So many new artists have embraced the antiquated garage shtick that it’s hard to even call it a revival anymore. Sic Alps, on the other hand, have always seemed more like they were possessed by the era’s zeitgeist than simply paraphrasing it. Throw in some properly blended noise-pop and you’ve got us champing at the bit.
Now joined by Ty Segall, the band has released their first cut as a trio on Slumberland, one of our very favorite furniture stores record labels. The new 7″ is called L. Mansion, and it rules. Bombastic, snarling, and catchy as they’ve ever been, with nothing sacrificed in the process. The flip side features a gritty, all-business cover of Donovan’s stoner classic “Superlungs.” Awesome.
Congrats to these guys on landing an opening spot for Sonic Youth on their upcoming tour, as well a west coast romp with Magjik Markers. Expecting much more noise from their camp in the coming months.
L. Mansion is available now on Slumberland Records.
For fans of: Brian Jonestown Massacre, Times New Viking, Velvet Underground
MP3 :::
Sic Alps – L Mansion
Oh good, glad to see you like my illustration. Yeah, I had some downtime and wasn’t feelin’ too creative or too much in my graphic design game as far as doing something special for The Decibel Tolls year-end list. So Lana and I started talking, and it came to us that it would be hysterical to do a collage with people like Bradford Cox eating that Ezra Comma dude from Frankenstein Weekday or whoever, and Franz Ferdinand… stuff like that. I didn’t have time to add Lil’ Wayne. And then I had to make, like, the fuckin’ universe as the backdrop. That’s how we roll here at the Decibel Tolls – no fun, tasteful graphic to designate this article as the accumulative best-of list. Nope, just crude images of artists I like with their heads detached eating shitty bands. I’m additionally thrilled that I was able to describe the image even further despite the fact that it’s already annotated. I rule.
I put some serious thought into this list, and did a bunch of narrowin’ down. There were other jam hives I was rather infatuated with this year, such as releases from Magik Markers, Burning Star Core, and Vivian Girls. But I wanted to do just the standard top ten this time around. No reason to not do things standard every now and again… Continue reading ‘The Decibel Tolls Best Albums of 2008′
I should be releasing my best of 2008 list next month at this time. As a preview, you can bet that San Francisco’s Sic Alps will be firmly planted in the northern latitudes of the list. This isn’t your father’s unwashable, filthy, no-fi psychedelic rock scuz – Sic Alps twist, creak, and thump, taking you on a cosmically damaged romp through west coast good vibes and future shock trepidation.
Why I didn’t czech out the group earlier is a mystery to me. Their debut Pleasures and Treasures was released on Animal Disguise, home to my good friends Warmer Milks. The latest, U.S. Ez, has a comfy place on the Siltbreeze roster with the likes of Charlambides, The Dead C, and hey look, U.S. Girls (see below). Sic Alps certainly drink from the same goblets as the highest in psych rock royalty, but they also bring the goods to back up their seat at the table. Continue reading ‘No-Fi Psych with Sic Alps, US Girls, and The N.E.C.’
