Melchior, Dan und das Menace - “Thankyou Very Much” - [S-S Records]

Dan Melchior is a singer/songwriter/guitarist who grew up in Shepperton (just outside London), England. A frequent collaborator with Billy Childish and Holly Golightly. He was a member of Dan Melchior’s Broke Revue and released a few solo albums. He also appeared on the Jandek tribute album “Down in a Mirror” which is the only other thing of his that we have in the KFJC library. This double lp record released in March of this year is Dan’s 48th release on his 23rd label.
Dan Melchior und das Menace are from Durham, NC (via London, England) the live line up is comprised of Dan Melchior, Letha Rodman Melchior and Maritza Waldo Molina. 16 tracks of garage rock genius. Neurotic and off kilter lyrics. They will be playing at the Bottom of the Hill October 25th with Fresh and Onlys, The Oh Sees and Gris Gris.

Pink Noise, The - “Dream Code” - [Sacred Bones Records]

This record is the first full length release from this French Canadian (Toronto) duo and was released in 2008. Most of the tracks off ‘Dream Code’ were from a CDR called ‘Odessa’ that was sent to Blank Dogs and Sacred Bones. Drum machines, pop-hooks, processed guitars and  distorted vocals. They use a sampler, drum machine, guitar, cassette recorders, bass, synthesizers and a drum kit. Language on “Animals”.
Psychedelic kiddie pop that is spaced-out and spooky.

Pillow Talk - “Downtown Unga Wunga” - [Saigon]

Two synths, crazy singer. Like a punk rock version of Suicide. 6 songs and a “skit”. Lots of reverb/effects on the voice. Repetitive and a bit obnoxious. A very distinctive “FUCK YOU” on track 5.

Black Ice - “Block Ice EP” - [Mungaso]

The return of Black Ice after a 2 year hiatus during which some of the band has been busy reproducing (as in little black ice’s)…This release does not disappoint except maybe one could say it isn’t long enough, the entire ep runs 26 minutes. Female vocals, drums, bass, guitar, keyboards and various effects. “Sooner or Later” is the first track and runs 4 minutes 24 seconds and sounds a lot like the Black Ice we know and love, dark and mysterious, Miss Kel’s lyrics entrancing us while warning us at the same time. Track two “A Call To Arms” is a bit shorter at 3 minutes 34 seconds and a bit more upbeat musically. “The case” runs 6 minutes and 10 seconds offering more dark and creepy synth punk with female vocals. This release incorporates more experimental sounds into the mix especially with track four “Block Ice Machine (Parts 1 & 2)” an instrumental which is the longest track on the e.p. at 11 minutes and 54 seconds and could serve as the newest soundtrack to Metropolis.
Well worth the wait. They are playing a show this month in SF and then will most likely be taking another break to propagate the species even further.

Hochstedder/Ancient Forrest [coll] - [Needleteeth Records]

Needleteeth Records is a fledgling label out of Brooklyn, New York. This split 10″ is the first release on this label.
Side A brings you Hochstedder, a 3 piece project out of Brooklyn, NY with Dave Gilbert on bass & vocals, William Lacey on guitars and John McClellan on drums. Heavy, loud, pummeling metal. The first two songs track together at 5 minutes 4o seconds. Track three clocks in at 3 minutes and 5 seconds. All three tracks have language. The painting used for the cover for the Hochstedder side was done by Cynthia Alvarez.

Side B is Ancient Forrest out of Oakland, California with Polly Anderson on bass & vocals, Alicia Burbridge Digiovanni on drums and Tim Anderson on guitar.  Sadly, this band is now defunct. This is also some hard rocking shit but with a witchy edge. “Transgenerational Haunting” runs 6 minutes and 42 seconds, “The Grand Empire of Granbretan” runs 5 minutes and 14 seconds. The cover art for the Ancient Forrest side was done by Tim Garside.

