GG King “Last of the Night Wiggers” 12”
Tour-only 12” (pressed for The Rockaround and Tejas shows) repacking of the ‘Last of the Night Wiggers’ six-song demo tape which preceded all of the records, adding a couple bonus cuts as well. 8 tracks, 4 per side at 45rpm for maximum volume. A-Side has the demo (and superior version, according to GG) of “Babbling Voices”, the never-on-vinyl “Head in the Clouds” which is one of my favorite King cuts, demo version of “Drug Zoo”, and the thrashpunk (and unwaxed) “Flowing Robes” , which is pretty sick. B-Side is rough versions of “Witching Hour” and the cover of “The Letter” from the ‘Drug Zoo’ EP, the previously unreleased (unless you own the ‘Chris Van Etten’s Last Stand’ cassette, which is possibly a fictional release) and live “Lord of Light” (yes, a Hawkwind cover) and a “sicker, slower” version of “Parameciums” from the LP sourced from another (again, possibly fictional) demo tape . There aren’t many bands I dig more than GG King’s outfit these days, and he’s supposedly working on a new LP as we speak. Great liner notes and budget paste-on sleeves make this an essential part of the story thus far. Scum stats: 165 copies. Good luck. (RK)
(Scavenger of Death // scavengerofdeathrecords.blogspot.com)

GG King “Joyless Masturbation” 7″
The concept of joyless masturbation is something that is familiar to men (or perhaps boys is the proper term) who have spent some time bottomed out, maybe on the booze or drugs or just on the unpleasant gifts life (and ladies) sometimes dump on your head with seemingly relentless zeal. A perfunctory habit that offers the absolute cheapest of thrills when you can no longer be thrilled or even care to be. Sometimes you just do things because you can. It’s something I at least thought about when spinning this single, a habit that itself can at times fall into the same rut. Sometimes I feel like I have to listen to records. Sometimes the repetition of reviewing these 7″ slabs of plastic has become like nothing but beating my meat out of sheer habit. Something once thrilling, now turned boring. But sometimes you get a return, and this song (which isn’t even the “hit” on this single), full of droning vox and a busy drum “beat” (yuk), is at the very least a forceful punk tune for banging your head (either one) against a wall. As on the ‘Esoteric Lore’ LP, Mr. King takes things a few steps forward content-wise than things ever got with the Carbonas. Dark places I’m sure we’re all comfortable in, perhaps awkward, but saying a little more than just your average punk-tune, which is admirable. A high quality A-Side that might be made forgettable by the seemingly inane virtue of the B-Side, “Bag”, which runs hot and spirited and is the finest song I think I’ve heard this year that I can at least remember. You ball it up, wrap it up, you wad it in a ball and you put in a bag….or something like that? What the fuck is he talking about? Everything, anything, who gives a shit. Maybe he’s talking about huffing glue, maybe he’s talking about storing away your feelings. I don’t care, yet I do. A great song that is surely fitting to be released on a label called Total Punk any which way you slice it. I love this guy, his band, this song, the ripping guitar part that sounds like a zip gun. My favorite single of 2012 so far. Scum stats: 85 mailorder-only copies with a sharp looking promo poster, and an undisclosed amount of the “Gary Wrong Killed Total Punk” edition (see the labels for explanation). The “regular” version (with the always classy hand-stamped Total Punk sleeves) should do you just fine as well.(RK)
(Total Punk // www.floridasdying.com)

] Wymyns Prysyn “Payday” 7″
Scavenger of Death are quietly batting 1.000 down in Georgia, and this single keeps their hitting streak alive. Title cut is an absolute blazer, taking the ATL sound and adding some bigger balls to it. Very bottom heavy, with some real macho guitar drive, seemingly derived more from US hardcore than the KBD-influenced bands we already know and love from Atlanta. The closest geographical reference might be The Frantic or Predator, but darker and faster and meaner. “Cat Pills” speeds by with catchy downer riffing and whiplash velocity. B-Side is an instrumental that switches gears into Wipers territory, a la one of Sage’s wandering spacey guitar jams with some crunchy breaks. Obviously allied with the ex-Carbonas crew (guess who mastered this one), but sounding little like them - which shouldn’t put off fans of that sound either, as I like most of the bands that sound like the ‘bonas anyway. Scum stats: 50 copies with alt sleeve.(RK)
(Scavenger of Death // scavengerofdeathrecords.blogspot.com)

Vincas “Blood Bleeds” LP
For his latest release the Douchemaster leaves Atlanta and travels up the road to Athens to bring us the debut LP from Vincas, a three-piece charting some territories we’re all quite familiar with already. I’m talking about the swamp-blues, sludgily rocking and heavily soaked with the influence of The Scientists and Birthday Party and other Orstralian meat-eaters and cavern-dwellers. Mix in some Gun Club death and desperation and a little bit of NYC Chrome Cranks garage-scum and you have the basic outline for what Vincas do. Most of the time the band colors things in exciting ways (even if we’ve heard them done before), and the way they stir the ingredients makes them come out sounding like the Necessary Evils (“Gravity”, “Hell Ride”) and/or The Beguiled (“Saw Her”,“Stone Girl”) more often than not. That’s not a complaint. “Deadache” is a pretty good hard-guitar garage-punk song in the Beasts of Bourbon mold. “Red Eyed” has a heavy psych-throb drone more aligned with modern rockers like Birds of Maya than anything garage. Sure, they slip up on a couple tunes like resorting to Cramps-a-billy on “Dead and Alone” or the regrettably hokey “In My Bones”, but you’re gonna break a couple eggs when playing in this genre. If I hadn’t listened to the last two tracks on the A-Side I’d have little to complain about here. I’ve enjoyed listening to this for a couple days now, particularly when the guy just sings instead of getting all Lux-y on us. They’re very tasteful with the reverb, and whip up a real fury on most of the tracks instead of hitting us over the head with trudging no-tempo downers or the aforementioned rockabilly schtick, managing to avoid thepitfalls of the style. Like I said, reminding me of The Beguiled is a good thing, and Vincas play the garage-creep card without getting overly corny or BBQ’ed. Heavy, loud and dark and worth a pick-up if you dig anything I name dropped above. Not for fans of the Hex Dispensers and pop-punk. Scum stats: self-released band edition of 100 with screened sleeves, with the Douchemaster copies in standard sleeves for a total of 500.(RK)
(Douchemaster Records // douchemasterrecords.blogspot.com)