I have long lamented in these electronic pages the lack of good old fashioned powerful rock music. I have missed the anti-star rock shredding of Mudhoney, Dinosaur Jr., The Breeders, early Nirvana, even the first Smashing Pumpkins album, Gish. During the mid-90’s when rock went to hell in a hand basket courtesy of idiots like Fred Durst and his band Limp Bizkit, nu-metal reigned. [If nu-metal bands had not dropped Black Sabbath as an influence I would have been less angry.]
Basically I switched off and didn’t give rock a second thought. As a quick aside, limp, white boy indie rock is really bothering me now but that’s another post.
Yet something is stirring in the New York City area. That something is Tee Pee Records and a whole slew of rock bands on its roster. Tee Pee, which is not a new label by any means, seems to be churning out records like the music business is going out of business [ha!] and each of the promos sent to me by the label’s extremely busy press guy, Steve Dolcemaschio, are immediately added to the ‘must listen’ pile. [Steve, if you read this, you're the only guy I forgive for sending me CDs in the mail...]
I am not going to review each and every band on the label but I am going to let you hear a track from a selected few along with snippets of info taken from the Tee Pee web site. After listening you will begin to hear a theme I believe.
Annihilation Time – punk, hardcore, psych, and southern rock “Annihilation Time III: Tales of The Ancient Age,†further bridges the gap between the band’s wildly comparative influences, ranging from Bl’ast! to Thin Lizzy.
Assemble Head In Sunburst Sound – ….a crooked thread that runs backward through every Assemble Head record—the celestial trajectories of The Notorious Byrd Brothers and circa ‘70 Floyd; the dusty canyon stomps of Crazy Horse, slashing action pop of the savage young Who, Italian bastardizations of Lalo Schifrin cop movie scores, and the scuzz-bomb shrapnel of latter-day garage mongers like Mudhoney and Monoshock.
Black Math Horseman – Call it ambient post-doom. Call it alchemic psych-rock, only without all those annoying freeform guitar freakouts. Call it “pure spirits by ritual dismemberment.†Either way, Black Math Horseman is Sera Timms (bass/vocals), Ian Barry (guitar) Bryan Tulao (guitar) and Sasha Popovic (drums). They are from Los Angeles. Their debut album, Wyllt, was recorded and produced by desert guru Scott Reeder (Kyuss, Unida).
Weird Owl – Weird Owl has crafted a sonic mindscape inspired by legendary acts such as the 13th Floor Elevators and Crazy Horse that states its relevance to modern-day masters Black Mountain, Dead Meadow and the Black Angels.
Blackstrap – sonic landscapes stretch over twelve tracks, drawing upon the inspirations of genre pioneers Spiritualized, Primal Scream, and The Jesus and Mary Chain.
Quest For Fire – The sonic assault that these guys unleash onto unsuspecting listeners in a live setting, through their sometimes 10+ minute journeys is pure power. A contemporary take on classic rock and psychedelia.
Black Math Horseman – Deerslayer
Weird Owl – Skeletelepathic
Quest For Fire – Bison Eyes
Annihilation Time – Splashback
Assemble Head In Sunburst Sound – Drunken Leaves
Blackstrap – Rough Parade
You forgot Witch… but seriously the music on Tee pee is solid. Thanks for the spotlight.
April 8th, 2009 at 10:15 amOh I wish I could have listed them all but they have so many great bands. A visit to their web site gives access to tracks to listen to from all the bands…
April 8th, 2009 at 10:18 amWeird Owl is amazing, and the rest of the bands on Tee Pee.
April 8th, 2009 at 11:45 amWow! Thanks Dave. Both Blackstrap and Weird Owl are fantastic. “Heads Up!” like this are what keeps me coming back to the moose. Well, that and the *great* insight into the changing nature of da biz….
April 9th, 2009 at 1:51 pmConcur w Brad. Weird Owl superlative. Others drip potential but not as solid. An encounter with six unknown bands what strikes first is an intuitive name & title that gives the sensate impression just prior to pressing play of charged meter, then delivers with a dose of poetry a dash of bonemarrow & healthy respect for their peers. For me thats the Owls. The longest song turns out subjectively shortest & thusly mined. Quest for Fire hypnotizes, what happens when they break rank? All assuredly existential caught between a wall of noise & bodies. Look forward to the site.
April 10th, 2009 at 12:12 amThanks for the lead. I had recently downloaded Entrance “Prayer…” but never thought to look at the label they were on. The Entrance record has one great song “Grim Reaper Blues” , which decisiously psychedelic and garage. Much of the rest is more expansive and, to me, less interesting.
April 12th, 2009 at 5:26 pmBlack Math Horseman is blowing my mind, been trying to figure out all morning how to place them…suffice to say the rule.
April 14th, 2009 at 9:21 am