Castle Face   Page 4

La Machine

Phases & Repetition

Castle Face

***“The year was 1996 (a guess really), when I had LA MACHINE play in our Olneyville warehouse space. It was the first time I danced in front of other people. (I was later told I was really good). I think maybe it was the first time I can recall where I stood in front of something I would consider modern psychedelic music. Not a rehash of some ghost from the past but something new to me. We had a plethora of hardcore, improv, and noise bands in New England... but this... this was something different. It was churning and it had a haunting floor-scraping ass on it. It had hints of nausea and a cyclic simplicity that to this day I still love and listen to often. Loudly, stoned, driving through the desert, laughing. They played and my friends skated the quarter pipe my flate mate had built...it was my first successful party and I thank La Machine for it. RICK PELLTIER and JOHN LOPER have compiled these tunes for us to release post-mortem, but who knows...maybe they will come back to haunt a warehouse near you...OoOoOoOH. Every song reminds me of when I was younger, stronger, and faster. But now I know enough to realize how lucky I actually was to have this stuff around me. And now you can too. Enjoy.”—John Dwyer (4.30.13). Lovingly remastered from the original cassette with new original art by WILLIAM KEIHN. (STREET DATE - 7/16/2013)

Oh Sees, Thee

Moon Sick Ep

Castle Face

***NOW AVAILABLE ON CD!!! Culled from the same sessions as the Floating Coffin LP and featuring guest spots from LARS FINBERG of THE INTELLIGENCE, K DYLAN EDRICH of THE MALLARD and KELLEY STOLTZ, as well as the full and finely honed weight of the touring band, Moon Sick is a similarly synth-drenched, psychotic-then-sweet companion piece to Floating Coffin. So toke up to the melted swing of "Grown In A Graveyard," yelp along to "Sewer Fire," pogo in place to live staple "Humans Be Swayed" and finally and bend your sweet tooth on the harpsichorded ballad "Candy Clock." Originally released on 12-inch vinyl for Record Store Day 2013.

Oh Sees, Thee

Floating Coffin

Castle Face

***BACK IN STOCK!!!! Received an 8.0 rating from Pitchfork. We all know the type: prolific bands that commit every loose thought, stray idea and 90-second song fragment to tape. Bands that pay no attention to little inconveniences like “release cycles” or “self-editing,” and instead decide that quantity equals quality, creating a discography more labyrinthine, imposing and—ultimately—exhausting than the cast of creatures in a sci-fi novel. Here is why none of that applies to THEE OH SEES. Because each of the dozen-plus albums they’ve released since 2004 possesses a distinct personality and represents a different point along the path of JOHN DWYER’s slow transformation from auteur of woozy, bare-bones four-track psychedelia to goggle-eyed garage rock marauder backed at long last by a band that both shares and stokes his singular vision. Because drop a needle on any record and—to their great credit—it takes several songs before you’re convinced it’s Thee Oh Sees. The seasick hundred-bottles-of-rum shanty “What the Driven Drink,” from 2007’s delirious Sucks Blood exists in a different galaxy than the rollercoastering “Chem-Farmer” from last year’s Carrion Crawler / The Dream; the doomy doo-wop of “Blood on the Deck” hardly seems like the product of the same band that delivered the yelping “Ruby Go Home” in 2009. And the band that made last year’s engrossing Putrifiers II seems like a distant cousin to the one delivering Floating Coffin—arguably the most varied and textured Oh Sees record to date.

White Fence

Cyclops Reap

Castle Face

***BACK IN STOCK!!! Received an 7.7 rating from Pitchfork. A whole new LP from TIM PRESLEY, will be sure to please fans of last year's Family Perfume Vol.1 + 2. Heavy on the warp, mellow to the yellow, with perhaps even more earworms this time around, shoe-strung together and laced with adenoidal whimsy as only Mr. Presley can pull off.

White Fence

Pink Gorilla

Castle Face

***A split release with TIM PRESLEY’s own Birth Records, this sneaky preview includes "Pink Gorilla," a total blazer in steady rotation in his live sets and a standout from the upcoming LP Cyclops Reap (out April 9th, 2013), as well as exclusive B sides "Fragility" and "Cyclops Reap," both only available here.

V/a

Son Of Flex - Group Flex Vol. II

Castle Face

***Volume 2 in Castle Face’s Group Flex series of Flexi Disc books. You get six 7-inch flexi discs with 12 bands and 7 pages of print (on translucent stock) so the whole thing is like a crappy 3D look into the brain and art of JOE ROBERTS (terrifying). Featuring exclusive tracks from WARM SODA, THEE OH SEES, TY SEGALL, MYKAL CRONIN, THE MALLARD, RUNNING, THE FRESH & ONLYS, KELLEY STOLTZ, WHITE FENCE, BLASTED CANYONS, SIC ALPS, and BURNT ONES. Includes a download card and comes in a specially printed heavy polybag.

