Beech Creeps – s/t

 

The self-titled debut from Brooklyn’s Beech Creeps is out now on Monofonus Press!  Critical reaction (from press and fans) has been real good for these guys with another song (the massive slice of sludge “Arm of the T-Rex”) and a full album stream hitting Stereogum over the past few weeks.  They share many kind words, calling the album “aggressively imaginative rock… [that] feels raw and blood-thirsty in a way that current rock just doesn’t anymore.”  They also hit the nail on the head when they talked about the aspects of “fun” and “play” in this music – we had a blast making this record.  I’m also just very proud of the work that we did, so it’s real treat to see if finding such an appreciative audience.  Check it out now if you haven’t already!

Eaters recently released some new material as well – a contribution to the ‘Dreams’ series by the website Stadiums & Shrines.  The premise is that each artist receives a collage of a foreign land, and musically interprets it as they imagine it.  We chose Finland (which neither Bob nor I have been to), and the result is above.  Make sure to visit the site in order to read the hilariously bizarre dream sequence they’ve depicted, replete with giants, talking reindeer, shape-shifters, soul-birds, and lots of laughter.

Eaters live, photo by Sam Cole

 

We also played a couple of fantastic Eaters shows in February.  We started the month by playing with our Dull Tools homies Parquet Courts and Future Punx at Palisades on an instantly sold-out show.  These three groups are so intertwined and supportive of one another, it was a wonderful family affair.  And just recently, we supported Dan Deacon at the record-release show for his new album Gliss Riffer at Rough Trade NYC.   It was an absolute treat to be a part of that show – playing some new material, on a proper stage and sound system, to a new audience, with an old friend on his big night.  The L Magazine had some great things to say about us, and Impose took some fantastic photographs of the night.

I spent some time this month working with the duo Lushes on their upcoming album Service Industry.  They recorded and will mix the record with Aaron Mullan (Sonic Youth‘s studio engineer and leader of the band Tall Firs), and we worked primarily on creating synth parts and providing treatments for samples and vocals.  It was an interesting and different approach to record making for me – not that I haven’t done these things in the past, but that I usually work on those things during recording or mixing a record.  Working exclusively on synths and treatments allowed us to expand the record while keeping the original sound/vision intact.  I’m a fan of the band and their debut What Am I Doing?, and was really psyched to work with them on this one.  Look for the record later this year on Felte.

I also started working with Forest Fire on their new record.  Their previous record – 2013’s Screens – remains one of my all-time-favorite record-making experiences, and we were all twitching with anticipation to start a new record together.  We did a few days of basic tracking at the end of the month, and will be passing files back and forth throughout the spring.  I’m really curious and excited to hear how this album develops, but it seems to be refining and expanding upon the electro-romantic streak of Screens.

Make sure to visit Lightning Bug’s bandcamp page, where they’re posted their debut record Floaters as a pay-what-you-wish download and cheap cassette.  I mastered this record earlier this year, based on an introduction through a mutual friend, and was mightily impressed by the quality of their work – a potent blend of Broadcast-style psychedelia, krautrock, shoegaze, and ambient drift.  I just re-listened to it as I wrote this post – it’s great!

Also now available on bandcamp is Wondering Home, the new album by Hums & Haws.  Matt and I worked together at Experimental Sound Studio in Chicago, so it was great to bring it back around again to work with him on this record.  My friend Nick Broste recorded it, and I mixed much of it (along with a couple songs by fellow ESS engineer Todd Carter) and mastered it here in Brooklyn.  Enjoy!

And in case you were wondering – yes, I re-did my website.  Hope y’all like it.

Liturgy - The Ark Work

The Ark Work, the new record by Liturgy, was announced this past month.  I’m truly thrilled for people to hear this album – many people gave a lot of themselves to realize this vision and see the album through, and it is truly unlike anything else.   NPR premiered the lead single “Quetzalcoatl” on All Songs Considered, with ImposeAd Hoc, and others picking it up as well.  It’s also worth checking out this strange and beautiful trailer by Zev Deans.  We tracked the band at Strange Weather (who recently mentioned the album on API’s website), worked on overdubs and arrangements at Doctor Wu’s and Hunter’s place (with additional recording and programming by my longtime friend and associate Frank Musarra), and mixed it at Doctor Wu’s.  Jason Ward at Chicago Mastering Service did the master and lacquer.  The Ark Work is out March 24th on Thrill Jockey.

