Wyatt Blair :: Banana Cream Dream

The time I devote to Everybody Taste these days is negatively impacting the forthcoming brick 'n' mortar retail food market I plan to open in the Fall. So if I'm writing here—instead of working on something far more important to my future well-being—it's because I can't fucking control myself: I've been moved by the power of rock 'n' roll, and my music nerd instincts are compelling me to immediately share it with you. The power-pop currently racing out of the brain of Los Angeles-based and Orange Country-bred musician Wyatt Blair is that inspiring force and it's all sugary excitement, throaty Marc Bolan swagger, and thunderous hip-twisting foot-stomping power-chord fun. Blair, who's toured alongside the likes of The Lovely Bad Things and Peach Kelli Pop and released an EP called Peach Colored Pussy, works equal parts humor and melody into each of his charmingly simple and infectiously malted pop confections. Blair's newest release, Banana Cream Dream, is out now on cassette from (who else) Burger Records with a forthcoming vinyl release due out on Resurrection Records. From the uproarious muted-guitar hum of "Girls!" to the swinging blues and stutter on "Sweet Operator (Talkin' On The Telephone)", the songs on Banana Cream Dream are so instantaneously uplifting and savagely simple that it's nearly impossible to escape the fun. This summer, whether you're cruising a dark highway, swatting away mosquitoes and crushing beer cans on a back porch somewhere, or simply doing the dishes alone in the kitchen, please pop in this record and proceed to shimmy, head bang, and pogo forth all that is wonderful, sweet, and forever satisfying about a fresh new slab of boogie-friendly rock 'n' roll.

Buy Banana Cream Dream digitally from the band. Get the tape from Burger. 

Teenage Burritos - "Kamikaze"

Fantastically named San Diego band Teenage Burritos—who already have an out-of-print cassette via Burger Records—are set to put out their first 7" on Volar Records featuring A-side "Danya" and my current obsession, "Kamikaze," on the flip side. A frisky guitar line, snappy drumming, and an instantaneously addictive vocal lead dose this charismatic recorded-in-the-garage-fidelity nugget with a classic unglued from time sort of quality that has me hitting play over and over again. Dig into the tune below, and look out for the forthcoming wax from Volar as well as a future full-length due out on Burger.

Teenage Burritos - "Kamikaze"

Lovely Bad Things - "Hear or Anywhere"

La Mirada's Lovely Bad Things wooed me a few years back with the lovable handrawn art, jubilant bonfire-on-the-beach vibe, and sharp cutting melodies of their Shark Week and New Ghost / Old Waves cassettes. Now, freshly signed to Volcom Entertainment, the quartet are set to release their very first long player: The Late Great Whatever. Brimming with Star Wars and Randy Savage references, forceful driving beats, crashing fuzzed-out waves of guitars, and dynamic rotating lead vocals, the group's charming brand of garage rock is poised to commence world domination. Below, peep the sweeping and massively appealing Lauren Curtius-sung "Hear or Anywhere," which for some reason at the moment is taking me back to 1995 and Kevin Smith's excellent punk-smattered Mallrats soundtrack. As Brodie once poetically explained: "Breakfast, shmreakfast. Look at the score, for Christ's sake. It's only the second period and I'm up 12 to 2. Breakfasts come and go, Rene, but Hartford, 'the Whale,' they only beat Vancouver once, maybe twice in a lifetime."

Pre-order the record from Volcom.

Premiere: Burnt Ones - "Fountain of Youth"

A Burnt Ones song doesn't just play: it quakes, howls, and shakes its hips under the faint light of a blood-red moon. This Bay Area trio's playful penchant for excess comes in the form of thunderous booms of amplified guitar fuzz, which sound at once dizzying, assaultive, and deeply satisfying. This isn't let's sit down and contemplate life by the fire music; this is foot-stomping, thigh-slapping, celebratory, let's jump into the fire just to feel how it hot it burns music. Fresh off releasing a 7" on Oakland's Fuzz City Records and a pair of tracks for two compilations on John Dwyer's Castle Face imprint, Burnt Ones are now set to deliver their second long player, You'll Never Walk Alone. Burger Records, who co-released the band's sublime glam-smacked single "Meet The Golden One" with the band's own Gold Records, will put out You'll Never Walk Alone on April 30th. Below, dig into the raucous first taste, "Fountain of Youth"—all dark walls of guitar-chewing distortion and train-chugging rhythm flavored with an addictive candy-sweet bubblegum pop center.

