In The Red HHV Records 66 Items

Meatbodies’ latest undertaking and borderline lost album, Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom, is their most varied and realized work to date. It’s a melodic, hook-filled rock epic in which frontman and lead guitarist Chad Ubovich faces the trials of sobriety, redemption, reinvention while literally learning to walk and play again. Resurrection not only accompanies the record, but its production as well, Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom examines themes surrounding love and loss, escapism, defeatism, hedonism, psychedelics and much more.

By 2017, Ubovich had reached a crossroads. After years of increasingly insane shows playing to heaving crowds with an ever-evolving and rotating door of personnel, fatigue had taken its toll and he realized another change was on the horizon. Retreating to the seedy Los Angeles underbelly—in search of meaning and a reset—he escaped into that world, ignoring his own well being, trying to forget his successes. It was at this point that Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom began to take shape—a project built by a man searching for new beginnings and his own sense of self. After sobering up, sessions began with longtime collaborator Dylan Fujioka. However, due to discrepancies with the studio, tensions were high and the plug was pulled. And as the world took a back seat, so did the idea of Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom. Not wanting to sit still at home, Ubovich began to comb through his previous demos, and, with that, 333 was born, the now de facto third Meatbodies album. Yet Flora was never far from Ubovich’s mind.

When restrictions started to lift, Ubovich headed to Gold Diggers Sound in Los Angeles, backed by engineer Ed McEntee and a team of colleagues and friends, and completed the final act to the album. It recalls the searing Blue Cheer-meets-Iggy Pop-with-psychedelia that permeated previous releases, but adds new elements of shoegaze, classic alternative, Britpop, drone, and hints of country. Simultaneously an ode to ’80s LA punk and the rise of indie / alternative music in the U.K., it plays like a radio station broadcasting from the void.

The ever poignant yet exceedingly elusive Chorg Dorgon speaks on the new album by Charles Moothart, entitled Black Holes Don’t Choke:

“For the sake of clarity, and its clarity that we seek, Charles has been a pillar of our musical experience since he began playing eons ago in the various projects and countless albums he has contributed to. Charles is a musician who has been constantly on the road for years playing in Ty Segall’s Freedom Band and Fuzz. When there has been a rare time away from those engagements especially in the post-pandemic scramble to catch up world of gigs and tours, he has been spending all of his time in his laboratory figuring out how to synthesize all of the info he has collected and musical ideas he has developed in the past few years since the last CFM record and subsequent shows for this new solo work. Just before the pandemic started, he was out playing solo shows in a project that revolved around an MPC sampler, just to give an example as to the wideness of his explorations. His result is Black Holes Don’t Choke. Love songs for the apocalypse. A prayer toward optimism amid chaos. A plea toward nature. The themes on this album are the themes of today. Charles appeals for us to visualize evolution. And with a signature, the music sounds exactly as you want it to. It sounds like Charles Moothart’s music only more evolved and with greater focus and direction. With greater textural dynamic and more sonic variation and realization, but never sacrificing the insane riff that he is clearly the master of. He gets to the point on this record. He is presenting a voice you can understand and rely on as you make your own journey into it. Create your own meanings. The record now belongs to the world. Because we all start a thought as that which is beginning-less and endless and at some certain point it becomes its own thought, takes it owns shape and becomes itself, separate from the thinker, separate from the observer. alive in the ether!”

Fuzz is Ty Segall (drums / vocals), Charlie Moothart (guitar / vocals) and Roland Cosio (bass).
They're heavy rock lifers-three California-bred dudes who have been refining their riffs and getting weird together since high school (which wasn't that long ago, actually). Fuzz was formed a couple years ago as a collaboration between Segall and Moothart, but only recently did the pair have sufficient time to guide the band out of side-project limbo and into a recording studio. Since then, they have released two singles, "This Time I Got a Reason" (Trouble In Mind) and "Sleigh Ride" (In The Red). Around the time of the latter, Cosio joined on bass. They are not dabblers or dilettantes. Fuzz flipped through used bins, hard drives and record collections of the world, seeking out the finest weirdo cuts. The band's self-titled debut LP dives deep, drawing inspiration from the more esoteric reaches of heavy metal pre-history. There are Sabbath and Hendrix nods, obviously, but on "Sleigh Bells" you might also catch a whiff of UK progressive blues business like The Groundhogs, particularly when the song quits its 10/4-time intro and reboots into full-bore choogle. Maybe you'll even glimpse the ghost of Australian guitar legend / sharpie guru Lobby Lloyde sniffing around "Raise." The mood is not light. The songs project a state of perpetual paranoia and eroding mental health. And as it should be, you know? It's a record for the burners. Vinyl includes digital download coupon.

Memo PST a new Los Angeles based band featuring Chris Shaw (EX Cult/gøggs), Orville Neeley (obn IIIs), Daniel Clodfelter (shark Toys) and Jackson Todd. This single features two short blasts of straight up punk rock. Their debut album will be released later this year on In The Red and it’s a total face melter.

In The Red Records is proud to announce a previously unreleased new album by Brooklyn-born master of minimalism Alan Vega, Insurrection. The eleven songs here showcase the unparalleled vision and uncompromising force from one of the most influential artists of all time.

Alan Vega was born in Brooklyn in 1938. He co-founded the legendary New York City punk band Suicide with Martin Rev in 1970. Suicide’s groundbreaking 1977 debut is considered one of the most influential albums of all time. Vega considered his solo records the audio counterpoint to his visual art that reflected the world around him while simultaneously exploring universal themes. It makes his work as relevant today as it was when he created them. It was during his highly experimental period beginning in the late ’80s that he began working with Liz Lamere, who became the most crucial collaborator of his solo career until his death in 2016.

Lamere, along with Jared Artaud, resurrected these newly unearthed collection of lost recordings, which they co-produced and mixed. Lamere and Artaud spearhead the Vega Vault project, which aims to bring rare, unreleased and back catalog work spanning Alan Vega and Suicide’s career to the public for the first time.

