After a brief hiatus last week (we were, as Bill Murray says in Caddyshack, “Unavoidably Detained”) we’re back with a selection of decidedly anti-summer anthems.  Now, we’re not anti-summer, far from it, but seems we’ve largely been rotting your teeth out with sugary pop confections for the past few months, so it’s time to get that tinnitus rattling around again, just in time for yr spangly Memorial Day festivities.  Onward then, into the murk.

We stumble out of the gate this week with Ancestors’ II on Youth Attack! Records.  McCoy’s proper vinyl pressing of a hyper-limited (100 copies) cassette, this virgin white slab is a flailing piss storm of schizophrenic BM that’s utterly despondent and horrifyingly toxic and, at times, sounds like it’s being interrupted by shortwave radio blasts from WWII.  While not exactly free-form, each side (composition?) is essentially structureless, meaning there could be one song or 45 and you’ll never know the difference.  Their harsh malevolence rains down like battery acid as a completely blown-out morass of humanity struggled to find shelter from the pain.  Limited to 333 copies and (surprisingly) still available at YA!’s site.   

Dredged from the sewers of somewhere is Fresh Meat’s “Saw Her” b/w “Man or Woman?” on Breathing Problem Productions (Rusty from Total Abuse’s label).  What you get here are two sides of ultra lo-fi shit-core that sounds like the brainbombs being given a lobotomy in a dumpster, or someone running Poison Idea through a meat-grinder whilst they are still playing.  The whole mess sounds like it’s being held together by cheap apoxy (as much for the high off the smell as anything) and fueled by even cheaper beer.  People have compared them to Drunks with Guns, but in reality, this sounds more like actual drunks huffing aerosol fumes, unable to tune a guitar and puking on the 4-track; so basically, it’s fantastic.  Still available here but who knows for how long.

Perhaps the least abrasive thing we have this week is the new Young Widows/Melt Banana split on Temporary Residence Ltd.  The second volume of YW’s split singles series pits the Lousiville noise-rock heroes against Japan’s three-headed spazz hydra.  On the A-Side, Young Widows are at their AmRep-aping early ‘90 best here with “Long Live the New Weight”, cranking out a terse, bottom-dwelling rocker that makes liberal use of ear-scrambling distortion.  On the flip, Japan’s Melt Banana take things in a more Boredoms-centric direction than we’re used to with “Pain in Ash”, creating a dense, poly-rhythmic foundation for their twisted melange of supersonic sound and toning down their frenetic grindcore in favor of gurgling, organ-stabbed understatement.  Head on over to TRL’s website to pick up a copy (or subscribe to the series if you are so inclined).

Just like Dr. Dre we’re keeping heads ringing this week, and while we can’t promise we won’t next week, we do have some lighter fare coming up in the weeks ahead, so make sure to stay tuned (and hydrated). 

Ok, after a few snags and some schedule wrangling, we’re finally ready with our latest all-Sacred Bones edition of the Singles Collection. We’ve made no secret of the fact that we love this label, and true to their ever-stellar form, their latest batch of singles are all absolute must-owns, both from sonic and aesthetic points of view. Since you’ve undoubtedly heard us sing their praises in the past, let’s just get to this latest batch of killer tunes.

The first thing to blow speaker cones this week is the latest from Australia’s Naked on the Vague, “Chitty Chat” b/w “Goodbye Dark Cliche”, their first single since last year’s awesome Poltergeist Palm on Skulltones. The A-Side is a slow-creeping dirge that shatters into a billion splintered pieces, voices stumbling over one another, guitars backfiring and a clattering tribal ruckus holding the whole thing together for the duration, only to have it meltdown in its final moments. The ominous clouds roll in on the flipside, a macabre synth-war that sounds like someone shooting angels out of the sky with an AK-47 and gleefully shrieking as they plummet to the pavement. We’re not certain, but if it’s possible for something to be both utterly genius and totally horrifying at the same time, we think NOTV have captured it on tape here.

Next up we’ve got the third single (and second on SB) from Nice Face, “Mnemonic Device” b/w “Situation is Facing Utter Annihilation” and for as good as his HoZac single was, this one really takes him to the next level in terms of pure songcraft. The A-Side rides a wobbling, warbling bassline and pinprick synths into a strange pop nirvana, a splattered lo-fi realm where everybody is obsessed with Bee Thousand and constantly prays to altars constructed solely of Fall albums. Once you make the turn, “Situation is Facing Utter Annihilation” is, bar none, the best thing he’s ever put to tape. Far more aggressive than we’re used to hearing, this searing brace of manic scum-punk is as instantly addicting as heroin bubblegum and twice as sweet. That it manages, at points, to recall everybody from Marc Bolan to Jim Shepard is a testament to both its audacious versatility and shit-caked pop perfection. The single of the year may have already landed.

To end things on a decidedly Beefheartian note, we’ve got the double 7″ offering from Timmy’s Organism, the “solo” guise of Human Eye frontman Timmy Vulgar. Definitely the weirdest platter(s) that the label has released to date, Squeeze the Giant is four sides of guitarded weirdness that drips sky juice from every pore and, in some instances, sounds like several different bands jamming over the top of one another. As you run through these deep grooves you’ll hear mutated blues slop, LSD-addled skronk-rock, a barely discernible vocal harangue and, in the form of “Tree Thirsty Earthquake”, something resembling a gentle torch song, only far more obtuse and ultimately unsettling. Members of Tyvek pop their heads into Mr. Timmy’s Keyhole Wonderland briefly, and even they seem weirded out of their skulls. Heroic and awesome, just not for the faint of eardrum.

There you have it, another batch of stunners from Sacred Bones. All of these releases are still available from their website, and if you act real quick-like, you might even be able to snag one of the limited editions. Thanks for scraping the sky with us this week, and make sure to check back next week when we dissect some of the new(er) offerings on Goodbye Boozy, Regal Select and some others we can’t think of right this second.

We’re mega pressed for time this week at the Singles Collection, and not wanting to shaft our good friends at Sacred Bones, we’re going to bump them back one more week (we swear this time) so we can give them their due and proper. But, on the plus side, we do have at least one SB-related artist this week, so it’s not completely a wash. Anyway, so much time and so little to do — strike that, reverse it — let’s get onto the singles.

