exuberant take on Red Sea's weirdo jazzy grooves, the latter band are now also firmly on our radar after just one listen to sophisti-punk lead single "Promethean Gaze." There, brilliant chord patterns, and Elaine Edenfield's Kim Gordon-esque vocals (which hit sarcastic low notes in a singular style that also recalls Red Sea) completely overwhelm. Both In The Salon and Warehouse's Tesseract are out later in March. Keep an eye on the Bayonet site for the launch of the online store and grab these fast, they'll likely move fast once the progressive indie movement takes over the country by storm [That's gonna happen, right? -- Ed.]. -- Edward Charlton



>> Boston DIY shoegazer R.M. Hendrix appears to be gearing up for a new record, and the proof is two wonderful demos he posted to Soundcloud recently. The first, a dark, hazy strummer titled "Half-Mast In Golden Light," takes you into its confidence via bending guitar chords, which drift between hard-panned drums as Mr. Hendrix looses a dreamy verse over top. Shortly after the song crosses the minute mark, spectral synth spreads over top the persistent strumming, pauses for a delightful, crumbling lead guitar interlude, and then returns. The tune is so strong in its demo form that we can't imagine it being improved upon, but we are always pleased when we're wrong about that sort of thing. The second demo, "Wolf On The Edges," is similarly arranged; it pursues a pulsing rhythm and gradually builds upwards from Axel Wilner-esque minimalism, employing soft, inevitable chord changes to achieve a tense, buzzing crescendo once Hendrix's subdued vocals give way. Any new collection would be Hendrix's first since Urban Turks Country Jerks, which was issued by Dallas-based Moon Sounds Records in April 2014; we wrote about that right here. Senior Writer Edward Charlton initiated our coverage of R.M. Hendrix right here in 2012, around the time of the release of Hendrix's Pink Skin EP. Stream "Half-Mast In Golden Light" and "Wolf On The Edges" via the Soundcloud embeds below.

I WILL WRITE A MYSTERY FOR YOU TO SOLVE: An Oral History of Lilys' Astonishing Eccsame The Photon Band

|| by EDWARD CHARLTON || [updated] This month marks the 20th anniversary of the release of Lilys' powerful and mysterious Eccsame The Photon Band, a unique collection even among the oeuvre of Kurt Heasley, the band's notably restless songwriter and only constant member. For our money, it is certainly one of the most engaging -- if underheard -- indie rock albums of the '90s. Like a lot of great music, the album's creation owes a debt to that rare and singular cocktail of youth: chance, environment and a positive open-mindedness shared among the four men who created it. "Behold and open to the light," translates the title -- a sentiment that seems to have guided the principals behind it from the foursome's very first minute together.

As we listened to Mr. Heasley, drummer Harry Evans and producer Rich Costey tell the story of the album, we found that Eccsame The Photon Band was a roughly month-long flash of exhaustive inspiration -- a gnawing, melodic, experimental expression that sprang into being so suddenly it felt as if it were over nearly as soon as it had begun. Despite that, the music and production contained therein has continued to resonate with those involved, as well as with a fanatical cult following attracted to its atypical dream-pop charms. Among those, cryptic lyrics, crestfallen textures, occasional moments of loud guitar and a spiritual and devastating silence all continue to stun. To mark the aforementioned anniversary, Clicky Clicky spoke with Mssrs. Heasley, Evans and Costey about the summer of 1994, discussing a wide-range of topics including the philosophies, drum sounds and even the studio weeping that birthed a rare and unique aural document.

"I can't deviate out of the moment -- you get into the game of expectations, then you get into the game of disappointment," Heasley tells Clicky Clicky from his present home in Los Angeles. The sentiment arrives early in our conversation about the album, and it quickly becomes apparent that Eccsame was (and is) something of a mission statement for just that mentality.

The genesis of that notion came two years prior to the creation of Eccsame, spurred by some of the negative reception to Lilys' magnificent and now-legendary 1992 shoegaze debut full-length, In The Presence of Nothing. "I had no idea people would listen to this," he says of that collection, "Much less feel so strongly [about it]. It was ultimately just a group of friends making something in a basement for a few hours. I took it as the most extreme feelings [from some in the scene] of being left out of their own party."

Disappointed, but confident in the power of his on-the-fly approach, Heasley began to see how the band's process might function in the face of more standard and predictable musical norms.

