Review: Xray Eyeballs - Splendor Squalor

By Christian Church

It can sometimes be hard to sift through the contemporary resurgence of punk and garage rock outfits. When does something cross the line between fun-loving and inane? Xray Eyeballs have always made a case for the subtler side of those genres, and aren’t afraid to explore new sonic territory in pursuit of their sound. You can still move to their tunes, even when it’s a slow groove. But unlike many of their contemporaries, dancing and debauchery are byproducts of Xray Eyeballs’ music, not its reason for existing.

O.J. San Felipe and Carly Rabalais have never been shy about mixing their punk foundation with many of its post-punk offshoots like goth and darkwave, even dipping into the well of EBM and new wave in order to broaden their output. The group’s latest in an already prolific discography is Splendor Squalor, just released on Kanine Records. The opener, “Four”, and track two, “Die Little Love (Menthol 100’s Version)” [itself a slicker version of an older track], sound like a cheerful Jesus and Mary Chain, before the single “X” kicks in and comes off like a Rabalais-sung Echo & the Bunnymen track. More so than Not Nothing, Splendor Squalor establishes Xray Eyeballs’ sound as wholly different than their precursor, Golden Triangle (though they cover the latter’s “Cold Bones”), and showcases their craft for executing dark-tinted garage pop. From the New Order-esque “Gator” through the even more syncopated/synth-laden album closer “Summer Daze”, you almost get the sense that, like their late-70s peers, Xray Eyeballs have become bored with youthful posing and pummeling of power-chords. Rather, they are seeking that sound which broadens the musical headspace while still maintaining all the fire and promise of the original explosion of punk.

Splendor Squalor is out on vinyl and iTunes from Kanine Records and you can watch the Micki Pellerano-directed video for “X” here.

Staff Video Mix: A Singing Valengram

February 14th can evoke a lot of emotions, like love, lust, loneliness, nausea. Well, regardless of your relationship status, the staff at GET BENT put together this little video mix to say thanks. Your continued support is all the lovin’ we need because it doesn’t matter if you’ve got five fingers or five ladies—we’re never alone as long as there’s good music to listen to. So read our Valentines below, see the tracklist after the jump, and listen to more staff mixes here. 

To Joseph Rodriguez, Sonam Parikh, Kristen Berry, Mariana Timony, Burgers Rana, Mac Joseph, Christian Church, Paul Blawat, Becca Capers, Ben Frazee, Drew Yuen, Doug Sweeney, Dario Garcia, London Washington, Lisa Parisi, Joey Genovese, Zach Braun, Jonathan Markley, Ruby Perez, Steffan Hofland, Marcus Wilen, Daniel Clodfelter, Kat Bee, Tiffany Minton, Eric Davidson, Perry Shall, Pedro Hernandez, Hayley Grimes, Jonathan Carpinteyro, Mitchell Goldstein, Ryan Yelencsics, Matt Garlick, Adrienne Deeble, Sean Posila, Toby Sligo, Emmet Brault, Bobby Moore, Craig Storm, Seth Graves, Luke Buckley, John Grega, Katie Sands, Lisa Easterling, Johann Sorensen, Matt Johnson… I love you all. Thanks for everything that you’ve done for GET BENT. - Rebecca

Roses are red, violets are blue… Ah, fuck it, let me buy you guys a beer. - Kristen

Would you be my date to the rock and roll show? Circle yes or no. xoxo - Lisa

I LIKE TURTLES - Drew and Doug

Thanks for reading and supporting Get Bent. It makes me insanely happy. You know what would make me even happier? Instead of buying your significant other something frivolous on Valentine’s Day, buy them a record from their favorite band. A simple gesture like that makes everybody happy, keeps that band going, and gives us stuff to write about. Music is the best! - Zach

I love very few things in this world. Some people would even go as far as to call me a “hater”. One of the few things I DO actually love though are records. They’re just so damn great. I wanna bathe in them and have children with them and all sorts of other weird shit. So naturally, the people I love most are people who also love records. Let me spell it out for ya.. Those people are YOU!!! If you are reading this, that means you read my favorite site in the world, and I have a crush on you. You are my favorite people. Fans and supporters of great music. All of you are invited to spend this V-day spinning our favorite records at my house. Hope to see ya soon! xoxo - Joey

People who read Get Bent: You’re fucking awesome. Your support has built this musical home-base that I’m sure tons of us were looking for (I know I was). Happy Valentine’s Day and thank you. - Ruby

Thanks for not liking shit music! - Steffan

“She says, ‘Hey babe, take a walk on the wild side.
He said, ‘Hey babe, take a walk on the wild side.’” - Lou Reed
<3,
Burgers

In these troubling times, we’re glad you can take a moment to read what we think about the latest punk albums. - Christian

