Dirtnap

Sleeveens, The

s/t

Dirtnap

When Irish-born Count Vaseline / The Mighty Stef songwriter Stef Murphy met Stiff Little Fingers guitar tech Jamie Mechan in Nashville, Tennessee, it began a musical partnership of the highest order. After cranking out a few tunes at Mechan’s fledgling studio, 302 Sound, the duo started recruiting other musicians. The band was rounded out by drummer Ryan Sweeney (Cheap Time) and Eli Steele (Sweet Knives.) Dubbing themselves The Sleeveens, an Irish term for a trixter, the band got to work. After recording and releasing their highly-touted “Give My Regards To The Dancing Girls” 45rpm single on Sweeney’s Sweet Time Records, they finished off their eleven track debut album. The quartet were soon approached by longrunning punk label Dirtnap Records for the album’s 2024 release. The resulting album is an homage to the kind of classic punk Chiswick, New Rose and Stiff Records were releasing forty-five years before The Sleeveens existed. With earworm melodies and screaming guitars, the foursome have crafted one of the best albums of the year. Murphy’s penchant for charmingly brilliant, matter-of-fact lyricism has a similar poetic quality as Mark E. Smith or Jonathan Richman. With expert mastering by Jim Diamond (The White Stripes, The Dirtbombs) to put the finishing touches on the sound, The Sleeveens is a record that is simultaneously uncompromisingly raw and thoughtfully crafted. “As far as I’m concerned, all and sundry can pencil in Stef as the Impending Punk Rock Van Morrison.” — Rev. Norb, Razorcake “Fav new band Stef & The Sleeveens...love...

O-D-EX

Breaker

Dirtnap

Mark Ryan’s O-D-EX is a new take for the musician best known for Mind Spiders and The Marked Men. Harsh digital synthesizers and broken drum samples replace the analog fetishism of Mind Spiders. The immediacy of these machines are used to directly transmit into reality the noises churning in his brain. On top of this savage and brittle sound, Micah Why adds his special brand of chaos and bit rate break down. O-D-EX lists the main influences for this project as Chrome and Mantronix. About the album, Ryan says “The gist is that this project is that it’s very immediate. Using my old Electribe sampler and weird digital guitar synth pedal, I can usually bash out an idea and almost have it complete as I’m working on it. I don’t have to bring it to the band to flesh it out. I’ve been obsessed by harsh digital noise and letting go of worrying about analog warmth when recording. Also collaborating with Micah has made this project different. I’ll present the idea to him and he’ll add different noise or vocal elements and help me chop it up differently.”

Direct Hit / Decent Criminal

Split 7” + Beacon Comics #1

Dirtnap

Dirtnap Records will publish the first installment of Beacon Comics this Spring, packaged with a 7" record featuring a taste of Direct Hit's (Milwaukee, Fat Wreck Chords) dubiously-forthcoming album ("Wasteland"), and new Decent Criminal (Santa Rosa, Diised/Gunner Records) songs "Time" and "Dream" - each an alternate take, and a B-side off their forthcoming album, respectively. This lavishly packaged comic/7” combo is a one time only pressing of 500 and will only be available for a limited time. Get yours today!

Martha

Please Don’t Take Me Back

Dirtnap

Durham indiepop-punks Martha return with their fourth album, and it might just be their best one yet. With their endlessly radiant hooks dialed up to the maximum setting, paired with another heart-rending and relatable lyric sheet that reflects on the universal scars of the pandemic years, Please Don’t Take Me Back is the work of a band in the form of their life. It’s also an instant classic—one that’s both smartly prescient and warmly addictive. Recorded at Nottingham’s JT Soar by “Bad” Phil Booth (The Cool Greenhouse, Rattle, Grey Hairs), Please Don’t Take Me Back is a timely collection of deliciously catchy pop songs about “resisting the feeling that the good days are behind us.” Two things set these songs apart: firstly, the sense of resolution the band provide by working through these fears to find what positivity they can—making this the go-to record for any ongoing existential crisis in 2022. Secondly, there’s the effortless brilliance which ensures every melody cements itself to the memory from the very first listen to the album closer. One will hear echoes of The Housemartins, The Weakerthans, Cheap Trick and Heavenly in their sound, but ultimately it sounds like Martha found a way to turn their strongest features all the way to eleven. What better way to process the aftermath of the past two years?

More Kicks

Punch Drunk

Dirtnap

Punch Drunk is the second album from London-based trio More Kicks. The band’s self-titled debut album was a concise and ragged lesson in pop songwriting dripping in melody, cynicism and energy—Punch Drunk marks a new era for the band. Heavier, more expansive, more twists and turns. It veers from sparkling harmonies to fearsome riffing in the blink of eye, with never a second wasted. As with the first record, it was recorded live on to 2-inch tape. It’s bottled lightning and the sound of a band firing on all cylinders. James Sullivan aka Sulli (vox / guitar), Kris Hood (drums),and Paolo Mantovani (bass / vox) have cooked up a rare alchemy. The result: a More Kicks song can touch on classic ’60s garage, ’70s NYC rock and roll, jagged ’90s guitar pop—all wrapped in a razor sharp bundle. A glance backwards and a decisive step forwards. “When the world collapsed in 2020, I realised more than ever how much I rely on music and More Kicks,” says Sulli. “This album became a total obsession and a lifeline. Stuck in one place, the songs all came from heartbreak, frustration, anger, hope. It feels like a unique set of circumstances that produced this record and I’m really proud of what we’ve done.”