In the wake of the flawless, power-pop injected A Brief History of Amazing Letdowns EP that was released the next year, Heasley made some life changes that would further create the conditions for an experiment like Eccsame. "I had new urban experiences because I had moved from Lancaster [Pennsylvania] into Philadelphia proper, living with some incredible people," he said, "Joey Sweeney let me sleep on his girlfriend's couch for weeks. It was just this ongoing live/work/play space and the amount of literature, cinema and old records that I was being turned on to for the first time was great. There, I had the feeling of going from 22 to 23, and the prevailing wisdom that 23 is the best worst year of your life. Slowly, there were responsibilities creeping in and the realization that 'this is not a dress rehearsal.'"

At the same time, the alternative/grunge zeitgeist of the prior several years was beginning to breed bad vibes. Not only did Kurt Cobain's death in the spring of '94 mark a dramatic shift in the mood of rock culture, but recent records by Talk Talk's Mark Hollis and Pale Saint's Ian Masters alerted Heasley to the loss of fidelity and subtlety in those buzzing times. "Those gated drums in '92," he exclaimed with a sigh. A trip to a Broadway production later that year would also make an impression on him. "Listening to what a five-piece pit orchestra could do literally blew me apart. Working from that level where everyone plays their part and has mastered themselves revealed a new world."

In the winter following the release of A Brief History Of Amazing Letdowns, Heasley began sketching out some fresh ideas. Those recordings would ultimately be released on 2000's Tigerstyle Records split with Aspera Ad Astra. As a historical document, the four songs reveal a remarkably clear vision of the minimal, dreamy sound that would ultimately define Eccsame -- what Stylus Magazine writer Andrew Unterberger described as "Not influenced by shoegazing as a genre, but rather as a principle."

It was time to enter the studio.

That summer, spinART Records agreed to provide five weeks of time at Studio .45, a converted turn-of-the-century Colt firearms factory in Hartford, Connecticut. It was also at that point that Harry Evans of power-pop standouts Poole and producer Rich Costey entered the picture.

Evans had known Heasley for a few years by '94, and had played on every Lilys release beginning with Presence. The two first met due to being physically larger guys in the scene who looked similar and both showed up at the same music store. "I was shopping there and somebody called me (Kurt's nickname) 'Wally' and I was like, 'no, I'm Harry!'" Evan says, laughing, "We happened to be at the store at the same time eventually and recognized each other due to that mix up. We started hanging out and eventually he asked me if I wanted to play drums for him. He played me "February Fourteenth" and I was like 'What the hell! Of course!'"

Following the release of A Brief History and the subsequent shows for that record, Heasley approached him with an idea. "Kurt was like, 'I want to make a record, and I want it to just be you and me.' He booked a lot of time. I hadn't heard any of the material, but he said we could learn it in the studio. Having faith in anything Kurt does, I agreed immediately," Evans reflects. That summer, the two loaded up a van with gear and made the trek to Hartford. There, they met producer Costey and engineer Mike Deming. Costey had been chosen based on work he had done with scene compatriots The Swirlies.

"I was doing a few records for spinART around that time, and at some point I ended up on a phone call with Kurt," Costey remembers, “He was an interesting character on the phone, and I still remember my first phone call with him -- rambling on and on whilst puffing on cigarettes the whole time. We must have connected somewhat. I liked the psychedelic aspect to [Lilys'] music a lot, based only on the album they had out the year before, and given the general monochromatic, conservative landscape of American grunge at that time, Kurt's music struck me as being a total technicolor garden. I had worked with The Swirlies, whom I think he begrudgingly respected, but those two bands were actually quite different in approach. The Swirlies were fighting their own limitations whereas Kurt never saw or felt any limitations at all... [He] was inventing his own landscape."

Setting up on the first day, Heasley and Evans filled out Studio .45's large, single-room with their instruments. Beginning at dusk, the duo at first had a hard time connecting. "On the first day we set everything up, Kurt was going to guide me through the songs," said Evans, "We started recording really late, but it was just not clicking. The first song we were working on was "FBI And Their Toronto Transmitters." Eventually I got super frustrated. While I had told myself initially that I was going to be really sober and work as hard as possible during the session, we ultimately took a break and I got REALLY high. We went back in and nailed it in the first take. I was like, "Aw, this is really disappointing (chuckles)."

