"Light Creates Shadow goes full prog... Like a lighter version of Tool." -- Metal Injection

Portland, OR post-metal trio Light Creates Shadow share a new track from their forthcoming album today via New Noise Magazine. Hear and share "Causal Horizon" HERE. (Direct Bandcamp.)

Metal Injection previous hosted the first single "Sensed Presence" HERE.

Artistic post-metal band Light Creates Shadow release their 3rd full length, Ghosts pass through, running from the body on 07/01/2022. Recorded at Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard’s Studio Litho in Seattle WA, it was produced, engineered, and mixed by Matt Bayles (Mastodon, Russian Circles, Deftones). Mastered by Ed Brooks (Mastodon, Caspian, Isis).

Ghosts… is an album borne from the organic and intuitive connection between guitarist/vocalist Marc Changnon, bassist Jered Johnson and drummer Adam Young. After releasing a lo-fi acoustic album, 2 Windows in 2011 and 2015’s post rock/shoegaze leaning Emerge From The Illusion, LCS reformed with a new lineup and progressed into an artistic and stylistic rebirth with Ghosts… Combining progressive dynamics, uniquely delivered vocals, channeled lyrics, intricately woven passages that power through unorthodox arrangements culminating into epic walls of sound. This leads to the construction of a profound emotional and psychological journey. The alchemy was enough to catch the attention of famed producer Matt Bayles. Completed in 10 intensely focused 12-hour days in May of 2021, the rigor pushed everyone involved to exhaustion, but the belief that they were creating something special was the intrinsic motivation needed to complete the record.

Light Creates Shadow utilize conceptual frameworks to take the listener on an interior journey into the creative process, psyche, and a confrontation with the Shadow, buried deep in the unconscious mind. This alchemical mixture offers the audience a blank canvas to paint their own rendering of interpretation upon. LCS have positioned themselves to have breakthrough potential with an innovative concept, genre defining sound, and enigmatic live performance that engages the audience in a new way. 

“We believe music that explores the depths of what is possible between audience and artist, should be transparent about its intentions,” explains Changnon. “To provide context, I’m inferring that if a band are conduits for channeled meaning, healing and collective synchronicity, then that same transference is innately present in the connection with the listener. We are going to explore this synchronistic relationship through a companion interactive web experience that will intrigue even the most hardened skeptics.”

Light Creates Shadow draw influences from artists such as; TOOL, Pink Floyd, Mastodon, Isis, Emma Ruth Rundle, The Smashing Pumpkins and Sunny Day Real Estate to name a few. But LCS believe they are establishing their own path and feel their sound is authentically their own. “We are looking to create a following predicated on re-introducing heavy music to the depths of intellect, emotion, and soul, as an experiential necessity. I believe that art is at its peak when you are forced to be an active participant in the exchange.”

Ghosts pass through, running from the body will be available on LP, CD and download on July 1st, 2022.

Artist: Light Creates Shadow

Album: Ghosts pass through, running from the body

Record Label:  self-released 

Release Date: July 1, 2022

01. Sensed Presence

02. Post Truth

03. Dark Triad

04. Causal Horizon

05. Outlier

On The Web:

lightcreatesshadow.com

lightcreatesshadow.bandcamp.com

Boston quintet The Burning Paris announces their reunion with a handful of New England shows and new recordings on the way. The band premieres their new cover of the Starflyer 59 song "Softness Goodness" for an upcoming tribute album today via Brooklyn Vegan. Hear and share that track HERE. 

The band also releases a 14-song retrospective album on May 20th. Stream the full album now via Bandcamp.

In the summer of 2000 a bunch of friends were on a camping trip when some of them realized they played different instruments and had the desire to make music again after previous bands had disbanded. Josh, Nate, Jen, Ben and Mike all started working on music together with no real focus other than to play together. When Ben hurt his wrist and couldn’t play bass, he switched to keyboards. They reached out to Chris to have him come aboard. Without distorted guitars, they tried to do something different for themselves. 

On a freezing winter afternoon, Nate brought a half-written song to the practice room, and it fit. Named after a frigid day/night, “Colder” became the first song by the band known as The Burning Paris. 

The band wrote a collection of songs and enlisted the new-to-recording/producing Matt Squire to helm recording the debut release Coral City Ruin which was released on Nate and Josh’s label, Dopamine Records to regional acclaim. 

The band was praised for its live performances of cathartic nature and the unique approach for independent music using a cello. The band toured both east and west coasts in support of the record before signing on with Virginia’s Magic Bullet Records. 

The Burning Paris once again recorded with producer Matt Squire who helped refine the band’s sound. The end result was the mini-album and by December you will know where your heart truly lies. The record, a solemn affair rooted in depression (as previous efforts) launched the band further. Press and radio attention became more frequent as did the populated live shows.  

The group toured in January 2003 nationally to support the record. In the months after, the band drifted apart to have Nate, Jen and Josh depart to join On Fire (also recording on Magic Bullet Records.) Nate has since recorded for Magic Bullet and The Mylene Sheath labels in Ekso Ekso (I am Your Bastard Wings) and Lavinia. 

After a long pandemic lockdown, Jen and Nate started writing again and Chris joined them. They quickly realized they would be The Burning Paris again. They were able to find Brad (Herra Terra, Seneca) to fill the drum slot and they all got to work. Later finding Jon (Lavinia, Seneca) to come on board. This new 5-piece version of the original sextet ensemble simplifies and makes more clear the music they always wanted to convey. It’s now more mature, to the point, and cathartic as ever.  

