Random Old Records Podcast #44

Random Old Records Podcast #44

By on February 13, 2013

I’ve been sorta hibernating for the winter, so this is as good of time as any to put together a new podcast. Random Old Records Podcast #44 is the first one I’ve done since September 2012, and it’s an uninterrupted hour of whimsical psychedelic pop fro…

2012: The Year In Review, Part 1

2012: The Year In Review, Part 1

By on January 15, 2013

An important discussion arose in 2012 among my blogger brethren, an ongoing dialogue regarding the role of the internet music writer in the post-OLD-WAY relationship between artists, PR people, and critics, and the sticky subjects of objectivity, hones…

Posted in

Random Old Records #43

By on September 14, 2012

Oh shit! Random Old Records Podcast is back from its summer vacation! I’m sure most of you fine readers have stopped checking this blog by now, but I’m back and plan on staying around. Not gonna try to make up any crazy excuses, the truth is that I was…

Teledrome – Double Vision 7"

By on June 7, 2012


(HoZac Records, 2012)

OK, so I kinda sorta made it my New Year’s resolution to stop comparing newer bands to older ones, with special attention paid to the tired “Well, these guys sound like the second coming of whatever iconic band from the 90s they sort of resemble, only not as good” declaration. It’s easy and lazy and after wrestling with it for awhile, I’ve come to the conclusion that the music of the past is NOT automatically better than the new shit, by virtue of age or originality or whatever superficial criteria you choose to judge such things. There’s all kinds of genres, but only so much room for evolution in rock n’ roll, which was a pretty limited art form to begin with.
Aging has played a pretty big part in that nostalgic superiority complex, and the thing is, that sort of attitude used to drive me up a wall when I was younger! Jack Rabid’s The Big Takeover was my bible as a teenager, and while it introduced to dozens of my all-time favorite bands, he insisted that the new wave of DIY punk bands I loved were too derivative of the scene Rabid grew up with in the late 70s. Back then, punk rock was morphing into hardcore, and bands like Dead Kennedys, Buzzcocks, and Gang Of Four were playing in his backyard every night. What a wonderful time to be alive! Etc, etc.
As a kid, I thought that line of reasoning was bullshit, and Tim Armstrong’s voice sounding like Joe Strummer wasn’t any more unoriginal or boring as Van Morrison trying to sing like a southern bluesman in the late 60s. I fuckin’ LOVED Rancid, man! I’d listened to all the Clash albums and never heard Paul Simonon rip a bass solo like in “Maxwell Murder,” and I knew the Ramones were incredible and ground-breaking, but Screeching Weasel were more crass and played faster weren’t afraid to bust out a righteous guitar solo every now and again. I liked it ALL, and didn’t understand why age made things more valid. After all, punk is just “Sugar Sugar” played loud and fast, right?!
I guess music critics just grow up and refuse to admit that their tastes are changing, and that the first bands they grew attached to were the end all and be all, and whatever comes next in the same vein is a pale retread of the past. Hell, I’ve written several reviews that refer to the 90s as the last golden age of music! I buy just as many records now as I did back then, and after careful consideration, that opinion is pretty much bullshit. As a music writer, you HAVE to explain what you’re talking about, and you end up conjuring flowery metaphors while playing connect the dots between the entries on the RIYL list. If something’s not that great, the mind immediately wanders to something you’ve heard before, but BETTER. It’s simple, easy, and lazy. And not particularly honest.

