Long Neck "Will This Do?"
Oh NJ, just when it seems like it everything can’t get any worse, The Garden State is there to make everything better. We get a new governor who wants to legalize pot, Jersey City gets a great new venue, and now we have a new band that is going to blow the fuck up. Yup, Jersey City’s Long Neck features the oh so lovely baratone songs and vocals by Lily Mastrodimos who writes very personal songs in the first person with all the enthusiasm and exciement one wants to hear in a young new band. Imagine Diet Cig and the Buzzcocks fronted by Christy McVie and you will get just a taste of Long Neck. Start with album opener “Mine/Yours.” Long Neck are something to get excited about in 2018 (now when is pot going to be legal?).
No Age "Snares Like A Haircut (Drag City)"
Minimalist noise/art punk duo No Age are back for a world barely deserving of their fine gifts. Snares Like A Haircut (Drag City) are gonna take you back to a time in the ‘90s when I hosted a college radio show and played… oh wait. Sorry, you didn’t have the same life as me. So it’s gonna remind you of whatever you were doing back in the day… Being born? Perhaps hosting a radio show of your own? Too bad we don’t have the technology to make these blurbs a 2 way street–no jetpacks, no two-way blurbs, this truly is a bleak future. Thankfully the Deerhunter-meets-Times New Viking-meets Pavement at their slackiest sounds of No Age are here to numb the pain. Tie yourself off and shoot some “Drippy” directly into your veins.
Ty Segall "Freedom’s Goblin (Drag City)"
There are very few comforts left in today’s modern world. Soup is still pretty good. Chocolate and peanut butter will never turn their collective food-based backs to us. Reruns of The Odd Couple still warms the soul. That’s about it, right? Wrong! New Ty Segall music always fits the comfort bill! If there’s one thing Ty knows it’s writing some killer psych garage-tinged, glam-flavored rock ’n’ roll tunes, then recording said tunes in a manner that is pleasing to the ears and the rockin’ soul of a rock ’n’ roll lover. Ok, so maybe he knows more than one thing (seeing as how I just listed numerous things). Gimme a break! I’m trying to be blurb eloquent while rockin’ my socks of listening to Freedom’s Goblin (Drag City), the newest album from Ty Segall. Filled with raucous tunes that fall somewhere between T-Rex and Abby Road-era Beatles, all through Ty’s patented Tune-Askewer (individual results may vary, ask your doctor if Tune-Askewer is right for you.) Check out the fuzzed out Prince-esque delight that is “Every 1’s A Winner.”
Mt. Wilson Repeater "V’Ger (Merge)"
Seeing as how Jim Putnam’s band Radar Brothers have been on hiatus since 2013, it makes sense that he would resurrect his experimental side project Mt. Wilson Repeater. Here, now, is where it gets tricky. The album, out now on Merge Records, is called V’Ger. I am a HUGE Star Trek fan. V’Ger is a Star Trek Reference. Therefore, it’s hard for me to do anything here other than make Trek references. But this is work! So for more on what I think about the infinitely strange Star Trek: The Motion Picture, let’s hang out sometime. For more on Jim’s new album, stay right here in this blurb. V’Ger (the LP) is full of lush, baritone guitar shoegaze-y psychedelia and dreamscapes. Think Kris Kristofferson meets Yo La Tengo meets Air meets lots of other great things, all at once, and funneled through Jim’s unique world view. Check out the sinister swirls of “Get By.”