Follow Burger Records on Facebook for the pre-order announcement. In the meantime, get your paws on previous Burnt Ones releases direct from the band.

Pop Zeus - "Memory Hangs"

Fans of King Tuff, The Tough Shits, and all things Burger Records, take a whiff of the blazing bedroom power-pop project of Mikey Hodges, aka Pop Zeus. Hodges recorded his 10-track eponymous debut on a 4-track he bought for $75 with borrowed mics, drums, and an amp. The result is a grimy lo-fi dose of rock 'n' roll that, with a armful of glistening guitar solos, reaches fist-clenched towards the sky in anthemic windows-down cruising-under-the-stars fashion. Though Hodges, who plays every instrument on the album, sounds like he's playing from a dank basement cluttered with empty beer cans and snubbed-out cigarrettes, the bones of the songs here are grand arena-worthy rockers.

Pick up the cassette from Burger Records.

Pop Zeus - "Memory Hangs" (from Pop Zeus)

Natural Child - "B$G P$MP$N"

Important facts about Natural Child's new single, "B$G P$MP$N," and forthcoming album, Hard In Heaven.

1. "We cowrote "B$G P$MP$N" with Chuck Berry." - Zack

2. Choice lyric: "Ya'll know me I'm just having fun / Bitches lining up just to shoot my gun / Everybody want to see me shoot my gun / But I don't come until I wanna come."

3. "Hard In Heaven is going to be a lot more hard." - Seth

4. Hard In Heaven, the band's second LP to be released in 2012, is due out September 11th on Burger Records.

Natural Child - "B$G P$MP$N" (from Hard In Heaven)

The Memories - "Higher"

Discovering Erik Gage's spectacular DIY tape label Gnar Tapes and his shred-happy band White Fang was a serious highlight from my time in Portland. These days though, you don't need to live in Oregon to take in hits of Gage's enthusiastically lo-fi bong-soaked pop music. His newest project, The Memories—comprised of fellow White Fanger Kyle Handley and members of Portland's Boom!—just put out its self-titled debut bicoastally with vinyl from Underwater Peoples and its tape counterpart on Burger Records. Like a copy of a copy of an old beaten up cassette that you have to wind back to life with a pencil, The Memories' music has a real warm, inviting, and lived in quality to it. And don't let the feedback or rawness of the recordings fool you—that's just a little bit of dress-up and misdirection—these guys write simple pop music with the instincts of true pop classicists (see "Silly Little Picture"). Only two songs on the LP break the two-minute mark, so don't be surprised if you find yourself playing honey-sweet gems like "Higher" over and over again.

Nab the vinyl or the tape.

The Memories - "Higher" (from The Memories)


Previously:
Erik Gage - "Little Brother" (from Inner Cosmic)
White Fang - "Not Listening" (from Grateful To Shred)

Interview: Natural Child

Back in early April, after a show at the Black Cat here in DC, I spoke with the fellas in Nashville's Natural Child about their new record For The Love Of The Game, their interest in Kevin Costner movies, and swimmer's butt. The show ended that night with a blistering cover of "Like A Rolling Stone," and somehow that era-defining anthem fit perfectly into a set alongside the fiercely rollicking and low brow humor of Natural Child originals like "Easy Street" and "Shame Walkin," which feature the respective choruses, "Let me get that stoned" and "I don't wanna fuck you, but I got to." Natural Child may not be nearly as poetic as Dylan and they certainly aren't out to reinvent the wheel, but shit can they play. In fact, they might just be the best pure rock 'n' roll band playing today. While For Love Of The Game may lack any new curve balls (aside from the reggae joint "Paradise Heights"), it delivers the goods in the form of a raucous and unapologetically good time: crunchy roaring guitars, fat bass and drum grooves, and lyrics about everything from from death to codeine and weapons charges.

