Friday, June 28, 2013

Vol. 4 Episode 25



Beck has a new single being released on 12” vinyl. The song is called Defriended. You can get it now from his shop.

Coming up next week will be the new remix album from Family Force 5 called Reanimated. I am very excited about this one!

On with the show...


In support of the latest album the third single was released in mid June 2013. It was released on Slumberland Records in the US. The song is the title track for the latest album, their second album to date. It is a no frills release, black vinyl 7” with two tracks.

Here’s what I wrote in Vol. 4 Episode 6 ,”Waiting For Something To Happen is the title track for the album and has a great beat to it. I am not sure if it is single worthy but it is a great danceable song. It seems to be about being not sure about what to do in a given situation. The chorus sings, “ Everybody’s crazy, what’s your excuse baby, standing in the middle, waiting for something to happen.” It reminds me of middle school dances when they use to have video screens up. I remember everyone dancing and I would just stand there watching some of the videos play. All of my friends would try to get me to dance but I couldn’t really dance anyway.”

Apparently, as we see with this single release, Waiting For Something To Happen is single worthy and I am happy to see the song released as such. It keeps pushing the band more into the public eye. I am very excited for the band and any release that they are able to put out.

The B side track, Perpetual Motion, is a foray into a new realm for the group. It is a very psychedelic track that reminds me of something that The Beatles may have attempted back in the day. The track was recorded in New York during the last US tour. The song doesn’t have any drums in it. One of the two guitar parts that are on the track was reversed to give it that psychedelic sound. The lead vocals are double tracked and in the chorus the male vocals give the only bass sounds in the song. It is a really simple but cool track.

This CD sampler came with my veronica falls single. It features seventeen tracks from the past and near future releases. Upon looking at the releases I found that I had nine of the tracks on the sampler already. I was excited to hear those other eight tracks though. Internet streaming on the computer is totally inferior to listening to the music on the stereo.

I wanted to hear the new English Singles track called Ordinary Girls. I wasn’t too keen on the vocals for the group but the song is very pop. I just don’t think that I can get over the vocalists singing style.

I wanted to hear the new single from Kids On A Crime Spree track called Creep The Creeps. I was pleasantly surprised with this track and will probably pick up some more from the group. The simple guitar riff is killer. I like this track a lot.

The next track that I wanted to hear from the sampler was from a band called Girls Names. The track is called Hypnotic Regression. The high hat in the drums is being passed through a phaser and sounds so cool. I also like the staccato notes played through the guitar that has the echo pedal on it. That is super cool as well. I like the vocalists singing style too. I will probably be getting some music from them as well.

The next two tracks were from The Spectrals and The Mantles. The tracks were called Milky Way and Brown Balloon respectively. The Spectrals were trying to hit something from the 80s but it didn’t sit right with me. The Mantles were in the groove of Golden Grrrls but in a different fuller sound. It is not that I don’t like them but there is only so much of that style that I can handle and Golden Grrrls is where I stop.

The next two tracks were from Alo Darlin’ and Evans The Death. The tracks were called Northern Lights and Catch Your Cold respectively. The Alo Darlin’ track is a sweet late 90s styled track that I think I could really get into. The Evans The Death track was more in your face. I just didn’t really like the tone of the vocalist. I couldn’t get into it.

The last track that I wanted to hear was from Black Tambourine. The song is called What’s Your Game. It is a slower track with droning guitar and soft female vocals. I could get into it just for the guitar work. I have heard other tracks from the group but was not satisfied with them. Maybe I will have to revisit them to see if I have changed my mind.

Here is the full track listing for the compilation:
Veronica Falls - Teenage
English Singles - Ordinary Girls
Kids On A Crime Spree - Creep The Creeps
Weekend - Mirror
Wax Idols - When It Happens
Girls Names - Hypnotic Regression
Spectrals - Milky Way
The Mantles - Brown Balloon
Golden Grrrls - Take Your Time
Veronica Falls - Waiting For Something To Happen
Allo Darlin' - Northern Lights
Evans The Death - Catch Your Cold
Lorelei - Sorry For The Patience
Frankie Rose - Night Swim
VIOLENS - When To Let Go
Echo Lake - Another Day
Black Tambourine - What's Your Game

You can listen to all the tracks at the Slumberland RecordsSoundcloud site.