Happy Valentine’s Day! Don’t forget to mail a highly collectible 7-inch to your place of employment and pretend it came from your secret admirer. - Tiffany

There’s comfort in being a record nerd. Fashions fade, people change, shit happens, and bands break-up; but no matter what, the music will always love you back. My Valentine’s wish for you, dear reader, is that you have a record that loves you so much, it’s always playing in your heart. And if you don’t, I hope you find it here. Thanks for reading. - Mariana

If I could, I would write each and every one of you a valentine. But I can’t, so this’ll have to do. I think yer cute. Wanna get stoned and listen to some records with me? xo, Sonam

-Joseph

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Review: Cloud Nothings - Attack on Memory

By Christian Church

The first wave of emo pop is often treated the same as the first wave of popular grunge. Rising out of the underground at an alarming pace, it immediately connected with disaffected youth as a result of wearing its hurt and anger so blatantly on its sleeve. But this melodrama quickly spilled over and the few innovators and originals were consumed by the larger wave of bombastic, generic replicants. They also share the fact that artists are beginning to incorporate some of the music’s best elements as they revive the sounds they so passionately connected with growing up.

Cloud Nothings’ newest LP, Attack On Memory, begins with a powerful but subtle post-hardcore number, “No Future No Past”, before erupting into the 8+ minute epic “Wasted Days”. For an emo-tinged punk album, a song of this length may seem troublesome, but with so many similarities to post-hardcore acts like …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, the song is a powerful yet nimble statement whose only downside is its early appearance. The album certainly could have handled more exquisitely crafted songs of this manner, dabbling in experimental sound touches while careening through a bleak and hopeless tale of unfulfilled promises and days gone by. The following six tracks, which often dip into the pop punk well, can’t help but feel slightly stilted after “Wasted Days”. Still, tracks like “No Sentiment” and “Cut You” help Cloud Nothings and Dylan Baldi firmly establish their sound and name as something more than its peers.

You can stream “Wasted Days” below and head to Carpark Records to grab your copy of the album sure to be appearing on many Best of the End of the World mixes this December.

Cloud Nothings - Wasted Days by Tiago Cristóvão 1

Review: Jack of Heart - Only Seven Inches for Your Girlfriend?

By Christian Church

For six years now, Jack of Heart have been releasing a slew of garage rock singles on indie labels such as Nasty Product, Rob’s House Records, and Slovenly. The downside of the 7” however, means that many of these tunes were only heard by the handful of people who could get a copy of the Parisians’ limited run releases. Thankfully, Teenage Menopause has remastered eleven of those tracks and put them together as the cleverly titled Only Seven Inches For Your Girlfriend? and given the whole package new life as a run of 500 vinyl records, an everlasting digital version, and a fantastically trippy (Inside-Out Boy inspired?) album cover. The production of the collection is some of the most immaculate in the genre, which helps to highlight the more lounge (“It’s You Baby”) and psychedelic (“Tell Me Lyres”) elements of Jack Of Heart’s brand of garage music. Even when the music goes lo-fi, the remastering shines through and showcases some of the cleanest fuzz you’re likely to hear.

Listen to the playful “Oscar Wilde” below and head over to the Teenage Menopause Bandcamp to get yourself a copy of Only Seven Inches.

Review: Nightmare Boyzzz - Nuclear Summer 7”

By Christian Church

Nightmare Boyzzz are a surf rock band, not in the dreamy, reverbed guitar style you may be thinking of, but rather in the sense that from the rollicking beat to the boyish vocals, they hearken back to that classic late-50s/early-60s sound. Lightning fast, mini-guitar solos and plenty of oooohs fill the four tracks of the Nuclear Summer 7”, but don’t start thinking this is straight revivalism. Nightmare Boyzzz take the genteel sound of the summer and infuse it with plenty of modern punk energy and aggression. It’s contemporary summer rock and the songs are carefree headbangers. For a group that resides in Northern Alabama, smack dab in the middle of nowhere near the beach, this foursome know how to elicit the rush and bittersweet feeling of a sunny day on the sand. Nuclear Summer is all over in a blistering rush thoroughly spelled out by the EP’s title, so here’s hoping the Boyzzz can give us a full LP in time for the next solstice.

“Nuclear Summer” has been floating around for some time, but Happenin Records was good enough to release the entire EP as a 7” this past November. So go grab a copy and stream the closer “Batman” below ‘cuz duh.