In November 2021, the band entered the studio for the first time in 20 years to record a song for an upcoming tribute compilation for Starflyer 59. “Softness Goodness” encapsulates every emotion The Burning Paris exudes and seems like a fitting reintroduction. 

A retrospective CD titled Half-Truths & Indiscretions will be released May 20th, 2022 via The Charon Collective. The collection is available on streaming platforms via Pax Aeturnum Digital. 

THE BURNING PARIS LIVE 2022:

05/23 Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Upstairs (w/ SOM)

06/23 Providence, RI @ Alchemy 

06/24 Worcester, MA @ Ralph's

06/25 Malden, MA @ Faces Brewing Co. 

Artist: The Burning Paris

Album: Half-Truths and Indiscretions: The Retrospective

Record Label:  Pax Aeternum (digital) / Charon Collective (CD) 

Release Date: May 20, 2022

01. In Ruins

02. Building My Own Coffin

03. Tonight I’ll Expire

04. Silver Trees

05. Colder

06. Winter Street In Winter

07. Hemlock

08. Olympia

09. Let’s Watch The World Collapse

10. Broken Days

11. The Sun Also Rises

12. Coral City Ruin

13. Asleep

14. Whitlock

"Has the short and sweet hookiness of the Ramones or the Descendents, the rigid minimalism of Suicide, the playful, gooey synths of chiptune and a splash of hip-hop delivery in the vocals, which are deceptively catchy and full of character." -- Revolver Magazine

"Imagine if Atari Teenage Riot, Wu-Tang Clan, Devo, and Joy Division decided to create a group together the outcome might sound like N8NOFACE.” — CvltNation

"Homicide finds him pulling equally from hip hop, Suicide, and shouty post-punk, and fusing it all together seamlessly." -- Brooklyn Vegan

"His abrasive melding of everything from synthpop to industrial to new wave to other points in between can probably best described as 'synthpunk,' but whatever you call it, it's catching on." -- No Echo

L.A. via Tucson singer N8NOFACE is streaming his forthcoming album Homicide ahead of release today via Brooklyn Vegan. Hear and share Homicide HERE. (Direct Linktree HERE.)

N8NOFACE is currently on tour throughout the US with L.A. punks Ho99o9. See remaining dates below. 

The singer also recently launched the gory video for love song "On My Side" via YouTube. Revolver Magazine recently launched the video for lead single "A Joy in Death" HERE. (Direct YouTube.) Watch a mini-documentary about Nate HERE. No Echo hosted "Hate Me When I'm High" alongside an interview HERE. 

The intense, hypercranked aggression of Homicide, the new full length by N8NOFACE is a stark contrast to the introspective and almost indie rock leanings of his 2021 album Bound To Let You Down. Although the two were written and recorded in close succession, the screaming hardcore synthpunk of album opener “Burn This MF” aptly sets the tone for this album’s about-face and brutal catharsis. 

“While my previous album Bound To Let You Down was mostly about me coming to grips with my addiction, Homicide is me in the ‘ready to face the fight’ mode,” N8 says. “Once I was getting clean and no longer in a state of regret (as Bound To Let You Down was really about) I was no longer feeling sorry for myself. So it’s like: homicide time, ready to kill it! I do feel this is part two to my last album being they were all songs I made during that time of my life.”

N8NOFACE has been described as a Chicano Flannery O’Connor playing chiptune Ministry, the Sleaford Mods of the American Southwest, Suicide for the 21st Century and Ghostmane meets darkwave synthpunk dashed with early Ween’s glue-huffing pop. Lyrically, his sometimes romantic, oftentimes violent storytelling tunes lean toward Narcocorrido, the bloody ballads of Mexican drug cartels. It sounds dark on the surface, but really N8NOFACE’s music is a lot of fun, and as exciting as the birth of punk rock and hiphop. 

He’s been making and posting glitchy synthpunk since the days of MySpace, when he first gained attention in chiptune duo Crimekillz. Even before the demise of that band, however, N8NOFACE was disseminating his dadaist lo-fi rants online, recording them on the cheap on his home computer setup. “Even to this day, everything I do is recorded in my closet,” he says. “I’ve never recorded at a studio.”

N8NOFACE has to date released 4 proper albums (available on vinyl) — Bound To Let You Down (2021), Just Here To Die (2020), Synth Up The Punks (2019) and True Story (2018) — and a slew of singles, mixtapes and collaborations, many of them with sprawling double-digit track listings. Before relocating to Long Beach, CA around a decade ago, he owned a graffiti & record store in his hometown of Tucson, AZ. It was here that he developed his vast musical taste from grimy hiphop beats to seminal aggressive synth punks The Screamers. 

“I grew up around some guys living outside the lines of the law,” N8 explains. “When I first started doing this I called it Narco Punk. I’m not glorifying it, I’m giving both sides of the story. Telling the heartbreaking side of the dark side.” Coming from a hiphop and border town culture, he found it difficult to share his esoteric tastes with friends. “How do I make my friends enjoy this music?” he wondered. “I’ll take some Suicide music and twist it to get my friends to listen to this.” 