"For the first 10 days Costey probably didn't think they were songs!," Heasley added.

After these initial hurdles, the duo settled into a groove, with Evans adapting to Heasley's ideas and advice regarding drumming. "There was a methodical thought to the way that the fills were put together. He really helped me to curb my ego, and I was willing to say 'I will listen to your ideas.' Ultimately, they proved to be great ideas. I had to be open," Evans remembered.

The songs gradually came together over the ensuing weeks, and many of the album's iconic textures began to take focus -- specifically, the massive, roomy drum sound that many Eccsame cultists rave about.

Costey recited the technical details for accomplishing this with aplomb. "The drum sound was a combination of several things: the hard, open space that the live room at Studio .45 presented; a precisely placed AKG 414 placed in between the kick and snare drums, aimed at the floor... heavily compressed with a Spectrasonics 610 compressor; and also the minimal and incredibly powerful, tasteful playing of Harry Evans. Listening to it today, it seems a study in how a drummer should play to the sound presented to him or her, as opposed to the other way around."

Mike Deming is also credited by the other three as being instrumental to the presentation. "I’ve got to credit him for that drum sound. He was a twisted, evil audio genius. He was crazy and so into what he did on a micro level," said Evans, referencing at least obliquely the album's often overwhelming negative space, best heard in the long, faraway intro and subsequent eruption of focus on "The Turtle Which Died Before Knowing."

Other subtle, genius moments were entirely due to chance. On some songs, different takes were mixed together and the resulting edits created things that thrilled everyone in the control room. "A couple of those moments where the vibrato on the guitar shifts patterns -- we couldn't have planned that, but that's the thing! We were open not necessarily to it being correct, but to it being right for what it was," Heasley said.

Other moments betrayed the quieter vibe with sheer power. "The Hermit Crab," "Kodiak (Reprise)" and "Radiotricity" all rock in places, despite being composed mostly with clean, bass string strums. Costey explains that the amping of the guitars went a long way in lending huge power to a quiet source, "One simple thing Kurt was doing with his guitar sounds at the time was to run two different tremolo pedals into two different amps," he said, "It's really simple, of course, but it made for an off-kilter, drunken, gurgling guitar sound that completely shaped the feel of the record."

Elsewhere, such as on the down-tempo lullaby-pop of "Day Of The Monkey," Costey sampled Evans' drums to create a hypnotic loop, later adding room recordings of him playing along to himself to add to the overall sonic fantasia.

The collaborative aspect between the four also played a key role in the shape of the album. "He had done Swirlies records," said Heasley of Costey, "So I was like 'throw me whatever note you think should be in this melody.' I think you can only do so many records where that special and fun ability exists."

As the sessions wrapped up, it was also clear that the process of achieving the album's menthol-cool psychedelia had thoroughly exhausted Heasley. Much of the tracking came down to the wire, and many of his vocal parts had to be recorded at the end in a prolonged series of takes.

"I spent the final 18 hours of tracking in the vocal booth," Heasley recalled, "By the time we were working on "Hubble" I was completely drained by the process, from all these different drives that went into the album. You can hear me crying at one point. I couldn't even stand, I was propped in a chair." Costey, aware of the strain and the reality of the moment, let the tape run. What followed was personal, uncomfortable and brilliant.

It's apparent when Heasley talks about "Hubble" that the song is special to him, referring to it as the closing sequence of the booster of the space shuttle falling to Earth. More importantly, it's a fitting end to the hyper-productive sessions that produced a collection of songs that were not only spacey-sounding, but physically so. Costey took the tapes to Water Studios in Hoboken, New Jersey and Philip Glass' The Looking Glass studio in New York for the rest of the post-production. There, he added many of the synth textures and final mixing details. SpinART had the album out by the end of the year.

And then... it was over.

"Kurt moved to California, I believe, shortly after we made the record," said Evan. "I feel like nobody really got it, understood it or appreciated it when it came out." No shows were played to support the release, which somehow makes the recording all the more mythical.