More Kicks

Animal

Dirtnap

London three-piece More Kicks return to the fray with a brand new 7-inch single "Animal," co-released on Dirtnap Records (USA) and Stardumb Records (EU)! Slinky, beefy and interminably catchy, "Animal" is the first single from the band’s second record Punch Drunk, also out on Dirtnap and Stardumb in September 2022. The 7-inch features two exclusive new B-sides "The Wind Up" (think "White Light White Heat" fed through a meat processor) and "Ten Miles High" (Alex Chilton strolling across Abbey Road) and is on blue-green vinyl. This Animal is a monster. Grab it before it’s gone!

Martha

Beat, Perpetual

Dirtnap

Pity-Me, UK’s finest, Martha return with a brand new 7-inch! The A side is called “Beat, Perpetual” and also happens to be first song on the upcoming LP, “Please Don’t Take Me Back”, coming in November 2022 on Dirtnap and Specialist Subject. Warning: it’s catchy. The B side is called “Dreaming Out Loud”, is a cover of Wisconsin rock band Tenement, and is exclusive to this EP. Warning: it’s also catchy. This 7-inch is a one-time only pressing of 500 copies (300 on black, 200 on blue), and will never, ever be repressed.

Scrunchies

Feral Coast

Dirtnap

Scrunchies is a Minneapolis, MN-based rock band formed by Laura Larson (she/her; guitar, vocals) and Danielle Cusack (she/her; drums, vocals). Larson earned notoriety early on, leading brash punk band Baby Guts. She is also currently a member of seminal dance-punk drums and bass trio, Kitten Forever. Cusack, raised by veterans of the ’70s NYC art and music scene, also came to prominence in the Twin Cities music scene as a teenager with her indie grunge rock band, Bruise Violet. Larson and Cusack began Scrunchies after mutual admiration of each others’ bands as well as a short stint together in a Buzzcocks-cover band called Buzzcunts (with Clara Sayler of Babes In Toyland). Both are passionate about encouraging young women and queers to find empowerment in playing music and embracing a DIY ethos. In 2018, with Stephanie Jo Murck on guitar and Bree Meyer on bass, Scrunchies exploded onto the Twin Cities music scene as a supergroup with their debut album, Stunner (Forged Artifacts Records). A set of heavy and melodic rock scorchers tinged with moments of sweetness, Stunner earned Scrunchies a spot on City Pages’ “Picked to Click” and “Best Rock Band”, as well as in the lineup of First Avenue’s “Best New Bands”. After a year of touring the U.S., and with Murck and Meyer shifting their focus to their other projects in late 2019, Larson and Cusack were joined by bassist Matt Castore of legendary hardcore punk band Condominium. Castore, who recorded Stunner, is a renowned music engineer and is currently developing...

The Ergs

Time And The Season

Dirtnap

They’re back! While technically The Ergs broke up following their breakthough LP Upstairs/Downstairs, released on Dirtnap way back in 2007 (!) they never fully went away. The band would pop up occasionally to play a benefit reunion show, and even released a new 7-inch on Whoah Oh Records in 2016. After nearly five years of silence, the band resurfaces AGAIN with a brand new 7-inch for Dirtnap! Featuring two new originals, and two covers, it is exactly what one would expect from a band of this caliber. It’s a cliché to say, but it’s really like they never went away. The Ergs will continue to be active in 2022, including an appearance at the Dirtnap Records 22 year anniversary show in June. This 7-inch is a one time only pressing of 500, so get it while you can, and let’s keep our fingers crossed for more new music to follow!

Fox Face

End Of Man

Dirtnap

Thinking about a fox face may give many warm, fuzzy feelings, but don’t forget that foxes have teeth.While Milwaukee quartet Fox Face may not bite one’s face, their new album End Of Man might just melt it off. Featuring players drawn from various corners of the Brewtown music scene, Fox Face came together organically ahead of the recording sessions for their November 2017 debut album, Spoil + Destroy. Main songwriter Lindsay DeGroot (The Olives) started working on her songs with multi-instrumentalist Lydia Washechek (Static Eyes). Eventually fellow Olives member Mary Hickey joined up on bass, and the final piece of the band was found with the addition of drummer Christopher Capelle (Midwest Beat, Long Line Riders). Spoil + Destroy was one of the best garage punk albums of 2017-2018, taking on science deniers, misogynists and other jerks with songs anchored by fiery guitar playing and rock-solid ensemble playing. End Of Man bumps up the furious guitar sound of Spoil + Destroy a few more notches. It’s not hard rock, per se, but the album’s sound edges in that direction. And one can tell that Fox Face has been playing together for several years now, because these recordings are tight AF. There’s no filler or extraneous padding; the arrangements and playing make for a cohesive whole, and lyrically the songs are direct and to the point while still remaining universal enough to be met on personal terms by the listener. End Of Man may not be a party record … at...

Personality Cult

New Arrows

Dirtnap

Please welcome Personality Cult to the Dirtnap Records roster! What started as a solo project for North Carolina’s Ben Carr has evolved into a full-band supergroup of sorts, featuring past and present members of Paint Fumes, Last Year’s Men, Natural Causes, Bass Drum Of Death, Missing Pages, Mind Spiders, Sweet Talk, Sweet Knives, and probably a bunch more! Dirtnap was tipped off to this monster of an album by Jeff Burke (Radioactivity / Marked Men) as he was recording it a few months back in NYC. Soon after the sessions, Carr and Burke began trading the earliest mixes of the album with Carr recording all of the overdubs during and after his shifts at Wilmington, North Carolina’s flagship record shop, Gravity Records. After a single listen to the finished product, Dirtnap was tripping over themselves to immediately get a hold of the band and offer to put the record out. Seriously, it’s that good! Fast propulsive punk with hooks for days, and dark undercurrents swirling underneath—while sonically this doesn’t fall too far from what one associates with many beloved Dirtnap bands of the past, these guys really nail the delicate balance of taking a familiar sound and putting their own unique spin on it, in the end sounding like nothing but themselves.

