Trouble In Mind

Andrew Anderson is a prolific guy, having recorded two albums (and many singles) of dumb-punk ferocity with his band, Hipshakes & released three albums & a number of singles under his solo project moniker, “Proto Idiot”. Proto Idiot’s previous output has had one foot firmly planted in the Hipshakes school of frenzied, nervous garagepunk intensity, & the other in a rickety, Kinks-ian, English-countryside gallop. His debut for TiM however is a step in a new direction, delivering smart & urgent pop tunes having more in common with the DIY smarts of bands like Television Personalities, Wire & The Soft Boys than The Oblivians or The Gories.

"You’re Wrong" yearns with the strummy confections of a lost classic & it's earworm melody will have a hard time getting unstuck from your brain! “You Can’t Hide” burns with the loping maudlin of guitars & careens into a head-bopper of sugary pop-perfection. The fi rst edition of this single is pressed on randomly-mixed vinyl, comes housed in the TiM stars & stripes company sleeve & includes a download code!

Wire, The Soft Boys, Television Personalities, Tyvek, Hipshakes

Chicago psychedelic band Verma has been quietly honing their skills in the Windy City for a few years now, releasing a handful of cassettes to eager tapeheads. 2012 treated listeners to the onetwo punch of their self-released LP “Exu” & this album right here, “Coltan” recorded as the soundtrack for VICE Magazine’s ‘Guide To The Congo’ web mini-series & released as a limited edition cassette. After hearing that cassette, we here at TiM just couldn’t allow it NOT to exist on vinyl!

‘Coltan’ (short for Columbite-Tantalite) is a dull, black, metallic ore used in the manufacture of tantalum capacitors, which you’ll nd in just about EVERY electronic device & the mining of which has caused a “resource curse” in The Congo. “Coltan” perfectly captures the intensity & desperation of the situation in the four extended improvisations, which take the listener on a hazy, sun-baked journey from the mellow shadows of opening track ‘Tantalite’ all the way to the synth-drenched buzz of closer ‘Wolframite’. “Coltan” veers slightly from Verma’s previous e fforts, the band’s motorik krautrock drive has been tamed in favour of more atmospheric & abstract soundscapes. The first edition of “Coltan” is limited to 500 copies on black vinyl & includes a download code!

RIYL: Brian Wilson, Harry Nilsson, Animal Collective, Van Dyke Parks, Broadcast

Sometimes the best bands are just out in the world - waiting for you to discover them. Mirrorism formed nary a year ago in Ferrara, Italy & posted up some songs from their self-released cassette onto a message board late last year. The band’s TiM debut snags two tunes from that blast of hot air & slaps ‘em onto wax - where they belong! In their own words, Mirrorism are: "a philosophical, artistic and political movement based on chaos, disunity, multiple personality disorder and the refusal to make sense of any kind of artistic output."

One gets a very real sense of the chaos lurking beneath these jagged stabs of post-punk fury - "Night Flight" kicks off the A-side with a rhythmic ticking of the drums, perhaps a warning of the musical time bomb about to explode thru your speakers! Short, sweet & skronky - it’s over before it even began. “Exit TheLoop” closes out the single with a ragged cacophony of garage scree & trebly guitar sirens! An exciting debut from this promising new band! The first edition of this single is pressed on randomly-mixed vinyl, comes housed in the TiM stars & stripes company sleeve & includes a download code!

RIYL: Contortions, Teenage Jesus & The Jerks, Tyvek, Spray Paint

It's a hard realization to discover that the world may not be as magical and wondrous as you once believed, & reconciling ones loss of innocence and sense of naïveté is a theme that reoccurs often in art, music and literature. From 'To Kill a Mockingbird' to 'God Only Knows' the best articulations of lost youth can have a very visceral impact. The 12 tracks that make up the debut album "Cabinet of Curiosities" from Dutch multi-instrumentalist and producer Jacco Gardner deftly explore this territory in a far more accomplished and mature way than you would expect from a 24 year old, fulfilling the promises made by his first two singles.

Jacco's melodic palette colors music with a more U.K.-sensibility, where minor chords & plush harmonies brush up against strings, mellotrons, harpsichords & an occasional squeezebox. The overall feel is more Zombies than Left Banke and more Nirvana & Billy Nicholls than Beach Boys & Van Dyke Parks. The title track "Cabinet of Curiosities" is an instrumental reminiscent of the best of Curt Boettcher's projects like The Millennium and Sagittarius with its playful baroque arrangements. 'The One Eyed King' and 'Chameleon' delicately evokes a softly waning sunset melancholy while 'Puppets Dangling' slinks forward suggestively at first, unfolds into an expansive, string-soaked chorus, before winding back into a taut melodic denouement.