Getting us started this week is the new one-sided 7″ from perennial favorites Gary War, “Anhedonic Man”, on the venerable Hell, Yes! imprint out of Italy. Some might say that a one-sided single is a waste of time/space, and generally we would tend to agree, but HY! always has such ripping tunes that we’re willing to let them slide. This one is certainly no different, as “Anhedonic Man” is a slip-n-slide cosmic romp through a vast netherworld of analog synths, taut drumming and sandblasted guitars that sounds like it was recorded by the spirits of Eddie Hazel and Michael Rother in Berlin in 2018 and shipped back just to show us how fantastic our future sounds will be. There’s also a special edition of this release that comes with a bonus one-sided 7″ that’s the same track, only reverse-grooved so it plays backwards. Both versions are still available at the Hell, Yes! MySpace, or if you are in the States and the standard version is ok with you, then hit up the Sacred Bones distro page.

Also this week, we’ve got the first single from Hoboken’s Personal & The Pizzas, the self-titled EP on Gooc Entertainment. We’ve been enjoying the hell out of this slab for months now, but have waited due to them being out-of-print and unavailable for anything other than collector’s prices. But now that the repress seems to be making its way to stores and distros, we figure we’d include them finally. It’s easy to be put off by their 50’s greaser aesthetic — Personal looks like he was cast out of Lenny & Squiggy’s inner circle — but the 3 songs on this EP are fantastic, all rambling along the alleyway with shambolic, Ramones-like hooks and playing that feels shabby on its best days. “I Don’t Wanna Be No Personal Pizza” sounds like it’s being held together with duct tape and some old bubblegum, and that’s more than alright by us. They’ve since released a split 7″ with Bobby Ubangi on the awesome Rob’s House imprint, and copies of this original EP should start showing up in distros (check Florida’s Dying and Rocket Reducer any day now).

It’s a short week for us (the real world has beckoned and we must heed the call), but we’ll be back up to full steam next week, you can count on that. Until then, enjoy these couple nuggets, sit outside and enjoy the ever-improving weather and have a cocktail for us.

As is our want, we’ve flipped the script here at The Singles Collection and in the spirit of timeliness, this week we’ll be featuring seven-inches that were exclusive to last Saturday’s Record Store Day (our newest all Sacred Bones feature will now run next week). Now, some of you may be listening to these as you read this, others may have unfortunately been shut out, while other still may have no idea these singles, or Record Store Day for that matter, even existed. At any rate, we’re only scratching the surface of the exclusive platters that were available on the 18th (for a full list, go here), and we hear some stores may even still have stock on some of these titles, so if anything strikes your fancy, best get a googlin’.

To kick things off this week, we’ve got a pair of split singles from Matador featuring the kings & queen of the alternative universe, Sonic Youth aka Sonik You*h. The first split features another icon, Beck, in a mutual appreciation style love fest which finds them covering each others’ songs — SY tackling “Pay No Mind” while Beck takes on “Green Light”. As you might imagine, Thurston & Co. thoroughly rough up the Mellow Gold sleeper, injecting it with their patented off-key/kilter harmonies/harmonics and some skuzzy meta-ooze thrown in for good measure. On the flip, Beck takes the EVOL track and turns it into a lovely, acoustic cloudburst that, if you didn’t know better, you’d swear was one of his very own.

The second exclusive RSD jam from Sonic Youth is their split with Memphis’ favorite son, Jay Reatard. For his part, Jay’s track, “Hang Them All” is a scorcher, a blink-and-you-missed-it track that bubbles with skittering synth and a clap-trap rhythm reminiscent of the Blood Visions-era. It alone is worth the price of admission, and certainly bodes well for his upcoming full-length. The SY track, “No Garage” is a rehearsal space jam that, well, sounds a lot like you’d figure a Sonic Youth rehearsal would. Which isn’t to say it’s bad, but it’s essentially instrumental meandering with a nice, Kraut-y groove that eventually denigrates into their trademark squall of loping distortion and ear-piercing feedback. Both of these splits are, ostensibly, sold out, but stores with extra stock seem to pop up daily, so make sure to keep a close watch if you don’t want to pay eBay prices.

The Sub Pop stable did their part and released a handful of limited 45’s for RSD, the best of which is the Obits‘ “I Can’t Lose” b/w “Military Madness”. For those not already familiar, Obits are Rick Froberg from Hot Snakes/Drive Like Jehu’s new project, and while their sound doesn’t really deviate too much from either/both of those outfits, it’s still new Froberg jams so who are we to complain? “I Can’t Lose” is less dissonant/angular than we’re used to hearing him, yet it roars with a heads-down fury and undeniable hooks-a-plenty. On the flip, their take on Graham Nash’s “Military Madness” flips the original on its ear, injecting it with a venomous core that’s both touching and destructive in equal measure. Copies of this still seem to be kicking around places like Reckless Records, so if you need some more Froberg in your life, you know where to go.

Lastly this week, we’ve got one of the lost gems from RSD, the super limited Kim Phuc & Centipede E’est split on Dear Skull Records out of Pittsburgh. These were primarily only available in the Pittsburgh area, with some other notable stores (Permanent Records in Chicago, Academy in NYC) getting the remaining stock to give away to punters who came out early and purchased vinyl. We’re not sure if this is going to get a proper release or not, but it truly deserves one as the two tracks here are absolute stunners. On the A-Side, Kim Phuc’s “Rustbelt Noose” delivers all the spit-crusted-psych-punk power you’ve come to expect from them, and has now officially taken the mantle as the greatest KP song yet. Not to be outdone on the flip, Centipede E’est offer up “Stingray”, an epic space-rock jam that’s ebbs and flows with terse psych-grooves and sky-melting crescendos. These are absolutely gorgeous, all hand-numbered out of 200 and featuring fantastic screened covers. We’re not sure if they are still available anywhere or not, but we’d suggest trying Paul’s or Wicked Discs in Pittsburgh if you are trying to track one down.

We hope you’ve enjoyed our truncated look at some of the Record Store Day exclusives, and make sure to also keep an eye out for others like the Slayer “Psychopathy Red” 45 and the totally awesome Jesus Lizard 9×7″ collection Inch as they’re both totally worth your time and hard-earned loot. Also make sure to come back next week to read about the newest batch of gems from one of our favorite labels, Sacred Bones Records.

Honestly, we don’t really have the time or energy for a long, witty opening diatribe this week. Plus we’re still in a half-sugar coma from Easter, so we’ll let the stellar platters do the lion’s share of the talking this week, which, should be easy, as we’ve got some real scorchers.

Getting us started this week is the new single from rapidly rising scene darling Hunx and his Punx, “Hey Rocky” b/w “Movin’ On” on the sometimes problematic Bubbledumb Records. Now, to be fair, the distro on this title has been a bit spotty, as only a handful of stores/distributors seem to have received copies and as a result, have blown through them in a matter of hours. The band had copies, but ran out of them shortly after their second performance at SxSW and are no longer selling them through their MySpace. It’s a shame, too, because “Hey Rocky” is every bit as good, or possibly even better, than anything else in his growing canon; a deviously simple song with an irresistible chorus, playful hand-claps and a one-finger keyboard line that sticks to the roof of your brain like epoxy. The flipside isn’t quite on a par with the sure-to-be-classic on the A-Side, but it’s certainly no slouch. A frizzle frazzled slice of lo-fi bubblegum trash punk that certainly stands on its own two well-manicured feet. Make sure to keep yr eyes glued to places like Goner and Tic Tac Totally as they’re supposed to be getting copies any day now and they are sure to go quick-as-lightning.