Hussy, The

Looming

Dirtnap

The Hussy formed as a duo in Madison, WI in June 2008. Fronted by both Bobby Hussy (guitar / vocals) and Heather Hussy (drums / vocals), the band carved a trash-punk path through the 2000s into the 2010s playing shows alongside contemporary peers and timeless classics such as Mudhoney, Ty Segall, Thee Oh Sees, Twin Peaks, Reigning Sound, Spectrum (Ex-Spacemen 3), Black Bananas (ex-Royal Trux),The Black Lips, King Khan & BBQ, White Fence, The Faint, Tenement....and way too many more to all mention here. Known for their intensely chaotic live shows, they quickly gained a cult following in the Midwestern underground. After the release of the band’s classic and long sold out sophomore album, Weed Seizure (2012 - Tic Tac Totally), they played pinnacle garage rock festival Gonerfest in Memphis. The band is slated to play Gonerfest 16 later this year. The Hussy’s hyper-prolific output has spanned 20+ different record labels and every format imaginable. Both Bobby and Heather write songs and contribute equally to the project. Nearly all releases have been tracked by Bobby Hussy himself. In 2015 The Hussy added Tyler Fassnacht (Fire Heads, Proud Parents, T.S. Foss) as an official full-time third member to help fill out the sound at live shows. Now bolder and noisier than ever, The Hussy is exciting old and new fans alike with scuzz-pop gems chock full of hooks that rot and stick. At the end of 2018 The Hussy started tracking their new LP, Looming. Their last album saw the band...

Martha

Love Keeps Kicking

Dirtnap

“Funny thing about kicking: it’s one of the first and last things we do. In the womb, a fetus kicks to announce an imminent arrival. Meanwhile, laid out on a stretcher, the dying man is ‘still kicking’ up until his final moment, when the last thing he kicks is the bucket. All through life we take our kicks: teenage kicks, modern kicks, kicks in the gut. These days, with the worldwide rise of fascists, demagogues, abusers, and hypocrites, the kick we feel most often comes while we’re down. “From their sudden and deliberate first chord on Love Keeps Kicking, beloved British punk collective Martha announce their intent to kick back. Across eleven tracks, these daughters and sons of Pity Me, England, show that, while our world might be in spiral, there is still plenty worth fighting for. “In many ways Love Keeps Kicking is a breakup record, with each song inhabiting different parts of the process. ‘This year blew my world apart’ sings guitarist / vocalist Daniel Ellis on album opener ‘Heart is Healing.’ With lush vocal harmonies (and one of the best riffs in Martha’s discography), ‘Healing’ explores the uncomfortable period between love’s end, and when the heart is ready to move on. Elsewhere, the opening chords of ‘Orange Juice’ (arguably the best song Martha have written to date) echo the kicking of it’s narrator’s heart, as they suddenly realize with fearful clarity that their longtime relationship is ending—it is Martha at their most heartbreaking, hitting a tender, bittersweet,...

Steve Adamyk Band

Paradise

Dirtnap

Steve Adamyk Band remains Canada’s premiere power-pop / punk crossover group. Throughout the last decade, the band has toured Japan, Europe (four times), and all across North America, unleashing five albums and a long list of seven-inch singles. But it hasn’t been easy. Most bands, by this stage, would likely have called it quits, yet Steve has persevered. When their most-consistent lineup to date unraveled in 2016, it would have been natural to end it where it stood, but the wheels kept turning (and touring) regardless. Fast-forward to 2019 and the band has been reborn. SAB is now solidified as a three-piece live (with Pat Johnson of The Acorn on drums and Johnny O of Uranium Comeback on bass) and are somehow tighter, more focused than ever, as a recent European tour proved last summer. On record, the threesome have also retained original member Dave Williams on vocals to give the songs the same vibe everyone has grown to love. Paradise—the album itself—is nothing short of a monster. Suitably, with a new lineup, the band has also beefed-up their sound. With their original feel in mind, there is nothing lo-fi about this record. Recorded by Mike Bond at Wolf Lake (Crusades) and mixed by Jesse Gander (White Lung, Japandroids) in Vancouver, Paradise is a sonically huge offering, with just the right amount of scuzz and crud where needed. Twelve new rippers, including an incredible cover of “Telephone” by The Incredible Kidda Band. Keep an eye out for the band in...

Good Shade

Way Out

Dirtnap

Way Out is the fourth studio full length by Columbus, Ohio’s Good Shade. The punk / pop project consists of one member, Shane Natalie, who composes and records all instruments and vocals on the recorded albums but features an array of Columbus musicians who bring the project to life for local and touring purposes. Natalie started recording the first s/t LP back in 2013 following the break up of Tight Bros in which he played drums. In addition to Tight Bros and Good Shade, Natalie has performed with Lose The Tude, Puberty Wounds, Pretty Pretty and The Sidekicks. The band’s current touring lineup features Natalie on guitar and vocals, Patrick Matanle (Toxic Womb, Puberty Wounds) on bass guitar and Chris Mengerink (Brat Curse) on drums and vocals. While previous Good Shade releases have been inspired by political and social disparities, Way Out primarily focuses on deteriorating mental health and increased social anxiety. True to the nature of the project, the album features a rock and roll combination of fast paced melodic pop punk and dark, cynical weirdness that keeps the listener engaged and curious. Each song consists of unpredictable vocal melodies, bright Telecaster tones and spastic but warm drum progressions.

