“I love anthemic, tug-at-your-heartstrings kind of music. I really do. And I think these guys do too…”
That’s Nick Sakes speaking on a joint Zoom with bassist Noah Paster and drummer Shaun Westphal, his bandmates in Upright Forms, about their upcoming debut album, Blurred Wires. If you’ve followed Sakes’ past output on SKiN GRAFT Records during the past 30-plus years — three LPs and various EPs, singles and compilation appearances, spanning four different bands — his statement might surprise you. This is, after all, the same man who spent most of the ‘90s howling over the surgically precise prog-punk of Dazzling Killmen and later the unhinged avant-rock of Colossamite, and then returned to the label in the 2010s as half of the ferocious, No Wave–inspired duo Xaddax.
But a penchant for the belligerent and/or bizarre is only part of Sakes’ musical DNA, as he revealed in Sicbay, a Minneapolis trio that released three albums’ worth of tuneful yet appealingly bent indie rock from 2001 through 2005. Blurred Wires picks up on that thread, joining it together with strands from Sakes’ diverse musical past, and adding in Paster’s highly developed songwriting smarts and Westphal’s nimble but rock-solid drumming. The result feels like a summation of Sakes’ musical life to date: 10 compact songs that balance sturdy hooks and graceful dynamics with the potent tension, dissonance and overall oddity that mark much of his back catalog.
Consider “They Kept on Living,” a song that first appeared in an earlier version on the 2022 SKiN GRAFT Halloween comp Sounds to Make You Shudder!. It starts off with a grinding 7/4 groove, as Sakes spits out cryptic lines over scratchy noise-punk chords. After a brief build, the band explodes into a massive chorus, with Sakes shouting the title line against a fist-pumping riff.
The trio sound equally convincing digging into the pummeling aggression of “My Lower Self,” where Sakes’ vocals start off as a feral snarl and then soar triumphantly during the chorus, or the soothing indie-pop hush of the second half of the Paster-penned “Drive at Night.”
Various “tug-at-your-heartstrings” touchstones informed “Long Shadow,” from Superdrag on Paster’s side to Guided by Voices on Sakes’, adding up to one of the record’s most tastefully dynamic tracks. “Chopped Even,” meanwhile, makes room for urgent hooks within pure, chaotic energy. Sakes channeled Television Personalities, cult heroes of melodic British post-punk, on “Animositine,” which he accurately labels “our prettiest song.”
Nearly 35 years into his career, Sakes is finding new ways to challenge himself — and in Paster and Westphal, he’s found two musicians who are equally comfortable with both the thorniest and the loveliest manifestations of underground rock. When they reflect on their chemistry, they agree that their openness to collaboration is, as Sakes puts it, “one of our superpowers.”
On Blurred Wires, that superpower yields dynamic, challenging, profoundly memorable results, while leaving ample room for future growth.
- Hank Shteamer
PRESS QUOTES:• “The debut of Nick Sakes’ new band… It is an air puncher.” - The ORGAN
• “Rousing but danceable, stringent verses and shouty vocal weirdness” - FECKING BAHMAMAS
• “Post-hardcore with a pop sensibility and theatricality” - NEW NOISE
• "Raucous noise punk. You don’t hear stuff like this often" - BEARDED GENTLEMEN
• "After one listen, I could feel the sweat sticking my clothes to me" - JOYZINE
New SINGLE alert!
“Splatter The Master” is the new single from Squid Pisser’s “Dreams of Puke” album, out June 14th (see below!). Its sonic textures create a dense soundscape of intestinal debris, mortared with a grout of pus, goo, gummy candy and pure unadulterated insanity.
Hear it HERE or at the digital music provider of your choice!
Enjoy! Hey Europe! We have a limited # of new release Ultimate Edition Bundles, LPs and CDs that will ship from Belgium. You can order them at Bandcamp while they last. THANKS!
SKiN GRAFT Records NEWS DESK update: April 5th, 2024
Click banner to embiggen / For an uncensored look, click HERE- Out June 14th - SQUID PISSER "Dreams of Puke" "Kaleidoscopic HEAVE" Multicolor-Splatter Colored Vinyl LP
"Polychromatic UPCHUCK" Randomly-Mixed Color Vinyl LP
Ultimate Edition / Glass-Mastered CD / Digital
In the wake of SQUID PISSER’s “Vaporize A Neighbor” EP and Comic Book Set and “Vaporize A Tadpole” collection comes “Dreams of Puke”, the band’s second full length album. Weighing in at a meaty 12 songs and cut at a lean 45 revolutions per minute, “Dreams of Puke” refuses to let up or let down - emitting climax after scintillating climax - a bounteous bouquet of dayglow viscera and tumor-filled sonic snot.
“Dreams of Puke” is the face ripping, dolphin-loving, anthropomorphized mountain of nuclear sludge intravenously injected with methamphetamines that listeners have been clamoring for. Tommy Meehan's use of effects pedals and sonic textures create a dense soundscape of intestinal debris, mortared with a grout of pus, goo, gummy candy and pure, unadulterated insanity. Meanwhile, Seth Carolina's all out, rage-fueled and categorically pummeling approach to slamming the beats down lays out a visceral scene of absolute intensity - a great white shark attack on The Mall of America.
Tommy explains “The writing sessions for this album resulted in about 100 songs... Demos, seedlings, and scraps were strewn about everywhere. Then Seth and I assembled them into a viable and tangible fruition. I tracked all of the guitars, bass, and vocals myself at Los Angeles’ Castle Barf Studios. The drums we did at Sea Horse Sound downtown”.
“Dreams Of Puke” is an aural DMT trip that will leave brains boggled. Its atonal anthems of slime are a kaleidoscope of brilliant, bespeckled rage that, in the end, will scalp the world & mutate the throne. PRESS QUOTES:• “Punishing, glitched out Squid-Core, discharged for your listening pleasure” - FANGORIA
• “I dare you to find a wilder album” - LAMBGOAT
• “Fully masked, chaotic, unruly and addictive” - ALTERNATIVE PRESS
• “Avant grind – the results are bonkers” - DECIBEL
• "Squid Pisser is here to make grindcore weird as hell" - METAL INJECTION
HIGHLIGHTS:• First Vinyl Pressing issued in two variations. The deluxe multicolor-splatter "Kaleidoscopic HEAVE" vinyl edition will only be available direct from SKiN GRAFT Records and from the band themselves at live performances. Each copy will come complete with a corresponding full-color ID sticker that will be applied to the resealable crystal clear polybag. Also available will be the "Polychromatic UPCHUCK" edition. Throughout the run, random colors will be cycled in and out of the pressing, so the end result will remain a mystery until unsealed. Both editions also include a full color double-sided Lyric Sheet.
• The glass-mastered Compact Disc includes a Mystery Matrix Message and is packaged in a six-panel Tri-Fold Jacket. Includes a bonus fold-over Lyric Insert.
• Both the LP & the CD feature unique, subliminally different cover art by painter Gregory Jacobsen of the band LOVELY LITTLE GIRLS.
• SQUID PISSER is Tommy Meehan (Guitarist of GWAR & CANCER CHRIST, ex- DEAF CLUB) and Seth Carolina (drummer of STARCRAWLER).
• SQUID PISSER will tour the USA with GWAR, MELT-BANANA & NEKROGOBLIKON in support of “Dreams Of Puke”! European dates this Fall!
• Multiple SQUID PISSER music videos are in production!
Squid Pisser is:
Tommy Meehan: vocals, guitars, bass, noise, samples Seth Carolina: drums, vocals
All songs written by Squid Pisser
Lyrics by Tommy Meehan
Produced by Tommy Meehan
Mixed by Steve Evetts
Mastered by Alan Douches at West West Side Mastering
Recorded between Sept 2021 and Feb 2022 at Castle Barf Studios aka Dolphin Fucker Studios in North Hollywood CA by Tommy Meehan and at Seahorse Sound Studios in DTLA CA by Cameron Acosta
Cover Art by Gregory Jacobsen
Photos by DanceFloorMurder, Sarah Pardini, Max Winston, Tommy Ottley and Luci Crystal
Layout by Gregory Jacobsen and Tommy Meehan and Chris Wilson and Mark Fischer
LOVELY LITTLE GIRLS "Shadow Of Bees" | Official Music Video
Effusive Supreme | SKiN GRAFT Records
Hear LOVELY LITTLE GIRLS Here!
LLG's own Gregory Jacobsen has created an incredible collection of full color flyers to promote the shows and we've uploaded high resolution, suitable for sharing (and framing!) copies of each to our website. Just click the links above to nab your copy - or have this zipped collection of the entire series of flyers delivered straight to you desktop by clicking HERE.
Pro Tip: Come Back NEXT WEEK for the reveal of Gregory's COVER ART (!) for the upcoming SQUID PISSER full length album! And then there's THIS...