For every classic Pavement jam, there’s a third wave ska song that sounds like nails on a chalkboard. For every Rancid or Screeching Weasel, there were a dozen painfully bland pop punk bands. For every groundbreaking Portishead song, there were a thousand godawful techno “artists”. For everything you like, there’s something both equally better and worse. You can make a decent argument for ANY decade as being the last golden age, even the 80s. Once reviled production tricks like snappy reverb-gate drums are OK again, and the bands of today have actually figured out how to use that shit in its proper context, instead of trying to shoehorn it into heavy metal records in an attempt to get on the radio. This Teledrome single got played an awful lot when it first came out, and I reviewed it for GET BENT like so:

“To listeners burnt out on the dozens of sub-par Black Lips retreads littering the garage rock landscape, a band like Teledrome is a breath of fresh air. Make that a breath of COLD fresh air, since the icy, detached Gary Numan-style vocals and wobbly synth tones of Teledrome main-man Ryan Sadler offer little in the way of emotional warmth. He plays all the instruments on this loaded five track 7” EP, and makes the kind of music that would be best suited for dudes who wear all black and sport sunglasses at night, if it wasn’t for the chugging punk rock power chords and squealing 80s guitar solos that lift these songs into a territory most goths don’t care to inhabit.
Double Vision is a lot more fun than that description suggests, often sounding like vintage Killing Joke anthems in miniature, cramming plenty of vocal hooks and cheese-ball, head nodding Devo synth licks into songs that barely crack two minutes. The best track is “Dial Tone”, and it takes you away to a dark dance floor with strobe lights flashing away, pale fists pumping in unison, and black-clad hips shaking with abandon to the robotic drum machine beat. The muffled production sounds like one of those tapes dubbed endlessly and passed around to the cool kids back in the day, but don’t be surprised if Teledrome blows up huge with a bit more money and gloss thrown into the recording. This dude has too much talent to be underground for much longer.”

<p><p><p><p><p><p><p><p><p><p><p><a href=”http://teledrome.bandcamp.com/track/dial-tone”>Dial Tone by Teledrome</a></p></p></p></p></p></p></p></p></p></p></p>

There it is, comparisons to older bands, flowery metaphors, and all that other nonsense. Nothing but an entertaining little record that gets the nostalgia muscles flexing and offers a pleasant little diversion from everything else, right?! It’s GOOD because it sounds like something that came out a long time ago, but its merits are lessened by something older and more lasting. Nah, dude. I thought that until I saw Teledrome on stage at the HoZac Blackout fest a few weeks ago, and was confronted by a full-on band that shoved those songs down my throat with double-time punk rock fury and a vibe that suggested these folks were not fucking around.

<p><p><p><p><p><p><p><p><p><p><a href=”http://teledrome.bandcamp.com/track/double-visions”>Double Visions by Teledrome</a></p></p></p></p></p></p></p></p></p></p>

They weren’t some pale retread or calculated oldies act, they were a fireball of pent-up aggression and visceral noise that played those songs like their lives depended on them. I don’t think they were privy to the existential dilemma I go through every time I hear a record that doesn’t blow my mind like Spiritualized did when I was seventeen, and holy shit was I glad for that. Maybe not caring about it is the key to a happier and healthier life. Teledrome is just REALLY good, and I’m not sure if context and history really improves the listening experience. Does it ever?

Random Old Records Podcast #42

By on June 4, 2012

So yeah, after over three years and 41 monthly episodes, I needed a little break from Random Old Records Podcast. When I started thinking about episode #42 back in March, there was just too much shit going on, and the inspiration wasn’t there, so I fig…

Random Old Records Podcast #41

By on March 15, 2012

Jesus Christ, things are crazy as shit in the midwest right now! Tornadoes, hail, sunshine, and a huge pile of badass rock n’ roll records to listen to are among the highlights. Random Old Records Podcast #41 is now out and about, and it features an ho…

ROR #001: 20th Century Tokyo Princess – I’ve Never Been Happy & I’ve Never Had Fun

By on March 10, 2012

Ted Clark is 37 years old, works in a liquor store, and hates rock n’ roll. He fronts the 20th Century Tokyo Princess, and writes songs that take the life lessons he learned while trawling the back catalog of Lou Reed and Jonathan Richman and turns them into loud, violent messes of feedback and cathartic bubblegum hooks. It’s like glam rock made for a world where glamour is in short supply. If you were a music blogger, it would be the Modern Velvet Jesus Mary Loverground.

It’s LOUD.