V/a

American Noise Vol. 2

Dirtnap

***BACK IN STOCK!!!  American Noise Vol. 2 is the anticipated second limited edition vinyl release soundtrack companion to The Smart Studios Story, a groundbreaking documentary about the history of Madison, Wisconsin’s Smart Studios and its role in recording and supporting DIY / independent music in the Midwest. The critically acclaimed film chronicles thirty years of Midwest rock history and links early indie bands to the larger story of American rock history. While American Noise: Vol 1 shared the earliest Butch Vig recordings of local, unsigned bands, Vol 2 includes artists who traveled from other scenes in the US to record at the fledgling studio between 1987 and 1993. This era coincides with the growing reputation of producers Butch Vig and Steve Marker —two self-taught, DIY studio owners whose skills took the raw sound of local bands and created polished, powerful analog recordings. Through touring bands, college radio, and The Sub Pop Singles Club, their early work, most notably with Killdozer and Die Kreuzen, caught the attention of credible indie labels like Sub Pop, Touch And Go, and Alternative Tentacles. Following the release of Nirvana’s pivotal Nevermind, both Vig and the studio received an explosion of attention. More and more artists sought to record with him and many of them wanted to do it in the crumbling, two-story red brick building on East Washington Avenue. All of the tracks on American Noise Vol. 2 come out of this period. Sonically, it spans the broad spectrum of Smart’s clientele at...

Marked Men

On The Other Side

Dirtnap

On The Other Side collects all non-album tracks released by The Marked Men, originally released in the period between 2003 and 2010 on labels such as Dirtnap, Swami, No Idea, Shit Sandwich, and Mortville, plus two never-before-heard unreleased tracks from deep in the vault. It’s hard to believe that it’s been close to fifteen years since Dirtnap first released a Marked Men record. Since then, the label has done close to twenty releases by the band member’s various bands (Marked Men, Radioactivity, High Tension Wires, Potential Johns, Mind Spiders). Counting the releases Mark Ryan and / or Jeff Burke have had a hand in recording, that number goes even higher. It’s a relationship that continues to this day; if there is / has been a “flagship band” for the label, Marked Men and their various offshoots are it. Although they continue to play a handful of shows each year, the band hasn’t released any new material since 2009 (the last album came out in 2008), and they have no plans to do so, so this compilation is as close to a new album as one is going to get. The band’s affinity for fast, choppy power chords and manic energy is in evidence here, as the band stretches its legs throughout these solid closing credits and shows why they were one of the leaders of a sound that has never gone (or will go) out of style.

Bad Sports

Constant Stimulation

Dirtnap

Texas trio Bad Sports release their fourth full-length to Dirtnap and with it, push their sound into a more modern sphere of punk. Orville Neeley (guitars / vocals), Daniel Fried (bass / vocals) and Gregory Rutherford (drums) have spent over ten years together and this progression is justified. This time, the production quality is more lean and tense, giving an air that is decidedly frustrated, and more world-weary, but is still the great stripped-down classic-leaning punk band with deep power-pop vs. proto-punk undercurrents. They are not a “retro” band, however—Constant Stimulation is simply a timeless-yet-modern masterpiece. The band’s history with their Texas peers (OBN IIIs, Radioactivity, Wax Museums, VIDEO, etc) has served them well—they’ve honed themselves into being a complicated and calculating rock machine with finesse and more care taken to let Neeley’s words and voice ring out—it’s as close to “sing-singing” the band has ever come. The record broils and stews over a response to the modern world and its eroding and addling effects, kicking its lyrics out to be heard clearly. No track exemplifies this better than the title track on which Neeley sings, “I need constant stimulation in my ears and in my eyes or I don’t sleep at night…deprivation chambers only worsen my dreams.” Maybe this more spaciously spare sound is their response to that veritable constant stimulation. Welcome to the modern age.

Proud Parents

S/t

Dirtnap

Starting in Madison, WI, as the musical culmination of a decade of friendship and playing in punk bands, Claire Nelson-Lifson and Tyler Fassnacht (Fire Heads) began writing the first of Proud Parent’s jangly, garage-infused pop tunes in Nelson-Lifson’s living room. Shortly thereafter Heather Sawyer (The Hussy) joined on drums and vocals, turning the songwriting duo into a trio, and they quickly garnered a devout following both locally and regionally, and gained a reputation throughout the midwest as a live power-pop force to be reckoned with. Now a full fledged four piece, with Maggie Denman on bass, the band has established its own unique dynamic with three lead singers whose voices and songwriting stand strong individually, yet blend together with such comfort and ease that it is hard to imagine them apart. After two live tapes and a full length cassette, the band is ready with their first self-titled album on Dirtnap Records. This record also marks the first release in eighteen years by a band from the label’s hometown of Madison, WI. The album begins and ends with a bang through a dozen tightly wound tunes full of infectious, harmony ladened choruses, ripping guitar solos and hooks for days. The three singers converse, support, and share vocal duties like passing around a bag of Halloween candy. Recorded and mixed by Bobby Hussy (The Hussy, Cave Curse, Fire Heads) at his own Hex Empire, it is about self-reflection, jumping from saccharine adoration to heartfelt confession, isolation, anxiety, loss and moving on.

Dusk

The Pain Of Loneliness (Goes On And On) B/w Go Easy

Dirtnap

Dusk was formed in 2014 by Amos Pitsch (bass guitar, vocals) and Colin Wilde (drums) as an informal recording project—mostly of obscure soul covers and country-rock indulgences—and later gained traction as members Julia Blair (described by Pitchfork Media as a “smooth country-soul alto”), Ryley Crowe (electric guitar, vocals) and Tyler Ditter (electric guitar, vocals) joined the fold at the onset of serious songwriting and recording. They recorded a series of demo recordings and later a two song single for Forward Records. They’ve toured America twice thus far: once doubling as the backing band for Tim Buchanan in Oklahoma City-based cosmic-cowboy punk band Cherry Death, and the other time doubling as an extended lineup of Pitsch’s other group, Wisconsin punk band Tenement.