Next up is a split between Miami’s Jacuzzi Boys and Austin’s Woven Bones on the upstart Needless Records and damned if it’s not one hell of a first release. Both bands have been tearing it up as of late, and Woven Bones follow up their awesome HoZac Hookup Klub single with “Grown Crazy”, a slow-slicing shoegaze-psych jam that flares up with rumbling distortion squalls, fuzz wah-wah action and heavily FX’d vocals, basically something akin to the Reid brothers dropping LSD in some palatial garden while trying to play the Seeds’ back catalog. On the flip, Jacuzzi Boys follow up their awesome Rob’s House single with “The Countess”, another tasty slice of their southern-fried punky slo-core goodness. It’s stately and restrained, yet retains a burning psych underbelly that keeps it tight and punk at its core. These are still available from the label’s MySpace, so get on over there and grab some for you and your friends.

Finally this week, we’ve got the first release from the mysterious and enigmatic Ean Eraser, “Illegitimate Love” b/w “It Does Not Matter to Me” which is self-released, but has been distro’d heavily by Florida’s Dying. Nobody’s entirely sure who’s behind the EE curtain, as there’s only a shady MySpace page to go on, but whoever it is, they know their way around catchy-as-hell three minute punk-pop firebombs. Each of the two tracks here is credited to a different songwriter, leading some to wonder if they’re not covers of obscure 70s tunes and EE has just gotten the better of everyone. Covers or not, both of these tunes crackle with spitfire energy and loads of caffeinated effervescence, like the Buzzcocks snorting pixi-stix or drinking lemonade spiked with amyl nitrate. FD’s got the last of the pressing up for sale on their site now, so if this sounds like your brand of vodka, jump over there tuite suite and snag a copy before they’re lost to the ages.

Well, that’s all we’ve got for this week, but next week we’ll be back with another all Sacred Bones installment, and hopefully the week after we’ll sink our teeth into some of the Record Store Day-only jams that will be available exclusively at your favorite local purveyors of the phonographic arts this weekend, so make sure you go out and support your local shops!

It’s Easter week and we’re back to business as usual ’round here at The Singles Collection. Hopefully you enjoyed last week’s video sojourn into the realm of Sacred Bones, one of our favorite labels, but it’s back to doing what we love around here, mainly, giving you the scoop on 45’s that are currently rocking our world (and that we think will rock yours). So without further adieu — and so we can all get to our Cadbury Creme Eggs as quickly as possible — let’s get to it.

Starting us off this week we’ve got the debut single from Max of the Smith Westerns‘ side-project, Teenage Lovers, “Number One” b/w “I Wanna Be Your Boy” on Randy Records. Operating in a similar style to his main gig, here he unleashes a pair of three-minute pop firebombs about being a 19-year old virgin, which, cringe-worthy as that sounds, are actually both ace tunes that crackle with the energy of someone that’s bedded as many women as, say, Gene Simmons. Much as its title implies, A-Side “Number One” finds him pining for the girl who will be his very first, but rather than wallow in mawkish pity, the song seethes infectious energy from every pore, riding an absolute gnarled monster of a riff and jabbing with enough sucker punch hooks to put anyone that dare mention his virginity flat on their ass. On the flip, “I Wanna Be Your Boy” utilizes some absolutely blistering, frothing guitar work to counterbalances its saccharine sentiments to keep it from becoming another woe-is-me tale of unrequited teen lust, instead channeling that teen vitriol into a stomping, power-pop romp that will have them lined up around the corner to get them a piece. These should still we widely available both directly from the label and at the usual distros and record emporiums.

Next up is City Center’s “Because” b/w “Water Message” & “White Shoes” on Party Nogg!. For those who might be unfamiliar, City Center is Fred Thomas’ (of Saturday Looks Good to Me & Lovesick fame) new outfit, and while it might get us lynched, we dare say it’s the best thing he’s ever done/been a part of. The duo’s sound is a difficult thing to put into words, but imagine if you will an echo-laden psych-jam between Gary Numan and Kevin Shields taking place underwater and on arcane analog equipment and you are starting to get an idea of the headspace they occupy. This 3-song 7″ is filled with epic, sky-scraping songwriting that gets filtered and FX’d into a gorgeous, blissed-out oblivion that, truly, sounds like nothing else on the planet. At times the sheer sonic euphoria can be disorientating, and “Water Message” is headphone music of the highest order, but so long as you’ve got a comfy chair, you can ride with them into the candy-coated abyss. Their singles don’t stick around for long, but if you email the label, they should still have a few left for immediate consumption.

Last but certainly not least this week we’ve got the first 7″ from Cheap Time frontman Jeffrey Novak, “Three Sisters” b/w “Home Sweet Home” on Jay Reatard’s recently resurrected Shattered Records imprint. This little platter follows hot on the heels of his well-received debut LP After the Ball, and damned if this pair of psych-pop gems aren’t every bit as good as the material on the full-length, maybe even edging out a few tracks that were included amongst the running order. The real shining star here though is the A-Side, a whirligig psych-romp that reminds of the Kinks‘ Village Green, albeit with a frazzled southern flair and knotty 8-Track charisma that makes it absolutely irresistible. The flip is a slow waltzing charmer that, while not as immediate as its counterpart, nevertheless, it remains a more than worthy addition to Novak’s ever-growing canon. These are pretty much gone, but if you act quick, Goner Records should have the last few copies of this for sale now

That’s all for this week, kiddies, but not to fret, because after we’ve gotten all gussied up in our best pastels and eaten our weight in jellybeans and peanut butter eggs we’ll be back with more mind-melting tunes for your ‘tables.

Our brethren over at the FADER have a bi-weekly column written by Jamie Johns called The Freak Scene. Well, maybe we’re freaks, because she talks about a lot of the music we cover on a regular basis, including this week’s installment with Zola Jesus and Emeralds.

Just to catch you up to speed, we saw both bands in the past two weeks — Emeralds in Brooklyn and Zola Jesus in Texas — but along with interviews, Jamie and the FADER have songs posted for each. So we strongly recommend going there and checking them both out.

And as a last side note, Jamie also name drops U.S. Girls who can listen to courtesy of The Tripwire here, and the label Sacred Bones, with whom we will have a video-installment of our weekly column, The Singles Collection, dedicated to coming later this week, so stay tuned.

