Clearance - Are You Aware 7"

Tall Pat (2016)

The elephant in the room about Clearance is that it's virtually impossible to write about them without at least making a passing reference to Pavement.  I'm sure there will come a day (if it hasn't already come) that the guys in Clearance will get pretty sick of that comparison. For now it's still an apt reference point, especially for those that may not have yet heard of this wonderful band.

What really makes Clearance stand out is the breezy way they cruise through their songs while still projecting a laid back intensity that lets you know they're not just going through the motions.  The churning guitars in A-side "Are You Aware" propel the song forward.  It lurches into a screechy and jagged guitar solo before jumping right back on track, only to be derailed by a sleepy, but absolutely perfect, mellowed outro.

On the B-side "Owner/Operator" the vibe is a more laid back as the vocals glide over jangly chord progressions.  Things come to a head with the hooky chorus full of noodling guitar dynamics and a super catchy melody.  The download that comes with this 7" gives two additional bonus tracks.  Both are nice, but neither are on the 7".  It's good to have more songs from these guys, but I do hope they end up on wax at some point.

Clearance - Are You Aware 7":

https://tallpatrecords.bandcamp.com/album/are-you-aware-7

Dumpster Babies - Lost and Found LP - Gold Marbled Vinyl

Tall Pat (2016)

Lost and Found is the follow up to 2013's self titled Dumpster Babies release.  In the interim, the band has grown older, wiser and much more mature.  OK, that's probably a bunch of bullshit.  These guys still sound like they're having an absolute blast playing an ultra catchy strain of sloppy rock and roll.

Lost and Found is one of those rare albums that, to my ears, is every bit as good as the first record that I heard from them.  Even if the band hasn't matured, they have tightened up their sound just a bit.  While they haven't lost any of their ramshackle, good times vibe, the hooks are a more focused and the slower songs have that little something extra that elevates them above just being rests between the fast ones.

The last time I wrote about Dumpster babies, I had compared them to Earthmen & Strangers and The Yolks.  I think those comparisons are both still apt for Lost and Found, particularly when the band puts their foot on the gas and the downstrokes start flying.  I still don't love the band's name and I can't say the art is really my style, but when the needle hits the vinyl that's where Dumpster Babies really shine.

Dumpster Babies - Lost and Found:

https://tallpatrecords.bandcamp.com/album/lost-and-found

So Cow - Lisa Marie Airplane Tour LP - Blue Vinyl

Tall Pat (2016)

I first started listening to So Cow with 2014's The Long Con.  I was really taken in with its bouncy guitars and an energy that I described at the time to remind me of W.H. Walker a bit.  Two years later and So Cow is back with Lisa Marie Airplane on Tall Pat records.  Over the two years, aspects of So Cow's sound have evolved a bit, but they have kept the catchy tunes that got my attention in the first place.

While it isn't sonically the best comparison I could make, the band that I'm most reminded of when I listen to Lisa Marie Airplane Tour is Reconstruction Site era Weakerthans.  So Cow take this in more of a workman like direction, but a similar knack for melodic storytelling and plainspoken vocals make up the core of both bands.  The other thing I hear a bit more of this time around is a little bit of Pavement style irreverence.  It's bubbling just under the service, but it does steer the album away from the garage based foundation that was more at the core of The Long Con.

What this review really is as a long, convoluted way to say that I really think this is a great record and So Cow is quickly becoming one of my favorite bands.  I have listen to Lisa Marie Airplane Tour so many times since I bought it.  Everyday I've been trying to come up with the words and descriptors to do it justice.  Plain and simple; it's a great record full of catchy songs and interesting stories. You should buy it.

So Cow - Lisa Marie Airplane Tour:

https://socow.bandcamp.com/album/lisa-marie-airplane-tour

Hollow Mountain - Maiden 7"

Tall Pat (2014)

Sure, I do buy a lot of records.  And yes, I have an awful lot of them floating around, but even I don't think I have so many that it makes sense losing one of them.  That's what happened to this Hollow Mountain 7".  I picked it up in Chicago when I was went out there to see Drive Like Jehu.  Somehow, I brought it home and misplaced it.  I just stumbled across it again and realized that not only had I not written about it on this website, I somehow managed to never even listen to it.  Rest assured, I'm making up for lost time.

