So this is what we've been up to lately: Been working real hard at our very own label, Stankhouse Records, that we launched in January of this year. For more info on that, visit www.stankhouserecords.com Just finished mixing down a few tracks from a recording session we did with our friend Kevin, soon to be released on a split 7" with SF's Long Legged Woman-this will be a Stankhouse Records/Pollen Season release, and we're real excited about it. We'll also be headed back into the studio at the end of May, to record our first full length album with Alex Yusimov at the Pool in NoPo. Also, gonna be heading out on a one month USA tour in August-September this summer. Here's the schedule so come on and check us out in your town.
August 14th: Davis
Jeff Guay-PSU Vanguard
There's been a slight change in the past year for New Orleans transplants Here Comes a Big Black Cloud. For a band whose live performance have been characterized by sci-fi costumes and choreographed dancing, to find it focusing on songwriting and recording is a bit strange.
“It kind of became that thing,” drummer Travis Wainwright says. “Like, 'You're that band with the theremin and the dancers.'”
While its onstage antics were getting it attention, the band was ready to focus on more elemental matters of its music.
“It was never my thing,” singer/guitarist Nick Capello says of the more theatrical days of their shows. “It was like, 'Man we could be writing songs or getting better at shit, rather than playing the same eight mediocre songs over and over again so dancers can learn them.'”
The energy once given to onstage theatrics has since been focused elsewhere.
“We used to play like nine shows a month,” singer Soo Koelbli says. “We were popping a lot of Adderall and not sleeping, eating like every two or three days. Now we don't play nearly as many shows. We focus way more on the music and the albums.”
The result is a handful of releases on a record label they've started, Stankhouse Records. With two Big Black Cloud vinyl releases already pressed, a Don Hellions record on its way and other projects coming, they've gotten off to a good start.
“We had maybe like 15 songs,” Capello says of the band's earlier inception. “Since then we've written maybe like four albums of material in a year and a half. We can actually just play music now.”
The attention to songwriting has been good for their sound, elevating their nasty garage tendencies to epic, demonic proportions.
“We made a switch a little while ago and the material was kind of changing a little bit,” Koelbli says. “Dain [Marx] went onto the noise guitar instead of bass which he was playing before and the band got way louder.”
Along with their unique sinister noise aesthetic, it follows suit that their records, equipped with 3-D glasses and violent watercolor artwork, would be better suited to their own label.
“We knew we just wanted to go ahead and start our own record label other than trying to find someone else to put it out for us, so we just went for it,” guitarist Dain Marx says. “Maybe like a couple days after we put the order in for the 7-inch, Tim Janchar from Hovercraft Records contacted us and said he wanted to put out a record for us, and he agreed to make it a split release between our labels to help ours get off the ground a little bit.”
Their ambition is to release only on vinyl, a smart choice for music that sounds like a psychedelic abscess in rock history.
“When you put something on vinyl it can really last for an awfully long time,” Koelbli says. “It's kind of nice to imagine where all the Stankhouse records will be in 50 years. They'll be past the dollar bin by then.”
PARTY VIETNAM OUT NOW!!!
7 songs recorded with Alex Yusimov @ the Pool in NoPo
a joint release with STANKHOUSE RECORDS/HOVERCRAFT PDX
clear vinyl 10" 8$ + 3$ shipping
STANKHOUSE RECORDS FIRST RELEASE STILL AVAILABLE
Big Black Cloud self-titled 7" 45 RPM
5$ + 3$ shipping
"The debut release from this Portland band is totally bitchin'!! At its root, its just lo-fi rock, but its catchy as hell and other influences filter through the fuzz. Each member of the band seems to have their own style that blends together perfectly to give them their distinctive sound. The B-side is a psychedelic post-punk dance-jam gem! This single is packaged with 3-D glasses that make the seahorse float off the cover, and for a second it seems like it might give you a kiss." (MU-Maximum Rock n Roll)
"Clunky band name aside, HCABBC come through with some rammin'n'jammin weirdrock here. I never heard the previous 12", but Rob liked it, so that's good enough for me. Portland dudes making with the twisted punk. Heavy burl on the drum-n-rhythm with jabberjawing vocals and bits and pieces of synth noise and shit thrown in here and there making for a monstrous stew. Definitely more rock than weird, and it's not so much primo scree as it is a really rhythmic lumber. "Black Mold" is dark and inviting at the same time, a wee bit similar to some Detroit strangeness (Terrible Eye Perfume whathaveyou...) with some Pac-NW creep lodged in there as well. "Psychic Violence" keeps up the rhythmic bob, showing they can find a catchy groove and stick with it while allowing the weird gusts to blow around the rest of the tune, a winding organ slide, perhaps some theremin, a slightly surfy gui-twang...lots of pieces making for a satisfying whole, nothing sounds too forced or unnecessary. You can be weird and still adhere to some structural rock constructs folks. Don't let the band name or put you off, this is solid listening material here. I have to say that 3-D record covers are always a let down though, glasses included or not. Self-released, with a 10" titled "Party Vietnam!" forthcoming."(RK-Terminal Boredom)
