Off

Eyelids

Seagulls Into Submission

Off

For a new band, Eyelids have quite a collective history with some of the most legendary indie songwriters ever. Not only were these longtime Portland, Oregon, collaborators the principal instrumentalists for Robert Pollard’s post-Guided By Voices band Boston Spaceships for over eight releases, but they have also worked in recent years with Stephen Malkmus, The Decemberists, Elliot Smith, Sam Coomes (Quasi), Black Prairie, Jason Lytle (Grandaddy), Loch Lomand, Damien Jurado and Peter Buck. For Seagulls Into Submission, Eyelids turned inwards to their loves of New Zealand / Flying Nun guitar buzz, teenage L.A. Paisley Underground obsessions, haunts of early Athens, and all things beautiful, lopsided, and rock. The 7-inch is just a hint of what the band is working on for their upcoming full-length recorded with Adam Selzer (The Gossip, The Breeders, Red Fang) as well as their head-swirling live shows. The single includes a non-album B-side “I Can’t Be Told” plus a download featuring an exclusive live cover of Gun Club’s classic “Sex Beat” performed with Jerry A. (Poison Idea) and Steve Wynn (Dream Syndicate). Limited edition of 500 copies.

Takeovers

Little Green Onion Man

Off

This freaky little beast, the new Takeovers EP, Little Green Onion Man, is a nice mini-movie comprised of four songs (three of which are unreleased Robert Pollard compositions) that warmly straddle the loosey-goosey psych-pop sounds of their first album, Turn To Red, as well as the white-knuckled rock pomp of their second, Bad Football. From the spooky freak-beat of "Rich Man's Girl" to the Ann Arbor beating that "Wigstomper 07" dishes out, you might not want to listen to this in the dark. Also along for the tight little visit of their twisted, lop-sided tunage are John Moen of Stephen Malkmus/The Decemberists, Sam Coomes of Quasi/Blues Goblins and Brian Berg of 44 Long. Little Green Onion Man is pressed in a limited edition of 1000 CDs and 450 copies of 7-inch vinyl.

Takeovers

Bad Football

Off

Welcome to the second dose of The Takeovers, courtesy of two members of Guided By Voices: The legendary Robert Pollard and the less so Chris Slusarenko. The newest release, Bad Football, finds the boys collaborating again and coming up with a slightly more song-oriented album every bit as perverse as 2006’s Turn to Red. Calling on likeminded bedfellows like Stephen Malkmus (Pavement), Tad Doyle (Tad), John Moen (The Decemberists) and Dan Peters (Mudhoney) to help follow their tuneful and psychedlic hearts, the Takeovers waste no time pushing aside the sophmore curse. In fact, if you like John, Paul, the bass player from Wire and/or Guided By Voices, you’re in good hands with Bad Football.  “Chris Slusarenko knows exactly what to do, guiding Robert Pollard through a musical journey of his own past, present, and future, while Pollard continues to test his abilities and grow as a songwriter. This is something he is rarely given credit for, but here’s one example of where he most certainly should.” —Bart Bealmear, All Music Guide