ENTER THE GUTTERCUNT - UK Tour 2024
( CUNTROACHES & GUTTERSNIPE )
04.04: NOTTINGHAM @ Old Bus Depot
w/ Hannah Bannanah
05.04: LONDON @ Moor Beer Vaults
w/ Ekstasis + Rubber
06.04: BRISTOL @ Monochrome Festival
w/ Distraxi, Gnaw Their Tongues, Ovo, Vacuous, Aluk Tolodo + more
CUNTROACHES "Borborygmus" | Official Music Video |
Sounds To Make You Shudder! | SKiN GRAFT Records
And Pili Coït is heading to Germany in April too!!!!
Look at this... ( ! )
Hear PILI COIT Here! PSSST - We've also got a fewPili Coït shirts up at our Bandcamp page!
- And in closing, here are some podcasts to help you work through your weekend! CUNTROACHES on the LYDIAN SPIN with Lydia Lunch and Tim Dahl (of CHILD ABUSE)! lydianspin.libsyn.com/episode-245-cuntroaches
SKiN GRAFT Records NEWS DESK update: March 8th, 2024
- Out Now - SQUID PISSER "Vaporize A Neighbor" & "Vaporize A Tadpole" Translucent Bruise Colored Vinyl 7" EP & Comic Book Set
/ Glass-Mastered CD / ULT-Ed / Digital
SQUID PISSER's “Vaporize A Neighbor” Four Song Vinyl EP and Comic Set and “Vaporize A Tadpole” 15 Song CD collection are OUT NOW! - Digital Editions Too!...You can get your tentacles on them as well as the new releases from CUNTROACHES and HYPER GAL at you friendly neighborhood record store or snatch them directly from us HERE. (PRO-TIP: You'll find more info in the one-sheet and hyperlinks above and in the previous updates below.) And if you visit It's Psychedelic Baby Magazine, you can take in streams of today's Squid Pisser releases - plus get an exclusive look at cartoonist Johnny Ryan's story in the 24 page Squid Pisser comic book!!!!!! And here's ANOTHER plug - Johnny's new book FATCOP is also out this week from our pals over at Fantagraphics Books! As Terminal Ted always says - Get it ot get hit!
Squid Pisser's Tommy Meehan is currently on tour playing guitar in GWAR - so if they are storming through your town, be sure to go say Hi - - or just hang loose and gird your loins for a bevy of Squid Pisser dates in the USA with the likes of Melt-Banana and Nekrogoblikon. More announcements are forthcoming - and there will be shows in Europe too!
One more thing - The digital versions of the Squid Pisser releases at Bandcamp do indeed come complete with an exclusive digital PDF of the comic book. And there's more where those came from. Look for music and comic sets from the likes of Yowie, Shellac, High On Fire, Space Streakings, Cheer-Accident, Melt-Banana, Dazzling Killmen and many more!
“Vaporize A Neighbor” track listing: 01. Vaporize A Neighbor 02. Smog of Self Abuse 03. Pay to Rot 04. Liquified Remains (Demo Version)
24 page comic book includes new work from: A4ro (Yummy Gummy) Johnny Ryan (Angry Youth Comix) Mike Diana (Boiled Angel) Monstark (Night-Gaunts) Myke Chilian (Tig n/ Seek) Sage Jackson (Fce Facts) Dave Savage (Uncle Grandpa) Kali Fontecchio (Maude Macher) Gregory Jacobsen (Lovely Little Girls) Fantastic3Dcreation (Dream Navigator) Zach Zdziebko (The Manx)
“Vaporize A Tadpole” track listing: 01. Liquified Remains 02. Violence Forever (feat. Meghan O’Neil) 03. Marching for Trash (feat. Arrow DeWilde) 04. Everlasting Bloat (feat. Nicky Calonne) 05. My Tadpole Legion (feat. Yako of Melt-Banana) 06. Both (feat. Zaine Drayton) 07. Vibe Monster (feat. K. Joseph Karam) 08. Fuck Your Preacher (feat. St. Anthony) 09. Lord of the Frog (DJ Embryonic Petit Sac Remix) 10. Vaporize A Neighbor 11. Smog of Self Abuse 12. Pay to Rot 13. Liquified Remains (Demo Version) 14. Felching Your God (Demo Version) 15. Vaporize A Neighbor (Demo Version)
Okay - Thank you!
Mark F'
SKiN GRAFT Records NEWS DESK update: March 1st, 2024
I was lucky. I grew up surrounded by an abundance of record stores and spent a lot of my teenage and young adult years flipping through stacks of longboxed CDs, tapes and LPs, soaking up knowledge (thank you Jim Utz!) and just killing time.
It's different today… but there are STILL plenty of phenomenal record stores out there. I hope that you are fortunate enough to live in the proximity of one (or more) - and that they keep you and your friends awash in all of those of crucial SKiN GRAFT releases of the past and present.
If not - or if you are a digital collector - today is Bandcamp Friday and there is no better time than "now" to pick up some music from us. Bandcamp is essentially a community of online record stores where the artists and labels are able to set up their own shops to make music available to the public. On this day, Bandcamp waives their usual fees and as a result those artists and labels (like your buddies and bands here at SKiN GRAFT) make just a little bit more on any purchases that go down.
We have new and recent releases from HYPER GAL, CUNTROACHES, PILI COÏT, LOVELY LITTLE GIRLS, TERMS and CHEER-ACCIDENT… Then next week we will celebrate the release of two titles from SQUID PISSER… Plus we have over three decades worth of carefully curated music in our coffers, ripe for exploration - - - so how about you lighten our sagging shelves and enlighten yourselves with the gift of Graft?
If that sounds good to you, you’ll find our Bandcamp shop over HERE.
Thanks everyone!
Mark F'
P.S. Dept: We've put together a relatively robust rundown of recent SKIN GRAFT write-ups by the press at large! You are welcome to peruse the PDF document HERE... - But we would really love to hear you think.
Bandcamp users - If you view your "collection" page on bandcamp and then click "Why do you love this album?", you can leave a comment that will be visble to us and anyone who visits the page... Like this! How about that?
Okay, Bye again!
SKiN GRAFT Records NEWS DESK update: February 23rd, 2024
- Out NOW - CUNTROACHES "Cuntroaches" GREEN Vinyl LP / CD / ULT-Ed / Digital
(Social Media Banner photo by Camille Blake / design by Mark F’)
"Cuntroaches, the debut album from Berlin's Cuntroaches is out today! You can read all about in the updates below and on the one-sheet. - Here is what others are saying...
“Cuntroaches have got personality. You can tell they’re going to provoke irritated, dismissive responses as much as make friends. Dissolving their influences into a sticky bin juice of genre, they breeze past the cerebral – or even emotional – to something almost purely physical. An emetic response to the horror of the world. A filthy visceral convulsion. Noise as joyful purge and liberation…” - The QUIETUS
"They wield noise like a weapon and gleefully adopt and discard rhythmic approaches to achieve their poisonous ends." - CVLT NATION
“Much of the album is carried on a kind of psychedelic, space-rock propulsion (something like Hawkwind’s “Silver Machine”, but pushed to the outer realms of kaleidoscopic, surrealistic noise”– NEW NOISE (USA)
“Cuntroaches are dropping a delightfully self-titled album tomorrow via SKIN GRAFT Records, but you can get ahead of the curve and stream it with us here first. “Cuntroaches is inspired by witches who do not know how to summon stuff (unable to take care of themselves), stretched out labyrinthine toilets with knotted septic pipes (conducting bigger businesses not recommended) and the love for our pet dog and cats, resulting in an eight-track release of brutal metal sound infused with unsanitary noise,” the band cryptically say…” - DECIBEL
Friends in Europe: There are just a few more copies remaining that will be available to ship from Belgium (courtesy of Mandaï Distribution). The shipment is on it's way from the USA to Belgium now and orders will be shipped to customers once they arrive. To reserve your copy, just go to our Bandcamp page and it will auto-detect your location to give you the best shipping price. Other new and upcoming titles are also available. Check the update below.
ITEM (!) - Breaking News (!) - Osaka'sHYPER GAL will be coming to Europe to perfrom at the Left of the Dial Festival in Rotterdam!
Left of the Dial writes:
❤️📣 Brand-new lineup additions incoming: today we’ve added 14 names to the Left of the Dial 2024 lineup! We couldn’t be more proud to welcome to our ever expanding family: HYPER GAL (JP - SKiN GRAFT Records!) • Frankie (BE) • The Holy (FI) • New Age Doom (CA) • No Windows (UK) • Purrses (BE) • Savage Mansion (UK) • Slaney Bay (UK) • Special Friend (FR/US) • Tanz Akademie (IT) • Tea Eater (US) • Tulpa (UK) • Ugly (UK) • Wax Head (UK)
Left of the Dial festival 17/18/19 October 2024 Rotterdam
More info visit here: www.leftofthedial.nl
HYPER GAL "Pure" was released last week. You can order it HERE. More European dates are in the works courtesy of El Borracho Booking!
