Boo Boo Records

March Program Titles Released This Week:

Citizen Cope – Heroin And Helicopters CD/LP (Rainwater Recordings)

Comprised of eleven new, original songs all written and produced by Citizen Cope, Heroin And Helicopters serves as his first album in seven years and marks a return to a grassroots approach to musicianship, one that’s colored by hard work, hustle and heart, irrespective of the obstacles he’s encountered throughout 25 years as a career artist. Cope came up with the title after an encounter with Carlos Santana: “stay away from the two H’s – heroin and helicopters,” Santana told him. The LP tackles Cope’s personal struggles with religion, political manipulation, hollowness in the entertainment world, and spiritual enlightenment, as he contends with his own role in those societal institutions. It opens with “Duck Confit”, a poetic spoken word piece backed by 808 kicks and an ominous organ. “The River” is a slow-burning reflection on tyrannical systems that betray and oppress. Quiet stand-out “On My Love” is a stark, heart-wrenching tribute to Cope’s daughter Lula, and an attempt on Cope’s part to pass his life’s lessons on to her.

Criminal Hygiene – Run It Again CD/LP (Dangerbird)

Formed in 2011, Criminal Hygiene is a Los Angeles-based quartet comprised of founding member Michael Fiore (vocals, guitars, keys), Michael Hiller (vocals, bass, guitars) and Sean “Birdman” Erickson (drums, percussion) and bassist Cameron Ward. Their second album, Run It Again is a 10-song set that shines a fresh light on a raw sort of garage rock, full of melody, smart lyrics and hooks for days. When it comes to influences, the band cites everything from Johnny Thunders to The New York Dolls, The Clash and Wire. Television and Richard Hell. Minneapolis stuff like The Replacements, Hüsker Dü, The Suicide Commandos and The Suburbs. Big Star. Guided By Voices. Fleetwood Mac. Fugazi. The Pixies. Nirvana. Pavement. The Shins. Wilco. Marshall Crenshaw. Tommy Keene. Not to mention the classic rock they all heard via their parents.

Delicate Steve – Till I Burn Up CD/LP (ANTI-)

Some of the first people to recognize Delicate Steve’s (aka Steve Marion) unique musical talents were renowned artists such as David Byrne, Dirty Projectors, tUnE-yArDs, Mac DeMarco, Dr. Dog, and elder statesmen like Lee Ranaldo and Built to Spill. Steve is likely the only guitarist who has cut records with Sondre Lerche and Death Grip’s Zach Hill, been handpicked to open a sold out North American tour for Tame Impala and then provided guitar for a Paul Simon record. Now the acclaimed guitarist is back with his fifth solo studio album, Till I Burn Up. “On the (mostly) instrumental albums he’s released as Delicate Steve, Marion’s guitar playing is always in the spotlight, but never hogging it – rather, his luminous leads form the emotional undercurrent around which everything else flows. What makes Marion a guitar hero isn’t just his technical wizardry, but his music’s mission to help you through dark times.” – Pitchfork

Frankie and The Witch Fingers – ZAM CD/2xLP (Greenway)

Frankie and The Witch Fingers’ fifth LP, ZAM, bleeds beyond borders and boundaries. Its opening preternatural sounds bubble up out of the primordial soup, spilling into our world, invading the inner recesses of the listener’s mind. Like a two-headed snake wrapped around the skull, the album pendulates between winding instrumentals and dancey riffs that pop like supernovas out of the black void. Just when a song goes one way, it propels another through long stretches of a cosmic inferno. Bringing glimmers of krautrock and funk, its eleven tracks unleash a versatile and tenacious weight, slithering between the sexy, the aggressive, the vivacious, and the disorienting – until the living invasion is felt – ZAM, a supernatural entity summoned by four madmen obsessed with tearing open a gateway to dark space. After being pulled apart atom-by-atom, the listener is reconfigured on the other side, born unto starry wasteland. [Limited indie store exclusive vinyl edition also available.]

[Read more…] about New Releases for March 1, 2019

March Program Titles Released This Week:

The Claypool Lennon Delirium – South Of Reality CD/2xLP+MP3 (ATO)

South Of Reality, The Claypool Lennon Delirium’s epic sophomore album might be just the antidote this sick world needs. Music so potent it could repel an asteroid impact from space, these seasoned warriors of psychedelia have crafted timeless songs that may as well be chiseled in stone. The monolithic dream team’s new record was produced by Les Claypool and Sean Lennon themselves, and engineered and mixed by Claypool at his own Rancho Relaxo studio in Sonoma County, California. Claypool and Lennon told Rolling Stone that South Of Reality “feels like an organic extension of Monolith Of Phobos, blending the wildly surreal and psychedelic with satirical social commentary.” Additionally, Rolling Stone called new track “Blood And Rockets”, “a sprawling epic that finds Lennon and Claypool crooning and snarling, respectively, over spacey synths and chiming guitars.” [Limited half pink/half purple splatter colored vinyl pressing also available.]