On Insurrection, Lamere says: “Insurrection was created in the time period around 1997/98, after Mutator and prior to Vega’s 1999 release of 2007 and captures the intense energy of NYC in the ’90s rife with crime, killing, hate, fascism, racism, and moral bankruptcy. You can hear the tortured souls floating through this album. Post-Gulf War angst still enveloped Alan. He was having premonitions about a major terror attack in the US, well before 9/11. The upcoming birth of his son raised further awareness of the state of our world. All these emotions are mirrored in the sounds he magnetized. And true to Vega form, there remains hope and empowerment coursing through the tracks. In the almost three decades of going into the studio with Vega, we recorded significantly more material than the seven albums released. Vega’s intention was to experiment with sound which would become the canvas for the poetry that reflected his vision of the universe. Because the goal wasn’t to make albums, he had no timeline or constraints and would freely follow new paths uncovered along the way.”

Earth Tongue, the brainchild of guitarist Gussie Larkin and drummer Ezra Simons, present their second full-length album Great Haunting. The duo, known for their heavy flavor of fuzz-soaked psychedelic rock, are also pleased to unveil their signing to In The Red Records.

Earth Tongue’s partnership with In The Red stems from a run of shows supporting the legendary Ty Segall throughout New Zealand. Larkin explains: “Ty’s band Fuzz was a significant influence for our sound early on. Ezra and I saw them play live in London about nine years ago, long before Earth Tongue existed. We absorbed a lot of music at that time, and in fact many of the bands we saw released records via In The Red.”

Great Haunting sees the duo draw inspiration from the eerie depths of ’70s and ’80s horror cinema, delivering a sonic concoction of dark and primitive songs with thick layers of fuzz and punchy, compressed drums. The album was engineered by Jonathan Pearce from The Beths at his studio on Karangahape road in Auckland.

The ascent of Earth Tongue is testament to their dedication and hard work. They’ve toured relentlessly across Europe and scored support slots for acts like Idles and Queens Of The Stone Age. They’re consistently selling out headline shows and have featured on festival lineups throughout Aotearoa and Australia. 2024 sees the band embark on a bold new chapter with their first performance in the USA at Sxsw, Austin. They also have more than forty dates booked throughout Europe this summer and many more exciting announcements to come.

Cheater Slicks, the take-no-prisoners Columbus, Ohio-based trio, return to Los Angeles’ In The Red Records with the thrilling, musically diverse Ill-Fated Cusses, their first album in eight years and their first package for the label in twenty years. The ten-track collection follows Piano Tunnels, a freewheeling, improvisation-based benefit collaboration with vocalist Bill Gage, whom the band has known since the then newly-formed trio and the singer’s group Bill were working in the Boston area in 1987. Other players joined this record other than core members Tom and Dave Shannon and Dana Hatch. Will Foster, who recorded the record, is heard playing various keyboards and Midi instrument emulations on the finished record. Most interestingly, James Arthur, of Fireworks and the Necessary Evils, was drafted to play bass, and he appears on every song on the album. Cheater Slicks had not deviated from the two-guitars-and-drums formula since its early days in Boston, when bassists Dina Pearlman, Allen “Alpo” Paulino of the Real Kids, and Merle Allin, brother of the notorious GG Allin, all rotated through the group. After thirty-five years in business, it makes about as much sense to pigeonhole Cheater Slicks as simply a “garage-rock band” as it would to call the Rolling Stones a “blues band.” Ill-Fated Cusses, more than any other album in the group’s discography, explores a broad musical palette on its nine original songs and one cover, Memphis rockabilly icon Charlie Feathers’ stark barroom murder ballad “Cold Dark Night.” This latest chapter in the Cheater Slicks saga moves into bracing new territory without sacrificing the uncompromising blood ’n’ guts tactics that have long made them a formidable force in American rock ’n’ roll.

Over the course of the decade, Meatbodies’ Chad Ubovich has been a perennial candidate for MVP of West Coast’s fertile rock scene. The LA native could be seen peeling off guitar solos in Mikal Cronin’s backing band, supplying the Sabbath-sized low end for Ty Segall and Charlie Moothart as the bassist for Fuzz, and, of course, fronting his own Meatbodies. Today the recently dormant experimental noise / freak-rock outfit has announced their return with 333—a corrosive stew of guitar scuzz, raw acoustic rave-ups, and primitive electronics that charts Ubovich’s journey from drug-induced darkness to clear-eyed sobriety. 333 simultaneously reflects on how the world he re-entered was still pretty messed up—if not more so. In mid to late 2019, the band—Ubovich and drummer Dylan FUJIOKA—had a new album in the can, ready to be mixed. But when Covid hit, like so many other artists, they put their release on hold as they rode out the pandemic’s first wave. During that idle time, Ubovich discovered a cache of demos that he and Fujioka had recorded in a bedroom back in the summer of 2018, and he really liked what he heard. In contrast to Meatbodies’ typical full-band attack, it was deliriously disordered. “It sounded gross, like a scary Magical Mystery Tour,” he recalls proudly. After subjecting them to some mixing-board freakery, Ubovich fast-tracked the songs into becoming this third release of theirs, 333. It proves Meatbodies have greatly expanded their palette, opening new portals to explore. And for an album that wasn’t supposed to exist, 333 is the ultimate testament to Meatbodies’ renewed vitality.

“These days, good news is hard to come by, but here’s some: Lamps, LA’s notoriously unprolific noise-merchant trio, are ready to release their spectacular fourth album called People With Faces, out on In The Red Records. Produced by Ty Segall at Val’s, Lamps’ first recorded output since 2012’s landmark LP Under The Water, Under The Ground finds them breaking adventurous new terrain. I’d say they’ve matured, but I’d only say it behind their backs. Stalwarts Monty Buckles (guitar, voice, keyboards!!!) and Josh Erkman (drums, voice) double down on Lamps’ trademark cloak of effects-laden guitars and hammering drums, and new(ish) member Denée Segall jumps into the fray with her Poly Styrene-wail and monolithic bass, add-ing depth both sonically and lyrically. Their trademark abrasiveness is still present, but it’s bur-nished it into something richer, more layered. Don’t worry, it still kicks your head in…” —KD. Feb 2020

Jon Spencer, the Blues Explosion man who put the “Bellbottoms” on Baby Driver! The top cat who spread the secret sauce in Boss Hog! The rockabilly right-hook from heavyweight outlaws Heavy Trash! The swank-fucking master of Pussy Galore! Jon Spencer is back! Often imitated, never duplicated, the original NYC underground-rock legend returns from the wilderness with twelve red-hot hits, each more powerful than the last!