ITEM (!) Hey Look! It's LOVELY LITTLE GIRLS on Tour!
4/03 - Kent, OH @ Zephyr with Moth Cock, Perfect
4/04 - Philadelphia, PA @ PhilaMOCA with Evil Sword, Morgan Garrett
4/05 - Trenton, NJ @ Millhill Basement with The Chemical Imbalance, Best Dressed Ghost
4/06 - Brooklyn, NY @ Hart Bar with Chaser, Dahl/Hirsch/Shea, MZZTR
4/07 - Richmond, VA @ Gallery 5 with TBD
4/09 - Chapel Hill, NC @ The Cave with Wetness & Ex-Iguana
4/10 - Asheville, NC @ The Odd with Okapi, Dot Com Bubble, Free Doom Collective
4/11 - Nashville, TN @ The Mouth with The Chewers, HAGZ, In Place Quartet
4/12 - Indianapolis, IN @ Melody Inn with Mr Clit & the Pink Cigarettes, Modern Drugs, Arc of Etheline
4/13 - Chicago, IL @ The Palace
SKiN GRAFT Records NEWS DESK update: February 16th, 2024
- Out February 16th, 2024 - HYPER GAL "Pure" Digipak COMPACT DISC / DIGITAL Download
Happy Belated VALENTINE'S DAY
from SKiN GRAFT Records + HYPER GAL
"A beautiful challenge, a noise, relentless, not an onslaught, always inviting, like they want to pull you in rather than chase you away... This is joyous…" -THE ORGAN
Hi Everyone!
There's lots to do so let's keep this short! HYPER GAL "Pure" is out today! You can read The ORGAN's feature review of the Osaka duo's SKiN GRAFT debut HERE - - - and - AT The BARRIER also wrote a few words HERE.
You are welcome to preview & order the album from us at our Bandcamp page HERE.
Friends in Europe: We have a limited number of copies that will be available to ship from Belgium (courtesy of Mandaï Distribution). Just go to our Bandcamp page and it will auto-detect your location to give you the best shipping price. Other new and upcoming titles are also available. Check the update below.
HYPER GAL "Transparent new Living" | Official Music Video |
From the album "Pure" | SKiN GRAFT Records
ITEM(!) SQUID PISSER and The FLYING LUTTENBACHERS to join MELT-BANANA on their USA tour! Brooklyn Vegan has the details are HERE. To celebrate, a new Squid Pisser track is out NOW! Check out "Pay To Rot" HERE.
SQUID PISSER with Zain Drayton of ZULU "Both" | Official Music Video |
From the album "Vaporize A Tadpole" | SKiN GRAFT Records
ITEM(!) Did you know that Squid Pisser’s upcoming "Vaporize A Neighbor" Vinyl EP & Comic Book set is also available as part of the "Vaporize A Tadpole” Ultimate Edition? - which adds a Six Panel Trifold CD that includes the new EP + Squid Pisser’s debut LP “My Tadpole Legion” and additional bonus tracks???
Late last year Squid Pisser teamed up with Zaine Drayton of Zulu and Mike Manasewitsch of blockbustervideo.org to shoot the video “Both”. You can see it at the link up top.“Both" is featured on “Vaporize A Tadpole” and it has been unlocked to be streamed and downloaded with any bandcamp pre-order now.
ITEM(!) Bad News Dept. Unfortunately Cuntroaches had to drop off of their European tour. Singer / guiatarst Martina writes... "What started promising with a Pfeffi bottle of piss outside our rehearsing room building (symbol of good luck) turned out to be a tour van filled with vomit just 2 hours later, result: 0 shows played. Due to a stomach virus that caught on and spread among us on the way to our first show and a worsening bronchitis we had to cancel our Heartburn Hotel Tour 2024. what a bummer! We’ve been looking forward to this one to celebrate the release of our album that we worked on for a long time. We‘re super sad :-( We want to tour! Thank you to all promoters and everybody who helped putting this tour together 🙏 Guttersnipe is still playing all the shows. Minus us. Order the album from us at our Bandcamp pageHERE."
Keep an eye out for rescheduled dates. Cuntroaches are planning UK dates this April.
Okay - Thanks!
Mark F'
SKiN GRAFT Records NEWS DESK update: February 2nd, 2024
Hey Europe and the UK!
We are very happy to announce that we will have a limited # of our new and upcoming releases available to be shipped to you from within Europe! You can pre-order and reserve copies now. Titles available include:
SQUID PISSER
"Vaporize A Neighbor" & "Vaporize A Tadpole" Ultimate Edition
"Vaporize A Neighbor" 7" Vinyl EP & Comic Book Set
"Vaporize A Tadpole" Glass Mastered CD
CUNTROACHES
"Cuntroaches" Ultimate Edition
"Cuntroaches" Colored Vinyl LP
"Cuntroaches" CD
HYPER GAL
"Pure" Glass Mastered CD
PILI COÏT
"Love Everywhere" Colored Vinyl LP
"Love Everywhere" Black Vinyl LP
SOUNDS TO MAKE YOU SHUDDER!
"Limited Edition" Gatefold Double LP Set
Titles will be shipped from Belgium in cooperation with our friends at Mandaï Distribution. You can order them at our Bandcamp page while they last!
You'll find plenty of details about all of the albums in the updates below.
CUNTROACHES | "Gordian Knot"
from the album "Cuntroaches" | SKiN GRAFT Records
ITEM! Berlin's CUNTROACHES have a new single - "Gordian Knot" - that will be premiering at theVEIL OF SOUND website later today! Butm hey look! - you can already hear it NOW by clicking the toilet brush above!
Be sure to check the VEIL OF SOUND wesbite to read all about it!
Okay - Thanks again!
Mark F'
SKiN GRAFT Records NEWS DESK update: January 26th, 2024
- Out March 8th, 2024 - SQUID PISSER "Vaporize A Neighbor" & "Vaporize A Tadpole PURPLE Vinyl 7" EP & Comic Book Set / CD / ULT-Ed / Digital
Hi Everyone. - SKiN GRAFT Records first made it's mark with a series of 7" vinyl record and comic book sets begining with a split single from DAZZLING KILLMEN and MOTHERS' DAY back in 1991. Over the years, the likes of ZENI GEVA, SPACE STREAKINGS, HIGH ON FIRE, UFO OR DIE, MOUNT SHASTA, MELT-BANANA, WILL OLDHAM, YOWIE, KILLDOZER, RUINS, SHELLAC and many more have lent their audio to our visuals.
- Today SKiN GRAFT and SWEATBAND Records are thrilled to announce a brand-spanking-new FOUR SONG EP and COMIC BOOK set - AND - a campanion FIFTEEN song glass-mastered CD from North Hollywood's seismatic sci-fi shredders SQUID PISSER! - - READ ON!!!!
Two Raging New Squid Pisser Releases!
Squid Pisser announce the “Vaporize A Neighbor” Four Song Vinyl EP and Comic Book Set (with comics from the likes of Johnny Ryan and Mike Diana) and the companion “Vaporize A Tadpole” CD collection (featuring members of Melt-Banana, The Locust & Tera Melos)
Delivered via the manic pedalboard wizardry and sophisticated finger work of guitarist Tommy Meehan (Cancer Christ, Deaf Club, Cartoon Network) and the utterly brutal and savage drumming of Seth Carolina (Starcrawler), SQUID PISSER’s tightly controlled, futuristic hardcore-onslaught of amped-up rainbow vomit is a thing of throbbing, mucous-laden beauty. Conceptualized and formed in 2022, SQUID PISSER decided to fully utilize planet Earth’s viral slumber in order to gestate, write, and record - resulting in the opening salvo ‘My Tadpole Legion’ (Three One G / Sweatband) and a spattering of live shows, already the stuff of legend.
SQUID PISSER will continue their live assault and make their SKiN GRAFT Records premiere with “Vaporize A Neighbor”, a four-song EP packaged in a 24-page wraparound comic book sleeve and “Vaporize A Tadpole” a fifteen song CD, compiling the new “Vaporize A Neighbor” EP, their debut LP “My Tadpole Legion” and unreleased bonus tracks. Both will be released on March 8th, 2024.
Printed on heavy, 100 lb Gloss Aqueous cardstock, “Vaporize A Neighbor”s, 24-page, full-color comic book sleeve includes new comics from Johnny Ryan (Angry Youth Comix), Mike Diana (Boiled Angel), Kali Fontecchio (Maude Macher) and many more. The first 500 records will be pressed on translucent “Purple Bruise” colored vinyl, include a wraparound obi-strip and come packaged in a crystal clear resealable sleeve.