Breather Resist - “Patent Cruciform Casket” - [King of the Monsters]

A casket shaped 10″ from King of Monsters records released in 2003. It is actually a 6″ record with a limited pressing of 1000 copies (never to be repressed!) featuring two songs. Breather Resist was a foursome out of Louisville, Kentucky (2001-2005), members went on to form the Young Widows, Pusher, Brain Banger, Trophy Wives and Black Cross.. Hard rocking, loud and relentless. The tracks were recorded in the studio but audience noise is added at the beginning and end so you have the illusion of live tracks. This is some brutal shit. Vox, guitar, bass & drums.

Side A- Patent Cruciform Casket is 2 minutes and 10 seconds of short but not so sweet aural pummeling. LANGUAGE!

Side B- Crucifucked is 2 minutes and 15 seconds of not so easy listening.

Slow Poisoner, The - “Magic Casket” - [Rocktopus!]

The latest from the one man wonder that is The Slow Poisoner. 9 original songs and 2 covers (10 & 11). Creepy rock and roll. (Performing this weekend at the KFJC Listener Appreciation Party).

Bulbul - “Rosl” - [Rock Is Hell Records]- 2×5″

Bulbul’s collaboration with the Rock Is Hell label resulted in two 5 inch records limited to a pressing of 498 copies (ours in #358) and pressed on transparent vinyl. The packaging is great, silkscreened fold-out cover, designed by Dennis Tyfus and printed on thick cardboard. The music is four “love songs” about Rosl (see cover portrait), an apparently wild and no-holds barred fictional character. This is high energy punk/noise improv which is heavier on the noise and improv than the punk. Blasting drums (Drummer DDKERN’s played with Mattin), jangling guitars with vocals ranging from screams to growls to guttural grunts. It has the feel and sound of live jam session recordings. Noise rock.

Language on “geh scheiss au, rosl”

Le Club Des Chats - “Pump Up The Seed!” - [Le Vilain Chien] 7″

French duo with co-ed vocals (in French), drums, guitar and duck call. They were on the S-S comp Tete de Bebe and have been on several other comps as well. This is their second full length 7″, a five-song single, of frantic, punk/pop weirdness. Reminded me a bit of Renaldo and the Loaf which means this is indeed a strange little group. French Glue Wave.

(I forgot to mention the artwork, you should check out their website at

pagesperso-orange.fr/leclubdeschats/

it has some pretty amusing cartoon cats!)

Fire Demons, The - “Bad Move” - [Self-Released]

A band out of Humboldt County. Connections with The Hitch…
8 tracks of rock and roll with distorted vocals and heavy bass, drums & guitar. 6 tracks with naughty language. These 2 guys don’t pretend to be innovative and they don’t need to cuz they rock.

LANGUAGE on 1,3,4,5, 6 & 8

Unstopable Death Machines, The - “Unstopable Death Machines, The” - [Missing Finger Records]

The Unstoppable Death Machines are a trio out of Brooklyn/Queens, New York consisting of brothers Mike (guitar, vocals) and Bill Tucci (drums, vocals) and Leaf Chang (bass, vocals). This CD is their first self-titled EP and is 4 tracks of “distorto-dance-psych-rock with a punk flair”. Catchy and infectious bringing to mind “Chk Chk Chk”.

Somewhere In Europe - “Gestures” - [World Serpent Dist.]- CD

Formed from the ashes of a band called Basic Essentials in 1983, Somewhere In Europe is Andrea James and David Tiffen with contributions from Douglas P and Gabrielle Quinn. The tracks on this release were recorded between 1983 and 1991 and compiled in 92. The band released 4 casstettes on their own These Silences label. There is quite a variety of material including windy drones and scared squeakings, church bells, tinny drum machine, hesitant glockenspiel and flamenco or the gloomy guitar strumming and buried vocals. Soundscapes drawing on collage and post-industrial atmospherics. Random selections that both illustrate their diversity of content and more cohesive styling: it seems that Somewhere In Europe’s recordings share a  fondness for the minor key that creates a disquieting feeling. There is a similarity with Death In June (with whom they have collaborated), although Somewhere In Europe’s use of collage and juxtaposition sets them apart. No language.