This is Garage Punk for Now People! A wizard’s brew of rhythm and blues and subversive dance grooves, weaponized with sci-fi skronk and industrial attitude, calibrated for the Revolution, a Molotov cocktail of sound guaranteed to destroy any post-modern hangover. Pulsing with energy, clanging with excitement, and dripping with radioactive soul and raw emotion, Spencer opens up his heart like never before, exploring man’s modern condition with caustic guitars and outerworld crooning, asking and answering the musical question, “Is it possible to torch the cut-throat world of fake news and pre-fab, plastic-coated teen rebellion with the power of rock ’n’ roll?” The answer is yes—on Spencer Sings The Hits! This is the truth serum America has been craving, the beginning of a rock ’n’ roll rebellion that takes no prisoners and puts the squares on ice!

This is it: Chain & the Gang; “Best Of .<.. Crime Rock” , on 'In The Red' Records and Tapes.


They just recorded it. Its easily the best record, with the most passion, the most accuracy, the most cunning, the most vigor.


Every song on these records is a classic, each lyric an anthem. The tunes are simplistic to the point of parody; call and response rhythm chants which infiltrate the consciousness and leave the listener transformed forever.


Each group member is a star. But together they’re something greater than the parts. An irresistible combo that provides the best hope for the future and the only answer to the embarrassing slime pit called “culture” nowadays.

Thee Oh Sees (ocs) began as songwriter / singer / guitarist John Dwyer's outlet for the experimental instrumentals he was producing in his home studio. Dwyer, who hails from Providence, RI, has been active on the San Francisco indie scene since the late '90s, working with The Coachwhips, Hospitals, Pink & Brown, Yikes, Dig That Body Up It's Alive, and Swords & Sandals, among others. He formed OCS (which is an acronym for Orinoka Crash Suite, Orange County Sound, or whatever Dwyer decided on any given day) to release a string of soundscapes and moody pieces that were decidedly lower key than his previous projects. In time, OCS morphed into an actual band, working under a flurry of names (most notably the Oh Sees or the Ohsees) and eventually settling on Thee Oh Sees. Sounding a bit like The Mamas & The Papas run through a seriously bent garage blender, this line-up features Dwyer on guitar and vocals, Brigid Dawson on vocals and tambourine, Petey Dammit on bass, and Mike Shoun on drums. The band signed with the German Tomlab label and released The Master's Bedroom Is Worth Spending a Night In in 2008. This record marked the first recorded appearance of the newly harder rocking version of the band and was immediately met with an enthusiastic response by fans and rock scribes. It went out of print after its initial pressing sold out quickly, and In The Red is pleased to announce the re-release of this incredible album on vinyl. Music like this is best enjoyed when spun on a turntable, and the gorgeous cover art can only be properly appreciated at 12 inches by 12 inches.

Kid Congo Powers has seen fit to cover two songs by Atlanta garage rock legends the Subsonics and release them on seven inch vinyl—the way God intended rock 'n' roll to be heard. Kid’s scuzzy, noisy renditions do the originals proud and are guaranteed to make one want to get up, dance and behave badly. Housed in a gaudy full color sleeve and pressed on kaleidoscopic tricolor vinyl.

Hard-hitting new collection succeeds the trio’s rampaging 2019 In The Red Debut EP Death Buy! Proving once again that “power trio” isn’t just a descriptive handle from the distant past but a louder-than-God 21st-Century reality, the devastating New York band Skull Practioners' bow Negative Stars, their first full-length album for In The Red Records. The eight-track collection is the second release for Los Angeles-based trio—guitarist Jason Victor, bassist Kenneth Levine, and drummer Alex BAKER—who collectively produced the record, with TED Young engineering (and Baker handling engineering on vocal sessions). Brooklyn Vegan said, “If you dig early ’80s L.A. dusty punk like Gun Club, X and Flesh Eaters, or the many works of Jon Spencer, you will want to check out these four ripping, ripped-up tracks.” Rock And Roll Globe described the music as “Gun Club fugues played by anxious Amphetamine Reptile Records ghosts deciding they’d prefer to continue to walk the earth.” Negative Stars is the culmination of years of work in New York’s clubs and studios.

“Step into a sick rhythm. And I mean sickly. Surgery Channel is a constructed world where everything is piercing and pinpointed. Every single word brings confrontation. With an intro as intimate and uncomfortable as this, The C.I.A. make you question what could be happening here…or what they’re after. Denée Segall (vocals, lyrics) is both haunting and seducing us at once with her voice. Something unhinged might be about to happen and they’re calmly dangling it over your head. Is it the possibility of dismemberment? Revenge? “There is something about Surgery Channel that is sterile and covered in dirt at the same time. Maybe it’s the feeling of simultaneous anger and defeat. Maybe it’s what comes after. Or maybe it’s about the ever-so-brief silent spaces between notes and words. Rhythm would be nothing without empty space. Words are rhythm at The C.I.A. “There’s nothing wishy washy about The C.I.A. or the way they sound. It’s all about precision and aim But really, it’s a warning... amplified by the suspense of tick-tocking drum machine beats that resemble a hospital room. Ty Segall (bass, percussion, back up vocals) and Emmett Kelly (bass, synth, back up vocals) have painted a jarring and dissonant landscape behind Denée’s story. Their basses could easily be swapped for bone drills and you might not be able to tell the difference. Emmett’s modular synth envisions an environment reminiscent of the instrument itself, a mess of wires and pulsing red lights. Ty’s subtle use of electronic and analog percussion fluctuates between the sound of a metal tray hitting the floor (“The Wait”), and the swish of an ultrasound scan (“Bubble”). “Both Surgery Channel and The C.I.A’s first self-titled record are ripe with straightforward conviction. However this most recent installment reveals a new side of their personality. Now The C.I.A. is communicating from an electrified, pulsating, metallic playpen that wants you to strut. Surgery Channel shows punks a new way to move while remaining loyal to the traditions of catharsis and social commentary. “This record is an astute observation and blunt critique. Both inward and outward. It is an exploration into how harshly intimate that process can be. It was written in 2021 by Denée Segall, Ty Segall, and Emmett Kelly. It was recorded at Harmonizer Studios and mixed at Golden Beat by Mike Kriebel.” —Sofia Arreguin

