… Is the only way to prevent vinyl singles from being cast into the black hole that is the iPod Shuffle, never to be randomly selected again. Spoon‘s single “The Underdog (demo)” b/w “It Took a Rumor to Make Me Wonder, Now I’m Convinced I’m Going Under” — not to be confused with the Get Nice EP accompanying the new Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga — is a must for serious collectors, given away at many retail points of purchase. Issued simply in a white sleeve, the former track peels back the layers of Jon Brion’s production — the mariachi horns, shakers, and Jim Eno’s backbeat — leaving frontman Britt Daniel snarling with an acoustic guitar in a living-room atmosphere. It’s a revealing glimpse into the band’s creative process. The B-side creates an almost krautrock trance of guitars and drums, emphasizing the loneliness of Daniel’s plea, “Come back to Texas.” Aliens have had a textbook career thus far. Their debut EP, hand-numbered through 315, is a raw and unnerving three-song set Live at CBGB, with guitarist and vocalist Blake Sanberg backed only by the beats of DJ High Priest. With two drummers in tow, the local crew’s new single “Committed to Wind” b/w “Stow Away,” recorded at Nashville’s Sun Studios and issued on green vinyl, is equally unnerving, a visceral attack on pop culture. Both spin at 45 rpm for Austin’s Misc. Music. Party Garbage compacts five trash-punk anthems onto their eponymous 7-inch on local imprint Super Secret. The one-two of “Cut the Kite String” and “Circumsize Me” is a perfect nip-and-tuck, sharp and memorable.
Misc. Music: PO Box 685314, Austin, TX 78768; www.miscmusiconline.com; Super Secret Records: PO Box 1585, Austin, TX 78767; www.supersecretrecords.com.
This article appears in August 3 • 2007.