November 23, 2005
Back In Saddle...and Out Through The In-Box
With some wounds finally licked and upcoming time to kill, I thought I'd get back in the saddle and ride my way thru the stack of stuff that's been neglected in the in-box. No longer being tied to a monthly regimen in regards to submissions (since this blog is no longer tethered by the whipping goys of MRR), hopefully I can acclimate to posting on a less regular yet more frequent basis.
While my lovely parents, who are staying with me for the last couple and next few months were watching Chinese female body builders on cable, I began thumbing thru some of the stack. Amidst their oohs and ahs, I soaked in some of the vinyl gestalt that lay before me.
Top of the heap sat a couple of 45's from a very fine label, Plastic Idol Records, run by an even finer guy, Mario Solis. First of all, he's outdone himself in the packaging department because PIR-004 and PIR-005 are cookin' lookin' things. (The fact that there are only 500 of 'em make'em even look better, heh heh...) The Minds 45 is hot pink, with red hot vinyl, and splattered with bits of brains everywhere, on the front, on the back, in every band member's name, and even in one of their songs! The Dissimilars 7" on the other hand is on deep blue vinyl and introduce a fledgling attempt at an actual logo for the label, a cool skull'ncrossbones !? Yes, at Plastic Idol it is always all about the bands, but now that they've got a string of winners under their cap, it's about time they got to promoting the label too, cos people ought to be trained to pick up everything on the label. This recent pair cements that advice.
My dad was kind enough to turn down the television volume and let me play the A-side of The Minds, "We Got The Pop". The lo-fi production values immediately hooked me, since pop punk has gotten so overproduced, largely due to the major label bid. This garageyness is the way it should be, but it's been all too lacking lately. By the time it was over, my parents retreated to the kitchen to eat ice cream, usually the sign that the music is rippin' good, so I cranked it up (I have a soundproofed music room care of Charles Salter Associates, a preeminent acoustics firm here in the Bay Area). Yeah, the A-side is pretty good pop-punk, with the snotty vocals and buzzing keyboards adding an edge. The B-side sounded even better. "Brain That Wouldn't Die" skittled along the lines of The Dickies, with whom I'd been in worship mode lately. And finally, who can fault them for their choice of cover of the excellent Beantown band La Peste, whose "Don't Wanna Die In My Sleep Tonite" I hadn't heard since it had been reissued on CD a decade ago, they choose to close with. It's a much more raucous sped up version than the original, which naturally does it the right justice. Afterwards I ended up listening to the two versions of the song on the La Peste CD and theirs ranked up their with the live La Peste version. Perty good sheeyut.
The Dissimilars 45 comes with a lyric sheet. I'm not a lyrics guy, but after half of the A-side "Landmine" played through, I found myself reaching for that sheet, cos I couldn't remotely understand anything the guy was singing. And then when I read the lyrics I couldnt figure out which words went with which lyrics. But did it matter? Hardly, cos count me gripped in the most visely way. Scorching vocals and phrasing that is used as a blunt instrument. This is one of my favorite 45's of the year. While "Landmine" nears upon iconic in its "Touch Me I'm Sick" reminiscent grunge stylings, I like the flip side even more - "Turn Me Loose" is my set on repeat for the time being with its vocal madness, while "Pills" is just a fucking awesome. punk song. Slightly non-organic-beyond-punkness vibe that makes this lovingly fucked beyond reproach.
posted by Henry @ 4:53 AM 
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