Fleabag - S/T Demotape

I saw this band sometime in June of this year and immediately fell in love with everything about them. Fleabag's stage presence is what you'd expect out of the rather "shy kid" ethos that they carry around. I was too intimidated to talk to their vocalist and it makes me feel like a total asshole. Their drummer used to be in Rosa (but really, they sound nothing like that). It's worth noting that there's a fuck-up in one of these songs due to tape-complications. Best three dollars I ever spent, and it's one of those albums that has gotten me through moving twice this year and experiencing heartbreak. I tend to be bad at describing things, but this could be called female-fronted kawaii/artsy/queer/pop-punk or something along those lines. Hopefully this will make you want to cuddle with a transkid with big glasses. It makes me feel okay about my social problems.

PASSWORD:holdhands
13.96MB ZIP file
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1935 Linden St.
Oakland, CA
94607

TRACK LISTING:
01. Tangled Up
02.Nevermind
03.Wisdom Tooth
04.Coals
05.Curb Appeal

Fishbone - "Truth and Soul"

I really love this album. There's not much else to say. Part funk, part ska, part new wave, part punk, part hair metal (yes), and part comedy. Fishbone is awesome, but an acquired taste. I got this on cassette a few years ago from the aforementioned neighbor. It's like a Sublime made of real, live black people! (I hope that didn't sound racist, I'm just not down with whiteboy reggae.) Fishbone are an amazing band and I was lucky enough to see them a few Halloweens ago. If there's a band that you should listen to while dressed as Tank Girl and being the only minor in a crowd of too-friendly drunk old men and University students, Fishbone is probably it. Their shows don't turn out a lot of people, but this album contains their two huge singles "Ma and Pa" and "Freddie's Dead." This is a great starter for a really esoteric, underrated band.

PASSWORD:freddiesdead
87.07MB ZIP file
Click Here to purchase from Amazon.com

TRACK LISTING:
01.Freddie's Dead
02.Ma and Pa
03.Mighty Long Way
04.Pouring Rain
05.Deep Inside
06.Question of Life
07.I Like to Hide Behind My Glasses
08.Bonin' in the Boneyard
09.One Day
10.Subliminal Fascism
11.Slow Bus Movin' (Howard Beach Party)
12.In The Name of Swing
13.Ghetto Soundwave
14.Change

Blatz - "A Touch of..."

Blatz is a band that you either love or hate. Touted by many as "the worst band ever," they're named after "the worst beer ever." Released on Lookout! Records in 1990 as a split LP with FILTH, this is ONLY the Blatz side. It contains a FEAR cover, screechy and abrasive lady vocals, and very little talent. If I had to throw together a description it would be "Cleveland Bound Death Sentence gets drunk, takes some downers, and shits itself while playing singalongs." Yes, there's a high likelihood that you will hate this, but if you're more about fun and Gilman St. History, go for it! (Sidenote: A local band, Cizana, does a bitchin' cover of Berkeley is My Baby)

PASSWORD:tucsonismybaby
99.19MB ZIP file
Click Here to purchase from Alternative Tentacles

TRACK LISTING:
01.Fuk Shit Up
02.Fuk NY
03.Lullaby
04.Blatz to the Future
05.Hustler
06.Homemade Speed
07.Lullaby & Chuck
08.Berkeley is my Baby (and I Wanna Kill it)
09.Cockroach Cafe
10.California
11.Dolly
12.I Don't Care About You
13.FSU
14.Learning How to Smile
15.Roadkill
16.Nausea
17.WW3

Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - "In Glorious Times"

Part metal, part avant-garde artrock, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum is fairly unclassifiable as a band. They've got handmade instruments, a steampunkesque faux history, about thirty side projects, and they're WAY better than the Dresden Dolls could ever be! Think orchestral Mr. Bungle, throw in a spatula player for good measure, and you've got the weird-ass arrangements of SGM. This is the most recent album, released on (or course) The End Records. Please don't let them being labelmates with Dir En Grey disappoint you, they've got nothing else in common!!! (Sidenote: This was ganked from my boyfriend, who has probably the weirdest musical taste of anyone I've ever known!)

PASSWORD:colindavies
122.4MB ZIP file
Click Here to purchase from The End Records

TRACK LISTING:
01.The Companions
02.Helpless Corpses Enactment
03.Puppet Show
04.Formicary
05.Angle of Repose
06.Ossuary
07.The Salt Crown
08.The Only Dance
09.The Greenless Wreath
10.The Widening Eye
11.The Putrid Refrain