Goner   Page 3

Nots

S/t

Goner

***Power-trio from Memphis made up by NATALIE HOFFMAN (EX-CULT), CHARLOTTE WATSON (MANATEES), and LAUREL FERDON (MOVING FINGER). NOTS take the path less traveled when dealing with song structure, societal conventions, or the laws of thermodynamics. Impossibly cool nuevo no wavo! Edition of 400 copies.

Cosmic Psychos

Down On The Farm

Goner

Sometime in the winter of 1989-90, I wandered into New York City’s Midnight Records, a store famous for its deep catalog of ’60s garage and psychedelic music, as well as a strong selection of classic punk rock and a cantankerous French owner with ridiculous hair. On this visit, instead of hearing a puny French bootleg of The Standells or the Seeds, as I opened the door I was enveloped in the massive opening chords to the first song on the Cosmic Psychos’ then-new album Go the Hack. “She’s a lost cause / She’s a lost, lost cause!” blasted into the air at maximum volume. In a perfect cinematic moment, the drums announced my entry, the bass dictated my walk, the air became thick with guitar fuzz and wah-wah, and snarled vocals described perfectly a girl’s descent into a cause which was lost. Instead of record shopping, I felt like I’d stepped into a biker movie and was motoring down a long, straight Outback road on a Harley. This was my introduction to the Cosmic Psychos, and I was hooked. I loved that a band could be so powerful, sound so big and unapologetically simple, and incorporate so much of what I loved about music—well, basically the attitudes and sounds of The Stooges and Ramones: setting up songs with a good title or idea, matching it with a massive riff, then running it out with squeals of wah-wah and manly disregard for cleverness or adornment. And they called themselves the Cosmic...

Cosmic Psychos

S/t

Goner

Sometime in the winter of 1989-90, I wandered into New York City’s Midnight Records, a store famous for its deep catalog of ’60s garage and psychedelic music, as well as a strong selection of classic punk rock and a cantankerous French owner with ridiculous hair. On this visit, instead of hearing a puny French bootleg of The Standells or the Seeds, as I opened the door I was enveloped in the massive opening chords to the first song on the Cosmic Psychos’ then-new album Go the Hack. “She’s a lost cause / She’s a lost, lost cause!” blasted into the air at maximum volume. In a perfect cinematic moment, the drums announced my entry, the bass dictated my walk, the air became thick with guitar fuzz and wah-wah, and snarled vocals described perfectly a girl’s descent into a cause which was lost. Instead of record shopping, I felt like I’d stepped into a biker movie and was motoring down a long, straight Outback road on a Harley. This was my introduction to the Cosmic Psychos, and I was hooked. I loved that a band could be so powerful, sound so big and unapologetically simple, and incorporate so much of what I loved about music—well, basically the attitudes and sounds of The Stooges and Ramones: setting up songs with a good title or idea, matching it with a massive riff, then running it out with squeals of wah-wah and manly disregard for cleverness or adornment. And they called themselves the Cosmic...

Cosmic Psychos

Go The Hack

Goner

Sometime in the winter of 1989-90, I wandered into New York City’s Midnight Records, a store famous for its deep catalog of ’60s garage and psychedelic music, as well as a strong selection of classic punk rock and a cantankerous French owner with ridiculous hair. On this visit, instead of hearing a puny French bootleg of The Standells or the Seeds, as I opened the door I was enveloped in the massive opening chords to the first song on the Cosmic Psychos’ then-new album Go the Hack. “She’s a lost cause / She’s a lost, lost cause!” blasted into the air at maximum volume. In a perfect cinematic moment, the drums announced my entry, the bass dictated my walk, the air became thick with guitar fuzz and wah-wah, and snarled vocals described perfectly a girl’s descent into a cause which was lost. Instead of record shopping, I felt like I’d stepped into a biker movie and was motoring down a long, straight Outback road on a Harley. This was my introduction to the Cosmic Psychos, and I was hooked. I loved that a band could be so powerful, sound so big and unapologetically simple, and incorporate so much of what I loved about music—well, basically the attitudes and sounds of The Stooges and Ramones: setting up songs with a good title or idea, matching it with a massive riff, then running it out with squeals of wah-wah and manly disregard for cleverness or adornment. And they called themselves the Cosmic Psychos!...