Recorded & engineered at his "Shadow Shoppe" Studio in Zwaag, The Netherlands, "Cabinet Of Curiosities" features Jacco playing every instrument (save the drums, deftly played by Jos van Tol) & was pre-mastered by Jan Audier - famed engineer of Dutch garage/psych heavies Q65, The Golden Earrings & The Motions on his vast array of authentic Sixties analog gear. "Cabinet Of Curiosities" is pressed on 150gm vinyl, includes a full-color insert & download code.

RIYL: Syd Barrett, Zombies, Left Banke, Dungen, Tame Impala

The sun-soaked hills of Southern California have inspired many a studio autéur - from Brian WIlson to Phil Spector to Harry Nilsson, each having paid tribute to California in song & craft. Frank Maston knows a little bit about craft (and Southern Cali to boot), having spent his youth in suburban Los Angeles, absorbing the meticulously crafted discography of Msrs. Spector, Wilson, Bacharach, & Morricone, all the while mentally re-scoring the music to old Prisoner episodes & other filmography from the sixties & seventies. "Shadows" is his first proper offering, having produced two solo cassette EPs since 2011 & coalesces the ideas sketched out in those releases with stunning results.

Imagine if David Lynch had set Twin Peaks in Malibu instead of the Northwest, & you'll start to peek inside the world of Maston. Brass, woodwinds, organs and piano mix with haunting melodies and eerie guitar lines that seem to spring forth from the very fingers of Alessandro Alessandroni himself. There are no artificial sounds on this record, and Maston plays them all himself (save the harp, played by Ana Caravelle), capturing the sounds naturally thru the warm embrace of true analog gear. From the sauntering "Young Hearts", to slinky instrumentals like "King Conrad" & "Strange Rituals", to urgent pop clatter of "Mirror" the album works as a whole because Frank Maston appreciates the historical musical tradition of 1960's Los Angeles and the music succeeds without irony or pastiche. These songs are not reflections, but shadows. The first pressing of "Shadows" is pressed on 150gm, randomly mixed vinyl, and includes a download code.

RIYL: Brian Wilson, Harry Nilsson, Animal Collective, Van Dyke Parks, Broadcast

We've scored the last copies of these from Slow Fizz Records - buy now, or pay later 'cuz once they're gone, they're GONE!

"Following the instructional vibes of the “You Can’t Step On A Rainbow” seven inch single, The Marble Vanity now give us the self-titled full length that youths will go to as a starting point years from now. Its probably the most elegant thing going on right now, even though extended listening sessions somehow turn into haunted house parties serving glamor shots with spit chasers. Don’t get caught with a dry mouth, says the teeth eating monster. We’ll be sure to avoid the cotton candy; there’s enough sugar coated silverware drowning in the ocean of neon in the belly of The Marble Vanity to fix the kids on the path and the bodies in the gutter. From Prelude to Conclusion, follow the animals at bay winding through concrete and common grass in search of the wondrous world they once imagined." - Slow Fizz

RIYL: Left Banke, Millennium, Pretty Things, Sagittarius, Zombies

Since it's first issue in 1966, the 'Fuzz Face' pedal has sung it's distorted siren song & lured many a burgeoning guitar player to the rock. Hendrix & Townshend swore by them, and apparently so does the San Francisco group FUZZ!... OOF - Tinnitus here we come! This hot 2-songer is two addictive & ferocious slabs of doomy fuzzed-out rock & fucking ROLL that break open the gates of Hades & lurch forward like rabid hounds of Hell!

Comprised of lifelong pals Charles Mootheart & Ty Segall (and rounded out live by ex-Moonheart Roland Cosio on bass), FUZZ brings the heavy; "This Time I Got A Reason" & "Fuzz's Fourth Dream" are both flaming embers of molten rock that evoke a serpentine head-banging & rage skyward on evil riffs like the red-headed stepchildren of Black Sabbath, Blue Cheer, Jerusalem & Wicked Lady! W-W-Whoah! (Please Note: we at Trouble In Mind Records LLC are not responsible for any spinal or neck problems that occur from excessive head-banging to this hot shit platter). This record comes housed in a new "stars 'n' stripes" version of the TiM factory sleeve, is pressed on black vinyl & includes a download code!