Hollow Mountain is another fine example of The Tall Pat Sound.  This is a band that understands the value of a sharp, biting guitar tone and that tone is used masterfully over the course of this 7".  The band just can't help but sounding like they mean business.  Their sound is tough, but tempered by the subtle catchiness and the disarming vocals of Esther Kim.  Something of a contrast for sure, but it really sets Hollow Mountain apart from the rest of the rabble.

Tall Pat is at the center of some pretty great things happening in Chicago.  Hollow Mountain is no exception.  Sure, I was a bit late to the party with this one, but it's never a bad time to catch up on some quality rock and roll.

Hollow Mountain - Maiden 7":

https://tallpatrecords.bandcamp.com/album/hollow-mountain-7

Clearance - Rapid Rewards LP

Tall Pat / Unsatisfied (2015)

It's possible that you've read my lament about how 2015 has been a year of quite a few good records. Some of them have been very good, but what I think 2015 has been lacking so far is drop dead great records.  The instant album of the year contenders.  It may have taken until November to get there, but please everyone welcome Clearance.  They have not only created a great record, but as it stands right now, I'm calling it and saying this is the best record of 2015 so far.  There's only a month and a half left in the year, but it's going to take a hell of a record to knock Clearance out of my top spot.

A recurring theme for me is that I tend to favor bands that have a 90's leaning sound.  I think that the music you listen to in those formative late high school/early college years becomes your base and there's always a part of you looking for sounds that excite you in the same way.  Clearance has that in spades.  Not only does this record knock me off my socks now, I'm positive they would have been just as much of a heavy hitter in 1995 as well.

Clearance is playing the sort of warm, jangly indie rock that I adore.  Vocally they're very reminiscent of Pavement with a talking sort of delivery and obtuse lyrics.  On the music side, while you can get hints of Pavement there as well, I tend to think that Clearance pulls together a slightly tighter sound.  It's more deliberate, not as ramshackle and doesn't drift out into weirdo noise freak-outs as Pavement was wont to do.  Rapid Rewards is thirteen songs of glorious mid tempo pop.  I dare you to listen to the churning rhythm of "You've Been Pre-Approved" or the bright, cherry guitar part making up the bridge of "Rather Not Bother" or the fuzzy background squall of "Swiftboating (Onto The Reels)" and not be blown away.

I had very nice things to say about both of Clearance's prior 7"s.  Those were some great songs and are absolutely worth picking up.  But man, Rapid Rewards is light years ahead of those records and is without a doubt the best record I have listened to all year.  See you in December for the Absolute Best Records of 2015 list.  I'm saving a spot for Clearance right at the very top.

Clearance - Rapid Rewards LP:

https://tallpatrecords.bandcamp.com/album/rapid-rewards-2

Son Of A Gun - No Bread LP - Mixed Vinyl

Tall Pat (2014)

I'm still marching my way through the Tall Pat records that I picked up while in Chicago to see Drive Like Jehu.  While I had known that I fell somewhat behind on things, I didn't realize it had gotten so bad that I hadn't bought albums that had come out in 2014.  Well, shame on me because that's when this Son of Gun LP was released.

I couldn't tell you why I was denying myself this album.  Son Of A Gun are another in a line of great bands playing that Tall Pat Sound ℗.  Son Of A Gun just tear through the album's twelve tracks, leaving a pile of hooks and energy to spare in their wake.  You're going to get the catchy choruses that keep me coming back to the table, but the songs all have that slight grimy haze to them that keeps things crunchy and honest.  

