Nick Waterhouse & Allah-Las Release 7", 8", and 12"

Since releasing a few of last year's best vinyl singles, Nick Waterhouse and the Allah-Las have emerged as two of the west coast's more promising up-and-coming acts. Where Waterhouse dishes out blistering bursts of sweaty old school R&B with his backing band, the Allah-Las revel in vintage sun-baked Californian psychedelia with hypnotic swirling surf guitar riffs and insistent foot-tapping grooves. Waterhouse and the Allah-Las may record strictly with analog equipment and feature musical styles steeped in the sounds of another era, but as their time-warped music spins around the turntable it also feels vital, refreshing, and oddly of the moment. While the two bands got started with singles on Waterhouse's own Pres Records, they've now both relocated to the larger Los Angeles-based label Innovative Leisure, which just dropped a string of releases: a new Allah-Las 7" featuring the jangly acid-dropped sing-along "Tell Me (What's On Your Mind)," Waterhouse's excellent debut LP Time's All Gone, and a split 8-inch with the two bands playing different versions of the same track, "Don't You Forget It." It's hard to pick favorites, so I'm not going to: you should probably just snag it all.

The waxy goods can be found at Innovative Leisure.

Nick Waterhouse - "Is That Clear" ('At The Soul Inn' Lido Berlin, 2012-03-03)

Allah-Las - "Don't You Forget It"

Nick Waterhouse - "Don't You Forget It"

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" 

Video: Allah-Las - "Long Journey"

Simply put, Allah-Las are one of the best bands going right now, and their "Catamaran" 7"—produced by San Francisco's vintage R&B purveyor Nick Waterhouse and released via his Pres Records—might just be the best 45 to come out in 2011. These California surfers eschew the current musical landscape in favor of the decidedly warmer analog glow of 1950s and 60s rock and roll: specifically the kind played in a garage with gritty amplified guitars, grooving bass lines, rawly recorded vocals, and foot-stomping, hip-twisting percussion. "Long Journey," the B-side to "Catamaran," gets the music video treatment below via what looks like home-recorded footage of the band road-tripping about in their awesomely green van.

Watch the video after the jump.

Nick Waterhouse :: Is That Clear EP

Nick Waterhouse is a vintage R&B and rock enthusiast who, under the guise of his own Pres Records imprint in San Francisco, has recorded and released two killer 45s: the Allah-Las' "Catamaran" and his own "Some Place." It's not just the sound that's vintage, it's also the analog equipment Waterhouse uses, from the 60 year-old microphones to open-reel tape machines. His newest release is a digital four-song EP comprised of the "Some Place" 7" and the forthcoming "Is That Clear" 7"— due out September 15th. The EP, released yesterday, works like a time machine: the combination of Waterhouse's husky vocal delivery and fiery guitar play paired with bursts of brass from his backing band the Turn-Keys transport the listener to a smokey and crowded club in the 1950s where the house band is one fire and everyone's on the dance floor shaking hips and burning rubber. Vinyl fans: the sold out "Some Place" 7" is already fetching top dollar on Ebay, so don't sleep on this next release. (via)

Is That Clear by Nick Waterhouse
I Can Only Give You Everything by Nick Waterhouse