Needles // Pins - Needles // Pins LP

Dirt Cult (2021)

I have written several times about the dearth of new records in 2021.  There have been so few albums that have caught my interest and for the first time ever, I'm actually concerned I'm not going to be able to put together a top ten list, let alone a top twenty.  I don't know if it's just fewer records being released or if I'm just started to slip into irrelevance.  Regardless, I've been way more interested in hunting down records from the 90s than I have been about anything coming out this year.

The new Needles // Pins records is something of a microcosm of this dilemma.  This is a band that I know and have been listening to for nearly ten years.  I have all of their LPs and have enjoyed them all.  You can include this new one in that mix as well.  This is an extremely well written and well put together album.  It has that Leatherface-esque gravelly vocal thing going on that I like so much.  You can play it right after Dear Landlord or Off With Their Heads or Dillinger Four and it fits right in.

But for some reason, I'm not as excited about this album as I think I would have been at another time.  Yes, it is a good record and it is absolutely one of the best thing I have heard this year, but it's just not grabbing me and holding my interest as much as I'd expect it to.  I don't really know why.  I can't point to anything about the record that isn't what I usually want out of a band like this, so I assume the problem might be me.  

Either it's fatigue from a seemingly never-ending pandemic or I may have just crossed that line and I'm too old to stay excited about new music.  I'm really not sure, but I feel like if this record had come out a year earlier, I would have been much more enthusiastic about it.  But again, I think it's me - not the album.  If you've dug the band in the past, this record hits all of the right spots, it's definitely worth picking up.

Needles // Pins - Needles // Pins:
https://dirtcultrecords.bandcamp.com/album/needles-pins

Needles//Pins / Epic Problem - Split 7" - Purple Vinyl

All In Vinyl (2018)

This split 7" finishes up the current All In Vinyl subscription series.  It took a little longer to get everything out than previous volumes, but I sure could make an argument that it was their best series yet.  To me it's been worth the wait, especially when closing out with a split this strong.  This last 7" features a band I already know and love and another that I'm not particularly familiar with.  To me, that's always the mark of a great split 7".

I've been listening to Needles//Pins since their first album 12:34.  Watching their progression over the years has been nothing short of astounding.  That first record sounds like a 33 1/3 LP played back at 45 in comparison to their more recent releases.  This 7" is more akin to the band's recent album Good Night, Tomorrow.  Both of the songs on this split feature gruff vocals over a mid tempo, but still very powerful base of melodic punk rock.  The band really excels at this and their songs are significantly more dynamic than that first record.

Epic Problem is a band I'm not as familiar with for some reason, though for the life of me, I can't figure out why.  Their name was super familiar and looking online I see that they put out records on Brassneck and Rad Girlfriend, so I really couldn't say how I don't have any of their other records.  Honestly it makes no sense to the point where I went digging around in my 7" boxes to make sure I didn't have something hiding that I forgot about.  No dice. Hopefully the songs on this 7" are as good a place to start as anywhere else.  Both are the sort of UK working class punk rock that I think ultimately always spawns from Leatherface.  Epic Problem are a bit more straightforward, perhaps owing more to the No Idea lineage of the sound.  Both songs are top notch and a nice companion to the two Needles//Pins songs on the flip side.

Needles//Pins / Epic Problem - Split 7"
https://allinvinyl.bandcamp.com/album/split-7-21

Needles//Pins - Good Night, Tomorrow LP - Coke Bottle Clear Vinyl (/100)

Dirt Cult / Mint (2017)

I've been a pretty big fan of Needles//Pins for quite some time.  From trying desperately to get their first record label to actually mail me the LP I ordered (I'm pretty sure the band had to intervene on my behalf to finally get me said record) to their newest LP on Mint and Dirt Cult, this is a band I've been all in on.  I think I've mentioned before that the record that I first hear about a band tends to be my favorite of theirs.  Needles//Pins breaks that mold as Good Night, Tomorrow is their best yet.

While the band still has the sort of embedded Canadian pop energy shared by many of their peers, Needles//Pins takes a bit of a turn with their sound on their latest.  It's a little more punk than power pop.  Vocally they're really embracing their gruffness, eschewing some of the nasally inclinations of the past.  The result is an album that leans sonically closer to early Leatherface than Bum or Steve Adamyk Band.

Another change in the band is the overall tempo of the songs.  Things are slowed down a bit on Good Night, Tomorrow to great success.  It gives every chord and riff more meaning and it lets everything breathe a bit.  While the songs on this album aren't slow by any means, taking thing down just a notch has let the band really find their stride and they churn out hit after hit as a result.  It's a pretty great and one of the better records I've heard this year.  Worth checking out for sure.

Needles//Pins - Good Night, Tomorrow:

https://dirtcultrecords.bandcamp.com/album/good-night-tomorrow

Low Culture / Needles//Pins - Split 7" - Clear Vinyl (/200)

Dirtnap (2014)

I just love Low Culture and Needles//Pins.  I've been writing nice things about both bands for a while, but I feel like they've never really gotten their due.  Low Culture, I think, tends to get lumped in with and then somewhat overshadowed by other Marked Men spin-offs.  Needles//Pins also end up being grouped in with a lot of the current exceptional Canadian garage-y/pop bands of the moment and I've always felt they weren't being given their due.  This 7" lets both bands shine and if there is any justice in the world, both will be recognized for the phenomenal bands that they are.

Low Culture provide 2 fast paced, energetic and extremely catchy songs.  Both are as good if not better than anything on their 2013 album Screens (Go get that now if you don't already have it).  "Reservations" builds off of a deceptively simple guitar rift for the verse and then just explodes into the chorus.  It also has a really cool instrumental breakdown popped in the middle.  "Don't Tell Me" is a bit more straightforward pop, but every bit as great with those "ooh ooh" backing vocals that get me every time.