Cosmic Psychos

S/t + Down On The Farm

Goner

Sometime in the winter of 1989-90, I wandered into New York City’s Midnight Records, a store famous for its deep catalog of ’60s garage and psychedelic music, as well as a strong selection of classic punk rock and a cantankerous French owner with ridiculous hair. On this visit, instead of hearing a puny French bootleg of The Standells or the Seeds, as I opened the door I was enveloped in the massive opening chords to the first song on the Cosmic Psychos’ then-new album Go the Hack. “She’s a lost cause / She’s a lost, lost cause!” blasted into the air at maximum volume. In a perfect cinematic moment, the drums announced my entry, the bass dictated my walk, the air became thick with guitar fuzz and wah-wah, and snarled vocals described perfectly a girl’s descent into a cause which was lost. Instead of record shopping, I felt like I’d stepped into a biker movie and was motoring down a long, straight Outback road on a Harley. This was my introduction to the Cosmic Psychos, and I was hooked. I loved that a band could be so powerful, sound so big and unapologetically simple, and incorporate so much of what I loved about music—well, basically the attitudes and sounds of The Stooges and Ramones: setting up songs with a good title or idea, matching it with a massive riff, then running it out with squeals of wah-wah and manly disregard for cleverness or adornment. And they called themselves the Cosmic Psychos!...

Ex-cult

Mister Fantasy / Through The Blinds

Goner

***Newly recorded music from Memphis road warriors EX-CULT. These songs recorded by legendary local producer DOUG EASLEY (Cat Power, Oblivians, Pavement, Guided By Voices) at his studio, all sounds honed for for maximum cut and slice. The next sonic step in Ex-Cult's mastery of their uniquely vicious, spinning attack.   "... frothing-at-the-mouth fury and warped, pinballing melodies." - Spin.com  

Human Eye

4: Into Unknown

Goner

People of Earth, take heed: The year is 2013 AD, and Timmy Vulgar has graced our squabbling kind by returning to terra-dwelling humanoids the intergalactic, transcendental cyber-organism that is the twitching Human Eye for a fourth revelation. Prepare, peopleoids, as the Human Eye casts its gaze Into Unknown. Over the course of 4: Into Unknown, the listener rides along rising and falling cascades of fuzz. Mindless twist-and-jive anthems entice, but ultimately abandon false friends in psychedelic realms while remote melodies tickle and torment the cerebellum. In many ways, 4 presents longtime fans with a reverent re-education in Human Eye’s style, as it pulls influences from way back—the epochal decades of the 1960s and ’70s, when groovin’ was the law and the mind a nebulous thing. Full of Sabbath-esque sludge-bass, trash-incinerating guitars and blown-out organs, these songs convince any would-be afficionado that the throbbing heart of rock ’n’ roll, Detroit City, while currently on life support, can still produce.  Mystics, ancient astronauts, and other Human Eye zealots can look forward to witnessing the four-piece live, as appearances are predicted in hometowns across the United States in the latter half of 2013. So, set your radios to interstellar frequency, pick up the album and do not miss an opportunity to experience Human Eye electro-shock firsthand—as long as you prepare to be sent reeling beyond our universe, beyond what we can only claim to know.

Manateees

Cat Food / Treehouse

Goner

Abe White (Oscars, True Sons Of Thunder) charges out from behind the drum set to front MANATEEES, raw and nasty music full of the raw nastiness of the world. Backed by Charms and Keith on drums and bass, respectively, Mr. White delivers the unfortunate news that the apocalypse occurred quite a while ago and the world ain't getting any better.  What's the secret password? LET ME OUT OF THIS PLACE!  Records out or coming on Tic Tac Totally and Pelican Pow Wow Records as well!

Sector Zero

Guitar Attack / Hiding In My Car

Goner

***ZAC IVES and ERIC FRIEDL playing guitar, JAY REATARD bashing drums. Recorded by Jay at his house. No overdubs. Bass Balls pedal. "Guitar Attack" and "Hiding In My Car" representing all that's great about simple, stupid music. Veterans of SF's Budget Rock and Memphis' Gonerfest festivals, one appearance resulting with Eric being driven home by the police. Hooray!

Toxie

Newgate / T.I.E.S.

Goner

Toxie. New band. Funny name. Those that don't know better might lump them into a retro post-punk or C86 thing - but there's more going on. This Memphis foursome is banging out a well-crafted racket all their own. Alex Burden's Nico-esque vocals ooze all over shimmery guitars from Madison Farmer (Coasting) and buzzy keyboard hooks from Magic Kids mastermind Will McEllroy. Ben Bauermeister's rat-a-tat keeps it all on track. Who knew you could have this many parts in a pop song? We didn't. But we're liking it.

True Sons Of Thunder

Black Astrologers / I Can See But You Don't Know

Goner

Whaaaaaa? There's a lot going on here. I don't know what kind of beef these guys have with Dionne Warwick - but it sounds serious. Are they anti-black or anti-white? Or just anti-astrologer? Either way they are destroying people's ears and dreams. This is the soundtrack to a failed alien abduction. Bonus points for dumber-than-Hawkwind take on the Equals on the flip. Eddy Grant's flying the spaceship. Party.

