Once the Jesus Lizard walked the earth unchallenged and primitive tool-using mammals quivered before it. Then in 1999 it broke up. But a deluxe series of remasters on Touch and Go (and an encouraging Scratch Acid reunion) helped resurrect the Jesus Lizard for a fearsome set of shows. Vocalist David Yow speaks now from Pioneertown. This interview by Chris Ziegler.

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The Mekons lived Leeds but dreamed Texas and Tennessee and after finding their feet in first-wave punk songs like “Where Were You,” they left the world of Rough Trade for the open range. They are working on a new album tentatively called 100 Years and singer-guitarist-activist Jon Langford speaks as he takes his dog to the vet. This interview by Chris Ziegler.

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Shellac of North America record when they want and tour when they want and defuse all hecklers with the confidence and acumen of thirty-year bomb squad vets. Guitarist/vocalist (and engineer) Steve Albini speaks now 36 hours after returning to America. This interview by Chris Ziegler.

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Now Tentacles, the Antlers’ debut full-length as well as the gum-studded end of Touch and Go, falls into familiar grooves—songs that fly by on Comets on Fire-like orbits between heavy breaths from the band’s bottom-end. When a song occasionally drops back to solid ground, it’s fired back up again by a burst of propulsive drums or some well-timed keyboards, bumped up on the likes of synth-stuttering opener “Painless Sleep,” “Glacier” and others. But it’s the burners—”Dust,” “Andrew” and “Tentacles”—that provide the real power, sending the album off onto a crucial course.

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L.A. RECORD interviewed Crystal Antlers back before they’d even made their first EP and popularized the legend of Long Beach’s psychedelic chimneysweeps. Now Crystal Antlers’ Tentacles will be the final new release on Touch and Go. Founders Bell and guitarist Errol Davis—who has recently rejoined the band—meet for chicken and waffles. This interview by Chris Ziegler.

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Download: Crystal Antlers “Andrew”

(off Tentacles out now on Touch and Go)
04/16/09 – Cntr For Arts-Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, CA
04/18/09 – Cellar Door, Visalia, CA
04/21/09 – Commodore, Vancouver, Canada – with Cold War Kids
04/22/09 – Showbox, Seattle, WA – with Cold War Kids
04/23/09 – Doug Fir Lounge, Portland, OR – with Cold War Kids
04/26/09 – Crystal [...]

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Members of Black Eyes regrouped into Mi Ami, a Bay Area-based band whose music might make one person think of Rage Against the Machine being eaten by George Clinton. Mi Ami’s album Watersports is out now on Touch and Go. Guitarist/singer Daniel Martin-McCormick speaks from the back of the band van. This interview by Daiana Feuer.

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claire cronin

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We are please to announce that our friends the Crystal Antlers have signed with Touch and Go Records.  To celebrate they are hitting the road with Fucked Up and The Strange Boys.  Here are some tour dates for ya’ll.
8/12 Los Angeles, California – 6th St. Warehouse – Fuck Yeah Fest Benefit        
8/20 Los Angeles, [...]

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