Banned Books, I don’t really know what to think of you. There are times where I get your music, like with “Summer Death Camp”. I can totally rock to that. But others like “Wilderness Area” are a bit out there for even an eclectic palate such as mine. Still, for the most part, I’m totally down with Mission Creep. “Anti-Anthem” is superb, and I definitely dig “The Alarm” and “Mission Creep”. The same holds true for “Black Knot Of Plum Or Cherry”. I can also dig the visual elements.

Twelve inches of wax encased in a thick, black cover stock sleeve featuring a print in one color — silver. The cover art is out there; like the music, one is easily befuddled and confused by its sheer brute existence. What does it mean? Is there a purpose? Huh? Whether the answers to these questions are easily fathomable really doesn’t matter. Ultimately, the art and music coincide and are in unison in their obscurity. And, you know, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Mission Creep can be found on Stumparumper Records.

Download: “Mission Creep” by Banned Books

San Francisco garage-noise-pop outfit Railcars dropped their new record yesterday, a mystical collective of ferocious bouts of electro noise dubbed Cathedral With No Eyes. You may remember Railcards from our debut/premiere of “Passion Of St. Edmund (Rebirth)”, or maybe even our premature review of Cathedral With No Eyes from a month and a half ago. Frontman Aria Jalali takes noise and throws it through a lollipop dreamboat; its almost unbelievably upbeat pop nature is something that simply must be heard.

And it can. Railcars is in the middle of an extensive fall tour. Check the tunes and the dates below, but first a tad bit more about the album. You can pick it up on glorious vinyl from Stumparumper. Or, if you’re the digital sort, you can grab it in that format from Gold Robot.

Railcars: Cathedral With No Eyes [mp3]

Railcars: Passion Of Saint Edmund (Rebirth) [mp3]

RAILCARS ON TOUR IN THE NORTHWEST

11/10: The Shed in Vancouver, BC
11/11: Logan’s in Victoria, BC
11/12: Dreamstation64 in Seattle, WA w/ Universal Studios Florida
11/13: Le Voyeur in Olympia, WA
11/14: The Artistry in Portland, OR
11/17: North Bay Art/Film Collective in Santa Rosa, CA
11/18: Fungarden in Sacramento, CA
11/19: Thee Parkside in San Francisco, CA
11/20: Flux 53 Gallery in Oakland, CA
11/23: Synchronicity Space in Los Angeles, CA
11/24: Acrobatics Everyday in Irvine, CA

Fingerprints are an interesting thing. They’re a hard thing to lose, and even harder to identify without the proper know-how. In a way, they’re symbolic of the influences that inspire musicians, and Railcars is no different. Their latest, Cathedral With No Eyes has the undeniable fingerprints of Xiu Xiu’s Jamie Stewart in both the eccentric noise instrumentation and the vocal shouts.

A while back I posted an exclusive off this album, an unmastered version of “Passion of St. Edmumd (Rebirth)”. It’s easy to hear the progress the mastering brought forth — it’s still highly saturated with heavy static and occasional indecipherable vocals and notes alike. But there’s a clean quality to the overproduced static that’s as infectious as the swine flu. And hit track “Castles” is no different; in fact, it may even be more so.

Cathedral With No Eyes is a rarity — it’s an album that would be ideal from start to finish in a live setting. In a way, this is an EP, chiming in at just under 20 minutes. On the other hand, it’s a glorified single with three feature tracks: “Castles”, “Passion Of St. Edmunds (Rebirth)” and the title track, “Cathedral With No Eyes”. The rest is highly sophisticated noise filler, songs that act as brilliant transitions without which this album would not be whole.

Railcars chooses an unlikely format for an album ripe with religion; St. Edmund is mostly known (based on a limited amount of research) as a martyr through the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. But, as religion goes, it’s certainly not for everyone and neither is Cathedral With No Eyes. But for those who can tolerate — or better yet enjoy — noise pop, it’s an absolute masterpiece.

Railcars: Castles [mp3]

Stumparumper Records / Gold Robot Records [CDEP, 2009]

1. Life Of St. Edmund (Ponds)
2. Castles
3. Passion Of St. Edmund (Rebirth)
4. Passion Of St. Edmund (Miracles)
5. Cathedral With No Eyes
6. Martyrdom Of St. Edmund (End)