New Mint Mile 12″ announced! SAVAK head to Europe next week! Minutes! Videos galore! Silkworm “Lifestyle” + “It’ll Be Cool” vinyl re-stocks! PRF Distro! More!
The Bliss Point is the second EP by Mint Mile. It is available for pre-order now, shipping out in November.
The record was made in Chicago with some crucial bits applied in Portland, Oregon.
We like four-song EPs because we cannot bury a song in the middle of Side B. Nothing is transitional. Everything either leads off or finishes an experience.
We are on an endless search for the optimal conditions of existence. Comfort, companionship, warmth. Gentle insistence. A lack of manufacture. To convince ourselves that we are alive and we make the most of our time. To fail to regret, to avoid the sense on our deathbeds (if we’re lucky and have them) that we spent too much time focused on the wrong things. To be not always distracted, not always preoccupied, but if lost to lose ourselves in love and joy. To take in the world raw, as wide and wonderous and ugly and terrific as it is.
So that’s what this record is about.
Hope you enjoy it.
Tim Midyett
Chicago 2016
MM on this record is:
Tim Midyett (Silkworm, Bottomless Pit) – vocals, baritone guitars electric and acoustic, piano, bass on Youngold, ARP, writing, some engineering and mixing
Matthew Barnhart (Tre Orsi) – bass except Youngold, most engineering and mixing
Jeff Panall (Songs: Ohia) – drums
Andy Cohen (Silkworm, Bottomless Pit) – regular electric guitar
Howard Draper (Tre Orsi) – lap steel on Speed/Bellflower/Park, organ, that burbly broken synth on Youngold
Justin Brown (Palliard) – steel guitar on Park/Youngold
The debut SAVAK Lp/Cd “Best of Luck in Future Endeavors” continues to garner rave reviews (collected below), and the band heads to Europe for the first time next week to play nine shows, with domestic dates bookending the tour.
Here’s where you can see’m in October/November:
Monday, October 10
Union Hall
Brooklyn, NY
with Benji Ferree, Ultra Major
Thursday, October 13
Schokoladen
Berlin, DE
with Ringo Starwars
Friday, October 14
Klub 007
Prague, CZ
with Milemarker, The Antikaroshi
Saturday, October 15
Kare Kult
Munich, DE
with Milemarker
Sunday, October 16
Spazio Aereo
Venice, IT
with Il Sogno Del Marinaio (featuring Mike Watt), Miles Cooper Seaton
Tuesday, October 18
Channel Zero
Ljubljana, SI
with Suzi Soprano
Wednesday, October 19
Mochvara
Zagreb, HR
with Il Sogno Del Marinaio (featuring Mike Watt)
Thursday, October 20
Kapu
Linz, AT
with Il Sogno Del Marinaio (featuring Mike Watt)
Friday, October 21
Soulkostel
Vernerovice, CZ
with Planety
Saturday, October 22
Kabinet Muz
Brno, CZ
with Pacino
Thursday, November 3
St. Vitus
Brooklyn, NY
with Girls Against Boys
For full details on the above shows, click here.
“Savak make a potent and pointed agitpop racket on their new album, Best Of Luck In Future Endeavors, which manages to balance the dark and moody with the catchy as fuck.” – Noisey
“SAVAK’s debut LP, features plenty of dread-fueled, post-punk angst tempered with catchy hooks – and it’s outstanding.” – Magnet
“The work on Best of Luck ranges from jangly, pop-infused punk in a Rezillos strain to more aggressive pieces, but everything here reverberates with an abundance of kinetic energy. Savak is the band that plays the party after the after party as they can maintain energy for any audience at any time of night. This is just awesome.” – Jersey Beat
“n intense and catchy collection of songs with a number of subtle tricks up its sleeve.” – Vol. 1 Brooklyn
“Superior twin-guitar slash action from members of Obits, Make-Up, Holy Fuck et al. Adding Saints-worthy brass on standout Early Western Traders boosts the prevailing Wipers-do-Joe Jackson aura. Four stars!” – Mojo
“Hooky and immediate. These songs have real staying power.” – Brooklyn Vegan
“he perfect distillation of their previous bands with skronking saxophones, sharp post-punk rhythms and reverb-rich 60’s psych-pop melodies all held together with a hardcore punk heart.” – Atlas & The Anchor
“A hook-ladened and punchy record that should appeal to more than (but inclusive to) just fans of the group’s other projects.” – Free Williamsburg
“There are parts where it sounds like Lee Ranaldo is fronting some poppier version of the Wipers. I assure you it’s high praise.” – David Park, WMXM
“By blending different waves of rock and roll, SAVAK has created an album that everyone can genuinely enjoy.” – Indie Band Guru
“Wonderful.” – The Observer
Let’s not permit The Rutabega‘s wonderful “Unreliable Narrator” to get lost in the shuffle. The Indiana duo’s most recent album remains in print, but just thee copies of the “clear vinyl with black smoke” pressing are left in stock. Order an LP or CD here.
