FOLLAKZOID - "Follakzoid" 12"EP (Sacred Bones)

  Sacred Bones' insanely consistent, and ever-growing twelve inch series continues, with a solid debut from Santiago's Follakzoid.The band formed in Chile in 2007, after pulling their eclectic musical tastes together under one roof, and jamming for hours on end.The SB site says this: "The first time they jammed together they played non- stop without speaking for two hours and were seemingly over taken by a trance without any clear reference point." I'm always fascinated by this kind of immediate connection between strangers.It's a connection that is fueled by a natural chemistry between the players, it's an electrifying, positive energy that fills the room when things just work, and you just go with it.The urgency their epic first meeting has a strong presence on this record.

  Side one hits the ground running, with a track called "IV, III, II, I" a driving, spaced out tune that's built up around a steady, motorik drum beat that recalls krautrock legends like NEU! and Can.Shifting buzzing guitars are phased in and out, and the tones mysteriously weave throughout left and right channels at random.Fragments of riffs break off into tiny pieces and scatter throughout the song.The rhythm section is tightly syncopated, and sounds somewhat robotic at times.Some of this sounds similar to the krauty groove of label mates Mood Duo, but Follakzoid have got their own blend of early krautrock and deep psych wizardry going for them.There are faint and distant voice samples mumbling just below the music, giving the track some extra depth and a bit of mystery.It's not long until things start to build, as the layers of thick guitars, synths, tambourines and other noise makers pile high.Things finally peak, with an exhilarating jolt of rhythmic bliss, and soon the chaos fades out slowly.

  Arabic-Hash is a completely different vibe altogether.The track fades in with hypnotizing "tribal" drum pattern, and wah-soaked guitar interplay.There's a heavy Eastern influence going on here.It reminds me of the more accessible, beat-driven works by Popol Vuh, and that is a very good thing.Elements of more recent kraut worshiping acts like Turzi and Ghost come to mind, as well. After a few minutes they bump up the tempo, and things really start moving along.A distant and swirling guitar fuzz is laid atop a heavily delayed two note riff , as a deep, thumping kick drum and hi-hat repition, paired with a driving guitar and bass, pushes things into minimalist dance territory.Again, they stack layer upon layer of fuzz and dense chords, and then it all stops abruptly, leaving something resembling a helicopter whirring noise in it's wake.Follakzoid have made an undeniably compelling EP, and are sure to kick start Chile's blossoming psych movement in a big way.I suggest that anyone who's into this sort of thing to pick this up immediately.

SLUG GUTS upcoming "Howlin' Gang" LP, out this spring, via- Sacred Bones

Brisbane's outlaw post-punk act SLUG GUTS have recorded a fantastic new LP for NY label Sacred Bones..it's due this Spring, and it looks to be something special indeed.If you are as hopelessly obsessed with their debut "Down On The Meat" LP(Stained Circles) as we are, you will notice a few new wild turns with this new material.The vocals have turned to more somber, almost goth sounding lullabies, and they've eased up on the guitar twang and pummeling drum assault, too, and bring us something compelling and insanely focused.Check out this track from the LP, and see for yourself.

Find more artists like SLUG GUTS at Myspace Music

POP.1280 - "The Grid" 12"EP (Sacred Bones)

  Brooklyn's Pop.1280 have continued to dazzle weirdos (and me) with each awesome release this year.Their debut 7", which was self-released earlier this year, has been flipping sides on my turntable since it came in the mail.A radical mix of dark and ugly post-punk, kinda goth, sleazy rock, and AmRep style heaviness slithers throughout their music, with murky song themes and heaps of witty lyrical abuse.Their recent split 7" with Philly's equally impressive Hot Guts, is no pleasant day by the pool either.Pop.1280 fills their entire side with just a single track.A driving, "Damaged" era nod turned future-punk tune called "Neon Lights".Lyrics may or may not include things like "a thousand tits" and "the perfect hand job".Fantastic.

