Permanent Records' 37th label release!
300 COPIES PRESSED:
200 ON BLACK WAX AVAILABLE FOR WHOLESALE
100 ON WHITE WAX AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY THROUGH PERMANENT RECORDS CHICAGO & LAListen:https://soundcloud.com/permanentrecords/merx-distress
MERX INCLUDES ? OF GERMAN ARMYLA's MERX is back with another platter of menacing post-punk, no-wave, cold-wave, industrial electronic thinking-man's creep terror. Have a look at a few reviews of their debut LP (also on Permanent Records)?
Reviews of MERX's debut LP:
"Live, Merx are a menacing enigma?a tall, blonde, howling, sometime bespectacled lead singer who is one part Alan Vega, one part Ian Curtis, and the rest horror movie madman looks blankly forward, shaking and screaming, while the rest of the band plays with no acknowledgement of anyone else in the room. The guitarist faces his amp, his back to the crowd, emitting an eerie tremoloed guitar sound reminiscent of the Plugz?s instrumentals from Repo Man. The bassist is absorbed by his own drone, which also permeates the rest of the space, while the keyboardist stares into his keys; all this on top of drum machine effects that recall an industrial assembly line. The sound this four piece creates is always loud, and they do what few bands of their ilk can: replace a human drummer with a machine without sounding either empty or overbearing. (The only other recent band that has done the same is Okie Dokie, who sadly aren?t around anymore.) On record, Merx are just as strangely engrossing. ?1000 Suitors,? the mid-tempo opener, sets the tone with its bizarre opening lyrics, ?Who?d think a tall man could stoop so low;? ?French Drop? has the pulsating bass and creepy Western guitar in full effect, along with whispered vocals and a nod to Slade (?Goodbye t? Jane, and her youth, and her purse?); while the shouts and yelps on ?the Law? are nothing less than frightening. This is a strange and dark album but also a really great one." - Daniel Clodfelter (LA Record)
"LA's Merx is a pretty frightening proposition channeling brutal cold wave via influences like Chrome, Throbbing Gristle, and Suicide. Everyone writing about the band mentions their very tall, sometimes bespectacled "vocalist" who sounds eerily like Ian Curtis. I thought it was one of those tired, rock journalist tropes until I put on the track "The Law" off their s/t Permanent Records debut, and found myself sitting straight up in the chair like I'd just heard a ghost! For your extreme listening pleasure!!" ? Live Eye TV Video Music Blog
"MERX is the most highly-educated band of professionals in LA. Maybe that's why the members have chosen to keep their off-the-grid musical hobby so minimally simplistic. Each one of the nine songs on Merx's debut LP is comprised of looped synthetic drums, repetitively melodic bass and synth lines, and post-apocalyptic Morricone-esque guitar bits. Over the top, a very tall man in a Throbbing Gristle/Mickey Mouse/Grateful Dead parody tee speak/sings shouts/whoops like a baritone hybrid of Ian Curtis, Nick Cave, and Alan Vega. His lyrics are simplified existential philosophies that seem worthy of printing, studying, analyzing, and pondering for all eternity. Of course, this man chose not to include his lyrics on the insert. What you do get, however , are a bunch of random hand-made collages, stickers, and weird notes written by band members (who will remain nameless) themselves. The songs are short, memorable, and timeless post-punk numbers that sound similar, but not exactly like anything we've ever heard before. The band member's education obviously extends beyond the classroom and into the rock'n'roll realm, specifically UK circa 79-81. "Merx" is a timeless 21st century record for connoisseurs with a morbid curiosities. That means you." ? Permanent Records
RIYL: Suicide, Throbbing Gristle, DNA, SPK, German Army, Brotman & Short, Cold Wave
Black Wax Limited to 300 Copies For $10 Wholesale, minimum 5 copies. E-mail if interested: permanentwax@gmail.comWhite Wax Limited to 100 Copies Exclusively through Permanent! AVAILABLE NOW:
https://shop.permanentrecordschicago.com/lp-merx-20000-sq-ft-under-the-sea-%28white-wax-ltd-100%29/dp/77057Currently available through Revolver & Carrot Top.Thanks!