My Shit's Better Than Other People's Diamonds

This is a tape that Tyvek was lugging around with them the last time they passed through. Unlike the "Demos" cassette which previewed the amazing "Nothing Fits" LP, there's nothing startling or earth-shattering to be found here; the tape warbles in and out in spots, all the songs start and stop abruptly, and (as the j-card warns) this mostly documents a bunch of extended jamming that was being made-up on the spot, and sounds like it. Still, I'm sure a bunch of interested people didn't get a chance to hear this, and since I happened to be ripping the tape anyway (beats soaking yr feet I guess), here's a track for you to check out.

"Five new songs in practice/demo tape-style. Recorded direct to boombox for maximum transparency/opacity! No hi-speed dubbing-- tape already fast yo.
NSA has not heard this tape."

Tyvek -

"Systematic Dreaming"

God I Feel So Numb But Fuck I Sound Terrific

When What’s Your Rupture? released a solo Kevin Boyer 7" a few years back it had people popping boners everywhere, but I wasn’t able to track down a copy myself. Now there’s this CD-R, which came out on Doubles Tapes last year and includes the rest of the solo sessions, recorded over ten years ago with Fred Thomas (Saturday Looks Good To Me). Most of what you’ll find here is total power-pop with just the bare minimum of resemblance to Tyvek, and there’s 6 or 7 really stellar tracks on here, including the 7" tracks and a ghostly, scratched-up cover of the Buzzcocks’ "Love You More". Had I bought the 7" (or this CD-R) at the time it was released, it would’ve made a strong push for my record-of-the-year.

Kevin Boyer -

"Something's Gonna Come Up"

I've Been Here For Hours But Nothing's Happened Yet

Forgive me for thinking that "Say Yeah" sounds anything like "Can't Tell No One"-- it might just be the barking "1-2-3-4" to kick things off, but there's more to it than that. Just know that it's a real scorcher... Got a couple more Tyvek tapes ("Poppers" and "Live Demos Rehearsals and Screwed") after their tour stop a couple of months back, and so far after a handful of listens, "Say Yeah" is the definite standout. There's a live version of the same on the reverse of "LDRS", plus another live version on "Poppers", but it's the version on the frontside (I'm guessing it's a rehearsal demo) that kicks the most ass. I don't think this song's been released anywhere else yet, though there's been a video of "Say Yeah" up on YouTube for almost a year now, from a pretty good live set-- pro look, pro sound-- that has surprisingly less than 100 views for some of the clips... The tapes were dubbed onto a Study Skills by Terry H. Wesner cassette and then spray-painted over, by the way (hooray!!). If you're wondering what the "Screwed" means: some of the songs have been replayed slowed down and/or backwards, sorta like if someone was pressing their thumb on the tape (hence the backwards song titles-- "Mary Claims Ellen" and so forth). Not really anything worth getting excited about... this, though-- this is pretty good.


Tyvek -

"Say Yeah"

Straight Down Is An Angle

"Skyin'" is a collection of early Tyvek demos/practice tapes, recorded in late 2004, which I'm guessing had to be even before Tyvek had more than one show under their belts. This sold out from the label almost as fast as it was released earlier this year, but the band still had some with them when I saw them in March a week or so afterwards, so I was able to grab a copy. Other people have griped about the sound quality of this LP, which was part of the reason why I held off for a while before I listened to it, but once I did I found out that this really isn't that bad at all. Out of the slew of Tyvek demos/live collections that have been released within the past year or so, the "Demos" and "Live, Demos, Rehearsals, and Screwed" tapes on Fag Tapes are about the only two I've heard that have better material/better sound quality than this one. At the very least, being a vinyl pressing gives this a lot more weight than if it was just another cassette or CD-R.

