Sometimes I forget how much I like that classic indie rock sound. Run Forever here reminds me a lot of Karl Hendricks Trio. Is their crossover between these Pittsburgh bands? Or just major influences?
Wildhoney isn’t wasting any time following up on their stellar debut, Sleep Through It, that came out earlier this year. Your Face Sideways is an EP due out in October on Topshelf records, and “Laura” is the first glimpse of said EP that the band has made public. Looking at the tracklist, here’s hoping “FSAII” actually has some sort of relation to Flying Saucer Attack.
I’ve had to put energy into other life arenas lately. So i’ve been just barely getting these up in time. K Records has been going around posting various stuff from their archives on bandcamp. Which is quite nice. I wish they would include downloads with their vinyl purchases, but glad to see this stuff available. Anyhow, this song was making me feel whatever it was I needed to feel this morning. And who doesn’t love Beat Happening? Except maybe complete assholes.
The Moonlandingz started as a fictional band, part of The Eccentronic Research Council’s Johnny Rocket, Narcissist & Music Machine… I’m Your Biggest Fan, but they didn’t stay imaginary for long. The “band”, featuring members of the aforementioned Eccentronics and Fat White Family, have already put out an EP and are currently working on a long player. Too hard to follow? Just watch the video for the insanely catchy “Sweet Saturn Mine” above.
More on Swings via StereoGum. Their LP Sugarwater is coming out in November.
Ah, Kim Phuc. Pittsburgh’s own somewhere-between-punk-and-hardcore export that decided to call it a day in 2012 after a handful of singles and one unfuckwithable LP. “Wormwood Star” b/w “Freak Out the Squares” is one of those singles and, for what it’s worth, it’s my favorite of the bunch.
The A-side is built around a bizarro-world Stooges riff before stomping on the breaks for a sludgy bridge, slowly building momentum back up all the way through the end. It’s a great song, and an extended version of it would eventually close out the band’s Copsucker LP. But the real highlight here is “Freak Out the Squares”.
The short intro that leads off the B-side isn’t too far removed from “Wormwood Star”. At 1:15, though, things come to an abrupt halt and, “Hoo-ah!”, we’re off. The next two minutes are a sprint to the finish line. It seems like everybody on record is competing to see who can burn through their parts the fastest. I’d argue it’s one of the best entries into Kim Phuc’s short albeit efficiently fantastic catalog.
You might be hard pressed to actually find a physical copy of “Wormwood Star”, or any other KP singles for that matter. I’d recommend hitting up Mind Cure and crossing your fingers. The band is long gone now, so no more wandering into Gooskis to watch them tear through a dozen songs in under a half hour. If you do get your hands on anything Phuc-related, be glad that you’ve got an artifact from one of the better groups to come out of Pittsburgh in the past decade.
Battles return this week in all of their mathy, jazzy, weirdo glory. “The Yabba” is the first single (term used loosely) off of La Di Da Di, and the band gave the song a video just as slightly-left-of-center as it deserves.
Some bold queer hardcore from Olympia. You can read more about G.L.O.S.S. here.
Waiting with bated breath for something new from Night Beats? Let LA’s Mystic Braves help hold you over with “Great Company”, which could have been teleported here straight from the 13th Floor Elevators’ rehearsal space.
This indie pop is so very nice. Their band name feels like a misnomer, but I like the tuneage. And if you hang in there, this tune has quite the climax.