i hate the sound of guitars

Usually a garage/psychedelic record, even one as well executed as this, wouldn’t make big claims on my listening time. This does, for two reasons. First, it’s got an enough indie rock flavor to hold my interest (Coni Duchess sounds enough like Kim Gordon, ’specially on lines like “I wanna kiss the future,” (”Under the Woods”) [...]

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Scratchy, aggressively lo-fi production and the rough/smooth interplay between Ian Svenonius and a veritable harem of female back-up singers (Tara Jane O’Neil and Finally Punk’s Veronica Ortuño among them) are the wires baling this unruly garage rock/soul/funk/blues conglom. Not all of it works for me, but highlights like the rave-up “Detroit Music,” its instrumental sequel [...]

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And now for something completely different. I Hate CD’s offers a whopping 45 cuts from the vaults of “Wild Rock” specialists Norton Records. The selections span 5 decades or so of garage, rockabilly, psychobilly, power-pop, and other flavors of rock’n’roll. (Norton Records celebrated their 20th anniversary last year, but they’ve unearthed and reissued many obscure [...]

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At their best — “Pollution,” and “Stagnant,” — Apple Betty remind me strongly of the garagey side of Barbara Manning: tuneful and gritty, with lyrics that will insult no one’s intelligence. At their worst — “Full Inside,” and the unlisted no-bonus track “Sweatpant Boner,” — they play the “we’re cute women, and we we [...]

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