I've owned some crappy vinyl pressings before-- like, almost everything that I bought from Blackbean & Placenta back in the '90s-- so whatever "fidelity issues" are present here aren't really enough to bother me, and eventually even become part of the charm. The first track, "This One or That One", tends to wobble in and out, but things are fine after that, although there seems to be a radio that's constantly playing in the background throughout the whole record. I actually think that's something that was already on the tape itself and just wasn't erased all the way because of a dirty tape head. Other than that, you might be surprised at how pulled-together Tyvek come across in their 2004 version; most of the ten songs here are already "classics", so to speak, and I think by now only "Through Night" (a ballad) and the Mekons cover haven't shown up on vinyl anywhere else. "Flashing Lights", which isn't listed on the back cover for some reason, is the same version that's on the X! Records "Shiftless Decay" compilation, which is a really great compilation by the way-- if you've been holding off buying it because you only recognized some of the bands on it and weren't sure if it was any good, just GET IT, it's killer all of the way through. "Future Junk" as it appears here is obviously a work in progress, as it doesn't have the whole "every day north on 10, every day south on 10" thing, but "Duck Blinds" has some extra zip to it which sorta makes up for the lousy version found on that crappy Sub Pop single.

The hand-assembled jackets are supposed to feature wrap-around artwork stuck onto recycled sleeves (like old Bee Gees albums or whatever), but mine's one of the few that came in a blank white jacket instead, so I guess I missed out on being able to keep a Tyvek record inside a chunk of smelly moldy cardboard leftover from the '70s or whatever.




Tyvek -

"Where Were You?"

"Mary Ellen Claims"

"24 Hours in a Duck Blind (Duck Blinds)"

"Give It Up"

"Through Night"


Here's a .zip file with all ten tracks, which I'll leave up for about a month or so:

Tyvek - Skyin'.zip

All You Hippies Can Fade Away

This was a one-off show at Popeye's Garage, which is still sorta shut down, which is a shame because Popeye's has fast become one of my all-time favorite places to see bands, along with the Whitney House. Both the Whitney House and Popeye's Garage have the same sort of vibe that the old Anthrax Club had, for reasons beyond just being DIY spaces. There's some other smaller reminders, too, like having to climb down a rickety set of stairs in order to get into the basement at the Whitney House, or Popeye's being in a burnt-out semi-industrial area and having a crowd of regulars that show up almost regardless of who's playing that night, just like it was at the old Anthrax. It's being left open that Popeye's could be ressurected at any given time, so we'll see what happens. Even if it isn't, it certainly left a pretty good skidmark over the past six months.

Estrogen Highs opened the show, once again with a set made up of almost all new stuff, save for "Logical Doctor" and maybe one or two others from the first LP. I've given up trying to figure out which ones are new songs, which ones are old songs that I don't recognize, and which ones are covers, although I found out that one of the new songs I like is called "Irresponsibility" because it's up on the MySpace now. Also, some of the slower, VU-type chuggers have been already released in demo form on the Permanent Feels cassettes(s), if you feel like digging in that direction. Brian from Dead Uncles/Escalator sat in on drums this time, and he'll be drumming on the upcoming tour that starts in mid-December, too, which is when at least one of the new Estrogen Highs records is supposed to be out. I thought I read somewhere that one of the new records is coming out on Safety Meeting, though I forgot to check if that's true or not, and there's an LP that will be coming out on Stefan and Kryssi's new label, Gramery (not Never Heard of It, but something else).

Terrible Twos didn't sound so hot to me at first, partly because I was standing off to the right side of the room, which is the better side to take photos from (because of the damn flourescent light on the back wall) except that the bands sound worse from that side. Once I moved to the left side, Terrible Twos sounded pretty good-- maybe like Catholic Boys with added keyboards, although once I caught myself thinking "gee, this song sounds just like the last two songs" for the third song in a row, it was time to go outside for a walk.

I'm sure there's not much new for me to add about Tyvek; the new LP, "Nothing Fits", is almost perfect-- friggin' blown-out loud, wilfully pissed off, and average-guy pathetic all at the same time-- so if you've been holding off checking these guys out before for any reason, now's a really good time to jump in. When I first heard the "Demos" tape (which was mostly songs that are on the new album) earlier in the year I was doing backflips, and the LP nails those songs completely; sorta like the second coming of Crime crossed with one of the forgotten bands on "Not So Quiet on The Western Front". Heath brought a whole box of Fag Tapes stuff with him, including a couple of new tapes of Tyvek demos and rehearsals that I bought but haven't listened to yet (one of them came in its own handmade little envelope). Great show: a bunch of slamming during Tyvek's set (the kind that punks do, not the kind that jocks do), people crowdsurfing and playing keep-away with Josh Kelly's shoe, Kevin from Tyvek not being able to read the set list because he was wearing sunglasses which he still never took off, really funny shit. Fer sure gunna miss this place.