This week’s Singles Collection is awash in the boozy afterglow of South by Southwest, a festival we survived for the 10th year running… but just barely.  If you are a true music fan and have never been, you really owe it to yourself to get down to Austin at least once and experience the mayhem and hysteria for yourself, because a slew of blog/twitter posts really can’t capture the sun-baked surreality that is SxSW. Soap-boxing aside, all of the bands featured this week were part of SxSW in one way or another (ie – lots of unofficial shows) and are well-deserving of your listening time and hard-earned stimulus cash. 

First up this week we’ve got the debut offering from The Mayfair Set, “Already Warm” b/w “Desert Fun” on the Captured Tracks imprint. To be fair, they themselves didn’t play SXSW, but one-half of the group, Mr. Blank Dogs himself, Mike Sniper, did, and since nobody knows if the goddamn Blank Dogs 7″ on DITG will ever get released, we figured we’d give this a whirl.  A collaboration with Dum Dum Girls, this two track taster for the duo’s forthcoming 12″ EP is both deliciously dour and infectiously joyous, mining fragile Comsat Angels territory as the songs waft towards the sun on gossamer wings and loads of FX. Not sure if it’s being billed as such or not, but it’s truly a double A-Side affair, with the lo-fi Cocteau Twins-like incantations of “Desert Fun” just edging out the slightly more rough-hewn shoegazer bliss of “Already Warm” for top honors.  These were just recently released and are available on Sniper’s own Captured Tracks, but probably won’t stick around for too long, so best get to steppin’ if this sounds like your cup of tea.     

Following that up this week we’ve got The Box Elders’ Hole In My Head 7″ on Grotto Records out of Nebraska. A fantastic 4-song platter from one of the most impressive bands of this year’s festival, this little slab o’ wax crackles with a kind of rambunctious, infectious pop energy you just can’t fake; either you’ve got it, or you don’t. The A-Side alone is worth the price of admission, featuring two crackling tunes, the jangle-licious pop romp ”Hole In My Head” and the staggering proto-punk stomp of “One Foot in Front of the Other”.  The hits continue on the flip, with the racing “2012″ pushing all the right buttons before their surprisingly stellar cover of Redd Kross’ “S&M Party”, a damn-near perfect song in its original form, swoops in and delivers the knockout blow.  Absolutely one of the most consistently thrilling EPs of recent memory.  It looks like these are still available on the label’s MySpace page, but if they’re not, the band definitely has copies and are on tour now.  Go see them, you most assuredly won’t be disappointed.

Last, but certainly not least, this week we’ve got Kim Phuc’s “Wormwood Star” b/w “Freak Out the Squares” on Chicago’s mighty Criminal IQ Records. Definitely one of the Top 5 bands we saw at this year’s SxSW, this PGH quintet thrilled in a sweat-and-glitter-splattered set that left band and audience bleary-eyed and thirsty for more.  A-Side “Wormwood Star” is a snarling, riff-ready death ride down a mountain of blood, with Rob spouting off about Babylonian malfeasances and fornicating witches (we think), all before exploding into a furious, piano-laced proto-punk coda that’ll make you weep like you just got socked in the jaw. The flipside, “Freak Out the Squares” is greasier and nastier still; a lyrical tribute to Dawn Davenport (look her up) set to a rhythm that sounds dredged from the bottom of lake Haze and a never-ending barrage of acid-laced riffs that send the whole thing careening into complete and utter meltdown. Somehow still available from Criminal IQ and a host of distros, so get out there and get you some.

As we continue to flush out all the toxins we’ve ingested in the past week, we do want to tell you that we’ve got a really special video edition of The Singles Collection coming your way, courtesy of one of our absolute favorite labels. You definitely won’t want to miss it.

In this week’s Singles Collection, we visit some of the outer reaches of the sonic spectrum, with a voyage to some of the odder corners. This week’s trio of bands, two of which were reared deep in the ruddy Midwest, while the third is a gaggle of NYC miscreants, all currently plumb the depths of strange aural cocktails and willful obfuscation in their quest for, well, whatever the hell it is they’re looking for.

Getting us started this week is the debut offering from Columbus stargazers Outer Spacist, “The Mind is as Outer Space” b/w “I Talk with Telepathy Baby” on Columbus Discount Records. True to their name, they do seem to be from another planet entirely, albeit one populated by the ghosts of ’60s psych lords like The Seeds, Roky Erickson and Strawberry Alarm Clock. The A-Side is cut at 45, the B-Side at 33, which, if your not paying attention, drastically changes your initial impression of the flipside. Anyway, the A-Side is a sizzling romp, an acid-fried guitar rave-up accentuated by fat organ stabs, wildly oscillating synths and vocal histrionics the bridge the gap between Iggy and Black Randy. The B-Side is just as stunning, beginning life with a strange interpolation of “We’ve Only Just Begun”. then blasting itself into the cosmos on a stuttering backbeat and a skuzzy wall of shimmering, reverb-laden guitars and amazing lyrics like, “i’m a motherfucking space man, baby” (or that’s what it sounds like he’s on about) before the whole thing disintegrates into a raygun-wielding outro that sounds like someone hitting Buck Rogers with a sledgehammer. These are still available direct from CDR, or from your favorite local purveyor of the phonographic arts.

Next up we’ve got sneak peek of the new side-project from Chicago’s cosmic-Kraut lords Cave, Sneakers‘ Children Into People EP on the always awesome Permanent Records imprint. This 6-song effort emanates a hissing, This Heat-type malevolence from every pore, which, is definitely a very good thing. It’s cut at 33rpm, but at 45rpm it sounds like a hyper-speed Durutti Column, or some type of fantastic racket that would have caused people (drug-riddled or otherwise) to go bonkers at the Hacienda in ‘82. Every track here is a scorcher, but the highlight of the A-Side has to be “Chick Freaked Out”, a barn-burner of a tune prone to short, violent outbursts and that arrives crammed to the gills with terse, urgent riffing and heavily FX’d vocals that sound, in the best way possible, like a cross between Howard Devoto and Wayne Coyne. On the flip, closer “Nudes” takes the cake, with its demonic grooves and delirious clap-trapping. These aren’t out just yet, but make sure to check with Permanent Records soon to get you some.

Last but not least this week, we’ve got the new offering from Silk Flowers, “In This Place and Time” b/w “Frost” on Dean Spunt’s always intriguing Post Present Medium, the follow-up to their rapturously received self-released debut 7″. For some reason, it’s difficult to shake the feeling that the A-Side should be played at 78rpm, but regardless, it’s a killer slice of slow-burning punk noir, replete with a twittering melody and menacing keyboard lines that anchor the whole show in the murk. The flipside, “Frost”, is an oozing slice of organ-drenched meta-stain, pitched somewhere between B-Movie horror soundtracks and the incessantly chanted refrain the “It’s a Small World After All” ride at Disney. This is still widely available, but who knows for how long.

