[SOUNDS] [SIGHTS] [PLACES] [THOUGHTS] [PEOPLE] [PRINT] [PRODUCTS]
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Sardina, [Presents], HitIt!Postal person decathlon; all gold medals, and more mail for me. Lawn-sprinkler jumps draw the largest crowds, and interstate hopscotch is underwritten by the money this record should have made. Michelle Marchesseault is the new sing-along obsession, and when she blows bubbles in my ears, Bettie Serveert only to be whapped at the net by the best double doubles since the Pixies. Bjork carries in the torch 6 years too late, but the fire burns brighter thanks to the Green/Christie/Ellrich synchronized sonic massage team. Commemorative antelope stamps become all the rage; I wallpaper with them. Amazing.
HitIt! Recordings
232 East Ohio, Third Floor
Chicago, Illinois 60611
hitit@aol.com[rating] - [7] [5] [4] [6] [5]
[talent]
[energy]
[attitude]
[risk]
Satisfact, [The Unwanted Sounds Of Satisfact], UpMocket plus Modest Mouse, or Cure and The Bunnymen with lots of "-ion". Matthew Steinke is on a serious Lunar Lander left-right-thrust binge, and along with the other men in black, has brought back Reagan and Max Headroom. 90's 80's for 70's born hipsters, this is the record which techs-out the mod-squad. "Escapism for the Future" is slinky-dinky anti-kryptonite for the synth-bass-guit lover in all of us, and "Hydrograft" harkens my 8th grade graduation walkman, smooth gray and always tuned to Live 105. I'm quite satisfied with this mopey-sway-bounce.
Satisfact
5918 128th Ave. S.E.
Bellevue, WA 98006Up Records
PO Box 21328
Seattle, WA 98111-3328
up@subpop.com
http://www.subpop.com/up[rating] - [6] [6] [7] [6] [5]
Scrawl, [Travel On, Rider], ElektraScrawl
PO Box 82058
Columbus, OH 43202[rating] - [7] [5] [6] [6] [5]
Secret Square, [Secret Square], Elephant 6Hilarie Sidney (Apples in Stereo) and Lisa Janssen (ex Neutral Milk Hotel) know how to do the neato-music freak-out, as this 7-song EP attests to. Sounds like atypical Elephant 6 wonderment, only with twice the lounge-quotient. "I've Been Watching" has great guitar toneage (and Hilarie vocalization to die for, thanks!), "Plunky" is psychakabuki-core, "We Know" and "I Love J.S." have heavy psychic radio-station rotation, "Sparkly Green Couch" is Yo La bliss, "Sad Endings" puffy-clouds comfortable, and "Means of Escape" something beautiful that I can't adequately peg (Stereolabapples, perhaps). Choose the Secret Square.
The Elephant 6 Recording Co.
PO Box 18326
Denver, CO 80218-0326[rating] - [6] [4] [4] [6] [6]
Self, [Subliminal Plastic Motives], Spongebath/ZooOne man Salvation Army, 8-Track salvage in digital stereo. Starts shiny and ends up a cheap [Waterworld] without Costner - far closer to perfect, sight unseen. Matt (and Mike) Mahaffey are the Ringling Bros. of post-product placement; when they come over for dinner I excuse myself to slam dance with favorite t-shirts, under strobe lights amongst Kool-Aid incense. Transmutes frequent flier miles into phone card minutes, and makes certain F. Black prodigies seem like bored burger-flippers singing into drive-through mics. First time heard was first time hooked, last time sung-along was best time yet.
[rating] - [6] [5] [4] [6] [5]
Shove/Torpedo, [Tandem], Schizophonic/OmnibusMajor "Big One" brings the bay to Davis, and Shove plays all the standing-room only dock parties. Was I screaming, were they screaming, or have the Breeders become the Boredoms? Bounce all grapes off of windshields first, ride your bicycles in the freeway fast lane, wash your hair with garden hoses and gravel, just don't scratch this CD. Else, Torpedo will beat you silly after the Shove econo-yacht comes into port, like sidewalk chalk people surfing down the drain. Sone goes rural, beats Rodan at racquetball, and gets a lucrative yet short paper route, all before recess ends.