RIYL: Black Sabbath, Blue Cheer, Wicked Lady, Morgen, Jerusalem, Witchcraft

The Limiñanas return to TiM & exhale two long drags of their patented dead-cool, Franc-o-phonic grooves. By now Lio & Marie Limiñana should need no introduction to TiM fans - we've released their debut album & two singles to date & this platter comes hot on the heels of their 2nd album 'Crystal Anis'.

Many have compared them to the almighty Gainsbourg, the Velvet Underground, or modern acts like Stereo Total or Stereolab, but we think The Limiñanas are forging a sound all their own, rooted in the rich French "chanson" tradition, but built on the framework of the modern-day! First pressing of 500 copies comes housed in a new "stars 'n' stripes" version of the TiM factory sleeve, is pressed on randomly mixed vinyl & includes a download code!

Australia is in a full-on rock & roll renaissance right now & charging to the front of the pack is Melbourne's Woollen Kits! "Four Girls" is the follow up to their self-titled debut LP on RIP Society & a continuation of the greatness of their TiM debut 7-inch from summer 2012. The new album finds the band in tip-top form; confident & assured, with a suite of their best tunes to date.

Songs herein deal with underlying longing or fantasy with individual truths & being fed up with people's phoney concepts and ideals (which, guitarist Tom H says: "in an effort to make themselves feel more deep and interesting to people, are actually creating a barrier between themselves and everyone else by only relating to others on a very one dimensional level"). But despite this frustration or sense of loss, there's usually (usually) a positive spin on these themes. 'Cheryl' is a definite standout on the album and offers listeners some of the truest lyrics ever put to song with "When you look good, you know you feel good, and when you feel good, you get shit done." 'Susannah' is another instant head-bopper with its happy-tappy VU guitar strum and horn interplay. Tom, Tom and Leon have taken the two disparate voices of their debut album and forged a united delivery emphasizing the best of both song writer's strengths. It's got the swagger and jangle of classic Flying Nun and the simplicity and directness of Beat Happening with a dash of late-80's underground rock. The U.S. edition on Trouble In Mind is pressed on black vinyl, includes an insert & download code!

From the damp and misty woods of New Hampshire emerges the second full length from psychedelic jam warriors MMOSS. The minute we heard the band's 2011 debut on Burger Records they immediately rocketed to the front of our release "wish list". Recorded by the band themselves at home "Only Children" is everything we could have hoped for.

The songs swirl and shimmer as the vocals waver and glide together like the trippiest acid test light show. 'Only Children' is a decidedly heavier trip than the debut album paring down the sheer number of tracks in favor of expanded blasts of musical mayhem. 'War Sux' has the motoric kraut of modern acts like Cave while 'Marty Hills' lays down the drone and hand drum a'la Swedish hippies 'Parson Sound'. That being said, MMOSS hasn't lost their pop sensibility - 'Another Day' and 'Another Dream' take you (literally) from mono to stereo with cascading vocal harmonies so sweet, you won't even notice that the hooks have already sunken in. Their vocal interplay affirms an affection for the group vocal stylings of 60's west coast acts like The Rose Garden, Comfortable Chair & The Peanut Butter Conspiracy, taking their melancholic & bittersweet recollections and bringing them to a plugged-in generation. MMOSS is the sound of hippies that took the brown acid and liked it. Live free or die. The vinyl edition of "Only Children" is pressed on 150gram, randomly mixed vinyl & includes an 18 x 24 poster, & download code.

Traveling down the long road of Indiana’s great & rich musical history, will lead you past The Gizmos, The Zero Boys, Brad Long, Zerfas & eventually to Bloomington trio Apache Dropout. The band’s self-titled 2011 album was a kick in the pants to everyone who dared cry that ‘rock is dead’, infusing psych, garage, pop & boogie with enough soul & blood to pump a thousand hearts. ‘Bubblegum Graveyard’ goes above and beyond what one could have hoped for in the band’s sophmore album, magically combining bubblegum pop and heavy guitar jams into a brewing pot of “chewing gumbo” that really has to be heard to be believed. Sonny Blood’s vocal delivery and guitar playing dances around the wobbly grooves the rhythm section of Lord Fyre & Anu Nath are laying down, exerting an earnest and rocking blue collar midwestern sensibility while still maintaining a hold on the best elements of Ohio Express or 1910 Fruit Gum Company’s self-concious silliness.

