Jason Farrell's (Bluetip, Swiz) Retisonic return with a new full-length CD/LP+MP3 (that we are carrying) titled, Robots Fucking, released on the German label Arctic Rodeo. Jason is again joined by his mates Jim Kimball (J. Majesty) and Joe Gorelick (Garden Variety). Robots Fucking features all the quality song-craft and innovative package design that we have come to expect from any project Jason is involved with. Welcome back!

While reorganizing the office the other day, Amy June and I stumbled across an old Black Eyes poster buried within a flat-file, used for their European tour back in 2004. The poster was printed in a slightly larger format and limited to just black & white, but the design is fantastic. It somehow perfectly captures the unruly and frantic energy from their live performances, shared by the both band and audience.
Seeing the poster made me miss Black Eyes.

Their live shows were incredible and unpredictable (I seem to recall a cymbal flying across the room at the Warehouse Nextdoor on 7th Street, crashing against the wall on the side of the stage). In order to get the full experience, you had to be up front, near the band. The show itself was up front. And the audience got involved, singing/shouting along with “Deformative”: I’m sixteen, driving south from Baltimore! These shows were events not to be missed.

After seeing Black Eyes live, I doubted that the

vibrant and controlled mania I witnessed on stage would actually translate to vinyl, but the first song from their self-released 7 inch, “Some Boys”, made me a believer. A convert and devotee. And as an extension to that first 7 inch, their follow up LP not only matched the single – it went beyond.

It’s a punk record. Not to be confused with some sort of repackaged, retro punk. Punk as in progress, building a lot from a little, pushing music forward while being completely inhibited – the true and absolute opposite of afraid and self-conscious. I liken it to the appeal of discovering Public Image’s Second Edition and realizing that there was a band on Earth clearly breaking ground, while not at all concerned about appeasing a specific market.

I also love the fact that Black Eyes titled a song “King’s Dominion”.

The record is still available on vinyl, CD, and as a digital download. Check it out.

From their inception in 1988 until their hiatus in 2006, Lungfish was renowned for intense creative productivity, releasing albums annually from the years 1992–2000. But what is not generally known is that volumes of Lungfish material never saw the light of day. The 1999 A.C.R. session offers a rare glimpse into some of this elusive material and by extension, into the Lungfish creative process. These 10-songs were recorded and mixed by Craig Bowen at Baltimore’s A.C.R. Studios but never released. After the session the band decided to continue writing new songs – ultimately recording at Inner Ear Studios what became Necrophones (2000). Six of these songs were re-recorded and released on Necrophones, while four others remained unreleased, until now.

We will be taking pre-orders on this album in mid-April and will begin shipping a week before the release date.

Every Teen Beat release we have in stock is now on sale.
Each CD, 12 inch record, and 7 inch record is now priced somewhere between 1 and 4 dollars.

Teen Beat is (and always has been) one of our favorite independent labels, and they’ve released a ton of unsung, often overlooked, releases. If you’ve ever been curious about Teen Beat Records but had no idea where to start, now’s your chance to dip your toe in the water (more like a massive ocean) without breaking the bank.

While going through the list below, DO NOT OVERLOOK THE SAMPLER CDs. You can always find cool individual tracks on the comps, and maybe some of those songs will help steer you toward something else.

For a complete list of Teen Beat stock, click here.
For direct links to each of the Teen Beat CDs and a list of bands from each of the compilations, please read on …

