REVIEW: Pandacide - S/T cassette EP (self-released)

Saturated in lo-fi rock n' roll sonic goodness, Pandacide's latest EP is a saa-lammmm-mer.  At least that's what I derive from the two tracks they've made available on the bandcamp page for the release.  Comprised of deconstructed rock n' roll elements, heavily overdriven vox and spacious-yet-tape-compressed production quality this record speaks to your inner caveman and your outerspaceman.  The band is from Montreal so all of the tunes are in French.  They could be singing about crocs and ferris wheels for all I know and if they are I don't care.  This band rules.  Cool name too.  Get it here.

REVIEW: Land of Blood and Sunshine - AEONS LP (Very Nice Dementia)

Coooool.  Very Nice Dementia Records was very nice indeed to send over the latest LP by Land of Blood and Sunshine.  From the first track this record stands out with a spaghetti western vibe and just gets more interesting with each succeeding track.  I would categorize their genre as "garage", but the prevalence of acoustic guitars, interesting sonic textures and dry studio production make this LP a beast unto itself.  This record is just really great from cover to cover....and speaking of the cover...its pretty rad too.  Get it here.

REVIEW: Mystery Date - New Noir LP (Piñata)

Minneapolis's Piñata Records has put out another rad release by their fellow city dwellers, Mystery Date.  Their sound is a stripped down approach to rock n' roll pop.  Their songs are well-crafted and touch on some deeper themes beyond just chugging beer, driving fast, having sex and huffing solvents.  Not that these things aren't awesome to hear in a rock n' roll song, but sometimes you wanna hear something about how we as humans think, feel, connect, derive meaning, etc.  This is comforting from time to time.  Mystery Date gives us a little of this but disguises it as fun, hook-driven rock n' roll.  Get it here.