Austin Texas' Hex Dispensers play Razorcake magazine's 10th anniversary benefit show at American Legion Hall in Highland Park, California. August 12, 2011.
Black and white photos shot with Ilford 3200 film. 800 ISO film for the color shots.
Photos by Ryan Leach and Mor Fleisher-Leach.
Once again, our favorite new band, White Murder! Taken at the Redwood Bar in Downtown Los Angeles, California on August 13th, 2011.
Photos by Mor Fleisher-Leach.
The Spits at The Creekside Inn in Santa Barbara, California, July 31, 2011.
Photos by Ryan Leach and Mor Fleisher-Leach.
Review by Mor Fleisher-Leach
The UV Race is a lot like Melbourne’s version of Black Randy and the Metro Squad—endearing and catchy, doesn't fit in anywhere specifically, and sometimes has a “horn section”. The lyrics are needy and musicianship is minimal. But what makes the UV Race stand out is a keen sense of quirky, dry humor—something that is sadly missing from most contemporary American bands.
Homo is the UV Race’s second full-length record, released by Los Angeles’ In the Red Records. The album sees the group exploring its proto-punk roots. Its attitude is a mix between Lou Reed’s melancholy and Jonathan Richman’s apathy (before the solo soul-man days). The tracks are symphonies of one note, one finger, one chord, one-two-three-four-strum action. They’re good—lots of upbeat numbers about feeling down.
UV Race is one of those “I Don’t Give a Fuck” bands—my favorite kind. They play the kind of music you could play. They’re accessible and honest. Music scholars probably hate this stuff. They say it like it is, play it like it is.
Review by Ryan Leach
It’s hard to believe that the Bangles were part of the paisley underground scene. But before “Walk Like An Egyptian” and the atrocious ballad “Eternal Flame”, the Bangles had some street credibility and nerve. Bangles(1982)—the group’s eponymous, five-song debut—is a great EP.
Opener “The Real World” was the single culled fromthe record. Susanna Hoffs takes lead vocal. And while nowhere near as visceral as paisley peer Paula Pierce in the garage-punk days of The Pandoras, Hoffs is convincing. The lyrics to “The Real World” are heavily indebted to Dylan’s “My Back Pages” and Gene Clark’s work with the Byrds; Vicki Peterson’s guitar solo in the song wouldn’t sound the same had Roger McGuinn not paved the way fifteen years earlier. The rest of the A side really belongs to Annette Zilinskas; her bass playing on “I’m In Line” and “Want You” is top notch. The B side of the EP contains another Byrds-inspired track (“Mary Street”) and a cover of the La De Das’ “How Is the Air Up There?”. (The latter was an incredible selection, seeing as New Zealand’s the La De Das were about as obscure as one could get in ’82.)
Part of the charm of Bangles is the naiveté of the record. At this stage the Bangles were so obviously in love with anything associated with the mid ‘60s LA folk-rock and garage scenes. Their originals border on clever rewrites of their influences’ greatest tracks. But that quality tends to be a hallmark of a lot of great records—just ask Mark Sultan. Interestingly, the EP catches the Bangles at a brief point where they could claim associations with artists as diverse and interesting as I.R.S. label mates Wall of Voodoo and fellow paisleys, The Last (reportedly Hoffs was a huge fan of the Nolte brothers). Sadly, Hoffs and the Peterson sisters switched to Prince covers and sterile-sounding recordings just a couple of years later. Zilinskas, who from a critical standpoint but certainly not a financial one, left the Bangles at just the right time, joining Blood on the Saddle in ‘82.
