DURO DOUBLE LIFE “Psyched for the Yin-Yang” C32 (Haord Records)

 

First, let’s get it out of the way: Haord Records acts sound as warped as the picture on the j-card of Duro Double Life’s Psyched for the Yin-Yang. They’re misshapen, seasick, oblong, wobbly, and impossible to pin down in any meaningful way. They’re synth-punk rejects who have too great of a sense of humor to take seriously yet are too good to completely dismiss as parody. Duro Double Life is no exception, and therefore fits the Haord mold like oozy slime trying to fit in a mold: it splats out without taking a solid form, but its jellified remains are filled with bits of solidity that ground it as a life form of some sort. Did I say human? No, I did not.
 
Named after a biodegradable paper bag – because why not – Duro Double Life drips their debut sonics all over these tape spools, their sickeningly warped songcraft filling the air with mesmerizing greeze. Somehow everything sounds half-liquid, and that’s a good chunk of the appeal of Duro Double Life: a percentage of the songs remain songs, another percentage literally dribbles from your speakers like you were in a 1980s kid-suspense movie, say Gremlins. That’s right, Psyched for the Yin-Yang somehow manages to entertain via wonky juiced effects while also bubbling like a body-horror sight gag gone horribly (and terrifically) awry. Duro Double Life’s early Ween-meets-Melvins low-end while squirming with quarter-speed Devo delight is an absolute vomit-surge to the senses. And I mean that in the most complementary way possible.
 
https://haord.bandcamp.com/
 
--Ryan

JAKE TOBIN "Sorta Upset" C17 (Haord Records)

Yeah, you oughta be “sorta upset” already, cz this tape is now sold out (within four months of its release), but, if Haord has any sense, they’ll be repressing this gem PRONTO, lest Jake Tobin re-releases it, let’s say, on the venerable Orange Milk Records, where it could oh so easily fit amongst other seminal synth commandos. Yes, this shit is progressive and tiiiiiiiiiiiight!

So, like, I don’t say “tight” very often, lest I’m feigning obnoxiously facetiousness ahem, but it’s very, very, very fitting here. For real. This waaaay too short release plays like a spastic, midi-stream-of-conscious pop-writing forum, unloading in real time, remotely likened to a sweet spot somewhere between Fantomas and Giant Claw/Yakuza Heart Attack!

Noisey, freakishly bastardized, proggy chord & time manipulations? Check!

Midi-abuse & cliché v. organic, tonal blending mastery? Double-check!

Engaging? You could listen to this for days and hear new shit each time!

Egregious? Only archaic’ly!

Strap on some headphones and into a non-squeaky reclining device; you’re in for a ride!

https://haord.bandcamp.com/album/sorta-upset

and/or

https://jaketobin.bandcamp.com/releases

-- Jacob An Kittenplan

DAN TALBOT "Reinventing the Tire" C41 (Haord Records)

Not gonna lie. Totally fucking hated this tape the first two times I listened. Granted, I wasn’t focusing. And I was doing other things. Girlfriend even told me to turn it off, once. Given she was pissed & couldn’t find socks (she’d hidden from herself), blaming delinquency on me. Wasn’t me. Nope.

Third time was better. Wore headphones, sat down next to a lit candle at day’s end. Thought about Of Montreal and Enon and a best friend of mine I’d always hated the demos of and I hope he’s okay. Is creativity-4-creativityz sake under-or-over-rated?

Fourth time now. Not too shabby AKA not bad AKA if you’re willing to give it a real shot like man I mean really listen and not just like don’t focus on the lack of low end presence or blatant disregard of falsetto tonal relativity yeah it’s actually not terrible or insulting or shite or boring or even worthy of setting fire to the physical copy of. Nope.

Hell, maybe I’d even allude you might administer some half-dozen fair shakes, systematically spreading apart said shakes, as to open the mind up to disappointment, acceptance, and, finally, good ol’ fashioned resourcefulness, so far as entertainment v. personal growth be concerned.

Might proffer a link below, just for gits & shiggles. Be warmed.

https://haord.bandcamp.com/album/reinventing-the-tire

and/or

https://soundcloud.com/daniel-patrick-talbot

-- Jacob An Kittenplan

TENDER CRUNCHER "Crybabe" C37 (Haord Records)

Just like there are “anti-heroes” and “anti-folk”, Tender Cruncher (did Pauly Shore coin this term?) could easily fall into/create the loosey-goosey term “anti-electronica” with her playful, lo-fi, intimate angle on synth/drum-machine-based songwriting.

Half-melodies and decidedly just-short-of-catchy beats compete with a hybrid spoken word/speak-sing…but, like, y’know, heavily processed, fucked with, slowed down and/or chanty. Sound weird? Well, it sure as shit is. You’re just as unlikely to grow bored of anything here as you are of getting it stuck in your head, so, if you’re feeling adventurous, grab a cup of coffee & some headphones and let it all jangle about.

https://haord.bandcamp.com/album/crybabe-2

and/or

https://soundcloud.com/tendercruncher

-- Jacob An Kittenplan

MACULA DOG (Haord Records)

It’s an entry point. Using “dated” at the starting gate is why the gate opens in the first place and the jokers can ride towards the mighty circus, over a scrolling hill, beyond Forbidden Zone. The secret knock: the pound and warble of the sad clown mania, followed by a valve grab. Only rule in the land of color: no dipping toes. Every twist must be full frontal and vibrant, haurient and burlesque. Magnification. So, are you sure you want to cross over and join the skinny chorus underwater in panic, jerking pan pots, convulsing, after sinking the lifeboat, nosediving, skidding over puddles of jewel cases and CD-ROM, leaving spectrum strokes of airbrush molluscs, just to have another bad day at the midsection while under the bright crown of meconium shimmer? Cilia later. And “Wait ‘til you meet / All my buddies”

Haord Records: https://haord.bandcamp.com

-- Rick Weaver

The "Haord's Buncha" compilation tape on the same label is also killer - ed.