Throughout, Homicide is guided by greasy synths pushed all the way to the max, lo-fi drum machine beats and N8’s charismatic vocal delivery that draws the listener in and elevates his dark lyrical themes. The claustrophobic mix and stripped down instrumentation really drives home the singer’s isolation and anger. “Fala” is a breakneck electro-hardcore love song. “F U N U N U” (say each of the letters slowly) is a chirping hook-filled mantra, “fuck anyone who ain’t ever believe in you.” Elsewhere, “Hate Me When I’m High” revolves around a bass synth line pushed to the brink of clipping while N8 remorsefully sings, “baby I'm a lost cause, this is true/ A real rock’n’roller this is true/ Hate me when I’m high.” Album closer “On My Side” is the most unabashedly synthpop tune, with an infectious, repetitive bass hook as N8 intones, “I’d kill anyone you asked me to/ Yeah, I”m here to ride/ As long as you’re on my side/ It’s a homicide, homicide, homicide.” 

Homicide will be available on LP, CD, cassette and download on April 29th, 2022 via Blackhouse Records. Pre-order physical HERE, digital HERE. 

Album: Homicide

Record Label: Blackhouse Records

Release Date: April 29th, 2022

01. Burn This MF

02. Fala

03. Kill The Killer

04. F U N U N U

05. Doesn’t Count Here

06. Down One

07. A Joy in Death

08. Pushing The Line

09. Poor Dom

10. No Dead Found

11. Yea

12. Hate Me When I’m High

13. I Was Aye Aye Aye

14. lfflugcvj (Ain’t No In Between)

15. Lost That Found This

16. On My Side

On The Web:

linktr.ee/n8noface

n8noface.bandcamp.com

"Population II is considered one of the world's first doom albums of all time." -- Metal Injection

"The distorted riffs and post-Hendrix solos he cranks through his monster amp system were doom before that term existed, and heavier than almost anything being produced at the time... A landmark in heavy rock that has long deserved more attention." -- The WIRE

Los Angeles based unsung guitar hero Randy Holden announces the sequel to his legendary 1970 album Population II, set to arrive 52 years later, titled Population III via RidingEasy Records. The ex-Blue Cheer guitarist's new album was recorded as a trio with members of Cactus and Black Sabbath. Hear and share the first single "Swamp Stomp" via Brooklyn Vegan HERE. (And direct via Bandcamp and YouTube.)

How do you follow up one of the most legendary, yet rarest albums said to signal the birth of doom metal? 

If you’re Randy Holden, you give everyone about 50 years to catch up, then casually drop a tastefully modernized reinterpretation of that sound. Population III picks up where Holden’s 1969 solo debut left off, updated with several decades worth of technological advances and personal hindsight. 

Following his tenure in proto-metal pioneers Blue Cheer in 1969, the guitarist aimed for more control over his next project. Thus, Randy Holden - Population II was born, the duo naming itself after the astronomical term for a particular star cluster with heavy metals present. Along with drummer/keyboardist Chris Lockheed, Holden created what many say is one of the earliest forms of doom metal. 

“Godzilla just walked into the room. People just stood there with their eyes and mouths wide open,” Holden says of the audience’s reaction to their live debut performing with a teeth-rattling phalanx of 16 (sixteen!) 200 watt Sunn amps. 

Likewise, their 6-song debut album Population II delves into leaden sludge, lumbering doom and epic soaring riffs that sound free from all constraints of the era. It’s incredibly heavy, but infused with a melodic, albeit mechanistic sensibility. However, troubles with the album’s original 1970 release bankrupted Holden, who subsequently left music for over two decades. For good reason, it’s widely hailed as a masterpiece, and until finally getting a proper formal release in 2020 on RidingEasy Records, was a longtime Holy Grail for record collectors. 

Flash forward 40 years to 2010, we find the guitarist/vocalist quietly coaxed into recording a followup album by Holden superfan and Cactus member Randy Pratt. Joined by drummer Bobby Rondinelli (who has played with Black Sabbath, Blue Öyster Cult, Rainbow), the trio cut the 6-song collection of leaden future blues, Population III. “Randy Pratt had written the basic song structures, he understood my music and where I come from quite well,” Holden says. “He nailed it.” 

But the recording was ultimately shelved for over a decade. “A year ago, in 2021 I listened to the songs and was delightfully surprised,” Holden says. “I think it’s the best album I’ve ever done.” 

Throughout Population III, Holden effortlessly dishes out squealing, soaring leads and skull-thwacking riffs with his signature low end grit and penchant for Middle Eastern scales. Coupled with Pratt’s pocket-locked bass, the slight flanging effect on Rondinelli’s drums and his pugilistic beats, the album occasionally brings to mind Presence-era Led Zeppelin, particularly on the 22-minute epic “Land of The Sun.” Elsewhere, “Swamp Stomp” echoes more the troglodyte blues of Holden’s older work, with his evermore searing solos showing hints of early Clapton/Hendrix era guitar prowess to drive home the stomp of the song’s namesake. At times, Holden sounds reminiscent of Neil Young leading Crazy Horse’s ruptured grunge as his lilting falsetto vocals push and pull his guitar’s siren’s call. Taken as a whole, there’s a very distinct difference between the way these veterans of hard rock’s formative years carry the songs compared to the more lugubrious riffing of today’s young doom purveyors. Population III is the real deal — a powerful continuation of a sound forged 50 years ago, that almost didn’t happen. Somehow, Randy Holden’s music always finds a way to stand the tests of time. 