Top 5 records
1. Velvets 2nd
2. Suicide 1st
3. Bill Callahan, Sometimes I Wish..
4. Stranglers 1st
5. Kate Bush, The Kick Inside
Top 5 underrated NZ bands, past or present
1. The Puddle
2. The Subliminals
3. The Rip
4. Haunted Love
5. Psychic Maps
Top 5 NZ venues, past or present
1. Empire Tavern. Dunedin
2. Leigh Sawmill. Leigh
3. Chicks Hotel. Port Chalmers
4. Mighty Mighty. Wellington
5. The Burgundy Bar. Dunedin
Favorite Flying Nun singles, EPs or LPs
1. Subliminals, Crystal Chain
2. Sausage Records 4 Star, Wellington compilation
3. Nocturnal Projections, Understanding Another Year in Darkness
4. Scorched Earth Policy, Going Thru a Hole in the Back of Your Head
5. Bailter Space, Tanker
King Khan plays with Gris Gris at the Mercury Lounge in Goleta, California, July 14, 2011. Amazing performance from this North American "all-star" group. Hope they do this again.
Black and white photos shot with Ilford 3200 film. 800 ISO film for the color shots.
Photos by Ryan Leach and Mor Fleisher-Leach.
Brad Eberhard
Top 5 old songs:
1. "Cold Turkey"- Big Boy Pete
2. "Where Were You?"- the Mekons
3. "Temporary Secretary"- Paul McCartney
4. "Caucasian Guilt"- Noh Mercy
5. "Crazy Horses"- the Osmonds
Top 5 songs that aren't really old:
1. "Cascades"- the Mantles
2. "Underwater 1"- Tyvek
3. "Stupid Street"- Home Blitz
4. "Ball of Fame"- Sic Alps
5. "Fuck Her Tears"- Times New Viking
Top 5 bands I wished still existed so my band could open for them:
1. Suburban Lawns
2. Wall of Voodoo
3. Essential Logic
4. Stiffs, Inc.
5. Henry's Dress
Top 5 things I've been for Halloween:
1. Mustard
2. A Q-Tip
3. The Earth
4. A Cholo
5. Dr. Strangelove
Top 5 visual artist heroes:
1. Ralph Eugene Meatyard- optician / photographer
2. Sister Corita Kent- nun / printmaker / filmmaker
3. Alexander Lobanov- mute / dumb / outsider self-portraitist
4. Art Clokey- creator of Gumby
5. Phillip Guston- painter
Tape Man
Top 5 surf bands:
1. Roy Orbison
2. Houghton Bay
3. Link Wray
4. King Loser
5. Planet of the Tapes
Top 5 underrated New Zealand groups:
1. Boss Christ
2. The Grand Chancellors
3. Bad Evil
4. Knife Fight
5. Planet of the Tapes
Top 5 reasons analog recordings are superior to digital ones:
1. Just sounds better
2. Often less options so less fucking around
3. No-one cares about it anymore so you can find it cheap and also sounds unique
4. Less boring to talk about
5. Planet of the Tapes
Top 5 bands on Estrus Records:
1. Supercharger
2. Trashwomen
3. Mummies
4. Makers
5. Phantom Surfers
666. (should be) Planet of the Tapes
Review by Ryan Leach
Wounded Lion is from Los Angeles. To the best of my knowledge, “Friendly?” (2009) was the band’s first In The Red release, followed shortly thereafter by a Self-titled LP. Like the material of their minimalist, post-punk influences (Wire, LiLiput, etc.), “Friendly?” is chock full of barre chords. (This is an abrasive 45.) Nevertheless, there’s texture to guitarist/singer Brad Eberhard’s guitar parts—his playing sounds like a repetitive, modern-era machine pumping out automobile parts; not quite where Wire’s Newman/Gilbert were on Chairs Missing—Wounded Lion is a little more belligerent—but he’s not too far back either. The lyrics to “Friendly?” are so straightforward they border on Dan Treacy’s work with The Television Personalities, sans the Ken Kesey influence.
B Side “Bad Moon Rising” has little relation to the Creedence original, outside of lyrics. Wounded Lion presents a full transformative use of the music. While picking such a predictable (albeit great) song usually produces a banal result—even the mighty Gun Club didn’t do much with “Run Through the Jungle”—Wounded Lion’s Psychocandy treatment is wonderful.
Even if the music weren’t great, “Friendly?” would be worth the purchase price alone for the Penguin Books-inspired cover art. Then again, this is the Lion. And they have yet to release a lemon.