Lisztomania: 6 Reasons You Should Listen to The Mummies

Because everybody loves lists...
Ah, The Mummies. These guys were a garage punk band that operated out of the Bay Area in the late '80s/early '90s. Other than some pretty radical mummy costuming--which you can clearly see above--the band was known for touring in a Munsters-esque 1963 Pontiac ambulance, performing on specifically lo-fi/damaged equipement and their utter committal to released material on vinyl only. All those quirks made their Stooges-by-way-of-The Misfits and The Beach Boys sound that much better.

Man, bands like this just don't come around today...

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The Mummies - Your Love
The Mummies - I'm Down (Beatles Cover)
The Mummies - Stronger Than Dirt
The Mummies - Justine
The Mummies - The Red Cobra #9
The Mummies - (You Must Fight to Live) On the Planet of the Apes

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MP3: Night Manager - "Pizza Party"

Since summer's now in full swing, I planned on posting that new Best Coast jam (apropos, no?) currently spinning over at the 2011 Adult Swim Singles Program, but it seems I've found something a little better*.

"Pizza Party" is a confusingly titled, fuzzy gem from Brooklyn's Night Manager. And though it's more shady than Best Coast's usual fare, the reverb, riffage and harmonies more than make up for it. It's something Robert Smith might play on the iPod while you rub sunscreen on his back at the beach.

*But actually, the Best Coast, How to Dress Well and Ford & Lopatin tracks streaming there are solid. You can download them all (and future releases) by clicking here.

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Night Manager - Pizza Pasta

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Ty Segall Covers T. Rex and I Applaud the Glam Results

Ty Segall, scuzzed-out garage rocker. Marc Bolan and T. Rex, glam jammers. While the combination isn't too obvious, these two go together like peanut butter and honey (I was never a big jelly fan).

Segall recently put out a six-track EP of T. Rex covers slyly titled Ty Rex--see what he did there? The lo-fi aesthetic suits Bolan's songs well, but you'd already know it if you listened to Smith Westerns' first LP or Burnt Ones. Regardless, Segall's shaggy covers tow that must-hear line: conventional enough to warrant a curios listen, convincing enough to sound original.

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Ty Segall - Fist Heart Mighty Dawn Dart
Ty Segall - Buick Mackane
Ty Segall - Salamanda Palaganda

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Craft Spells' After the Moment Single Is Solid Gold, Baby

Back in January, Seattle's Craft Spells dropped a new single and it's exactly what you'd expect from a West Coast band on Captured Tracks: lo-fi synthpop dripping with New Order, Blondie, and Talking Heads allusions.

A-side "After the Moment" and B-side "Love Well Spent" sum up the band's sound nicely, but I'm throwing in "Party Talk," an older tune that I've had on repeat since turning in the first draft of my master's project.

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Craft Spells - After the Moment

Craft Spells - Love Well Spent

Craft Spells - Party Talk

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Kruxe's "Tre/\/\ors" Will Have You Dancing in Your Boots

One minute and 39 seconds. That's all it takes for Kruxe's latest to get stuck in your head all day, like some sort of graboid.

Not only does "Tre/\/\ors" remind me of the classic Kevin Bacon tale of man vs. beast, it recalls the best parts of Wavves earlier bedroom recordings -- SoCal riffs, stoned vocals, et al. -- with the added bonus of keyboards and an unintelligible, sing-a-long chorus. #winning

"I can't believe we said no to free beer!"

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Kruxe - Tre/\/\ors

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Wavves Releases "TV Luv Song," Announces Love of TV

Yesterday night, Wavves dropped "TV Luv Song" onto the internets. The hounds are shouting Black Flag/"TV Party" comparisons, but I call their bluff. The track's just another slacker anthem from Wavvesbro that finds him returning to self-titled form -- straightforward, homemade garage-punk.

Hosting the song gives me an excuse to play Wavves catch-up, so you can also grab a King of the Beach bonus track and his recently released 7" split w/ Best Coast.

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Wavves - TV Luv Song

Wavves - Mutant (Bonus Track)

Best Coast - When You Wake Up

Wavves - Stained Glass (Won't You Let Me Into Your Heart)

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Panda Bear Joins Ducktails, Awesome Obviously Ensues

Ducktail's Arcade Dynamics is only ten days old and it's already a contender for my 'Best Albums of 2011' list.

As if you needed a reason to seek out this album other than its jangly, lo-fi pop stylings and homemade charms, Panda Bear hopped on the LP's "Killin' the Vibe" and the results are sublime.

