Brandy

Laugh Track

Monofonus Press

***The withering, unhealthy family tree of the bonehead, knuckle-dragged sound of Mayyors, A Frames, and Lake of Dracula grows another branch with the first long-player by New York City’s BRANDY. Consisting of components of miscreant avant-trash guitar acts RUNNING and PAMPERS, this new project somehow straddles the line between futuristic and primitive. Rhythmic and repetitive with flashes of late-70s San Francisco post-punk psychedelia, dragging barely recognizable pop hooks through the debris of Mark E. Smith’s scotch glass shatter, the collection of songs march from front to end with a militant step and slurred, anthemic approach. Brandy makes me think it might actually be feasible to continue living and still, somehow, exist in New York. How can something this thuggish fill me with optimism?

La Redada

Avandaro Bogaloow

Monofonus Press

Protomartyr / Spray Paint

Irony Prompts A Party Rat

Monofonus Press

***BACK IN STOCK!!!  "The first time PROTOMARTYR was on our radar had to be in 2013 when Can’t Stop The Bleeding invited them to play at Beerland for SXSW. We’ve been big ole fans since. Over the years they’ve been nice enough to play a couple of our SXSW shows, and then they let Spray Paint open for them on some of their early tour dates. It was on one of these tours that the concept for this 7″ came to be. Each band would record an instrumental and send it to the other band to add vocals. SPRAY PAINT plays and JOE CASEY sings and then the other way around. We think it’s pretty good, and we hope you do too." (STREET DATE - 8/17/2018)

Lié

Hounds

Monofonus Press

***"In 2016 we released Truth or Consequences, and here we are in 2018 with another excellent record from Vancouver’s LIE. Earlier this year Lié flew down to Austin to record with Ian Rundell (Spray Paint, The Rebel, Ghetto Ghouls, Xetas, etc.). The result is cold, hostile, and most of all dark. Since their last record, they’ve been touring a lot in the US, Canada, and Europe as both Lié and some of their other more electronic-leaning projects (for those keeping score that’s: MINIMAL VIOLENCE, SBDC, KOBAN, SIGSALY). Lots more touring in 2018 for Lié in the USA and our friendly more-supportive-of-the-arts northern neighbor as well." (STREET DATE - 7/06/2018)

Samaritan Quell

S/t

Monofonus Press

***Austin Texas duo composed of Led Er Est's Sam De La Rosa and Dark Entries artist Bill Converse. The resulting LP, recorded in the depths of the tequila-soaked shipping containers of Monofonus, is a strange collage/manipulation/cut-up work featuring samples, turntable, organ, synthesizer, and drum machine.

Rose Mercie

S/t

Monofonus Press

***The debut LP from the excellent French quartet ROSE MERCIE. Landing somewhere between The Shangri-Las, Raincoats, Rosa Yemen, Sleater-Kinney, Josephine Foster or Marianne Faithfull, the sound of Rose Mercie subtly integrates many influences. Active since 2013, Rose Mercie is finally releasing its first album now in 2018. The chemistry between these four musicians (CHARLENE, INES, LOUANN and MICHELE) is palpable and propels each song in a swarm of sometimes negative imagination and sometimes sweet bitterness. At times melancholic and moving, percussive but also bestowed with magnificent vocal harmonies, this album is to be savored in its rawness.

Contributors

S/t

Monofonus Press

***Last spring Monofonus invited DAN MELCHIOR to Austin to record with local idiots SPRAY PAINT. Over a week or so beers were drank and songs were hammered out. The result is a Krauty-Crazy Horse-y blending of these two prolific and distinct artists. This is the second in a series of Spray Paint collaborations that will be coming out on different labels.

Rebel, The

Poems With Water Trilogy

Monofonus Press

***This is a compilation of the three Poems With Water releases. Monofonus did volume III Clear and Lies in June on cassette last year for a US tour. You've had to have gone pretty deep to own both Bard At Work and Get The Fucking Tories Out as they were on CDrs only available at live performances mostly in London. So as such some of these songs have been released by us on tape. This record combines great songs and also the more fucked parts of Ben's stuff. I love this release.

J. Zunz

Silente

Monofonus Press

J. Zunz is Lorena Quintanilla’s recent solo effort. Lorena, also known as half part of the Mexican band Lorelle Meets the Obsolete, is originally from Guadalajara but she is now based in Ensenada, Baja California where the recording of ‘Silente’ took place. ‘Silente’, J. Zunz debut album, depicts the entrapment between unsolved happenings.

