V/A "WANTAGE USA'S 21ST RELEASE HITS OMNIBUS" 2CD
Well, friend, it's finally come to pass: Wantage USA's 21st Release Hits Omnibus is on the streets. This compilation features two discs, two continents, 47 groups and over one hundred and fifty minutes of the hottest-assed music around. It was close to a year in the making, and good project for connecting and reconnecting to a lot of friends, and it put us in touch with the mission of supporting and highlighting creativity, independence and adventure. Like those compilations that bring you back for repeat listening, we attempted to sequence this as thoughtfully as possible, and it's got some eclectic parts: From No-Fi Soul Rebellion's (Montana) ecstatic god-rock/soul stomp to Noxagt's (Norway) ode to gas-huffing, back again to Drunk Horse's (California) fantasy blast, over again to Oneida, the Fucking Champs, Federation X, Ass-End Offend, Dub Narcotic, JonnyX and the Groadies, Point Line Plane, Party Time, Early Humans, Japanther, Fireballs of Freedom, Bloodhag, Oblio Joes, Volumen, Bryan Ramirez, Skyforger, Stars of the Dogon, Le Force, Depo, Balozu Pilni Pagalmi and the Joggers (and about thirty more)- the Hits Omnibus is not any sort of "genre comp." This thing is wall to wall packed with hit after smoking hit.

EXCLUSIVE TRACK ALERT: Oneida, the Fucking Champs, Party Time (ex-Last of the Juanitas), Early Humans, Touhy (ex-Early Humans), Japanther, Volumen, Stars of the Dogon, Castro, Federation X.

BIG BUSINESS "TOUR" CDEP
Add the whistling scene from Bridge On the River Kwai to a close-range hand grenade fight and, then listen to this CD on repeat for two days straight. Jared Warren (from Karp, the Whip and Tight Bros) and Coady Willis (from Murder City Devils) are hard rock practitioners with vitaes to back it up. This takes up the torch, straps that torch to the back of a grizzly, and then gets the grizzly angry, then saddles that grizzly and rides it up the front of a steep, snowy mountain. Four utterly blazing tunes. For what it's worth, it makes Matt Vanek think of what it would sound like to hear Karp practice in your basement, from the floor above it.
Here's their website:http://bigbigbusiness.com

DRUNK HORSE '"BAMBI/DIRTY MIND"  7"
(w. purple vinyl, silkscreened covers) The cream of our year-of-living-dangerously crop. 2 sweet-ass Prince tunes beautifully rendered by Oakland, California's own mighty masters of reality. Tim Green made sure they're loud, clear and otherwise a pleasure to have next to your ears. People from Japanther to Bryan Ramirez have told me how much this record has ruled their respective listening experiences. 
Drunk Horse just got itself back from three and a half weeks across Europe (with Belgian rockers the Feather) and apparently took the continent by storm. I can only imagine what it would be like to see as powerful a live rock band as the Horse in a place like rural Slovenia!

EARLY HUMANS 'S/T' CDEP
(silkscreened covers) Are you fucking kidding? We searched hard for a reference point and finally decided on the convenient, if only somewhat apt, Gravity band tag. Early Humans had your rock acrobatics, your screaming, feedback, 7/8 time signatures and thuggish rythym section. Regardless of how it was characterized, Early Humans did one hell of a job whipping around their spastic rock. Lyrically it's been compared to Born Against. Musically it's more ambitious, loud and compelling than anything has been in the 2000's. John Peel played tracks, as did WFMU and other enlightened stations. I saw them at Jay's Upstairs with Japanther, in Charlottesville, VA with El Guapo and at their final show, a house show, with Last of the Juanitas. Friends drove from Cleveland and New York for the last show! All were totally sweaty and memorable rock and roll experiences punctuated by Wells' Bonham-inspired pounding, Kevin's spidery-assed bass playing, and Matt's unfriendly axe-attack. Fans can check out Nick's Planaria records for their noisy Blackeye's split 7", the Swedish 7" and Planaria compilation. Also featured on: Hits Omnibus CD.