Mind Spiders

Furies

Dirtnap

“The ‘Furies’ are the ancient Greek Gods of vengeance and violence,” says Mark Ryan of the title of his latest album. “The Furies were tamed,” he continues, “but in my story, they are waking up and the ancient chaotic ways are resurfacing.” Ryan (The Marked Men, High Tension Wires, Radioactivity), alongside Peter Salisbury (Baptist Generals) on synth and Mike Throneberry (The Marked Men) on drums, lead this modernistic, machine-like and cinematic version of the story of the Furies and have churned out something furious in return; this is their most electronic album yet. Gone are any notions of Ryan’s former project the Marked Men and its style of winningly bombastic garage-pop. Since 2012’s Meltdown, Mind Spiders have been perfecting an aggressive, relentless, frenetic and melodic style of punk that is a long, dark shadow of DEVO but carries something much more sinister in its jaws as it slinks its way through the ears, illustrated by their lone, intensified cover of Grauzone’s 1980 hit, “Eisbaer.” It’s a sound for the new dark ages, emboldened by urgency and sped along by some good old fashioned panic.

Fox Face

Spoil + Destroy

Dirtnap

Witchy, twitchy and full of attitude, Fox Face is a fog-swirling, moonlit night where nothing is as it seems. Realized and reckless, this eerie musical force would be as much at ease holding a seance on a stormy, nighttime beach as throwing a rager in a dark, beer-soaked basement bar. On the tongue-in-cheek Spoil + Destroy, the band’s first record for Dirtnap, the band alternates between Sabbath-y searing guitars, surf-rock and creeped-out, organ-laced sonic seances. Recorded by Kyle “Motor” Urban at MotorCo Studio in Madison, WI, using an all-analog 16-track recorder, the attitude hangs hard on the vocals of everyone throughout, echoing the spirit of Kathleen Hanna and Neighborhood Brats’ Jenny Angelillo. Lindsay DeGroot (lead guitarist and vocalist) leads this storm of sound, with bandmates Lydia Washechek (guitar, vocals), Mary Joy (bass, vocals) and Christopher Capelle (drums). DeGroot’s explicitly feminist lyrics are undeniably bolstered by no-bullshit politics and inspired by The Book Of The Dead and The Craft. Spaghetti Western styles intermingle with punk & roll and goth, making for a bubbling pot of riled-up, creeptastic tales, where the environs are trepidatious, dark and frustrating.

Patsy's Rats

Rounding Up

Dirtnap

Dirtnap hasn’t released a 7-inch in a few years, but this one was worth breaking the dry streak! Patsy’s Rats is Portland power (pop) couple Patsy Gelb and Christian Blunda (aka Billy Jeans from Mean Jeans). Rounding out the lineup is a revolving door of rhythm sections that compromises a who’s-who of Portland bass-players and drummers. (On these recordings it’s Steve and Jon from Mope Grooves). Patsy’s Rats have already accomplished a lot for a newish band that doesn’t even have a full length out. They’ve toured Europe with Giant Sand (and another Euro tour planned for September 2017), had some songs on the Green Room soundtrack, and released four 7-inches (this is the fourth) on four different labels, with a fifth hot on this one’s heels. These will be compiled on a singles-compilation on Burger, with an all-new record recorded and in the can. Two absolutely note-perfect guitar-pop rockers, with Gelb taking the vocal lead on side A, and a sweet duet on side B. Really, this epitomizes everything a 7-inch should stand for: two great songs that leave you wanting more. And there’s more on the way…

Lost Balloons

Hey Summer

Dirtnap

***BACK IN PRINT ON LP!!!  Texas and Japan team up for a trans-pacific, two-man summertime pop explosion! Lost Balloons are Jeff Burke (Radioactivity, Marked Men, etc.) and Yusuke Okada of Japan’s incredible Suspicious Beasts. Hey Summer is their second album, following 2015’s self titled debut on Germany’s Alien Snatch Records. The two play all the instruments (although there is a live lineup as well) and split singing / songwriting duties. It works fantastically well as an album, meant to be listened to from start-to-finish. Wistful, sun-shiny ’60s-inspired pop with a bit of ’80s college rock jangle and even a little modern garage / Americana twang, this album represents a pretty big departure from a normal Jeff Burke project (and although it’s sonically a little closer to Okada’s Suspicious Beasts, it veers farther afield of his normal songwriting comfort zone as well). Burke says that this album is probably the least “punk” record he’s ever done. It confirms what everyone has long suspected: these two can master any genre they tackle, and make it fully their own.

Jim And The French Vanilla

Afraid Of The House

Dirtnap

Jim And The French Vanilla is the solo project of Jim Blaha from The Blind Shake. This is his third album under this moniker,but the first to be made widely available — the first two came out on CDR-only and limited-to-100 vinyl, respectively. The first two albums were acoustic, one-man-band affairs, but on Afraid Of The House Jim (along with his brother/bandmate in Blind Shake Mike Blaha) expands to a full band sound, to astonishing effect. The basic songwriting retains the incredibly distinctive mystical, other-worldly atmosphere of The Blind Shake, but the instrumentation and sound are both stripped down to their essence, dialing way back on the loud-psych stamp of his main band. Raw, feral, but incredibly catchy, this album covers a wider sonic pallet than one might pick up on at first. From poppy to heavy, from atmospheric to wild, it reflects a wide range of ideas and emotion, while maintaining surprising consistence throughout.