Within a year, Heasley transformed Lilys into the mod-rock powerhouse that would define the next phase of the group, with songs like "Nanny In Manhattan" (a version of which was recorded during the Eccsame sessions but lost with the master tapes) broadening the exposure of the band and leading to a record deal with Sire. Evans would continue a successful run as the frontman of indie pop savants Poole, an act that also recorded for spinART. Lastly, Costey would use his resume with bands from the East Coast dream-pop and 'gaze scene to begin work in Los Angeles, eventually engineering and producing a seemingly endless list of big-name musical personalities including Sigur Ros, Fiona Apple, Nine Inch Nails, Muse, Foo Fighters and self-professed Swirlies fans Mew, among many others.

Despite the very abrupt end to the Eccsame phase of Lilys, and the scattering of its participants, it is apparent that the three remember the time in the studio fondly, and all have an unshakable faith in the final product.

"I felt pretty good about the album when we had finished it," Costey adds, "It seemed fresh, inventive, and colorful. Kurt's writing isn't miles away from Syd Barrett territory, but as opposed to Syd, Kurt's lyrics were open and personal. I had hoped that it would be recognized a bit more for what I felt was something pretty unique at that time: Psychedelic indie with heavy fuzz, samplers, and 808s -- but it seemed to never really get the attention it deserved. Kurt went straight to The Kinks' Muswell Hillbillies [as the template] for his next album and finally had his talent recognized, but in the process it had always felt to me that Eccsame was just overlooked."

Most importantly though, the sense of trust between the album's principals appears to be the most defining and memorable part of the era. Listening to Evans and Heasley, in particular, speak of their relationship during that time illuminates a connection between kindred souls, a pair determined to create and build as a unit.

"I could never have that kind of naive trust again. You basically get [it] once." Heasley added somberly.

At times during this reflection, it shows that both might harbor some desire to work together again. In the age of '90s dream-pop band reunions, with acts including Slowdive, Medicine, Ride and My Bloody Valentine thrilling audiences once more, it wouldn't be seem that unusual for an influential lineup of Lilys to get back together, hopefully even for new music.

"He knows that I'm willing to work with him anywhere, anytime. At the drop of a hat, I'm in," Evans proclaimed, ever the dedicated bandmate, ignoring the thousands of miles between them.

That possibility is a dream for this blog, at least, and it is dreaming big that brought together those men in 1994 -- hedging their bets on chance and understanding. But big dreams can live on in unusual ways, and funny enough, it is because of the Lilys that this scribe first spoke to this editor at Clicky Clicky some five years ago. And, because of all of that, it has ultimately brought you, dear reader, to what may not yet be the final chapter in the story of a very special and evolving piece of art.

"Behold and open to the light."

Currently, Eccsame The Photon Band is out of print (spinART folded in 2007), and both CD and vinyl copies command steep prices in the collectors' market. Heasley has been negotiating the reissue of In The Presence Of Nothing and two other unspecified titles, and also the release of new music, according to news we reported here in March. Through the murky magic of the Internet, you can listen to selections from Eccsame via the YouTube playlist posted below. -- Edward Charlton



SELECTED PREVIOUS COVERAGE:
In Bloom: Lilys Poised For Massive Resurgence; New Music, Reissues And Live Performances Planned
That Was The Show That Was: Lilys with Prefab Messiahs | Lilypad | 15 June
That Was The Show That Was: Lilys | Lilypad | 25 May
A N D I F O R G O T A L O N G T I M E A G O H O W Y O U F E E L : ten now acts perform selections from the early recordings of Lilys, 1991-1995
20: Lilys | In The Presence Of Nothing
Today's Hotness: Lilys
YouTube Rodeo: Lilys' Amazing "YCJCYAQFTD," "A Nanny In Manhattan," "Baby's A Dealer"
Footage: Lorelei Cover Lilys' "February 14th" | Slumberland 20th Anniversary
Today's Hotness: Lilys
Today's Hotness: Lilys
750 Times The Same Song: It's All About The Lilys