I’ve Never Been Happy & I’ve Never Had Fun is an ugly album. It contains eight tracks of raging pop music. It was recorded direct to 4 track and mixed in mono back on 05/05/2010, and is presented with no embellishments or overdubs.

Random Old Records & Tapes is proud to announce I’ve Never Been Happy & I’ve Never Had Fun as its debut release. ROR #001 is limited to 100 hand-numbered RED cassettes. Each copy comes with a FREE digital download containing two bonus tracks not on the tape.

Don’t just take my word for it though, here’s some reviews!

20th Century Tokyo Princess is a loud garage rock project out of Cincinnati with a palpable, old school rock & roll energy…Every shrieked vocal, every slamming drum hit, and every buzzing guitar chord feels alive in a way that only on-the-spot recording can achieve. Heck, frontman Ted Clark’s frustrated utterance of “shit!” at the beginning of “That’s What You Are” was in response to a false start. But they kept it. That speaks volumes about the music that these guys are putting out. They don’t feel the need to dress it up, they are just putting it out there. It is what it is, take it or leave it…If you like your garage rock to be loud and sweaty and real, then this is the tape for you.

A rag tag down on his luck bummer pop tunesmith bash and crashes it direct to tape backed by a rhythm section. This shiz is feral raw as fuck distorto pop at its most rudimentary. 20th Century Tokyo Princess’ “I’ve Never Been Happy And I’ve Never Had Fun” is a lo-fi affair in the vein of Nobunny with less humor and more animosity or some mega lost rehearsal tape from Rocket From The Tombs. Yep, it’s recommended.

Lo-fi glam is a blow-your-mind concept, because glamsters, even if they are eating catfood for dinner and killing pigeons to make their boas, always seem to scrape up enough money for heroin and clean guitar production. But this nasty, overmodulated, hook-infected, mumble mouthed garage pop fits the bill. And I’m glad it’s on cassette…anything to make this magnificent mess sound worse!

Click the banner at the top of the page to go to our Big Cartel page and buy a copy today! Less than half of them are left, and they probably won’t be repressed, so don’t miss out! If you’re on the fence, just check out “99 Years”!


<a href=”http://20thcenturytokyoprincess.bandcamp.com/track/99-years”>99 Years by 20th Century Tokyo Princess</a>

Random Old Records Podcast #40

By on February 9, 2012

Goddamn! 2012 is less than two months old, and there’s already so much kick-ass rock n’ roll coming out that it’s making my head spin! So yeah, this time around, Random Old Records Podcast #40 is an uninterrupted hour of straight-up jams, because there…

Random Old Records Podcast #39

By on January 11, 2012

Whew, even after I promised myself last year that I would never do it again, I went ahead and made a top 25 albums of the year list that took me damn near a month to complete. Naturally, I posted the last of it yesterday long after all of the bigger, b…

The 25 Best LPs of 2011, Part 5: 05-01

By on January 11, 2012

5. Ty Segall – Goodbye Bread(Drag City)If the slow, steady strum that kicks off this album didn’t give it away, the press release written by none other than 60s Rolling Stones manager and bon vivant Andrew Loog Oldham sure as hell does. Goodbye Bread i…

The 25 Best LPs of 2011, Part 4: 10-06

By on January 4, 2012

10. Jacuzzi Boys – Glazin’(Hardly Art)I originally had this record placed a few slots lower, but after I realized how much I walk around singing Glazin’s best hooks to myself like I quoted Simpsons references as a teenager, its position in the top ten …

The 25 Best LPs of 2011, Part 3: 15-11

By on December 30, 2011

15. The People’s Temple – Sons Of Stone(HoZac)When I first picked up Sons Of Stone, it didn’t really register. After the first couple of plays, this Michigan band of brothers just seemed like regular ol’ garage rockers, even if they did get the primal,…

The 25 Best LPs of 2011, Part 2: 20-16

By on December 23, 2011

20. Pure X – Pleasure(Acephale)Like a lot of people now afraid to admit it, I was entranced by My Morning Jacket’s brand of reverb-drenched hillbilly rock back in the early 2000s. Back then, I had a lot of free time on my hands and liked to drive aroun…