Needles//Pins are definitely a little scuzzier and less refined than some bands, but in that scuzz the band is writing such incredible pop songs it blows my mind.  The lead guitar riff that starts off "Hateful" (and then kind of acts as the chorus for the rest of the song) is so great.  It's a hit single in every sense of the term. "Bored" sounds like it would have easily fit in on their last album Shamebirds.  Classic Needles//Pins with scratchy vocals, fuzzy guitars and a killer hook.

Hopefully this 7" will really show people the greatness of these two.  Not only should you pick up the 7", it's a crime to not have both of these bands' recent full lengths in your collection.  I suggest you correct that oversight as soon as possible.

Low Culture / Needles//Pins - Split 7":

http://dirtnaprecords.bandcamp.com/album/low-culture-needles-pins-split-7

Needles//Pins - Shamebirds LP - Blue Vinyl

Dirt Cult (2014)

Let's combine 2 of my very favorite things, Canadian rock & roll and Dirtcult records.  What you get is Shamebirds, another one of 2014's best albums.  Needles//Pins shouldn't be a new band to anyone that reads this website with any regularity.  Though I missed out on some of the early singles (get in touch if you have any you're willing to part with), I've been on board since before the band's last full length.

On Shamebirds, they're just upping the ante.  Needles//Pins churn out a fiery mix of garage attitude and power pop hooks.  You can put them on right after you're through listening to Seve Adamyk Band or Mother's children, but vocally I'm actually reminded a bit of John Reis.  The lead singer is a little gravely and a bit nasal, but still manages to carry remarkable melody through the songs.  Much like Reis is able to manage.  

It's hard to point to any standouts on Shamebirds as every song on the record is so strong.  There aren't any throwaways or filler here.  But if you have to start somewhere, check out "Far Better Off" or "Hate When You're Leaving."  Both encapsulate what Needles//Pins are all about. Tight, catchy songs that just blast out of your turntable; destined to be stuck in your heads for generations to come...

Needles//Pins - Shamebirds LP:

http://dirtcultrecords.bandcamp.com/album/shamebirds

Needles // Pins - Outta This Place 7" - Clear Vinyl (/150)

Needles // Pins - Outta This Place 7" - Clear Vinyl (/150), a photo by Tim PopKid on Flickr.

La-Ti-Da (2013)

Outta This Place is the Needles//Pins entry into the La-Ti-Da singles subscription, and if you're getting the feeling I'm saving my absolute favorites for last, you'd be right. I truly believe that Needles//Pins are the Canadian all star team. Not because of the individual folks in the group; but because they manage to harness the best parts of some of my favorite bands into their songs.

For starters, I can't fathom you not liking Needles//Pins if you don't like Mother's Children as the bravado they take to their songs strikes me as being very similar. Do you like your pop music with straightforward hooks and a slight retro vibe like something the White Wires might do? Well, all you need is one listen to the B-Side "Date Night (You Bring The Napalm)." Wrap all of this up in a high energy, crunchy guitar sound not too dissimilar from The Steve Adamyk Band or Sonic Avenues and you've got a band that has really cranked out some great records over the past few years.

It's really a must have 7", and La-Ti-Da also just reissued the band's debut full length from a couple of years ago, so you'd be a fool to not grab that as well while you're at it.

Needles // Pins - Outta This Place 7":
latidarecords.bandcamp.com/album/out-of-this-place-date-n...

Needles // Pins - 12:34 LP

Needles // Pins - 12:34 LP, a photo by Tim PopKid on Flickr.

Mammoth Cave (2012)

Say what you will about the artwork on this record (though the less said the better if you ask me), but the music contained on this bit of plastic is 100% killer. Needles // Pins hail from Canada and almost seem to be a supergroup in the way they take some of the best elements of their peers and blend them together.

You've got the fuzzed out energy of the Steve Adamyk Band. They show some of the same basic pop sensibilities of the White Wires. The combine this with the sort of glammy attitude that you'll find from bands like Mother's Children or The Marvelous Darlings, but they manage to fuse all of this into a cohesive and extremely catchy sound that just begs for repeated listens.

While I would be remiss to mention that I pre-ordered this record AGES ago and it took the label a really, really long time to finally fulfill my order, this is a record that was absolutely worth the wait. One of the best of the year and one that should absolutely be checked out if you're fond of the current crop of bands rocking out in the great white north.

Needles // Pins - 12:34 LP:
needlesxpins.bandcamp.com/album/12-34-lp-mammoth-cave-rec...

Needles // Pins - Getting On Home 7" - Blue Vinyl (/150)

Needles // Pins - Getting On Home 7" - Blue Vinyl (/150), a photo by Tim PopKid on Flickr.

La-Ti-Da (2012)

I recently received a five 7" pack of records from La-Ti-Da records that I ordered. In picking up the pack, I was able to secure the limited to 150 colored vinyl variants of them all. You'll be seeing more posts about the other 4 over the next few weeks, but I wanted to start out with the band I was most excited to hear, Needles // Pins.

This 7" is such a nice slice of power pop goodness. The A-Side is a minute and a half ripper that will make fans Statues or The Steve Adamyk Band start jumping around their living room. The B-side takes it down a notch and allows the band to stretch out a bit, yielding even better results than the A-side, if you ask me. It's a very successful one-two punch and I can only hope that the band's full length (which I pre-ordered from another label ages ago) shows up in my mailbox soon.

Needles // Pins - Getting On Home 7"
needlesxpins.bandcamp.com/album/getting-on-home-b-w-pictu...