Stand out tracks such as the pop majesty of the two opening tracks “Archies Army”and “Candy Bar” stir and sift with surreal lyrics that unwrap themselves more and more with every listen, while the wail and moan of “Quaaludes ‘68” and “Lady Blood” come on like the best of the Motor City in its glory days, screaming & howling like Cerebus at the gates of the Underworld. The musical and lyrical interplay reveal a hallucinatory tale of candy, robberies, death & hasty getaways - like Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry, only if Mary is Patty Hearst & Larry were a deranged Willy Wonka. Multiple listens reveal a poppy-laced reality and a warped sense of rage over the oppressively flat and banal Midwestern landscape...not to mention fortune-telling candy bars and Undead Jughead too! Includes a full-color insert & lyric sheet, is pressed on 150gm black vinyl, & includes a download code!

Melbourne, Australia's Woollen Kits turned quite a few heads with their s/t debut LP last year - released on RIP Society, that long player was a hook-laden, fuzz-filled album of candy-coated cacophony swathed in the jangling, echoed vibes of The Soft Boys & Beat Happening that didn't leave the TIM HQ hi-fi for months, so you can bet we are thrilled to be releasing the band's US debut. The A-side, "Shelley" has an infectious stutter-step verse that hearkens back to the scrappy pop sensibilities of Archers of Loaf or Sebadoh merged with the off kilter harmonies of The Clean. Once the coda comes in at the end, you'll be humming this one for days! On the flip side, "Down Your Street" eases into a chiming guitar riff that crashes head-first into a winsome rocker, swaying to & fro like that rusty old tire swing at that park you used to go to with your first crush. It's that kind of song you put on a mix tape. Yeah - a perfect primer for the waning days of summer. The first pressing of 500 copies is pressed on randomly mixed vinyl, comes housed in the Trouble In Mind company sleeve, & includes a download code.

What a year it’s been for the four ladies & one gentleman in Chicago band Hollows - after releasing their Trouble In Mind debut (the "Bobby Blueheart" single) in late 2010, the quintet has played a score of shows (including a hi-profile gig in Millennium Park, performing to approximately 10,000 people), & honed their singular sound into a razor-sharp musical talon! Hollows have taken the girl-group influence of their debut album and time warped 20 years, creating a sound that has more in common with Kate Bush than Ronnie Spector and more Go-Go’s than Shangri-La’s. Their sophmore effort "Vulture" finds them mining more sophisticated & nuanced sonic territories - the opening track "V is for Vulture" sets the tone for the album, with its yearning throb that swells into a (literal) symphony of bittersweet horns & strings, and "Ma Cat" is a somber ode to a lady trucker, with vocalist/organist Maria Jenkins cooing o‘er it’s soothing melody.

It doesn’t end there; "Field Fire On Jordan Street" bops along like Nikki & the Corvettes, "Shapeshifter" boasts a Caribbean rhythm that would make Belafonte blush, & "Up & Down" careens toward oblivion with crashing drums & swelling organ trills. The first edition LP of 500 copies comes pressed on 150gm randomly mixed vinyl & includes a download code.

The anxiously awaited follow up to the Estrogen Highs excellent self-released 2011 album "Friends and Relatives" is finally here and let us be the first to say that if you aren’t already a fan of these guys, you are about to become one. After two LP's, one 12" EP, four 7-inches, and one cassette, the project that started as Stefan Christensen in 2007 playing and recording everything by himself has now fully jelled into a rock-solid, full-band quartet. "Irrelevant Future" synthesizes all of the bands best attributes into one hit packed, perfectly paced LP. It expounds on the the wiry (and Wire-y) DIY whiffs from previous releases, emphasizes the thinking mans punk of the Minutemen and all the while an under-current of Kiwi-jangle ebbs and flows. With all of this in mind Estrogen Highs thankfully don’t sacrifice the off-kilter weirdness that already established fans know and love. Songs like "Alchemy Contest" and "Status Quo (Oh No)" have a quirky melodic sensibility that plays off intricate guitar and bass lines. "Grass of Leaves" holds down the chugga-chugga punk angle while "They Told Me I Was Everything" meditates on Shakesperean betrayal - and just when you think you’ve got a handle on the record’s direction they hammer you with "Seventh Sunday of the Ordinary Times", a "ripper" if there ever was one in the band’s canon. The album’s closer "I Wanna Be Tall" is a measured leap forward, focusing the band’s strength’s into the first perfect pop song of 2012 ~ guaranteed to be stuck in your head for days! The first edition LP of 500 copies comes pressed on 150gm randomly mixed vinyl & includes a download code. CD is packaged in a LP-style slip-sleeve pocket!

