"Hide behind a wall of smoke to deflect your dirty looks..."

Pretty much everything you ever wanted from Japanther wrapped up in a pretty bow (or a screen-printed cardboard sleeve with a comic strip featuring the Wicked Witch of the West, same diff). I have no idea what the chronology is, if this is before or after RNR Ice Cream? I'd guess it's not from the same sessions, judging by the sound of it. "Divorce" is one of their most ripping trax to date, briskly paced with metal-tinged fuzz bass riffs that explode into the big obligatory chorus. "Where are we gonna sleep tonight, Dad?" Thematically "Divorce" is perfect for the band, fitting nicely between "Cable Babies" and "Fuk Tha Prince A Pull Iz Dum" in Japanther's growing cannon of grade school rebel music. Flip side "Evil Earth" has as many "who-o-oa" sing-a-long parts as you'd expect from a song that could have been titled by Glenn Danzig (that's a compliment, in case you can't tell from my internet tone), with a few "yeah, motherfuckers!" thrown in for good measure. The conclusion of the 7" is a brief accapella jam that goes:

"Men's room/If your name's Larry, Harry, it don't matter/You can get what you want and get back on the road/Truck Stop Love/Ain't nothing wrong with some Truck Stop Love/Just singing a song about some Truck Stop Love."

I hope this shows up as a full song in the future. More punk bands should write about truck stops.

for sale over at Japanther.com

Two singles you need:



One slow jam, one weird jam, one party jam. Opening slow jam "Lap Dog" is the jam of jams, a grinder with R&B snares popping all over the place as pianos vamp and Dog Dick future croons/falsetto raps over the top. I want a t-shirt that says "I'm a fiend for Dog Dick!"

*White Vinyl 7"*

Check out this vid of Dog Dick @ Whartscape last year, includes "Grease That I Got" at about the 8 min mark:






"Tonight I am riding the Vomit Wave!"

"New Swamp" is a the new track, a real oozer of a beast of a monster. "Vomit Wave" finally gets release on the b-side, as well as a re-do of "Shadowsss", a song originally released on the I live Like This Cuz I Like It full length.

*Green Vinyl 7"*

Both on Holy Holy Holy Records.

Also, go check out the new Sewn Leather track "Cream of the Crap" plus a bunch of other newish trax too @ myspace.com/sewnleather.

Stress Ape played Milwaukee last night. Always a treat. Picked up their new single, "Time Hard". Heavy psychedelic noise sludge rock music. Highly recommended.

Pick up the 7" from their label, Hard Scrabble Amateurs.

I've been stocking up on some great singles at basement show merch tables lately:


Tampa, Florida is not fucking around, people. Preaux Breaux Geauxld's "Electric Fingertips" has an early-Hi-NRG-goes-lo-fi vibe with riffs that feel like they're melting into each other. It's addictive and fascinating in a way that every great pop tune should be. Not to be outdone, for their side Skeleton Warrior write a love song to a lethal cleaning product, "Married to Draino" (with Diamond Hymen guesting as the voice of "Draino" [BTW someone put out a Diamond Hymen 7" NOW!]) that bubbles along at frightening crawl and sounds as if it's makers were drinking the product whilst producing this cut. The vinyl is black with white marble wisps, like a fog machine running in a dark room. Which is exactly appropriate for these bands. Pick it up when you see them live, or hit up Cephia's Treat.
Clip of Diamond Hymen from Sunday:


Mutating Meltdown's "Fantasy" single is terrific. Half of Finally Punk plus the dude from Zom Zoms playing organ. An anthem for anyone living in the (underground music) world. "So, so tight/don't fit quite right/circulation cut off/can't speak, can't cough/so hot, can't breath/this heat is suffocating me." Tell me about it. Limited edition third pressing of two hundred copies on sky blue vinyl via M'lady's Records. Full length LP in the works? Their live set featured brief blasts of otherworldly sonics that are only faintly hinted at on this early recording. Hopefully those elements show up intact on the long player once it arrives.


I would imagine this track being prominently featured on the upcoming JEFF The Brotherhood full length "Heavy Days". The theme that connects this disparate collection of singles (besides all of them being available on 7" and limited to 300 copies or under) is that the songs represent the most coherent and streamlined singular statements yet from their respective makers. "Heavy Damage" is practically a mission statement for JEFF, nicely honing all of their psychedelic, grunge and garage tendencies into one concentrated blast. Available from the band's own Infinity Cat label and Crystal Swan Recordings.