That’s all we’ve got for you this week, but make sure to hit us up again soon, as we’ve got some mega-awesome, super secret squirrel surprises (and a few changes) in store in the weeks to come.

This week on the singles collection, we get to delve into a treasure trove from one of our favorite labels — NYC’s always amazing Sacred Bones Records. They’ve just unleashed four new singles (and have another 3 coming in the next couple of weeks) and we’re going to take a look at three of them this week. The fourth, a platter of acid folk jams from Absinthe Minds member Max Elliott, is also a fantastic addition to any collection, but we’ve left it off solely due to time constraints. While it’s difficult to tell from some small cover jpegs, Sacred Bones releases always look as good as they sound, as they really go above & beyond when it comes to packaging. Anyway, enough with the senior superlatives, let’s get on with the show.

Kicking things off this week, we’ve got the first 7″ from NYC synth-destroyers Gary War, “Zontag” b/w “Don’t Go Out Tonight”, their follow up to the fantastic New Raytheonport 12″ from last year. The A-Side is a steeped in interstellar weirdness, all manner of oscillating comets and flying Clusters occupying its Kraut-rocking cosmos as it blasts its way towards pop nirvana. B-Side “Don’t Go Out Tonight” isn’t quite as surreal, but its future primitive synth deconstructions and gurgling melodies wouldn’t necessarily be out of place in A Clockwork Orange or The Andromeda Strain, either.

With batches of Sacred Bones releases, it’s always difficult to pick a favorite, but this time out, gloom ‘n’ doom San Diego troupe Spirit Photography take the honors with “Time is Racing” b/w “Into the Heart of”, a delectable two song slab of ghoulish post-punk minimalism. You’ll hear the faint, jangly echoes of Joy Division and The Chameleons in the clattering and transcendent “Time is Racing”, which is the most perfect crystallization of the late 70s/early 80s Manchurian sonic aesthetic you are likely to find on an album that wasn’t actually released by Factory Records. On the flip, “Into the Heart Of” is already a strong contender for song of the year, its dulcet opening tones slowly transmogrifying into a joyous swell of guitar/organ/melodica that blinds like a surprise lunar sunburst; hook-laden and experimental in equal measure, its shape-shifting veneer makes it one of the more intriguing songs of recent memory.

Finally this week, we’ve got the newest offering from The Pink Noise, “Gold Light” b/w “Prince Charlies Revenge”, the follow-up to a bevy of releases in 2008. The A-Side is a two-minute, fuzzed-out blast of staccato pop, rife with bongos(?) and multiple keyboard lines that sound as though the power adaptor is actually melting as they’re being played. The flipside is weirder still, coming on like Phil Spector dropping acid and falling asleep on the mixing board as an orchestra without a leader plays Rachmaninoff at half speed and everything gets run into the red and winds up looking/sounding like H.R. Puffnstuff outtakes.

All of these releases are still available from the Sacred Bones site for a mere $5 each (plus shipping), and of course, it is highly recommended that you get them all (as well as the Max Elliott). That’s it for us this week, but you can rest assured we’ll be back next week with even more platters to keep your turntable spinning at 45 and your PayPal account drained.

Maybe we here at the Singles Collection are in the minority, but goddamn if we aren’t more than ready for winter to be over and spring to rear its rainy head. We’re tired of everybody getting sick then selfishly passing their colds and flus around, not to mention the general malaise one feels when it’s dark at 5pm and 3 degrees outside. Since the groundhog saw his shadow (we think) and we’ve got another 6 weeks of winter, we figured we’d feature some singles this week that have that good time, stay out in the sun all day vibe. Unsurprisingly, all the singles this week hail from the Sunshine State, where it’s just that little bit easier to dream of an endless Summer.

To kick off the shimmering vibes this week we’ve got Nobunny’s first foray into 7″ territory; “Give it to Me” b/w “Motorhead with Me” on HoZac. Picking up almost exactly where the excellent Love Visions left off, the two songs here are absolutely pop charmers, crammed with more rumbling hooks than a tackle box and reminiscent of a spate of past greats, including Del Shannon, the Beau Brummels and The Box Tops to name but a few. The A-Side is two minutes of incredibly infectious lo-fi bubblegum trash-pop, replete with a so-simple-it’s-genius arrangement and a chorus that rattles around in your head like pac-mac and refuses to leave. B-side “Motorhead with Me” is equally as devastating, if not potentially more so, and is definitely in the running for the best song he’s ever laid to tape. The first edition of this sold out in a flash, but if you act quick, you can get one of the second editions on red from HoZac’s MySpace.

Next up, we’ve got the debut offering, in the form of a self-titled 4-song EP, from San Francisco’s The Fresh & Onlys on Kelly Stoltz’s new Chuffed imprint. Channeling the vintage sounds of their home city, the tunes here are filled with lush 60s-inspired harmonies and slow-burning bits of 70s soft-psych, all wrapped up with deliciously deadpan vocals a la Lou Reed or Lee Hazelwood minus the copious amount of ‘ludes. “Imaginary Friends” sounds like a lost AM radio gem, its delightfully strummy cadence and buoyant, sing-song quality emanating joyous noise from every pore. “Endless Love” may well be the best tune off the record, a snarling riff (and a wicked solo) rides a simple beat while loads of female backing vocals crash in over the top, giving the whole thing a decidedly Zombies-esque feel. This first (and only?) pressing is limited to just 300 copies, and while they seem to be going fast everywhere you look, if you act quick you can probably still grab one from the label’s MySpace.

Last, but certainly not least, we’ve got a pair of singles from beachcombing scuzz-pop troubadour of the moment, Wavves, “So Bored” b/w “How are You” on Young Turks out of the UK and “California Goths” b/w “Here’s to the Sun” on Fat Possum. Out of the pair, the “So Bored” single is definitely the one worth tracking down, as B-Side “How are You” is exclusive to this release, and is an awesome slab of wide-eyed skree-pop that only Wavves could write. Plus, “So Bored” is one of the best tunes he’s ever written, even though it apears on the Wavvves full-length and just about everywhere else these days. The “California Goths” single is a bit puzzling, as both of these songs are on the previous full-length, but they’re both great tunes, and completists will want this anyhow. As you might imagine, both of these are a bit hard to come by, but with some crafty Google searching, you should be able to find a copy of each. Or you can get them from the boy wonder himself if you catch him on his current tour.