RIYL: Tyvek, The Clean, Desperate Bicycles, Wire, The Chills

One of our absolute favorite bands is back with a killer new single! This two-songer is the perfect follow-up to their TiM debut LP from last March. All the elements are here that made their full-length so great; the guitar work, thumping bass and drums, great lyrics, and the same one-two, eff-you pop-punch. "I Will Change Your Mind" has singer/guitarist Josh Miller hitting some new highs not only in guitar riff-ery but hitting those vocal high notes like he is some kind of power-pop Rob Halford - it’s a real roller coaster of a tune, that takes the listener on a journey through the melodic vocabulary of folks like Roy Wood, Nick Lowe & Paul Collins without losing their own personal voice. The flip, "How To Keep A Straight Face" kicks open the door & stomps in with a killer riff & some down and dirty wah-wah action, before smartly swaying into a great laid back northern California-cool melodic feel not-unlike Boz Scaggs jamming with the Barracudas. A terrific teaser for what’s on the horizon from this trio!

Not quite all grown up yet, Nashville wunderkinds The Paperhead return to Trouble In Mind with a single that shows that these boys are maturing musically by the hour. Not only have Ryan, Peter & Walker absolutely mastered their 8-track recording skills, with the A-Side, "Pictures Of Her Demise" they’ve honed in on a thrilling synthesis of their influences. From Pink Floyd to The (Dutch) Outsiders, or Q65 and The Golden Dawn, they’ve added a dash more dandy flair a’la Rainbow Ffolly or Jason Crest. "She Is Above Me" taps into some prime "moustache-era" Beatles, resting comfortably in a Strawberry Field while a lysergic carousel whirls around & drops tab after tab of "Blue Sunshine" on your tongue. All hyperbole aside, the arrangements are more intricate and these lads are continuing to be at the head of the class when it comes to the idea that psychedelic music isn’t always about indulgence - there is a simplicity and beauty in the careful construction of a song. The first edition of 500 copies is pressed on randomly mixed vinyl, includes a download code, & comes housed in a glossy, U.K. vintage-style pocket picture sleeve!

RIYL: Thee Oh Sees, The Beatles, White Fence, The Move, The Outsiders

Is it possible that the energy and genius created by the entire membership of The Hollies, The Move and The Who could be embodied in one guy living in Arizona? You just might start to believe it after giving this 7-inch a spin. Matt Rendon is the one man hit machine behind the Resonars, writing & recording every instrument & singing every note all by his lonesome. This 4-song EP (and the third installment in our "Solo Series") represents his first collection of new material in almost three years, after releases on Get Hip, Star Time & Burger Records, focusing his paisley-tinted vision with one ear in the past & his eyes on the future. These tracks hit the sweet-spot between the bittersweet harmonies you love about "Evolution" era Allan Clarke and Graham Nash with the triumphant guitar and off-the-chain drum fills of a "Who Sell Out"-era Pete Townshend and Keith Moon. You’ll be hooked from the first La’s of "Long Long Thoughts" till the last faded notes of "Stumbling On Stones." HOO BOY, you’re going to need a new needle after you get through with this one - sorry ‘bout that.

RIYL: The Hollies, The Who, The Move, Teenage Fanclub

Conceived and recorded as a sort of therapy to help cope with adjusting to life post-college, an insuing break-up and geographic isolation Mikal Cronin steps momentarily away from the rhythm section of Orange County surf-punk bashers The Moonhearts with his debut solo LP. Fans can take heart, this isn’t a “vanity project” or half-baked endeavor - Mikal’s solo debut is fully realized, cohesive and beautiful, with themes that are as personal as they are universal; questioning your future, accepting your past and living in the moment. Taking influences such as late sixties Del Shannon and The Everly Brothers and filtering them through his own mutant California fuzz, Mikal deftly explores his singer/songwriter side that at moments feels like a punk Harry Nilsson or Curt Boettcher that balances sweet melodies & chords with chunky, psychedelic guitar freak-outs. Don’t let the opening Beach Boys-ian harmonies of “Is It Alright?” fool you into thinking this record can be easily pinned down... with long-time friend & collaborator Ty Segall producing, Eric Bauer (Ty Segall, Royal Baths) running the tape machine and guests like John Dwyer of The Oh-Sees, you can be positive you’re in for something special. Once those guitars kick in, and you hit that first transcendent chorus, you’ll be hooked and anxiously awaiting what comes next.