Drakulas

Raw Wave

Dirtnap

Drakulas present Raw Wave, a collection of songs told from the different points of view of various characters in a fictional metropolis in the not-too-distant past. A bustling city center not unlike Times Square in the ’70s filled with sin and sex is the backdrop where gangs, street preachers, sex addicts, pimps, prostitutes and pornographers live and work. People of this world describe the time period of these songs as the Raw Wave—a wave of new analog technology that hit the city, wiping away many of the mores and pretense of the past. Drakulas are from Austin, TX, and feature members of Riverboat Gamblers and Rise Against, amongst others. This is their debut LP, following a 7-inch on Red Scare. They pretty much nail the sound for which the Texas branch of the extended Dirtnap family is infamous—vibrant, high energy, and dangerously catchy. Raw Wave is tailor-made for fans of The Marked Men, The Dickies, and vintage-era Riverboat Gamblers / High Tension Wires. And then there are the lyrics: high-concept / low-brow weirdness that could only have come from the twisted mind of Gamblers frontman Mike Wiebe. Call it a super-group if you must, but don’t call it a side-project.

Sonic Avenues

Disconnector

Dirtnap

Disconnector is the fourth studio album by Montreal-based band Sonic Avenues. The twelve songs were recorded in the winter of 2016 by Adrian Popovich and Sonic Avenue’s vocalist/guitarist Maxime Desharnais at Mountain City and Sound Salvation Studios (the latter being Desharnais’ home.) With this latest, the band gets as far away possible from a formula of creative comfort—playing with new instrumentation, different tempos and a variety of song structures. A conscious effort to offer abrupt contrasts along with new textures has them turning from dark and quiet into fast, noisy, fuzzed-out sing-alongs. Building on 2014’s well received Mistakes, Disconnector explores new themes of future and destiny, human potential and its annihilation, self-control, and abandonment. The band’s punk roots are still in evidence, though, and if you didn’t know what to listen for, this could almost be a different band from the one that released their s/t debut LP back in 2009. Never ones to make the same record twice, Disconnector marks Sonic Avenues’ biggest, boldest step forward yet.

Low Culture

Places To Hide

Dirtnap

Second album from Portland-by-way-of-New-Mexico Dirtnap favorites! Low Culture features members of Shang-A-Lang and Marked Men, splitting the sonic difference between the two—scrappy, melodic, and sometimes jangly garage-punk that is fast, catchy, and high-energy-as-hell, but also thoughtful. Since releasing their debut LP Screens, which quickly sold out its initial pressing and was well-received, a lot has been going on in Low Culture’s world. Most of the band has relocated from Las Cruces, NM to Portland, OR, with the last member soon to follow. They’ve released 7-inches on Dirtnap, Dead Broke, and La-Ti-Da Records. They found a new bass player in Chicago transplant Jay Castaldi (MOTO, Lynyrd’s Innards, more). The band helped form killer local hardcore band Macho Boys. Singer/guitarist Chris Mason has released tons of essential records on his great Dirt Cult Records label. They’ve done some touring, including high-profile shows like the Dirtnap Records Anniversary, Awesome Fest, Ottawa Explosion, and others. On Places To Hide, Low Culture nails the delicate balance between the band’s existing strengths and branching out into new territory. Personal, somewhat depressive lyrics still set the mood, although many of the songs also tackle social/political issues more directly than in the past. The production, by Stan Wright at Portland’s Buzz Or Howl Studios (Red Dons, Criminal Code, Pierced Arrows, tons more) accentuates the band’s more “punk” (as opposed to garage) side. All in all, this second album is a perfect follow up to a nearly perfect debut.

Bad Sports

Living With Secrets

Dirtnap

Bad Sports return with a jaw-dropping new 12-inch! While the band hasn’t released anything in a couple of years, the individual members have been anything but idle during that time. Orville Neely continues his slow takeover of the world with rock juggernauts OBN IIIs (who have released two albums in the past two years), while Daniel Fried and Gregory Rutherford’s band Video got signed to Jack White’s label Third Man Records, and has been touring ever since. The pair have also been touring a ton as one half of Radioactivity, who released the stunning Silent Kill on Dirtnap last year. Originally conceived as a series of three singles, the band and label realized that the individual seven songs worked as one piece. Living With Secrets is another step forward for Bad Sports—moving away from both the ebullient punk/power pop of 2011’s Kings Of The Weekend and the anything-goes grimy punk of 2014’s Bras, this EP is their darkest, most powerful, and weirdest. The lyrics are bleak and desperate, but the music is more dangerously catchy than ever.

Steve Adamyk Band

Graceland

Dirtnap

Blame Canada. Or for that matter, Ottawa. The Capital’s kings of punk-power-fuzz are back and better than ever. After a whack of records and worldwide touring, Graceland is Steve Adamyk Band’s most dynamic and cohesive record to date, without breaking the mould. Colleen Green (Hardly Art) sings on it, Mike Krol (Merge) croons on it and members of Sonic Avenues are now staples in the band. This time, the band bunkered down in Montreal with engineer Adrian Popivich (Solids, The Dears) to bring Graceland to life. In the meantime, scream along to “Through My Fingers” or get lost in the depths of “High Mile”—the choice is yours. Mr. Adamyk has been nothing but prolific since coming aboard the Dirtnap roster. This is already his fifth LP, with a sixth in the planning stage. The label finds his trademark brand of speedy, caffeinated, catchy-but-not-too-wimpy pop perfectly exemplifies their aesthetic. They’ll keep putting these out as long as he keeps makin’ ’em.