Toy Love

Live At The Gluepot 1980

Goner

Toy Love’s music was in a constant state of formation and reformation throughout the band’s existence—songs would warp and twist with every playing. So, for all its undeniable power, it appeared unstable, almost fragile, threatening to burst out of its own skin, shards and globs all over the place. Every gig was like another attempt to make this strange creature hold together and live. At times, it would only take off at a few unpredictable points, at others it would lift off immediately and roar through the air, an astonishingly compelling and unlikely flying thing full of dark folds and flashes of light. The best stuff was transcendent, and the near-failures were so often funny or had the buzzy pathos of a crash site, one couldn’t look away. This double-album captures the legendary band in September 1980 at The Gluepot in Ponsonby, Auckland—one of their final live performances. The recording was transferred and prepared for vinyl mastering by Steve McGough at Stebbings from a desk tape recorded by the band’s soundman Doug Hood.

Ex-cult

S/t

Goner

Hey bro, check it out: In Memphis in early 2011, five people joined forces to start a punk rock band. They each came from different scenes—hardcore, psychedelic, and various flavors of indie pop. Things gelled. I mean, really came together, man! Following the release of two killer singles under the name Sex Cult, they were faced with a lawsuit from a similarly named and very aggressive techno label in New York City. So Sex Cult became Ex-Cult.  Playing a series of house parties and gigs in dive bars, Ex-Cult honed their sound—a punk rock sweet spot that incorporates angular post-punk, flying saucer fuzz guitar, snotty vocals and bash-your-head-in energy. A real stone groove! Killer linear punk à la Wire, Urinals, Australia’s X or something, man!  A show at SXSW caught the attention of indie wonderkind Ty Segall, and the two began making plans to record in San Francisco. This is the end result—a debut album that takes the living energy of their show and crams it onto the grooves of an LP. Wild, man! Wild!

Barbaras

2006-2008

Goner

In the late 2000s, Memphis had The Barbaras, a handful of early-20s music heads colliding in the midtown bar scene and making a racket that captured VOM and Del Shannon in a blender. The band was great, the live shows were insane—see the checklist below. • Maniacal bearded frontman (Billy Hayes) • Incredibly tall bassist (Bennett Foster) • Synthesizer mastermind (Will McElroy) • Boy-next-door guitarist (Alex Gates) • An array of unbalanced drummers • Crowd interference (Stephen Pope) • Shows that included props, costumes and groupies • Had a somewhat cult-like aura • Always had fun and seemed to enjoy each other’s company  • Could induce grown men to strip and gyrate on the bar at a show  • Staged orgies, deaths and resurrections at live shows • Performed ventriloquist act • Wrote great absurd pop songs  One thing they didn’t do? Record an album. Although they tried. Jay Reatard recorded them in fits and starts between touring, but after taking two Barbaras (Hayes and Pope) for his road band and touring constantly over the next few years, the group flamed out. The Magic Kids formed in their wake. When Hayes and Pope eventually left Reatard’s band and joined Wavves, he told them that he erased all of the Barbaras recordings. In 2011, Goner was excited to find the sessions safe and sound right where Reatard had left them, on his digital recorder. Alicja Trout helped the band finish recording and mixing the tracks, and when paired with their own...

Legs, The

Aaaa The New Memphis Legs

Goner

Blood and beer-encrusted recordings from the epochal year 2000: Once mammoth Texas guitar noisemaker James Arthur moved from Los Angeles to Memphis and began hanging out with local roustabout Eric “Oblivian” Friedl, The Legs were inevitable. The two filled their days drinking whiskey and beer, searching for pinball machines, riding mountain bikes through broken glass and rabid-dog-filled uncharted alleys, and enjoying spontaneous dance parties which mostly consisted of wearing out copies of the “Quick Joey Small” 45.  When they could be bothered to actually play music, they jammed away on a chord or three. They thought they might be onto something, but couldn’t really tell what it was. Bassists were not consulted. All this time, drummer Forrest Hewes of Oxford, Mississippi’s Neckbones was quietly living a few blocks away from Friedl; once his massive drums were planted behind their wall of scuzz, The Legs knew they had truly arrived.  With a setlist of Australian garage thudders from the Ugly Things compilation, a mutant two-chord Doug Sahm song and simple, intense originals, The Legs were a short-lived, yet highly entertaining Memphis club favorite, playing alongside Reatards, Jeffrey Evans and other Memphis talents of the time. There were two recording sessions—one captured by Jeffrey Evans with Jay Reatard on organ that yielded the track “I’ve Been Raped (By the Pinball Machine)” for a Pinball song compilation, and the other done in Jody Hill’s living room, which is issued here in its entirety.

Ex-cult

M.p.d.

Goner

Rising Memphis stars with members from many various outfits, Ex-Cult (formerly Sex Cult) crams catchy punk rock through the “we can do anything” mindset of pioneers like the Urinals, Australia’s X or Wire.  “M.P.D.” is a track off the upcoming self-titled debut album due November 13 on Goner Records. The B-side, an ace cover of “No Fun on the Beaches” by Aussie punkers The Chosen Few, is exclusive to this release.