“The title of the green glow-in-the-dark vinyl record is not merely a title: it is the first step on a journey to exploring the spirit realm with Zabrecky as your tour guide—just in time for Halloween. On the off chance that you are unfamiliar with the work of Mr. Zabrecky, it will behoove you to know that that he’s had one of the most illustrious, interesting and eclectic careers imaginable. He first came into the public eye in the 1990’s while fronting the popular angst-ridden pop punk combo Possum Dixon. Unlike other artists, his quick, quirky intelligence and onstage intensity didn’t result in a solo rock’n’roll career, but directed him to explore far more esoteric avenues. His later incarnations—all fueled by the same fascinating power—lead him to become an actor, a world famous award-winning magician, mentalist, author and professional auctioneer. Equal parts persuasive snake oil salesman and unctuous supernatural aficionado, he is possessed—[ ] pun intended—of an odd, slightly eerie sense of humor...or perhaps it is that Zabecky is dead serious—and his convictions are merely perceived as humor? “For well over a decade, within the mysterious, chain and shackle- bedecked walls of The Houdini Room at The Magic Castle, Zabrecky has conducted literally hundreds of seances. One day in the not-so-distant past, Zabrecky had a revelation...or was it advice whispered from The Beyond? ‘It occurred to me that people could conduct their own séances in the comfort of their living spaces or in nearly any space,’ Zabrecky said. Harking back to his time in the post punk milieu, in which the DIY ethic came to a head, he continues, ‘They don’t need me, they just need this record. Who wouldn’t want their own do-it-yourself séance record? Hard to imagine that it hasn’t been done before.’ “Produced by the illustrious Emmett Kelly, Séance employs several 1970s analog synths as well as harp and other instruments that wouldn’t ‘normally’ be associated with a séance; the addition of Zabrecky’s hypnotic spoken vocals lead the listener to explore new realms. The and result is a record that could be considered a spooky-cool novelty...or lead the listener directly into the vast realm of The World Beyond The Veil. Ultimately, the listener will decide on the direction this record leads them...perhaps with a bit of help from a long lost loved one...or a disencarnate entity from the shadows. Either way, as Zabrecky opines, ‘The main rule of the séance is: if you believe, you will receive.’ ” —Pleasant Gehman

If you've followed the San Francisco underground for the past ten years, you might already be familiar with John Dwyer. Or--tastes depending--you might not know him at all. A friend and devotee of preeminent Providence noise rock act Lightning Bolt, the majority of Dwyer's repertoire falls on the indie spectrum's more visceral wavelengths. He was Pink in Pink and Brown, fronted Coachwhips, and played guitar in the dysfunctional Hospitals. If you're unfamiliar with or in search of a refresher, you can search YouTube for a crash course on any of these bands. Some popular tags are: "garage," "punk," and "sweat." If you like what you see, do yourself a favor and check out Dwyer's newest band, Thee Oh Sees. "Newest" because they've only been around for six albums--albeit in different incarnations, under several different names (ocs, the Oh Sees, et al.) with several different sounds. Formed in the wake of his more volatile commitments, Thee Oh Sees started as an extension of Dwyer's softer side. Their early recordings were somber and beautiful. Last year, Thee Oh Sees made an unexpected turn, delivering their wildest, weirdest, hardest-rocking record yet with The Master's Bedroom Is Worth Spending A Night In. Now Thee Oh Sees have followed it with an even wilder, more hard-rocking record, Help. Recorded by Chris Woodhouse (the A-Frames, Mayyors), Help draws straight, dark lines to both the British psychedelic rock of bands like The Creation and the caveman thud of The Troggs while a Cramps-like appreciation for rockabilly lies not far below. The album weaves Dwyer's signature AM radio howl with the catchiest of driving tunes, Brigid Dawson's gorgeous harmonies, heightened fidelity, thick spring-reverbed bombast, mighty drums, and an undeniable pull. The result is a sound somewhere beyond nostalgia, beyond the garage, beyond the fireside song and supposed goo-rock. Modern rock 'n' roll records don't come much better than this and Thee Oh Sees are one of the best bands going.

Liz Lamere has announced her debut album Keep It Alive via In The Red. After collaborating with late partner Alan Vega (Suicide) for over three decades on his solo work, and starting out playing drums in punk bands, she is releasing her own music. All of the music and lyrics were written and performed by Liz Lamere. It was recorded in her lower Manhattan apartment during lockdown, engineered by her and Alan’s son Dante Vega Lamere in the same space where the Suicide singer constructed his light sculptures. They emerged with a riveting set of songs that are charged with an irrepressible lust for life and the feel for the contagious hook. The album was then co-produced and mixed by Jared Artaud and Liz Lamere, with Ted Young engineering the mixing sessions and Josh Bonati mastering. “There’s something very magical about creating music in the same environment where Alan created his visual art,” notes Lamere. “His energy is pervasive and is inevitably infused in the recordings.” She continues: “We were living through unprecedented times and Keep It Alive took adversity and uncertainty and turned it into a message of resilience and empowerment.” The album courses with the defiant energy that motivated Lamere through her early double life as both Wall Street lawyer and downtown New York musician before meeting and falling in love with Vega led to her becoming his manager, creative foil and keyboard manipulator on solo albums beginning in 1990 (Deuce Avenue, Power On To Zero Hour, New Raceion, Dujang Prang, 2007, Station, IT) and recently released lost album Mutator that launched the Vega Vault she curates with Jared Artaud. After Vega passed away in July 2016, Lamere found it cathartic writing down thoughts and observations in notebooks. Simultaneously, she and Artaud started collaborating, overseeing the mastering of IT and then co-producing and mixing Mutator; and during this time they naturally discussed an alliance on the solo album she knew would be forthcoming. Keep It Alive is an homage to a song on Vega’s New Raceion album that has significant meaning for Lamere. It was one of the key lines she would chant on stage, becoming a staple of live performances with Vega. The vision behind the album is about preserving your own inner fire. Lamere commented “Alan always encouraged me to make my own music, and I’ve waited until the time was right as I’ve been dedicated to preserving Alan’s vision and building his legacy.”

Originally released in 1979 on their own Disposable Records, this record was the brainchild of John Irvine in the UK. The record was pressed in a tiny edition, was played on John Peel several times and vanished without a trace. An excellent example of the UK DIY scene of the time later popularized on the Messthetics compilation series. It ranks number 12 in the top 100 DIY singles list that ran in Ugly Things issue #78. We’ve repressed it in an edition of 400 on red, purple, double mint green and olive green vinyl.

“Ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus is attributed with the quote ‘The only constant in life is change' and nothing sums up Chip Kinman’s latest creation—or his entire career—quite as well. Like each of Chip’s musical incarnations, The Great Confrontation seemingly has no connection whatsoever to the work that preceded it...unless the listener is savvy enough to spot the deeply buried but always present through lines. “The tracks on this album are wildly alien in every applicable sense of the word. The opener, ‘Let’s Go, Dark Shark’ sets the scene with drippy, space age chirping that slowly degenerates into slo-mo sludge like an astronaut running out of oxygen. ‘Ciao Raggazzi’—not to be confused with Jay And The Americans’ ‘Good Bye Boys, Good Bye (Ciao Raggazzi, Ciao)’ is a derailing train of a song. The vocals are spoken in Italian and presumably, snatches of conversation sampled from a Mafia crime film. ‘Speaking of crimes, Chip murders a couple of standards in cold blood purely for his own amusement. Both are traditional and absolutely unrecognizable. ‘Round About Danny’ is his take on the Irish ballad ‘Danny Boy’, written in 1913 and recorded relentlessly through the years by everyone from Judy Garland to Conway Twitty. The other’s a gospel hymn, ‘Will The Circle Be Unbroken’, originally performed by The Carter Family in the 1920s. “Imagine both songs sans vocals, filtered through a particle accelerator beam shot by a rogue robot from a 1950’s sci-fi B movie. Then pretend they got reinterpreted by a hippie in a ratty flea market cape who borrowed a Moog synthesizer so he could emulate Rick Wakeman from the prog rock band Yes. The hippie not only had no working knowledge of playing a synthesizer, he was tripping his brains out on Owsley’s premium LSD. “This album is all a huge departure from anything he’s ever done—but for Chip, that’s normal. I’m sure of this because I’ve known him since 1977, witnessing all his musical mutations and in many cases, the sources that inspired him to prolifically create original, cohesive and boundary-pushing sounds. As the old saying goes, what he’s done consistently is often imitated but never replicated.” —Pleasant Gehman

On DES Demonas’ new seven-track EP Cure For Love there’s a whalloping drum beat driving everything. But the throbbing, pumping bass, clanging, slashing guitar and whirling, swirling Farfisa are no mere passengers in this vehicle! I’m told by the other band members Paul [vivari], JOE [halladay], Mark [cisneros] and Ryan [hicks] that vocalist Jacky Cougar Abok is the loudest drummer they’ve ever heard. But here he sings! In motifs. He sings out a beat, he sings minimalist melodic hooks. He half speaks/half shouts his lyrical content in rapid fire that is closer to beat poetry than rap. His voice is insistent and demanding to be heard! And it is! By having it slightly submerged, the listener is forced to strain to hear the words because they won’t wanna miss something important! The sonic fuel of the band is a blend of post-punk, punk, funk, blues, psych-rock, Afrobeat, even bubble-gum—but the noise you hear is pure Des Demonas! Titles like the ‘Ballad Of Ike & Tina’ and ‘Black Orpheus Blues’ add to the intrigue rather than explain the content. The listener is both confronted and lured by something bigger than themselves! Desire, intrigue, fear and exuberance are the rewards to those unable to resist! But will yout love be cured? You could look to Shakespeare, or simpler, you could buy this record and find out!” —Kim Salmon

Bill Gage is a quasi-famous singer with a raw, rock ’n’ roll voice. Cheater Slicks are an infamous, raw, rock ’n’ roll band. Put the two together and the resulting album is a stream-of-conscious stew of wild, fuzz-drenched rock ’n’ roll! Some history: both Cheater Slicks and Bill Gage’s band Bill began in Boston in 1987, and it was sometime around then that Gage first sang with Tom and David Shannon playing guitars, in Gage’s bedroom in Laconia, New Hampshire. It was an intense and primal sound that was not forgotten by those involved. Gage’s singing has been compared to Captain Beefheart, David Thomas, Damo Suzuki, and Yoko Ono. However, Gage clearly has his own sound, which includes guttural yells, sweet crooning, and bluesy meanderings—all seemingly told from a tarpaper shack porch under the oceans of Mars. Cheater Slicks have from the start been a brain-melting rock ‘n’ roll dream / nightmare of a band. Steeped in the wild guitar interplay and pounding drums of classic noisy underground rock groups (Cramps, Scientists, Velvet Underground), they have created their own unique and ever-evolving style that has only gotten deeper and sharper over the years. In spring 2018, when Cheater Slicks were presented with the idea of a collaborative record with Gage, they wasted no time, and began writing and arranging new songs for the project. Gage traveled to Columbus to record at the legendary Musicol studios in November of that year. It was a great session and came together as if it were always meant to be. After thirty years of performing, is the world finally ready for Bill Gage—accompanied by the seismic Cheater Slicks? All profits from this record will benefit the Arts Resources programs of the National Association for Down Syndrome.

Los Angeles, California—DIVINE Horsemen, the fiery, eclectic ’80s group that rode the unique vocal chemistry of Chris Desjardins (aka Chris D.) and Julie ChrisTENSEN, return to the musical stage with Hot Rise Of An Ice Cream Phoenix, a collection of all-new recordings. Co-produced by Desjardins and Craig Parker Adams (who engineered I Used To Be Pretty, the 2019 release by Chris D.’s groundbreaking ’70s punk band the Flesh Eaters), this new 13-track album comprises the first new music by the Horsemen in thirty-three years. Founded after the dissolution of the Flesh Eaters and launched with the 1984 Enigma Records album Time Stands Still, billed as Chris D./Divine Horseman, the band released three albums and an EP on SST Records, all of which featured the searing harmonies of Desjardins and Christensen, who were married at the time. The couple split professionally and personally just prior to the release of their January 1988 EP A Handful of Sand. However, the two musicians remained in touch over the years, and Christensen contributed vocals to five tracks on I Used To Be Pretty, which reunited the 1980 “all-star” edition of the Flesh Eaters heard on the Ruby/Slash classic A Minute To Pray, A Second To Die. By then, the idea of reviving Divine Horsemen was already percolating. Featuring onetime Divine Horsemen guitarist Peter Andrus, who had appeared on A Handful Of Sand and the 1987 album Snake Handler, and Bobby Permanent, the 2021 Divine Horsemen lineup is completed by drummer DJ Bonebrake of the incomparable L.A. band X. Hot Rise Of An Ice Cream Phoenix stands as a bracing new achievement by a distinctive musical partnership that has always marched to the beat of its own drum. Like the Flesh Eaters’ recent reunion, it’s a welcome return that plays to the group’s historic strengths.

