NO-FI "MAGAZINE"
presents
DEADLY MUSIC TO KILL YOUR EARS!
This 11 song CD is so much fun it will make your head explode. The band consists of two guys and they are clearly totally out of their minds. Here are some song titles: "Talk to Your Hand", "Throw Away Your Shoes", "I'm a Stone", "Mind Will Get You", and "Too Hot In My Room." With titles like these, how could anything be less than crazy-genius? And it's not just the titles, the music is GREAT!! They manage to include a mandolin and a harmonica in this CD. The melodies are very simple and catchy, calling to mind some of the best silly punk rock songs from the descendents or the dickies. However, having said that, I would actually decribe this band as a really strange mixture of Randy Newman, Camper Van Beethoven and They Might Be Giants. Contact this band immediately and order one of these CD's from them. It is good. Real good! This two song single has packaging that a CD probably would have had if they were available in the 70's. The cover art is very simple and very cool, with a picture of a sailboat and a sunset. The two songs are pretty cool too. Think of bands that are a throwback to the late 60's or early 70's like Beachwood Sparks or bands that actually came from that era like The Band. Get this CD if you like this sort of thing. This music should make Robbie Robertson proud.
This new CD, called The Joy of Sing-Sing, features the former member of Lush, Emma Anderson. I was a pretty big Lush fan in the 90's- saw them live 3 times actually (all in San Francisco).
I had heard a lot about this band on KXLU, ad the local press and they seem to be off to a good start with their debut self titled EP (which comes in a fancy plastic case, by the way). This is good music to play on a walkman while riding on Disneyland's Space Mountain (even better if the ride itself were much slower). The first three songs are slow and moody and remind me if Tom Waits and Nick Cave had a baby (which they did, but that's a whole other story) and it grew up to be this CD...it doesn't sound quite like either of them, but the influences are there. The last track "Radioland" is my favorite and it evokes 80s indie-rock, but still sounds very refreshing. They are already mixing their next EP and we'll be reviewing that next month if all goes well and I can't wait to hear what they'll do next.
Reminding me of a cross between The New York Dolls and The Blue Aeroplanes, this band doesn't mess around before just unapologetically blasting their sounds right into your ears. Known as Penthouse everywhere else in the world except the U.S (due to the protests from a certain magazine in the U.S. that features pictures of girls going to the bathroom. Seriously...don't click on the link...especially if you are under 18!), Fifty Tons Of Black Terror (their U.S. name) have been around for a while and this is their U.S. debut on Space Baby Records. I like every single song on this CD. It flows well and they don't sound bored at all. It definitely makes me want to go back and listen to all the stuff I've missed out on. What the hell does "UNT" mean or stand for though? Anyway, get this one for a night of drinking and driving, but don't run into anyone or anything except mailboxes.