SQUID PISSER & Yako of MELT-BANANA | "My Tadpole Legion"
Official Music Video | Vaporize A Tadpole | SKiN GRAFT Records
Released alongside “Vaporize A Neighbor” is the fifteen song CD companion “Vaporize A Tadpole”, compiling the new EP, Squid Pisser’s debut album “My Tadpole Legion” (mixed by Kurt Ballou of Converge / Godcity Studios) and additional unreleased bonus tracks (mastered by Todd Rittmann of US Maple / Dead Rider). Guests include members of Melt-Banana, Tera Melos, The Locust, Wacko, Cancer Christ, Punch, Nekrogoblikon and more.
Both releases feature exclusive cover artwork from afro-surrealist A4RO.
A special "Ultimate Edition" bundle containing the “Vaporize A Neighbor” colored vinyl EP and comic book set, the “Vaporize A Tadpole” CD plus digital downloads of all 15 tracks and a downloadable PDF comic book can be pre-ordered at the SKiN GRAFT Recordsbandcamp page.
PRESS QUOTES:"Crank Up the volume, smash that play button and get ready to be fucked" - FANGORIA
"Don't feel bad, we have no idea what's going on either" - DECIBEL
"Squid Pisser is here to make grindcore weird as hell" - METAL INJECTION
"Absolutely batshit offering of discordant, chaotic hardcore" - BROOKLYN VEGAN
SQUID PISSER | "Liquified Remains"
Official Music Video | Vaporize A Tadpole | SKiN GRAFT Records
“Vaporize A Neighbor” track listing: 01. Vaporize A Neighbor 02. Smog of Self Abuse 03. Pay to Rot 04. Liquified Remains (Demo Version)
24 page comic book includes new work from: A4ro (Yummy Gummy) Johnny Ryan (Angry Youth Comix) Mike Diana (Boiled Angel) Monstark (Night-Gaunts) Myke Chilian (Tig n/ Seek) Sage Jackson (Fce Facts) Dave Savage (Uncle Grandpa) Kali Fontecchio (Maude Macher) Gregory Jacobsen (Lovely Little Girls) Fantastic3Dcreation (Dream Navigator) Zach Zdziebko (The Manx)
“Vaporize A Tadpole” track listing: 01. Liquified Remains 02. Violence Forever (feat. Meghan O’Neil) 03. Marching for Trash (feat. Arrow DeWilde) 04. Everlasting Bloat (feat. Nicky Calonne) 05. My Tadpole Legion (feat. Yako of Melt-Banana) 06. Both (feat. Zaine Drayton) 07. Vibe Monster (feat. K. Joseph Karam) 08. Fuck Your Preacher (feat. St. Anthony) 09. Lord of the Frog (DJ Embryonic Petit Sac Remix) 10. Vaporize A Neighbor 11. Smog of Self Abuse 12. Pay to Rot 13. Liquified Remains (Demo Version) 14. Felching Your God (Demo Version) 15. Vaporize A Neighbor (Demo Version)
Both Squid Pisser releases will be out March 8th. You can pre-order them (along with the upcoming albums from Cuntroaches and Hyper Gal) at our Bandcamp page.
Thanks!
Mark F'
SKiN GRAFT Records NEWS DESK update: January 23rd, 2024
New! YOWIE & PILI COÏT T-Shirts join the UNFIT Apparel Collection at the Dark Slide!
- Up for PRE-ORDERS - YOWIE "Synchromysticism Lumbers"" Double-Sided T-Shirt by Arnulf Rödler
- Up for PRE-ORDERS - PILI COÏT "Love Everywhere" Double-Sided T-Shirt by Gregory Jacobsen
Hello-
The UNFIT Apparel Collection over at the Dark Slide skate shop is now taking orders for our two latest designs - YOWIE "Synchromysticism Lumbers" by Arnulf Rödler and PILI COÏT "Love Everywhere" by Gregory Jacobsen. You can see the entire in-stock collection - including SKiN GRAFT Hoodies, Tees and Shirts from the likes of U.S Maple, Lovely Little GIrls, Terms, Shorty and many more! Check them out HERE.
ITEM - (!) TIJUANA HERCUES Live in WNIJ's Studio A!
Get excited for Tijuana Hercules this Thursday night January 25th at 7:00 pm - CHICAGO TIME!!! See and hear the full show plus WNIJ's interview with the band on WNIJ and streaming live on their website!
Go here: https://bit.ly/38exL8G. Note: If you sleep on it - don't fret, you'll have one more chance this Saturday at noon!
ITEM - (!)
And don't forget we've got two upcoming albums up for pre-orders right now (check HERE) - and - get this - two more releases will be joining them this Friday!!! Cue astonishment!
We'll see you then!
Mark
SKiN GRAFT Records NEWS DESK update: January 12th, 2024
- Out February 23rd, 2024 - CUNTROACHES "Self-Titled" GREEN Vinyl LP / CD / ULT-Ed / Digital
- Hey Europe!
We have a limited # of GREEN Vinyl CUNTROACHES LPs - and - the Limited Edition SOUNDS TO MAKE YOU SHUDDER!" 2xLP (with the exclusive version of "Borborygmus") that can ship from Belgium to save you on shipping costs! You can order them from the SKiN GRAFT / CUNTROACHES bandcamp page while they last. - Thanks!
CUNTROACHES "Self-Titled"
GREEN Vinyl LP / CD / DIGITAL / ULT-Ed
Street Date: February 23rd, 2024
Hi Everyone -
Batten down the hatches, slap those tarsi together and join us in giving a warm welcome to Berlin's beloved beacons of bedlam... CUNTROACHES!! Coming in HOTTTTT on the high-heels of HYPER GAL's upcoming SKIN GRAFT debut "Pure" (out February 16th) is the long-awaited Self-Titled album from CUNTROACHES (out a week later - on February 23rd)! - Read ON!
“CUNTROACHES are the most important and life-affirming band on the planet.” – MAXIMUMROCKNROLL
“Their sound is as utterly compelling, disturbing, eyebrow-raising and violent as their name suggests. This is chaos of the highest, most brutal order and is a vicious assault on the senses.” – CVLT NATION
"Cuntroaches - a name inexplicably unused throughout the history of bands, orchestras... any grouping of people really... As it is, the mantle’s (finally) been taken up by two women and a bloke making ferociously warped hardcore-flecked no wave. Mutating waves of feedback intoxicate and induce hangovers all at once, while David Hantelius gets a frankly obscene sound out of his bass - and the vocals - reverbed to an absurd degree - approach black metal levels of demonic witchery." - The QUIETUS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
The road to the release of Cuntroaches “Self-Titled” album starts with the recording of Ill, Boborygmus and Gordian Knot. “We recorded Erbium:YAG, Gravity System, Red Velvet Rose and new versions of I Can (Still) Tell You’re (Scum) and Inside Me later.” - explain the members of Cuntroaches. The Berlin-based band put in the hours to craft their debut LP - finally set to release this February. “The original versions of I Can Tell You’re Scum and Inside Me came out on a split record with Guttersnipe (from Leeds, UK) at the height of lockdown in 2020. The label immediately disbanded and the whole thing fell flat”.
While the majority of the material for the new LP had already been written, the band reworked the original songs, incorporating a wide range of influences, but maintaining a devastating focus. Metal, punk, hardcore and noise have been channeled into a dense, overwhelming wall of sound. Live, this is often combined with some form of performative mischief (if they’re in the mood).
Audiences have been subjected to spewing beer bra harnesses, diaper outfits, empty pet food containers or witnessed band members performing from inside of a trash bag.
They’ve thrown a lot of trash on a lot of people.
“Martina (vocalist/guitarist) built a functional warhorn out of septic pipes that we ripped out of some rich dude’s bathroom at a crappy renovation job. It was pitched down, distorted and included on the intro of Gravity System”. This is an example of the unconventional approach Cuntroaches took when recording the basic tracks in bands’ windowless rehearsal room. It was then meticulously mixed by the band and mastered by Daniel Husayn (North London Bomb Factory) in 2023.
Dedicated to Schtinky (2012-2023; “our sweet cat, who unfortunately left this mortal plane before the album was completed”)
CUNTROACHES †our †hyme
20.01.2024 - Berlin @ Kastannienkeller (w/ Industry + more)
12.02.2024 - BRNO @ Vegalite
13.02.2024 - BUDAPEST @ Kripta
with Gu††ersnipe and Ger†ie Adelaido
16.02.2024 - PRAGUE @ TBD
17.02.2024 - LEIPZIG @ Hitness Club
18.02.2024 - HALLE @ time will tell
19.02.2024 - BERLIN @ RxAxUxCxHxhaus
- Record Release Show
15.03.2024 - BERLIN @ Hinterraum
(w/ Special Branch, Urin, Desintegracion Violenta + more)
BIOGRAPHY: Since 2015, Berlin’s noise wave iconoclasts Cuntroaches have defiled countless venues across Europe and the UK, playing festivals such as Lausanne Underground Music & Film Festival, Pohoda, Nothing Nice To Say, Wolf City, Fluff Fest and CTM (Captured by a 360 degree camera for the 2021 edition (Get out the VR gear and take in the track “Ill”HERE . Start at ground zero <00:00> and watch all the way through to the songs climax at <04:55>. More details on this below).
