Are You Down With EP?

Yeah, there's a new Grizzly Bear EP with remixes & a bunch of bands covering their songs (Band of Horses? Seriously, guys?). There's also that new Battles EP, which boasts even more remixes (including one by Four Tet, which seems to be mandatory for any indie rock remix project) & videos that take the "bask in the sight of our music's complexity & technicality" angle to new extremes. But since EPs are disqualified from contending for the Expressway To Yr Skull Album of the Year crown, I feel that it's my responsibility to tell you about some short & sweet EP jams I've been fond of lately. We'll start off with this one:

It's no secret that I'm a big supporter of manic garage-punk & I was pretty stoked to see that John Dwyer of the very manic, very excellent Pink & Brown/Coachwhips (RIP) is picking up where those bands left off with his new project, Yikes! (his other project, the Oh Sees, put out an album this year called Sucks Blood also worth checking out, though more on the lo-fi weirdo pop tip). They just put out an EP called Whoa Comas & Blood Bomb on the Kill Shaman record label, who seem to be ahead of the curve on nutty noise-rock lately (Load Records, watch your back). What are you in store for on this little guy? Fuzzed-out guitar racket that could pass for Thee Heacoats on speed, distorted vocals that sound like they were recorded in a shoebox & a few off-kilter punk tricks they probably picked up from the Fall. Success! They apparently also have a new-ish full-length called Secrets To Superflipping out on Upset! The Rhythm out of London - I'm not sure if it's going to be released domestically anytime soon, so it might be worth it to break down & buy the import, even if the dollar-to-pound conversion rate is absurd right now. Might I suggest buying the No Age 12" EP they released as well, while you're at it & while we're on the topics of EPs?

Speaking of No Age, here's a rad video for "Boy Void", which is probably the best song on their ridiculously awesome Weirdo Rippers singles anthology. OH YEAH!