***"Echo Park’s Mono Records was an early supporter of the Echo Park bands who don’t fit so easily into that kind of garage/psych/fuzz-and-fun punk-as-pop sound; instead, Mono’s select releases tend to celebrate the esoteric, and here’s the definitive statement so far: a compilation of L.A. bands heavily inspired by U.K. sounds during that bottomlessly special post-punk moment where the spirit of ‘anything goes’ met the ability to make everything sound good. Shoegaze, C86, labels like Glass and Fire and Rough Trade—this is what Life Is … or at least where it starts. Some tracks here are previously released—two from FROTH's excellent Bleak LP, a-side of TRACY BRYANT's 'Little Things' single also on Mono—but necessary anyway, especially if you didn’t get a limited original. But some apparently exist nowhere else, like the churning 'Fear' by JEFF FRIBOURG (ex-Froth, now in MIND MELD) and his band NUMBER.ER and also his Omnichord, or the Nikki Sudden-Go-Betweens stand-out bum-outs from BEAT HOTEL, or BILLY CHANGER's pixilated John Carpenter-style mostly instrumental 'Ride,' a close cousin to his recent LP track 'Chiller.' NOAH KWID (once of DIRT DRESS) also makes solo vinyl debut here as KWID, an understated Fast Product-style drum-machine post-punk song called (naturally) 'I Find Myself, and MOTHER MERRY GO ROUND delivers two striking songs that split the difference between Orange Juice and Joy Division. Altogether, it’s not just a powerfully consistent vision but a nice counterpoint to what the outside world thinks it is people do here: seven bands a little out of...
LP $12.75
05/06/2016
***Long overdue reissue of the debut 12” No Sorrow from Los Angeles’ early deathrock punks Legal Weapon. Recorded in 1980—first time back on wax. Seven tracks taken from the original analog master, plus two unreleased live tracks from the Mabuhay Gardens straight from the board. Includes an 8-page oversized booklet with never before seen photos by Edward Colver and a flier centerfold. Limited edition pressing of 500 copies.
12" $25.35
TBD