Cuntroaches self-released their demo on cassette in 2016 and a 7” EP on the Berlin-based labels, Teratology and Instruments of Discipline, in 2018. A 12” split record with UK’s Guttersnipe on Anxious Music (Glasgow) followed in 2020.
In 2023, Cuntroaches directed their first music video for the track, Borborygmus, which was featured on SKiN GRAFT Records Halloween album "Sounds To Make You Shudder!" in a lithe three minute, forty-two second version. An engorged and expanded recording of Borborygmus launches this self-titled debut. See the video HERE.
CUNTROACHES "360° Live" | CTM FESTIVAL 2021
Recommended in VR | SKiN GRAFT Records
ABOUT the 360° VR Video:
After 22 years of shining a spotlight on music’s ever-evolving role in electronic and digital culture, the 2021 edition of Germany's prestigious live music CTM Festival chose to meet the pandemic head-on by taking the festival online.
Shot live in Festsaal Kreuzberg using high-definition 360° cameras to deliver an unprecedented range of angles, close-ups, and points of view - a select group artists were invited to provide a Corona-compliant, no-audience VR performance for streaming worldwide. Artists included multi-instrumentalist Mentrix, techno collective Spandau20 - and Cuntroaches.
Cuntroaches 360° concert puts you right in the middle of the action - YOU ARE THERE.:-) The show has been archived HERE and can be viewed in virtual reality right now, so grab your VR headset of choice (HTC Vive, Playstation VR, Valve Index, Google Cardboard, Oculus Rift / Quest, etc) and get ready to get wet.
The 24 minute set opens with a live performance of "Ill" from Cuntroaches upcoming LP. You can take it all in from 00:00 to 04:55.
Photographer Camille Blake snapped some behind the scenes shots from the 360° concert. We've shared a few of them above and you can view the full photo albumHERE.
And before we let you go, you may have noticed that the SKiN GRAFT Bandcamp page is slightly different. We are in the midst of upgrading it to a proper "label" page and when the job is done, we'll be able to put more focus on individual bands. We won't mince words, the switchover is a bit of a long and tedious process - but in the end, it will be worth it!
And two more things - (!) BothCUNTROACHES andUPRIGHT FORMSare in the midst of their own online upgrades... Both bands launched websites this week! You can get in on the first flloor by visiting them at the links above!
Okay - That's all for now!
Thanks Everyone!
Mark
SKiN GRAFT Records NEWS DESK update: December 27th, 2023
- Out February 16th, 2024 - HYPER GAL "Pure" Digipak COMPACT DISC / DIGITAL Download
Hi Everyone -
Wow! That was fast! We're already coming up on the end of the year! Thanks for all of the support over the last twelve months. Our plans for the next twelve are very ambitious, as a new wave of artists join in to help us continue to expand and redefine just what SKiN GRAFT Records is. - Exciting times!. You can read more about this HERE. Let's get things started! Here is the scoop on SKiN GRAFTs first release of 2024 - - - and a music video to boot!
Springing from Osaka, Japan’s cultural center and historical heart, comes HYPER GAL, a two-piece band consisting of visual artist Koharu Ishida on vocals and noise artist Kurumi Kadoya on drums. The minimalist duo make maximum impact - stripping music down beyond the bare essentials, to create shimmering, no wave pop from blastbeat drums, glittery keyboard loops and ethereal bubblegum vocals - laced with velvet and firecrackers.
“The noise that HYPER GAL makes is not just noise, it has a fairy tale quality that allows you to warp to another world. You are taken away by the fusion of the happy, sparkling-yet-druggy synth (that sounds like something you'd hear in a game center), the lo-fi drums, and the noise that keeps playing in the background… It's a sound that comes from a different place than any other music I've ever heard. I think many people think of HYPER GAL as punk music, and I believe that's one of the correct answers. Personally, I feel that HYPER GAL’s musicality and character also blends in with the scene of artists such as Enjoy, Cowgirl Clue, Kumo 99 and The Hellp. There's a truly exquisite balance between the languid elements, the floating and lo-fi feel of the sound textures and the sparkling, punkish performances that combine explosive power and lethargy. There is no pinpointing this band. The freedom they have carved out for themselves is both courageous and beautiful- and their most attractive feature” – TO’MORROW MUSIC
"HYPER GAL inexplicably blend rap and pop vocals with hard, industrial textured beats (reminiscent of no wave acts such as Ike Yard) with the avant-garde tension of bands like The Locust and Melt-Banana" - AVE | CORNER PRINTING
"There is melencholy too. While vocalist Koharu rests her hand on the microphone stand, the pure sound of the arpeggios and melodies Kurumi plays on the cheap synths placed on top of her toms overwhelms… HYPER GAL is the beauty of chaos” – NOTE / Yukiyoshi Sasa
"A truly unusual, perplexing duo. Wouldn't it be nice if things like this became more commonplace in the world?" - VELVET ANTS
"- Wow!" - SENSA
HYPER GAL has begun work on their third album. In the lead-up to its release, SKiN GRAFT is indoctrinating first-time listeners by making the band’s revolutionary second album, ‘Pure’, available worldwide. HYPER GAL says of the signing, “It has been almost five years since HYPER GAL started its activities in Japan. These years have been very exciting. We’ve been fans of so many SKiN GRAFT artists… This is a great opportunity to reach new audiences. We hope HYPER GAL will be a new musical experience for you. See you soon!”
"Pure" will be released as a Glass Mastered Compact Disc in a Digipak case on February 16th and can be pre-ordered at our Bandcamp page HERE.
SKiN GRAFT Records NEWS DESK update: November 30th, 2023
SKiN GRAFT Records welcomes BUÑUEL, HYPER GAL, SQUID PISSER to its roster
SKiN GRAFT Records is over the moon to share that three new acts have joined the label’s storied roster of artists. Coming to the fore in 2024 are North Hollywood’s masked sci-fi grindcore annihilists SQUID PISSER, Japan’s stunning stripped-down minimalists HYPER GAL and the US-Italy avant-metal-noise-rock supergroup BUÑUEL. These three bands join the previously announced new arrivals - Berlin’s noise-wave iconoclasts CUNTROACHES and Minneapolis’s UPRIGHT FORMS (headed by ex-Dazzling Killmen singer-guitarist Nick Sakes), as well as the recently reactivated YOWIE, who will debut their new line-up at this year’s Subterranean Dissonance Fest.
- SQUID PISSER
Delivered via the manic pedalboard wizardry and sophisticated finger work of guitarist Tommy Meehan(Cancer Christ, Deaf Club, Cartoon Network) and the utterly brutal and savage drumming of Seth Carolina(Starcrawler), SQUID PISSER’s tightly controlled, futuristic hardcore-onslaught of amped-up rainbow vomit is a thing of throbbing, mucous-laden beauty. Conceptualized and formed in 2022, SQUID PISSER decided to fully utilize planet Earth’s viral slumber in order to gestate, write, and record - resulting in the opening salvo ‘My Tadpole Legion’ (Three One G / Sweatband) and a spattering of live shows, already the stuff of legend.
SQUID PISSER will continue their live assault and make their SKiN GRAFT Records premiere early next year with “Vaporize A Neighbor”, a four-song EP packaged in a 24-page wraparound comic book sleeve, released in conjunction with Sweatband Records. The band’s Tommy Meehan says, "SKiN GRAFT has been putting out vibrantly nasty music and chum-inducing art for over three decades. I've been wanting to work with Mark for years now. We're grateful to be teaming up with such a legendary label and we're feeling right at home in the company of so many other fucked-up sounding bands..."
- HYPER GAL
Springing from Osaka, Japan’s cultural center and historical heart, comes HYPER GAL, a two-piece band consisting of visual artist Koharu Ishida on vocals and noise artist Kurumi Kadoya on drums. The minimalist duo make maximum impact - stripping music down beyond the bare essentials, to create shimmering, no wave pop from blastbeat drums, glittery keyboard loops and ethereal bubblegum vocals - laced with velvet and firecrackers.
HYPER GAL says of the signing,“It has been almost five years since HYPER GAL started its activities in Japan. These years have been very exciting. We’ve been fans of so many SKiN GRAFT artists… AIDS Wolf, Melt-Banana, Arab On Radar… The upcoming releases from SKiN GRAFT are a great opportunity to reach new audiences. We hope HYPER GAL will be a new musical experience for you. See you soon!”
HYPER GAL is at work on their third album. In the lead-up to its release, SKiN GRAFT will indoctrinate first-time listeners by making the band’s revolutionary second album, ‘Pure’, available outside of Japan. A compact disc edition will be released next February. Both it and a digital download version are now available for pre-order at SKiN GRAFT’s Bandcamp page.