Death Stuff

S/t

Monofonus Press

Our field agents Spray Paint recommended looking into a release from these young men out of Atlanta. We were happy to oblige. Bands love when they get asked to write their own bio. Here is what they had to say:“Death Stuff is a new three-piece band from Atlanta consisting of Lloyd Wingard (bass/vocals), Jacob Armando (drums), and Trevor Vick (guitar). Formed at the end of 2015, the three decided that they wanted to make dark, anxiety-driven punk. By combining elements of goth, no-wave, and downer punk, Death Stuff has created a new, dissonant sound that captures feelings of frustration with the way things are and a sense of hopelessness for the future.”Everything is terrible. Everyone dies. Death gives us appreciation for life; the suffering that is life gives us appreciation for death.

Hidden Ritual

Always

Monofonus Press

For the past half-decade, Hidden Ritual has honed their blend of moody paranoia rock and stripped-down post-punk in Austin’s psych and party-oriented bar scene. Between the droning vocals of frontman-guitarist Jaime Zuverza, driving rhythms of bassist Ryan Camarillo and drummer Matt Reilly, and dissonant keys of Robert Kaye, Hidden Ritual channels a nervous minimalism that is akin to CBGB’s outliers and to what Brooklyn Vegan calls the “gothy” and “gentler” side of punk. After performing on NBC’s Carson Daly Show in 2015, Hidden Ritual released their debut album, Zebra Bottle, on Austin’s Monofonus Press label. The songs reached listeners of WFMU and BBC6, and they also found an audience among followers of 1980s Siberian bands. One Moscow reviewer summed up Zebra Bottle as a “shadow semi-acoustic rock-n-roll, dusty otherworldly groove and delicate percussion arrhythmia — nine troubled ballads to modern hermits . . . ideal for the lunar funeral of his own heart.” The following year, after a long summer of drinking green tea, Hidden Ritual decided to make a more easy-going record in a non-digital environment. In the fall of 2015, they enlisted Doug Walseth to record and mix their new LP, Always. Recorded on eight-track tape at The Cat’s Eye Studio in Austin, the twelve songs on Always serve up a relaxed and entrancing iteration of Hidden Ritual’s sound.

Melchior, Dan

Born Under A Grey Sign

Monofonus Press

***"When this record showed up unsolicited let's just say it was a no brainer. Born Under a Grey Sign shows DAN MELCHIOR confident enough to do whatever he damn well pleases. He'll go from singing a Sea Shanty directly into drum machine chaos, all the while keeping things rooted somehow in his brand of folk/rock/garage whatever. We love this record, and it's an honor to release it."

Lié

Truth Or Consequences

Monofonus Press

***Lié is a three-piece post punk band from Vancouver, BC made up of Brittany West, Ashlee Luk and Kati J. The band has been playing together since 2012 and has released two EPs, a debut full length Consent in 2015, and now their second full length on Monofonus Press. The band has derived influence both from early post punk and noise bands, as well as from Vancouver itself and its unique Emergency Room era sound. In addition, the members of Lié channel influence from the diverse array of other projects that they contribute to, including West’s dark wave project Koban, Kati’s thrash punk band SBDC and Luk’s electronic project Minimal Violence. Lié’s debut LP Consent embraced the dark nature of the band, sonically, visually and contextually. It was as much hailed for its politically charged commentary on rape culture and for opening a platform for discourse on the topics surrounding the album as for the frantic nature of the music itself, which balanced the manic bass lines and rapid-fire drumming with Wipers-esque guitar riffs and deadpan vocals. On Truth or Consequences, the band was seeking to push beyond the political content of Consent and delve deeper into the personal, concentrating on the dichotomy persisting between the destructive and fragile elements of the ego. Musically the band experimented with new sounds and tempo changes and pulled from a vast array of influences and tried to capture the raw elements of their live performances, immersing themselves in a five day recording experiences...

Rebel, The

Clear And Lies In June

Monofonus Press

***BEN WALLERS (COUNTRY TEASERS) returns as THE REBEL with a collection of 4-track recordings. Includes some Carter Family songs, readings from his novel, and assorted weirdness. 60 minutes.

Houseplants

S/t

Monofonus Press

Debut of a brand new project from the UK with Oli Heffernan (Year of Birds) and Leighton Crook (Country Teasers/Arndales) on vocals. Great stuff and we didn’t make very many so dig on in.

