Beauty Pill Blue Period Ernest Jenning Recording Co. 1/20/23 “Fans of Smart Went Crazy who just can't accept the fact that Chad Clark is capable of producing anything short of brilliance should save themselves the trauma and skip right to The Unsustainable Lifestyle ’s seventh track, ‘Such Large Portions!’, a serene rocker packed with pitch-bent guitars and acrobatic drumming; or crank up the cacophonous, multitracked percussion of the Breeders-esque ‘The Western Prayer’. Either of these songs could allow a person to maintain, indefinitely, that Clark is among indie music's great talents, so long as they never delved into the rest of this record.” Above is the first paragraph of a Pitchfork review of The Unsustainable Lifestyle , the first full-length LP released in 2004 by Beauty Pill. Beauty Pill remains the creative outlet of musician Chad Clark, the band’s sole constant throughout its lifespan and primary focus following the dissolution of Clark’s previous band, Smart Went...

For me, one of the highlights of 2022 was seeing 7SECONDS perform with The Circle Jerks and Negative Approach. Announced today, Trust Records will be reissuing Walk Together, Rock Together , the band's 1985 follow-up to their milestone LP, The Crew , (which was reissued by Trust in 2021). All info, links, and sounds are provided courtesy of another / side PR.  7SECONDS ANNOUNCE WALK TOGETHER, ROCK TOGETHER DELUXE REISSUE VIA TRUST RECORDS IN COLLABORATION WITH BYO RECORDS REMASTERED AUDIO AND VINYL AVAILABLE IN-STORES FEBRUARY 3  PRE-ORDER HERE LISTEN / SHARE REMASTERED AUDIO FOR TITLE TRACK NOW THIS EDITION OF THE 1980’S UNDERGROUND CLASSIC INCLUDES: - Remastered audio by David Gardner from the original analog tapes. - 20-page full-color book with oral history from 1984 - 1986 with commentary from Pushead, Ian MacKaye, Walter Schreifels (Gorilla Biscuits, Quicksand), Milo Aukerman (Descendents), Tony Hawk, Shepard Fairey and more. - Fully restored version of iconic yel...

Lithics Wendy Kraemer EP Moone Records Released:  2.7.20 No Ripcord review. Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

When Black Dots  was issued by Caroline Records in 1996, my then 19-going-on-20 year-old self happened up a copy at THE WALL over at Montgomery Mall. I didn't really know what this CD was at the time, (the very young band members featured on the back cover confirmed that this wasn't new music), but the Bad Brains ' name was attached to it so I happily nabbed an overpriced copy, took it home, and threw it on and proceeded to hit "REPEAT" for a few weeks.  Black Dots is a collection of Bad Brains ' first recorded material, tracks like "Pay to Cum," "Don't Need It," "Regulator," and "Attitude" debuting prior to the ultra-aggro treatment these songs would get for the essential ROIR Sessions . Don Zientara , the man who engineered every necessary recording from Dischord's roster — Minor Threat , Government Issue , Rites of Spring , Fugazi , and  Jawbox to name a few — was responsible for the Black Dots ses...

A few days ahead of its scheduled reissue, Neurosis ' 1987 debut LP, Pain Of Mind , is currently streaming at the group's Bandcamp site and pre-order links for the physical releases, which include color options for vinyl, are available at Neurot Recordings .  Highly anthemic, raw, and certainly energized, Pain Of Mind precedes the band's first actual steps toward the path that Neurosis would eventually cut for themselves, pioneering a version of metal music that investigated how sound could be explored and the treasures those deep recesses could hold.  Released at a time when hardcore was going through its midlife crisis, faced with either the possibility of growing musically or staying the course, Pain Of Mind is itself a crossover release, musically ahead of the lockstep one-two punch typified by hardcore's highest esteemed while adhering to the genre's speed, song length economy and aggression.  It's a blistering listen.   Pain Of Mind will be ...

