Friday, December 23, 2011

Wicked Awesome Son Cats Press

The Son Cats "O'Dell/1971" seven inch raked in some solid press in 2011!

Word from our friends at Terrascope Rumbles is that "the A-side [is] a noisy guitar/psych romp sounding like the Strawberry Alarm Clock if they had ditched their keyboard player and turned everything up... with some mean guitar and weird Bolan-esque lyrics, fine stuff indeed and well worth a listen."

Son Cats also made Dying for Bad Music's end of the year Psych-Garage-Punk-Post-Country-Surf "Apes in Space" mix/podcast. So glad we bludgeoned all of those stellar categories in one fell swoop, and so proud to be among such fine company. This mix is one to remember, featuring tracks by awesome bands like Thee Oh Sees and Twerps.

On the other side of the lily pad, the fine chaps at the helm of Mad Mackerel in London swore that Son Cats got "prime slabs of 60s tinged, sleazy rock’n'roll voodoo designed to make the sweat run down the walls and the neighbours bang on the floor in despair." (My friends, that's why the Cats were born in a shed at the edge of a former WWII detainment camp in Montana. This band really is that loud.)

The "O'Dell/1971" 7" also drew in some attention from Spain, muchos gracias to the folks at Monasterio de Cultura, and from France, merci to the wonderful people at My Car is Full of Plums. I think the last line in French roughly translates as: "beautiful mouths to decorate the whole?" Cat breath! ("Tous les ingrédients de la réussite sont là : l'énergie du rock n' roll, la fougue du folk-blues psychédélique, la fièvre des années 60/70, et de belles gueules pour agrémenter le tout!")

Back in New York, the fine folks at Music Vagabond weighed in, saying, "When I first heard this split I wrote to the band and said it felt like 1970’s rock had come back and smacked me in the face. It’s a good smack, but it’s hard and you damn well whats hits you... Listening to these tracks is like jumping in a rock and roll time machine. Throw on some headphones and get ready to be beamed back to 1971. " Wowza. Bam!

Thanks an extra bucketful to Blah Blah Blah Science (who proudly gave us an 8.2 (out of 8.2, we presume)) and to Ashbees Fragments for giving our video for "O'Dell" an ample amount of play. BBBS said: "This video for “O'Dell” is totally challenging our current video of the year. If you love anything about garage we dare you to resist this song." Thanks a million. And thanks, also, to science.

To end on a high note (so high, it's only reachable by Mariah Carey,) the Cats received a warm welcome from Die Pop: "These cats (no pun intended) put out thick rock and roll waves that drown your brain in a hazy maple flavored smoke. The two tracks on this 7'', O'Dell and 1971, are packed with truck loads of pure energy. Without any post-production sort of static-magic, these two fill up a lot of dead air with primitive skin-pounds, wailing guitar riffs, and genuine vocals. Combining folk, 60s psychedelic garage, and pure rock and roll - SON CATS piss excellence."

And of course, we can't forget the epic Son Cats interview over at Sean Carnage.com. EPIC. And as if that alone weren't enough, the brains and ears behind the 7inches blog gave the record such a thorough listening that it isn't even worth quoting or paraphrasing here. Just go read it.

Happy holidaze!

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Black Rabbits Cassette Compilation Now Available on Bandcamp

Our "Black Rabbits" compilation cassette has sold out twice - gone through two whole pressings! - and is now available as a download on Bandcamp. Perfect for car rides and hazy summer days spent lounging on the beach or in your backyard with your boombox, "Black Rabbits" features tracks by some of our very favorite artists, including Fletcher Johnson, Fort King, Johanna Kunin, June Madrona, Manipulator Alligator, Morgan Orion, Polka Dot Dot Dot, and Wooden Indian Burial Ground. We're donating all proceeds from digital downloads to the Alaska Conservation Foundation and the Food Bank for New York City. Check it out - you can stream it on your computer for free!

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Cabinet of Natural Curiosities "Blue Highways" Summer Tour 2011

Hello friends! Cabinet of Natural Curiosities will be touring the United States to celebrate the release of "Blue Highways," a new full-length record that has been a long time in the making. The record was recorded by Jasmine Dreame Wagner and Alex Reed Wilson on their Tascam cassette tape machines, mastered to vinyl by Roger Seibel at SAE Mastering, and hand-printed and letterpressed at Stumptown Printers in Portland, OR.

This record and its sleeve aren't just containers for music. Each piece has been handcrafted and assembled like a quilt. "Blue Highways" is a product of people and their hands, down to the smallest detail. We are even reluctant to release it digitally. The cover looks like a relic from a lost era and the LP sounds like a music box found in a dusty attic in the 1940s: dark, warm, and haunted.

This June, July, and August, Cabinet will be sharing shows with friends from near and far, including mini-tours with the great World History, Whitman, Fort King, Blaka Watra, Edwin R. Perry, and Reed Wilson & His Tree of Smoke.

There are still dates being booked, if you see a date marked TBA with a question mark and you might be able to help out, please be in touch!


+++CABINET OF NATURAL CURIOSITIES SUMMER TOUR 2011+++

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Record Store Day 4/21

Happy record store day!

Be sure to visit and support of one our favorites:
Origami Vinyl (Los Angeles, CA)
Mississippi Records (Portland, OR)
Record Room PDX (Portland, OR)
Phantom City Records (Olympia, WA)
The Business (Anacortes, WA)

(All of these awesome independently-owned stores carry our releases!)

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Son Cats @ 5 Star Bar, Los Angeles, 1/15/11

 
Video by Danny Bobbe of LA Font. Weedshirt 2'45". Check it.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Son Cats - "O'Dell" Video



Animation by Alex R. Wilson. Starring Alex R. Wilson, Jasmine D. Wagner, a lobster, a Ninja Turtle, an evil flower, bags of money, Clint Eastwood, Dock Ellis, and a baseball. Schazam!