Matchess

The Rafter

Monofonus Press

***The Rafter is the third LP from Chicago artist MATCHESS. We are extremely excited to put this one out to follow the previous two beautiful records on one of our favorite labels (Trouble In Mind). We always ask our bands to make note of anything great they see while on tour and a couple years ago Marriage mentioned Matchess. We all immediately fell in love. It's an album that haunts us to bliss. Synthy, electronic strings, choir ghost vocals, and the pulse of the wind sort of explain what this sounds like.

Beech Creeps

Creeps Can't Swim

Monofonus Press

“Beech Creeps, which features ex-Ex Models' Zach Lehrhoff and The Library is On Fire's Mark Shue, have been together for a couple years now, making the kind of scuzzy, no-nonsense rock n' roll that New York has always done well. 2015 saw them release their debut LP, and a lineup change: the band now have Brian Chase (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) on drums. They've got a new 7" coming out February 26 via Monofonus Press. It's a ripper.”—Stereogum

Rebel, The

Live At Beerland

Monofonus Press

A blazing live solo set from Ben Wallers aka The Rebel recorded during the hellish time known as SXSW. It was an afternoon inside Beerland during the Monofonus show, and thank god someone hit record.

Spray Paint

Dopers

Monofonus Press

Fifth album (and second of 2015) by Austin's Spray Paint. This album was recorded in the middle of a tour by modern madman Chris Woodhouse. They cited Rhys Chatham, Sonic Youth, This Heat, Brainbombs, Jesus Lizard, and The Fall when we asked them who they were ripping off this go-around.

Hidden Ritual

Zebra Bottle

Monofonus Press

Pushed by a rhythm that is somehow driving and hazy, ‘Zebra Bottle’ is filled with a melted urgency, something like a droning-Feelies-psych vibe.  We’re not talking about a paisley dreamcatcher afternoon here so much as an arrhythmic strobe light, dark basement, don’t look in the mirror kind of affair.  This is the long awaited debut from one of Austin’s finest, Hidden Ritual.

Marriage

Pool Blunt

Monofonus Press

Born out of a grungy drum rug, Marriage willed its way into existence. In a room with a lot of sweat and garbage, a random assortment of instruments which includes a closet rod mounted on two cymbal stands, a bunch of drums, an out of tune guitar, a bass rhodes, two basses and whole lot of speakers, with the attitude of "I bet you can't make a recorder sound good" "Fuck you watch me do it" surviving on a diet of beef jerky, doritos, coffee, beer, fizzy water, pizza and tacos Marriage somehow has created Pool Blunt. A daunting document, one that might sound fully improvised, but the beast has learned these songs note for note. In a live setting it could abandon these notes at will because it serves a higher function, which is to explore the unformed sound in its five heads. Not afraid to just trust that even if you make a mistake it could be the right note for that given point in time. Pool Blunt is the second record following For Brötzmann. Neither are tributes to the jazz greats that the record titles reference, but a nod to them in respect. What? You never heard of Herman Pool Blunt?

Ghetto Ghouls

Collisions

Monofonus Press

Following last year’s internet-ally acclaimed debut and 12XU 7” here is the second full length from these Austin treble addicts. Pitchfork, Noisey, WFMU, Adhoc, Impose, etc., etc., loved the first one and this record is better. Drummer Ian Rundell is turning into one of Austin’s best recording engineers and front man Corey Anderson is remaining one of the best song writers in town. The other two dudes are alright too.

Future Blondes

Se-akh Shadow

Monofonus Press

We first met DOMOKOS in a situation not really appropriate to go into here. We knew him as the drummer from Rusted Shut (one of the greatest Texas bands in the history of the universe), and he invited us to watch another one of his projects called Future Blondes. Fast forward a few years and now we have the pleasure of releasing this tape. He has also been a performing member of Helios Creed/Chrome, Black Leather Jesus, Indian Jewelry and many other formations. Grab it up.

Captive

Black Leather Glove

Monofonus Press

Captive is an electronic pop group out of Austin Texas…They are influenced by the New Wave, Cold Wave, Dream Pop and Gothic Rock genres of the 1980s..Although the band makes no attempt to hide their influences, they are dedicated to writing original songs with driving hooks and melodies unlike other modern groups who tend to focus on recreating past sounds…Captive recorded  7 original songs  in the summer of 2013  then continued the process of writing and ended up recording 3 new thematically interconnected tracks (Leaving Home, I’m Long Gone, Coming Home) and  finally finishing the album a year later..Expertly recorded by Dustin Coffey on 8 track tape and then mixed and mastered by Anthony Davis..Ryan Foster plays guitar, Mike Naccarato plays bass, Mitchell Krumm plays synths and drum machines, Rusty Kelley does vocals and Emelia McKay does guest vocals on select tracks including the hit song Coming Home.