  These four creep-o cyberpunks return with an incredible and somewhat revamped six song 12"ep, this time for the prolific Sacred Bones label, entitled "The Grid".Easily their most direct and inventive output to date.They are still giving us what we want here, snarling bass dirge, dissonant and sleazy guitar wash, and those insensitive huffs and howls are all there in the foreground.The drum tone has taken a left turn into total industrial clatter.A good move on their part, considering that everything they are playing sounds like it's being played with a metal object.I hear a lot of Pussy Galore's bleak guitar-churning in this new batch of songs, as well as some SPK rattles and early Throbbing Gristle worship, naturally.The first track, "Step Into The Grid" pretty much sets an insanely sharp and gloomy tone for the entire record.A clanging treated cymbal carries a black torch right to the end.Things are obviously a bit different here, yet this is all quite cohesive in musical terms.There's not a single track that feels out of place, or estranged in any way, because every track feels that way.Blank.This is something for outsiders to be thankful for.A place for strange ones, jerks, and ne'erdowells to congregate and celebrate their decay, and it's called The Grid.Wow.

POP.1280 - "Bedbugs" 7 inch single (self released)

  

   New York's POP.1280 (named after the Jim Thompson novel, haha..) graciously give us two very uneasy,pulverizing downer rock jams, and boy are they good.These guys are going to be making some waves in the recent post-goth/punk/whatever underground soon,for sure.And rightly so.
 This band gave me a heavy and sleazy Pissed Jeans kind of vibe right away,which made my ears perk up big time.A really similar brooding bass crawl, slow and sturdy tom-toms thudding away in syncopation, and soon enough their hypnotic guitar treatments start to ring in,with a riff that's painfully similar to something off of Hope for Men.A compliment indeed.Not to say that POP.1280 are some PJ knockoff act,not in anyway.But the similarities are kind of obvious.The vocals are clear and painful,muttered tales about bedbugs crawling on you in your sleep,(hence the title: Bedbugs) and the corporate cluster fuck that is Times Square..Both being equally bogus epidemics,in my opinion..and these dudes apparently have the same outlook on the subject.

  The b-side ups the tempo a bit,as well as dynamics with a tune blatantly called "Times Square",in which the singer goes on a brutal rant about all of the things that make that nightmarish place so awful...or amazing.Depends how you look at it.The rhythm section is wired tight on this one,and brings an early Amp-Rep sound to mind.Heavy on the guitar treatments,and a venomous vocal barrage topple over some rather punishing drum patterns.All in all,a pretty cohesive little record,considering it's only two songs,and I am keeping my eye on this band for sure.They are currently working on their debut LP for Sacred Bones,and have a split 7" with Hot Guts on Badmaster right now.Get on it.
MJO

DAILY VOID - "THE ECLIPSE OF 1453" 12"EP (Sacred Bones)

 
Hot damn!Definitely one of the better Sacred Bones releases I've heard this year.This thing rips and shreds at from front to back.The Eclipse of 1453 is a bit more polished and put together than their previous output on labels like Hozac and Florida's Dying,but not enough to tarnish their awesomely grainy,noisy charm.These songs much more eerie and unsettling on this record.A definite plus,in my opinion.
 
Finally,mid 80's death-punk is making it's way back into record stores.This stuff is starting to pop up all over the place,and it's about time!I love this record.Six tracks of dark and viciously catchy punk anthems about death,dying and things that go bump in the night.The loose,cave-dwelling rhythms and rumbling bass lines propel their rather uneasy,venomous vocal barrage through a tattered echo-chamber.This shit is the real deal.Short and fast and "get the fuck outta the way" written all over it.Specimen, 45 Grave, Screamers, Christian Death, Black Flag, and Flux of Pink Indians might come to mind,and that is definitely a good thing.I hope we get to hear more from these guys,STAT.
MJO

ZOLA JESUS - The Stridulum EP (Sacred Bones)

Nika Danilova is Zola Jesus.She lives in New York.She is barely of drinking age,and already has 5 or so killer releases under her belt.Her cousin is Dead Luke.She plays in Former Ghosts with members of Xiu Xiu and This Song Is A Mess But So Am I.As well as Nika+Rory,and Pris/Cog.This girl is on top of shit right now,and her music is only getting better and more defined with each release.