Martha

Blisters In The Pit Of My Heart

Dirtnap

***BACK IN PRINT!!!  Note price increase. Received a 7.3 rating from Pitchfork.  Over eleven expertly crafted pop songs, produced once again by MJ from Hookworms, Martha returns with their second album, Blisters In The Pit Of My Heart, explores the difficulties in staying political, passionate and punk. Hailing from the small town of Pity Me, UK, Martha plays energetic, impassioned power pop with intricate vocals and lush four-part harmonies, informed by ’90s indie rock and contemporary garage punk. The band is J. Cairns (guitar), Daniel Ellis (guitar; Onsind), Naomi Griffin (bass; No Ditching), and Nathan Stephens Griffin (drums; Onsind). Their debut album Courting Strong came out in 2014 and was included in NPR’s top 50 albums of that year, winning them the epithet, “One of Britain’s best rock bands.” If the band’s first album was about punks growing up, then Blisters In The Pit Of My Heart is about grown-ups staying punk, trying to stay creative and passionate, and making the most of everything in spite of the many obstacles that get in the way. It finds strength and solace in friendships, love, and motivation from the people in your life who really inspire you. Influenced by bands like The Replacements, Heart, Billy Bragg, Thin Lizzy, Cheap Trick, The Go-Go’s and Radiator Hospital, the album bursts into life with “Christine,” inspired by the 1980’s British TV drama Threads about nuclear war. It’s followed by the rousing “Chekhov’s Hangnail,” with backing vocals from Ellis Jones of Trust Fund. Catchy “Precarious (The Supermarket...

Mind Spiders

Prosthesis

Dirtnap

Based in Ft. Worth, TX, Mark Ryan’s shadowy, shape-shifting “solo” band Mind Spiders launched soon after his last project, the beloved and highly influential Marked Men, went on indefinite hiatus at the beginning of 2009. On earliest recordings, Ryan played everything except drums on some tracks, but the Mind Spiders lineup has continually evolved, with its founder remaining the sole songwriter and constant member. On Prosthesis, the band’s fourth album in five years, the lineup is Ryan (Radioactivity, High Tension Wires, etc.), Daniel Fried (Bad Sports, Radioactivity, Video, High Tension Wires, etc.), Mike Throneberry (Marked Men) and Peter Salisbury (Baptist Generals / Sub Pop Records). While each Mind Spiders album has been different from the one before, Prosthesis is less of a stylistic departure from 2013’s Inhumanistic than from previous work. The album clocks in at a brief eight tracks; however, the songs run a little longer than normal, really giving the individual pieces room to breathe and grow. The first Mind Spiders album to be recorded at Ryan’s and Jeff Burke’s (Radioactivity, Marked Men) new Cool Devices studio in Ft. Worth, Prosthesis is easily their best, fullest sounding effort yet! Keyboard and guitar blend seamlessly into ominous yet catchy dark pop explorations that incorporate post-punk, bedroom pop, krautrock and tons of obscure references along the way. Plans for the band include an appearance at Dirtnap Records’ 2016 SXSW showcase, a video for the track “Cold,” and touring later in the year. By then, Ryan will be ready to record...

Phylums

Phylum Phyloid

Dirtnap

***Like a spore in a petri dish, PHYLUMS slowly cultivated in the dank basements of Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 2011. With a common goal of creating stripped-down, primitive rock n' roll, members of Wisconsin acts GOODNIGHT LOVING, HEAD ON ELECTRIC and HOLY SHIT! started banging out three-chord homages to the Sonics, Creedence, the Monks...any band with a simple message and no-frills attack. Phylums took this primitive drive into KYLE MOTOR’s recording studio in Madison Wisconsin in summer 2014. It took the band under 24 hours to record their complete debut album on reel-to-reel eight track. Surfy guitar leads and wandering fuzz combined with a rhythm section of driving toms and bass make up the core instrumentation, but a shades of organ, piano, and even a vacuum cleaner add to the sonic palette. The songs, ranging from party rave-ups to off-kilter introspections, eschew the traditional boy/girl tropes of most three chord songs and instead focus on, amongst other things, alienation, the afterlife, speech impediments, and the frustrating beauty and monotony of modern life.

Nervosas

S/t

Dirtnap

***Second self titled album (first for Dirtnap) from hard-touring Ohio dark-punks. An improvement on their (also awesome) first album in every way. The fast songs are meaner and more aggressive, the slower songs are more textured and atmospheric. Impeccable recording, truly impressive musicianship (not a compliment you’ll hear us at Dirtnap throw around very often) and songwriting inspiration to burn. This goes way, way beyond the “punk kids playing post punk” thing going around these days. Fits in perfectly on the darker end of the Dirtnap Records spectrum, alongside suck fine company as The Estranged, The Splits, Autistic Youth Truly an important and epic mind-bender of an album.   “There's always a reference. I had a guy wonder to me, once, whether we all didn't have big record collections so we'd know what to do; I told him if anything it was so we'd know what not to do, but that's not it either. It doesn't matter what your music brings to mind if that's all you're out to do- bring what's already out there to the mind of your listener. How cheap to exist as only reference, when you know that doing so will allow the gaps in your bargain facsimile to be filled in by your listeners' old favorites, playing on the jukebox of the mind while your pseudo-irony-dipped cassette reels around the boombox fountain. Shakespeare even said "There is nothing new'' quite a while before Superchunk ripped him off so why force it? We're all bound...

