I’ve raved about the music of Peter Sagar before (see: Outdoor Miners Sans AIDS) so naturally the debut album from his newest project Homeshake was a welcome addition to this week’s new listening. The Homeshake Tape : 200 tapes and a cheapo digital download courtesy of Fixture Records cramming nine warped ’n’ sometimes sleazy sometimes bummed-out soft-rock jams into yr head. You might even get away with calling a song like “Moon Woman” “ennui swag.” Weirdo cartoon and sci-fi between-song samples included — remember when Saturday morning cartoons were something you watched as a kid? With Homeshake it’s like the same deal except you’re probably stoned broke and have some degree of adult sadness. (It’s okay — just listen to the tape again.)
Sacred Bones continues to start 2013 off strong with another pair of releases this week this time with new albums from Chilean psych-rock acts Föllakzoid and The Holydrug Couple . The Holydrug Couple’s Noctuary shows quite a change from the duo’s earlier EPs trading in nondescript blues-rock foundations for a more meticulously layered approach packed with ’60s-style fuzz lush reverb and the sort of esthetic nuance you’d imagine from a band that actually built its own recording studio. Anyone who caught onto this kind of psych-pop with Tame Impala last year should definitely consider giving Noctuary a listen; instead of mistaking “that new band you’re into” for The Beatles again your parents might think you’ve branched out into Love.
Meanwhile calling all krautrock fans: Föllakzoid’s II is a fresh set of Neu!-worshipping space rituals all hail the motorik and those who travel into the cosmos with it. One look at the stars on the cover and you’ll know what you’re in for. There’s definitely some Can and Hawkwind influence on display here yet while II may not boast the most innovative approach of all time these five lengthy tracks are quite a trip packed with memorable guitar lines tasteful synth tones and steady rhythmic precision keeping everything in constant motion.
Faux punks young and old you’ve not been forgotten amidst all the “pop” this and “soft-rock” that: there are new records from FIDLAR and Bad Religion to hear this week! The former may as well be sponsored by Mountain Dew for how obnoxiously inconsequential it is but y’know “fuck it dog life’s a risk” or whatever — blech give me a crab juice. The latter is a new Bad Religion album so anybody who cares already knows that True North sounds like the 30 other Bad Religion albums. Has someone formed a band or released an album called “Phantasmal Myriads of Sane Bucolic Birth” yet? Oh goodness you actually get some poor soul’s Livejournal page if you Google that! Well at least Bad Religion might have encouraged some angry youth to pick up a dictionary once or twice which is more than I can say for Pitchfork ’s token American punk band of 2013….