Decider

Sad Jose

Monofonus Press

Here’s the Debut cassette EP from Austin/Oakland upstart Decider.  Negative headroom, warped capstan songwriting, somewhere between the M and the G on the _BV spectrum.

V/a

We Jam By Condos

Monofonus Press

***We are spoiled in Austin in terms of the quality of punk rock bands, and we’ve tried to present a variety of it here as best we could. GHETTO GHOULS, SPRAY PAINT, MASSAGEINIST, EMPTY MARKETS, and BREAKOUT could easily be seen on the same show in this town for $5 at Hotel Vegas, Beerland, Red 7, or Mohawk. Still guitar-based but weirder and harder to pigeonhole would be SOFT HEALER and HIDDEN RITUAL  who provide a smoother side of the scene. Over the past few years there has been a growing number of truly world class electronic-leaning bands. A big ol’ hat tip is due to the work Holodeck Records is doing. SURVIVE and TROLLER are two of our favorites and we are happy to have them both on this. With AUNT’S ANALOG we’ve only briefly touched on the vibrant noise scene that is in and of itself worthy of multiple compilations. From free jazz to acid damaged disco SHIT & SHINE have been releasing non stop critically acclaimed albums for many years now and CRAIG CLOUSE brings the heat once again. It’s impossible to present all of the bands we love that live here on one single LP. We’ve excluded bands already featured on the excellent Casual Victim Pile I & II, and also Bring Beer compilations. Those should be checked out if you like what you hear!”—Monofonus Press

Beech Creeps

S/t

Monofonus Press

***BEECH CREEPS, a rock-n-roll Chimera (the kind that breathes fire) shake us with their self-titled LP. It was recorded in Brooklyn's Secret Project Robot by JONATHAN SCHENKE   who's worked with the likes of Parquet Courts and PC Worship. The album captures the glory of the Creepsound—at times sublime, crusty, swirling and headbanging.  It's like Mötörhead kicking Superchunk's ass and Soundgarden cheering them on. Or the Melvins eating the Cure. Real rock and roll with juice and bile and sweat and heart. Features former members of PEOPLE GET READY, YEASAYER, EX MODELS, KNYFE HYTS and PTERODACTYL.

V/a

Monofonus Singles Collection, Vol. 2

Monofonus Press

Monofonus Press label compilation, features tracks by: S U R V I V E, The Rebel, Ghetto Ghouls, Futuroscope, Diagonals, Led Er Est, Los Cripis and Flower Man.

Spray Paint

Clean Blood, Regular Acid

Monofonus Press

***Austin’s self-described “No-No Wave/Dub/Scum Rock” band, SPRAY PAINT, grace us with their third full length LP, Clean Blood, Regular Acid. After a heavy year—two albums on Sacramento’s S-S Records and touring with Protomartyr—Spray Paint are taking their psychotic stories, rebellious guitar riffs and punky kraut beats more seriously. Their sound is a bit broken, contemptuous and unhealthy, yet entirely engrossing. At times, it’s as equal parts The Fall as it is Endless Boogie, Eddy Current Suppression Ring or Nikki Sudden. 

Rebel, The

KROT

Monofonus Press

***THE COUNTRY TEASERS are often imitated, often hated, and sometimes called the greatest band of all time. BEN WALLERS is the songwriter form The Teasers, and Ben Wallers is THE REBEL. This LP was recorded during SXSW 2014. It is a major step up in production for those familiar with his more experimental lo-fi releases.

Sounder

The Howlingest Call

Monofonus Press

((sounder)) is the musical project of visual artist/video director Mike Aho who’s aesthetic of low fidelity psychedelia translates fluidly into his musical endeavors as it mixes with overtones of folk and classic rock with common comparisons to Neil Young, Guided By Voices and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy–for whom Aho has directed two videos.

Trans Upper Egypt

S/t

Monofonus Press

***East Romans TRANS UPPER EGYPT further tighten up their fried sonics on their second, self-titled album—a killer follow-up to 2012’s North African Berserk. “The foursome take primal punk, psychrock, doom metal, and bits of synth pop and mash them all into a symphony of sounds and ideas as jarring and grating as it is gleefully infectious.”—Consequence of Sound.