Lost Sounds

Lost Lost Demos, Sounds, Alternate Takes & Unused Songs

Goner

Featuring early and alternate versions from Jay Reatard and Alicja Trout’s epic garage / electro-punk band Lost Sounds, Lost Lost collects songs off the Black Wave and Rats Brains and Microchips albums and their final self-titled EP, as well as ones that never saw proper release. The rare and unheard material ranges from captivating kitchen recordings and acoustic takes to fully realized studio tracks. Covers of garage obscurities like “I Cannot Lie” and originals like “No Count” betray the garage rock sensibilities that Reatard was still shedding during the earlier years of the band, while later recordings show the electropunk and black metal influences that crept into their sound.  A great collection from a great band and a couple of great songwriters—maestros of tension without release—Lost Lost will appeal to everyone from garage and punk fanatics to Numanoids and metalheads.

Midnite Snaxxx

You Kill Me

Goner

***You Kill Me delivers more sugar-rushed punk energy and power pop hooks from these West Coast women. Midnite Snaxxx features the overwhelming talents of TINA LUCCHESI (TRASHWOMEN, BOBBYTEENS, TOP TENS, TINA & THE TOTAL BABES) on drums, DULCINEA GONZALES (THE LOUDMOUTHS) on guitar, and RENEE LEAL (LaTeenOs) on bass.  Recorded by JASON TESTASECCA (Nobunny, Elvis Christ), You Kill Me is the first Midnite Snaxx single on Goner, following previous releases on Total Punk, Raw Deluxe and Red Lounge.

Coleman, John Wesley

Last Donkey Show

Goner

The Last Donkey Show is the latest album from everyone’s favorite freaky Texas troubadour John Wesley Coleman. While Coleman’s particular madman swerve still recalls Doug Sahm and Roky Erickson, this collection covers more territory than his earlier work. Does this mean the half-mad misfit has grown up? Not quite—but the songwriting chops are all there, from carney kookiness to fuzz rockers to barstool tearjerkers to dustbowl pop. In his own words: “That’s right. My new album is called The Last Donkey Show. It is a fucking roller-coaster recorded in Oakland, California, at Greg Ashley’s studio The Creamery and also in the country near Lockhardt, Texas, at my good buddy’s childhood home. Aaron Blount is his name. He is a bad-ass songwriter friend of mine. We ate BBQ all day and shot BB guns and had a bonfire. There is a cast of characters on this record... It’s a floodgate of memories. Every song has a crazy story. I will tell them to you some time. The donkey is a symbol of hard work, humor and death. I love it! See you at town near you. Eat Gus’s Fried Chicken!”

Cronin, Mikal

Tide

Goner

***The San Francisco scene keeps producing serious psychedelic clack ’n’ burble and MIKAL CRONIN is the latest. Everyone loved the fuzzed-out Fading Yellow pop-psych he delivered on his debut album, and Tide shows him just getting better at it. Good luck getting the knee-buckling guitar hook and woozy falsetto chorus of the title track out of your head. The flip might even be better—”You Gotta Have Someone” is a sweet, swirly collision of Ride and The Byrds.

Lost Sounds

Lost Sounds

Goner

***LOST SOUNDS’ self-titled debut 7-inch is the first release from the potent team of JAY REATARD and ALICJA TROUT and was originally on the legendary Italian garage scum label Solid Sex Lovie Doll in a numbered edition of 300. The EP’s got four songs of aggressive synth-punk in the tradition of The Screamers with enough raw edges to still cut deep. Remastered from the original cassette, these recordings’ new power and (relative) clarity stomp all over the original 7-inch with frightening intensity. Limited to 900 copies.

Eddy Current Suppression Ring

So Many Things

Goner

***BACK IN STOCK!!!  Received 5 Stars from the Guardian UK.  Received a 7.4 rating from Pitchfork.  They’ve drawn comparisons to Wire, Can, The Fall, Fugazi and The Stooges. They have a singer who wears black gloves to overcome stage fright. They won the $30,000 Australian Music Prize for their 2008 album Primary Colours—then recorded the next one themselves in a few hours in their practice space and spent the dough on a photo shoot for the album cover. They do not care about you and your expectations. You could call them “fiercely independent” but they don’t seem fierce at all. Quietly, and definitely on their own terms, Eddy Current Suppression Ring has become a force in underground music. Now, after three albums, it’s time for a compilation of singles tracks, demos and other stuff they had lying round. Turns out there was lots to choose from—and even after trimming, they ended up with a double album. Goner Records is happy to provide So Many Things.