On her latest opus,Stridulum, Nika and the band seem to be floating towards a more cohesive and somewhat polished studio sound.Not to say that this is in ANY way a bad thing for them.It's not.The songs on Stridulum are solid as ever.They have a clarity that you can't really find on past ZJ records.There is still a deep sense of the cavernous ambiance that made The Spoils so great,but everything is pushed to the foreground this time,instead of looming beneath the vocals and blurry layers of synths.Her vocals are a perfect for this kind of production.Much clearer than their previous albums.She's perfected her Siouxie-like croon,and given it more depth and tonality here.There's some nice harmonies that show off her voice control and range.Her words pleasantly wash over brooding waves of synths,chants,and thick,primitive electro thumps.

Stridulum is by no means her first "proper" album,it's a 6 song ep.But this is Zola Jesus' finest hour.These songs will leave you empty,yet hopeful.Dark sounds for cold nights.But,through the obvious gloom and doom,they are uplifting and radiant.They are perfecting their craft at every turn.A fantastic piece of work by an extremely talented young woman,and she is is just getting started.Thank you for Zola Jesus.

THE PINK NOISE - Dream Scape LP (Sacred Bones)

Sacred Bones has been pumping out a shit-ton of great releases over the last few years.I am finding that each one is more unique and out there than the last.Not unlike label-mates Factums and Dead Luke, The Pink Noise whip up some pretty excellent lo-fi pop jams.Dream Scape recalls the kraut melodies of Neu!,and noisy electronic buzz and bleeps that Six Finger Satellite perfected a while back.These dudes are definitely down with Suicide and Chrome,too.
The songs are really cohesive synth-pop jams,with a bit of fuzz and distortion on just about everything they touch,and all but one staying under the four-minute mark.Some of this reminds me of newer Wet Hair recordings,but they know how to write a straight-forward rocker as well.For the most part Dream Scape is a pretty dark record in overall feel.There are some uplifting synth runs here and there,without making it a cutesy electro-pop affair.I'm stoked to see where these fellows are headed next.Absolutely worth looking into.Recorded in 2007.14 songs in 37:14.

BLESSURE GRAVE -"Judged by 12,Carried by 6" (Alien8)

2009: year of the old-school goth? Seems everyone these days is unashamedly reclaiming their goth roots and really, thank god for it; without the likes of Sacred Bones and Captured Tracks helping to usher in a new day of darker-than-dark releases, we might’ve been stuck in that cheesy post-industrial meets candy-raver purgatory forever. And though Cold Cave is arguably at the forefront of the whole thing (thanks in part to Matador giving them a go), San Diego duo Blessure Grave is far and away the most promising of the bunch.

But Blessure Grave’s latest—and by far my favorite, despite the amazing Learn To Love The Rope EP—can’t be reduced to sheer revivalism; this is an album far more intricate than that. Sure, it harkens back to Play Dead, Bauhaus and even early Front 242 in equal measure, but at the heart of Judged By 12, Carried By 6 is that undefinable thing, a mystifying X factor: it just gets you. Judged isn’t great because it takes a cue from Red Lorry Yellow Lorry; it’s great because the songs are evocative and dramatic. Because there’s something in the sweet sadness of “In The First Place” and its strained guitar, or the frantic layers of melody on “Stop Breathing”, that feels like a punch in the face. Like the first time you heard Unknown Pleasures and wondered how anything could be so miserably lovely.

Of course, that doesn’t mean Blessure Grave is primed to be the next Joy Division—such a distinction barely exists anyway—or that Judged will necessarily be the album that catapults them into the throngs. But if their momentum thus far is any indication (and really, the songs just get better and better), Blessure Grave is headed for a long run of beautifully stark releases—as well as a much-deserved place at the top of this nouveau-goth heap.