Upcoming The Rutabega shows:
Saturday, October 15
Vegetable Buddies
South Bend, IN
with Michael Harold Doty, Alan Madej
Thursday, October 20
Quencher’s
Chicago, IL
with Chung Antique, Nonagon, Cmn ineed yr hlp
Friday, October 21
PRF Camp-Out
Mattawan, MI
with Minutes, OUT, Chung Antique, more…
For full details on the above shows, click here.
The first Minutes album is now digitally available far and wide under Comedy Minus One’s auspices. Great to have this record, which we especially love, “in the fold.”
Minutes’ self-titled debut LP, released in January of 2012, was recorded in various basements in Kalamazoo, MI. MD Wood and the band handled engineering and production, lovingly referred to as “MID-FI.” It was released by the band’s own label, MIN, with the generous distribution help of Comedy Minus One, Roydale and Dischord Records. The artwork is by Beverly Fitzpatrick.
The record found a home with friends and family in the Kalamazoo area, and was embraced by fans all over the world with its off-kilter guitars, genre-splitting baselines, bombastic drumming, and contemplative lyrics. Compared to the likes of Mission of Burma, Superchunk, Minutemen and DC-area post-hardcore melodic honesty, Minutes creates music we are all afraid to admit we want to hear.
The members of Minutes are proud of this one, as it was the culmination of over three years of hard work, tinkering, and consternation.
Touch & Go has re-issued the Silkworm LP “Lifestyle” and we’ve got copies available for you! “It’ll Be Cool” SKWM vinyl re-stocks too!
Originally released in 2000 and out of print for over five years, “Lifestyle” is Silkworm’s seventh album (and third for Touch & Go). These songs show Silkworm presenting their clearest and most polished visions. To the beat of Michael Dalquist’s drums, Andy Cohen’s razor-wire guitar and Tim Midyett’s baritone guitar snake around one another like twin brothers with a common soul. And, when the last strains of “Lifestyle” fall away, there is hope – hope that reasonably well-adjusted adult guys can turn the boredom and disappointment of the everyday into glorious art-rock.
If you have not read Paul Duffus’ track-by-track essay series at PopMatters about “Lifestyle,” now is the perfect time to start.
“Silkworm hold an accomplished spot between the likes of CCR and the Minutemen. Not as famous as the former, and not as wild as the latter, but as fresh and timeless as both.” – AllMusic
“Euphoric, downtrodden, abusive, and rocking, will do more to your head than a full night of drinking.” – mauricerickard.com
There have been multiple videos featuring Comedy Minus One artists posted in the past few weeks. Too many to keep tabs on potentially, so we’ve collected them all for you in one location.
SAVAK – “Call It A Night”
From the album “Best of Luck in Future Endeavors”
Directed by Alexis Fleisig
SAVAK – “Alive In Shadows”
From the album “Best of Luck in Future Endeavors”
Directed by Paul Clark
The Rutabega – “Nosy Neighbors”
From the album “Unreliable Narrator”
Directed by Mr. King
Recent PRF Distro additions and re-stocks include:
Chung Antique : “Artesian Swell” b/w “Norse Code” 7″
Conan Neutron & The Secret Friends : “The Art of Murder” Lp
Shellac : “Dude Incredible” Lp
Small Awesome : “SONGER” Lp
Explore the complete PRF Distro catalogue here.
Comedy Minus One has a Facebook page, a relatively new Instagram page and a Twitter handle for those of you who dig such things. More frequent bursts of news can be found there or on the Comedy Minus One blog.
Stores and distributors are welcome to contact us about stocking these titles. Comedy Minus One is distributed directly in North America through Matador Direct and Revolver. European customers can contact Day After for our wares.
Canadian, UK and Australian distribution sought.
Wow. That’s a lot to take in. Thank you.
Jon Solomon
Comedy Minus One
comedyminusone.com