Skull Cult
New Mutilator EP
Self-Released
2018
Rating: 8 hearing aids for lions out of 10
I didn’t know a single damn thing about Skull Cult going into this, just one of the many punk and punk-adjacent releases I often download from the glorious giving basket that is the internet. I still don’t know a ton, they don’t hold a huge web presence – they’re a scuzzy synth-punk band from Bloomington, Indiana, they’re allergic to long songs, and the keyboards they’re using sound chintzy as hell. Also, this entire EP is super catchy and rules. RULES! Male and female vocals, very distorted – it’s like if the Booji Boys sounded more like Devo (yes, Skull Cult sounds way more Devo than the band named after a Devo character). This whole five song EP ends before the clock reaches ten minutes – it opens with a scorcher called “Braindead” that sounds like a modern KBD classic, and ends with a (not particularly faithful) cover of the Talking Head’s “Psycho Killer” called “Cyco Killer.” As near as I can tell this is web only, at least for now – but I really hope this gets a proper physical release because I would love to own it. Listen goddammit, I’m old and I like a physical manifestation of my musical tastes!
Terry & Louie
A Thousand Guitars
Bachelor
2018
Rating: 7 mauled bullies out of 10
If you didn’t know Terry & Louie (aka Terry Six and King Louie Bankston) were from the late, great Exploding Hearts before listening to “A Thousand Guitars,” you certainly knew about five seconds into the first song “Rebel Ways.” Obviously I’m assuming you know who the Exploding Hearts are; if you don’t, stop reading this now and search out their one and only record “Guitar Romantic,” probably the best punk/glam-tinged power pop record of the last quarter decade, and one of my favorite things ever. One of the biggest musical regrets of my entire life is skipping their show at Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco the night before the tragic crash that took three of their members.
After quite a few years apart, Terry & Louie decided to get back together and do their best to recreate the magic of their old band, at least on a few songs. Stylistically “A Thousand Guitars” is kinda all over the place, but it still works for me. The title track sounds like a Cheap Trick outtake, they churn out a bluesy rocker with “(I’ve Got The) Highway To Take,” go back to nearly the doo-wop years on “Pink Razor Blade” – it’s almost a rock music revue from 1960 to present. Undoubtedly the high points are always going to be the tracks that sound the most like their former group – “It’s All Mine” sounds like an Exploding Hearts song that just accidentally got left off of their album, and “(I’m) Looking for a Heart” is in the same ballpark.
Now if only a US label would release the damn vinyl of this keeper so I don’t have to pay import prices from the Euro label it’s currently on…(get your shit together, Dirtnap!).
Two Medicine
Astropsychosis
Bella Union
2018
Rating: 7 bastard scents out of 10
Two Medicine is the solo effort of Midlake bassist Paul Alexander, wherein he also employed the help of pretty much every other Midlake member for bits and pieces. I want everyone to brace themselves, but the result sounds like…a Midlake record. Shocking, I know. It’s maybe a little mellower and not quite as, well, “folk prog” as Midlake can get sometimes, but if you told me this was the new Midlake record I doubt many people would bat an eye.
Here are some things I think about all of this that I don’t feel like making into a proper paragraphs:
1. “Will Not” and “Voice” are the highlights – I particularly like the synth vibe to “Will Not,” reminds me a lot of the Mary Onettes.
2. The record is…pretty good. I fear it’s one of those that you’ll enjoy plenty while you’re listening, but you totally forget about later. You could probably say that about most Midlake to be fair…
3. …Except for “The Trials Of Van Occupanther,” which is one of the very best records of the entire first decade of this century.
4. I still have no idea what or who a Van Occupanther is and I’ve listened to that album 5000 times. I’d like to think it’s a big cat that’s taken up residence in your vehicle ala the scene in “Talladega Nights” when Ricky Bobby is learning how to drive again.
5. In case you don’t know, Two Medicine is a lake in Glacier National Park, which might be the greatest national park after Yosemite. Holy shit that place is beautiful. Even on an overcast day it looks amazing – the below pic is from our visit there a couple of years ago. Must go back again.