When No Bread is firing on all cylinders, the band takes the very best moments of 60's garage trash, but filters it through a modern lens, never sounding like a rehash of something from the past.  It's an impressive balancing act and one I can't see many bands being able to pull off like this.  If you can't tell, I really dig these guys.  If you like your rock leaning on the garage side, but you still want catchy songs and a strict avoidance of psych-rock trappings; Son Of A Gun is absolutely worth checking out. 

Son Of A Gun - No Bread LP:

https://tallpatrecords.bandcamp.com/album/no-bread

  

The Rubs - The Rubs Are Trash LP - Pink Vinyl

Tall Pat (2015)

You could make an argument that the color of this record is actually orange, not pink.  Or maybe you could get fancy and say it's grapefruit colored, but something tells me Joey Rubbish is not the sort of guy sitting around on Sunday morning eating grapefruit.  Rather he strikes me as the kind of guy that on Sunday morning still hasn't stopped partying from Saturday night yet.

Is party garage a genre yet?  Because that's the vibe I get from The Rubs album.  Purveyors of a boozy good time at your favorite local dive bar.  It has got the hooks and it has got the songs, but rather than deliver you a clean little pop nugget, each song is wrapped in fuzzed-out static and the sound of every needle in the recording studio being buried in the red.

At its most frantic The Rubs Are Trash reminds me a bit of the first Yolks record, but it also brings in the sounds of some early 60's trash-rock bands.  The Rubs have crafted a record that is both laid back and at the same time deceptively urgent.  You'll want to jump around screaming at the top of your lungs, but you'll also keep listening to it on the way to the Sunday brunch you're heading to after Saturday night's debauchery.

The Rubs - The Rubs Are Trash:

https://tallpatrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-rubs-are-trash

The Bingers - Gonna Get You 7"

Tall Pat (2014)

I slacked and fell behind on some of the Tall Pat records releases that had been coming out.  On my recent trip to Chicago I corrected that and picked up everything I had been missing.  I've got quite a few to get to, but I'll start out with this 7" from The Bingers.

I'll admit that I'm not always up for this sort of slower tempo, scuzzy guitar rock, but The Bingers have found a way to make 4 songs worth of it that I really enjoy.  I think it has a lot to do with the great bass playing on the record.  It goes from hypnotic snake charmer on songs like "Fukishima Hornets" and "Motorbike Cha Cha" right into a practically Silver Scooter-esque melodic pop on "Hideous Heart."

"Hideous Heart" is probably my favorite song on the record.  It is the most upbeat and catchy of the songs and that pleases my simple caveman brain.  Plus. I really dig the reverb heavy surf-guitar.  The Bingers are definitely on to something here and I'm curious to hear more from these guys.

The Bingers - Gonna Get You 7":

https://tallpatrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-bingers-7

Flesh Panthers - Nice Things 7" - Blue Vinyl

Tall Pat (2014)

When I went to Chicago for the first time last year I was struck by a handful of things.  The first was how stupid good the pizza is there.  But the biggest takeaway I had was how much it reminded me of New York City in the mid 90's.  It hasn't been bulldozed and rebuilt into a giant outdoor mall like New York has.  Chicago still has great record stores.  Chicago still has a bunch of good music venues.  Chicago still has a pulse and you certainly can't say that about Manhattan anymore.

Well, I guess when you have a city that's actually alive and kicking, you're going to get a band as great as Flesh Panthers.  They manage to take a '77 style punk rock energy, filter through a 2014 garage band aesthetic and then, just to make me happy, cram in ten thousand hooks into every song. They remind me a bit of Marvelous Darlings, but with the glam turned down and vocals that make me think of the band Year Zero.

These guys play with passion, they play with fire, but more than anything, they sound like they're just having a great time.  That goes a long way with me and from the second the needle drops on the lead song "Nice Things," I wish I was right up front at a Flesh Panthers show.  I'd be singing along and high-fiving everyone around me.  Can't wait to hear more from these guys.

Flesh Panthers - Nice Things 7":

http://tallpatrecords.bandcamp.com/album/flesh-panthers