Some of these were suppose to be the ROTWs for September and October, but I combined into one article.




THE IMPULSE INTERNATIONAL - SATURDAY SUZIE (Mutant Pop Records)

Click the above album image to download the EP from Amazon.

3 fun tracks in a powerpop-meets-punk'n'roll-not-available-in the-mall vein (like The Briefs, The Ends from Austin, FM Knives, etc.). I am curious if they wrote the mega-hit "One Girl, Eight Wheels" for Gotham Girls Roller Derby in their home state of New York. All three songs are superb pop-punk rockers, with the b-sides outweighing the title track in my opinion.

Clicking >>HERE<< will give you a pop-up player where you can hear samples from Saturday Suzie




THE KILLS - BLACK BALLOON (Domino)
This here should had actually been called a "single" as it was featured on 2008's Midnight Boom. Rather it was given a release as an EP on all formats, including a nifty 10". This help the title track stick out more as I felt it was lost among the stellar Midnight Boom album. "Black Balloon" is joined by two unreleased tracks; "Weed Killer", which is fairly typical of a Kills' track and "Forty Four", a neo-blues number that should solicit atleast one or two comparisons to The White Stripes if it ever sees the light of a more proper release. Not sure if the purpose of this EP was to hold fans over until their fourth studio album could be finally released (with much delay due to Allison Mosshart's adventure with The Dead Weather and Jamie Hince's adventure with ill-tempered super models), but unless you are a hardcore fanatic, you can do without this.




LENGUAS LARGAS - I FEEL (Tic Tac Totally)

Click the above album image to download the EP from Amazon.

Lenguas Largas was probably the most talked about Tucson band among Phoenicians in 2009 and this  3-song 7" record proves why. Dee Cosmeticator bought 2 copies at a Rogue West show a few months back and gave me a copy as a thank you for driving. The exclusive term I used to describe Lenguas Largas' style is "Peyote Rock". This Tucson supergroup play punk-gone-neopsych without any shoegaze pretension or use for a high-end studio to translate such a sonic sound. "I Feel" starts out resembling something from Darker My Love's most recent CD except Lenguas is extremely lo-fi. Dual drum/percussionists make you feel like you are hearing two drummers by mistake yet forgetting they have more than the conventional one anyway (if that makes sense). Isaac Reyes (from Shark Pants) has a falsetto voice that show hints of David Thomas and Russel Mael. This is a good primer for a full length, one I would assume would be full of dreamy, uninhibited noisepop.

Clicking >>HERE<< will give you a pop-up player where you can hear samples from I Feel.




MONO STEREO - SPACE OUT (360 Degree Music)

Click the above album image to download the EP from Amazon.

A young Swedish quartet perform garage/psych that is swell yet familiar. The opening track "Orange Is Green" reveals both miscellaneous 80's britpop and 90s shoegaze influences. "The Day Before Science Fiction" is a hybrid number similar to the well blended Methodrone album by Brian Jonestown Massacre. Speaking of BJM, there is a story in the liner notes inside the Tepid Peppermint Wonderland "best of" album about how "If Love Is The Drug" is practically, and coincidentally, the same song as Dandy Warhols "Minnesoter" and a song that the late Christoper Tucker of The Situation wrote on his own (eventually collaborating with Anton Newcombe on the BJM single). Mono Stereo's "Time Will Never Let You Away" could also be grouped among those neo-psych classics having the familiar verse melodies and progressions noticed immediately, probably less coincidental. Space Out ends with a 70s Stooges/stoner repetitive psych jam titled "You Better". A solid EP that could definitely buzz a few eardrums around the globe, yet may have trouble standing out among the hundreds of underground psych bands that have been buzzing those same ears for years.

Clicking >>HERE<< will give you a pop-up player where you can hear samples from Space Out

RADIO CRIMES - RADIO CRIMES (May Cause Dizziness)

Click the above album image to buy the 10" record from May Cause Dizziness website.

Alex Empty leaves Phoenix (and his band The Half Empties) behind and forms Radio Crimes in San Francisco with members of The Lucky Stiffs and Thunder City. Phoenix record label May Cause Dizziness, a longtime supporter of Alex, helps bring his music to the masses in the form of a limited edition white & black target/swirl 10" record. Some may think Radio Crimes are just another street punk band on a mission to figure out what made bands like The Jam and Elvis Costello & The Attractions so cool. However these four songs are more than just 70s brit-punk all modded up. Alex reveals his dealings with personal politics, demons, bad decisions, and urbanite boredom within the inner city on songs like "Tokio Rose" and "Occidental". But if you just want to dance, "Plastic Bottles" has a neat Mick Jones-y intro riff that sounds like it's straight from either the London Calling or Sandinista songbooks and is layered over a beat that would surely guarantee the song a spot among any mod-night DJ setlist, possibly segued right into "A Town Called Malice". It's a shame that the future of this band is uncertain, with Mr. Empty returning to Phoenix shortly after the release of this record. If there are any copies of this record left, I'd say get one now because a re-release is unlikely.

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