Shove
PO Box 4522
Davis, CA 95617Shove
[rating] - [5] [5] [4] [4] [4]
Torpedo
[rating] - [5] [5] [3] [3] [3]
[attitude]
Simple Ones, [Two Cups For A Tale], Shangri-LaAll hail the Simple Ones! Jim, Roy and Jared are my personal muses, concocting Lollapawinner music for the kilogram masses. Meaning that this, their second album, has the hugely complex Pavesonetengo sound that befriends the Grifters (in more ways than one), and will no doubt be as underappreciated as their first masterpiece was. This is a dying shame, because all 14 segments make me ice cream shiver, especially "Dealing For Now!" which is one of the best songs of the year, hands down. Guitar friendly garden hose jump-around atmospheric vibrations that you deserve to hear, the Simple Ones rule.
Shangri-La Records
1916 Madison Ave.
Memphis, TN 38104[rating] - [7] [6] [6] [5] [6]
Sincola, [Crash Landing In Teen Heaven], CarolineFrank Black Frances, spitting up ice cream sandwiches, and the pillow fight continues. Puffy cloud strangulation, fast-laned Hoover races, but where goes the dust? MTV VJs compare fashion tips, yet there's a point where I jump upon the mattress and scream happy death. Sophomore lockers trashed, and the bleachers are bouncing at the afterschool rally. Did you ever go to the dentist and make radio requests? My tendency is to listen 100 times, and hum happily under sedation. If you ride AC Transit or BART, watch dollars flatten and slurp away. A driver? Then crash into infinite fireballs already.
Sincola World Domination Headquarters
3323 Hemlock Ave.
Austin, TX 78722
http://monsterbit.com/sincola/[rating] - [5] [5] [6] [4] [3]
Sincola, [What the Nothinghead Said], CarolineSweat band caught in bicycle spokes, washing machine bust down doors music, with a difference. Drawing with a crayon broom, spinning frisbees on top of flag poles, making one piece of gum last all winter. The best record I heard a year too late, and the sole reason that's one word pal. Or, the first time is the best time, written in rest stop toilet stalls, supernaturally clean with endless paper towels, and glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling. Rotary phones are better than fax machines, and Sincola is Smurf Village on ice, plus a punk puppet show.
Sincola World Domination Headquarters
3323 Hemlock Ave.
Austin, TX 78722
http://monsterbit.com/sincola/[rating] - [6] [5] [6] [4] [5]
Sissyface, [King Lighter Stealer], CravedogWent to Ozone Records - "Gimme the best band in Portland (except for the stuff I already know)!" Kapow! without the sales tax, Nicolas, Rachel and Lara are one of the land of one-way street's best kept secrets. Every single song rocks in an afterwork-traffic sort of way, with excess fuzz and the honk-honk that won't quit until the suburbs. Starpower meets Gern Blanston, has twins (Pond and Heatmiser) and buys the nearest SUV, only to Dukes of Hazzard over the Amtraks and into the Willamette. Produces sounds that fell and plant trees at the same time - brilliant.
Sissyface
PO Box 40522
Portland, OR 97240-0522Cravedog Records
PO Box 1841
Portland, OR 97201
http://www.temeport.com/~swamp/cravedog.html[rating] - [7] [6] [6] [6] [5]
The Sonora Pine, [The Sonora Pine], QuarterstickQuarterstick Records
PO Box 25342
Chicago, IL 60625[rating] - [7] [6] [5] [7] [7]
supersport 2000, [Pinkslip] (CD5), Boys Lifethat cat. vs. that dog., and that girl. makes this boy. happy. Cherielynn Westrich is Princess Leia with stormtrooper gun, blowing holes in all members of [Party of Five], except that cute [Craft] person. When a whole bag of unwrapped marshmallows falls into the fire, grab your station wagon, take the long way to the beach, and draw maps to the stars' homes in the sand. Surfers sliding in with arms outstretched for this month's [CMJ] soon hit the streets and break into Tower Records with boards flying. Yeah, stranger things have happened at the new band wrestling match. Yipes.
supersport 2000
1128 Gower
Los Angeles, CA 90038[rating] - [6] [5] [4] [4] [3]
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