Hopefully we’ve been able to bring at least a little bit of sunlight into your Wintery world this week, and hey, it’s warming up ’round here, so maybe our wishful thinking is actually working! Regardless, we’ll be back next week with more tasty platters for your listening pleasure.

This week on the Singles Collection we’re headed down to the Lonestar State, specifically to its capitol, Austin, where they’re currently dredging up some of the best modern hardcore to be found anywhere on the planet. It’s almost an embarrassment of riches down there, and we’re only scratching the surface here, so let’s stop wasting time and get to the action.

Getting us going this week is the newest release from Mammoth Grinder, the No Results EP on the ever-awesome Inkblot Records. The follow-up to their awesome Rage and Ruin LP, this four song belter is a fire-breathing behemoth of His Hero is Gone-style HxC spiked with classic metal (think Sabbath or Priest) flourishes, a bracing kick of crusty, crushing down-tuned madness for people who hate everything and everyone. Lucky for you filthy hessians, it’s still available from the label’s MySpace

Next up we’ve got the first offering from MG offshoot Branch Davidian, the Party O’ Clock EP on Depleted Resource/Sick Thought Records. They’re the drunken older brother who never quite moved out of your parents’ basement, and who still walks around in sleeveless Anthrax t-shirts and denim vests talking about bitchin’ Cameros and that time in the parking lot of the arena when he did 7 beer bongs in a row and like, totally made it with this chick. Their sound is more or less straight-ahead ’80s thrash with bits of power-violence tossed in for good measure. They’re less cartoon-y than Municipal Waste, but no less destructive, and “Dumpster Girls” and “Get the Fuck Out” are two of the best thrash-burners of recent memory. Limited to 350 copies on (ironically) virgin white wax, these are still available at the labels’ respective MySpaces. Buy or Cry.

Last, but certainly not least, we’ve got Total Abuse’s Sex Pig EP on Deranged Records of Canada. This crew have been making waves as of late with their fucking crushing self-titled LP, but Sex Pig pre-dates it by a year or so, and while they’ve evolved into an absolute destroyer of a band, the seeds of their havoc were definitely planted here: Seven tracks in (just over) seven minutes and utter sonic obliteration a la Violent Apathy or D.R.I. or something equally as muddy and demented. These are still available from the label and from a few scant distributors, but not sure for how long, so if you are into it, better grab one.

Next week we promise to get back into it with songs with actual melodies and hooks and all that fun stuff. But we’d be lying if we said we hadn’t really, really enjoyed pummeling your eardrums with the last two week’s worth of picks.

This week’s Singles Collection finds us delving into a heaping pile of hiss, fuzz, skuzz and feedback, and just might leave you lot reaching for earplugs and some Advil. Yessir, we’re taking a detour from pure pop pleasantries this week, opting instead for an altogether nastier brand of aural excitement (or excrement, as the case may be) that, if nothing else, is thought-provoking in a vicious manner, you know, like Fight Club or any Nick Zedd film you’d care to mention.

Starting us off this week is (most probably) the last single from perennial Philly skull-rock powerhouse Clockclean Er, “Skinheaded Lady” b/w “Hate City” on Stained Circles Records out of Australia. Released to accompany the band on their trek down under, it may also serve as their recorded epitaph, as they have recently announced their plans to disband. If that truly is the case, then the A-Side is one hell of a send-off; propelled by a gnarled, knotty blues riff twisted and distorted beyond all recognition, the song lurches around like an alcoholic uncle in search of sweet lunacy and more Seagram’s 7 and eventually degenerates into a smoldering pit of de-tuned caterwauling and shame. The B-Side ain’t no prettier, a rancid cover of X’s “Hate City” that makes the original sound like bunnies picking daisies on a fresh meadow. This was intended to be Australia-only, but the fine folks at Fan Death Records have imported the last copies of this vile slab, so get over to their site post haste if you need to cop one (or a feel).

To follow that vile ooze we’ve got Altars‘ Das Vergewalteigte EP on Youth Attack, which, as luck would have it, is and even messier platter of spilled guts. It’s difficult to tell exactly how many tracks are here, but ostensibly, there are two — “Das Vergewalteigte” and “Hass Ist Reinhelt” — though each side goes through so many different horrifying sonic permutations that who knows if that’s true or not. Their metastain is, by origin, rooted in black metal, but even by those standards, the fried tape hiss, screaming/croaking and ghastly clanging are disgusting. There’s a “solo” midway through the A-Side that sounds like someone dry humping the guitar. Not exactly sure what they’re putting in the water out there in Columbus, but damned if these fuckers didn’t run the well dry and then suck the soil for the last remnants. Enter at your own risk.

Last up is probably the least battering of the group, Expo ‘70’s “Sunglasses” b/w “Transcending Energy from Light” on the enigmatic Trensmat imprint. Compared to the previous piss storms, these two lengthy Kraut-inspired drone jams are pretty serene, though, don’t let that fool you, there’s plenty of hiss ‘n’ vinegar running through their veins. Kindred spirts of the material on Sunn O)))’s Black One, these two mini-opuses are haunting in their mercurial disambiguation of the form, with riffs ebbing and flowing in an the ether that hangs cumbrous over their barren landscapes. These are just now hitting the states though the label’s distros, so they should be fairly easy to find at your favorite purveyors of the phonographic arts, but don’t wait around too long, as Trensmat goods tend to dry up super quick.

That’s all for this week, and now that we’ve re-activated your long-dormant Tinnitus, we’re sure you’ll want to check back next week for an altogether softer and gentler version of The Singles Collection.

Hello once again gals and germs, believe it or not, it’s time once again for another (slightly abbreviated) round of the singles collection. Some travelin’ and snowy conditions have limited our time this week, but rest assured that the two 45s reviewed this week are absolute humdingers. Anyway, on with the picks…

Kicking things off this week we have the first single from Indiana’s Eric & The Happy Thoughts on Bubbledumb Records. Some of you might know Bubbledumb as the label that originally released Nobunny’s Love Visions, or at least attempted it — the full story involves spotty distro and warped vinyl. Well, they’ve got things down now, and “Never Gonna Do It”, “Ride Ride Ride” b/w “Indiana Girls” is a lovely slab of jangly, ’60s pop a la The 1910 Fruitgum Co. and The Box Tops. There’s even a certain Chilton-esqe lilt to B-Side “Indiana Girls”, albeit one that’s firmly rooted in sweet-as-sugar Midwestern soil. If this were 1969 rather than 2009 there’s no doubt you’d hear the band performing “Never Gonna Do It” on American Bandstand, wearing matching suits with skinny ties having perfected their synchronized bob and weave moves. Second A-Side “Ride Ride Ride” is equally as memorable; its quick, insistent chord-progressions and ooey gooey chorus — “ride, ride, ride around” — make it the perfect summertime anthem, born solely to blast out of backyard boomboxes and convertibles on the cruise. The label itself is sold out, but if you act quick, you might be able to grab one of these from one of the distros listed on their MySpace page.