Today's Hotness: Lady Jane, Natural Velvet

>> As a somewhat solid editor, Clicky Clicky honcho Jay has developed substantial expertise identifying which artists will be most pleasing for this reviewer to consider. Case in point: The assignment of a track from Things We Forgot on Vacation, the upcoming full-length from the Rennes, France-based psych-rock foursome Lady Jane. As far as we're concerned, the record's alluring preview single "Death of a Dandy" is just what the doctor ordered to accompany the shuffling in of autumn. As evidenced by their already extensive back catalog, Lady Jane are no strangers to mid-'60s psychedelic and classic rock, so "Death of a Dandy" is in keeping with the band's vibe. Here they perfectly capture the mood, structure and insanity of original Floyd fronter Syd Barrett's songwriting circa 1968, without delivering just a carbon copy. The acoustic strums, lazy stream-of-consciousness vocal delivery, and gutbucket slide guitars all recall the promise and innovation propounded by Mr. Barrett before his decline and withdrawal from public life. Lady Jane's song is more structured and straight than Barrett's later solo work, which is often what music fans are most familiar with. Instead, it's like an additional transmission from the lost, hallowed period surrounding the creation of Pink Floyd's second album, A Saucerful of Secrets, and specifically its lone, Syd-penned capstone, the beautifully scrambled "Jugband Blues." The Frenchmen carefully transport that delicate era to our own in crafting a composition that would be perfect for a disorienting evening at a hip, smoky bistro. And so Lady Jane not only make us curious about what other talent may be lurking about France awaiting our ears, but also shows that there's still a lot of great new things that can come of a careful study of less-copied composers. Stream "Death of a Dandy" via the Bandcamp embed below. Things We Forgot On Vacation is available here for pre-order now via the Les Disques Normal imprint; both the CD and vinyl versions are slated to for release Oct. 7. -- Edward Charlton



>> Baltimore noise-pop concern Natural Velvet released a debut EP to the wilds of the Interzizzles over the summer that has kept our attention for some time. Called Salome With The Head of John the Baptist, the relatively new act's five-song collection is notable both for being affecting and for not fitting tidily into one of a contemporary music writer's many little descriptive boxes. It's rare that this reviewer can't connect some dots and peg influences to any band that describes itself as shoegaze, post-punk or noise rock, but Natural Velvet certainly presents a delightful challenge. Natural Velvet pull together strains of metal and gothic post-punk and pair it -- like a well-traveled noise sommelier -- with the dry, brittle production of the '80s underground. Indeed, at first it seems as if Salome With The Head of John the Baptist is a nostalgic release, but that then begs the question: nostalgic for what? It's hard to put a finger on. The collection's standout song "Salome" opens with a spindly chimes 'n' drums intro that imbues the tune with a cool and creepy mysteriousness evocative of Rodan's epic "Tooth-Fairy Retribution Manifesto." The tune then lurches into a steady, but jagged groove. Perhaps it's the dry, hi-hat-heavy drum style, upfront vocals, or that grinding distortion, but the instrumentation has the same sort of concentrated, performance-focused, DIY conviction present on many mid-period SST releases. Singer Corynne Osterman's speak-sing vocals are a pleasant surprise, as well. With so many contemporary female singers either emphasizing their serene ethereality, diva-like bravado, or pixie cuteness, it's refreshing to hear a woman mutter, groan, and sigh forth. Admittedly, there are moments on Salome With The Head of John the Baptist that feel stiff, but even so this is a promising young group, one that presents a singular approach we've not heard elsewhere in the thriving Baltimore scene. Could Natural Velvet be a new recruit to the army of Grass Widow's dark and sensual take on female-fronted rock? Let's hope so. Grab its entire EP as a pay-whutcha-like download via the Bandcamp embed below. -- Edward Charlton

Today's Hotness: Whirr, Honey Radar, Lurve

>> Bay Area shoegaze goliath Whirr accomplished more than its name suggests with the 2012 debut full-length Pipe Dreams. Rather than embrace a controlled spin, the sextet charted a course for sweet oblivion, aided by metallic riffing, barely whispered vocals and destructive, tom-heavy drumming. The result was one of the best shoegaze albums of the year and, likely, the decade. Consequently, Pipe Dreams set the bar high for future efforts from Whirr, and everyone else for that matter, but with the recently issued Around EP that challenge has been roundly met. Released July 9 on Graveface Records -- a label that issued certain of the group's work pre-Pipe Dreams -- the EP presents four songs including the single "Swoon." The song's epic scope encompasses pummeling chords, serene, nearly-ambient drop outs and everything in between. After a cymbal-heavy crash of over-reverberated drums and what sounds like thirteen individual guitars playing one note, a rhythm guitar sets off a marvelous cycle of dripping-wet, almost water-colored structures. While still decidedly Whirr, the more sprawling, glassy and gothic tones of Around emphasize that Whirr is not interested in simply recreating Pipe Dreams; much credit should be parceled off for Whirr's drummer, whose dynamic performances often are what makes these four songs particularly dramatic. By hammering a harder edge on styles made prominent by legends such as My Bloody Valentine, Ride and Slowdive, Whirr have established a singularly beautiful sound with Around, one that thrives on pillowed delay, exploratory tempos and profoundly affecting chord changes. The EP is available for purchase from Graveface as an LP, CD, cassette or download right here. Stream "Swoon" via the Soundcloud embed below. Whirr plays Great Scott in Boston Aug. 15, with support from hotly-tipped Philadelphians Nothing and local noise-pop heroes Soccer Mom. The date is part of a tour that commenced Tuesday; full details on the Boston appearance are right here. -- Edward Charlton