Any number of bands cite 60’s Texas psych as an influence, but rarely does a group actually capture what made those bands special. Following their debut EP also on Trouble In Mind, The Night Beats have expanded on the bedroom immediacy of their first recordings to create an LP that perfectly captures and modernizes the hallucinogenic and exhilaratingly demonic aura of bands like The 13th Floor Elevators and Golden Dawn. With blazing guitar work and a razor sharp rhythm section Danny Lee Blackwell and company mutate conventional chords & progressions into a mind-blowing sonic sprawl. The record reels you in with 2-3 minute pop songs like ‘Ain’t Dumbo’ and ‘Dial 666', forging a landscape that then throws you into a chaotic journey of jams a’la ‘Dewayne’s Drone’ and ‘Little War in the Midwest’ that bend and meander but never overstay their welcome. Tune in, turn on, & drop that needle on this record! The first press of this LP is on randomly-mixed vinyl & includes a download code! CD version includes the OOP 4-song "H-Bomb" EP.

RIYL: Black Angels, Thee Oh Sees, 13th Floor Elevators, Electric Prunes

Wait, have the Wax Museums MATURED?!?!?! After a 3 year hiatus north TX’s lovable misfits (who share members with The Bad Sports and Mind Spiders) are back with a four-headed thirteen eyed monster of an album that while still slightly awkward, is undeniably focused and endearing.

‘Eye Times’ is a musical step forward with moments of glammy art-rockness that proves once and for all these clowns ain’t just one-joke jerks. ‘Mosquito Enormo’ swarms and stings with it’s way-out delay pedal induced chaos and ‘Bruiser’ proves the Wax Museums still just write killer punk anthems. The charming nerd-o aesthetic that was so prevalent on the early singles and first LP remain, but NOW with added sexual frustration, ‘Breakfast for Dinner’ just very well might be the Wax Museum’s “Me So Horny“… or something. The first press of this LP is on randomly-mixed vinyl & includes a download code!

RIYL: Bad Sports, Cheap Time, Icky Boyfriends, Dickies, Devo

Upon your first listen to this record you may think that you’ve stumbled onto some lost nugget from 1968. The Paperhead take their name from a lyric in July’s golden-age psychedelic single “My Clown” and while the record may have a vintage sound, it’s mind boggling to learn that it was written and recorded in the summer of 2010 by three 18 year old kids from Nashville, Tennessee. Neo-psych fans may hear a more ambitious ‘White Fence’ or a poppier ‘Spacemen 3’ while more classic minded listeners may recall ‘The Pretty Things’, their namesake ‘July’ or post-LSD ‘Beatles’. Before they all went their separate ways to start college Ryan Jennings and his closest childhood friends Walker Mimms and Peter Stringer-Hye holed up to record an album that combines all the orchestrated pop layers, eastern influence and groovy instrumentals of a classic British Psych record. With Cheap Time’s Jeffrey Novak as producer & “spritual advisor” these guy’s technical and songwriting abilities far outreach their young age, while still maintaining a sense of wonder about the world and a dash of charming naivete.

RIYL: White Fence, Black Angels, Pink Floyd, J.K. & Co, Kaleidoscope (U.K.)

For those of us who take our record collection maybe a little too seriously, it’s a comfort when a band just seems to get it. While there isn’t much left to be said about the current music scene in San Francisco (where The Wrong Words hail from) we like to think they have combined all of its best elements (power pop, punk and a dab of flower-psych) on this amazingly solid debut LP. Recorded by Greg Ashley of The Gris Gris and mastered by Mikey Young of Eddy Current Suppression Ring, The Wrong Words have been referred to as a “West Coast Gentleman Jesse”. While there is no denying the Californian influence, there is a midwestern blue collar pop feel as well a’la The Scruffs or more than a few tracks off of the Yellow Pills comp. This album has pop hooks galore, great lyrics and ripping guitar work.The Wrong Words take tried and true themes such as hating your day job and letting your girl down but put their own ‘catchy as hell’ spin on them. Stick it on the turntable, but be warned, it’s going to be there for a while.

“Sounding like the best moments of The Quick and maybe even a little Shoes thrown in...a vintage blast of power pop soul that's sunny with just the right dose of syrup on top.”
— Raven Sings the Blues

“You'll hear some of the touchstones (The Turtles, The Troggs) that citymates like Thee Oh Sees incorporate into their attack, but there's a crystalline melodic intuition that runs through the core...”
— Impose Magazine

RIYL: Gentleman Jesse, Jaill, XTC, Nick Lowe, Barracudas