FOR A LIMITED TIME WE WILL INCLUDE 1 FREE COPY OF THE EARLY HUMANS/STARS OF THE DOGON SPLIT 7" WITH YOUR S/T CD ORDER. SERIOUSLY.

EARLY HUMANS/STARS OF THE DOGON "SPLIT" 7"
(w. silkscreened covers) A blasting two band outing that W?ntage USA was happy to get it's hands onto. Early Humans song comes from the Jonathan Kreinik (Trans Am sound) sessions that can be found on Planaria's new 7" Blackeyes split, and the Early Humans Swedish single. Stars of the Dogon brought Baltimore to the world, the world loudly said "yes." Split singles can fly or flail, and this one frankly flew, fellow.

FIREBALLS OF FREEDOM "GREASY RETROSPECTIVE" CD
The "Greasy Restropective" collects many of these Portland/Fargo/Missoula bros' middle-nineties works, including the legendary Jim Collier sessions that resulted in the Snow King 7", their debut, as well as the Conrad Uno/Egg stuff, that came next. It's been expertly remastered by the good folks at Golden, includes Andy Smetanka's Out Of My Head video and some hillarious band picks, copious liner notes explaining the Fireballs phenomenon.

The Fireballs of Freedom toured extensively through the late 90's and early 00s, got themselves to Europe once and even opened for the Stooges at a huge Basque festival. Punk rock rarely has the Fireballs' ability to use psychadelia, and their music is an over the top, memorable experience, steeped in excess, joy and fun. Word is that Kelly, Sammy, Paul and Grady are busy in recording new songs.

The Balls' website has some of their new songs.

INNER MUSCLE #8/DISGRUNTLED NATION "COMBO-PACK" zine/7"
5+ years old, this came out in the Summer of 2000 and was a downright fun project. To make it all happen Disgruntled Dave Parsons hit me with a proposition: his bands, Disgruntled Nation and Sasshole, were going on tour and it would be great news to have a local zine along. It had been about 3 and a half years since an issue of Inner Muscle, the zine we used to do, had come out. So, I got right to work cranking some reviews, stories and rounding up the usual crop of contributors to fill an issue. Disgruntled Nation were a great Flathead/Missoula band with more than a few well-worn copies of Poison Idea's Pick Your King EP in their collection. The zine has an interview with (Swedes) Henry Fiats Open Sore, a story about Latvian Apartment Leftovers, an E. Europe travel journal, reviews, a piece by Yale "Star" Kaul and a bunch of other shit I forget.

JAPANTHER "DON'T TRUST ANYONE OVER THIRTY" LP
Japanther are the Brooklyn DIY punk duo, formed as a senior project while the two participants were completing art school. While they often refer to themselves as "more of an art project than a band" Japanther gets points for making some of the most hummable and inspiring music of any art project in recent memory. Part Screamers unpredictable live intensity, part Misfits gut-simple anthemery, part RZA deft samples/beats and part Providence artblast/freakshow, Japanther defies easy categorization.
 
In 2005 Japanther was invited by part of (minimal/conceptual artist) Dan Graham's and Tony Oursler's Don't Trust Anyone Over Thirty performance. Japanther composed/performed new songs, revamped existing ones, and used their sampling/found sound skills to fill in the gaps for the soundtrack of this ambitious puppet-play.

This is the vinyl version, which features 14 total Japanther songs and audio clips from the play.

**FIRST 500 COPIES COME WITH CD VERSION OF LP COURTESY OF TAPES RECORDS

LAST OF THE JUANITAS THE JAY 7"
(w. silkscreened covers) The Wantage USA debut single with Portland's most cacophonous and technical, jazz-metalists. The A side features a new recording of an original called The Jay, which one could somehow compare to the brutal stomp that Nirvana had happening on their Bleach LP. The B side features a brilliant and weird Sun Ra cover. Wantage always dug the fact that the Juanitas were not only down with Sun Ra, but interested enough to record a cover of his Blues On Planet Mars. Last of the Juanitas music has always been kind of difficult  to discribe, but, at minimum the stuff is ambitiously technical, cathartic, dystopian and completely inspiring in a way that few bands can be. They took the best parts of Black Flag and Drive like Jehu and added a ton of their own jazz.