Population III will be available on LP, CD and download on July 1st, 2022 via RidingEasy Records. Pre-orders are available at ridingeasyrecs.com

Artist: Randy Holden

Album: Population III

Label: RidingEasy Records

Release Date: July 1st, 2022

01. Living End

02. Sands Of Time

03. Land Of The Sun

04. Swamp Stomp

05. Money’s Talkin’

06. Outside Looking In

"Light Creates Shadow goes full prog... Like a lighter version of Tool." -- Metal Injection

Portland, OR post-metal trio Light Creates Shadow share the first track from their forthcoming album today via Metal Injection. Hear and share "Sensed Presence" HERE. (Direct Bandcamp.)

Artistic post-metal band Light Creates Shadow release their 3rd full length, Ghosts pass through, running from the body on 07/01/2022. Recorded at Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard’s Studio Litho in Seattle WA, it was produced, engineered, and mixed by Matt Bayles (Mastodon, Russian Circles, Deftones). Mastered by Ed Brooks (Mastodon, Caspian, Isis).

Ghosts… is an album borne from the organic and intuitive connection between guitarist/vocalist Marc Changnon, bassist Jered Johnson and drummer Adam Young. After releasing a lo-fi acoustic album, 2 Windows in 2011 and 2015’s post rock/shoegaze leaning Emerge From The Illusion, LCS reformed with a new lineup and progressed into an artistic and stylistic rebirth with Ghosts… Combining progressive dynamics, uniquely delivered vocals, channeled lyrics, intricately woven passages that power through unorthodox arrangements culminating into epic walls of sound. This leads to the construction of a profound emotional and psychological journey. The alchemy was enough to catch the attention of famed producer Matt Bayles. Completed in 10 intensely focused 12-hour days in May of 2021, the rigor pushed everyone involved to exhaustion, but the belief that they were creating something special was the intrinsic motivation needed to complete the record.

Light Creates Shadow utilize conceptual frameworks to take the listener on an interior journey into the creative process, psyche, and a confrontation with the Shadow, buried deep in the unconscious mind. This alchemical mixture offers the audience a blank canvas to paint their own rendering of interpretation upon. LCS have positioned themselves to have breakthrough potential with an innovative concept, genre defining sound, and enigmatic live performance that engages the audience in a new way. 

“We believe music that explores the depths of what is possible between audience and artist, should be transparent about its intentions,” explains Changnon. “To provide context, I’m inferring that if a band are conduits for channeled meaning, healing and collective synchronicity, then that same transference is innately present in the connection with the listener. We are going to explore this synchronistic relationship through a companion interactive web experience that will intrigue even the most hardened skeptics.”

Light Creates Shadow draw influences from artists such as; TOOL, Pink Floyd, Mastodon, Isis, Emma Ruth Rundle, The Smashing Pumpkins and Sunny Day Real Estate to name a few. But LCS believe they are establishing their own path and feel their sound is authentically their own. “We are looking to create a following predicated on re-introducing heavy music to the depths of intellect, emotion, and soul, as an experiential necessity. I believe that art is at its peak when you are forced to be an active participant in the exchange.”

Ghosts pass through, running from the body will be available on LP, CD and download on July 1st, 2022.

Artist: Light Creates Shadow

Album: Ghosts pass through, running from the body

Record Label:  self-released 

Release Date: July 1, 2022

01. Sensed Presence

02. Post Truth

03. Dark Triad

04. Causal Horizon

05. Outlier

On The Web:

lightcreatesshadow.com

lightcreatesshadow.bandcamp.com

"So rare that diehard fuzz junkies say you'd have a better chance of winning the lottery than finding a physical 45 rpm single by one of the bands featured on their latest installment." -- Dangerous Minds

"Will do for hard rock, proto-metal and heavy psych what Nuggets did for garage rock, and bring it to a wider audience of collectors and music fans." -- The Guardian

"Mining the surprising rich reserves of heavy rock and proto-metal from the '60s and '70s, these collections have been crucial to understanding the history of a subgenre of rock that had far deeper roots than most fans realize." -- Paste Magazine

The forthcoming latest edition of the popular compilation series featuring long-lost vintage 60s-70s proto-metal and stoner rock singles, Brown Acid: The Fourteenth Trip will be released April 20th, 2022. Today, Dangerous Minds is streaming the entire album ahead of release HERE. (And direct via YouTube.)

The Brown Acid series is curated by L.A. label RidingEasy Records and retailer/label Permanent Records. Read interviews with the series curators via Paste Magazine HERE and LA Weekly HERE. 

About The Fourteenth Trip:

The Legends’ “Fever Games” is a 1969 fever dream of heavy psych on par with Blue Cheer at their heaviest, featuring an incredible intro with whammy-bar gymnastics through an Echoplex. This Harrisburg, PA power trio, featuring Dan Hartman (Edgar Winter Group, et al) and his brother Dave, also name-checks Jimi Hendrix Experience in the midst of the song’s most blatant Hendrix rip. Perhaps that’s how Fever Games work? Whatever the case may be, this stunning rocker is the B-side to “High Towers,” the band’s second single out of four released over 5 years. 

Next up, another banging track driven by wild sound effects. In this case, Mijal & White serve up some Moog run rampant on their lone 45 from 1973, “I’ve Been You.” Runaway oscillators and modular synths spurt and sputter over some Tommy James & The Shondells bubblegum garage psych. The duo was a Detroit recording engineer (Mike Mijal) and a local musician (Mike White) tinkering with new technology with magical results. Could this heavy lysergic pop gem have inspired Meco’s “Star Wars Galactic Funk” just a handful of years later?

