This exclusive song is really a kick - hardly a throwaway offering. It is an instrumental that sounds like it's based in a song that Dumbo would galavant to, with it's oboe signature. Around this are parts that sound like the UFO in Close Encounters when it blows off it's ear shattering tones, electronic equestrian whinnying, and a host of misplaced sounds. On the flip, Andy Votel cools up with a downbeat instrumental filled with both innocent wonder and mystery. Along with Damon Gough (Badly Drawn Boy) Andy Votel rules Manchester as the co-founder of the prescient Twisted Nerve Records. Twisted Nerve has become a label that defines the moment much as Postcard, Zoo, or Ron Johnson Records once did.

Budget Girls follow up the "On A Tight Budget" CD with this great 7" that is risque but not unplayable, like the best song from that CD, which you couldn't air without taking a chance on getting popped by the FTC. WZBC's Peter Lebedur was describing the band Junior Varsity to me as "like Thee Headcoatees if they were nice girls". Budget Girls are like Thee Headcoatees if they were to decide to be extra troublesome. The A-side is more groovy than growly, and is really catchy and listenable. This single should be huge for them! The first song on the B-side sounds like a "Great Big Kiss" Girlgroup-type song made their own, while the second B-side song (my least fave of the 3 on this 7") sounds like it could have come off their CD, as one of the more generic tracks.

I'd seen a single and a 10" from Gerling around the shops, but they didn't have picture sleeves or any way of gauging what type of music they were, though I liked the name immediately. When this 7" popped up the lure became too great. Now I'm really glad to have bought it, and curious to hear their seemingly many other releases. Gerling are from Australia, where they've already put out lots of stuff. They have just recently signed a licensing deal with a UK label, so we will see their latest CD as a UK release shortly. The A-side of this single reminds me a the California band Further, who had a Pavement-ish sound with many sharper edges left on. Gerling have this sound, but unlike Further use electronics to an extent, leading to one writer calling them a merger of Pavement and Stereolab. To me the only Stereolab thing I really hear is the Neu-ish 'motorik' beat. The A-side really grooves and cooks in an out of control but rooted in pop way. The B-side is an Echoboy mix, so Gerling should get notice before they even play a note due to Echoboys popularity. The mix leaves in a bit of vocals and song structure, is very good and less pop than the A-side.

Max Tundra is a one person computer cut, paste, process, and generate artist who comes on like a poppier Kid 606 on the B-side of this single, and like someone who could get some serious airplay on the A-side of this; one of the few releases he's put out in just a few months. He has 2 other releases on Warp Records that I know of. He incorporates many sources and styles, and still comes off sounding different than the hundred-odd others "incorporating many sources and styles" as is the fashion these days. A pretty nice single on the (seemingly) always reliable Domino Records.

I'm a sucker for Mod or Mod Revival bands, so when this 7" by 2 Wash DC bands covering The High Numbers crossed my path, it was inevitable that it would end up on the playlist at WZBC. The High Numbers were The Who before they changed their name in the mid 60's. Lickety Split do a spirited version of the Holland/Dozier song "Leaving Here" that kicks with it's organ supplement to the guitar/bass/drum/vocal, and The Sharpshooters cover the best known High Numbers song by splitting it between a faithful cover and a speeded up hardcore song.

This whole series seems like a good thing. The songs are not trashy generic punk rock raveups, but are cool songs that should not, and will not, go unheard

I can't find much fault with anything I hear here. High quality and low in cliches. I'll bet every single volume in this series is good, unlike some of the other scrape-the-gutter punk rock compilation series.

My interest in this group started when I read in Sleazenation that Broadcast's only favorite band was The United States Of America, a band that I had often heard mention of (particularly while shopping at Twisted Village) but had never heard. While visiting my retired parents in Florida I went thrifting and found a 60's comp for sixty cents that had a USA song on it, "The Garden Of Earthly Delights". Instantly I could see why Broadcast loved them: on some songs Broadcast sound almost exactly like them! As I love the new Broadcast sound, I became very interested in hearing the one record that USA put out (released in 1968) before they broke up. This is that record. Many things are really different about this record. For one, USA had no guitarist (definetely the instrument of the era), with squealing violin taking it's place . Secondly, Classically and experimentally trained Joseph Byrd played keyboards in a style only slightly less radical than The Silver Apples. Thirdly (and favoritely for me) Polish vocalist Dorota Moskowitz (americanizing for her UCLA stint as Dorothy) sang in a cool and plainitive way, very similiar to the current sound of Broadcast 32 years later. A really neat record that has not been left behind with the passage of time, except by foolish labels that put out fluff while this CD is currently out of print. An unlikely song from this record ("Love Song For The Dead che") is covered by The Nectarine No. 9 on the Bentboutique double CD compilation.

A few months ago I fell in love with Woodbine's "Mound Of Venus" single when I reviewed it for the gullbuy. This single also has the 'less is more' feel of its predecessor, though it's the B-side that has me this time. "Seeing The Sights" is like a version of Broadcast's "Echo's Answer" that adds a sparsely strummed acoustic guitar to it's pastel palette. Woodbine's full length was produced by Royal Trux's Neil and Jennifer (calling themselves Adam andio Eve). You can hear the kinship to their mentors, though the skills used by Woodbine are practiced with the greatest subtlety, crafting tunes that only leave their mark on you well after you've stroked them, like the seemingly soft skin on the leaf of a cactus.