- BUÑUEL
BUÑUEL is heavy. The sound of a difficult situation made worse by an unwillingness and an inability to play nice. Produced by a literal supergroup of global significance, BUÑUEL boasts the sound work of the Italian trio of guitarist Xabier Iriondo(Afterhours, A Short Apnea), the bass of Andrea Lombardini (The Framers), and the drums of Francesco Valente(Il Teatro Degli Orrori), along with the singular vocals and lyrics of Eugene S. Robinson(Oxbow).
“SKiN GRAFT has always emerged like the pretty person who I admired but figured would never give us the time of day, but today they did and given that BUÑUEL has this monster double album dropping, I’m super excited to have this beast handled by someone as pretty as SKiN GRAFT. “Mansuetude”, BUÑUEL’s first after their murder trilogy, couldn’t be in a better place or handled by better people than the folks at SKiN GRAFT”. – says Eugene. “So the way I look at it is like this: if you’re going to be a criminal you need to have a good criminal attorney. We found that in SKiN GRAFT. SKiN GRAFT correctly and comfortably provides context for the completely incorrect and uncomfortable music on BUÑUEL’s “Mansuetude”. So… like a match made in Heaven. But a lot… warmer."
BUÑUEL's fourth record, “Mansuetude”, sets a hard course for the noisy source of music well beyond noise rock; made in a place full of hot heat, abandon and a studied dedication to the craft of uncomfortability. Italy’s OVERDRIVE Records and SKiN GRAFT have joined voices to bring BUÑUEL’S new album “Mansuetude” into the world next year, right on time for the end time.
-------------------- Photo credits: Annapaola Martin (BUÑUEL) / Dancefloormurder (SQUID PISSER) / Andy Armstrong (HYPER GAL)
SKiN GRAFT Records NEWS DESK update: October 13th, 2023
- Starts Today - LOVELY LITTLE GIRLS ------------------- and ------------------- PILI COÏT "Love Everywhere" USA Tour
Hi Everyone!
The shows are on the road!
Lyon's Pili Coït has joined Lovely Little Girls stateside for a select series of shows, starting up in Chicago and working their way down to Denton, Texas for the 2023 edition of the NO COAST Festival!
Also below are dates for Tijuana Hercules and Melt-Banana!
LOVELY LITTLE GIRLS & PILI COÏT
"Love Everywhere" USA Tour
10/13: Chicago - The Burlington w/ Imelda Marcos & Life of Yum Yum
10/14: St. Louis - Platypus w/ The Conformists & Zantigo!
10/15: Cincinnati - Northside Tavern w/ FroOot Loops & Alex C
10/17: Atlanta - South Bend Commons w/ Flesh Narc
10/18: Mobile - The Music Box w/Scott Yoder & Blood Death Hell
10/19: New Orleans - All Ways Lounge & Cabaret w/ Primpce
10/20: San Marcos, TX - The Porch w/ Attic Ted
10/21: Denton, TX - Rubber Gloves, No Coast Fest
TIJUANA HERCULES
"Two Day" Tour
10/14: Clarksdale, MS - Deep Blues Fest at the New Roxy w/ Bob Log III
10/15: Memphis, TN - B-Side w/ Mystic Light Casino
MELT-BANANA
USA Tour
Oct 13th: Pomona, CA - Glass House Concert Hall
Oct 14th: San Diego, CA - Music Box
Oct 15th: Mesa, AZ - The Nile
Oct 16th: Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theatre
We've got links galore for you to click in the updates below, but before I let you have at or let you get back to your regulary scheduled Friday, I just recently finished an interview with WEIRDO SHRINE! There we discuss the days of old (with the likes of Melt-Banana, US Maple and Dazzling Killmen), the days of now (such as the Sounds To Make You Shudder! double vinyl release) - and we also take a peak into the days to come and what lies ahead - (!).
Some bits and pieces from the interview...
- CUNTROACHES test pressings have been delivered.
- UPRIGHT FORMS (Nick Sakes of Dazzling Killmen's new band) are recording an album for SKiN GRAFT.
- A new CHEER-ACCIDENT LP is slated for 2025.
- Two more "new-to-SKiN GRAFT bands" joining the roster next year.
You can give it a read HERE and take in a lot more SKiN GRAFT press coverageHERE.
SKiN GRAFT Records NEWS DESK update: October 6th, 2023
- Out NOW - SOUNDS TO MAKE YOU SHUDDER! 2xLP / CD / CASSETTE / DIGITAL / Limited EDITION
---------------------------------------------- and ---------------------------------------------- PILI COÏT "Love Everywhere" LP / CASSETTE / import CD / DIGITAL / Ult-ED
Hi Everyone,
We all love a record release day and we've got two (well, technically three!) dropping right now. At long last, the vinyl editions of Pili Coït "Love Everywhere" and our double-length Halloween Long-Player "Sounds To Make You Shudder!" have been cut loose from their respective pressing plants and are seeking warrm, loving new homes to haunt!
SKiN GRAFT Records Presents...
SOUNDS TO MAKE YOU SHUDDER!
2xLP / CD / CASSETTE / DIGITAL / ULT-ED
Street Date: October 6th, 2023
Your "Sounds To Make You Shudder!" horror host, The Spider (aka The Jesus Lizard's David Yow) took to the interwebs to pull the back veil on SKiN GRAFT 150th release. - Lookee Here!
UNBOXING with DAVID YOW | Gatefold Double Vinyl LP |
Sounds To Make You Shudder! | SKiN GRAFT Records
We've been talking about the Pili Coït and Sounds To Make You Shudder! albums for quite a while in the lead up to today's release. You'll find plenty of information in the updates below - as well as the newly released (at just over a month old) is the new Lovely Little GIrls album "Effusive Supreme".
LOVELY LITTLE GIRLS
"Effusive Supreme" LP/CD/Digital
Street Date: August 18th, 2023
If you are interested in seeing what people around the world have been saying about SKiN GRAFT Records of late, we've pulled together a handy PRESS REPORTfilled with many of the latest reviews, write ups and smack downs. You are welcome to check it out for yourselfHERE.
Hi Everyone,
We have two new vinyl LPs up for pre-orders - Pili Coït "Love Everywhere" and (thanks to last month's Kickstarter pledgers) "Sounds To Make You Shudder!". Information follows below - and in case you hadn't heard, Pili Coït will be playing a few shows stateside (!) with Lovely Little Girls this October - read on! On paper, Lyon's Pili Coït sound simple enough:Jessica Martin Maresco (of Le Grand Sbam) on drums and vocals, plus Guilhem Meier (of Poil) on guitar and vocals. On record, armed with an oil can, a floor tom, a synth-drum, and electric and acoustic guitars - Pili Coït come together.
"Pili Coït is something else. This French combo will shake your rumpa, or at the very least your fundamental beliefs in music. Shooting back and forth from indie pop, to acoustic campfire songs to ethno dance music to heavy pogo punk, Pili Coït answer to no one but themselves, making music that is free and boundless" - WEIRDO SHRINE Jessica Martin Maresco and Guilhem Meier are making music.
Guilhem composes and plays in several bands, like Poil (progressive noise rock), Ukandanz (ethio-crunch), Piniol (math rock) with whom he releases albums and tours the world.
Jessica, on the other hand, collaborates with the French collective La forge on small forms of improvised music and sings regularly with the ensemble L'Attracteur Etrange, which explores soundpainting with skilled improvisers. She is also a member of Le Grand Sbam, a collective of creation, research and musical experimentation that defends living music in all its richness, complexity and universality.
Jessica and Guilhem met at a jazz festival in the south of France… jamming, partying… They fell in love and decided to play together, forming the band Icsis. Initially the band was a sextet, with Jessica singing and playing keyboards - and Guilhem on drums and additional vocals. Later Icsis became a trio, but soon after it simply didn’t feel right to continue. The two then formed Pili Coït and decided to play as a duo. They further challenged themselves by switching their instruments, with Jessica handling percussion (she had never played drums before), and Guiihem playing guitar (which he had dabbled with as a teenager).
Pili Coït’s debut album “Pink Noïse” was released on Lyon’s Dur Et Doux label in 2017. Their follow up “Love Everywhere” will be released on vinyl by SKiN GRAFT Records on October 6th,2023 and will be supported with live dates in the USA alongside Chicago’s avant prog / no wave act Lovely Little Girls. PRESS QUOTES: "Sparse and often ominous... yet charmingly raw and homespun - and there are a few moments where the vocalists sound like an avant-garde version of The B-52s"- The ELITE EXTREMOPHILE
"Acoustic-mathematical expressions that dazzle - take you to the ends of the earth, drop you deep into humid forests, and then levitate you high above caustic, sparkling landscapes. We are speechless" - SODA POP
"Pop inflected avant-garde that bubbles over with unruly post-punk energy - and adventurous, cantankerous layers of noise" - FECKING BAHAMAS
"Somewhere between post punk, folk, and indie, but with a lot of strange ideas gluing everything masterfully together” - EVERYTHING IS NOISE
LOVELY LITTLE GIRLS & PILI COÏT's
MIDDLE AMERICA Tour
10/13: Chicago - The Burlington w/ Imelda Marcos & Life of Yum Yum
10/14: St. Louis - Platypus w/ The Conformists & Zantigo!