V/a

Velvet Underground & Nico By Castle Face And Friends

Castle Face

***BACK IN STOCK!!! With tracks from TY SEGALL, KELLEY STOLTZ, WARM SODA, BLASTED CANYONS (feat. JEREMY COX of ROYAL BATHS), WHITE FENCE, FRESH & ONLYS, BURNT ONES, THE MALLARD, K. DYLAN EDRICH AND THE BLACK ANGELS DEATHSONGSMEN, HERE COME THE HERE COMES, and THEE OH SEES. Packaged with artwork by DAVID SHRIGLEY.

Blasted Canyons

2nd Place

Castle Face

***BLASTED CANYONS—HEATHER FEDEWA, ADAM FINKEN and MATT JONES—return with their second release for Castle Face. Heather and Matt initially started the band to play an art opening at MoMa which ended with everyone getting kicked out. Matt met Adam handing out mushrooms on the 4th of July and together they convinced a crew of similarly fucked up strangers to light fireworks off the roof. Together, they round robin instruments and crush huge riffs, singalongs, caveman  drums, and gooey synthesisers into thrashy wizard rock for weirdos that dig dorky shit but aren't total dorks about it. Six songs. Pressed on one-sided vinyl with a lazer etching onthe B-side. Artwork by JOE ROBERTS. Includes a download.

Mallard, The

Yes On Blood

Castle Face

***THE MALLARD are an inside-out-echo-laser-garage-psych-rock trio from San Francisco. Their home fried songs harness the naked abandon of ‘60s punk (think earliest Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd), but inject the form with a deranged spirit all their own. Close attention to texture and dynamics allow the band to explore unusual terrain—to grant access into unexpected realms of beauty and terror... with dessert. GREER MCGETTRICK (guitar/vocals/drums) and DYLAN TIDYMAN-JONES (drums/keys/vocals) met playing music in Fresno, California, and later moved independently to San Francisco. McGettrick helmed the Mallard through several incarnations (including stints as a quartet and a solo act)—and self-recorded an initial eight-song cassette tape—before inviting Tidyman-Jones to play drums with her in early 2011. Multi-instrumentalist DYLAN EDRICH (bass/guitar) came aboard in the autumn of '11, filling out the low end of the sonic spectrum and heightening the energetic synchronicity of the ensemble. The Mallard perform regularly in San Francisco (playing shows with Thee Oh Sees, Blasted Canyons, The Burnt Ones, and many others). Hold onto your ear-holes.

V/a

Group Flex Vol. 1 - Castle Face Presents:

Castle Face

***Group Flex Volume 1 is a compilation of five Bay Area bands who are all globe trotting Bay Area dominators. It's a fully playable book of flexi discs and art by WILLIAM KEIHN (resident artist at Castleface) with ten exclusive, burning tracks by BLASTED CANYONS, BARE WIRES, FRESH & ONLYS, THEE OH SEES, and TY SEGALL & MICHAEL CRONIN. Pressed on multi- colored flexi discs with holographic images adorning each page. This is a one of a kind creation produced by hand in the caves of Pirates Press. The first pressing has a nice little secret buried in its pages somewhere too, so don't wait. Holy smokes, and have a nice day! Includes a download.

Blasted Canyons

S/t

Castle Face

***BACK IN STOCK!!! BLASTED CANYONS is HEATHER FEDEWA, ADAM FINKEN and MATT JONES. Heather and Matt initially started the band to play an art opening at MoMa which ended with everyone getting kicked out. Matt met Adam handing out mushrooms on the 4th of July and together they convinced a crew of similarly fucked up strangers to light fireworks off the roof. Together, they round robin instruments and crush huge riffs, singalongs, caveman  drums, and gooey synthesisers into thrashy wizard rock for weirdos that dig dorky shit but aren't total dorks about it. Their self titled debut was recorded with MATT HARTMAN (of HENRY’ DRESS and SIC ALPS fame) and ERIC BAUER (who has helmed the boards for Ty Segall, Thee Oh Sees, and countless other San Francisco ne'er do wells) and carries the ramshackle blessing of being released on JOHN DWYER and BRIAN LEE HUGHES’ Castle Face Records, with original art by Castle Face resident art-slayer WILLIAM KEIHN

Oh Sees, Thee

Singles Collection 1 & 2

Castle Face

***BACK IN STOCK!!! A double-LP collection of every single and compilation track THEE OH SEES have released to date, along with one previously unreleased gem. Tracks run the gambit from very mellow stuff with strings to completely fried burners.

Oh Sees, Thee

Master’s Bedroom Is Worth Spending A Night In

Castle Face

***Somewhere beyond nostalgia, beyond the garage, somewhere beyond the fireside song and supposed goo-rock, you will find the latest incarnation of THEE OH SEES, now a quartet composed of JOHN DWYER (OCS, COACHWHIPS, PINK & BROWN), BRIGID DAWSON, PETEY DAMMIT! and MIKE SHOUN. The prolific Dwyer contends again for best album of his career with his signature AM radio howl coupled with the catchiest of driving tunes, Dawson's gorgeous harmonies, heightened fidelity, thick spring-reverbed bombast, mighty drums, and an undeniable pull.