Cassettes – “Wild Heart”
Another banging’ RECORD OF THE WEEK Blog coming at you!!!
When they first met, the members of CASSETTES were teenagers learning to play in Philadelphia and twenty-somethings in vans touring the country. They traveled separate paths and made music across the spectrum but were brought together by the things they had in common. You can currently hear the first single, “Born in the 90s” on local Philadelphia radio stations. The album ‘Wild Heart’ is a love letter to the FM era. A time when every song could be the single, every line could be the chorus and every guitar solo was an octave higher than the last. Sunset strip leads and flannel-draped power chords clash with bar-band pianos and new wave synths for a sound that recalls pop radio of the 70s, 80s and 90s while keeping its feet firmly planted in the modern day. Grab a copy directly from the band or catch them at the record release show in Philly next week!
BAND NAME: Cassettes (Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter)
———————————— Honorable Mentions ———————————————
JOHN CALVIN ABNEY has made a name for himself as a sideman for John Moreland, but has carefully, and routinely, been releasing his own amazing albums for years. The ‘Vice Versa’ EP was recorded in one night at Tiny Telephone in San Francisco and quietly released in 2015. It now has been given a proper vinyl EP treatment from BLACK MESA RECORDS, featuring beautiful clouds of white in a blue sky on 10″ vinyl. This is the definitive version of the open and airy Yasunori Mitsuda and Keiichi Suzuki inspired piano tracks. You can catch JOHN touring around Oklahoma and Texas for the next few weeks!
Band Name: John Calvin Abney
Label: Black Mesa Records (Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter)
——————
THE RESIDENTS are anonymous, experimental weirdos that have been releasing music and touring the world since 1972 and now have a permanent installment at the Museum Of Modern Art. SECRET RECORDS has been releasing some of the Rez (and other Ralph Records artists) albums that missed a vinyl release the first time around. Between 1994 and 2005 many studio tracks and all live performances featured a mysterious, costumed, female vocalist that often stole the show. ‘Loss Of The Lizard Lady’ collects these female fronted tunes in a very limited edition double LP packed inside a beautiful gatefold jacket designed by artist, Steven Cerio. Hit up SECRET RECORDS before it’s sold out!
BAND NAME: The Residents
LABEL NAME: Secret Records
——————
BELZEBONG have been at this for a decade now and over the course of their 2009 demo, 2011’s ‘Sonic Scapes’ and ‘Weedy Groves’ , 2015’s ‘Greenferno’ and their latest album, ‘Light The Dankness’ – they’ve made the style their own and brought a sense of character to the familiar addled-ism of the overarching aesthetic. ‘Light the Dankness’, which is vocalized only with periodic samples, is nonetheless able to convey its sensibilities not only through its titles, but through the bare riffs and grooves themselves. Get the album from EMETIC RECORDS or catch them in LA on 4/20!
BAND NAME: Belzebong
LABEL NAME: Emetic Records
——————
LEMON DEMON is the moniker for original music by web icon Neil Cicierega. As a teen at the dawn of the internet age, he was making a name for himself with innovative, diverse projects when the world was figuring out what to do with the new technology. His prolific work has spawned numerous viral touchstones, including Animutations, Potter Puppet Pals, and the acclaimed mashup albums ‘Mouth Sounds, Mouth Silence, and Mouth Moods’. Hot off the metaphorical heels of NEEDLEJUICE’S release of LEMON DEMON’S ‘Spirit Phone’ LP, NEIL’S 2012 Christmas EP ‘I Am Become Christmas’ is now available! Lightheartedly exploring such dark topics as a government-funded Santa Claus and seasonal affective disorder, this set of 5 spooky holiday songs hinted at the direction Neil was headed toward on ‘Spirit Phone’.
BAND NAME: Lemon Demon (Website / Facebook / Twitter)
LABEL NAME: Needlejuice Records (Website / Facebook / Twitter)
——————
Based in Knoxville, TN and formed on the backbone of DIY ethics and the house show culture of smaller regional cities, LIONS’ style is a mix of many fringe genres in hope to make them all more approachable and originally drawing major influence from subgenres in England and Japan. Their debut album, ‘MTNZ’ is now available again thanks to both BRITTLE BONES RECORDS and RIFF CASTLE RECORDS. Stay tuned as LIONS are currently working on a new album right now!
BAND NAME: Lions
LABEL NAME: Brittle Bones Records / Riff Castle Records
——————
“Coney Island Baby” is the first record released by the old-time acoustic blues/country/pop group EAST RIVER STRING BAND since 2013’s “Take A Look At That Baby”. It feature’s ex-Cheap Suit Serenader and underground comic legend Robert Crumb on mandolin, banjo and Ukulele, The Downhill Strugglers, Pat Conte of The Otis Brothers and Ernesto Gomez on harmonic. A double 12” LP with a gatefold jacket, pinwheel vinyl and includes a 24” X 24” full color poster of the cover, a watercolor painting by R. Crumb. Get it while you still can!
BAND NAME: East River String Band
LABEL NAME: East River Records
——————
Have you seen our new colors and color combinations? Hit us up for more info!
