THE BITTERS - "East General" C45 (Release the Bats)

Following a handful of sold out ep's on Mr.Blank Dogs' Captured Tracks label, Toronto's beloved Bitters return with a killer new full length from Sweden's Release the Bats label.East General offers 11 tracks of dark and cavernous pop, with more than enough infectious hooks and freak outs to keep you rewinding after each listen.At first it was just a side project between Aerin Fogel and Ben Cook (Fucked Up/Young Governor), but have recently taken their cloudy pop to a live setting, with the help of Fucked Up drummer- Jonah Falco, among other talented guest performers.
East General works on so many levels, it's almost too good to bare.Aerin Fogel's deep and affected voice pretty much carries this entire album, right on to the very end.Her 50's girl-group hoots n' howls somehow fit perfectly within the murky rhythms, and comes off just as dark and spiteful as does bright and tuneful.The Bitters' sound is constantly shifting,blurring the lines between all forms of pop and rock sub-genres, and yet remains cohesive and focused from start to finish.A rather rare quality in this musical climate.It's all here..in heaps.The classic girl group charm, blown out garage rock production, post-punk aggression, and heavy on the straight-faced goth influence.
*I'm submitting my vote for cassette of the year, right..now.Gruesome cover art with full color J-card, and an attractive blue cassette.Dynamite.

RTB
The Bitters
Captured Tracks

TSUKIMONO “Bat Heads Roll” (Release the Bats)

Never heard of this Swedish drone fellow (Johan Gustavsson/Tsukimono) before but hopefully I do again, cause this micro-edition CS on Release The Bats is a wholly enjoyable slab of private electronic symbiosis. The A side was recorded live at RTB HQ but it sounds mid-fi enough to capture the wonderful rainbows of spiraling drone blasting outta whatever amplifier powered this sick occasion. The jam starts with an unsuspecting throb, like yet another mixer freak staring into wires, but then it grows and subsides into a subtle pool of new age bathwater before gradually freezing over into a dense vibrating iceberg of distortion, rumble, and skree. Near the end it sounds like he runs outta ideas, cause things drag a bit in a nowhere land of accidental noise and fatigue (and even some lazy sounding drum machine beats), but overall it’s a solid set. But, strangely, the B side “studio” recording (“Cloudness”) is vastly less varied and transformative. It ain’t bad, or even boring per se, but if yr any mood other than one of wanting to be totally drowned in infinity drone overload, this won’t be yr cup of coca-cola. Wish it had some more of the odd transitions of the live set but maybe that just wasn’t the vibe this night. Regardless: curious to hear more.