Review: Panda Kid - Scary Monster Juice

By Christian Church

Last year saw Italy’s Panda Kid drop a stellar split with fellow noise-punks No Monster Club, where both acts showed a knack for weaving catchy garage tunes with experimental accessories. The one-man band certainly stood out with his song selections, and it’s no surprise that several of those cuts made their way to his full-length from the end of 2011, Scary Monster Juice. The four tracks on Panda Kid Meet No Monster Club gave the promise of Panda Kid standing out from the pack, and his sound seemed to align him with the likes of garage luminaries such as Ty Segall and Digital Leather. Tracks like “Panda In Space” are pure electronic ambiance, with “Garage On The Beach” and “Surfer Girl” showing PK’s deftness for merging his brittle punk songs with abstract experimentation. It’s these added layers that make Scary Monster Juice so artful, while staying rooted in the bare-bones sound garage music lovers enjoy.

You can grab the digital LP from Uglydog or the tape from Already Dead, and stream “Garage On The Beach” below.

2011 Top 10: Best Illustrated Album Covers

By Christian Church

Starting with our Reader’s Poll, we’re looking back on 2011 with a series of top 10’s that will cover everything from album covers to music videos, from favorite 7“‘s to favorite LPs, so check back and see what our staff has to say as we make our way to the new year.

There are a lot of albums that came out this year that I can guarantee are amazing, but I just haven’t listened to them yet. So, for my best of 2011 list, I decided to not focus on the music but on the cover art. Specifically, illustrated cover art as it’s one of my favorite styles and it goes so well with punk and garage music, which is our bread and butter here at Get Bent! A small disclaimer: this ranking is solely based on the art, not the music (though I admit my number one may be biased by the fact that I think it’s the best album of the year). So, here are my Top 10 (+1) Illustrated Album Covers of 2011: 

1. Panda Bear - Tomboy (Paw Tracks)

Like the album itself, this cover is beautifully understated.

Panda Bear - Last Night At The Jetty by bigasslens Panda Bear - Tomboy by In House Press

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Review: Balaclavas - Snake People

By Christian Church

From the first synth stab, the immediacy of Balaclavas’s Snake People is hard to ignore. The throbbing bass and drone of guitar and drums surround you as anemic vocals creep in, giving groove to a song that’s already infected you. “Legs Control” delivers on not only the promise of that introduction, but on the title itself. The beat of this heady, darkwave punk is undeniable. Somewhere between the hissing of the radiator and the sunburnt peyote crawl through the desert, the hypnotic pulse of these tunes takes hold and you’re hooked. By the time “Shit Meridian” and Snake People’s eponymous track arrive, punk has been left bloody on the highway, as the band trips and trudges through mid-90s psych-rock. Houston may be their home, but the melting corridors of the Coyote Gospel is where they live.

Let Dull Knife supply you with a copy on vinyl so that you can allow Snake People to properly consume you, and then thank them and Balaclavas for birthing such a creation.

Review: Ty Segall - Singles 2007-2010

By Christian Church

The most beautiful thing about the garage rock revival of the late-aughts was the renewed spirit of lo-fi home recordings, released on tiny labels in limited quantities. It brought back the thrill of record hunting and trading, and allowed artists who would go on to success to have a sizeable back catalogue of rarities to reintroduce to rabid fans. As garage heavy hitters go, Ty Segall has the fanbase and slew of obscure cuts for a collection like this to work.

Singles 2007-2010 pulls together unreleased and out-of-print singles, B-sides, and covers to create a 25-track package of minimalist punk highlighting this one man band’s ferocity and efficiency when it comes to crafting blistering tunes. “Skin” reads like an unpolished Hives song and tracks like “…And Judy Walked In” display Segall’s proficiency for weirdo noise jams, while “Maria Stacks” and “Booksmarts” showcase all the sting and shake that make Ty Segall the favorite he is. If you’re a fan of this man, or looking for an introduction, Singles 2007-2010 is just about perfect.

You can grab the double LP from Goner Records and listen to “Skin” below.

Ty Segall - Skin - Singles 2007-2010 by GonerRecords

Review: Young Prisms - Demos, Etc.

By Christian Church

Young Prisms arrived on a wave of reverb in 2009 and joined a throng of Bay Area psych-rockers who all seemed to share an affinity for dreamy surf-pop. But through a slew of twelve-inches and EPs put out on labels like Southpaw and Mexican Summer, this quartet (née quintet) have managed to carve out a sound of their own. Their latest offering, Demos, Etc., is a collection of demos and acoustic recordings (though they take some liberty with the meaning of the latter) that highlight the more ethereal side of the group. The 7-track EP is bookended by two versions of the song “Weekends and Treehouses”. The opener is one of those electro-acoustic numbers, and gives Young Prisms’s wavy pop a real chance to take the lead. The demo version adds a bit more rhythm and instrumental texture, which beefs up the overall sound without losing the noisy haze of its mellower twin.

Portland’s Gnar Tapes is the imprint putting out the Demos, Etc. release. You can grab the tape here and stream and buy the digital at the label’s Bandcamp. For a sampling of one of the more chilled out songs, listen to the acoustic version of “Weekends and Treehouses” below.