Author: Abel

Jonathan Patrick – Open Heart EP

Strange Mono is announcing the release of Jonathan Patrick’s “Open Heart”. Playing with various punk and garage rock bands over the years, this EP is Jon’s first outing with his solo guitar work. “Open Heart” showcases a genuine, natural, melodic intuition that is rare in today’s musical landscape. 

Jonathan, an experimental guitarist from Eugene, Oregon, describes his style as “founded in the navigation of impermanence”. Comparisons can be made to the 60’s and 70’s American Primitive movement out of California, yet Jon’s work is a singular and unique take on the genre. Embracing the freedom of play pioneered by American roots music, Jon embraces life’s transitional nature in his compositions, displaying an emotional urgency that adds something fresh to a genre primarily dominated by technicality.

Inheriting an Alvarez classical guitar at the age of 12 from his mom, Jon always sought to convey the same feeling with one guitar that one gets from listening to early Sonic Youth. In 2005 living in San Francisco, Jon saw the original Akron/Family lineup perform their own material as well as back up Michael Gira as Angels of Light. “It was the first time I saw anyone convey the same power and freedom as Sonic Youth with acoustic and hollow body guitars”, Jon recalls. That performance set the course for Jon to spend years woodshedding behind the scenes while playing in numerous bands eventually culminating in the ultra jammy United Waves. After a couple of limited releases on acetate, everyone moved on and Jon became obsessed with minimalist art and solo guitar music.

“Open Heart”, made up of two tracks, is a direct and bittersweet pastiche of the Pacific Northwest, channeling visions of fog drenched mountain ranges and waves dashing against rocky outcrops on the shoreline. The opening track “Found Work Blues” was written prior to the worldwide fallout of the pandemic and is a reconciliation with the compromise all of us make in order to get by…and is also meant to be a post-work drinking song. The closing track “Dirty Side Of The Storm” was recorded after the end of the US shutdowns and will resonate with those who grew up in hurricane country as well as anyone who has ever asked themselves, “When will this bullshit end?”. “Open Heart” serves as a documentation of a period that was incredibly hard on the entire world. As world events continue to be exploited and divisions sown by those who would benefit from it, we are all left with the choice to either numb ourselves out to accept the status quo or to do something. This is what Jon did and will be doing until the wheels fall off.

Proceeds from this release are being donated to the White Bird Clinic’s NEST program. NEST is designed to help adults experiencing homelessness navigate available resources and sign up to receive assistance.

Thecla – My Sojourn Among The Torturers

Strange Mono is announcing the debut release from apocalyptic Death Metal band Thecla.
My Sojourn Among The Torturers is a viscous aural tribute to author Gene Wolfe whose influential goth epic The Book Of The New Sun helped spawn the “Dying Earth” sub-genre of Science Fiction.

Drawing inspiration from Wolfe’s work, Thecla creates a viscous portrait of the hero’s journey through an earth in decay. Vocalist Ossipago’s bloodcurdling style is the perfect compliment to the down right nasty riff’s delivered by guitarist Famulimus. All tied together by Barbatus’ pounding drum performances. While the band boast a singular style comparison’s can be made to Bolt Thrower, Death, Celtic Frost, and Darkthrone.

Proceeds from this Release are being donated to Earth Justice to aid their mission of combating climate change

Sandcastle – Kisses For Witches

Strange Mono is announcing the reissue of Sandcastle’s 2013 freak folk master work Kisses For Witches. Sandcastle has been a staple in the underground circle for over a decade. Defined by his clever lyricism, distinct vocal style, and relentlessly catchy melodies. Sandcastle is the moniker for songwriter Sam Kassel, who records the majority of Sandcastle’s output on his own.

Recorded following Sandcastle’s debut tour of the southern U.S in 2012. Sam was in a place of growth and introspection expanding on his lo-fi folk roots and creating a new sound entirely its own. The far out country tinged Deena and the driving Dream Catcher, perfectly illustrate the happy mania of a hopeless romantic. While Tracks like Antonia and Diamond Heart tap into more bittersweet feelings. The album as a whole reinforces classic Sandcastle theme’s like desire, adventure, mysticism, and spirituality with an undercurrent of anxiety and vulnerability. Throughout Kisses for Witches Sam demonstrates a command over language and melody, and an emotional intelligence rarely heard in this kind of music.

Matt Lee of the Big Takeover had this to say about the opening track Deena. “I defy you to get the opener “Deena” from this astoundingly good album by Philly’s Sandcastle out of your head.” and  “I know everyone who counts Tyrannosaurus Rex and Ween in their collection will be hooked for life.” and “There’s a magical newness of Sandcastle’s oeuvre, that feeling of discovery lurking in every song, they really bring you places in a gentle but forceful way. That’s the trick of genius songwriting is that confidence, the ability to say ‘Hey let’s go here… trust me!’.. and you do, and it turns out great.”

“Warping vocals encircle in a heady simplicity. A timeless minstrel tone meshes with modern twists and turns, creating an imaginative hybrid. Bending genres (even mid-song), the band creates a sound that continuously shifts and resonates.” – The Deli Magazine

This Cassette features original artwork designed by Philadelphia cartoonist Rebecca Kirby. Rebecca has an unmistakable style and boasts clients like: Cartoon Network, Boom! Studios, Vice, Grid, and The Los Angeles Times.

