CHEAP TIME - 'S/T'

Formats

• ITR152 - LP

  759718515213

• ITR152CD - CD

  759718515220

Details

Henderson, Tennessee's Jeffrey Novak is a name familiar to those who pay attention to the whole lo-fi-garage-punk underbelly of today's indie scene. He's released a handful of singles and at least one album on labels in the US and Europe as a one-man-band and with his former group, The Rat Traps. He's been at it for nearly five years and he's barely in his twenties. Cheap Time is his newest and most serious endeavor to date. Founded with Jemina Pearl and Nathan Vasquez of Be Your Own Pet, Cheap Time set out to recapture the essence of teenage schlock rock scuzz of such heroes as Redd Kross and The Runaways. Along the way, members shifted, as did the band's direction. An obsession with '70s glam power pop a la Sparks, The Quick, and Milk 'n' Cookies grew, and the music took on a twisted new slant never hinted in any of his previous projects. The results are the current line-up of Cheap Time and this full-length album. Cheap Time's self-titled debut is 28 minutes of snotty punk pop perfection. From the New-York-Dolls-via- Germs screech of "Tight Fit" to the anglophile power pop of "Ginger Snap" to the bubblegum bounce of "Trip To The Zoo," this debut has instant classic stamped all over its bratty face.

Tracks

1. Too Late
2. Glitter & Gold
3. Zig Zag
4. People Talk
5. Push Your Luck
6. Living In The Past
7. Tight Fit
8. Permanent Damage
9. The Ballad Of Max Frost
10. Falling Down
11. Over Again
12. Ginger Snap
13. Back To School
14. Trip To The Zoo

Press

Fans of garage pop will lap this up; Artrocker, Plan B, etc should be reviewing.

Audio & Video

A.H. KRAKEN - 'S/T'

Formats

• ITR154 - LP W/ CD

  759718515411

Details

Out of Metz, France comes the ugly and brutal noise-punk of A.H. Kraken. Their name is an amalgam of a facist dictator and a sea monster, and their sound is a wild, intense blur of bludgeoning rhythms, industrial clatter, scraping guitars, and caterwauling vocals. Citing influences as disparate PiL, Mot?rhead, US Maple, Suicide, Flipper, The Shaggs, and Chrome, A.H. Kraken could implode or explode at any given second. Everything is yelled in barely intelligible French, so it's impossible to say what they're bellowing about, though one song is titled "Kevin Costner Est Un Acteur Americain." When bassist/vocalist S.J. was asked, he assured that the lyrics are "all about peace and love." Be skeptical. A.H. Kraken are pure, unrestrained throttle-burn. They create landscapes of sound with instruments that are obviously getting the shit beat out of them. This mega-decibel audio destruction at its most overwrought is not for the faint of heart.

Tracks

1. Allan Muller
2. Cette Fille Est A Genoux
3. De Type Causcasien
4. Axe Vertical
5. Les Murs Des Bunkers
6. Kevin Costner Est Un Acteur Americain
7. Black Borney
8. She Plays Loud
9. Verschwende Deine Jugend
10. Ahmed
11. Drop Sex

Press

N/A

Audio & Video

FERN KNIGHT - 'S/T'

Formats

• VHF110 - CD

  783881011029

Details

This is the third CD of beautiful music from Philadelphia quartet Fern Knight, led by the crystal voice, guitar, and cello of Margaret Wienk. Drawing from diverse influences such as '70s Krautrock, UK folk, and baroque and renaissance music, the band's eponymous recording juxtaposes the calm surface of harp, cello, and violin against the perfectly timed distorted squalls of a Flying V and a dark undercurrent of lyrical and vocal mystery. The overall effect is a lush, pastoral, and warm ode to all things green and living, a running theme that winds through the songs' post-apocalyptic landscape: "All is lost / And all will run / Over graying ground / To the rays of the sun," sings Wienk in the album's closing track, "Magpie Suite: Part III." The album's cohesion rests upon the core quartet's combination of acoustic and electronic instruments-the perfect vehicle for Wienk's unique songwriting and string arrangements. Since the 2006 release of Music for Witches and Alchemists, Fern Knight has toured extensively in the US and Europe, as well touring and recording as members of The Valerie Project (Drag City Records).

Tracks

1. Bemused
2. Silver Fox
3. Sundew
4. Loch Na Fooey
5. Hawk Mountain
6. Synge?s Chair
7. Magpie Suite: Prelude
8. Magpie Suite: Part II
9. Magpie Suite: Part III

Press

N/A

Audio & Video