Swing From The Sean DeLear is the new four song 12-inch by Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds on In The Red Records. It celebrates a dreamlike bridge between life and memory. Recorded and mixed with Jim Waters (Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Sonic Youth, etc.) at Waterworks Recording in Tucson AZ, the track “Sean DeLear” is a tribute to the late, magical, and ubiquitous Los Angeles underground institution named Sean DeLear. This rocking song uses the metaphor of those passed on as swinging from a chandelier, a festive image everyone hopes is true! Side two of this 12-inch is a fourteen-minute psych, Chicano-groove titled “He Walked In.” The text is based on a visceral fever dream Kid had about his friend and Gun Club bandmate Jeffrey Lee Pierce, who passed away in 1996. Leading the listener back to the theme of feelings sustained between life and memory, the song dreams on as the band spreads their monkey bird wings, featuring Mark Cisneros on flute, and guest tambourine-queen Cesar Padilla—lost in music but found in sound. In such uncertain times, one thing is most certain—Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds will always bring the party...and the other world.

“Prior to forming the Gun Club, Jeffrey Lee Pierce (1958-1996) fronted The Red Lights. While 1980 is viewed as ground zero for Pierce’s career—his autobiography Go Tell The Mountain starts with the founding of the Gun Club—Pierce was active as a rock critic for Slash magazine and had started songwriting years earlier. Throughout the late 1970s, Pierce’s primary musical interests were power pop and reggae. He was the president of the Blondie fan club and had interviewed Burning Spear. So when the Red Lights, Pierce’s first serious attempt at forming a band, started rehearsing it’s unsurprising that power pop (with a hint of reggae) was the group’s musical direction. “The Red Lights existed throughout 1978. The lineup for the band’s debut show on July 14, 1978—opening for The Germs and The Middle Class at the Whisky—was Jeffrey Lee Pierce (vocals and guitar), Anna Statman (bass), Vitus Mataré (keyboards) and Jack Reynolds (drums). Mataré and Reynolds were members of The Last; Anna Statman was a contributing writer to Pleasant Gehman’s Lobotomy fanzine. This lineup was short-lived. Mataré dropped out afterwards; Jack Reynolds stuck around a little longer. Thanks to Flipside’s gig reviews, it’s known that the Red Lights played at least two more shows: one at The Arena in Culver City and another one at The Rock Corporation in Van Nuys on August 9, 1978, opening up for The Weasels. By the end of 1978, Pierce had moved to New York City, effectively ending the Red Lights “At some point in the second half of 1978, The Red Lights recorded a demo. Little is known about the session. Mataré had already left the band, Statman vaguely remembers recording it. Unfortunately, Jack Reynolds passed away in 2009. The Red Lights were obscure; people familiar with the band were likely committed Gun Club fans. Few were aware that this demo tape existed; those who had a cassette copy likely received it from Pierce directly. “Fast forward four decades and what’s surprising about the Red Lights’ material is how advanced Pierce’s songwriting was at 19 years old—the songs’ dynamic range, that voice—this is clearly the Gun Club’s Jeffrey Lee Pierce. Again, it’s all here.” —Ryan Leach

“When new projects are discussed, I sometimes hear a disclaimer along the lines of, ‘this band isn’t reinventing the wheel,’ to which I want to know what’s everyone’s so apologetic about. The wheel was a pretty good invention—good luck getting anywhere without one. So let’s consider a redefinition, instead. Los Angeles based quintet Richard Rose may or may not feature prominent players from bands including but not limited to Ex-Cult, Gøggs, OBN III’s, Snooty Garbagemen, Bad Sports, Hooveriii and Stress Group…but as much as said bands were amongst the best and brightest on offer in Memphis, Houston and Austin, this new amalgamation is a bolder proposition. “Without question, there’s echoes of their past work—the malevolent vocal presence of Laurence Richard and guitar virtuosity of Thomas Rose in particular—but Richard Rose’s first full-length thoroughly ups the ante on the band’s 2019 debut In The Red EP. The wheels in question have plowed thtough the respective discographies of Michigan / Australian bands you know and love, sure, but these guys have found their own voice in a shockingly brief matter of time. Simply put, they’ve fashioned an instant rock classic…there might be a handful of bands in America with this kind of confidence, but in most other instances it’s unwarranted. They don’t possess Richard Rose’s intellect, instrumental prowess, musical range or sense of purpose. “Finally, I will not insult your intelligence by claiming Richard Rose scale these lofty heights without artifice. That they insist on performing under dubious pseudonyms (Laurence and Thomas are joined by bassist Bag Mantrellis, drummer Jerry Leymar and saxophonist Gravy McKay) might give traditionalists pause, but it’s worth remembering our legal system would not function properly without a witness protection program. The modern histories of music and art would also not have unfolded so spectacularly if practioners weren’t brave enough to redefine themselves, and we’re beyond fortune to bear witness to this furious five making the music of their lives.” – Gerard Cosloy

“The Demolition Doll Rods are back, Jack. Those masters of Motor City mayhem have returned. Perhaps the only band to be asked by a promoter to keep their clothes on, the Demolition Doll Rods—who have not been in a studio together in fourteen years—are set to unleash Into The Brave in October 2020. “Formed in a Detroit basement in 1993, the Demolition Doll Rods are infamous for their rude, crude two-guitars-drums-no-extra-stuff rock ’n’ roll, not to mention those minimal matching Doll Rod outfits, which included wearing hubcaps, doll heads and even swiss cheese. They recorded four very singular albums together—starting with their outrageous debut Tasty in 1997 (coproduced by Jon Spencer and Mick Collins)—but called it quits in 2007 when co-founders Margaret Doll Rod and Danny Kroha went their separate ways. Until last year, that is, when out of the blue Margaret suddenly reunited with Danny to perform some scorching live shows alongside new drummer Shelby Murphy. “Any doubts that the Doll Rods still have it are blown away mere seconds into listening to Into The Brave, for this collection of twelve songs is as loud, crazy and demented as anything they have ever created). “So here it is—Into The Brave, another collection of nutbucket numbers only the Doll Rods could concoct.” —Jimmy McDonough

Another Don Howland-related album! That’s right, In The Red is putting out two albums by the man at the same time! That’s how much the label loves him and his music. This full length is by his now defunct five piece band Burning Bus. The band released two 7-inches earlier this decade and recorded this album, which has laid dormant until now. While Howland’s solo work and the Bassholes tend to be stripped-down, treble-kicking affairs, Burning Bus is a full throttle three guitar and bass attack. It’s much noisier and more brutal than anything else he’s done. Fans of Pussy Galore will want to take note.

