The full-length album from WELLES, Red Trees and White Trashes, is out everywhere for all to enjoy and he’s reminding you of that fact by releasing an impressive video for “Rock n Roll.”

The art direction is completely bonkers in the best way. It depicts a WELLES like character parading through a cast of wild characters and environments; all done in service to the choral refrain to “Give me all the drugs.” Visually, it’s part Fritz the Cat, part poorly printed catalog (seriously, check those offset print markers!) and part Ugly Americans.

It’s weird and it works.

WOTT faves PANGS have released a new track entitled “Someplace” that seems to continue their successful stylistic undertakings last heard on their Vanishing Point EP released in November of 2017. The song is a quiet one but contains a building tension throughout, despite a lack of release.

The dual female/male vocals echoing the same lyrics of yearning and meeting in the titular Someplace is a nice touch for the vague narrative of the track. There’s multiple interpretations to be made here – could they be talking about space travel “through the ozone layer”? Or are they contemplating somewhere even further beyond, perhaps the Great Beyond?

It’s only a single track but really speaks to the strengths of the band as of late. I know they’re capable of upbeat and danceable tracks but these slower jams are really working for them.

My first introduction to Telefones was their “Bad Machine / Chicago” split that they released back in October of 2016. The “Chicago” track caught my ear as a particularly compelling slow-burn of a spaced-out musing with a helluva explosive release near the end. It’s that explosive release that best captures the bands mission.

The newest release is the track “Castlefactory“, one half of a forthcoming split 7” coming out on Banana Tapes and Cold Lunch Recordings. There’s no slow burn present here as the band comes right out of the gate with steady pace of swelling bass lines, crunchy garage guitars and howling vocals. The song only maintains the intensity through the duration, capping out right under 3 minutes.

Releasing a series of singles is a great way to record a little and build an audience but I’m ready for a full onslaught of an album from these guys. A full 11 tracks of high energy swagger would do me right.

It’s probably irresponsible to review a band that has released exactly one song because what context is there to really make a proper judgment? Will the band continue to sound like their initial offering lays the groundwork for? Are there assumptions being made on the part of the listener that inappropriately put the band in a premature box?

All those concerns be damned because “Full Sun Prism Blues” is the one and only song available from Crease Reader and it’s already entered regular rotation. Everything from the gentle vocals to the slightly Western inspired guitar to the ever present keys to the title of the damn song have me entranced. There’s no telling what the future holds but I’m in the honeymoon phase with Crease Reader and it feels good.

There hasn’t been an official release from Ttotals since 2014 (with Let Everything Come Through). Despite that lack of recorded output, the band has been consistently playing shows and building a live set that is both visually and audibly engrossing.

The introduction to Skyview Drive is written as such:

Skyview Drive, is Ttotals singing the blues. Their take on the blues-The Outer Blues.

The Outer Blues is a blending of the traditional and experimental. It’s born of an idea that the blues is more than just particular notes or rhythms or emotions. It’s an all encompassing, existential release through sound. That sound, as found here, is sometimes buried deep in the spaces between notes where you may not notice it at first.

Listening to the record, one would not assume that The Blues, or The Outer Blues, were being channeled but with that knowledge in mind, the experience is colored even deeper. Vocal lamentations and wide open musical spaces allow for inner contemplations and a zen-like release of the self as you immerse yourself in the soundscapes. That may sound a bit over the top for a psych rock record but try listening to “World Geometry” at full volume and tell me you’re not carried away to some other place.

Overall, Ttotals has created a record that manages to involve all the standard tropes you’d hope for and expect in a psych rock record – some western sludge, some foreboding lyrical delivery, large walls of guitars through spaced out reverb – but also flexes quite a bit of diversity well beyond that with the inclusion of horns, some serious space for songs to breath and, dare I say, some pop sensibilities.

Self Portrait, the latest from Hikko Mori, is a surprisingly eclectic exercise in beat making and sampling the vaguely familiar. Tracks like “Peace is Pessimism” sample Paul McCartney and Eddie Murphy but still manage to create a new experience, despite the audible touchstone. Inversely, “Zilch” feels like the bedrock for a videogame soundtrack that was abandoned for being too dark.

Throughout the course of the record, a myriad of genres and styles are pursued. Interestingly enough, the album actually picks up speed as it rolls along. Instead of top loading the experience with the most upbeat tracks, it’s a slow burn of atmospheric experiences until about the tenth track (“Science & Seagulls“) when the drums start to hit harder and the intensity cranks up a bit. By the time the final track hits, featuring MF Doom from “Figaro”, you’re glued in.

As it’s mostly an instrumental beats record, the tracks are short but that helps the various surprise samples shine a bit more. I’m convinced “Scooby Snax” is sampling this guy and that’s more than enough for me to recommend it to everyone.