Liquid Blue bring us back to the era’s strong meat ’n’ potatoes blues-rock with this 1969 Texas Rocker “Henry Can’t Drive.” Sure, Henry can’t, but this blazing track sure can drive. This 1969 single on the Texas Revolution label is the band’s only release, with this A-side being penned by brothers Hal and Ted Hawley, also of Lone Star State psychedelic rock unknowns Glory. The dueling guitar solos and the way the band erratically shifts gears makes this one as valuable as liquid gold.

Hailing from Olivet, Michigan, the San Franciso Trolley Co.’s name may be misleading, but their ripping rager “Signs” has all the answers you seek. Their extremely rare 1970 A-side, backed with “Rainbow Heaven” is a blitzkrieg workout of frantic drums and a wailing guitar lead that spits fire and brimstone. Not exactly the Flower Power love-in one might expect given the name, but thankfully these youngsters sound like a hard rocking 13th Floor Elevators meets the MC5. 

Blue Creed was never a real band. That is, the West Virginia group never performed publicly. The band was the brainchild of coal miner & songwriter Bill Rexroad who paid all of the pickup musicians and financed all of the recordings himself. “Need a Friend” indeed. Rexroad sought an original sound by putting guitar speakers in oil drums (an illustration of which became the logo of his label Mo/Go records) and perhaps never having showed off that kind of showmanship on stage doomed Blue Creed to obscurity. 

Transfer’s velvet smooth groove has an almost proto-punk feel like a mashup of the Velvet Underground and The Flamin’ Groovies. But the lyrics referencing tokin’ reefer and the twanging surf lead situate them closer to their heavy rock brethren. This very rare 1974 self-released 45 is this lone archive of the band’s existence, who, we assume just kept right on playin’ it cool into oblivion. 

The cowbell lead-in announces that you’re in for a good time before Appletree’s “You’re Not The Only Girl (I’m Out To Get)” even begins. And when it all kicks in, this Grand Funk adjacent headbanger features silky guitar leads, sweet high vocal harmonies and stomping drums to drive the point home. Apppletree was led by songwriter Gary Apple, who also penned the single’s curiously titled A-side “The Ballad of Pencil.” The date of the band’s sole release is believed to be 1971, but where Appletree took root remains unknown.

Cox’s Army deploy the grungy rocker “I’m Tired” which sounds like if Jimi Hendrix fronted Mudhoney. Yes, please! Though they hailed from Aurora, IL, it sounds like there’s definitely some Pacific Northwest in their blood. Particularly in the gritty production, which hints at The Sonics’ “bustin’ outta lo-fi” style, and the bluesy shuffle rhythm that’s thwacked out on what sounds like a cardboard box. “I’m Tired” b/w “She’s a Fool” is their only known release. 

Not much is known about the enigmatic Columbus, OH musician known as Raven, whose “Back to Ohio Blues” closes this edition. Upon completing his damaged-biker Back to Ohio Blues 5-song album in 1975, he gave away most of the few hundred copies that were pressed and vanished from public eye. The mantra-like droning riff of this 8-minute jam is a “Black To Comm” style epic, driven by Raven’s hostile, no-bullshit diatribe until it all busts open for an insane 2-minute long drum solo soaked in odd effects that sounds like it was copped from a Melvins album. It ends with a droning acoustic guitar coda, in which Raven repeatedly wails, yells and yelps, “lets go make some more love.” It’s easy to understand why this album has been a cult bootleg favorite until its 2021 reissue on our own Permanent Records. 

About the Brown Acid series:

Some of the best thrills of the Internet music revolution is the ability to find extremely rare music with great ease. But even with such vast archives to draw from, quite a lot of great songs have gone undiscovered for nearly half a century -- particularly in genres that lacked hifalutin arty pretense. Previously, only the most extremely dedicated and passionate record collectors had the stamina and prowess to hunt down long forgotten wonders in dusty record bins -- often hoarding them in private collections, or selling at ridiculous collector's prices. Legendary compilations like Nuggets, Pebbles, ad nauseum, have exhausted the mines of early garage rock and proto-punk, keeping alive a large cross-section of underground ephemera. However, few have delved into and expertly archived the wealth of proto-metal, pre-stoner rock tracks collected on Brown Acid. 

Lance Barresi, owner of L.A.-based Permanent Records and the Permanent Records Roadhouse has shown incredible persistence in tracking down a stellar collection of rare singles from the 60s and 70s for the growing compilation series. Partnered with Daniel Hall of RidingEasy Records, the two have assembled a selection of songs that's hard to believe have remained unheard for so long. 

"I essentially go through hell and high water just to find these records," Barresi says. "Once I find a record worthy of tracking, I begin the (sometimes) extremely arduous process of contacting the band members and encouraging them to take part. Daniel and I agree that licensing all the tracks we're using for Brown Acid is best for everyone involved," rather than simply bootlegging the tracks. When all of the bands and labels haven't existed for 30-40 years or more, tracking down the creators gives all of these tunes a real second chance at success. 

"There's a long list of songs that we'd love to include," Barresi says. "But we just can't track the bands down. I like the idea that Brown Acid is getting so much attention, so people might reach out to us."

Brown Acid: The Fourteenth Trip will be available everywhere on LP, CD and download on April 20, 2022 via RidingEasy Records. Pre-orders are available for digital at Bandcamp, physical pre-orders at RidingEasy Records. 

Album: Brown Acid: The Fourteenth Trip

Record Label: RidingEasy Records

Release Date: April 20, 2022

01. The Legends “Fever Games”

02. Mijal & White “I’ve Been You”

03. Liquid Blue “Henry Can’t Drive”

04. San Francisco Trolley Co. “Signs”

05. Blue Creed “Need A Friend”

06. Transfer “Play It Cool”

07. Appletree “You’re Not The Only Girl (I’m Out To Get)”

08. Cox’s Army “I’m Tired”

09. Raven “Raven Mad Jam”

"Has the short and sweet hookiness of the Ramones or the Descendents, the rigid minimalism of Suicide, the playful, gooey synths of chiptune and a splash of hip-hop delivery in the vocals, which are deceptively catchy and full of character." -- Revolver Magazine

"This artist is tapped into a creative that is free from anyone else’s expectations, which is why his music is so rad! Imagine if Atari Teenage Riot, Wu-Tang Clan, Devo, and Joy Division decided to create a group together the outcome might sound like N8NOFACE.” — CvltNation

"His abrasive melding of everything from synthpop to industrial to new wave to other points in between can probably best described as 'synthpunk,' but whatever you call it, it's catching on." -- No Echo

L.A. via Tucson singer N8NOFACE shares the single for "Fala" today from his forthcoming album Homicide. Hear and share "Fala" via Flood Magazine HERE. (Direct Linktree HERE.)

N8NOFACE kicks off a US tour with Ho99o9 on Friday this week in Los Angeles. See all dates below. 

The singer also recently launched the gory video for love song "On My Side" via YouTube. Revolver Magazine recently launched the video for lead single "A Joy in Death" HERE. (Direct YouTube.) Watch a mini-documentary about Nate HERE. No Echo hosted "Hate Me When I'm High" alongside an interview HERE. 

The intense, hypercranked aggression of Homicide, the new full length by N8NOFACE is a stark contrast to the introspective and almost indie rock leanings of his 2021 album Bound To Let You Down. Although the two were written and recorded in close succession, the screaming hardcore synthpunk of album opener “Burn This MF” aptly sets the tone for this album’s about-face and brutal catharsis. 

“While my previous album Bound To Let You Down was mostly about me coming to grips with my addiction, Homicide is me in the ‘ready to face the fight’ mode,” N8 says. “Once I was getting clean and no longer in a state of regret (as Bound To Let You Down was really about) I was no longer feeling sorry for myself. So it’s like: homicide time, ready to kill it! I do feel this is part two to my last album being they were all songs I made during that time of my life.”

N8NOFACE has been described as a Chicano Flannery O’Connor playing chiptune Ministry, the Sleaford Mods of the American Southwest, Suicide for the 21st Century and Ghostmane meets darkwave synthpunk dashed with early Ween’s glue-huffing pop. Lyrically, his sometimes romantic, oftentimes violent storytelling tunes lean toward Narcocorrido, the bloody ballads of Mexican drug cartels. It sounds dark on the surface, but really N8NOFACE’s music is a lot of fun, and as exciting as the birth of punk rock and hiphop. 

He’s been making and posting glitchy synthpunk since the days of MySpace, when he first gained attention in chiptune duo Crimekillz. Even before the demise of that band, however, N8NOFACE was disseminating his dadaist lo-fi rants online, recording them on the cheap on his home computer setup. “Even to this day, everything I do is recorded in my closet,” he says. “I’ve never recorded at a studio.”

N8NOFACE has to date released 4 proper albums (available on vinyl) — Bound To Let You Down (2021), Just Here To Die (2020), Synth Up The Punks (2019) and True Story (2018) — and a slew of singles, mixtapes and collaborations, many of them with sprawling double-digit track listings. Before relocating to Long Beach, CA around a decade ago, he owned a graffiti & record store in his hometown of Tucson, AZ. It was here that he developed his vast musical taste from grimy hiphop beats to seminal aggressive synth punks The Screamers. 

“I grew up around some guys living outside the lines of the law,” N8 explains. “When I first started doing this I called it Narco Punk. I’m not glorifying it, I’m giving both sides of the story. Telling the heartbreaking side of the dark side.” Coming from a hiphop and border town culture, he found it difficult to share his esoteric tastes with friends. “How do I make my friends enjoy this music?” he wondered. “I’ll take some Suicide music and twist it to get my friends to listen to this.” 

Throughout, Homicide is guided by greasy synths pushed all the way to the max, lo-fi drum machine beats and N8’s charismatic vocal delivery that draws the listener in and elevates his dark lyrical themes. The claustrophobic mix and stripped down instrumentation really drives home the singer’s isolation and anger. “Fala” is a breakneck electro-hardcore love song. “F U N U N U” (say each of the letters slowly) is a chirping hook-filled mantra, “fuck anyone who ain’t ever believe in you.” Elsewhere, “Hate Me When I’m High” revolves around a bass synth line pushed to the brink of clipping while N8 remorsefully sings, “baby I'm a lost cause, this is true/ A real rock’n’roller this is true/ Hate me when I’m high.” Album closer “On My Side” is the most unabashedly synthpop tune, with an infectious, repetitive bass hook as N8 intones, “I’d kill anyone you asked me to/ Yeah, I”m here to ride/ As long as you’re on my side/ It’s a homicide, homicide, homicide.” 

Homicide will be available on LP, CD, cassette and download on April 29th, 2022 via Blackhouse Records. Pre-order physical HERE, digital HERE. 