Another record I’m excited to have had announced this month is the self-titled Beech Creeps album.  We recorded this in two days in Secret Project Robot last summer, I mixed and mastered it as we could all get together, and it slays.  I wrote something about the Melvins, Thin Lizzy, and Saturday morning cartoons when we first worked on this album, and I still think that applies!  “Times Be Short” was the first taste of the record – which got some love from blogs like  StereogumConsequence of SoundImpose, and others – with a video for “Sun of Sud” following on Noisey a couple weeks later.  Check ’em out!  They’re playing a record-release show in Brooklyn on February 26th at Shea Stadium with also-homies PC Worship and Turn to Crime… see you there?  Beech Creeps is out March 3rd on Monfononus Press.

Nuclear Santa Claust have a new album – Je Ne Sais Claust – coming out this week (February 2nd) on Don Giovanni.  We recorded this at Seaside Lounge on an MX-5050 and mixed and mastered it at Doctor Wu’s last summer.  Classic SST/The Spits vibes here – tough hardcore punk with a melodic bent, a Gennesse in one hand, and a shit-eating grin on its face.  We knocked it out so quickly and had so much fun doing it, re-listening to it this week was pretty nostalgic – I’m really happy for this to be out!  Noisey premiered the first single “Sayonara Baby”, and the band is playing Don Giovanni fest (w/ California X, Downtown Boys and more) this weekend to celebrate the record release.  Come hang!

Also out now is In My Dreams, a singles collection and the first in a re-issue series by early-80s Australian punk outsiders The Sunday Painters.  I was unfamiliar with the band and their work before What’s Your Rupture head Kevin Pedersen and reissue producer Michael Train approached me about remastering their back-catalog(ue).  Byron Coley calls their work “an ecstatically weird mix of skewed pop, art, and noise… like a cross of early Swell Maps, the Velvets, and Cabaret Voltaire.”These singles and their two full-lengths cover a lot of ground – from jangly to industrial sounds but always with a wink of mischievousness – and each release comes with download-only never-before-heard bonus material.    Noisey (via my man Timbo!) has an interview and stream of the record, which serves as a great introduction to the Sunday Painters.  In My Dreams is out now on What’s Your Rupture?, with more coming soon.

And out of seemingly nowhere, my Chicago pals Unmanned Ship have a new 7″ coming out.  I mastered these songs – “Crystal Pepsi” b/w “Pad Thai Fighter” – years ago with For Whom the Bowl Tolls, and they’re now available through Maximum Pelt Records.  The guys in this band are all friends of mine from living in Chicago, and Kevin has got some love for his work in Oozing Wound, so it’s a real pleasure to see these jams unleashed.  Grab your copy, but not before I do!

I tried my best to take time off this past month, but still made time to work on a couple projects other than my own.  My Detroit friends Derek Stanton and Ian Saylor from Turn to Crime and Greg Ahee from Protomartyr have been making an album in their downtime, and we had talked about me mixing it for months, which I finally found the time to do.  Every time I describe it to someone, I say the words “synth pop” and then the person’s eyes get really wide, but it’s totally like that – completely skewed yet genuine synth pop that’s worth widening your eyes for.  Who knows what they’re calling it or when it’s coming out, but I’m mastering it soon and hopefully it’ll be out before too long.

I also recorded, mixed, and mastered an EP for the band Junk Boys, a new band that includes members of Organs and Dream Police.  We tracked it in one day at Seaside Lounge and mixed and mastered it one day later that week at my place, and it turned out great… bluesy, boozy, rock and roll.  Look out for them around NYC this year, should be a good show!

Parquet Courts, Future Punx, Eaters

I spent the rest of last month working on Eaters with my musical partner Bob Jones.  We played a fun show with US Girls, Slim Twig, and Bottoms earlier this month, were featured on Oh My Rockness, and have waded deep into the pool (sea? ocean?) of new writing/recording.  We’re hoping to debut some of it at our upcoming shows – February 9th @ Palisades with Parquet Courts (who recently played on David Letterman) and Future Punx (who not-too-long-ago hit Puerto Rico and had this glowing writeup on Tiny Mix Tapes), and February 25th @ Rough Trade NYC with Dan Deacon for his record-release show of his new album Glass Riffer.  I hope you bought tickets already because these are both long-sold-out and I’d love to see you there.