Martin Frawley – Undone At 31 CD/LP+MP3 (Merge)

Whether one seeks it out or it simply presents itself, change is an inevitability. Should one embrace it? Grapple with it? Fight it? These are the questions Martin Frawley unpacks as he steps into the spotlight for Undone At 31, his first album as a solo artist and the start of a new chapter for the Melbourne songwriter. Those familiar with Frawley’s time as co-leader of Twerps will take comfort in hearing his deceptively simple songwriting is still intact, but the big reveal on Undone At 31 is how new instrumentation and influences seamlessly expand his playground. It might take several listens for one to realize Frawley is singing “Something About Me” over just violin, Moog, and a Graceland-esque bassline, or to appreciate the PB+J pairing of Fender Rhodes and lap steel on “Where The Heart Is”, which serves as the album’s twist ending. [Exclusive indie-store vinyl pressing also available.]

Lily & Madeleine – Canterbury Girls CD/LP (New West)

Lily & Madeleine Jurkiewicz create candid music with deep emotional and personal resonance. The sisters, who record under the moniker Lily & Madeleine, boldly explore what it means to be women in the 21^st century and aren’t afraid to use their music to call out injustice or double standards. This fearless approach has permeated their three albums, which are full of insightful lyrics and thoughtful indie-pop. But with their fourth studio album, Canterbury Girls – named after Canterbury Park, located in their hometown of Indianapolis – the sisters are coming into their own as women and musicians as the explore new sonic vistas. “Supernatural Sadness” is an irresistible slice of bubbly, easy-going disco-pop; the urgent “Pachinko Song” hews toward interstellar synth-pop with driving rhythms, and “Can’t Help The Way I Feel” is an effervescent, Motown-inflected number. Vocally, the sisters also take giant leaps forward. The dreamy waltz “Self Care” is a rich, piano-heavy track on which their voices intertwine for soulful harmonies, while the meticulous “Just Do It” has a throwback, ‘70s R&B vibe.

Overkill – The Wings Of War CD/LP (Nuclear Blast America)

It’s with over 30 years under their leather belts that New Jersey natives Overkill unveil their latest offering, The Wings Of War. With 10 tracks clocking in at fifty-one minutes, their nineteenth full length slab is the ultimate combination of sickening brutality and addictive melody. Album opener “Last Man Standing” is Overkill kicking the door in with a hard and loud tune that’s rooted in some of the best angst that thrash possesses. The album’s second single, “Head Of A Pin”, is a lyrical journey about disappointment and trust. Musically, the song comes across as “Black Sabbath on meth” proclaims frontman Bobby Blitz. [Limited digipak edition includes a bonus track.]

[Read more…] about New Releases for February 22, 2019

March Program Titles Released This Week:

Ryan Bingham – American Love Songs CD/2xLP (Axster Bingham)

Ryan Bingham’s sixth studio album, American Love Song, finds the South Texas bred singer/songwriter honing his creativity on two distinct levels, the personal and the cultural. He co-produced it with Charlie Sexton, the superb Austin guitarist who has played for years in Bob Dylan’s touring band. From the opening track – the spry “Jingle And Go”, which recounts his early years as an itinerant open-mic performer working, like the great Texas bluesmen before him, for tips – to the closer, “Blues Lady”, a tribute to Janis Joplin, Aretha Franklin, Bingham’s own late mother, and all the other strong women this country has produced, the album combines autobiographical reflection with a bittersweet celebration of our collective spirit in the face of enduring difficulties.

Hayes Carll – What It Is CD/LP (Dualtone)

On What It Is, Houston, TX troubadour Hayes Carll is leaving the past behind. “I want to dig in so this life doesn’t just pass me by. The more engaged I am the more meaning it all has. I want that to be reflected in the work,” Carll says. What It Is continues the artistic risk-taking initiated by 2016’s Lovers And Leavers; his voice is strong and assured, and his songwriting as truthful as ever. On the rambunctious, fiddle-punctuated, “Times Like These”, he laments political division in America while delivering a rapid-fire plea to “do my labor, love my girl, and help my neighbor, while keeping all my joie de vivre.” Carll’s signature cleverness and aptitude for so-personal-you-might-miss-it political commentary is as strong as ever. The stark, “Fragile Men”, co-written with singer-songwriter Lolo, uses humor and dripping sarcasm to examine his gender’s resistance to change in less than three minutes of string-laden, almost Jacques Brel invoking drama. It’s new musical territory for Carll, and the result is powerful. His voice is strong and resonant on these songs, and it’s thrilling to hear him use it with a new authority. He is alternately commanding and tender, yet always soulful.

Copeland – Blushing CD (Tooth & Nail)

While they began as a rock band, Copeland’s music has explored multiple genres and pulled in various stylistic influences like electronic and symphonic. In the past the musicians have aptly melded these styles, creating a unique amalgam of sounds. This time they wanted to take each sound and style and push it to its logical extreme. “We wanted to take all of the elements that made up our sound in the past and push those elements farther,” Aaron Marsh says. “So, rock becomes more rock than we’ve been in the past. If we’ve taken elements of symphonic tones, let’s now be very symphonic. When we’re being electronic, be very electronic. We wanted to emphasize each element of sound harder, like an exaggerated version of Copeland’s sound. We could be each thing individually by pushing each facet of our art in a more focused way.” “On Your Worst Day” best exemplifies the band’s sonic goals for Blushing, opening as a perfectly orchestrated song led by Aaron’s voice and strings before transforming into a melancholy electronic number. “Night Figures” is an intimate love song, a theme that threads through the album. [Vinyl edition due March 22.]

[Read more…] about New Releases for February 15, 2019