Dark and moody ambient instrumentals  (with the occasional superimposition) on tracks; 2, 4, 8, 11, 13, 15, 17 & 18. Dancey numbers (3), groovey synthpunk (5) and the standout harsher noise track (12). There is a lot of mixing/superimpositions going on, for example track 2 had a German child singing silent night, 16 samples “London Bridges”and the track “Black Lodge” samples a character from David Lynch’s Twin Peaks.

60 Minutes of Fear [coll] - [RVNG]- CD

Technically not a collection. JD Twitch is one part of the DJ duo Optimo of Glasgow. What makes 60 Minutes a DJ mix, rather than a particularly well curated compilation, is its flow. The release is an unorthodox survey of American and UK punk and hardcore, mostly from the early and mid 80s. No single style, region, or era dominates. A good portion of the mix is post-punk out of the UK (Zounds, Crass, The Mob, Flux of Pink Indians, Fatal Microbes, etc.) but there are several surprises (Swans, Sonic Youth, Savage Republic, Sun City Girls, Butthole Surfers, Black Flag and more). The sequence of the tracks JD Twitch has chosen is part of the magic of this release, there are so many different styles of punk represented yet it doesn’t sound out of place when Husker Du’s “Don’t Wanna Know If You Are Lonely” leads into Big Black’s “Jordan Minnesota”. The juxtapositions are intentional and invite the listener to participate and participate you should. If you like punk rock or would like to know more about the genre particularly from the 80s, this release represents it well, not necessarily hardcore 101 but a great intro for anyone that didn’t grow up listening to the stuff and a nostalgia trip for those that did.

(Released with a companion 10 inch.)

LANGUAGE track 8.

Phantom Limbs, The - “Accept The Juice/Whole Loto Love” - [Alternative Tentacles] CD/DVD

The Phantom Limbs were:
Loto “Hopeless” Ball- Vox
Stevenson Sedgwick- Keys
Skot B- Bass, Keys, Backing Vox
Jason Miller- Guitar
Mike Klosoff- Drums
The Phantom Limbs were a synth-punk band out of the Oakland/SF area that released a demo, four 7 inches (two of them splits), three full length albums, as well as being included on several collections and completing 3 U.S. and 2 European tours during their relatively short time together. This CD “Accept The Juice” could be considered a best of compilation featuring 19 tracks of material recorded from 1999-2004, including material from the 7 inches, rarities and live tracks. Three tracks are covers; track 4 “The Biggest Snowball” is a Fleshies cover originally featured on the Fleshies/Phantom Limbs split 7″, track 6 “122 Hours of Fear” is a Screamers cover which was released on a rare Euro 7″ with Mono Brutal Comic and track 15 is a live version of a cover of Sex Gang Children’s “Sebastiane”. The CD also has a demo version of “Romance”, a remix of “Jointly Stranded” and some rare tracks; 12 (”Witches of the West” collection) and 13 (”Nostalgia Del Buio” collection). Track 14 is a 43 second fake band intro where the band members impersonate each other. Tracks 15-19 are all recorded live.
LANGUAGE tracks 5, 9 ,13 & 16.

The DVD “Whole Loto Love: Limbs Live 1999-2004″ is over two hours worth of live footage also recorded here in the bay area and during their U.S. and European tours. You will get a taste of what it was like to have seen this band perform live. Playing venues ranging from the fancy Great American Music Hall in SF to crusty venues in the East Bay, Europe and various parts of the US. Be prepared to see Loto “Hopeless” Ball wearing a variety of strange costumes/attire including occasionally nothing at all. Witness him biting the head of a dead trout that was thrown onstage, watch him get bitten and humped by a German Shepard at a show in Europe, watch him fight punks and see him get pied. Great variety of footage pieced together meticulously. A complete historical video documentation of this extraordinary band.

(Language and nudity.)

