Bell Argosy

The Wreck of Bell Argosy
Donkey Town Records [2012]

From the awkward shipwreck cover art, to the crudely drawn comic-strip liner notes, to the post-it submission note beginning with "Hey Jeff!" (what am I? Chopped livah?) I really wanted to dislike this record. And I did upon my first listen. Alright, it's the kind of dime-a-dozen lo-fi garage-y "pop" that's so hideously popular with the kids today. But once I flipped the 45 the song "Yer Business" gave me pause, it's kind of…fun? From there I come to find that the aforementioned comic-strip was written/drawn by chief creative force, Billy Lopez and is kind of a charming little tale of perserverence in the face of age/laziness/and (if the drawing is in any way anatomically correct) advanced conjunctivitis. But it endeared me to this recording in a very real way. Subsequent listens, free of cynicism, revealed the torn-up, sunglassed, rambling bar band camouflaged by my trend-weary prejudices. I can fully recommend picking up one of the other 199 copies of The Wreck of The Bel Argosy - or you can just go see them, they're probably playing right down the street to five people and enduring every minute of it.  

-Brian Muirhead

Joyce Manor

Of All Things I Will Soon Grow Tired
Asian Man Records [2012]

Many, many moons ago my friend and blog-mate Jeff Ogiba called me to ask for a train station pick-up. Since I'm SUCH a good friend (and the train station is five minutes away from my house) I said, "No problem buddy". My reward for this great inconvenience was two free LP's: The Sidecicks' Awkward Breeds and Joyce Manor's Of All Things I Will Soon Grow Tired. Devotees will recall that I reviewed the former back in May as the latter sat collecting dust. I'm writing today to atone for this egregious error in judgement. As good as The Sidekicks record is, OATIWSGT is just as remarkable. Joyce Manor strike me as (and this is nothing more than an assumption) a group of hardcore kids who decided to get together and do something energetic and fun. I hesitate to call it pop punk, due to the extremely negative connotations this term brings up, but I'm gonna do it anyway because I LOVE pop punk. Though they inhabit space closer to Jawbreaker than The Queers or Green Day, the intensity and youthfully ramshackle songwriting certainly abide the title. Songs like "Bride of Usher" and "Comfortable Clothes" are completely infectious pop, "These Kind of Ice Skates" and "If I Needed You There" come off as an all-out attack, and "Drainage" sounds like it was written on a porch swing and recorded to a dictaphone. Thankfully OATIWSGT can maneuver across genres effortlessly due to the compact and precise execution. The only real missteps are "See How Tame I Can Be" which has an oddly out-of-place sequenced drum track, and their cover of "Video Killed the Radio Star", which is forgivable because, ya know, they're punks or whatever. "Violent Inside" is the absolute stand out, a 90 second collision of heartfelt lyrics and pitch-perfect guitar work that I've listened to probably every day for the last few months. This record goes by FAST but it's an absolute gem. This is as simply as I can put it: If you've ever had your favorite hoodie stolen by a girl who WAS NOT your girlfriend - you will like Joyce Manor.   

-Brian Muirhead

Rev. Charlie Jackson

Lord You're So Good: Live Recordings: Vol.2
50 Miles of Elbow Room [2012]

Gospel music is a bit of a secret obsession of mine, I guess until now perhaps, but I just can't seem to find anyone who really digs into it the way I try to. I constantly scoop up private label gospel 45s and small run major label subsidiary releases in an effort to find that one song that really hits home. I'm not a religious man by any means, but something about the intense belief systems behind the performers of a good soulful gospel group really hits the nail on the head for me. In all my travels I've come across some wonderful stuff, most of which I bury away in my personal collection and break out late at night to ensure a private listen, but I am yet to come across one of the original Rev. Charlie Jackson 45s. Sometime in the 70's the southern evangelist guitarist cut a few records on his imprints "Booker" and "Jackson". I'm almost tempted to drop a few hundred bucks the next time one turns up in auction, but for me the fun really lies in the random, Zen discovery of the records. In other words, I wait for them to come to me. In the meantime, however, there are these fantastic collections on Brooklyn's 50 Miles of Elbow Room label. This one happens to be the second volume in a potential series of three. Some of the tracks found on Vol. 2 are sourced from actual cassettes or 8-tracks that 50 Miles's owner traveled to hunt down and rescue from obscurity. It's the sort of thing every next-level music fan dreams to be a part of: music archiving. This second volume of tracks featuring the Reverend who spread his music from Louisiana to Mississippi for decades before passing away in 2006, contains more of his minimalist reverb blues sound accompanied by moving vocals, subtle choirs/crowd interaction and guest singers (some unknown to this day). The record itself is pressed on high quality RTI vinyl, packaged with a heavy duty Tip-on paste back jacket, brilliant full color insert, and audio that is restored/remastered for an optimal listening experience. Here's another chance to find out how truly gifted the Reverend was.   

-Jeff Ogiba

Spider Bags

"Papa Was A Shithead" b/w "I Wish That I Never Had Fed You"
SOPHOMORE LOUNGE [2012]

Papa's got a brand new shithead spider bag. Well at least that's how my semi-dyslexic brain initially processed the cover of this upcoming two-song burner by Chapel Hill, NC's Spider Bags. That's not a bad thing either…just confusing. The title track/A side, whatever you want to call it, "Papa Was a Shithead" soars in and out of your life in a whopping one minute and twelve seconds. It is, however memorable, catchy, relevant, fast and sludgy; It's all the things the kids want right now and the group just happens to be lead by D.C. Snipers's guitarist/vocalist, Dan McGee. They've been to your town already too, most likely at least. What else? They've offered up a B-side on this particular release just in case you'd rather slow it down and hear "I Wish That I Had Never Fed You", which is obviously the grim tale of a pet sea monkey from Alabama who grew up to be an ungrateful, hurtful bastard. Probably not, but if you're stoned enough, staring at the bottom of a bottle of Jack Daniels, and liked it when Paul Westerberg wrote songs that almost made you cry you'll understand this record completely.  

-Jeff Ogiba