The Tough Shits: Shit You Can Understand

Indie rock is all very vague. You never know what the fuck anyone is talking about and you can’t even relate to anything in it. - King Tuff

In the indie world, it's been a trend to obscure your message—it's happened more and more recently, with the whole lo-fi movement and rediscovery of reverb. People over-use effects to cover up what they're trying to say. To me, that feels really noncommittal. - Chris Chu

There's a time and place for pretty but undecipherable reverb-cloaked words, but as King Tuff and Chris Chu both point out, music has the potential to be much more relatable and interesting when artists take the time to write and perform lyrics that are actually accessible to the listener. That dynamic is precisely why I haven't stopped listening to The Tough Shits since February. The Philly band's eponymous debut—out now on Burger Records—is not only one of 2012's best albums, but it's aslo one of the year's most fun and enjoyable, in large part, because of its lyrics. These guys sing about the simple day-to-day goings ons of life in a direct, charmingly witty, and self-deprecating fashion: the "Space Heater" in their apartment, taking the "Chinatown" bus, a couple that fights like "Cats & Dogs," and of course, picking up drugs from the neighborhood "Hombre De La Cocaina."

The Tough Shits play jangly punk-pop and good ole fashioned rock 'n' roll, which is to say, they aren't out to reinvent the wheel. But at the same time, the songs come off as incredibly refreshing because of how prominent, carefully crafted, and clear the lyrics are. In "Cats & Dogs," while a couple is in the midst of a tense fight, the narrator sings about dodging his girlfriend's family, as in this comically melodramatic gem: "I don't want to run into your brother at the post office / I don't want him to know / That I'm sending you a letter / It says 'I want to die.'" There's a wonderful pairing here of late-night beer-stained debauchery ("society groans every time I leave my home") with an unexpected Paul Westerberg-like sensitivity and thoughtfulness, as in "Early Grave," where the group offers its support to a friend on the outs with his friends and job: "If it's attention that you crave, you can get it from me / But don't fall into an early grave." In "She's Through With You," the narration centers on a guy who's that last to know it's over with his girlfriend:

Sitting in your room, just trying to watch the tube. / You're in a bad mood. Your friends are hanging out with your old lady, / She's probably getting naked. / Who's gonna tell you the truth? / I never wanted it to happen this way to you. /  Most dreams don't come true. / She's done and gone and though with you.

"Most dreams don't come true" is the harsh realism The Tough Shits tend to dish out, but at the same time, I can't remember ever laughing out loud with a record as often as I have with these guys. As a listener, you don't just relate to the songs, but rather, it feels like you're sitting around telling stories with a couple of your oldest buddies. And I haven't even mentioned the incredibly tightly delivered instrumentation, wherein tracks forego any thought of soloing for whittled-down two-minute packages filled to the brim with hooks, ear-catching melodies, and many a irresistible harmony-glazed chorus. Screw being vague and obscure: I can't remember the last time I had this much fun playing a record.

Below check out a track from the LP, which you can order now from Burger Records, and an equally great older track.

The Tough Shits - "She's Through With You" (from The Tough Shits)

The Tough Shits - "Heard She Kisses On The Mouth" (from The Tough Shits EP)

Natural Child's For The Love of The Game

Here's the cover art for Natural Child's second LP, For The Love Of The Game, the title of which is pictured freshly tattooed on the back of some poor lady's naked buttocks. Like 1971, the album continues the band's tradition of releasing records on April 20th, this time through our favorite Fullerton, California label, Burger Records. Though the LP lacks the fiery punk punch of numbers like "Cougar" or "Crack Mountain," there's a string of truly classic and raucous southern fried rock gems here, like the riff-soaked "Baby," heart-ache riddled sing-along "That's How I Got To Memphis," and end-of-the-line fight song, "Faces of Death." These Nashville jokesters even found a way to fit in a reggae song, "Paradise Heights," where the trio riff about codeine and weapons charges. There's a real youthful charm to the tracks on For The Love Of The Game that reminds me of just how fun, wonderfully stupid, and rebellious rock and roll can be. I'm not sure whether I should grab a six-pack and a fat joint and go watch Dazed and Confused or light a fistful of cherry bombs and throw them into my boss's toilet.

The record is out digitally now and on vinyl April 20th from Burger Records.

