Mean Jeans
On Mars
Dirtnap Records
Buy This Record
Mean Jeans’ sophomore output On Mars doesn’t exactly pick up where their 2009 debut Are You Serious? left off, but the connections aren’t particularly hard to make. There are still plenty of hooks, and childish jokes; pretty much it’s the soundtrack to getting day drunk. The few slow burners that they’ve released thus far have, in hindsight, alluded to the direction of On Mars rather well, as there’s a ton of slowed down tracks here (“School Lunch Victim”, “2 Twisted 2 Luv U”). However that’s not to say there are no fun-soaked tracks running a mile-a-minute here either. The opener “Ready 2 Rip” both catches you up to speed on their antics and changes over the last three years as well as provides an apt starting point for any new comers.
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Portland’s Mean Jeans have released the first video from their upcoming record On Mars, due out on April 17th, 2012 on Dirtnap Records. On Mars is the band’s follow up to the 2008 debut on the label Are You Serious?.
Night Birds are a band that, while easily defined on paper by select few terms (re: “Post Ergs!”, “Surf punk”, ect), continue to defy and question those very ideas through their live show. The band are touring when they can on the heels of a number of EPs and in the preparation for their first full length record on Grave Mistake Records this June. The band ventured into Canada for their first shows out of the USA with a stop in Toronto and Montreal, opting for a DIY garage venue in lieu of a more formal venue; what would in all other cases be defined as a garage turned into a sweat drenched room covered in beer, glass, and spray paint by night’s end. The band’s blisteringly fast 7” EPs, and the near nihilist politics contained therein, made for the perfect soundtrack to the venue. The 1st Five’s Patrick McEachnie sat them down after the show to discuss ageism in punk rock, the politics of Record Store Day, and the genre defining beginnings of the band.
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For years I’ve made a point to check out each and every release from Portland based Dirtnap Records, and as I expand both my music collection and taste, the label has only become more important to both me and the punk rock scene in general. One of Dirtnap’s newer signings, Houston, Texas based Something Fierce, have just released their third full length album (second on Dirtnap) this week, and it continues the trend of phenomenal releases out of the label. Take the album, Don’t Be So Cruel out on a test drive with the track “Empty Screens“.
The band has a number of tour dates posted and confirmed for their upcoming west coast tour, seen below.
Apr. 12 – San Francisco, CA – Hemlock Tavern
Apr. 14 – Redding, CA – Bombay’s
Apr. 15 – Portland, OR – The Saratoga
Apr. 16 – Seattle, WA – The Funhouse
Apr. 17 – Vancouver, BC – Malone’s Bar & Grill
Apr. 18 – Boise, ID – Liquid Lounge
Apr. 20 – Albuquerque, NM – Blackbird Duvette
Apr. 22 – College Station, TX – Revolution Cafe
The White Wires were once Canada’s best kept secret, but now that they’ve released their sophomore record, WWII, on Portland’s Dirtnap Records, I’m afraid I just can’t keep them away from you anymore. The band has just released a music video for their hit “Let’s Go To The Beach”, wherein they (yep, you guessed it), go to the beach. At the risk of this sounding like a Wavves video, this beach adventure is a lot less reverbed and spacey, and much more fun and cold. Check out the video below.
Portland’s Dirtnap Records is releasing the new White Wires full-length. The pairing seems fitting, as White Wires is one of Canada’s best bands going, and Dirtnap is possibly the best representation of American garage and power-pop bands running. The band’s full-length, entitled WWII is due out November 23rd. You can download the first single, “Be True To Your School (’Til You Get Kicked Out)”, from Dirtnap here.
The Goodnight Loving
The Goodnight Loving Supper Club
Dirtnap Records
2010
Since their debut LP Cemetery Trails in 2006, The Goodnight Loving have danced the lines between genres. They have an intense live show only rivaled by that of punk rock bands, the dirty hooks of the garage scene, and lyrics that wouldn’t be out of place on Bob Dylan’s Blonde On Blonde. Starting with that first LP, I’ve had trouble trying to describe their sound to the people I think should listen to them; which realistically is everyone. However, with their newest effort, The Supper Club, they’ve moved another step away from any style you might expect.
The Supper Club is the fourth full length by this Milwaukee band, but their first on Portland’s Dirtnap Records. However, The Supper Club is the first Goodnight Loving record of its kind, and as such it takes time to appreciate. Unlike some of their earlier albums, which very quickly rose in the ranks of my record collection, like Cemetery Trails or Crooked Lake; The Supper Club might not completely grab you in upon first listen. Although it will prevent you from thinking about anything else until you finally crack it. Perhaps this is due to the diversity in tracks. It seems as if each song is followed by another it wouldn’t have naturally flown into, but that is a big part of the eventual appeal of this record. There are many bands who write one song, and continue to re-write it over and over again. Thankfully The Goodnight Loving are not that band.
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