To The Lovers, Farewell / Sex Funeral - Split Tape

Ah, noise tapes! Sex Funeral comes on sounding a bit like Dead Neanderthals crossed with the first LDOH demo; opener "Success in Battle, Crunch in Milk" is a dirging mess of (I assume) power electronics, saxophone sounds and crude percussion. It sounds like hell, which is absolutely OK in my book. I can't really define when one "song" ends and another begins, but there comes some really light reed-sounding instrument after a while, that almost sounds like a nice female vocal. After a while it dawns on me that this recording is of a live performance, and I chastise myself for not figuring this out sooner.

To The Lovers, Farewell present to us some very experimental saxophone pieces; I'm not sure if this is played live or manipulated in some way, but it sounds pretty awesome and makes me want to go out and buy a saxophone, even though it will probably just end up gathering dust (and rust) in my attic after a week or so.

This cool little blue tape was put out on Personal Archives, which I think is the label run by Sex Funeral. I got my copy off To The Lovers, Farewell at one of the Genre X Genre shows he's been putting on lately in Cardiff. Noise, in Wales? Yes, it's happening! Check it out! Oh, and buy this tape.

Dead Neanderthals - Dead Neanderthals

There is no other band in the world that sounds like Dead Neanderthals (although 7000 Dying Rats and Rich Hoak's solo experiments do come close in their own little ways). Jazzgrind? Or is it saxgrind? Who the fuck would have thought it? Not me, that's for sure! Trust the Netherlands! Ha ha.

This is one of the original Bat Shit Records pressings of the 7" EP, limited to 105 copies (I have number 92). It is a simple affair of a printed and stamped card sleeve, folded to house a plain black 7". You have to look at the disc etching to figure out what side your playing! This is a basic, and excellently D.I.Y as fuck collectors item that I am proud to own. This is well out of print, as is, I believe, the repress, but you can still download it for free from Grindcore Karaoke.

On the ears, Dead Neanderthals first come across as extremely lo-fi and abrasive, but once your ears adjust you can truly appreciate the gorgeous racket that is going on here. Once you are over the absence of guitars  and vocals (just a saxophone and a drum kit here) you can properly begin to enjoy the tunes on offer. I imagine that Dead Neanderthals sound a hundred times better in a volatile live environment, and I was absolutely crushed to realize that I recently missed their brief UK tour. Totally gutted is an understatement!

These guys have a full 10" out now being distributed by Burning World records, which is a big deal, and I'm glad to see them getting some well deserved attention. I really think that Jay Randall's enormously successful Grindcore Karaoke label has a huge part to play in the international success of many bands, including Dead Neanderthals. I for one, to be sure, had never heard of these guys until I downloaded their record off that site. Excellent stuff all round!