More on Swings via StereoGum. Their LP Sugarwater is coming out in November.
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All posts for the month September, 2015
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.
I’ve been quiet as life intervenes as it can do. Here is something classic and chill for your Sunday evening. The radio show is tonight. 9pm on WRCT, 88.3FM Pittsburgh. Or stream at wrct.org.
Here’s an easy way to burn an hour. Sonic Youth playing at London’s Brixton Academy in the early 90’s. They actually shared a bill with Pavement that night. The audio and video quality here are pretty good by bootleg standards, so feel free to enjoy the whole thing. And if you don’t have an hour to kill, “Kool Thing” starts around 10:30.
Man, I like everything about this, but that lovely sax part about halfway through is especially fantastic.
Kelly Stoltz is a bit of a garage-rock svengali for the SF scene that’s popped up the last few years. That’s why it’s been strange that he’s been silent since he put out Double Exposure on Jack White’s Third Man label in 2013. Now we know why: Stoltz has three(!) releases planned for the upcoming months. Of the three, the 4 New Cuts EP is the most classically Stoltzian. “Redirected” is off that release, due out October 30th on Stroll On.