Terry Malts - Lost At The Party LP - White w/ Red Vinyl

Slumberland (2016)

Lost At The Party is the second album I've purchased by Terry Malts.  Though I had a few minor issues, I really enjoyed their last record, Nobody Realizes This Is Nowhere.  Lost At The Party is something a little bit different this time out.  On some songs, they come out better for it, but on others it's a move that doesn't work out as well.

Terry Malts is a band that I like the most when they are playing fast and loud.  A little bit of fuzziness goes a long way with these guys.  When the pace quickens on this album, as it does on standout tracks like "Won't Come Find You, "Seen Everything" and "Come Back," Terry Malts are at their best.  The hooks are there and with the drums pounding and guitar howling, this is a band to be reckoned with.

The biggest issue with Lost At The Party is an over reliance on slower, eighties sounding songs. These ones are schmaltzy and sound way too much like they're trying to be part of the soundtrack of a John Hughes movie. "Gentle Eyes" and "Waiting For The Bomb" are my least favorite of this bunch.  They just grind the album to a screeching halt.  That being said, when the band is upbeat this is a pretty great record in places.  I just wish they were upbeat a bit more often.

Terry Malts - Lost At The Party:

https://terrymalts.bandcamp.com/album/lost-at-the-party

Terry Malts - Nobody Realizes This Is Nowhere - Cream Vinyl

Terry Malts - Nobody Realizes This Is Nowhere - Cream Vinyl, a photo by Tim PopKid on Flickr.

Slumberland (2013)

I first heard of Terry Malts due to the Windian 7" Box Set that came out last year. Terry Malts were not the reason I bought the set, but they were the surprise of the bunch, the band I'd never heard of before, but the one that impressed me the most. When I saw their new album was coming out on Slumberland, I jumped on the pre-order to make sure I got the limited color vinyl. I can't find pressing info for it anywhere, but it does appear to be sold out at this point.

What Terry Malts do best is they manage to keep a fuzzy garage aesthetic without going overboard. You can here the grit and honesty of the recording, but it's not used to cover up anything. The band's upbeat blown out guitar mixed with the Madness-esque, baritone vocals give Terry Malts a very unique identity. In a world filled with cartoon character, high pitched nasal vocals, this is a band that stands out.

The record isn't perfect, and to be honest I find the song "They're Feeding" completely irritating with it's non stop repetitive two-word chorus. But as a whole, Nobody Realizes This Is Nowhere provides way more highs than lows and is a definitely a record worth picking up if you like your garage with a dash of pop, but still rough around the edges.

Terry Malts - I Was Not There:
terrymalts.bandcamp.com/track/i-was-not-there

Windian Records Subscription Series #1 7" Box Set (/200)

Windian Records Subscription Series #1 7" Box Set (/200), a photo by Tim PopKid on Flickr.

Windian (2013)

It was only a couple of days ago that I expressed my love of 7" singles series, and here is another example of a label doing it perfectly. In addition to being able to subscribe to a 7" series featuring for sure 2 bands that I love (Barreracudas & Heavy Times), getting to hear 3 other bands I wasn't particularly familiar with and a very affordable price; this series also came as a fancy box set with a big booklet and a pin. The art of the whole set is fantastic and I absolutely love the zigzag sleeves of the individual records.

Music-wise, I knew going in that Barreracudas and Heavy Times were great bands, and neither disappoint, delivering stellar songs for their 7"s. Of the 3 new bands I think the one I liked the least was Static Eyes. Though certainly not bad by any stretch of the imagination; the vocals are a little scuzzier & shouty than I typically prefer. Suns of Guns serve up swampy, lead guitar driven stomp-punk songs that sound like they could derail at any possible second. And I mean that in the best possible way.

The big winner here for me is the last band, Terry Malts. A band I had never even heard of before, but a band that really impressed me with their contributions. Fast and catchy punk with a singer that reminds me a bit of a less bass-y Calvin Johnson. Just a great set of records and Windian is even nicer than a lot of labels and if you want to buy just individual records, they'll let you do that too. But do yourself a favor and pick up the box set, amazingly it looks like they actually still have some left in their store.

Windian Records Subscription Series #1 7" Box Set:
soundcloud.com/windian-records/sets/windian-subscription-...