Natural Child - "8 AM Blues" (from For The Love of The Game)

Natural Child - "Ain't Gonna Stop" (from For The Love of The Game)

The Tough Shits - "Cats & Dogs"

Here's the newest joint from Burger Records: a full-length from Philadelphia's The Tough Shits. The spirit here may be wild, abrasive, and ramshackle, but the band's jangly pop-punk numbers are expertly polished, filled with addictive and impossible-to-shake candy-eared hooks and melodies. The Tough Shits have put out 7-inches on Desert Island Discs in Seattle and another on Ramo Records in Minneapolis—the latter of which features the hilariously great toe-tapper "Pretty Wild"—but this marks the band's first attempt at a long player, and judging from sneak peak single "Cats & Dogs," it should be a hell of a good time.

Pre-order the LP from Burger on gold vinyl.



The Tough Shits - "Pretty Wild" (from Pretty Wild 7")

Natural Child - "Ain't Gonna Stop"

Everybody Taste loves us some Natural Child. Nobody spits booze, bongwater, or fire quite like this scuzzy punk-meets-country Nashville trio. In 2012, these Infinity Cat veterans will be dropping two records on another of our favorite labels, Fullerton, California's Burger Records. Burger—who already have a cassette version of the band's debut LP, 1971, under their belts—will be reissuing the band's 7-track cassette Bodyswitchers in March and a new LP, For The Love of The Game, in May. Below, you can stream the first taste of the new full-length by way of riff and shred-heavy barn-burner "Ain't Gonna Stop." And that's not all: The band's currently working on another long player, Hard In Heaven, slated for release before the end of the year (photo via Instagram).

Natural Child - "Ain't Gonna Stop" (from For The Love of The Game)

Hoboken Pie-Slicing Punks: Personal & The Pizzas

"This isn't fucking muscle bound fake tan guido shit. This is the real New Jersey. Pizza eating, beer drinking, chain wielding guido shit." — 1-2-3-4 Go! Records

Allegedly Hoboken, New Jersey-based, Personal and The Pizzas are a band straight out of a comic book: Ramones and Stooges channeling punks with thick cartoonish accents and undeniably catchy superhero pop hooks. Take the anthemic horn-blasted "I Can Read," from its opening comedic monologue to the roaring guitar riffs and beaten-to-death chorus, the track sounds like it came off the soundtrack to an 80s B-movie about dyslexic alien punks that can only survive the earth's atmosphere by consuming armfuls of pizza. Just saying. The band's a blast and I highly recommend picking up a cassette or some wax from any of the classy labels that have put out the band's recordings, including 1-2-3-4 Go!, Burger Records, and Trouble In Mind. Now go buy yourself a slice!

Personal & The Pizzas - "I Don't Feel So Happy Now"

Personal & The Pizzas - "I Can Read"

Personal & The Pizzas - "I Want You"

The Lovely Bad Things: Bonfires & Surf-Garage-Fuzz

La Mirada, California's The Lovely Bad Things do a pitch-perfect job of fusing surf-rock guitar tones with jangly garage fuzz and ear-pleasing harmony-glazed vocal melodies. Songs like "Cult Life" and "I Just Want You To Go Away" belong at a beach party right beside a blazing bonfire and a mass of jubilant dancing and singing party-goers. To put it simply, this is feel good music. To date, the band has put out two cassette tapes: one on Ultravivid Recordings in 2010 and a follow-up on Burger Records this past July. As soon as this band releases something on vinyl, I'm buying. (via R&G)

While Shark Week is sold out, you can still buy the S/T cassette from Burger Records.

The Lovely Bad Things - "Cult Life" (from Shark Week)

The Lovely Bad Things - "I Just Want You To Go Away" (from S/T)

Nobunny - "Vicious Circle"

This past winter, the vinyl and cassette connoisseurs over at Burger Records pressed Nobunny's Raw Romance—a cassette-only release from back in 2009— to vinyl with new (and awesome) artwork and freshly re-mastered tracks. Below, check out one of my favorite cuts off the LP—the bluesy acoustic fuzzball and album-closer "Vicious Circle." I'm not sure where the audio clip is culled from that's spliced into the end of the track, but man, it's pretty hilarious. "I'm shaking with hunger. No more!"

While the purple vinyl is unfortunately sold out, you can still snag Raw Romance on classic black wax from Burger Records.

Nobunny - "Vicious Circle" (from Raw Romance)