At the opposite end of the spectrum we’ve got French nutbags A.H. Kraken following up their In The Red debut LP with a two-song skuzz blast — “Gianna Michaels” b/w “Je Suis Ton Marecage” on the mighty Sweet Rot Records. Now, as far as we can tell, a musical tribute to a porn star is pretty far to the left of squeaky-clean jangle pop, but no matter, because “Gianna Michaels” is a squirrely barn-burner built upon a foundation of flailing, floundering guitars and a rhythm that sounds like nothing so much as a caveman smashing garbage can lids together in a vaguely repetitive pattern. It’s as ace a piece of scum-punk as you are likely to find, as is B-Side “Je Suis Ton Marecage” (roughly translates to “I Am Your Marsh”), a walloping chug-a-lug that’s vaguely reminiscent of everyone from Johnny Thunders to Whitehouse at one point or another as it careens down a path of unholy carnage and lewd gestures. This is another platter that’s sold out from the label proper, but with a bit of digging, you should be able to unearth.

That’s all we’ve got for you this time, a bit shorter than usual we know, but not to fret, we’ll be back to our regular hijinks next week.

To quote the great Emerson, Lake & Palmer, “welcome back my friends to the show that never ends, we’re so glad you can attend, come inside, come inside.” While we don’t have any prog-dinosaurs of ELP’s ilk this week, we do have a great mixed bag filled with punk, hardcore, indie rock and a twitchy, insistent brand of country-tinged pop. But generalities aren’t what y’all come here for, so, without further adieu, onto this weeks singles.

To get us started this week, we’ve got the new Gasp Asp EP by Look Mexico on the up-and-coming Tiny Engines imprint. A charming 4-song effort, the EP is filled with heart-swelling indie pop/rock with just a twinge of dirty americana (think Lucero or Gaslight Anthem) tossed in for good measure. You’ll hear tidbits of everyone from Wilco to Jawbreaker in “I’m not Guilty, But I’m Used to It”’s well-worn chops and workman-like melodies, while lead-off track “You’re Not Afraid of the Dark” is blindingly anthemic; a rousing call-to-arms that’s meant to blare from car radios and be screamed along to by a thousand kids like their very lives depend upon it. They’ve got a slew of tour dates coming up, so if you are in/around Florida or at SXSW, definitely try to check them out. If you are interested in this here 7″, then head over to their MySpace.

Our next record is a bit of an anomaly in that it’s a one-sided, (arguably) tour-only 7″ from Baltimore hardcore behemoths Pulling Teeth. Witches Sabbath IV is, you guessed it, the fourth installment of their series of cover songs spread across as many 45s, and this time out they tackle The Ramones‘ “Teenage Labotomy”. In true PT fashion they rough it up real good and proper, with guitars that hit like a bullet train to the temporal lobe, a larynx-ripped vocal track and spike-hammered drumming that nails the whole thing to the ties. It is, as Alex and his Droogs would say, “A Real Horror Show.” These are, ostensibly, tour only, but if you dig around, Chainsaw Safety should still have a few copies around to sell.

Lastly this week, we’ve got what seems like the first release in forever from Baltimore’s best kept secret, Heart Break Beat Records; the debut offering from Brooklyn’s L.A. Cross, “This Ain’t a Pilgrimage” b/w “God’s Wounds”. Touting themselves as the leaders of the NWOBHM — New Wave of Brooklyn Heavy Metal — the duo tread similar ground to bands like Early Man and The Fucking Champs, albeit with far less wink-wink-nod-nod moments. True to their billing, the A-Side is a rifftastic throwdown that’s a heavy-handed homage to British Steel-era Judas Priest, only with slightly muted vocal histrionics. The flip is just as awesome, with fireball guitar flashes, a trashy solo and enough eagle-winged pleasure to get Ronnie James Dio amped enough to punch all of Marillion in the balls. Get yrs now at the HBB web shop.

It’s been a royal pleasure having you with us this week, and make sure you check back next week, as we’ve got some even better surprises in store for y’all.

Hello again ladies and gents, it’s time once again to gather ’round the old Victrola and lend an ear to some of the tastiest slabs of small wax currently littering the shelves of your favorite record emporium or web store. This week, we’ve got one of the stankiest comps of recent memory, as well as a pair of singles from bands that both contributed to the aforementioned compilation. So get your balloons out, it’s time to start huffing.

To kick things off this week, we’ve got one of the more notorious compilations to have come down the pipe in quite some time; the mildly disgusting-yet-always entertaining Wild About Jenkem, released on the upstart Killer Diller Records label. First off, you are probably wondering what the hell jenkem is, well, for the full story, read this. But to make a long story short, it’s a hallucinogenic ‘drug’ made from fermented human feces. Yes, you read that correctly; fermented human feces. Its dubious inspiration aside, the ten songs here, all of which are a minute or less, are utterly fantastic, gnarled and snotty, stinky and disorientating, just like jenkem. Particular standouts are Nice Face’s “Juju For Jenkem”, a 45-second blown-out rager that makes sticking your face in a balloon of this shit actually sound appealing, Gaye Blades‘ “My Shit Belongs To Pee”; the slow-jam, couples skate tune of the album, and LiveFastDie’s “I Need You (Leroy)”, which, despite its subject matter, is a hit single in waiting. Miraculously, there are still a few copies of this left, so if this sounds too good to be true, or simply too disgusting to pass up, hop on over to Killer Diller’s MySpace and pick yourself up a copy.

In keeping with the all things jenkem theme this week, next we’ve got a single from Alabama’s favorite cough syrup guzzlers, Wizzard Sleeve, whose “Children of Manda” is possibly Wild about Jenkem’s most disturbing contribution. After going out of print almost immediately, HoZac has repressed “Mommy’s Little Baby” b/w “Pterodactyl Meltdown” in a new edition of 200 copies, thankfully making these fantastically warped tunes available once again for non-eBay prices. The ‘Sleeve are the current master of synth-drenched southern-fried psychedelia, and the pair of songs they unleash here are epic, especially the B-Side, which is an absolute flame-thrower, drenched with Munsters-like synth lines, ratty guitar squalls and lyrics that extoll the virtues of being stoned out of your gourd in the stone age. The A-Side is similarly minded, fuzzed and blown-out of its socks by rollicking organ fills and a vocalist that clearly recorded the track with a mouthful of dirt. There’s something simultaneously precocious and dangerous about Wizzard Sleeve, and like that lollipop that you drop on the ground yet pick up and put back into your mouth anyway, they’re the guilty, fuzz-encrusted pleasure your parents warned you about.