Twitch’s 10 Inches of Fear [coll] - [RVNG]

This 10 inch is the companion to Mx6: Twitch’s 60 Minutes of Fear. The release includes 4 “Twitch re-edits” of songs by Flux of Pink Indians, Honey Bane, The Mob and Zounds. All 4 bands were part of the anarcho-punk scene of late 70s and early 80s UK. JD Twitch is one half of Glasgow’s dj duo Optimo which host a long running Sunday night based club. The “re-edits” are subtle and emphasize the rhythmic and dancier aspects of the tracks chosen. Don’t get hung up on the use of “dancier”, these are all exceptional post-punk tracks.
Flux Of Pink Indians were an anarcho-punk/post punk band that originated from Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, England.
Honey Bane (born in London) is an English singer and actress who began her musical career at the age of 14 in when she formed the punk rock band the Fatal Microbes. After the 1979 breakup of the Fatal Microbes, she began a collaboration with the Essex-based anarcho-punk activist band Crass.
The Mob were an anarcho-punk band originally from Yeovil, Somerset, England during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Zounds were a UK anarchist band formed in 1977 out of Reading, United Kingdom (1977 – 1982). They were part of the cassette culture movement and were also involved in the squatting and free festival scene.

We have material from each of these artists but the Honey Bane track “Guilty” is the only original version from this release that we have in our library.

Magnetix - “Positively Negative” - [Born Bad]

Male/female duo out of Bordeaux, France. Guitar, organ, harmonica and vocals by Looch Vibrato, drums and back up vocals by Aggy Sonora. 12 tracks running from 1 min 44 sec to 5 minutes. Fuzzy abrasive guitar riffs with minimal drums. Rock and Roll with a little flavor of the 50/60s and just a pinch of surf. Track 3 is an instrumental, tracks  4 and 11 have vocals in French, SWEARING on tracks 1 and 10. Track 12 is an instrumental that ends at 1:51…there is then silence for about a minute… until 3:47 when another instrumental kicks in until 5:40 this track is noisey and spacey and not like the rest of the record.

OneThirtyEight - “London Transmissions” - [Self-Released]

The 4th release and debut full-length from this one man project out of London. Onethirtyeight create twisted music filled with dark stories & unsettling atmospherics, blended with the absurd. Featuring a cross section of genres - from extreme metal, goth, indie & film companies. Onethiryeight has some pretty interesting visuals out there as well, with video for the London Transmissions track Spider Baby, Baby being shown internationally at independent film festivals & the Happiness Super 8 film premiering at the Curzon Cinema in Mayfair.

Hank IV - “Dirty Poncho” - [Plastic Idol Records]

“Dirty Poncho” is the first 7 ” released by SF’s Hank IV (members of ICKY BOYFRIENDS, LEATHER UPPERS, RESINEATORS, etc.) Side A is a story of hot chick with (you guessed it) a dirty poncho, it is catchy and rocking. “Symtomatic” is a toe-tapper with wicked guitar licks and some really great lyrics. LANGUAGE on B side.

Black Diamond Heavies - “a Touch of Someone Else’s Class” - [Alive Records] CD

Black Diamond Heavies are a duo hailing from Tennessee. This is their second album of dirty Southern gospel blues/punk. Hammond, Rhodes, Piano and Drums. A couple of covers on here…Tina Turner’s “Nutbush City Limit” and Nina Simone’s “Oh Sinnerman”. The singer sounds like he is channeling Tom Waits.

White Lung - “Magazine” - [Deranged Records]- 7 inch 45

4 piece out of Vancouver, B.C. Drums, bass, guitar, and female vocals. 3 songs. Side A-”Magazines” starts with creepy neo-surf guitar and angry riot girlish vocals. It also has some “shit”s thrown in, so side a is for safe harbor hours. Side B- starts with “Therapy” and more dark and creepy guitar/bass and shouted female vox. Another “Shit” thrown in for good measure. The 7 inch closes with “Backhouse” the only track without language. Modern take on riot girl punk rock.