Radioactivity

Silent Kill

Dirtnap

***BACK IN STOCK!!!  Seems pretty safe to assume that almost no one doubted RADIOACTIVITY’s ability to follow up their 2013 Dirtnap debut with something equally stunning. Frontman and chief songwriter JEFF BURKE (THE MARKED MEN, THE REDS, THE POTENTIAL JOHNS) has certainly done more than enough to earn that kind of expectation and pressure. But Silent Kill, which finds Burke backed by Marked Men compatriot MARK RYAN and two-thirds of BAD SPORTS (DANIEL FRIED and GREGORY RUTHERFORD), does more than merely match the virtues of its self-titled predecessor.  Radioactivity's first LP was rightly hailed as a sort of sequel to The Marked Men's remarkable run through the first decade of the millennium, and while Silent Kill bears the unmistakable hallmarks of that band's tightly wound "Denton sound," Radioactivity can now lay claim to a sonic territory of their very own. Burke's distinctive hooks dig as deep as ever, but the scope of his vision has expanded, and now that the Burke/Ryan/Fried/Rutherford all-star team has had some time to cohere, Radioactivity can do all sorts of damage in less than thirty minutes.  Although the twelve songs on Silent Kill abide one strict rule--providing garage punk pleasure at all costs--Radioactivity bend that mandate in myriad ways. Breathless ragers like "Battered" and "No Alarm" are as fleet and raw as anything in the combined canon of Radioactivity's members, while mid-tempo heartbreakers "Way Out," "Connection" and "Where I Come From" find Burke and company opening up their sound to...

Splits, The

II

Dirtnap

***The Splits came together in Helsinki, Finland in Fall of 2010. Originally consisting of Helena (guitar/vox), Maiju (bass), Kiti (guitar/vox) and Aiju (drums), The Splits were the first band that any of them had played in.  After recording what were originally intended to be demos, a friend of theirs sent the recordings, (without the band’s knowledge) to Germany’s iconic P Trash Records. P Trash offered to put out an LP on the spot (and local Finnish label Airiston Punk Levyt a 7”), without the band having played so much as a single show. Shortly after the album’s release, the recordings also came to the attention of Dirtnap Records, who promptly flipped out, began helping to distribute the album in the USA, and told the band to get in touch once they recorded more stuff. A couple of tours of Europe/UK followed, one of which with like-minded English band The Love Triangle. (You should check them out if you haven’t already, they’re awesome!)  Things took a downturn in 2013, though. Multiple breakups left most of the band heartbroken and homeless. Original drummer Aiju departed to have a baby, to be replaced by current drummer Jussi, who acted as the producer on their1st LP and 7”. The band was committed to re-building, however, and it was during that tumultuous period that what became this, their 2nd album, was born.  This dark era in the band member’s personal lives is captured perfectly in the music and lyrics, sometimes quite directly. ...

Mean Jeans

Singles

Dirtnap

***BACK IN STOCK!!! This epic 20 song collection comps singles, compilation appearances, a few covers (White Wires, Big Eyes, Sparks) and one track from deep in the vaults making its vinyl debut! Originally released on labels such as Dirtnap (natch!) Goner, Trouble In Mind, It’s Alive, Big Neck, and more, Singles works as a great overview of a now established band’s humble beginnings and subsequent progression. Listening to these songs reminds us of why we fell so hard for these guys in the first place, it’s been really fun for us here at Dirtnap to revisit some of this stuff! It’s all covered, from their earliest 2-piece recordings, to the first album era with HOWIE DOODAT on bass, to their current, slightly (but not much!) more polished lineup with JUNIOR JEANS. This comp shows the band at their rawest, oftentimes most goofy and irreverent, and oftentimes best. Pick it up.

Mind Spiders

Mind Spiders

Dirtnap

***Received a 7.5 rating from Pitchfork. Solo pop explorations from MARK RYAN of THE MARKED MEN. Around the time Denton, TX legends Marked Men were entering into their current state of semi- hibernation, co-singer/songwriter/ guitarist Mark Ryan decided he wanted to go in a slightly different direction for his next project, with recordings handled mostly by himself, and a fluid lineup of musicians to back him live. After an extremely well received 7-inch on Dirtnap (released before the live version of the band had played a single show), MIND SPIDERS follow it up with a full length that doesn't begin to disappoint. Intelligent, highly crafted songwriting with lots of twists and turns, meticulously recorded at home with Mark himself playing most of the instruments. Live version of the band features members of BAD SPORTS, HIGH TENSION WIRES, UPTOWN BUMS, MARKED MEN, and others. Includes a download.

Legendary Wings

Do You See

Dirtnap

***Kalamazoo’s LEGENDARY WINGS are back with the second LP for Dirtnap Do You See improves upon the template set by their first album (Making Paper Roses, Fall 2012), alternating bursts of caffeinated punk-pop with mid-tempo jangly numbers, all served up raw and catchy as hell. Think fun, high energy music, but with enough melancholy in the lyrics to keep this far from the realm of vapid party jams. While this isn’t too far removed musically from some of the more well-known bands on Dirtnap (think Denton, TX) there is an unmistakable quality to Legendary Wings that makes them instantly and unmistakably identifiable as hailing from the Midwest.

Low Culture / Needles // Pins

Needles/pins / Low Culture

Dirtnap

***“Two awesome DIY punk bands come together for a great split! LOW CULTURE should be familiar to anyone into Dirtnap stuff after the well-received Screens LP in early 2013. Ragged, melodic garagepunk originally from Las Cruces, NM, with members now spread out all over the place (including right here in Portland!). Features members of SHANG-A-LANG and MARKED MEN, and sounds pretty much like a cross between the two. Vancouver, B.C’s NEEDLES // PINS give us two memorable punk/garage rippers that were recorded in the same sessions as their excellent new LP, Shamebirds, just released on Dirt Cult Records. One-time pressing of 1,000 copies with download.