This is a new EP from Whirr. It is scheduled for release on July 9, 2013. I got my copy a week and a half early. This was put out in multiple formats (LP, DL, CD and cassette). The LP was put out in different colors. The record club version is black center with clear outer edge. The more common color is clear with black splatter. The rarer version is 180 gram black. I like colors so I ordered the clear with black splatter. I am not a member of the Graveface record club so I did not get that version either. If you follow my twitter you probably already caught the vine that I put up of the inner and outer sleeve with the record spinning on the turntable. The outer sleeve is actually a die cut of the groups’ swirly logo. It is very cool but easily damaged. I have no idea what the inner sleeve graphic is but it looks interesting. This is the graphic that I have posted.

The EP is only four songs but is just as beautiful as their previous releases. The first track is called Drain. It starts off with an unaltered electric guitar with just a hint of echo on it. It is a long lead in to the song. It is very pretty though. When the song kicks in it is very slow and powerfully hard hitting on the beat. The vocals are still floating in with the music as has been their style from day one. The lead guitar soars high over all of the music. It is a noisy song but very beautiful at the same time.

The second song on the EP is called Swoon. Right from the get go with this one it is hard hitting noise. It backs off and becomes something better with the band getting quiet and the lead guitar showing us where the song will be going. The rest of the band comes back in with the cotton candy female vocals floating in the middle of the music, not understandable but not needing to be either.

The third track is called Keep. This one had a very pretty fade in with the guitar and drums standing in front. It is a slower track like the first song. The drums sound like they are in the back of a long cave giving them a cool echo sound. There is a lot of guitar noise in this track, feed back every now and again. This one musically is loud soft loud for the most part. In the quiet parts the vocals stand out a bit more. In the loud parts the drums and guitar stand out a bit more. It is a different take than the band has done in the past.

The last track is the title track, Around. This one also uses some guitar feedback type of noises. It is not done excessively loud though. The drums have that echo on them again. I really like that echo sound on the drums. It is a different facet to the drums that is not used much. Joy Division used a lot of cool effects on the drums like this though. The vocals stand up in front of the group a little more than the first three tracks have. The vocalist has a very pretty voice. The layering of the guitars helps to showcase her voice too.

This is a very good EP from a band that has a lot of little releases under their belt. I am very excited to see what else they come up with. Hopefully another full length in the future.


This is the first release from Culture Club. It was released in late 1982. There are many versions of this album. The initial release had a purple boarder around the picture. It was later changed to black. The rerelease was put back to purple in 2003. I found an original copy with the purple boarder. The initial pressings did not have the track Time (Clock Of The Heart). It was added to the US version. Other versions have Do You Really Want to Hurt Me as the first track, as the first track on the second side or as the last track on the second side. I think that the original first pressing for the US has the track as the first on the A side with Time (Clock Of The Heart) as the first track on the B side but it is not listed on the outer sleeve at all. This is the version that I have. I was very confused because this version is not mentioned on most sites.

There were five singles released from the album, although only three of them were top ten hits. The first two singles from the album were White Boy and I’m Afraid Of Me. Both are fair songs but did not fair well with the public. White Boy barely cracked the charts and I’m Afraid Of Me peaked at 100 in the UK charts.

The third single was Do You Really Want To Hurt Me. This was what the public wanted to hear. It was a global sensation and became a number one hit in the UK and number two in the US. The song is instantly recognizable with the opening chords and Boy Georges lyrics. The song was used by the cover band in the movie The Wedding Singer making it more recognizable to those that grew up in the 80s. It is a great song that is easy to groove to. The group also focused on the sounds from Central American calypso and reggae sounds.

The fourth single released from this album was Time (ClockOf The Heart). This song was more of a new wave track than either calypso or reggae sounding. The strings and clean synth bass sounds make the song one of my favorites from the album. The strings take from the disco era but the bass was what kept this track current. The saxophone solo also helped to keep it current as this was the cool thing to add to your songs at the time.

The last single from the album was called I’ll Tumble 4 Ya. This one went back to the calypso sound with a set of horns and the steel drum. Both of these instrument sets set this song apart as unique. The lyrics and the beat certainly helped too. It was an easy song to find a groove to dance to. This is my second favorite song from the album.

This really is one of the great albums from the early 80s for that new wave feel.

That is all I have for now...

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