Buys and Receipt: 45rpms and Singles Edition — mclusky, Otoboke Beaver, FACS/Chimers, Orcutt Shelley Miller (Yow)
mclusky
i sure am getting sick of this bowling alley EP
Ipecac Recordings
Released: 3/20/26
Perhaps still running on whatever fumes were left over from the gas up mclusky enjoyed from 2025’s comeback LP, the world is still here and so are we, the band delivered a six-song EP dressed up with gnarly and implicitly violent cover art titled, i sure am getting sick of this bowling alley. Built from runoff from the world… sessions, a couple tracks that had been previously available as digital-only, and some new material, i sure am getting sick of this bowling alley is 13 minutes of shrapnel-laced wit and critique shouted over bendy bass rhythms and tightly wound snare beats, the six-string left raw and bleeding like a shriek-torn throat slaked with salt water.
“Long hair! No skin? HAWT!”
Intro’d by the sweaty “i know computer,” i sure am getting sick of this bowling alley is dialed up for most of its runtime, the Gun Club-edged blues of “as a dad” (“Dad, you're eight foot seven, bitch, heat my lunch!”), the Jello Biafra-level sarcasm of “spock culture” (“In the nostalgia wars… There were no survivors”), and the android-tonal delivery of “hi! we’re on strike” (“My boss says I am late, am I late? Am I late if I dispute the concept of a boss?”) won’t surprise fans, but instead provide more observation as shorthand prose and satire to appreciate, especially as these acerbic and often abstract gems are set to music that’s meant to split an ear or two. Volume and caustic obnoxia are persistent—those hurried tirades that cut through the patient, albeit texturally craggy, pace of “fan learning difficulties” immediately come to mind—up until the minimalist “that was my brain on elves” closes out the album.
The EP is available as a translucent red variant.
Links:
mclusky — Bandcamp
Ipecac Recordings — Official / Bandcamp
Otoboke Beaver
おとぼけビ～バ～
Is The New Album Out Yet?
Damnably
Released: 4/15/26
It takes less than 4 minutes to listen to Is The New Album Out Yet?, a 4” maxi-single released by Japanese punker oddballs Otoboke Beaver. With that winning title and the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it sonic antics contained within this pocket-sized vinyl slab in mind, I willingly shelled out too much money in shipping to own it.
While Otoboke Beaver (guitarist/vocalist Acco, guitarist Yoyo, bassist Hiro, and drummer Leo) share some commonality with other Japanese sound agitators like Boredoms and Melt-Banana, the band’s precise hairpin transitions and warped jazz-forward rambunctiousness evoke the Jam Econo mantra of Minutemen (“Hey, Where’s The Thank You?”) and the frenzied arrangements of Lightning Bolt and AIDS Wolf (“I Don’t Need To Be In Your Strike Zone”). For whatever comparisons can be drawn, Otoboke Beaver’s brand of progressive punk rock and boundless energetic performance has built a distinct sonic vernacular that would be tough to duplicate.
Is The New Album Out Yet? is a pink variant 3-song 4” single, packaged in a gatefold sleeve. The single is currently available from Damnably, but I purchased it from Bandcamp.
FACS/Chimers
"Parallel Lives" b/w
"Red Chair"
12XU
Released: 4/22/26
FACS of Chicago and Chimers of Wollongong, Australia, shared a modest tour route in Australia in May of 2026. A split 7” featuring single tracks from both bands was issued by Gerard Cosloy’s 12XU label to sell at gigs from this tour, but the release was also made available through Bandcamp. Side A is “Parallel Lives” by FACS, backed with “Red Chair” by Chimers.
For “Parallel Lives,” FACS lightly toy with dub motifs, the springy hi-hat and deep bass throb fomenting quick misdirection before the track takes shape, the airy dissonance from vocalist/guitarist Brian Case draping fuzz overtop the rhythm section. Severity heightens, tempo is sped up: a noise rock tangent takes the song to closing, Sonic Youth-styled grinding.
The Chimers track, “Red Chair,” is sturdy indie rock, sung verses sandwiched by cycled blasts of guitar sound. Head knock is incentivized for the track’s duration, a quick 2-minutes and some change featuring a noticeable and gradual climb in intensity.
“Parallel Lives” (FACS) b/w “Red Chair” (Chimers) is issued standard black 45rpm split 7,” still available on Bandcamp.
ORCUTT SHELLEY MILLER
(YOW)
“Hot Head” b/w “A Man Needs A Maid”
Silver Current Records
Released: 4/7/26
Would pigfuck have existed without Captain Beefheart? Hearing the guttural holler of David Yow (The Jesus Lizard, Qui) as he aggressively reinterprets the Captain’s “Hot Head,” backed ably by the trio of Orcutt Shelley Miller, raised this question. Add some distortion to Trout Mask Replica or Lick My Decals Off, Baby (which I personally prefer) and you’d have what would’ve been a welcome addition to the rosters of either AmRep or Touch & Go back in the early 90s.
But, I digress…
Orcutt Shelley Miller, the group composed of Harry Pussy’s Bill Orcutt, Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley, and Howlin’ Rain’s Ethan Miller, (who is also the owner of Silver Current Records, the issuing label), released a two-cover 7” featuring Yow’s assistance for “Hot Head” and a rendition of Neil Young’s “A Man Needs A Maid” from his milestone work, Harvest. Returning to my initial point, Yow and Co. enliven the Captain’s song, his prose set to updated tumult. Expectedly, justice is done.
For Young’s track, Miller handles vocals, his gentle pitch and tone close to Young’s original delivery. Revered as the “godfather of grunge,” a label bestowed to him thanks to evidence that his post-70s reach bore the ensuing alt-rock children of the amp, it is remarkable how malleable the most-celebrated installments of Young’s catalogue is. Hearing the loose sting of Orcutt’s guitar, the jarring sonic hallmarks of the indie underground read to me as clear as printed syllables while humbly played as tribute to a pioneering antecedent.
Thanks, elders. I guess.
Author note: As a point of interest, Orcutt Shelley Miller recorded the music for “Hot Head” at Johnny Brenda’s, a Philly venue I frequent as much as possible.
“Hot Head” b/w “A Man Needs A Maid” was issued by Silver Current Records as both a standard black and as a canary yellow and black variant 7.” Both editions contain a mini folded poster of Captain Beefheart. The variant is sold out, but the standard edition can still be purchased at Bandcamp.
Links:
ORCUTT SHELLEY MILLER — Bandcamp
Silver Currents Records — Bandcamp
Sincerely,
Letters From A Tapehead