>> Strolling through the world of underground DIY cassette releases seems similar to what this reviewer imagines an indie record store must have been like before the Internet [Oh, you young people smh -- Ed.]: crates of bands, tapes and labels, linked mostly by scene and bubbling up based on word of mouth. Many tapes of the contemporary era can only be obtained through stock sheets collected from bedroom imprints, and often only 100 copies are made before the work dissolves into the ether and collective memory of friends and devotees. And so the current cassette culture requires buy-in from both ends, of course, and perhaps that is why discovering a really stellar tape is such a uniquely rewarding experience nowadays. Which explains why we were stoked to receive in the mail Western Plum Musket by Honey Radar, a tape out now on Philadelphia's Tree Top Sorbet label. Honey Radar, a shadowy lo-fi concern from Indiana that appears to have been in operation for several years, trades in the sort "sudden epiphany rock" of contemporaries like Guided By Voices and Times New Viking. While the dashed-off production values and singer Jason Henn's strange word associations do evoke Bob Pollard or Syd Barrett, the breezier songwriting and softer singing come across as contemplative and wistful. Western Plum Musket, an EP of sorts, offers several very strong songs. The opening one-two-punch of "Roughing Up The Painter" [video] and "Mason Neck," highlight Honey Radar's quirky strengths. The former tune offers a prickly warble and wins over the listener with a charmingly out of tune bass pattern and automated frequency adjustments. It is "Mason Neck," however, that is the real treasure. A pretty, yet shambling, psychedelic strummer, the song sounds like a lost garage-folk 7" from the mid-'60s. The warm and crispy production gives the number a hint of a modern, updated sense, and the tumbling rhythms and wispy voice recall the twelve-string stunners of mid-period Lilys. The band works through a couple of short noise numbers on the cassette as well, which capture the spontaneity seemingly intrinsic to the format. The contrast between these experiments and Mary Plum Musket's more serene moments limns both with a flash of gratifying unpredictability, just the sort of magic one hopes to find on a cassette. Get your copy of the limited-edition Mary Plum Musket right here while you can, and stream the entire deal via the embed below. -- Edward Charlton



>> In our online pseudoworld of limitless (and increasingly meaningless) genre fusions, vertiginous taste-making and purportedly new approaches to making the heart of rock and roll beat, sometimes you just want the straight stuff with a capital R. Brooklyn's Lurve are happy to oblige with "Wires," one of two numbers the band posted to its Bandcamp earlier this year. "Wires" is a driving, tightly realized and deftly disguised power-pop song that erupts with a basement-show exuberance, one that makes the song seem significantly shorter than its four-minute-ish runtime. After some distorted opening guitar chords, "Wires" presents its best side –- a thirty-second breakdown of punky guitar figures that interrupt each softly sung verse. Eventually the song latches onto a fixed-note groove that delivers it to a squalling end. The smeared noise, sudden minor chords, and rough-hewn production try, but fail, to mask somne keen pop songcraft. And speaking of "smeared," this song is remarkably evocative of Canadian power-pop juggernaut Sloan's overlooked 1992 grunge-noise statement Smeared, and songs like "I Am The Cancer," or even contemporaries Superdrag, and their crushing early tune "Senorita." Sure, the underground remains subject to Eric Bachmann's prescient mid-'90s lament, but Lurve hit upon a memorable pop formulation that they can hopefully continue to shape into their own. "Wires" and "Simple Syrup" show much promise, and we are optimistic that Lurve's planned full-length -- recorded by Roomrunner's Dan Frome and slated for release this month on Cincinnati's Broken Circles Records -- will follow suit in offering up something fresh via that which is already tried and true. Stream both tunes via the Bandcamp embed below. -- Edward Charlton

