Aaaahh, the 7-inch. As a youngster in South America I could only read about the influence this format had in the development of underground music. Unlike 12-inch vinyl, 7-inch never even came close to dying during the heyday of the Compact Disc. It was always another viable, affordable and durable way to get the word out there and the songs on it for all eternity. Here are some notations on 7-inches I have had the pleasure to receive. Read on and spread the word...

I am not surprised that on the base of this excellent EP this Illinois band got snapped by Candlelight Records faster than you can say ‘have you seen Lars Von Trier’s Antichrist yet’. The Atlas Moth (pictured above) may have only been together for a short couple of years, but their songs show such maturity and gusto for the adequate layering of heaviness, stoner bands that have been around since the grunge era are bound to develop penis envy. Their sound is super dense and slow, the guitars grind like a tractor and the vocals are guttural and distorted beyond acceptable levels of sludgery and yet it all goes down smoothly. And it’s trippy, and it’s got laid back vibes. I was being pretty reticent about reviewing their record recently released by Candlelight (A Glorified Piece of Blue Sky) but this sounds so gnarly I may just have to. I fucking hate digital downloads. I like the real thing God damn it! So why is it that small indies like the nice chaps from Witch Trial don’t care about postage while bit bitches like the big indies whine so much about it? Whatever. Pick this up. This two-song 7-inch is limited to 500 copies and mine is 41. MySpace

I love logos that make me think of the wrong things. Soul Rebel Records out of New Jersey specialize in abrasive hardcore music but their logo will have you thinking that they are about to release the next Ziggy Marley recording. That said, Torchbearer has as much in common with the Marleys as I do with Bill Gates. Theirs is the kind of music you put on when you feel like making holes in the wall with your head. The music is aggressive but it numbs you. It’s slow and pummeling and borders on noise rock levels of angularity. But the vocals take matters to a different level. In parts, The Worst is Yet to Come reminded me of Kiss It Goodbye’s She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not, except Torchbearer don’t seem to have ADD. Instead, they let their songs flow and therefore are all the better for it. The violence sips through and the riffs on occasion become atonal. In others, like in “The Really Useful Engines” the guitars are just heavy enough to give you the courage to do something as wise as sticking your head in an oven. MySpace

One of the best things about vinyl is that even in its small 7-inch format it lets you appreciate artwork so much better than CD’s and tapes. And that’s something you come to realize only in special occasions like this one. The cover of Glen Iris seven inch made me feel joy. It looks like it was drawn by a retard. And maybe it was. Once you get to the music and you listen to the incredibly retarded way in which vocalist Chris Strawn sings on top of their rowdy garage blues punk you come to realize that this may be a joke or that the vocalist is indeed retarded and is brushing his teeth at the same time he is singing. But that’s cool. This Atlanta trio are going for the odd angle. Maybe ironic is not the word. Maybe having fun is all that matters. The music is cool. On the first track the band shows the noise, the distortion. On the flip side not so much. And yet, I love the guitar sound. Odd yeah. Good, yeah that too. Bizarre, surely, perhaps too bizarre for its own good.  It reminds me of a super lo fi and more guitar oriented Ween. This comes courtesy of Dirty Slacks Records. MySpace  

The nice blokes from Calculon Records out in England really know what they are doing.  They’ve put out some killer sludge in the past and I have their release from UFO Gestapo waiting in my car to be reviewed. But now is the time for this split 7 inch between North Caroljna’s Sourvein and the UK’s Blood Island Raiders. Most of you should be familiar with the first band. They are a nasty bunch that’s been getting down since 1996 and their song “Black Cloud Revelations” shows them in all their gritty, obtuse glory. The riff barely moves. It’s simple and basic. It’s too fat to go anywhere and the vocals are so low and disgruntled, we are just waiting for them to go postal. They never do. They just retort and do the twist on their own place.  Blood Island Raiders sounds like a ballerina blues band in comparison. Not sure what I mean by that? Me neither. All I know is that there are some bluesy guitar solos, that there is melody in this song (“The Phobia”) and that the drummer sounds awake. I also know that the vocalist is the odd man out. His voice may be the most distinctive factor of the band though.  Sourvein MySpace – Blood Island Raiders MySpace

Here is another split seven inch, this time coming courtesy of Scenester Credentials. The first half belongs to Copeater out of Wisconsin and who choose to wash us down with a somewhat irrelevant take on grindcore.  It’s wild stuff. Hysterical. Fast. It’s fun. Yeah, four songs in like, I don’t know four minutes. But yeah, Copeater offer nothing new. I enjoyed their last song “Vector Annihilator” the most, basically because it gave me the chance to flip the disc and also because this twosome finishes things off in proper rowdy fashion. Also hailing from Wisconsin come Murder of Crows. Their only song is called “Empty Battlefields” and it totally rocks. I read in the label’s site that this band plays ‘metallic hardcore’ which somehow in my brain translated to metalcore and frankly made think that I shouldn’t even bother but I am glad I did. It’s only one song and all their talent could have been poured on it. After all, the song goes through so many passages; straight up hardcore, thrashy thrash, doom-laden slowness and even a quiet passage. But I’ll judge it for what it is. Plus, the vocalist can scream like a total champ. He gets brownie points for the passion. Copeater MySpace – Murder of Crows MySpace   

The record said to play at 45 RPM but when I did, this 7000 Dying Rats 7 inch sounded like it had been recorded by mice with their little mice instruments. Once we get past that ridiculous intro we get to a cover of Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid”. How can I say that this is fucking weird? And not necessarily ‘good weird’ like say Gummo. More like annoying weird like Tom Green’s Freddy Got Fingered. Way to butcher a classic. If the objective was to end with a joke, well, mission accomplished. Midway through the song I realize that yes, this ought to be played at 45 RPM. Stuff is just as hideous either way. The second side ends with a live rendition of the band playing Journey’s “Any Way You Want It”. I’ve never felt like listening to this song in my life. Not by Journey, not by fucking Slayer, and sure as hell not by fucking 7000 Dying Rats. Maybe you had to be there.  MySpace

Got 7 inch? I got ink. Well, not really ink, but I got fingers to type about it. Send me your stuff. Deaf Sparrow Zine, 4611 W El Prado Blvd., Tampa, FL 33629

The Atlas Moth photo is by Erick Dietrich Muller