Segall, Ty

Singles 2007-2010

Goner

Jet-packing around the indie / garage cosmos for the last four years, Ty Segall has done too many singles and EPs and split records and shared records and albums and cassettes to count. He’s found himself increasingly in the spotlight, and this year’s Goodbye Bread for Drag City was met with a big wet kiss from the indie media world. But Segall don’t care about that. He ain’t in it for the corporate buck. He’s made it because he’s toured constantly, puts on a great show and genuinely loves what he does.  Goner is proud to present a double-album of tracks culled from Segall’s massive out-of-print catalog—plus some stuff that never made it out in the first place. Here ya go: Singles 2007-2010.

Sex Cult

Errand Boy

Goner

Featuring Chris Shaw from Achtung! fanzine, a Magic Kid, and an assortment of young Memphis musicians taking an expanded, perhaps psychedelic attack on punk rock. Without being stupid about it. They seem to have emerged fully formed and ready to take your head off. "Out of all the Tennessee bands that we’ve never seen or ever heard any recordings from, Sex Cult has got to be our favorite. The Memphis bad boys have played a handful of shows and are knockin’ em dead over there. If we’re lucky, we’ll be able to get them over here soon so you can see what we’re talking about. As far as we can tell, the lineup consists of members from Vile Nation, Bake Sale, and maybe a Magic Kid or two? It’s a little hard to get solid info on them since they don’t have any sort of internet presence at all [at least, not the Sex Cult we wanna know about]"--Nashville Is Dead

Sharp Balloons

Evening News

Goner

Hot new combo from Memphis featuring Zac Ives (Final Solutions, Sector Zero, Goner Records), Joe T Simpson (Rat Traps, Feelers, True Sons Of Thunder), and Heather Simpson. Joe is an excellent guitar player- he's playing drums. Heather has just recently picked up the bass and started writing songs. Zac has his own style! Brilliant, sloppy, personal punk rock about TV Reporters, contagious infections, and plates not fitting in cabinets. Really. One song from each member!

Coleman, John Wesley III

Steal My Mind

Goner

DIGITAL REISSUE of JOHN WESLEY COLEMAN’s (GOLDEN BOYS) Steal My Mind LP. These booze soaked anthems will rot away at your brain like an $ 8.00 fifth of store brand swill! Includes great covers of Warren Zevon's "Lawyers, Guns And Money" and Lester Bangs' "Life Is Not Worth Living And Suicide Is A Waste Of Time."

Limes

Tarantula

Goner

In a town full of musical hermits and legends, it may seem trite to call anyone the town’s best kept secret. But truck-driving rocker Shawn Cripps and his revolving cast of characters collectively known as Limes have been making lovable late-night rackets at midtown dives for nearly a decade with very little to show for it. A couple of singles (one from France, one from Italy) and two homemade CDRs were all that existed until Goner released Rhinestone River last year. Well, that’s not entirely true—as is typical with many Memphis iconoclasts like Alex Chilton, Jim Dickinson and Tav Falco’s Panther Burns, Limes clicked with overseas listeners before Americans caught on, and Cripps’s first album Tarantula did receive a limited CD release in 2005 on a small New Zealand label. Somehow that made more sense than it should have, as Limes’ brand of quirky pop and rock wouldn’t be out of place on a Flying Nun comp from the mid-’80s. Cripps has had a crazy life. For a while, he lived on a boat in the Mississippi River; there were rumors he went a little kooky at some point and wouldn’t listen to anything but Exile on Main Street for months. He was a frequent collaborator with Harlan T. Bobo—the two are both reclusive songsters with more than their fair share of talent and bad luck. Catching Limes live, you never knew who will be there or how it’ll turn out. Could be the best show of the year—or the worst....

Coleman, John Wesley Iii / Timmy's Organism

Split

Goner

***There's a million ways to go crazy, which is one reason it's so depressing to hear so many bands that sound alike. Get a little bit outside yourself, folks! Two fellows with no problem getting outside themselves are JOHN WESLEY COLEMAN and TIMMY VULGAR. Wesley's been bashing out demented pop songs buried in fuzz and blather for about a decade—here he provides a track that might remind you of the Buzzcocks pretending to be a drunk Bruce Springsteen trying to play a Nick Lowe song that he hasn't written yet. Guaranteed to be stuck in your hair for a week. Timmy Vulgar began as a punk in Michigan but quickly moved from angry personal attacks to more epic attacks on the entire universe with his bands HUMAN EYE and TIMMY’S ORGANISM. Mind Over Matter follows this musical quest to musically shoot out the musical sun. Jimi Hendrix, Timothy Leary, and a whole bunch of musical lizards like this.