Today's Hotness: Winter, Spectral Park, Panda Riot

>> One marvel of the modern age is the speed at which technology continually reinvents ways for artists to conceive, collaborate and record music together. Case in point: Boston's new dream-pop concern, Winter. The band's terrific new EP Daydreaming is a collaboration between Infinity Girl fronter Nolan Eley and singer and songwriter Samira Winter. "She would write the songs, and send me demos she recorded on her iPhone. Then, I would arrange and produce them, record all the instruments and have her come [in and] sing," Mr. Eley told us late last month. The result is a deft synthesis of shoegaze atmospheres and vintage girl-group vocals. What makes the pair's artistic partnership remarkable is how fully-formed and well-realized the songs are: at no point do the four songs comprising Daydreaming sound like anything other than a group that has tested the mettle of the compositions to the point of comfort and ease on stage. Throughout the EP, glassy guitars brush gently against cloudy vocals that sway with a sunny disorientation. Highlight and closer "Nothing" adds bouncy, slinky keyboard textures and buzzing, treble-kicking fuzz before the song breaches a sleepy but catchy chorus. The tune comes undone in a coda that affords Eley the opportunity to stare in the distance with some Loveless-styled reverse guitar washes. Hopefully, Daydreaming is but the first instance of collaboration between a pair that really do work together so naturally. Grab it for any price via Bandcamp right here. Winter makes what very well may be its live debut Jan. 28 at Great Scott in Boston. Dig the Facebook event page right here. Stream the EP via the embed below, and also check out the video for the title track. -- Edward Charlton



>> Southampton, England's Spectral Park raised our eyebrow with news of its upcoming self-titled full-length due next week. Little is known of the zany band's history, beyond a two-song demo on Bandcamp, but the bio on label Mexican Summer's website indicates Spectral Park is actually the product of a lone man, Luke Donovan. Leveraging loops and samples scraped from 45s Donovan liberated from the trash, the result is a masterful fusion of unhinged garage rock and bizarre sound effects. In lead single "L'appel du Vide" (translation: call of the void), a heavily reverbed click erupts into a manic verse and a short, Jefferson Airplane- echoing chorus. The tune then cycles between the two with abandon. Perhaps the label summarized what's going on here best at its web site, calling Spectral Park's music "clear-eyed flower child reveries of pop chaos." Indeed, Mr. Donovan's music would seem to offer a glimpse into a time (in the '60s) when musicians were still astounded and perplexed by analog electronic wizardry (The Electric Prunes, anyone?). The result is Spectral Park at times sounds like MGMT covering lost Syd Barrett cuts. Clicky Clicky applauds the stylish, higher-profile Mexican Summer for taking a gamble on something like this. After all, with the cheesy organs and buried drum beat, "L'appel du Vide" (stream embedded below) may not be very "of-the-moment" for a youth culture that coexists with dubstep -- but perhaps it should be. Mexican Summer releases Spectral Park Jan. 29; buy the vinyl here. -- Edward Charlton



>> >> Rising, Chicago-based dream-pop powers Panda Riot will release Feb. 19 the full-length Northern Automatic Music. Doing the honors will be Saint Marie Records, the outfit that previously issued Panda Riot's exemplary single "Serious Radical Girls," which we wrote about here last summer. A lush and deliriously beautiful preview single from the forthcoming collection titled "Black Pyramids" indicates the band persists in purveying an alluring mixture of electronic drums, shoegaze textures and palpable distortion. The rhythm tracks here are augmented by new addition to the group, drummer Jose Rodriguez. Digital, endless "ahhhs" serve as a returning riff in "Black Pyramid," then explode in the outro. Indeed, the upbeat build to that all-too-brief climax is a highlight of the number, with Rebecca Scott's sweet lilt providing a nice counterpoint to the group's stormy instrumentation. Also, the brief sing-along breakdown evidences atypical aural elements that Panda Riot occasionally incorporates –- always with one eye on the positive ecstasy that the rhythms bear repeating. Pre-order Northern Automatic Music from Saint Marie here, and stream "Black Pyramids" via the embed below. -- Edward Charlton