Grab the Panda Bear "remix" + one of my favourite tracks of last year.

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Ducktails - Killin' the Vibe (feat. Panda Bear)

Ducktails - Hamilton Road

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Listening to The Last Dinosaur (or Watching Pee-Wee)

For better or worse, I spent most of my day staying in sick. It was one of those awful colds where you can't do much more then lay down and even that's a chore. At one point, I ended up watching my copy of Pee-Wee's Big Adventure.

I got to the scene where Simone's boyfriend Andy chases Pee-Wee around those giant dinosaurs (see the movie, it's classic) and it reminded me of this band, The Last Dinosaur. They're a duo from the UK who I blogged about almost three years ago (WHOA).

Back then, I only had one track from the band, "Home," but I loved it as much as I could a full-length. I wondered what happened to those guys and a quick Googling revealed an album released this past February on Rough Trade, Hooray! For Happiness. Talk about musical serendipity.

I've been listening to the record all day and just like "Home," every track is a sprawling, lo-fi, beautiful mess. From what I can tell, most of the songs on Happiness are just the band's mastered demos, which means the LP is pretty much two friends playing whatever gentle, mostly-instrumental tunes come to mind in their bedrooms.

"The Last Dinosaur is Jamie Cameron and Luke Hayden," says the band's Myspace. "They stay up late at night and record whatever happens on a multi-track recorder and a few microphones."

And that's what this collection of songs sound like. The tracks meander, ebb, and flow, seemingly going nowhere before bursting with emotion. The band is always patient, always taking their time, filling space with a collage of instruments before arriving at drum-filled climaxes. Maybe it's the cold medicine, but I'm in love with this record, slack edges and all.

I also really want to visit the Cabazon Dinosaurs.

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Home - The Last Dinosaur
Fool - The Last Dinosaur
Maps - The Last Dinosaur
Every Second Is a Second Chance - The Last Dinosaur
The Song Playing at the End of the Film of My Life - The Last Dinosaur

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Neon Indian's Mind Ctrl: Psychic Chasms Possessed

In case you missed it last year, Neon Indian's chillwave classic, Psychic Chasms, has been reissued/remastered. While I still can't wrap my mind around remastering the intentionally lo-fi album, the LP is being packaged with Mind Ctrl: Psychic Chasms Possessed, a group of remixes from acts like Toro Y Moi, the Antlers, YACHT, Javelin, DNTEL, and Bibio.

I've been pimping Neon Indian for awhile now and Psychic Chasms is one of my favourite releases from the past few years, but this remix record is so good, good enough to stand on its own. Each aforementioned artist (plus a few more) brings something new to the table, pumping fresh life into Neon Indian's now year-old, hazy, electronic jams. I've posted some highlights down below.

P.S. Both albums are now available digitally at your web-vendor of choice, but if you want a physical copy, you're going to have to wait until the end of the month via FADER Label.

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Should've Taken Acid With You (Body Language RMX) - Neon Indian

Ephemeral Artery (The Antlers Fresh Breath Remix) - Neon Indian

Psychic Chasms (Anoraak Remix) - Neon Indian

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TJ Slept on the Spectrals 7" (but You Shouldn't)

Around this time last year, the Leeds, England solo project known as Spectrals released a self-titled 7" on Captured Tracks. I recently got my mitts on it and yeah, it's great. Tapping into the then hyper-explosive genre of lo-fi indie rock, both "Leave Me Be" and "Suit Yourself" sound familiar, but those creeping 50s rock/doo-wop influences add depth to the pedestrian cuts. Plus, it's impressive that the musician effectively recreated Spector's wall of sound in his bedroom.

EDIT:// Sprectrals also released another single and contributed tracks to a split 7" this year, both of which I'll be getting ASAP.

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Leave Me Be - Spectrals

Suit Yourself - Spectrals

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Wake Up, Listen to This New Crocodiles Track

Here's a new one from San Diego fuzz-pop duo, Crocodiles. I quite dug their dirty debut effort and it looks like these guys kept every Jesus and Mary Chain influence emblazoned firmly on their sleeves.

Their sophomore record is titled Sleep Forever and the title track is only a few mouse clicks away. While the band's shtick hasn't really changed, "Sleep Forever" sounds like Crocodiles took a page out of the Wavves playbook, dropping actual production values into their garage rock this time around. Bonus: you can actually hear the vocal mix.

Sleep Forever drops September 14th on Fat Possum.

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Sleep Forever - Crocodiles

From 2008's Summer of Hate...

I Wanna Kill - Crocodiles

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