Reatards

Teenage Hate / Fuck Elvis Here’s The Reatards

Goner

Goner Records presents the deluxe reissue of Jay Reatard’s first full-length LP, with a bonus album of early tracks recorded on four-track and only released on cassettes. Some songs feature Greg Cartwright (Reigning Sound, Oblivians) on drums! Teenage Hate / Fuck Elvis Here’s the Reatards offers a glimpse into the punk energy and rapidly developing raw talent of a teenage Reatard. The double-album features covers of Fear, The Dead Boys, Lil’ Bunnies, Buddy Holly, Johnny Vomit & The Dry Heaves... and The Beatles!  “Having seen Jay Reatard on the periphery of the leather-boy rock circuit a couple of years ago, I had gotten the impression that he was an arrogant shit. A real ‘Little Lord Punkleroy,’ he was. It seemed that the short path from aping the Oblivians in his bedroom to actually playing alongside of them had given him an undeserved license for haughtitude. Well, after hearing this release, I now grant him the right to be as shitty to me as he wants to be. He may ignore my ass around the club all night, because this record just spews aching beauty. It is easily the most blistering pizzunk to dribble down the leg of the raspy whore that is the ‘Memphis scene’ in a long while.   “The liner notes lack any trace of irony and spill more pubescent bile than a crippled maid cleaing up after one of Roman Polanski’s ‘hot tub ’n’ cognac’ parties. It all starts to make sense when you think...

Quintron

Sucre Du Sauvage

Goner

Imagine being a kid in 2010 and finding yourself on a trip to the famous New Orleans Museum of Art. You pass by the Rodin sculpture on the grand marble stairway and the vaults of ancient Japanese pottery on the third floor; you breeze through the French impressionists, the Faberge collection, the Joseph Cornell and the Warhols in the modern wing. Then suddenly you pass through a soundproof glass door into a room with a crazed looking person wearing headphones, banging on an organ and screaming into an old microphone. Is this an exhibit? The cacophonous display is indeed behind a velvet rope with a sign cautioning us not to speak to the screaming man. Why do portraits of sexy ladies cover every inch these solemn white walls? What the @#!& is going on here? Witness the recording of the latest Quintron album, Sucre du Sauvage (“Sugar of the Savage”). From January 29th through May 2nd of 2010, Quintron punched a time clock and reported to work at NOMA to write and record this album in a public gallery space. During the final seven days of the session, the artist imprisoned himself within the museum and its surrounding grounds—a beautiful swampy nature preserve called New Orleans City Park. He roamed the park by night making field recordings and then weaved them into the final mixes of the album by day. The week concluded with a blindfolded listening party in the NOMA auditorium (see album cover). Part one of this severely...

Overnight Lows

Slit Wrist Rock N Roll / I’m Gonna Be Everything

Goner

***Jackson, Mississippi, is not known as a hotbed of punk rock, but Los Angeles is the film capitol of the world, and when has a good movie come out of there? Never! Overnight Lows once again work to promote Jackson’s punk rock rep in two ways: This single rips brains. On the B-side they cover the legendary Ed Nasty and the Dopeds (comped on Killed By Death #7)—original Jackson punk rock royalty! Yes, the same Ed Nasty who stole the show at Gonerfest 6 performing with these same Overnight Lows! These two tracks that will remind everyone with ears that bad attitudes and loud guitars are all you need to be rock ’n’ roll stars. The single is Overnight Lows’ first release since their stellar long-player City of Rotten Eyes, also on Goner. Let it rip!

Coleman, John Wesley III

Bad Lady Goes To Jail

Goner

Who is John Wesley Coleman? He describes himself as "garbage collector, golden boy." Those four words might fit him best. Coleman currently makes pizzas in Austin, Texas, lives in weird territory, and is part of an invisible, non-scene made up of his other Austin band Golden Boys, North Carolina's Spider Bags and Memphis' Limes--all groups with their own takes on sprawling, psychedelic, country-tinged rock. The artists he covers, largely street-level commentators of life below the poverty line, are telling; on his last album, Steal My Mind, he did Lester Bangs and Warren Zevon songs; this time, it's Nikki Sudden. Of course, a few years back he released a completely blasted version of George Michael's "Faith" that was seen as a piss-take but actually spoke to Wes' mindset. Coleman has been compared to Lou Reed, Mr. Bangs, Daniel Johnston and even Pavement, who adopted some of the spaciousness of country life after their initial spizzle grotted out. But who wants to hear Pavement now? Owning cars that don't break down makes one complacent, and luckily Coleman hasn't had to deal with that yet. Hanging out at bus stops gives the man with eyes a whole lot of material to work with.  Bad Lady Goes to Jail covers a whole variety of desires, from Coleman's desire for police to stop assaulting him to the desire to dance with his woman, to the less-specific "Something in My Brain Wants Something." To balance the wandering heart, he also offers more mundane observations in...