The 25 Best LPs of 2011, Part 1: 25-21

By on December 15, 2011

25. Widowspeak(Captured Tracks)Sure, Widowspeak vocalist Molly Hamilton is a dead ringer for Hope Sandoval, but the band’s new spin on dark, mid-80s post-punk cowboy rock is a lot different from Mazzy Star’s elegant, noisy torch ballads. On tracks like…

Random Old Records Podcast #38

By on December 14, 2011

2011 is almost over, and holy shit, where did the time go?! The past twelve months were filled with all kinds of good things for me on the life front, and much like last year, there was a HUGE amount of crucial rock n’ roll records released and a bunch…

Wax Idols – No Future

By on November 30, 2011

(HoZac, 2011)Back in the spring, Wax Idols released their debut single “All Too Human/William Says,” and I musta listened to that damn thing a hundred times. The A side was one of the best pure pop songs I’ve heard in a good long time, with its gargant…

RIP Southgate House…

By on November 29, 2011

After a dreadful, rainy day, the last thing you want is to come home to is a foul dose of seriously bad news. Today, word spread through the internet with haste, and just a little bit ago, the news was official. Newport, Kentucky’s legendary venue, the…

Ty Segall – Spiders 7"

By on November 17, 2011

(Drag City, 2011)If anything, I guess this single proves that Ty Segall is gonna one tough nut to crack as a musician. When I slipped it out of the sleeve and played the A side on 45 (no handy dandy indications on the label as to the correct speed), it…

Random Old Records Podcast #37

By on November 16, 2011

Well shit, what happened to this month’s episode of Random Old Records?! It’s been up on iTunes and Mevio and Official.fm and such since last week, but since then, I’ve been on VACATION! Yeah, it’s been a year now since I got a full-time grown-up job, …

The Penetrators – Gotta Have Her 7"

By on November 1, 2011

(Windian, 2011)Although I own several thousand albums, singles, EPs, novels, articles, biographies, movies, TV shows, cartoons, and such in every format of physical media imaginable, I ain’t never considered myself much of a collector. The message is t…

Do The Hammerlock: Halloween 2011

By on October 31, 2011

I hadn’t planned on making a Halloween mix, since things have been super-crazy-busy around Random Old Records HQ this month (Halloween parties out the ass, plus a killer Davila 666/Jacuzzi Boys/Barreracudas triple bill and a Sebadoh reunion show in the past week), but I found this record, y’ see, and like always, all it takes is a single record or song to get my gears turning. Somewhere along the way, Halloween has become the second-most popular holiday in the US behind Christmas, and as a result, shit like “Monster Mash,” “I Walked With A Zombie,” and “Human Fly” have become as played out as “Jingle Bells.” Couple that with everyone having a blog and fashioning themselves as master DJs and mix-makers, and you’re taking an express trip to overkill city.

But yeah, I was trawling through the cheapy bin at Half Price Books, and came across this LP called Flowers Of Evil for two bucks. It’s housed in an ultra-creepy hand-drawn cave cover with a surreal drawing slapped awkwardly in the center, and is the work of pioneering female electronic musician Ruth White. The concept here is heavily-treated icy readings of poems by French poet Baudelaire paired with harrowing beds of Moog and tape collage, and the end result is often WAY more fucking terrifying than any horror movie soundtrack you’ve ever heard. It was a perfect example of music that is scary in tone and mood, without the usual Halloween subject matter, and the springboard for a mix of unconventional choices.
Sure, there’s “Fire” by The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown, which is one of my favorite songs of all time, and horror punk classics by The Cramps, TSOL, and the Misfits, but there’s also the churning dubbed-out death disco of Public Image Limited and a track from Ruth White’s British counterpart Delia Derbyshire and her White Noise project, which packs more harsh scary noise than your average modern avant-garde improv cassette. You’ll also hear a sample of Dr. John’s classic debut LP Gris-Gris which evokes skin-crawling Cajun voodoo incantations, Italian horror soundtrack icons Goblin and their modern-day acolyte Umberto, and a whole lot more! It’s about 45 minutes of creepy sonics that will scare the shit out of some trick-or-treaters, that’s for sure. Turn out the lights and enjoy!
Direct Download: HERE.
Stream/Download: HERE.

