***Joe Tarowsky has played in a variety of Pittsburgh bands (Neighbours, Park Plan) and currently sits behind the drums in both Action Camp and St. Dude. Creedmoors began as a solo project, with a few Bandcamp singles and a beautiful album of guitar instrumentals (Moonlight Snaps). “Rosie Jean” was based on an idea suggested by a friend. The end result feels like XTC mixed with some Mike Watt basslines to our ears, sounding like a live band rather than a solo project.Rob Rayshich (ray-SHIK) has been a part of the Igor Records family since the beginning. His band the Minimalist Love Gods had two full-length releases on the label and the guitarist also appeared on Bone of Contention’s third album, Fun. An amazing, if unsung, guitarist, Rayshich has continued to make solo recordings in his basement studio, combining his love of psychedelia, layers of odd strings and percussion, progressive rock grandeur and the immediacy of lo-fi.In some ways, both of these songs might be comparable to the music that came out of New Zealand’s underground of the late ’70s/early ’80s, Creedmoors acting as the Chills to PGM’s Tall Dwarves. Or maybe that’s just a clever way to appeal to vinyl fanatics.
7" $12.00
08/08/2025
***Most of these songs have been around the block several times, some in different neighborhoods, so say the liner notes to this album. What that means is that Mike Shanley wrote some of these tunes while playing in bands like the Love Letters or the Mofones and never got to record them. (He was also in Bone Of Contention, the band that launched Igor Records.)The Harry Von Zells only played a few shows before the sessions for this album started. Along with Shanley, the band features guitarist Erik Cirelli (Emily Rodgers Band, Skelontonized, and others), keyboardist Michael Cunningham (formerly of Neighbours) and drummer Nate Figlar. Wendy Eisenberg guests on three songs, adding banjo and some frenzied guitar solos. Additional vocals were added by Erin Dawes (also of the Love Letters), Jennifer Schmidt (Catamount) and John Young (the Optimists).Play It Backwards straddles noisy and catchy—overdriven bass lines give way to jangly riffs, morphing into drones. Some of the lyrics border on plotlines—discussing relationships, musical obsessions and the strange feelings that accompany writing (a recurring Shanley subject). If that wasn't enough, the band also covers "Stardom Because," a song by Big Dipper, the great, underrated band from late '80s/early '90s Boston.
LP $23.95
08/08/2025
***"Throughout her illustrious career, Barbara Manning has sung about a wide array of topics—baseball, arson, pies and of course love, in all its splendored and not so splendored ways. Whatever the subject, her voice betrays a good deal of warmth, passion and gravity. The same feeling that recreates Pittsburgh Pirate Dock Ellis’ acid-based no hitter is the same one that delivers chills with the heartbreaking chorus line, 'I’m still crying for you.'So it should come as no surprise that Manning could write a captivating song about German mathematician Georg Cantor. It also should be expected that she can describe his whole life in three concise verses. What might come as a surprise is how much the song rocks. Aside from her work in the 1990s with the Go-Luckys!, 'Cantor’s Mind Was Rockin’' might be one of the heaviest pieces in her extensive catalog. Before Manning even steps up to the mic, the guitars roar out of the speakers, as if to make sure attention is directed their way.'Better By Bounds,' the single’s B-side, appeared on 2023’s Charm of Yesterday… Convenience of Tomorrow but it comes in a new version here."
7" $12.00
08/08/2025