CDs
Jonny Cohen’s Love Machine – Self-Titled
Wakefield – Volume 1
(TeenBeat Sampler featuring BOCS, Versus, Gastr Del Sol, Tuscadero, Eggs, In Camera, Air Miami, Butch Willis & the Rocks, Vomit Launch, Los Marauders, Bells of, Uncle Wiggly, Cobalt, No Trend, Jonny Cohen’s Love Machine, The Sisterhood of Convoluted Thinkers, and Grenadine)
Blast Off Country Style – Rainbow Mayonnaise Deluxe
Butch Willis & the Rocks – Conquering the Ice
Wakefield – Volume 3
(TeenBeat Sampler featuring Versus, Unrest, Grenadine, BOCS, Jonny Cohen, Scaley Andrew, Mark E. Superstar, Dustdevils, Barbara Manning, Romania, Sexual Milkshake, Tuscadero, Gastr Del Sol, Flowers of Discipline, Eggs, and Cath Carroll)
Phil Krauth – Cold Morning
Cath Carroll – True Crime Motel
Wakefield – Volume 4
(TeenBeat Sampler featuring Synthetic Socks, Thirsty Boys, Unrest, Bratmobile, Clarence, George Jungle & the Plague Scaley Andrew, Gamma Rays, Flying Saucer, Phil Krauth, and Cobalt.)
Blast Off Country Style – In My Arms
Viva Satellite – Nishma
Air Miami – Fuck You, Tiger
1996 TeenBeat – Sampler, featuring songs by Air Miami, Bells Of, BOCS, Cath Carroll, The Feminine Complex, Phil Krauth, Romania, Tel Aviv, Tuscadero, Uncle Wiggly, Versus, and Viva Satellite
Tel Aviv – TeenBeat #193
The Olympic Death Squad – (solo project from Mark Robinson formerly of Unrest)
Phil Krauth – Silver Eyes
Los Marauders – Every Song We Fuckin’ Know
Tel Aviv – The Shape of Fiction
The Ropers – The World Is Fire
Jonny Cohen’s Love Machine – If Six Were Eight
True Love Always – When Will You Be Mine?
Phil Krauth – One, Two Three…
Viva Satellite – Extra Eye
1998 Teenbeat – Sampler, featuring songs by True Love Always, Tel Aviv, The Rondelles, Viva Satellite, Evelyn, Tuscadero, Phil Krauth, Versus, Andrew Beaujon, The Ropers, K-Stars, Robert Schipul, Flin Flon, and The Feminine Complex
Flin Flon – A-OK
Andrew Beaujon – A Raw-boned June
Air Miami – World Cup Fever
Robert Schipul – The American Scene
Flin Flon – Black Bear EP TeenBeat @#35;263
Aden – Black Cow
True Love Always – Hopefully
1999 TeenBeat – Sampler, featuring Hot Pursuit, Flin Flon, Butch Willis, Rob Schipul, Screamer, Aden, The Rondelles, Phil Krauth, Tel Aviv, Bossanova, Andrew Beaujon, Olympic Death Squad, True Love Always, and Versus
Flin Flon – Boo-Boo
Bells of – 3’s Company
Butch Willis – Superstitious Mummys
Aden – Hey 19
Hot Pursuit – The Thrill Department
Mark Robinson – Canada’s Green Highways (with cover illustration by Ryan Nelson)
True Love Always – Torch
Flin Flon – Chicoutimi
Mark Robinson – Taste
Mark Robinson – Tiger Banana
True Love Always – Spring Collection (The Singles)
Tracy Shedd – Blue
Mark Robinson – Origami and Ubanism
The Pacific Ocean – So Beautiful and Cheap and Warm
Aden – Topsiders
Pocket Rockets – Love or Perish
True Love Always – Clouds
Currituck Co. – Unpacking My Library
Horse ing Two = Hit – Tilt
+/- – Holding Patterns
Holland – I steal and Do Drugs
Tracy Shedd – Red
The Sisterhood of Convoluted Thinkers – Better Days Coming Now
The Fontaine Toups – T-F-T
TeenBeat – Commemorative Sampler, featuring songs by Unrest, Eggs, +/-, True Love Always, The Fontaine Toups, Jonny Cohen, Tuscadero, Versus, Flin Flon, Aden, Hot Pursuit, Holland, Tracy Shedd, Stick Insect, Mirah Ginger, The Positions, The Sisterhood of Convoluted Thinkers, Bossanova, Currituck Co., Triple Threat, and Bells of
+/- – VS Bloodthirsty Butchers
Phil Krauth – Tight Fit
Holland – The Paris Hilton Mujahideen
Bossanova – Hey, Sugar
Flin Flon – Dixie

Daniel Higgs – Beyond & Between

This is just a quick shout to let you all know that we have remarkably few copies left of the most recent release from Daniel Higgs, Beyond & Between.

We’re down to just 8 more LPs.

The album was released by a label from Spain (La Castanya), which makes it slightly more difficult for us to keep in stock here in the US. There’s a chance that we may receive more in the future, but it may not be for a while (if at all).

The bottom line: strike now if you’re interested.

While driving through the south last week with Soccer Team, the three of us participated in what I’m certain is a common activity during long drives: we played DJ for each other. Whoever was lucky enough to sit shotgun was charged with the important task of entertaining the driver and backseat passenger with a continuous mix of music that would often be immediately familiar, sometimes brand new, but always interesting and engaging enough to keep the driver awake (you know you’re on the right track when you spot the driver swaying his/her head along with the tune; for best results, try pretty much anything by AC/DC).
Due in part to the appeal of singing along as a means of staying awake at the wheel, instrumentals rarely come into play during a Shotgun-DJ’s shift. Instrumentals have to be worked into a set strategically. The timing has to be just right, and the song has to fit the mood established by the previous song. It’s not a job for a novice (although there’s more than enough time to become an expert while driving on I-10 East), but if you’re up for giving it a try the next time you’re on a road trip, here are my recommendations from the Dischord catalog:

FUGAZI: “Sweet and Low” from In On the Kill Taker
Killtaker has always been a favorite of mine, and a massive (but often unspoken) part of the charm of that record is the sequencing. “Facet Squared” butted against “Public Witness Program” has to be one of the better 1-2 punches in history. Flip the record over and side two opens quite differently (yet equally gripping) with the instrumental, “Sweet and Low.” It’s an incredibly delicate and thoughtful way to coax the listener into flipping the record. Brendan Canty somehow found a way to be both subtle and bombastic with each drum roll that coasts smoothly into each build-up of this short song. And it’s impossible to avoid bobbing your head along with the steady pace of the ride and snare.

THE AQUARIUM: “Maxxo Sesh” from their self-titled CD
Like “Bone Machine” or “Taxman” or Lungfish’s “The Words” (from Necrophones), I’ve got no problem putting Aquarium’s “Maxxo Sesh” up on the list of Greatest Opening Songs Ever. Don’t let the instrumental factor fool you: by no means is this background music. Crank the car stereo as loud as it can go and prepare to drown in the majesty and wonderment of The Aquarium.
I love this song because it transcends genre. Huge beat, massive fuzzed out bass tones, dreamy delay – is it rock? is it hip-hop? is it punk? is it some weird outtake from Check Your Head?
Nope … it’s just ... it's just Aquarium.

LUNGFISH: “At Liberty to Say” from Pass and Stow
Clocking in at just under two and a half minutes, this song has been a favorite of mine since Pass and Stow was released in 1994. It opens with some nonabrasive feedback and fades into a beautifully noisy, layered, and remarkably alluring song. This is the perfect tune to have queued up when you need to cleanse the palette after bombarding the road trip listeners with everything from Mingus to Off.

As always, thanks for reading.

-Ryan