Lastly this week we’ve got the new single from Brooklyn’s Nice Face, “Exterminator” b/w “Fubar Over You” also on the HoZac imprint. Their proper vinyl follow-up to their amazing Sacred Bones debut 7″ and the even more incredible Can I Fuck It? cassette on Jerkwave, this two song scorcher is their best material yet, stapling over-heated/modulated Dick Dale riffage to ramshackle rhythms and unmistakable melodies. A-Side “Exterminator” is what Donovan’s “Sunshine Superman” would have sounded like had he recorded it in the gutter, its sublimely lovely melodies buried beneath a frantic haze of knotty guitars, loads of reverb and crackling tape hiss. The flipside, “Fubar Over You” is better still, its insistent riff powering the song towards an amazing synth/guitar overload that piledrives the song’s head into the ground and refuses to let it up for air. Pick this up now over at the HoZac MySpace before they disappear completely. Also, take a look at the mega-awesome Hitler fucking Stalin artwork of the Gold Edition.

That’s all this week, but we promise we’ll clean up our act for next week’s column where we’ll bring you some scrumptious bubblegum platters and a few other surprises. So, for all your good, clean, family fun, make sure to check us out again next week.

This week on the Singles Collection, we’re delving into some of the best hardcore America has to offer. While everything on offer is, in one way or another, indebted to the DC scene — whether it be aesthetically, sonically or just in terms of pure work ethic — each of this week’s bands has taken those original sounds and ideals and transformed them into something definitively their own.

Our first offering this week comes from Milwaukee’s Herds, a formidable quartet sprung from the ashes of several notable units, Charles Bronson, Get Rad and the incredibly underrated Seven Days of Samsara among them. Hot on the heels of their debut single on Deer Healer, this self-titled EP on Fashionable Idiots is a 5-song street fight filled with barbaric double time rhythms, virulent, politically-minded lyrical diatribes and no shortage of lacerating guitar lines. Having already done their pedigree proud a mere seven songs into their career, the band stand poised to eclipse even their own storied heritage, slashing and burning their way towards becoming Milwaukee’s best HxC export ever.

Next up we have the latest from Austin firebrand Iron Age, “The Way is Narrow” b/w “Satori Pt. 1″ on the venerable Painkiller imprint. A unique take on the modern hardcore idiom, the A-Side floats in the ether between mosh-heavy breakdowns and desert-scraping stoner rock, its mid-range vocal bark accentuated by storms of Kyuss-y guitar swells and an understated rhythm that allows ample room for the song to waft its way into the stratosphere. On the flip, the band turn in their fantastic deconstruction of the Flower Travellin’ Band’s “Satori Pt. 1″, which somehow manages to capture the freewheeling psychedelic spirit of the original, albeit while injecting it with doses of post-millennial venom and enough ranked masses of searing guitar to crush an 18-wheeler into a pancake.

Finally this week, we have the new self-titled EP from Florida’s reclusive Cult Ritual on the always intriguing Drugged Conscience imprint. Officially the band’s third self-titled effort (referred to mainly as just Third or The Manson Girls EP), this three-song platter sounds as if it were recorded in a dumpster, and knowing the band, it well might have been. Its questionable fidelity aside (it skirts the edges of being no-fi), the material here is fantastic, especially the breakneck double shot A-side “Guiltless” and “Electric Depression”, a pair of Poision Idea-indebted scorchers whose guitars flail like wounded hummingbirds and vocals appear to have been recorded on a dictaphone as the whole mess careens towards certain demise. On the flip, the band completely destroy Sonic Youth’s “8/9/69″, turning it into a hissing pile of out of tune guitar wank, wandering vocal histrionics and more bad attitude than a Sturgis rally. Like all of the band’s output thus far, this might be a bit tough to track down, but not to worry, if you are itching to hear their particular brand of plague, the band has put everything they’ve done thus far up for download at their blog.

That’s all she wrote for this week’s installment of the Singles Collection, but don’t fret, as we’ve got some real barn-burners lined up for next week. So make sure to tune in, same bat time, same bat channel.

In this installment of The Singles Collection, we look back on two great 7″ that current industry darlings Wavves and, ahem, The Muslims, put out last year. The two slabs of wax we’ve got this week are as good as they get, and we urge you to get out and snatch ‘em up while they are still around. After all, we’d hate to say we told you so… but we will.

The first single we’ve got this week is from San Diego’s shit-hot The Muslims (they have since changed their name to The Soft Pack), on the upstart I Hate Rock ‘n’ Roll imprint. “Parasites” b/w “Walking with Jesus” is a cool brace of Flying Nun-style pop-rock delivered with such an impassioned-yet-relaxed verve that they damn well might have recorded the whole thing while still asleep. The A-Side rumbles along on a gnarled, muscular riff accentuated by taut drumming and a just on the right side of monotone vocal delivery that’s somewhere between (JAMC’s) Jim Reid and Little Richard. The B-Side, a cover of Spacemen 3’s “Walking with Jesus”, strips the interstellar flanging/phasing and impossible feedback squalls of the original, revealing the song’s furious, stripped-down skeleton and jangly ’60s pop undertones. That they can take a song that’s been covered extensively and make it their very own (and somewhat unrecognizable to whit) is a testament to their audacious versatility as a unit.

Our second single this week is from another California dreamer, beach-combing pop wonder Wavves. “Beach Demon” b/w “Weed Demon”, released on Tic Tac Totally was — across the board — one of the best singles released last year (it eked its way out in the last days of ‘08). Its packaging is beyond over the top, with a handmade sleeve made entirely out of grip tape and accompanied by two clear transfers that create the single’s front and rear covers, one of which features a brilliant re-conceptualization of the Natas’ classic Santa Cruz deck design. As if that weren’t enough, the songs here are absolutely fucking killer, the A-Side “Beach Demon” is a skuzzy, hook-filled ride down the PCH at 100mph. Its trashcan rhythms and dirt-encrusted guitar lines held together by barely discernable vocals and a bevy of sunburst melodies struggling to emerge from the murk. On the flip, “Weed Demon” is the perfect foil, a Quaalude-addled slice of pure Californian pop bliss, replete with four-part harmonies and a simple, delicate guitar tacet that, strangely reminds of Smashing Pumpkins‘ “Soma”, especially in its gorgeously fragile last moments.

That’s it for this week, short-but-sweet, but we are resting up, drinking lots of fluids and gearing up for a great year bringing you the finest seven-inch singles the world has to offer.