10/15: Cincinnati - Northside Tavern w/ FroOot Loops & Alex C
10/16: Asheville - TBA or Day off
10/17: Atlanta - South Bend Commons w/ Flesh Narc
10/18: Mobile - The Music Box w/Scott Yoder & Blood Death Hell
10/19: New Orleans - AllWays Lounge & Cabaret w/ Primpce
10/20: San Marcos, TX - The Porch w/ Attic Ted
10/21: Denton, TX - Rubber Gloves, No Coast Fest
- Out October 6th - SOUNDS TO MAKE YOU SHUDDER! 2xLP / CD / CASSETTE / DIGITAL / Limited EDITION
A lot has been said about "Sounds To Make You Shudder! over the last few months and thanks to the generosity of our recent Kickstarter Campaign pledgers, it will be coming out on Double Vinyl alongside the Pili Coit LP this October 6th. You'll find many details in the updates below, but the long and the short of it is...
17 artists came together to record 15 tracks...
David Yow (of The Jesus Lizard) and Yowie
USA Nails
Lovely Little Girls
Terms
Tijuana Hercules
Pili Coit
Psychic Graveyard and John Dwyer (of Osees)
Jim O'Rourke
Cuntroaches
Strangulated Beatoffs
Shatter On Impact
Bobby Conn
The Flying Luttenbachers
Upright Forms
Azita
Thanks to the fundraiser, we will also be offering an Exclusive Hand-Numbered Limited Edition of the Double LP that will include...
• Full Color Gatefold Jacket
• 18 unique Lobby Cards spread across two uncut sheets
• a collectible "Footlong OBI”
• 15 tracks pressed across three sides of two 140-gram LPs
• Side Fourscreen-printed with art created especially for the vinyl edition
and the entire package will come complete in a crystal clear resealable sleeve
The 18 Lobby Cards found inside the retail release of "Sounds To Make You Shudder!" include photos of all of the participating bands and musicians, but this special hand-numbered exclusive card delivers "suitable for framing" mugshots of Mark Fischer (that's me) and cover artist Rob Syers - pretty much at the dawn of the SKiN GRAFT Comix 'zine that started it all - way back in those hectic, halcyon days of 1987!
You can reserve copies exclusively at our Bandcamp page HERE.
Thanks again -!
Mark F'
PREVIOUS UPDATE update: August 18th, 2023
- Out NOW - LOVELY LITTLE GIRLS "Effusive Supreme" LP / CD / DIGITAL / Ult-ED
SOUNDS TO MAKE YOU SHUDDER! 2xLP fundraiser FINAL HOURS! More info and ordersHERE
Hi Everyone,
It's a big day around these parts! Lovely Little Girls new album has just been released - (!) - and, as I type, we are in the final hours of our "Sounds To Make You Shudder!" 2xLP fundraising campaign. You can read all about it and make a pledge HERE.
- Let's turn things over to LLG singer / ringleader Gregory Jacobsen...(!)
Lovely Little Girls has a new album out today! It’s available on all streaming platforms, vinyl, CD, and digital download. The vinyl is adorned with my loving portrait of the band and includes an 11”x11” Glamour Cat print. The vinyl sounds amazing and there are lots of fun colors to be had. You can purchase it at the SKiN GRAFT Bandcamp page. Ships immediately! You might even get a special surprise in your copy.
I took my first foray into animation and made a video for the track "Shadow of Bees". Go watch it HERE!
Lovely Little Girls will be going on tour this October with Pili Coit. I hope to see some of you. I’ll have two new t-shirts for the tour!
10/13: Chicago - The Burlington w/ Imelda Marcos & Life of Yum Yum
10/14: St. Louis - Platypus w/ The Conformists & Zantigo!
10/15: Cincinnati - Northside Tavern w/ FroOot Loops & Alex C
10/16: Asheville - NEED HELP!
10/17: Atlanta - NEED HELP!
10/18: New Orleans - AllWays Lounge & Cabaret w/ Primpce
10/19: Mobile - The Music Box w/Scott Yoder & Blood Death Hell
10/20: San Marcos, TX - The Porch w/ Attic Ted
10/21: Denton, TX - Rubber Gloves, No Coast Fest
I was also a guest on Lydia Lunch’s podcast The Lydian Spin. I yap with Lydia and Tim Dahl about my history, art, and music. Listen HERE or find it on your preferred podcast delivery service.
If you need more of my beautiful voice and wild gesticulating, you can also listen to an interview I did earlier in the year with Friendly Rich on his podcast Industry Tactics.
I will also be showing a new gaggle of Glamour Cat paintings at Arch Enemy Gallery in Philadelphia as part of the Hi-Fructose Magazine show. The opening is on October 6th (I'll be there!) and runs to October 22nd. Bye!
Thanks Gregory! In addition to the "Shadow of Bees" video mentioned up top, Gregory has put together a series of short trailers to help get the word out. You can run through the complete playlist HERE and of course don't forget to order the album HERE.
And returning to the topic of our Kickstarter campaign... To celebrate it's coming to a close, every pledge cast at $25 or above will include a full color "Sounds To Make You Shudder!" vinyl magnet. It measures 4.25" x 2.75" and will add a touch of class to every dorm room mini-fridge, record store cash-register or bunk-bed casket. It doesn't matter if you have yet to pledge or have already put one in - the magnet will be included with your shipment automatically!
The bands and I appreciate any and all last minute support! And don't forget - Kickstarter copies of the double LP will include an exclusive hand numbered Lobby Card available nowhere else!
Okay! - I'll leave you with this pic from the research and development department...
Up top is a behind the scenes look at a prototype screenprinted LP - currently slated for the D-Side of "Sounds To Make You Shudder!" - - - - - Thanks for helping us make it this far!
Bye For Now,
Mark
PREVIOUS UPDATE
- August 11th, 2023 -
Hi Everybody,
We are at the halfway point of our "Sounds To Make You Shudder!" Double LP fundraising campaign - and it is halfway funded! The campaign ends next Friday alongside the release of the new Lovely Little Girls LP (details on that in the updates below). The link to the campaign is here.
Since the last update, the staff at Kickstarter selected "Sounds To Make You Shudder!" as a “Project We Love” -(!) - and even more notices have been published about the album. Here is a new article from the mighty Fecking Bahamas.
We want to give you a little something new with each update... The double album is slated to include 18 unique Lobby Cards across two uncut sheets, so here is a first look at the the front and back of The Flying Luttenbachers card. The photo is courtesy of Peter Gannushkin and the painting on the back is by Rob Syers.
We'll close with three STMYS! music videos - from Upright Forms, Cuntroaches and USA Nails. We've come a long way for such a short campaign, but there is still a lot of ground to cover. Even if you don't have a turntable, the bands and I guarantee it will look great on your coffee table - and will make a heck of a conversation piece (and if not that - then there are CDs and downloads as well! )
UPRIGHT FORMS "They Kept On Living" | Official Music Video |
Sounds To Make You Shudder! | SKiN GRAFT Records
USA NAILS "Horror Show" | Official Music Video |
Sounds To Make You Shudder! | SKiN GRAFT Records
PREVIOUS UPDATE
- August 4th, 2023 -
YOWIE Lobby Card (Back)
Mock up for the "Sounds To Make You Shudder!" Double LP
Hi There,
Our "Sounds To Make You Shudder!" Double LPfundraising campaign is now underway at Kickstarter. It's a short campaign - just two weeks - (cue teeth chattering!) - so if we are to see it through, there's a lot of ground to cover in a very short amount of time! You can read all about the campaign at this LINK and in the update below. Pledge early and pledge often - and then tell your friends to do the same!
Up top is a first look at the mock up for the flipside of the double LP's YOWIE Lobby Card. Rob Syers painted the artwork and I cobbled everything together for us. Rob and I designed the cover for YOWIE's debut album just shy of 20 years ago, so we used this as an opportunity to pull off a bit of "Cryptooology" reunion. If we have our way, the double LP will include 18 of these Lobby Cards on two big uncut sheets - with a full color band photo on the front and a black and white bit like this on the flipside.
LOVELY LITTLE GIRLS "Shadow Of Bees" | Official Music Video
Effusive Supreme | SKiN GRAFT Records
ITEM (!) - It is Bandcamp Friday and we've got the new album from STMYS! superstars LOVELY LITTLE GIRLS (out August 18th) up for pre-orders. If you visit our Bandcamp page, you can hear two tracks "Breathing On The Back" and "Incomplete" - and Jammerzine will be debuting the band's new single "Shadow of Bees" today alongside an interview with the band... It may even be up as you read this! If not, then just go ahead and soak in the band's new video - animated by band leader Gregory Jacobsen. As you can tell by the orientation, this one is best viewed in the palm of your hand.