Do The Hammerlock: Halloween 2011

1. Ruth White – “Mists And Rain”
2. The United States Of America – “The Garden Of Earthly Delights”
3. White Noise – “Love Without Sound”
4. Umberto – “Black Candles”
5. Goblin – “Death Valzer”
6. Black Bug – “Shard Of Glass”
7. The Soft Moon – “Sewer Sickness”
8. Public Image Limited – “Swan Lake”
9. Scientist – “Blood On His Lips”
10. Dr. John – “Danse Kalinda Ba Doom”
11. The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown – “Fire”
12. The Craig – “I Must Be Mad”
13. The Lollipop Shoppe – “You Must Be A Witch”
14. Alice Cooper – “Hallowed Be Thy Name”
15. 45 Grave – “Violent World”
16. TSOL – “Silent Scream”
17. The Misfits – “London Dungeon”
18. The Cramps – “The Crusher”

Jacuzzi Boys – Glazin’

By on October 19, 2011

(Hardly Art, 2011)Man, I sure do love some good old fashioned happy feet rock n’ roll. Nothing gets my blood boiling quicker than some sugar-sweet short songs stuffed with sap and sunshine. Say THAT one fast a couple times. Pack in some “oh oh oh”‘s an…

Run DMT – Dreams

By on October 14, 2011

(Culture Dealer Media, 2011)Lord help me, I’ve actively begun buying cassettes again. Since I got a good job that’s provided me a decent amount of disposable income, I’ve spent literally thousands of dollars on records, including a goodly amount of lim…

The Ketamines – Line By Line 7"

By on October 13, 2011

(HoZac, 2011)Ketamine is a drug I ain’t never bothered to fuck with, because it doesn’t really sound like much FUN, man. Anything that involves hallucinatory psychosis and seeing things through a pinhole isn’t really my bag. So, I guess my only recours…

Random Old Records Podcast #36

By on October 12, 2011

Holy shit, is it really October already?! Judging by the clock at the bottom right of my computer screen and the flannel shirt wrapped around my torso, it must be. Where the hell has the time gone? It seems like April was only a few minutes ago, and now the year is damn near over. I’ve been to a bunch of shows, crossed a couple of folks off my live bucket list (New York Dolls, Wanda Jackson), and spent probably a few grand on records, and what do I have to show for it? Slightly more damaged eardrums and a whole buncha shit that will be a real pain in the ass to lift if I ever move into a new place, I reckon. Seriously though, 2011 might have already topped 2010 as one of the best music years since the mid-90s, and it’s not over yet!

Random Old Records Podcast #36 is out now, and it’s loaded with just over an hour of jams, starting off with the raging opening salvo from Let’s Wrestle‘s new LP, “In Dreams Part II.” It sounds so much like the aforementioned mid-90s that you’d swear that 15+ years of godawful over-produced mainstream rock didn’t kill good music after all and that the kids really and truly are alright. The kids really ARE alright, even though their space phone zombie walks and Twitter posts suggest otherwise. Forget about the waves of whiny bedroom folk and trendy corporate “garage rock” wannabes, there’s real and VITAL rock n’ roll still being cranked out by the truckload all over the world. No better example can be found than the second track on this here podcast, a sizzling blast from the brand new 10″ LP from smooth punk titans Bare Wires, who continue their unparalleled streak of insta-classic bangers with “Sweet Little Stranger.” That nasty fuzz and snarling vocal might just lift you out of your plush computer chair, Mr. Internet cynic!