Album: Homicide

Record Label: Blackhouse Records

Release Date: April 29th, 2022

01. Burn This MF

02. Fala

03. Kill The Killer

04. F U N U N U

05. Doesn’t Count Here

06. Down One

07. A Joy in Death

08. Pushing The Line

09. Poor Dom

10. No Dead Found

11. Yea

12. Hate Me When I’m High

13. I Was Aye Aye Aye

14. lfflugcvj (Ain’t No In Between)

15. Lost That Found This

16. On My Side

On The Web:

linktr.ee/n8noface

n8noface.bandcamp.com

"So rare that diehard fuzz junkies say you'd have a better chance of winning the lottery than finding a physical 45 rpm single by one of the bands featured on their latest installment." -- Dangerous Minds

"Will do for hard rock, proto-metal and heavy psych what Nuggets did for garage rock, and bring it to a wider audience of collectors and music fans." -- The Guardian

"Mining the surprising rich reserves of heavy rock and proto-metal from the '60s and '70s, these collections have been crucial to understanding the history of a subgenre of rock that had far deeper roots than most fans realize." -- Paste Magazine

The forthcoming latest edition of the popular compilation series featuring long-lost vintage 60s-70s proto-metal and stoner rock singles, Brown Acid: The Fourteenth Trip will be released April 20th, 2022. The latest single "Play It Cool" by Transfer is available to hear & share via Bandcamp and YouTube.

Metal Injection recently launched the 1969 raging lead track "Fever Games" by The Legends HERE. (Direct YouTube.) Ultimate Classic Rock recently hosted Mijal & White's "I've Been You" HERE. 

The Brown Acid series is curated by L.A. label RidingEasy Records and retailer/label Permanent Records. Read interviews with the series curators via Paste Magazine HERE and LA Weekly HERE. 

About The Fourteenth Trip:

The Legends’ “Fever Games” is a 1969 fever dream of heavy psych on par with Blue Cheer at their heaviest, featuring an incredible intro with whammy-bar gymnastics through an Echoplex. This Harrisburg, PA power trio, featuring Dan Hartman (Edgar Winter Group, et al) and his brother Dave, also name-checks Jimi Hendrix Experience in the midst of the song’s most blatant Hendrix rip. Perhaps that’s how Fever Games work? Whatever the case may be, this stunning rocker is the B-side to “High Towers,” the band’s second single out of four released over 5 years. 

Next up, another banging track driven by wild sound effects. In this case, Mijal & White serve up some Moog run rampant on their lone 45 from 1973, “I’ve Been You.” Runaway oscillators and modular synths spurt and sputter over some Tommy James & The Shondells bubblegum garage psych. The duo was a Detroit recording engineer (Mike Mijal) and a local musician (Mike White) tinkering with new technology with magical results. Could this heavy lysergic pop gem have inspired Meco’s “Star Wars Galactic Funk” just a handful of years later?

Liquid Blue bring us back to the era’s strong meat ’n’ potatoes blues-rock with this 1969 Texas Rocker “Henry Can’t Drive.” Sure, Henry can’t, but this blazing track sure can drive. This 1969 single on the Texas Revolution label is the band’s only release, with this A-side being penned by brothers Hal and Ted Hawley, also of Lone Star State psychedelic rock unknowns Glory. The dueling guitar solos and the way the band erratically shifts gears makes this one as valuable as liquid gold.

Hailing from Olivet, Michigan, the San Franciso Trolley Co.’s name may be misleading, but their ripping rager “Signs” has all the answers you seek. Their extremely rare 1970 A-side, backed with “Rainbow Heaven” is a blitzkrieg workout of frantic drums and a wailing guitar lead that spits fire and brimstone. Not exactly the Flower Power love-in one might expect given the name, but thankfully these youngsters sound like a hard rocking 13th Floor Elevators meets the MC5. 

Blue Creed was never a real band. That is, the West Virginia group never performed publicly. The band was the brainchild of coal miner & songwriter Bill Rexroad who paid all of the pickup musicians and financed all of the recordings himself. “Need a Friend” indeed. Rexroad sought an original sound by putting guitar speakers in oil drums (an illustration of which became the logo of his label Mo/Go records) and perhaps never having showed off that kind of showmanship on stage doomed Blue Creed to obscurity. 

Transfer’s velvet smooth groove has an almost proto-punk feel like a mashup of the Velvet Underground and The Flamin’ Groovies. But the lyrics referencing tokin’ reefer and the twanging surf lead situate them closer to their heavy rock brethren. This very rare 1974 self-released 45 is this lone archive of the band’s existence, who, we assume just kept right on playin’ it cool into oblivion. 

The cowbell lead-in announces that you’re in for a good time before Appletree’s “You’re Not The Only Girl (I’m Out To Get)” even begins. And when it all kicks in, this Grand Funk adjacent headbanger features silky guitar leads, sweet high vocal harmonies and stomping drums to drive the point home. Apppletree was led by songwriter Gary Apple, who also penned the single’s curiously titled A-side “The Ballad of Pencil.” The date of the band’s sole release is believed to be 1971, but where Appletree took root remains unknown.

Cox’s Army deploy the grungy rocker “I’m Tired” which sounds like if Jimi Hendrix fronted Mudhoney. Yes, please! Though they hailed from Aurora, IL, it sounds like there’s definitely some Pacific Northwest in their blood. Particularly in the gritty production, which hints at The Sonics’ “bustin’ outta lo-fi” style, and the bluesy shuffle rhythm that’s thwacked out on what sounds like a cardboard box. “I’m Tired” b/w “She’s a Fool” is their only known release. 

