Last weekend, I took a little trip out to Fort Worth, TX. It was great, and I had such a good time visiting the Modern Art Museum, dining on some amazing food at Toro Toro and Hot Box Biscuits, and visiting one of my favorite DFW record stores! That store is called Doc’s Records & Vintage, and I got a good old crate dig in.
This was my second time visiting the Doc’s, and I was super excited to see what fun stuff I’d dig up this time around.
In this haul post, I’m going to share the 4 LPs that I picked up and a handful of singles. I start with the LPs, then continue with the 7-inch singles. Dig in, and let me know what bands and tracks resonate with you in the comments below!
Altın Gün: Aşk (Indie Exclusive on Ghostly Orange Vinyl)
I’m a new fan of Turkish psychedelic revivalists Altın Gün, having discovered them through skateboarder Richie Jackson’s Instagram. When I first heard the band, I was convinced it was another obscure artist he dug up from the 1970s — in fact, a number of years ago Jackson introduced me to The Bubble Puppy, which has become a favorite from that era.
Imagine my surprise when I discovered they are a modern band!
Well, Altın Gün has a new album out this year called Aşk and I was able to snag a copy at Doc’s. This is definitely deep psychedelic rock, quite reminiscent of the 1970s, and packed with Eastern influence. You can definitely hear the local Southeast Europe psych influence, and it’s in the guitars as well as the vocals, which are delivered in Turkish.
“Rakıya Su Katamam” was given a super trippy video early this year, and you can check it out below:
My copy is the indie exclusive pressing on Ghostly Orange vinyl, which has to be one of the cooler pieces of colored vinyl in my collection. I show that off in the video…
Low: C’mon (2023 Repress)
I’m really happy to see Sub Pop re-press a slew of Low albums from the 2010s that have been out of print for a few years. C’mon from 2011 is part of that collection of fresh re-presses, and others like The Invisible Way from 2013, Double Negative from 2018, and possibly even Ones And Sixes from 2016 appear to have fresh pressings as well.
While C’mon doesn’t live up to HEY WHAT (because, frankly, nothing does), it still has some great tracks like opener “Try to Sleep,” “Nightingale,” and “Nothing But Heart.” Here’s the music video for the first of those:
Lush: Split (2023 Reissue on Clear Vinyl)
Original-era shoegaze band Lush has been reissuing their early records of late, and I was able to get my hands on a clear vinyl pressing of Split. Originally released in 1994, this album is on the cusp of its 30th anniversary, which still blows my mind!
The title for the track “Desire Lines” was lifted by Camera Obscura for one of their releases back in 2013. The music is quite different though; Lush’s style of shoegaze has some strong parallels to the work of Slowdive, as you can hear below:
As I mentioned in my vinyl haul video embedded at the top of this post, Emma Anderson from the band has a solo album coming out this year, and about a month ago she released a song called “Bend the Round.”
The Rebel Kind (1983 Garage Rock Revival Compilation)
I’ve been on an on-again, off-again 1980s garage rock revival binge for years now, so every so often I’ll snap up something new from that era. This is one of two to match that in this haul (the other coming soon in the 7-inch singles).
Released in 1983, this 40-year-old compilation features a variety of new-to-me artists as well as some favorites like The Miracle Workers and Fuzztones. Really digging the spooky synth-heavy “Invisible People” by The Slickee Boys:
Roky Erickson: Bermuda 7″ Single
After returning home and digging into this single, I actually found it’s part of the Light in the Attic release for Gremlins Have Pictures from 2013. So it’s technically not a standalone piece. I was a bit bummed to discover that, and am now wanting to seek out a pressing of that to pair it with…
It’s essentially an EP, spinning at 33.3 RPM and containing four songs. Roky Erickson, of course, was the frontman of the psychedelic rock pioneers The 13th Floor Elevators.
Farmer Dave Scher: Bab’lone Nights / You Pick Me Up
I’m new to Farmer Dave Scher, but not new to his other band Beachwood Sparks. In the video, I called Beachwood Sparks out as being part of Sub Pop’s lineup in the mid-late 90s, but it was actually the early 2000s.
Beachwood Sparks is more alt-country, and you can hear a bit of that sound in Farmer Dave Scher’s music, though there are more elements of an indie psych-folk here.
Idaho: Pomegranate Bleeding
I had all but forgotten about the 1990s Slowcore band Idaho until I saw the band featured in a video I watched recently on The Omaha Introvert’s Channel where she shared a rare 10-inch single, The Bayonet EP, from 1995. Pomegranate Bleeding from 1996 isn’t rare, but for just $3, I couldn’t resist. Along with bands like Low and Red House Painters, Idaho was a key band in the 90s Slowcore movement.
Listening to them now, I can’t help but hear traces of other 90s era bands like 764-HERO, though that band is definitively more indie rock. (Especially here, where the tracks we get are a bit louder with a hint more rock than some of the other sounds you get with Idaho.) Slowcore is what you’d expect from a subgenera with that title: it has slower tempos, subdued instrumentation and lyrics, and tends to be a bit more minimalist. Where Idaho has some parallels to indie rock, others, like Low, paralleled a melodic shoegaze and Jason Molina of Songs: Ohia married slowcore with Americana.
“Pomegranate Bleeding” blends elements of a louder (than slowcore, at least) indie rock with hints of a more rock-centric shoegaze.
Marshmallow Overcoat: Alive
Perhaps my favorite band from the 1980s era garage rock resurgence is The Marshmallow Overcoat. Spooky vibes paired with occasionally dorky and silly antics, you get songs like “The Mummy” and “13 Ghosts.” I have a number of LPs and compilations from the band in my collection, but this is the first 7-inch single I’ve found.
I was shocked to find while in the middle of filming the haul video that this 4-song 7-inch EP actually includes a cover of the Love track “7 and 7 is” which is probably my favorite track by that band. Here’s “Walking in This World” off the Alive EP:
After filming the haul video, I was sad to discover that The Marshmallow Overcoat frontman Timothy Gassen passed away back in the fall of 2019.
The Saturday People / The Clientele: Split 7″ Single
I snapped up this Slumberland Records 7-inch for a cool $3. It features the baroque-ish indie band The Clientele and the indie pop group The Saturday People. The former lends the song “Grace” whereas The Clientele gives us “Porcelain.”
There’s the vinyl haul from my trip to Fort Worth! Do any of these artists or songs resonate with you? Let me know what your favorite is in the comments below. For me, I’m most excited to dig more into Altın Gün!