“In contrast to their prior mobile-unit hole-ups and home-taped fryers, Barbarian Dust, the third album from Lavender Flu, marks the band’s first raid of a proper studio. Extending the formalities further, the conceptual impetus for the sessions stems from a collective meditation on cosmic biker rock. Smokey, sure—and that peculiar, chunky ether seeps into the resulting collection—but it all ultimately serves to a liquid frame, a set of parameters imposed purely to burst through. Compositionally and thematically, Barbarian Dust alternates between hope and anger, each idealized, a sway thoughtfully achieved through an often-soaring, occasionally busted version of rock heaviness (without ever approaching ‘Heavy Rock’, thank heaven / hell). In every sense of the word, it’s their most aggressive work to date.
“Barbarian Dust collects songs that move in and out of wobble and explosion, each pushing forever forward, just as the composers themselves do. Galaxies past cool-but-copyist trips, Lavender Flu—brothers Chris and Lucas Gunn, Scott Simmons and Ben Spencer—slaughter the trivial in favor of a newer, deeper, more meaningful sound, indifferent to any path other than their own. Time to transform, yet again.” —Mitch Cardwell

Charles Moothart is releasing his third album under the moniker CFM. It’s calledSoundtrack For An Empty Roomand keeps it cookin’ off 2016’sStill Life Of Citrus And Slimeand 2017’sDichotomy Desaturated.Moothart is a frequent contributor on many of Ty Segall’s solo ventures but also as a co-conspirator in bands like the blazing jam unit Fuzz, and a fantastic monster of a group called GØGGS, which throws Segall and Moothart in with Chris Shaw of Ex-Cult.
Something that’s immediately apparent onthis albumis that it’s a harder record than its predecessors. The shift isn’t subtle but it is tremendously cool. A lot of the materialwas written while Moothart was on tour with Segall and working on the GØGGSPre Strike Sweepalbum. The first two CFM efforts gave Moothart the experience to work effectively on his own in the studio, the live shows infusethiswith the confidence and attitude that comes from a lot of nights playing where there are no second takes.Itis an exciting follow up and further proof that Moothart is one of those people with a lot of music in him.

“If I may speak completely for myself. It’s musicians like Charles, Ty, Chris Shaw, John Dwyer, Tim Presley and Mikal Cronin who are not only revitalizing Independent Music, but have forced the idea of the monolithic album, endless tour and then a year before another release to be but an antiquated and megaboring option. It’s a blast trying to keep up with their output. Super exciting. Lastly, all three CFM albums are great butSoundtrack To An Empty Roomis the best one. It rips from start to finish.” —Henry Rollins

Richard Rose is a band—not a person. They are a brand new southern Californian based outfit who have just recently started playing out live. They are fronted by Lawrence Rose (aka Chris Shaw—vocalist of Ex-Cult and GØGGS) and Thomas Rose (aka Orville Neeley—guitarist of OBN III’s and Bad Sports) and play a pummeling, Stoogeoid-brand of rock ’n’ roll that’s not afraid to stretch out and go long. This is Richard Rose’s debut release—a four song 12-inch slab of vinyl that is designed to melt faces.

If the original intent of punk rock was to reject the excesses of mainstream rock, strip things back to bare bones basics, jettison slickness and embrace a DIY ethic, then THE REVENGE were punk rock personified. Formed in 1977 in Cheshunt, London by Lol Hammond (vocals/guitar), Ian Strange (bass/vocals) and Dave Edgar (drums/vocals), these teenagers played most of London’s punk clubs, including the Roxy. The band self-released two singles in 1978 on their own Loony Records before disbanding in 1979. Both 7-inches were pressed in incredibly small amounts and now have legendary status amongst collectors going for ridiculous sums. The recordings are extremely raw, even by punk standards—particularly on the band’s first single, where the guitar sound is so tough and scuzzy it would not sound out of place on a volume of Back From The Grave. Needless to say, the singles received little press and vanished without a trace. Nowadays Lol Hammond is one of London’s well known DJs who has recorded as Drum Club and Girl Eats Boy, collaborated with Roger Eno, directed film scores and has remixed the likes of Jah Wobble, Killing Joke and The Fall, to name but three. In The Red is proud to issue the first legitimate (these singles have been bootlegged) reissue of The Revenge’s two singles.

“This record is an encapsulation. The omnipresent fear and anger. Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? And what is really going on? Consternation…today…There is difficulty, frustration, strain and a large snake. You can feel the pressure of it breathing on the streets, in media, and in your lunch. This s/t, by The C.I.A., is an urgent musical notice. I feel it immediately. The pointed vocal cadence and lyrics of Denée Segal is a sharp scythe, and the actual time is…now.

“I feel the same distress call and disposition from Crass records like Penis Envy or DIRT. In fact, if you took that, mixed in “Black Silk Stocking” by Chrisma and a touch of early Nic Endo (Atari Teenage Riot) and even Dinah Cancer (45 Grave) Autopsy era, you can get a feeling. And, similarly to those mentioned, Denée is putting a time stamp on this time. The spirit and her viability is strong in many a corner, and in many a heart. The alarm is ringing.

“This is survival sound, put on record well backed by Ty Segall and Emmett Kelly, who have added anything-must-happen, mercurial, constantly moving instrumentation. The sounds, consistent with unique monochrome, move like an engine, made gas-tight by piston rings. Sonic rings moving in tight machine patterns. And at the vocal helm is Denée, steering this machine in vocal directions across an exclamation point motorway. No salt, all salt. Traction and reaction. They built a sound machine with, and for each other. Survival sound lifts its head up when it needs to. Thankfully it gets put on record and released when it needs to.” —Tim Presley

Take a tour through Ty Segall’s musical psyche with his new solo album, Fudge Sandwich, a collection of Segall’s take on eleven songs that were originally done by other people. These aren’t just cover versions. Cover versions happen at weddings and high school band battles. The songs here are what happens when someone loves a song so much, they need to get inside it and let it propagate and transform into what it would have been if they had actually written it.