Today's Hotness: Calories, Hospitality, Fashoda Crisis, Soccer Mom

>> Birmingham, England-based indie punk heroes Calories resurfaced last week with the blistering tune "Summer's Not," a non-album freebie and precursor to the act's planned third full-length. No release date or title for the forthcoming long-player have been revealed as of yet. Interestingly, the band's Facebook page (which lists Calories' interests as "swimming | minimalism") states that Dominique James -- formerly of Sunset Cinema Club and most recently best known as the engineer/producer of a number of Johnny Foreigner recordings -- is now a member of Calories, swelling its personnel to four members for what we believe to be the first time. "Summer's Not" is the first we've heard from Calories since the release of the band's terrific, best-of-2010 release Basic Nature [review], which was issued by Tough Love. The song is no departure from the band's characteristic blend of power, brevity and anthemic melodies. The production eschews gloss in favor of grit and buzzsaw fuzz, feedback flares through the crevices between beats, and chunky bass smacks up against the face of the stereo field. It's a wonderful little number. That "Summer's Not" is not included on the next record would seem a portentous fact: if the band didn't think this song made the cut, how friggin' awesome is this record going to be? We can't wait to hear it. Stream "Summer's Not" below.



>> After spending the majority of 2012 touring behind this year's delightful self-titled full-length, Clicky Clicky faves Hospitality return with a new 7" on Merge, "The Drift" b/w "Monkey," due Oct. 30th. The label has shared the b-side, which we've embedded below, and it's certainly strong enough to have been a lead cut. The tune is a smash, much more like the music from the band's live set we wrote about here last spring than the jazzy acoustics of the band's self-titled debut [review]. Almost certainly energized from their time on the road, Brooklyn-based Hospitality sounds lean and confident, with upfront bass and vocals that are evocative and precise. Fronter Amber Papini's singing twists and questions, while a clean electric guitar stair-steps through the mix, beckoning the listener with fevered New Wave visions. Pitchfork lazily referred to this one as "proggy," and man, is that a shame. To set the record straight, "Monkey" is a tightly coiled bit of brainy pop, unafraid to tread new ground in song structure without sacrificing anything in catchiness or relevance. Like XTC, The Go-Betweens, and this writer's beloved Lilys and The Mabuses, Hospitality are beginning to enter the realm of the chord-geniuses; compositional miscreants too damned smart and playful for their own good, and now apparently the sort of band whose music is tragically confused with that of Genesis or Yes. Prog? Please. Class? You better believe it. Buy the single from Merge right here. -- Edward Charlton



>> On the virtual A-side to its new digital single, "Horatio," notable Southend, UK-based howlers Fashoda Crisis have dialed back (slightly) its characteristic vitriol and raw power to pitch a bizarre tale of demented human/equine co-dependence. It's the same sort of odd, mildly psychedelic narrative that fueled those early, Syd Barrett-penned Floyd singles, although here it is contextualized by a martial stomp. Fashoda Crisis fronter Sim Ralph is easily able to pull it off, as his stentorian declamations are equally as compelling when alternated with spooked whispering and superficially curious ranting ("...education, Education, EDUCATION!"). "Horatio" and its fiery digital flipside "He's Got Gills" feature on the band's planned Jowls Of Justice EP, which will be released on vinyl and as a download by Cognitive Dissonance Records next month; pre-orders will begin shortly, according to the band. In the meantime, stream "Horatio" below. We wrote about "He's Got Gills" here in August.



>> Boston-based noise-rock titans Soccer Mom announced this week the quartet will release a digital single, "Brides" b/w "Canoe," the first new music from the band in more than a year. The tunes will be issued by 100m Records Nov. 6. The band supports shoegazers Young Prism at Great Scott in Boston the prior night, and promised to have CDs of the single available at the show. Both songs have featured in recent live sets from Soccer Mom (indeed, "Canoe" was in the band's set March 30), so fans lucky enough to have seen the band's dominating performances recently will have passing familiarity with them. 100m is already offering pre-orders for "Brides" b/w "Canoe" right here. Get into it. We previously wrote about Soccer Mom's amazing 10" You Are Not Going To Heaven here in July 2011.