Proceeds from the Limited Edition cassette release of this album are being donated to the Homies Helping Homies to aid their mission to provide grocery tables to the people of Point Breeze Philadelphia. “We hope to encourage and support safety for folks who are underserved and overlooked by government aid and capitalist structures that seek to devalue them.“

Check it out

The Best Band Named After A Bodega. Period.

BEER BREAKFAST DUNGENESS CRAB

From the icy depths of West Philadelphia comes the chaotic punk of Beer Breakfast Dungeness Crab. Strange Mono is announcing the release of the band’s second album and first physical release. Taking their name from the famous West Philly bodega that served as their sole source of beer due to its close proximity to their underground parking garage practice space. Maybe it’s all the fumes, or the lack of oxygen but something miraculous happened in those dark corners to produce such an original and inspired band.

Frontman Brian Nothing (Spazm 151, Total Fucking Destruction, Syzlak) has a strident vocal style that carves through the unshakeable rhythm section on tracks like “Your Gonna Die” and “Eye of Nothing”. Bassist Ross Pritchett (The Company Corvette, Big Burly) takes vocal duty on “I’m Out” and “Whip it’s, Good” unleashing a voice both fully deranged, and engrossing. Drummer Skip never misses a beat, with his style sitting between Sabbath’s Bill Ward and Butthole surfers’ King Coffey. Ripping leads, non-stop riff’s, fuzzed out tube amps, and irreverent lyrics make BBDC a truly one of a kind band.

An accomplished painter, this album features original artwork by Brian Nothing.

Recorded and mixed by Alexei Popadopulis of Philly’s Stinking Lizaveta, this album is a perfect showcase of the band’s unhinged vibrations.

Check it out

Torschlusspanik – Intersexual Healing

Tennessee’s experimental artist Torschlusspanik delivers an astonishing album of cathartic and vulnerable compositions. Strange Mono, in collaboration with fellow Philly label No Rent Records, is releasing Intersexual Healing as a deluxe double cassette on December 13th, 2022. We see this album as a vital proclamation to the world, casting light onto the overlooked and underserved intersex community.

Originated in 2013, Torschlusspanik (Luna Mitchell) is “a middle-aged Tennessee gal’s outlet for mostly unpleasant and nonrealistic music” that has been summarized as “maximalist electro-acoustic” in the past. A wide scramble of sounds are “crudely forced into sound collage and (vague) song format intended for weaponizing emotional overstimulation and mulling over lost opportunity as time is near expired”.

Luna explains ”This collection of songs has been the first, after decades of centering most of myself as a musician, that feels like it could finally be my final important work. I’ve had a nagging voice in my head telling me for an embarrassingly long time now that I’ve been expecting (or at least hoping for) some sort of euphoric therapy that will likely never come from the creation and distribution of this type of music. But each time I’ve considered deleting everything and giving up I suppose that perhaps that excitement and healing can manifest in listeners instead”. This finality can be felt in the track “open carry” in its use of percussive bells, shattering glass, and rifle shots.

Across the album on tracks like “gerascophobia”, which crescendos in a chorus of modulation blending livestock and human voice, there are a myriad of sounds reflecting the artists upbringing. “I grew up in a very small town in west Tennessee called Atwood (population 949). Incidentally, I have been living in the same house again all year, with my wife and mom. We never had a farm ourselves, but family and friends did and those left impressions on me. I remember being very young, witnessing my first birthed calves and discovering groups of piglets crushed beneath their mother during the same week-long visit with my aunt”.

Expanding on the origins of the project Luna states “I got my start as a solo musician around 2003 when I picked up two synthesizers from the Goodwill store where I worked and recorded some doodling that I thought sounded neat. Harsh noise and other “experimental” stuff had started to replace indie rock as my main interest by this point, so I wanted to start a CDR label for my solo work as well as a duo my friend and I started called ‘Beesty’. I stumbled my way through those years, forcing a path through an extremely unstable and unhappy period until I would repeatedly collapse briefly and then reemerge with some new ideas to try again under assorted names and genres. I moved to South Carolina for 2008 and fell into extreme reclusion for over 5 years, and then Torschlusspanik started out as yet another one of those self-destructive attempts until gradually learning how to better exploit my strengths, predict my weaknesses, and hone in on the aspects of art that I had been longing for this entire time.”

The albums namesake, and heart piercing final track, “intersexual healing” forces the listener into a confrontation. The crib sounds and the delicate melody of a music box juxtaposed with grinding, metallic, scapes illustrates the complexities of internal conflict. “My process for this album began with finding hundreds of sample sources that I felt sounded good together, nothing more. I used to place more value on creating the majority of my own samples, but I wanted to relax that standard.  Most tracks have no additional recordings from myself included this time around. As I began to manipulate and “play” these samples together, forming the earliest demos in late 2021, I realized what kind of narrative and emotional portrait I ultimately hoped to create. It’s a little over a year later and I don’t think there’s anything left but to see whether others feel as strongly about these songs as I do.”
Proceeds from our release of “Intersexual Healing” benefit interACT. InterACT uses innovative legal strategies to advocate for the human rights of children born with intersex traits. Fostering youth advocates and raising awareness via media, the team works to end non consensual surgeries on intersex children.