Equal parts reverence and reimagination, this album shows Segall inhabiting the world of a song’s intent, filtering it through the muse that drove this year’s exceptional Freedom’s Goblin. Cluttered, passionate and inspired, the songs are barely recognizable, irresistible and by album’s end, present a cohesive collection that stands proudly alongside the best of Segall’s considerable output.

With their second album Pre Strike Sweep, GØGGS add a new level of primordial anxiety to their already catastrophic symphony. Recorded and mixed in 2017 by GØGGS guitarist and co-founder Ty Segall, the album explores the damaging affects of modern life before blowing them up one by one.
Singer Chris Shaw uses terms like “space rinse” and “roadside surgery” to inform the listener that this is a strange and different trip, far and away from the “Glendale Junkyard” he romanticized in 2016 on their self-titled album. In fact, all expectations brought on by that acclaimed debut are crushed into dust, revealing a new standard by which the GØGGS march thumps.

The Earth Girl Helen Brown Center For Planetary Intelligence Band (E.G.H.B.C.F.P.I.B.) is pleased to join forces with In the Red Records and Empty Cellar Records, presenting the first vinyl release of their proto-lanetary series Four Satelittes Vol. 1. Double gate-folded LP (three sides + etching), the release is a collection of songs and information from the band’s 2017 consumer recycled cassette series: Spring: Mercury: Fire, Summer: Mars: War, Fall: Saturn: Communication, and Winter: Venus: Love.

The band, related media artists and technicians includes: Heidi Alexander, Jamie Barron, Jamin Barton, Eric Bauer, Aylin Beyce, Emilee Booher, Ryan Browne, Tim Cohen, Grace Cooper, Dave Cousin, Brad Caulkins, Mikal Cronin, Bart Davenport, Brigid Dawson, John Dwyer, Chris Fallon, Lars Finberg, James Finch Jr., Davin Givhan, Dylan Hadley, Dustin Hamman, Kiran Harlow, Wilder Harlow, Graeme Gibson, Tahlia Harbour, Anna Hillburg, Douglas Hilsinger, Warren Huegel, Emmett Kelly, Nora Keys, Shannon Lay, Raven Mahon, Rusty Miller, Charlie Moonheart, Jack Name, Ethan Novikoff, Tim Presley, Ty Segall, Dave Sitek, Sean Smith, Sonny Smith, Kelley Stoltz, Enrique Tena, Alica Vanden Heuvel, Lida Vanden Heuvel and Mikey Young.

The new Lavender Flu album Mow The Glass was recorded in the living room of a small house on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. One can hear it in the music: the Oregon coast, the dream life of an Axolotl, the open sound of a band playing to an audience of endless water, sun, and sky. A bald eagle flew by the window every few hours as if to remind the band where they really were. Still, the laughter was real, the freedom was magic, and the tambo was sprinkled like sugar.
Heavy Air, the previous album, was a home recording project. The songs started with Chris Gunn (The Hunches) on a guitar or a synth or a bowl of cereal and were built up from there. A rotating cast of friends and family helped flesh out the material. It could have been made in deep space or at the bottom of the ocean. Transmissions from a bedroom at the bottom of Pill Hill.
This new album is a reflection of the live experience. Four people playing together; working within the template of pop classicism. thirty-five minutes of music. This time, the Flu comes out of the water and spends a little more time on land: pop kicks, psychedelic derangement, beauty, spells cast via hate raga and rocker. The band moves backward, forward and sideways; often within the same piece. The music breathes. It doesn’t deal in nostalgic regression or self conscious futurism. It just sounds like the Lavender Flu.

So Sick, the debut album on In the Red Records by Southern California punk quartet the Side Eyes, raises interesting questions about nature versus nurture—the eternal scientific debate about whether a human being’s personality is predetermined by genetics or whether it’s actually shaped by the environment one grows up in. Their lead singer, Astrid McDonald, is a fascinating test case. The 22-year-old Angeleno is the real-wild-child daughter of Go-Go’s guitarist-songwriter Charlotte Caffey and Redd Kross singer-guitarist Jeff McDonald. How much has McDonald’s notoriously fiery onstage presence been influenced by basic heredity and how much was her personality inspired by being raised by two legendary punk-pop icons?

Similarly, how did growing up together as brothers in New Jersey affect the hard-driving musical attack of 22-year-old guitarist Kevin Devine and 20-year-old bassist Chris Devine? Much of rock history has been fueled by the unique familial dynamics and sibling rivalries of brothers in bands, from the Everly Brothers and the Kinks’ Ray and Dave Davies to Redd Kross’ Jeff and Steven McDonald. When the two Devines’ aggressive approach is combined with 23-year-old San Diego native Nick Arnold’s remorselessly throttling drumming, the Side Eyes end up as a powerfully controlled punk rock machine that blows past the sonic barriers of their past inspirations.

Boss Hog returns from the wild with their most subversive record — this is the seductive soundtrack for the second coming of militant rock’n’roll, and the groove has never been stronger.

Brood X — emerging from the dirty streets of New York City after seventeen years of gestation — is a futuristic brew of 21st Century blues, toxic punk rock beat music, and hyper-focused, outer-space psycho assaults. Thermonuclear chanteuse Cristina Martinez blisters the hypocrites, the haters, the heartless, and the clueless hangers-on with a full-tilt microphone attack. A sex-bomb salvo for troubled times, Martinez gives voice to America’s pain while pulling no punches.

This band does not negotiate. This is scorched earth rock’n’roll for the resistance, barbed-wire blues battling for the future of the planet. Recorded and mixed at the fabled Key Club, using Sly Stone’s legendary There’s A Riot Goin’ On console, the album channels the subversive mojo of the underground and brings next-level sonics to save your very soul.

CFM (Charles Francis Moothart of Fuzz, Goggs, Ty Segal Band) is back with three new tracks guaranteed to melt your mind and your face. Recorded with his touring band, this EP features his hardest hitting stuff so far.