Not much is known about the enigmatic Columbus, OH musician known as Raven, whose “Back to Ohio Blues” closes this edition. Upon completing his damaged-biker Back to Ohio Blues 5-song album in 1975, he gave away most of the few hundred copies that were pressed and vanished from public eye. The mantra-like droning riff of this 8-minute jam is a “Black To Comm” style epic, driven by Raven’s hostile, no-bullshit diatribe until it all busts open for an insane 2-minute long drum solo soaked in odd effects that sounds like it was copped from a Melvins album. It ends with a droning acoustic guitar coda, in which Raven repeatedly wails, yells and yelps, “lets go make some more love.” It’s easy to understand why this album has been a cult bootleg favorite until its 2021 reissue on our own Permanent Records. 

About the Brown Acid series:

Some of the best thrills of the Internet music revolution is the ability to find extremely rare music with great ease. But even with such vast archives to draw from, quite a lot of great songs have gone undiscovered for nearly half a century -- particularly in genres that lacked hifalutin arty pretense. Previously, only the most extremely dedicated and passionate record collectors had the stamina and prowess to hunt down long forgotten wonders in dusty record bins -- often hoarding them in private collections, or selling at ridiculous collector's prices. Legendary compilations like Nuggets, Pebbles, ad nauseum, have exhausted the mines of early garage rock and proto-punk, keeping alive a large cross-section of underground ephemera. However, few have delved into and expertly archived the wealth of proto-metal, pre-stoner rock tracks collected on Brown Acid. 

Lance Barresi, owner of L.A.-based Permanent Records and the Permanent Records Roadhouse has shown incredible persistence in tracking down a stellar collection of rare singles from the 60s and 70s for the growing compilation series. Partnered with Daniel Hall of RidingEasy Records, the two have assembled a selection of songs that's hard to believe have remained unheard for so long. 

"I essentially go through hell and high water just to find these records," Barresi says. "Once I find a record worthy of tracking, I begin the (sometimes) extremely arduous process of contacting the band members and encouraging them to take part. Daniel and I agree that licensing all the tracks we're using for Brown Acid is best for everyone involved," rather than simply bootlegging the tracks. When all of the bands and labels haven't existed for 30-40 years or more, tracking down the creators gives all of these tunes a real second chance at success. 

"There's a long list of songs that we'd love to include," Barresi says. "But we just can't track the bands down. I like the idea that Brown Acid is getting so much attention, so people might reach out to us."

Brown Acid: The Fourteenth Trip will be available everywhere on LP, CD and download on April 20, 2022 via RidingEasy Records. Pre-orders are available for digital at Bandcamp, physical pre-orders at RidingEasy Records. 

Album: Brown Acid: The Fourteenth Trip

Record Label: RidingEasy Records

Release Date: April 20, 2022

01. The Legends “Fever Games”

02. Mijal & White “I’ve Been You”

03. Liquid Blue “Henry Can’t Drive”

04. San Francisco Trolley Co. “Signs”

05. Blue Creed “Need A Friend”

06. Transfer “Play It Cool”

07. Appletree “You’re Not The Only Girl (I’m Out To Get)”

08. Cox’s Army “I’m Tired”

09. Raven “Raven Mad Jam”

"Richer and fuller in sound and substance than your average heavy, yet melodic rock band." -- Idioteq

"One of those bands with a special something, full of grit and fiesty spirit." -- Doomed & Stoned

"Stacks up the riffs... If you're dying for something like Monster Magnet or old Queens of The Stone Age, then you're going to dig Karma Vulture." -- Metal Injection

Stoner rock trio Karma Vulture share a new video from their new Death By Comfort EP today via Outburn Magazine. Watch and share the trippy 360-degree lens video for "Cheer Up" HERE. (Direct YouTube.) 

Hear the full EP via Bandcamp and Linktree. Metal Injection recently hosted "Cheer Up" from the EP HERE. Doomed & Stoned also recently profiled the band HERE. 

Karma Vulture is a desert rock power trio from Joshua Tree, now based in Nashville, consisting of singer/bassist Conor Spellane, guitarist Will Hammond, and drummer Ben Foerg. The band has a familiar yet idiosyncratic sound, blending elements of stoner rock and grunge with hints of classic rock, psych and modern alternative rock for good measure. The band executes their earworm hooks and hammer-dropping riffs with equal aplomb. Or, in other words: It’s super catchy, super heavy and super dope. 

Founded in mid-2018, the band hit its stride with the release of its first EP and the subsequent addition of Foerg in 2020. When the pandemic hit that spring, the band had just finished recording its second EP, Death By Comfort with engineer Norm Block (Mark Lanegan, Brian Jonestown Massacre.) They had it mixed remotely, and used the lockdown as an opportunity to record their debut full-length, scheduled for release in late 2022. 

The band plans to tour hard in support of both records, while releasing a series of music videos, including an upcoming horror film homage for the their song “Better Luck Next Time.” 

Death By Comfort is available on CD, cassette and download, released on March 4th, 2022 via Bent Knee Records. 

Artist: Karma Vulture

Album: Death By Comfort

Record Label:  Bent Knee Records 

Release Date: March 4, 2022

01. The Gift of Nothing

02. Better Luck Next Time

03. Cheer Up

04. All About You

On The Web:

linktr.ee/karmavulture