Limes

Rhinestone River

Goner

Memphis is home to several of rock's most endearingly off-kilter rock storytellers, from Jim Dickinson to Jeffrey Evans to Ross Johnson. To that list, one can now add Shawn Cripps, leader of The Limes.  On the band's debut full-length, Rhinestone River, Cripps retains the musical talents of Harlan T. Bobo, who previously helped on The Limes' Rock 'n' Roll Heart single. Bobo's hypnotic keyboards perfectly complement Cripps's gritty guitar work and vocals, particularly on "Sounds Like a Shimmy." Rhinestone River also features contributions by Memphis scene stalwarts Ross Johnson, Paul Buchignani (Afghan Whigs, Bobo's backing band), Alicja Trout (Lost Sounds, River City Tanlines) and Bruce Saltmarsh ('68 Comeback, Porch Ghouls).  The title track, with its wobbly gait and lyrics like "Sitting on this barstool, sweating the rhinestone river," can induce secondhand drunkenness in anyone within earshot. "Rhinestone River" is the closest an American band has gotten to the pickled poetry of the Country Teasers. The momentum and melody of "Bottom of the Hole" unfurl like the narrative thrust of a bourbon-soaked anecdote at two in the morning.  The album's crown jewel is the closing track, "Last Year." Cater-cornered rock guitars and Cripps's talkin' vocal style build up to a woozy climax that culminates in a feral "woo-hoo." Like the other great songs on Rhinestone River, it threatens to fall apart several times but Cripps, with a little help from his friends and his engaging personality, holds it all together.

King Lee (featuring Quintron)

Tire Shop

Goner

Some might have known King Lee (R.I.P.) from one of his late-night appearances at the Spellcaster Lodge in New Orleans' Ninth Ward. Or from his back-up vocals on the 2006 Quintron slow jam "Dream Captains." Or he may have fixed your tire at the St. Claude Tire Shop. If you are an old-school cop, he might have fixed it at Danny's Service Station way back in the day. This single is a late-night ode to the St. Claude Tire Shop, recorded by Quintron and King Lee just blocks away at the Spellcaster. Familiar with much-talked-about blurry connection between Caribbean rhythms and inner-city New Orleans? It's all over this incredibly slow drum-machine / echo-organ jam. All the extra clanky sounds are samples from the actual tire shop. Lee's vocal is comprised solely of him going off on all his friends and relatives who work at the shop. The list of nicknames is impressive, to say the least--so much so that the song can't be contained on one side! The original take was about fifteen minutes, and it was edited down to the essential three-and-a-half minutes per side. This 45 is truly the sound of the streets without drama and gunfire--a tire-shop army of love and beer and tires and air compressors and echo and organs and tires! A note on the St. Claude Tire shop: This is the only Orleans Parish business that did not close during the you-know-what. They fixed tires for the National Guard, Presidential limos, road warrior bike punks, everyone....

Segall, Ty

Melted

Goner

***BACK IN STOCK!!! Received a 7.5 rating from Pitchfork. San Francisco psych wunderkind Ty Segall continues a tireless musical assault on ears and minds with his third album, Melted. Segall says it sounds like "cherry cola, Sno-Cones and taffy." Indeed! Over the past two years he's released records more often than most people do laundry, but somehow there is still a heap of anticipation for this new album on Goner packed full of truly psychedelic pop songs with great vocals and exciting arrangements. On the heels of two critically acclaimed solo albums, Segall holed up in a basement studio in late 2009 to begin recording Melted. Friends occasionally dropped by to hang out and help--including Mike Donovan (Sic Alps), John Dwyer (Thee Oh-Sees) and Eric Bauer (Crack W.A.R.). The result is a carefree yet precise balance of acoustic and electric elements. Distorted echo and thunder mix together with enough clean guitar lines and addictive choruses to deliver an album that recalls the '60s without sounding like anything created during that decade. Time melts away, vision melts away, minds melt away. Get Melted!  Ty Segall's short, sharp songs peal out of the garage without raising the doors, sending 1960s rock riffs crashing through splintered, smart-ass lo-fi buzz." --Pitchfork "His second album, Lemons, solidifies his standing as one to watch.... There are few moments when Ty Segall isn't irresistibly catchy." --Nylon "Warped sonics do nothing to diminish the impact of his vigorously nostalgic riff and stomp. Segall thunders...