Tyvek -

"Underwater To"

"Nothing Fits"

Terrible Twos -

"Crash the Circuit"

"Negative Drip"

Estrogen Highs -

"New Amphetamine Shriek"
(Fugs cover)

They Got Your Test Results Encrypted

Whatever Tyvek might sound like on their records (some sort of half-bred mix between "Pink Flag", The Fall, and Sonic Death is my guess), live at Cafe Nine on Friday they were like the embodiment of a 1981 Dischord or Touch and Go single. The songs were disintegrating as you were hearing them, as if the thrust of the songs was what was important but not the actual notes themselves, which weren't being played right anyway. Musicians suck and shitty-sounding music rules, which means on this particular night it was Tyvek 1 and guy standing right behind me 0 (some guy behind me was complaining about the guitar sound most of night, saying something about how Valley of Kings were good because their Telecasters always sounded clean, so I guess he didn't go home too happy).

The four Tyvek tracks I'm posting somewhat further down the page are from a cassette of trashy-sounding demos that came out recently on Fag Tapes; it's one of the best things I've ever heard in my life, though if you don't like your music all shitty and muffled then you should probably approach with caution. (I haven't heard the Siltbreeze LP that everyone's been complaining about, but if you're looking for a better place to start than these four songs, you should get your hands on "Fast Metabolism" by any means possible.) Tyvek also brought with them a recording of their show in Rochester just two nights earlier; I don't know how they managed to package it together so quickly, but for 4 days only (maybe five) I'll leave a link to it here:

Tyvek - Live in Rochester, NY 3/3/10.mp3




I consider myself lucky to have seen Medication once in each of the past two years. Mikey writes some of the best songs on the planet, and even though the Medication "This Town" LP came out on HoZac at the very end of December, I'm still gonna count it as a 2010 release for my list at the end of the year. Medication live is a bit different from the Medication recordings that you might've heard so far; with an added drummer and Stefan (Estrogen Highs) on second guitar, the songs take on a whole 'nother life. If you want you can just be still and bliss out, or you can stamp your foot to the floor and keep on chooglin, but either way a Medication live set is totally mesmerizing. If you haven't picked up the Medication LP yet then you should probably get on it-- the first couple hundred are said to be on colored vinyl, although I didn't get one of those (boo hoo). I only noticed just this past weekend that it's out on CD, too, which surprised the heck outta me.




Since skipping out on headliners is my "thing" I wasn't going to hang around for Awesome Color, but their drummer seemed really cool during the few minutes I spent over by the merch table, and then while they were plugging-in the bass player made a joke about being a Gorilla Biscuits cover band called "Start Today", so I decided to stick around for a little bit. And, hey, turns out Awesome Color are a metal band-- go figure. Or, they sound like Hawkwind and Pink Fairies, at least. I'd only heard one song of theirs before and it was kinda indistinct and all over the place, but there's a brand new mp3 out there (I think they call it a "focus track" now) called "Transparent" which is pretty damn fierce. So, Awesome Color started off their set on Friday night with "Transparent", or at least another song that sounds just like it, and right away I was digging them a whole lot, but then after 4 or 5 more songs that sounded like "Transparent" or at least another song that sounds just like it I actually started to get a little bored, so I left. I did buy one of their records before I left, though: a 7" with a nice silkscreened color sleeve that I guess just came out even though it was recorded in '08, since mine's #12/300. That's the a-side of the single, "Flying", that I've posted below-- it's kinda Died Pretty/Celibate Rifles-ish, the more I listen to it.


Tyvek -

"4312"

"Pricks In a Car"

"Underwater To"

"Nothing Fits"

Medication -

"Your Heart"

Awesome Color -

"Flying"

(all of these files are now listen-only)