Tuesday, March 5, 2019

Flat Worms - Into The Iris EP (God?, 2019)

Flat Worms
Into The Iris EP
God?
2019


Rating: 8 Morgan Freeman poetry readings out of 10

Flat Worms are old-fashioned jittery punk/post-punk in the vein of Wipers, A-Frames, the Intelligence…you know, that Pacific Northwest shit.  Yeah, these guys are from LA, but let’s just call it “close enough” mostly because holy shit this is fucking great.  I hear some Fugazi in here too, particularly in the rhythm section – many of the songs have these very deliberate, bold bass lines that really stand out more than you typically hear in the punk world (this is particularly evident in the track “At The Citadel”).  I suppose one of the big selling points to get the kids through the door is that Flat Worms feature current/past members of the Oh Sees and Ty Segall’s band, but for my money I’d rather listen to “Into The Iris” than anything those two acts have ever put out.  All of the songs here feel so tense and tightly wound, like a pack of puppies in a carrier about to be let out in a large yard.  The title track “Into The Iris” is a top contender for best song of the year, or at least best song of the first quarter of 2019.  I now need to go back and spend some time with their self-titled full-length from 2017, because I need way more Flat Worms in my life.   

Sunday, March 3, 2019

Magic Kids - Hey Boy 7'' (Goner, 2009)

Magic Kids
Hey Boy 7''
Goner
2009

Rating: 7 special leather harnesses out of 10

The short-lived Magic Kids were a real throwback to the Elephant 6 days of the mid-nineties where every band was trying to do their own imperfect spin on recreating the Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds."  (It's all in the sleigh bells, folks.)  Side A, "Hey Boy," kicks off with a chorus before turning into a song catchy enough to almost be a deep cut on a Brian Wilson rarities collection (that's a compliment, for the record).  The B side, "Good To Be," is such a slight wisp of a song song it barely exists - it's mostly just them saying "it's so good to be" over and over.  I always thought this band should have been more popular, and maybe they would have been if they had recorded more than one record (oh yeah, both of these tracks are also available on the only full-length, titled "Memphis").