Avocados, The

S/t

Monofonus Press

Born in a pipeline in an Austin east side neighborhood, The Avocados are a four piece band bringing waves of surf rock and get down good times.

Philip K Glass Dick

Gift Of Love = Homies

Monofonus Press

“In order to jam, one must listen. You must tune in to what the other players are doing. When the proper tuning has been attained you are essentially accessing a certain type of telepathy. It’s the truth – just ask the next dirty hippy you see wearing a Grateful Dead tee shirt. While writing and recording these songs I had no one to jam with. Yet I still relied heavily on telepathy. In the dead of the night I listened intently to nothing. And in that nothing I sought out the love, thoughts, and hopes of my closest friends. I took what I heard and I made it into music.”

Los Cripis

Long Play

Monofonus Press

Straight out of Buenos Aires the sound of Los Cripis is simple and primitive, no pedals or effects, but full of saturation, melodies, freshness, d.i.y. spirit and color. First takes predominate in the recordings, perhaps reminding us of The Shaggs or Beat Happening…

Marriage

Pharaohsmith

Monofonus Press

First recorded output since the sold out LP For Brotzman (MF056). This tape is on a dub trip to Jah Jah land with two side-long improvisations recorded sans overdubs. This one should hold you over until their second LP arrives early next year.

Futuroscope

Hum

Monofonus Press

Même le monsieur du label Monofonus Press dit ne pas savoir grand chose du groupe Futuroscope, à part “qu’ils sont de Tours, (prononcer [tuʁ]), une ville dans le centre de la France”, qu’ils ont visiblement envoyé leur démo de manière spontanée, et que le-dit monsieur du label a l’air d’être très très content qu’ils l’aient fait. Du coup, nous aussi : un groupe tourangeau qui envoie sa musique au label texan qui sort déjà les productions de Sun Araw, y’a de quoi s’excitailler.

Ghetto Ghouls

S/t

Monofonus Press

The name GHETTO GHOULS comes from a street gang that steals beer and beats up old ladies in the criminally underrated Vietnam-vet vigilante film The Exterminator. While not exactly a street gang by day, they are: a handy man, a college geography assistant, a sound guy, and a student. At night they wield the torch of sloppy ‘80s noisy Texas punk like The Dicks, Stick Men with Ray Guns, and Scratch Acid. Ghetto Ghouls work with a drunken urgency best summed up by the fact that the entire self titled album was recorded in 4 hours. All the vocals are live, and there is only one overdub (a background vocal) on the whole thing. The sloppy yet tight sound comes from the fact that three of the four have played in a band together since they were 14 years old. They met fourth member GARRETT at Beerland where two of them work. Inside the cinder blocks of Beerland the Ghetto Ghouls have grown into one of the best punk bands in Austin. In an over saturated landscape of ‘70s worshipping garage bands a stripped down texas punk band like this is most definitely needed

Bobsleigh Baby

Improved

Monofonus Press

***BOBSLEIGH BABY began in the east Rome scene as a drum/guitar duo playing what they called “superfluous and idiotic rock’n’roll,” which is to say stripped-down, to the point, excellent tunes: ‘60s garage and girl group filtered through punk minimalism. They have since grown to a four piece of French and Italian folks, adding organ and bass, as well as a more pronounced urgency to the songs on their new Improved LP. The drums have become more forceful while remaining economical. The ever-fuzzed, velcro bass pushes the songs, filling out the low end sonics. The guitar plays like a spaghetti western, thin and reverberated and melodic, while male and female vocals push a sing-song taunt through the organ’s mysterian buzz. This one is catchy.

Survive

MF064

Monofonus Press

***BACK IN STOCK!!!  This much anticipated EP follow-up shows S U R V I V E evolving inside the increasingly crowded world of analog synth worship. While not totally abandoning the beat-driven sound that made their debut so great, we find them now much more willing to break out of the traditional song structure. Side A is 10-plus minutes of ambient composition that is a natural departure from their previous work. Side B is considerably more akin to their release on Mannequin, retaining the horror meets Knight Rider vibe. Side note for all you heads out there–this record features the classic sounds of the KR55 drum machine. This 12″ EP is packaged in a beautifully hand-pulled silkscreened cover and comes with a digital download code.