CiTR

Best Coast "Up All Night" split w/Jeans Wilder 7" (Atelier Ciseaux) 2010
Vivian Girls "The Desert" Everything Goes Wrong LP (In The Red) 2009
Pearl Harbor "High Road" Something About The Chaparrals 12" (Mexican Summer) 2010
LA Vampires "Keep It, Turn It, Bump It" My Estrogeneration comp LP (Not Not Fun) 2010
Meercaz "Troubled Hand" s/t LP (Tic Tac Totally) 2009
Nerve City "Living Wage" Recordings 2007-2008 LP (Sweet Rot) 2010
Ty Segall & Mikal Cronin "Drop Dead Baby" Reverse Shark Attack LP (Kill Shaman) 2009
Double Dagger "No Allies" More LP (Thrill Jockey) 2009
No Balls "Suffering Contest" Come Clean LP (Release The Bats) 2009
Shit & Shine "Yes 9 10" 229-2299 Girls Against Shit 2LP (Riot Season) 2009
The Goslings "Everlasting Arm" Sister and Son CS (Rotting Chapel) 2010
AFCGT "Two Legged Dog" s/t LP (Sub Pop) 2010
Topping Bottoms "Towers Of Spines" Towers Of Spines CS (Not Not Fun) 2010
Empress "Empress 2, side 1" Empress 1/2 2CS (Soldier Pumps) 2010

LA's Pearl Harbor have warranted all the blog hype that's accumulated over the last 6 months, even though most of the hype has been tossed at the lone track Luv Goon. The new 12 inch on Mexican Summer, which sold out in a matter of days and is pretty much long gone from distros (try the Nominal shop), is a nice slice of dreamy pop from the sister duo. The A side features the two "hits", while the much more preferable B-Side is two smeared and haunted daydream lullabies that resonate the loudest, at least with me. Three seven inches are forthcoming (PPM, Big Love and Gloriette) and a 12 inch on Art Fag, hopefully in the coming months.

LA Vampires, who recently sprung up out of nowhere, drop one of the more innarestin' tracks on the already explodin' with ideas comp, My Estrogeneration. LA Vampires, which is in fact a moniker for this mysterious sole female project, trudges the same warped reggae/dub path already worn by labelmate (and future collaborator!) Sun Araw, albeit in a more chopped 'n screwed way. New split 12 inch with Psychic Reality just unleashed on NNF, more on that soon. Also, keep an ear out for an upcoming collab with Zola Jesus.

Despite reams of acclaim from Washington Post, Baltimore Sun, AMG, LA Record, The Stranger, BBC Music, and even Rolling Stone, I somehow completely missed one of 2009's most exciting LPs, namely Double Dagger's More on Thrill Jockey. While jammin' some records over at a friends place, More was eventually put on with a smirk and no mention of the band name. Holy shit! Is this an Unwound rarity I've never heard? Did ...Trail of the Dead ditch the pomp and circumstance and go back to the white-fisted anger of Madonna? Dude, seriously, what the hell is this? The record apparently hadn't even hit the shelves of any decent record store in town, but it was ordered in through the local grocer and I've been immersed in this monster ever since. Only drums, bass and vocals, but what a dense racket these three fellas make. The above mentioned bands are obvious starting points, so fans of those post-hardcore aggressors are urged to seek this one out. Highest recommendation.

Thanks to the always quick work of Art For Spastics, I got to the Rotting Chapel site just in time to order one of the last 150 copies of a new Goslings double cassette release. Fans of the Goslings already know what they're getting into, namely, an overdriven-sludge pummeling that's recorded well beyond the red. There really isn't anyone out there making this much of a unique and, yet, highly listenable racket on the planet right now. Archive just re-issued the classic Grandeur Of Hair CD (check that out here) and their collab with Warmth. Archive, with their handmade and silkscreened CD packages, are about the only label out there worth buying a CD from. So go do that, please.

Topping Bottoms are a new-ish band that fall in step with the long line of overblown psych bands that have emerged from Japan over the last 25 years or so. High Rise, Acid Mothers Temple, Suishou No Fune, and Mainliner (all of which owe a massive debt to the mighty Les Rallizes Denudes) are the forbearers of the sound, and Topping Bottoms are there to keep the amps smoking. Eye-popping silkscreened inserts with artwork by band member Ryo, who also did the artwork on the recent Blank Realm LP and cassette release.