Best of 2011: Vinyl Singles & EPs

Denney & The Jets :: "Killin' Machine" 7"
For some reason the good folks at Infinity Cat pressed the two sides of this 7" at two different speeds: 45 and 33 1/3 RPM. I'm guessing it was an issue of space and track time, but for the vinyl debut of Denney & The Jets' scuzzy country and blues songs, it's a rather appropriately fitting blemish.
Denney & The Jets - "Pain Pills" 

Bare Wires :: "Wanna Fight" 7"
Castleface Records' fun Group Flex compilation features an abundance of treasures—from the colored flexi disc pressings to the inspired artwork of William Keihn—but no track quites hits like the snappy glam-punk number "Wanna Fight" by Oakland's Bare Wires.
Bare Wire - "Wanna Fight"



Earth Girl Helen Brown :: Story of An Earth Girl EP
One of the more inspired and silly leftovers from Sonny Smith's 100 Recods project, Earth Girl Helen Brown features Smith and The Sandwitches' Heidi Alexander riffing on everything from dating martians, having hoses for noses, and giving birth to "50 space twerps." Forest Family pressed this EP onto 10" vinyl.
Earth Girl Helen Brown - "Hit After Hit"

Eternal Summers :: Prisoner 12" EP
Another gem from the folks at Forest Family, the 12" EP Prisoner showcases Roanoke, Virginia's Eternal Summers at their infectious best, laying down vigorously pounding rhythms with quick slices of guitar and vocal melodies you just can't shake. This EP has a little bit of everything, from the steaming pop-punk title-track to the slower Luna-recalling dream-pop standout "Pure Affection."
Eternal Summers - "Prisoner" 

Ski Lodge - "I Would Die To Be"

Ski Lodge is the project of multi-instrumentalist Andrew Marr, born not on a snowy mountain resort, but by the ocean side in West Palm, Florida. While Marr's heavily melodic and chord-free guitar play on "I Would Die To Be" recalls the style employed by the Beach Fossils, Marr's vocals take a more melodramatic and heart-on-the-sleeve turn that hint at years of late nights listening to The Smiths. Most importantly though, Ski Lodge delivers the hooks: light, feathery, and catchy as hell.

The EP is out September 13th on Dovecote Records.

Ski Lodge - "I Would Die To Be" (from Ski Lodge)

Video: Beach Fossils - "Adversity"

The Beach Fossils have put out of one the year's best EPs in What A Pleasure. Over 8 songs, the band's clean-toned and highly melodic guitar-driven pop finds its way into your ear's every nook and cranny and digs it's soft reverb-coated claws in deep. But it's not with force or complexity, rather, the Beach Fossils secret weapons are old pop standards: simplicity and repetition. Snag the essential vinyl at Captured Tracks.

Beach Fossils Feat. Jack Tatum - "Out In The Way" (from What A Pleasure EP)

After the jump, watch the band's dazed video for "Adversity."

Beach Fossils Feat. Jack Tatum - "Out In The Way"

I once referred to the The Beach Fossils as "subtle punks" and that sentiment still applies to the band's latest release, their EP What A Pleasure. The Beach Fossils aren't ones to make a splash—if this is punk music, it's punk with a heavy dose of valium: heavily melodic and straightforward, but never once forceful or angry. The hazy and nostalgic vibe that permeates through the band's music becomes exponentially more intoxicating with the appearance of Wild Nothing's Jack Tatum on "Out In The Way"—a cut of slow burning pop that delivers its punch with devastating simplicity.

Beach Fossils  Feat. Jack Tatum - "Out In The Way" (from What A Pleasure EP)

Beach Fossils: Subtle Punks

"I don't know just what I feel, but I feel it all tonight."

Brooklyn's Beach Fossils may be the world's most subtle punk rock band. There's certainly no emphasis on distortion, speed or power chords here, but rather Dustin Payseur's project-turned-sensation embraces the great straightforwardness of music with a collection of devastatingly simple rhythmic-propelled guitar hooks. Flash is sacrificed here for the medicine of the easily repeatable—and it pays off beautifully throughout the grimy, small club feel of the Beach Fossils' addicting eponymous debut. It may be just over 30 minutes in length, but the record makes its point almost immediately: sometimes the uncomplicated and uncluttered things in life are the most enjoyable.

Beach Fossils - "Golden Age" (from Beach Fossils)

Beach Fossils - "Youth" (from Beach Fossils)