Touch and Go Records is reissuing Big Black 's Headache , a four-song EP originally released in 1987. Now past its thirty year mark, I'm aware of  Headache  thanks to the  The Rich Man's Eight Track Tape  compilation, which pulled together tracks from the EP as well as  Atomizer   and the "Heartbeat" single.  I expect these remastered tracks to sound much better than they do in the  Eight Track Tape  compilation.  Big Black's Steve Albini , ever the critic of digital technology, had no qualms with illustrating the limitations of first-gen CD systems by intentionally building this CD-only release from analog masters.  Consequently, the tracks don't have much depth or bottom.  In fact, they sound crispy.  So, I'm hoping for a richer, more intensified listening experience once this EP becomes available. The EP's most noteworthy inclusion is likely "My Disco," though the piercing, up-tempo "Grinder," the dilemma-rich...

The Common Cold : "Stop The Traffic" (via mutante-inc./ Action Records /Soundcloud) "Stop The Traffic" is the lead single from The Common Cold 's upcoming new album, Shut Up! Yo Liberals .  The album is scheduled to release May 4th and is available for pre-order at Action Records . Via mutante-inc.: Only 300 copies of the vinyl will be released and the first 100 copies include a hand painted inner sleeve, a free badge, and other goodies __________________________________________________________ Once and Future Band : "Destroy Me" (via Tell All Your Friends PR/ Castle Face Records /Soundcloud) Via Castle Face: We're happy to be able to speak of this now that the cat's out of the bag — Once and Future Band have graced us with another tasty morsel of everything they do best. Vault-dust begone; this EP deserves your attention. Rarely do the words "vitruosic" and "tasteful" collide so often in my mind as tryi...

Boston area label, I Heart Noise , will be reissuing Tommy Bell , a highly obscure indie rock album from Boston's own,  Turkish Delight .  Originally released in 1996, Tommy Bell is certainly of its era, vocalist Leah Callahan stretching each syllable with the necessary resignation and charming disdain characteristic of the decade, a distortion-laden glaze employed for grit.  The band also evoke the experimental guitar harmonics of Sonic Youth  and the abstract funk of bands like Gang of Four , A Certain Ratio , or Pigbag , Turkish Delight's evident fondness for early 80s post-punk and NYC fringe predating the retro-informed spawn from bands like The Strokes , Yeah Yeah Yeahs and, very recently, Naked Lights and Guerilla Toss .  If you grew up plugged into the output of K Records, 4AD, or Matador, Tommy Bell is a fascinating, overlooked artifact worth checking out.  You can check out the video for "Grammy" below.  Tommy Bell will be rel...

As has been the case for a few years now, the members of  Neurosis continue to keep the band's early records in print while bolstering its already robust discography with new music.  Announced today, the band's label, Neurot Recordings , will be pulling The Word As Law out of obscurity on August 25th. Originally released in 1990 via Lookout! Records , The Word As Law is the second Neurosis LP, their sound at this point based more in hardcore punk rock than the doom-laden and heavily percussive brand of post-metal music they would come to perfect and pioneer. Like Black Flag , Bl'ast , D.R.I. and other legacy hardcore acts who were looking to evolve within their genre, Neurosis also managed to devise some means of elaborating on the otherwise simplistic but effective bastions of angry, loud, n' fast, composing a viable creative stepping stone that makes no compromises on intensity or pace. Keeping in mind how Neurosis's sound grew with subsequent albums like ...

David Bowie ChangesOneBowie Rhino/Parlophone Released: 5.20.16 Originally released: 5.76 Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Obviously, I have my copy.  And now you can have a copy, too, without paying any jacked-up, opportunistic prices online.   Sleep 's "The Clarity" 12" is finally being put out officially by Southern Lord Records on February 10th in editions of either black, white, or orange vinyl.  There are some t-shirt/hoodie combo offers as well.    You can click here to pre-order. All info comes courtesy of Earsplit PR. SLEEP's "The Clarity" 12" Receives Official Pressing Via Southern Lord; Preorders Now Live This February, Southern Lord will re-release SLEEP's "The Clarity," a special 12" containing the first new song from the band in over two decades. Initially released digitally as part of the Adult Swim Singles Program in 2014, "The Clarity" is the first new SLEEP track the band has released since their critically-adored, life-changing, 1998-issued Dopesmoker album. Afterward, the band issued a very limited...

Faith No More We Care A Lot (Deluxe Band Edition) Koolarrow Records Released: 8.19.16 Originally released: 1985 via Mordam Records * This is probably very true. Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead