Out Now: Audio Antihero Presents Some Alternate Universe, 36-Song Compilation Benefits FSID.ORG.UK

Yeah, that's right, 36 friggin' songs for four pounds. Since we just spent four pounds on the Yr Friends EP, Americans, we can tell you that works out to about $6.50. We'll do the math for you -- this compilation, expertly curated by Jamie Volcano of Audio Antihero Records, asks that you pay something like $.18 per song (at a minimum, donations of a greater amount are encouraged and welcome), with all proceeds going to a UK organization that aims to eradicate Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Even without telling you about the amazing music on Some Alternate Universe, certain of it exclusive, this is a no-brainer. Don't be a dumbass. The official release date is March 5, but Audio Antihero appears happy to start taking your money immediately, thank you very much.

But, wait, the music IS amazing. Clicky Clicky favorites are well-represented and include Johnny Foreigner ("With Who, Who And What I've Got (Standard Rock)"), Benjamin Shaw ("Long Ago & Oh So Far Away"), Nosferatu D2 ("A Footnote (Demo)") and the mighty Wartgore Hellsnicker ("The Bear (New York Version)"). Adding value to the proposition are bracing tracks from Bitches (who we haven't written about in more than two years), sometimes-Johnny Foreigner tourmates Internet Forever (whose "Centre Of Your Universe" alone is worth the full price of admission here) and Salvage My Dream, whose stirring and F.M. Cornog-esque "Your Runaway Clothes And The Dying Diamonds of Your Mind" among others make this unapologetically long compilation actually incredibly rewarding.

So what we're talking about is a win-win. Help a reputable research organization curb a heartbreaking medical mystery and get dozens of great songs all for the price of just a couple pints and the pub. Do it now.

Be Prepared: Wartgore Hellsnicker | Moderate Rock EP | 30 May

Maniacally groovy and largely unhinged extended play release from a shadowy Watford, England-based collective centered around a chap named Paul Terris. Maybe. The six-year-old band's bio is pocked with extended blackouts, 50 shows here, a release party for a never-released record there, no personnel. One press quote charmingly deems Wartgore Hellsnicker "music for people that don't like other people." But the recordings -- four on this EP, to be released at the end of next month by determined foot-shooter Audio Antihero -- are solid gold. Wartgore Hellsnicker brutally propounds an SST-flavored guitar attack abetted by an RFTC-esque horn section (that conjures occasional klezmer outbursts) and topped by a shouter on par with the guy from Archie Bronson Outfit. It's aural ambrosia for the disaffected. Listening to Moderate Rock will make you want to get a tattoo on your neck.

Every song is a winner, but we're particularly partial to the thoroughly bracing third track "Ten To Two," which we've embedded below. Despite the title not being available for another six weeks, Moderate Rock has apparently already conquered one digital distributor's sales charts (meaning Audio Antihero label head Jamie Halliday may have to scrap all those business cards that read "specialists in commercial suicide"). The EP was snuck into racks at Rough Trade in time for Record Store Day, and it looks like you can still buy it there. The digital version can already be procured at Bandcamp right here, and if we're reading the words right, if you buy the digital Audio Antihero will send you the CD when it gets its hands on some. Buy this record, or get a hammer and just start hitting yourself in the face.

We'll tell you when you can stop.