These Are Not Records

OMG Vinyl:
"I just got this rad little 7″ in the mail from These Are Not Records, and it’s an impressive release, that’s for sure. Impeccably constructed, this thing looks beautiful, plus gives us two brand new tunes from Pittsburgh’s Modey Lemon. Side A’s “Wandering Eye” is a catchy, powerful piece of rock and roll, one that would sit perfectly next to any of Jack White’s projects. Side B’s “Cheetahs For Chariots” wanders a bit more, and is a tad sleazier, all the while delivering some huge garage-rock production. You can hear both songs on their MySpace page. Now onto the physical side, the impossibly heavy piece of vinyl (which sounds great) is housed in a thick fold-over with some great art. Limited to 475 and priced at $6 shipped, this one is a sure bet. Visit TheseAreNotRecords.com."

Still Single:
"First material in quite a while from this Pittsburgh garage-psych outfit. The showiness of this band in the Jack White-meets-Cramps/torch your face off phase of its early career gave way to some lucid, slightly Paisley Underground-esque wander by the time of their second or third LP. This new single finds the group in a leaner, tougher mode, with “Wandering Eye” cribbing some of ZZ Top’s swagger with a tough riff and muscular bass playing. Was told to pay close attention to the B-side, where drummer Paul Quattrone (also the current drummer for !!!) starts playing around with his MPC2000s. “Cheetahs for Chariots” is just as cool as the A-side if not better, riding a slick, two-note octave groove (reminds me of “Let’s Go All the Way” by Sly Fox, an unfortunate song that is forever lodged in my childhood memory bank), while frontman Phil Boyd dons a good Neil Hagerty impression and wraps this whole enterprise in snakeskin and acid wash denim. Quattrone’s doing a very similar thing in a new outfit called Expensive Shit, and it may be worth your time to check ‘em out (“there’s another band with that name, but fuck ‘em, they suck”). A quality-minded return to form for guys who have been sluggin’ away for over 10 years now. 475 copies, thick vinyl, thick sleeve stock."

Terrascope:
"Opening with a dirty garage swagger, then getting slowly darker and heavier “Wandering Eye”, is a rather fine 7” from Modey Lemon that deserves to be cranked up as it stomps around the room looking for a fight, the distorted vocals and primitive rhythm adding to its splendour. On the flip, the equally excellent “Cheetahs for Chariots”, has a more skewed view of live, stepping into Gabby Haines territory, and doing it bloody well."

Speed Of The Pgh Sound:
"Pittsburgh’s consummate garage rockers are back after a long layoff since 2008′s Season of Sweets with a small, but potent, explosion of swagger with the Wandering Eye 7”, out now on These Are Not Records. “Wandering Eye” doesn’t mess with the formula that made The Modey’s so impressive in the first place: snarling chainsaw guitars with handfuls of solos, cocksure, quietly cool vocals and a caveman beat that barely keeps the whole thing from spiraling out of control. Side B’s “Cheetah’s for Chariots” lurches forward slowly like a Marc Bolan lullaby: sinister, sexy and lethal in large doses.  While it’s not nearly as compact as “Wandering Eye,” “Cheetah’s” gets the menacing atmosphere out front and center, making that lava field on the record sleeve’s artwork seem more appropriate with each listen."

7 Inches:
"I always appreciate a label like this that goes all out on packaging, no expense spared...the 70g vinyl is insanely thick, I don't even bother putting that center weight on the spindle for these kind of singles...they don't need it...The A-Side: "Wandering Eye," has a weird heavy off beat rhythm, sort of like Talking Heads "Once in a Lifetime," it sounds like they're working at combining similar core elements here. It's a lot of work to get this percussion to come off right, there's no 4/4 to fall back on...no easy way to work a fill in. It's the heavy lifting of a drummer pushing his limits, and they captured his massive sound that's matched with super fuzz basslines. Phil Boyd on vocals is sounding like a Anthony Kiedis meets Michael Hutchence....his take on an unmelodic hip hop talky delivery. That sentence sounds insane. I think they're in that limbo place of heavy riff balls rock and funk...with some moody MC-ing echo'd in. The guitar and bass call and answer each other throughout and this unrelenting groove never really changes into a chorus, it's hell bent on this straight rumbly course. The B-Side "Cheetahs for Chariots" starts out with a disjointed synth warble and unstable rhythm that quickly pulls out a melody with the scuzzy bassline. The percussion instruments are punched in and out by the measure. I liked the minimal bass here...it starts out already so effected and fuzzy that all by itself practically it can work. So much energy was put into that particular sound they don't overdo it with solos. The high range synth swirls around unmodulated, the pitch wheel in overdrive. The vocals on this side are reminding me of the Stone Roses...a sort of cool detached approach to vocals. Not a mumble but a laid back just barely changing note style...on top of these breakbeat style sample sounding beats, I keep looking for a credit in the liner notes, but I think that's a testament to Paul Quattrone's sheer abilities to improvise and bring something more than the usual keeping time."