Elsewhere, you’ll hear the lead-off single from the Strange Boys‘ highly anticipated new LP out in a few weeks, which finds the Austin garage rockers moving even closer to that Exile On Main Street vibe, another perfect 80s pop jam from the new Dum Dum Girls album, some delightfully evil synth punk from Swedish noise terrorists Black Bug, a fuzzed-out Beach Boys homage from Moonhearts mainman Mikal Cronin‘s debut solo nod on Trouble In Mind, some obnoxious analog oscillations from California’s Blasted Canyons, some dusty reverb rock from Texas teenagers Fungi Girls, and a catchy-as-fuck beach-pop latecomer from the former Mika Miko members in Bleached. Random Old Records #36 finished up with 18 or so minutes of classic mid-90s indie rock from Material Issue, Hazel, The Spinanes, and Sebadoh, who I’ll be glad to cross off that live show bucket list in a couple weeks. Bakesale was released 17 years ago, and if that’s not enough to make a motherfucker feel old, I don’t know what does. In between the tracks, you’ll hear a series of spooky inserts from “Death Of A Doll,” an episode of Inner Sanctum Mysteries originally aired October 18th, 1948. Right in time for Halloween, it will send a chill up your back and shit. As always, thanks for listening and reading, and stay tuned for more reviews, more music, and more, more, MORE!




STREAM/SUBSCRIBE/DOWNLOAD: HERE or HERE
DIRECT ZIP DOWNLOAD WITH PLAYLIST: HERE

Random Old Records #36

1. Let’s Wrestle – “In Dreams Part II”
(Nursing Home, Merge 2011)
2. Bare Wires – “Sweet Little Stranger”
(Cheap Perfume, Southpaw 2011)
3. Fungi Girls – “Honey Face”
(Some Easy Magic, HoZac 2011)
4. Mikal Cronin – “Get Along”
(Mikal Cronin, Trouble In Mind 2011)
5. The Ketamines – “Line By Line”
(Line By Line 7″, HoZac 2011)
6. The Wrong Words – “Summer’s Gone”
(The Wrong Words, Trouble In Mind, 2011)
7. XRay Eyeballs – “Big Toe”
(Not Nothing, Kanine 2011)
–Death Of A Doll
8. The Strange Boys – “Me And You”
(Live Music, Rough Trade 2011)
9. Colleen Green – “Green One”
(Green One, Hardly Art 2011)
10. Black Bug – “Shard Of Glass”
(Police Helicopter 7″, HoZac 2011)
11. Blasted Canyons – “Death And A Half”
(Blasted Canyons, Castleface 2011)
12. Burning Itch – “Dead End Street”
(Burning Itch, Tic Tac Totally 2011)
13. Wax Museums – “Mosquito Enormo”
(Eye Times, Trouble In Mind 2011)
–Death Of A Doll, Part 2
14. Dum Dum Girls – “Heartbeat”
(Only In Dreams, Sub Pop 2011)
15. The Pretenders – “Wait”
(The Pretenders, Sire 1980)
16. Bleached – “Think Of You”
(Carter 7″, Art Fag 2011)
17. The Spinanes – “Noel, Jonah, and Me”
(Manos, Sub Pop 1993)
18. Hazel – “Blank Florida”
(Are You Going To Eat That?, Sub Pop 1995)
–Death Of A Doll, Part 3
19. Material Issue – “A Very Good Thing”
(Freak City Soundtrack, Polygram 1994)
20. The Figgs – “Favorite Shirt”
(Low-Fi At Society High, Imago 1994)
21. Sebadoh – “Rebound”
(Bakesale, Sub Pop 1994)
22. Unrest – “Make Out Club”
(Perfect Teeth, 4AD 1993)

Black Bug – Police Helicopter 7"

By on October 6, 2011

(HoZac, 2011)This is the third straight record I’ve reviewed in the past week that has absolutely no information about the band or its music presented within on the sleeve, but I’m done bitching about it and am just going to start making shit up instea…

Burning Itch – Burning Itch

By on October 5, 2011

(Tic Tac Totally, 2011)I hated this record with the passion of a thousand suns before I’d even bothered to throw it on the turntable, and it has sat in my “to listen to” stack for weeks, with its monumentally stupid “naked dude cradling a blow-up doll”…