Meho Plaza

Each dose of Meho Plaza's quirky, hooky electro-punk takes care of business, then bolts—leaving you craving more. I'd hardly call it minimalist, only that each musical element is used cunningly and sparingly. If there is an imbalance worth noting, it's that Mike Thrasher's lyrics take a back seat while the Moog gets its own dressing room—but it's all for the good. From what I've read, their live show's even better than the recorded version, and quite different. Alas, I'll never know firsthand until they get enough funding to tour beyond of their SoCal homebase...so buy this record (available on iTunes), if only for me and everyone else east of the Pacific Time Zone.

P.S. Whew, I made it to the end of the post without referencing Wire... Oops!

from Meho Plaza (2008):
The Beach [MP3, 3.4MB, 192kbps]
I Sold My Organs [MP3, 4.8MB, 192kbps]

Special Easter Egg Track:
Love Plus One (Haircut 100 Cover) [MP3, 3.6MB, 160kbps]

www.betterlookingrecords.com
www.mehoplaza.com
www.myspace.com/MehoPlazaMusic

The Loved Ones

Sometimes I like to look for songs that include the names of my kids. One of my daughter's favorites is by Raffi. You know, whatever. I got a hit with The Loved Ones (nice, appropriate), and hey look, they're even on 3hive! I figured I'd update Sean's post from '05 with another free download, "Suture Self," and let everybody know that a new album's coming out in February. Rock on.

Suture Self [MP3, 2.8MB, 128kbps]

Sean's original post: 03/22/05
I know we're late on this, but if you haven't done so already, raid the SXSW site for a shload of MP3s (hit the day, then artist links) before they're pulled. When in Texas, eat like a Texan. So, off to the The Salt Lick for slabs of heaven on earth. After demolishing three rounds of smoked ambrosia, my BBQ buddies dropped me off on Red River Street where I could hear The Loved Ones blasting their brand of stripped down, punk 'n' roll for all the world to hear. I scrambled my way up to the front of the stage for their raucous set, fueled by the bottled-up energy of their twenty-seven hour road trip to make the show. Me? I was fueled by brisket. Culinary and musical highlights coming together like magic.

Jane [MP3, 3.3MB, 160kbps]

www.fatwreck.com
www.thelovedonesband.com

New Grenada

We'll go Detroit local for today's post, and check out New Grenada's punky rock riffs and rips, boops and bips, toy instruments and just about anything else they dig out of the closet. Like a lot of awesome indie rock outfits, John Nelson, Nicole Allie and Dave Melkonian seem to make a lot more sound than you'd expect from so few people. With three LPs and a handful of 7" and other recordings to their credit, New Grenada seem to be about to hit the sweet spot (even if their photo suggests they're survivng solely on the kindliness of others). Check out their latest tracks — "Emergency Brigade" and "Meat is Murdermobile," from the 2006 release Modern Problems — for a sense of their sonic range.

Emergency Brigade [MP3, 2.6MB, 128bps]
Meat is Murdermobile [MP3, 2.5MB, 128bps]
Behnan's Street Punk Infatuation [MP3, 2.3MB, 192bps]
Just Inside a Week [MP3, 4.9MB, 160bps]
Chronic Anxiety [MP3, 3.5MB, 160bps]
Fashion Disaster [MP3, 2.4MB, 128bps]

www.nokarma.com
www.asaurus.org
www.newgrenada.com

Jawbox

You'll have to forgive us if we geek out a bit on Dischord bands. It's more than slightly embarrassing that we've been running on at the mouth for over three-and-a-half years without featuring a Dischord artist (hats off to Clay for pointing this out and diggin' up the goods). For this bunch of music geeks the seminal, super-duper DIY label has had a huge influence on the projects we've worked on together over the years (AM 960 The S.U.N., Sonic Garden CD Exchange, and Grid Magazine—and no you haven't heard of any of these unless you were in college with us a good decade ago in a strange little corner of the country). I will forever associate Jawbox with our takeover of an AM signal, housed in a little shack in the middle of a cow pasture, tucked under the shadows of the Rocky Mountains. These tracks were in heavy rotation for the nine months or so we were on cloud nine, amazed we'd finagled our way into running a radio station. While the members of Jawbox have moved on to other projects and stages of life, Dischord continues its inspiring aesthetic.

Static [MP3, 3.8MB]
Impossible Figure [MP3, 2.7MB]

www.dischord.com
www.desotorecords.com/bands/jawbox

The Radishes

I never pegged myself as a sucker for reminiscing about some bygone era of youthful indiscretions set to a soundtrack so loud that it did permanent hearing damage. Then again, I never figured that the moment I had a child, my life before that moment would become an abstraction only referential as fragmented memories and out-of-body mental snapshots. I hope that doesn't sound too wistful because there's nothing better than being a parent, but on our first "official" family road trip this past week there were a couple of moments when I'd just about gotten my fill of baby-friendly playlists and was ready for a quick mental cleanse of the kind that The Radishes are fond of administering. Y'know, the kind with simple riffs repeated fast and loud, driving bass and drums (provided by the former rhythm section for Ministry!), and acidic vocals that scream alienation, anger, and irony. Alas, when the baby is sleeping in the back seat and your wife has taken the reins of the iPod, you don't always get that instant aural gratification. But when you're home early on a Friday morning and the rest of the family is asleep behind closed doors, you can put on the headphones, turn it up all the way and get a good dose of noise, sweet noise.

Good Machine [MP3, 2.6MB, 128kbps]

www.theradishes.com

John K. Samson

I really wanted to post something about Reunion Tour, the new album by The Weakerthans, and it looks like there are two tracks from it on the Anti Records website, but I'm still a techno illiterate and am unable to link these babies up. Instead, here's a blast from the 1990s, from John K. Samson's solo album Little Pictures, rereleased by G7 in 2006. Samson is like our own (Canadian) Woody Guthrie, a social activist lyric genius. John K.'s guitar kills fascists too, I bet.

Farewell Faded Memory [MP3, 6.9MB, 192kbps]

www.g7welcomingcommittee.com
theweakerthans.org

Demander

The Santa Ana's are roaring in these parts. The winds and smoke burn my sinuses, eyes and throat. And after spending two hours helping my 6th grader with his math homework my brain's burnt as well. Fight fire with fire! Demander has brought a sweet equilibrium to my dry and fried skull. Imagine Siouxsie Sioux rising out of the DC punk scene as part of the Dischord family. Yeah, it's cool, and cools, like that.

GMT [MP3, 5.8MB, 192kbps]
Revelle [MP3, 6.2MB, 192kbps]

www.demandernyc.com
www.myspace.com/demander

Red Collar

I feel Clay's pain. My ears have been ringing steady since February 2006. And I play guitar even worse, way worse, than Clay, but I do wear earplugs. Like a religion. Tinnitus still struck. It doesn't bother me during the day, just when I lie down at night to sleep. The remedy? MP3 player of choice. Just be sure to keep the levels down so you don't further ruin your hearing. I just found what I'll be falling asleep to this evening: Red Collar. These Durham, NC rockers take me back a decade or so, sounding like a solid Dischord band if Dischord were down south in Alabama. Country Fried Hardcore? Springsteen fronting Fugazi? Sacrilege? Perhaps. I'll definitely be breaking the first aural health commandment tonight: keep it below 11. This'll drown out the ringing nicely.

Hands Up [MP3, 5.7MB, 192kbps]
Witching Hour [MP3, 3.9MB, 192kbps]

www.powerteamrecords.com
www.redcollarmusic.com