{{ZOLA JESUS}}

I am currently celebrating their entire catalog,especially The Spoils,and Tsar Bomba lp's.Both are great records.This is joyously dark music,and I am totally stoked on what this band will sound like in two years or so..assuming they stick it out that long.It's hard to say these days,with something this wildly unique and brave,you know it's bound to implode without any notice.Let's hope not.Here's a few reviews.

TSAR BOMBA LP (TMU) - Zola Jesus, known in real life as Nika Roza Danilova, is a striking woman, with pale skin and long glossy black hair, dressed conservatively, almost primly by rock standards, and with a certain chilly reserve about her. She looks every inch the classically trained vocalist that she is – and so it is a bit of a surprise when she begins wailing into the mic, howling and keening above industrial abrasions of synth and drum machine. Like Jarboe in Swans, she floats arias atop a grinding mash of inhuman noise. Like Caberet Voltaire, she and her band perform obscure sonic rituals to mesh spirit and machine. There is, perhaps, a bit more frivolity implied in these dance-ish synth rhythms than No Wave ever allowed, but not much. If pop enters in, as it does sometimes in Danilova’s sweet middle register, it is quickly swamped by tides of distortion.

Zola Jesus – both the name of the band and the stage name of its singer – emerged out of Madison, Wisconsin in 2008 with two singles, a self-titled 7” and Soeur Sewer. Earlier this year, she and her band – Dead Luke on synths, Lindsay Mikkola on bass and Max Elliott on drums – recorded a full-length, mostly live at WNYU called New Amsterdam.

It’s a short career arc, so far, but within it, Zola Jesus seems to be moving towards ever more abstract, less naturally human songs. Consider the one song that Tsar Bomba shares one song with New Amsterdam, for instance. Here “New Day” lasts just over a minute (versus 4:28 on New Amsterdam). Instrumentation has been cut to a minimum. In the first version, live drums kept strident time and synthesizers washed in melodic waves. It sounded like a song. Now a programmed drum beat splinters and shatters dimly, in the background, and keyboards merely drone. Danilova’s voice has become both more central and more distorted, its gospelly strength chilled with a blast of echoey negative space. It is like blues sung from space, cold, distant and mesmerizing.

None of these tracks are built on catchy melodies, but rather rely on texture, mood and odd juxtapositions to get their unsettling points across. “Sea Talk”, late in the album, is the most accessible, its rattle and clatter beat partly obscuring Danilova’s bravura vocal swoops. “Do you want to know-ow-ow?” she belts, in a rich, pop-leaning voice, as someone hammers at a piano and the drum machine runs rampant. She’s a diva trapped in a metal stamping factory, an artist singing from the bottom of a well, frustratingly removed, but also, perhaps, more interesting for the distance. You catch a glimpse, occasionally, of the liquid beauty of her voice, trilling through the industrial waste of “Flesh” or haunting the very end of “Rester” with ethereal grace, and it’s like spotting a ghost, hair-raising, mysterious and fleeting.

THE SPOILS LP (sacred bones) - Sacred Bones is proud to present The Spoils from Zola Jesus. Hailing from the unsuspecting locale of Madison, wi, Zola Jesus - the alter ego of Nika Roza Danilova - occupy a sphere of sparse industrial rhythms, no-fi drones, and ethereal femme vocals. Those who have seen her handful of live shows, heard her WFMU set, or caught any of the acclaimed, sought after, and now mostly out of print releases on Die Stasi or Troubleman Unlimited already know. For those uninitiated The Spoils may be the most fully realized representation of her sound.

Zola Jesus have two previous releases on Sared Bones, the "Souer Sewer" single and a limited CD of a live performance from WNYU. The CD contains the entire "Soeur Sewer" 7" as well as the three songs from the Die Stasi single.