Eddy Current Suppression Ring

Rush To Relax

Goner

***BACK IN PRINT!!! When Eddy Current Suppression Ring formed in Melbourne, Australia, in 2003, bandmates Eddy Current, Rob Solid, Danny Current, and Brendan Suppression thought they would play a few shows and perhaps record a 7-inch or two. One of their first gigs, in fact, was an employee Christmas party at the record pressing plant where they worked. Six years later, the band has racked up accolades from the likes of SPIN Magazine, London's Guardian newspaper, and the Australian Independent Record Labels Association. In March of 2009, they were awarded the $30,000 Australian Music Prize for their second album, Primary Colours. Eddy Current's third full-length, Rush to Relax, is already one of the most anticipated releases of 2010. Cut last August in a six-hour session at Melbourne's Revolver Rehearsal Studios, the album combines stripped-down post-punk sensibilities with the sheer exhilaration of a four-man musical unit that has created its own language, and will never run out of new things to say. While Primary Colours drew on what Guardian music critic Tom Hughes described as "fast 'n' fuzzy garage rock," Rush to Relax employs a pop ethos more common to the mid-'80s Dunedin Sound of New Zealand's Flying Nun label, with cascading guitar riffs and precise rhythms shadowing the introspective lyrics from black-gloved frontman Brendan Suppression. The geographical tug is most prevalent on "Anxiety," the new album's lead single, which is a guitar-driven homage to The Clean's whimsical, scene-launching debut "Tally-Ho," twisted via Eddy Current's inimitable style. The frantic pace of...

Bobo, Harlan T.

Sucker

Goner

"I've been duped by my biology," 43-year old Harlan T. Bobo says of Sucker, his third album for Goner Records. If Too Much Love, Bobo's solo debut, chronicled the dissolution of a soul-wrenching relationship, and his second album, I'm Your Man, captured the fits, starts and relapse of post-breakup emotions, Sucker narrates the life of a man who is, in his own words, "settling down." Despite the new album's tongue-in-cheek title, the dark confessional style that pervades I'm Your Man is largely replaced with a lighter attitude. Anguish gives way to an almost upbeat angst, and the gloom-and-doom allure of temporary romances is overcome by true love. On "Sweet Life," the opening track, the typically enigmatic Bobo unabashedly reminisces about traveling with--and wooing--Anne Ciriani, who would ultimately become his wife and the mother of his son, Nino. "The first time she broke my nose with a rum bottle, I knew it was love," Bobo says. The break-neck "Crazy with Loneliness" and the humorously meditative "Selfish Life" document his mental shift, while "Energy," "Drank," and "Mlle. Chat" record the physical adjustments he's made as the husband of a Frenchwoman who owns her own ice cream shop in Argeles, which Bobo describes as "the white trash camping spot of Europe." Occasionally, Bobo veers away from the fairytale to serve up alternate storylines, such as the frantic, Jerry Lee Lewis-meets-Television "Errand Girl," or "Hamster in a Cage," a sordid, yet beautifully written song about his short-lived Hollywood hustle. "Having a wife and a...

Eddy Current Suppression Ring

Rush To Relax (Digital Single)

Goner

Digital only single, contains the vinyl edit of the track “Rush To Relax”.

Segall, Ty

Caesar

Goner

Ty Segall lays down exquisite, poppy reverb reflections over a modern Bolan boogie as gypsy birds flutter in the meadow near a grove of redwood trees. Sounds great! Now here comes Pan, ditching his flute for some piano deconstruction to take us on through the end of the afternoon. Don't stop dancing! Wave those hands in the air! We've got sunshine, beautiful sunshine! Hail "Caesar"! The B-side, "Bullet Proof Nothing," is a cover of seminal Canadian proto-punks Simply Saucer. Segall beams sunshine through the eternally rippling third eye, coming through clearer and poppier than the music from his first two albums, and even more psychedelic, catchy, and stompin'! Strong Singing + Reverb Vocals + Fuzz Bass + Acoustic Guitar + CPS (Crazed Piano Solo*) = Gold (*CPS ranks #1 on Pitchfork "Trending Upwards" Charts, February, 2010) 

Overnight Lows

City Of Rotten Eyes

Goner

***Goner Records is proud to release City Of Rotten Eyes, the debut of Jackson, Mississippi's OVERNIGHT LOWS. It's about time. MARSH and DAPHNE NABORS, guitar and bass, have been playing out as Overnight Lows ever since their previous band, THE COMAS, imploded in early 1995. Goner and many other labels have been badgering them for a record for years. Their reluctance to release anything until now reflects both their disdain for musical trends and their quest for a recording worthy of their sound. With City Of Rotten Eyes, they've achieved it. Playing everything "in the Key Of Hep C," the Overnight Lows mix a sick and sickened attitude with a classic Angry Samoans/Queers aesthetic: establish a blazing guitar riff, yell some memorable antisocial blather over it, hit a chorus, and get out. Who has time for anything else these days? Overnight Lows aren't going to waste your time attempting to show you the path to enlightenment, or the way to your lover's heart. They'd rather show you the door. Melodies? Sure, kinda, but more like rhythmic chants to accompany you on your third trip back to the liquor store. The male/female vocal trade-offs add to the band's desperate charm. Marsh and Daphne are backed by CHEF PAUL ARTIGUES from New Orleans' DIE ROTZZ, a batterer of both drums and food. Paul blew Guy Fieri's mind with his boudin-andouille hash and homemade bagels and lox on the Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. His drumming, busy but focused, blows minds as well, extending...