A few other publications to single out quickly:
The Organ just published a write up on our Kickstarter & has the first review of the LLG "Effusive Supreme" LP
The new issue of Ox Fanzine has a full color feature on LLG bandleader Gregory Jacobsen's artwork - and Gregory painted the cover for the enclosed CD sampler (which boasts the inclusion of LLG's "Be Good To Your Shoes")
It's Psychedelic Baby has a piece on our proposed "STMYS!" double LP
There is a new interview with TERMS over at Sonic Abuse - and it has been published alongside their "awkward family photo" to boot!
The FLYING LUTTENBACHERS' Weasel Walter is the featured guest on the latest Industry Tactics podcast
There is more to share, but this is plenty for one update. If you are on Facebook, we are "Beta-Testing" a SKiN GRAFT Records Group over there. You can try it out by going HERE.
Okay - Thanks!
Mark F'
PREVIOUS UPDATE
- August 2nd, 2023 -
HELP BRING “SOUNDS TO MAKE YOU SHUDDER!” BACK TO LIFE AS A DELUXE, DOUBLE VINYL LP
Hi Everyone,
This is Mark writing. Today SKiN GRAFT is launching a Kickstarter campaign in an effort to create a Deluxe Gatefold Double LP of our Halloween album “Sounds To Make You Shudder!” - with a heaping helping of bells and whistles included.
You'll find all of the details there, but here's a bit of background. As you may already know, SKiN GRAFT Records grew out of a punk comic-zine that my friend Rob and I published back in the 80’s. In those days, when a comic series reached an anniversary issue, like number 100 or 250, it was celebrated with a double-sized special. Late in the summer of last year, I hit upon the idea of putting together a Halloween album for our 150th release, as a kind of “tip-of-the hat” to the cool Halloween albums I grew up with.
We had 17 artists come together to record 15 tracks...
David Yow (of The Jesus Lizard) and Yowie
USA Nails
Lovely Little Girls
Terms
Tijuana Hercules
Pili Coit
Psychic Graveyard and John Dwyer (of Osees)
Jim O'Rourke
Cuntroaches
Strangulated Beatoffs
Shatter On Impact
Bobby Conn
The Flying Luttenbachers
Upright Forms
Azita
Everything was assembled at lightning speed, but due to the long turnaround times at the pressing plants, getting vinyl out last Halloween was impossible. As you can probably guess, running an independent label like SKiN GRAFT necessitates abandoning a certain amount of practicality and common sense, but to put the album out on vinyl as envisioned comes at a considerable cost.
We launched one campaign on Kickstarter previously and it helped us put together something truly special. Back in 2018, our friends around the word helped make the "Dhorimviskha" double album from Japan's Koenjihyakkei a reality. The record was very warmly received and went on to critical acclaim from all corners. It was even selected by Bandcamp Daily as one of the Best Albums of the Year. This new campaign for "Sounds To Make You Shudder!" calls for...
• Full Color Gatefold Jacket
• 18 unique Lobby Cards spread across two uncut sheets
• a collectible "Footlong OBI”
• 15 tracks pressed across three sides of two 140-gram LPs
• Side Fourscreen-printed with art created especially for the vinyl edition
• A hand-numbered "Exclusive" Lobby Card
• The entire package to come complete in a crystal clear resealable sleeve
In addition to copies of the Double LP, we are offering up original artwork, test pressings and special bundles that include other new and upcoming releases. (Eagle-eyed readers out there will spot another LP among the add-ons that we have not yet even officially announced as coming to vinyl!)
The flipside of the Gatefold Double LP’s enclosed Lobby Cards will sport three unique illustrations
A few things we should point out...
• We only have 16 days to reach our fundraising goal. Kickstarter is an all-or-nothing platform. If we don’t raise the funds before the end of the campaign, we get $00.00
• If you pledge support, you won't be charged until the end of the campaign, and even then - only if the campaign is successful.
• You actually get something in return for the investment. We can accept pledges from all over and will ship rewards worldwide (as allowed).
• On the topic of shipping, we know the shipping charges are expensive (especially when packages are going outside of the USA). The United States Postal Service raised their prices again last month (!) and the payment processors and kickstarter also take a cut on the shipping costs.
• Even if you don't have a turntable, the album will make for a heck of a conversation piece - or you can pledge funds and get a copy of the first pressing of the CD or a Digital Download in return.
Any help getting the word out would be super-appreciated. All of the details are at the Kickstarter page HERE. - And below are links to some assets that anyone can use to help us spread the news.
Okay! The bands and I hope you'll consider joining in and will help us bring "Sounds To Make You Shudder!" back to life - bigger, better and more menacing than ever!
Thanks!
Mark P.S. This coming Friday is Bandcamp Friday, so if you've been eyeing some SKiN GRAFT stuff (aside from the aformentined Kickstarter double LP), that's an ideal time to grab things from our shop. To mark the occasion, we will be premiering a new Lovely Little Girls track and video (!) from their upcoming album "Effusive Supreme".
Years before SKiN GRAFT started releasing music, it was a punk-comic zine. In 1986, Mark Fischer & Rob Syers started publishing their own comics inspired by the Do-It-Yourself attitude of punk rock. Armed with their instruments of choice, pen and paper, the two spent countless hours hovering over self-service copy machines, running off their books in limited editions
Hi There, This is Mark writing. I hope you're prepared to have a great day, because we're delivering the makings of one to you right now! "Effusive Supreme" the long-awaited third SKiN GRAFT album from Chicago's LOVELY LITTLE GIRLS is now up for pre-orders... and the debut single is streaming right now!
Here's the press release: "Lovely Little Girls deal in absurd and jarring contrasts. The group's knotty, intricate songs heave and dance and skitter, sometimes gracefully dexterous and sometimes grotesquely lumpy - clearly the work of formidably talented musicians with vivid imaginations. Jacobsen's demented lead vocals flicker from frighteningly histrionic to carefully declamatory, with eruptions of abject mania or borderline obscenity, but behind him a chorus of singers might deliver a pristine, almost angelic chant of "the pain, the horror"- Chicago Reader
Lovely Little Girls is a theatrical art-rock band from Chicago that features members of Cheer-Accident and The Flying Luttenbachers. They specialize in odd harmonies and catchy melodies served with a histrionic flair. “Effusive Supreme”, their third LP for SKiN GRAFT Records, delves into more personal and abstract territory, highlighting the utilitarian and fetishistic relationship to shoes on one track, while enthusiastically accepting egodeath’s indifferent embrace on the next. Equally informed by Magma and Dead Kennedys, Lovely Little Girls pull from a range that runs the gamut yards past the finish line - everything from Esquivel to Toto.
When asked about the band, vocalist Gregory Jacobsen had this to say:
“Lovely Little Girls has been a labor of love of mine for over twenty years and is the performance extension of my art practice. Using my paintings as an aesthetic blueprint, I work with a gaggle of amazing and warped musicians, birthing odd yet catchy music. The group started as a chaotic and noisy one-off performance piece inspired by Johanna Went, The Kipper Kids, Henry Darger, and “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane.” Throughout the years it has evolved into a juggernaut of prog/punk/no-wave absurdity featuring intricate arrangements of dramatic psychodramas”.
PRESS QUOTES: "What makes Lovely Little Girls unique is the care for complex arrangements, creating quirky prog-no wave hybrids. Their songs are impressive psychodramas of melodic detours and anguished explosions full of theatrical uneasiness"- ChainDLK
"Stuns listeners into submission with heavy doses of horns and lyrical flogging. Equal parts jazz, prog, and avant-garde, this horde of provocateurs revels in disturbing the peace"- Razorcake
"…the total package: challenging, dissonant, ever-changing experimental rock, conceptually linked songs, and ambitious themed stage productions that often involve makeup, prosthetics, partial nudity, and large casts of players"- Chicago Reader
"Lovely Little Girls are your favourite cartoon villains, plotting the takeover of the city before the Joker does"- The Organ
Fun Fact: “Be Good to Your Shoes” is based on the "Rosanna Shuffle."
Each 12" Vinyl purchase will include a 11" x 11" "Glamour Cat" print - AND - everyone who dares to pre-order the Lovely Little Girls "Effusive Supreme" Ultimate Edition (on color or black vinyl), will receive a mystery screen print!
You can hear the first single off the album "Breathing on the Back" and place an order HERE.
Thanks!
LOVELY LITTLE GIRLS and PILI COIT will TOUR THE USA this OCTOBER!
KOENJIHYAKKEI 高円寺百景 "Becttem Pollt (Live at Club Goodman)"
| Nivraym Revisited | SKiN GRAFT Records |
- - NEW & RECENT RELEASES - -
LOVELY LITTLE GIRLS
"Effusive Supreme" LP/CD/Digital
Street Date: August 18th, 2023
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