Tussle

Grass Widow
"The first thing we noticed is how nonchalant they were with their instruments: relaxed but precise, energetic without being too loud. These girls were good. Live their sound was a hypnotic, lulling combination of surfy-sweet singing with interesting, angular rhythm and edgy guitar work thrown in that perhaps reference obscure Portland girl punks Neo Boys, who are purportedly Hannah’s ‘favorite band ever.’ The songs had a lot of turn-on-a-dime melody and tempo changes with drummer Lillian always seemingly effortlessly pulling the band through the twists of Hannah’s intricate and to me, very Slint-y bass structures without losing a beat so to speak. The anchor to Lillian’s drums was the vocals, and the vox duties which were shared all around really completed the overall sensibility." - Tom Tom Magazine

Low Red Land
They merge layers of rock, folk, country, and hardcore to create songs that are intensely dynamic. Their lyrics have been described as “subtly penned protest songs,” but these protests are personal while still being poignant. (bio)

T.I.T.S.
"T.I.T.S are four ladies from San Francisco known singularly as Kim West, Abbey Kerins, Mary Elizabeth Yarbrough and Wendy Farina. Their name is a "revolving" acronym, with one of the finer ones being Technicolor Inner Troll Syndrome. The quartet ply their trade in a kind of witchy, experimental doom-laden pop, which could easily evoke reminiscences as diverse as Sabbath, The Shop Assistants, Boris, or Christian Death with some Terry Riley/Eno repetition added for good measure.

The T.I.T.S sound is underpinned by Mary Elizabeth's tumbling darkened bass lines and Wendy's totally animal drum pound. Abbey's guitar lays down the acerbic riff, while Kim's emits a subtly oscillating sheet of feedback. Over the top, all four harmonise with a kind of semi-operatic, fantasy whisper. The effect is this inexplicable feel of time-travelling castle metal - of four ladies of the lake casting forth a single Excalibur, sinking it into stone so deep, no Arthur shall ever wield it." - Upset the Rhythm

Plastic Crimewave
Spacepunk unit lauded in Mojo, Wire, Julian Cope's Head Heritage, etc. Plastic Crimewave also does the Galactic Zoo Dossier mag, Secret History of Chicago Music strip and radio show, Million Tongues Festivals, sits in with ensembles like Scarcity of Tanks and DRMWPN, yadda yadda.

Pins of Light

Punk Rock Sideshow w/DJ Tragic & the Duchess of Hazard, every Monday

Box Elders
"Two brothers from Omaha and an organ-playing drummer make up the Box Elders. Their set-up, like their sound, gets the most from bare minimum components, churning fuzzy, sloppy, pop that seems to emerge from some 1960s vintage rec room or basement. The brothers – Clayton and Jeremiah McIntyre – sing in haphazard unison over jangling Nuggets guitar licks and calliope fills of thrift shop organs (that’s multi-tasker Danny Goldberg with one hand on the keys, the other clutching a drumstick). Lyrics flit from classic done-me-wrong love stories (“Ronald Dean”) to carpe diem eschatology (“2012”) to snarky love-through-death songs (“Necro” turns roller-rink organ gambols into funeral home trills). Nothing is nailed down. Nothing is entirely serious. It’s all in fun – and it is fun, fortunately." - Dusted

Traditional Fools

The Rats (NYC)
"True to its New York punk heritage, the Rats play tight, attitude-laden songs that will shake your hips like a jukebox full of the Ramones. Vocalist Jake Rat snarls rock 'n' roll wisdom about sly women while Shingo's rough-hewn drums and Kitty G. Litter's bass rattle at lightning speed. But just when it seems like the music is spinning out of control, the unpredictable East Coast band can slow down to crank up brilliant beer-soaked ballads." - 96 Hours

The Back C.C.'s
Garage punk from Brooklyn. Recently opened some of the East Coast Mummies reunion dates!

Mayyors
"Sacramento's Mayyors are off the grid when it comes to publicity: The band lacks any sort of official Web presence and prefers to release its limited-quantity EPs exclusively on vinyl. The band's core is its flailing live performances, however, which demonstrate what appears to be genuine dementia. "Clicks," from this year's "Deads" EP, gives an approximation of the way the band takes textures from noise music into the realm of brutal rock that might appeal to former heshers. Beginning with an out-of-tune guitar strum caught in a delay pedal and then pitch-shifted into a seasick, feedback-leaking rhythm, the song erupts into a paranoid chant about the benefits of not eating, sleeping or breathing. Garage rock can be caricaturized as a handful of sonic signifiers crammed together over a passable melody; Mayyors' musicality and chaos run deep. There's something alchemical going on here." - 96 Hours

Lamps
"The Lamps are not an easy band. Their first release is a full-length so you get no “Hi ya, how ya doin’,” before the big blast. The songs twist at a lazy pace, not some immediate La-De-Da pop immediacy. The vocals are harsh and take a couple listens to “get” and a few more to enjoy. They occupy this netherworld which could be called “garage art” if the term wasn’t so lame. They are a bit too “arty” or “smart” for the garage punk purists and too “garage” for the ex-white belted, art punk crowd. Other than the Country Teasers, A Frames, Human Eye, and maybe a dozen or so other bands, they have no peer group. And they live in perhaps the most indifferent city in the United States when it comes to live music, Los Angeles." - Terminal Boredom

Christmas Island
"The homemade quirk of Christmas Island. This San Diego act, who just found a home on In The Red Records, have a unique way of strangling poppy undertones with an eerie vibe that falls right in line with the likes of Pink Reason and Eat Skull, wherein they play to the macabre spirit of willfully alienating rock, and bring to mind the pasty skin of a happily misunderstood shut-in." - Victim of Time