LE FORCE "LE FORTRESS" CD
Like a chrome plated predatory turbo falcon, scanning the horizon for prey, and good times, Le Force is a band on the move. The group is a compact three piece, (two guitars, drums, occasional vocals) with an incredible ability to write music. Their songs are very inspired by the NWOBHM, and those middle-nineties American groups that helped America, and the world,  to refamiliarize ourselves with that amazing stuff, and all of its technical glory.  To wit, Tim Green (Nation of Ulysses, Lice, Fucking Champs) engineered the recording. This CD comes enhanced, so you can check out a high quality video, and some other extras. Expect tours soon, and enough material recorded to warrant a double album in 2008.

RIYL: Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Fucking Champs.
Le Force's website is here.

OXES "A.O.R." 10"
Once just a surly trio of wireless Charm City dodge-ballers, now Oxes have toured with Wire and are back from a couple trips to Europe. They know about the good life. Chris even played drums for Will "Prince" Oldham for a while. This is Oxes' controversial parody record. Limited, limited, limited! Totally O.O.P. dude.

You can see there sweet live version of Thus Spake Zarathustra done at SXSW in 2006 here, and order their records from the good people at Monitor.

SQUALORA "S/T" CD
Portland's Squalora arose from the ashes of Missoula's Ass-End Offend, and play heavy/fast hardcore. Part Kylesa low-frequency kudgel, part Anti-Cimex crust blowout, Squalora's sound is a fresh, powerful one. Lyrically, the music deals with the frustration of living in the hawk-filled Bush-era, scene egotism and class struggle.

When Portland hardcore legends Resist reformed in 2007, they requested Squalora as the opening act, and the two have been playing shows regularly since. This self-titled release features 9 songs, and was recorded at Portland's Smegmatone Studio by sonic wizard Mike Lastra. (Split Release with Repetively Futile Records).

DEMOLITION DOLLRODS '"POWER CRUISE" 7"
Hardly-clothed, reductive Detroit rock and roll! One of their very first singles. Danny from the Gories, Margo and the drummer, whose name I forget, rock on the sort of Velvet Undergroud's half a riff, but charming' tip. I remember really digging seeing them live, which last happened in roughly 1995. Ian 'Howardian' Vanek put all this business together, and co-wrote the song on the A-side with them.

THE EVERYDAY SINNERS "WILLIAM TELL BURROUGHS"  7"
(w. silkscreened covers) Missoula's closest link to mid-seventies Cleveland/New York scuzz punk! The Everyday Sinners (w. former Hedons, Helltones and Cleaners personnel) cranked out some of the most desperate and crazed music Missoula's ever seen. The band is long-since gone, with two members living in opposite corners of the country, and two remaining in town. There are very few copies of this single still around.

Those looking for a similar fix can steer their way to John at Ear Candy for copies of the Sinners' excellent split with the Forty Fives, or purchase a copy of the Hits Omnibus CD, which features the Hellgate Stranglers, the newer (though now defunct) incarnationof the Josh May/John Fleming rock and roll axis.

RIYL: the Heartbreakers, the Fumes, (early) Supersuckers

LIMITED TO 500 AND NEARLY OUT OF PRINT!

THE FUCKING CHAMPS "SECOND 7"  7"
As the title implies, this was the (then, just) Champs second vinyl release. They had two awesome tapes called Triumph of the Air Elementals and Songs for Films About Rock. This was in the pre-Tim Green days when Adam Cantwell handled second-axe. The A-side (Thor is Like Immortal) features more guitar overdubs than indie metal had previously seen, the B-side (Lee Tom), is a white-hot rock masterpiece that few people can touch in terms of greatness. This is another release that Ian Vanek, deserves most of the credit for making happen.