Analog Adventures: Late Night with the Devil, Fullbloods, Tone Scientists, and more new vinyl

Welcome to Analog Adventures, where we run down the latest stacks of wax to hit our mailbox. Reissues, new releases, and more are all on the turntable as we spin these records.

The Temptations
Psychedelic Shack
(Elemental Music)

The reissue of the landmark 1970 release marks the end of the Motown Sound Collection campaign from Elemental. Since May of last year, the label released 28 full-length albums from the vaults of the legendary Detroit label, and ending on this note couldn’t be more perfect.

The Temptations’ Psychedelic Shack is one of those records which marks a turning point in not only the group’s career, but in the history of Motown. The title track is a touchstone, while “Take a Stroll Thru Your Mind” is yet another stretched-out cut which really leans into both the psych and soul aspects, and the original version of “War”–which would be a massive hit for Edwin Starr later that year–features harder-hitting instrumentation than the version you all know and love.

As Robert Christgau ably put it, “The singing and playing really do fuse the production styles of Smokey and Sly.” It’s a must-have for any collection, and it’s a delight to replace my beat-to-hell clearance bin copy I found over a decade ago with this 140-gram vinyl edition.

Roscoe James Irwin and Glenn Richards
Late Night with the Devil OST
(Mutant)

While Cameron and Colin Cairnes’ depiction of a Halloween broadcast of Night Owls, a syndicated talk show hosted by fictional Johnny Carson rival named Jack Delroy, “unaware he is about to unleash evil into the living rooms of America,” is a fine movie, the soundtrack takes the concept and makes it even more terrifying.

Taking a cue from the ’77 setting of the film, the soundtrack to Late Night with the Devil mixes Roscoe James Irwin and Glenn Richards’ score with both the music of the music of the Night Owls house band and dialogue from the film to abridge the film onto LP. The end result is legitimately unsettling, with eerie score suddenly cutting to upbeat swinging bachelor pad music before whispered conversations or frantic shouting break though.

Throw in the fact that our copy is pressed as a “Hypnowheel” picture disc which spirals around and around as the record plays, and putting this album on after dark feels like a bad decision we can’t help but keep making over and over.

Fullbloods
Playing It Safe
(High Dive Records)

Written, performed, and recorded all by Ross Brown, the music of Fullbloods is that of the ’70s singer-songwriter ran through the mind of a man determined to do it all himself. The whole thing is a little wobbly, but utterly charming when you sit back and allow the double-tracked vocals, keys, and multiple guitar solos in album opener “Troubleshooter” to beckon you in. The silliness of “White House Dot Com (Blue Websites)” wanders near Bo Burnham territory, but it also conveys the wide-eyed innocence of accidentally stumbling upon adult material at far too young an age.

Playing It Safe is a lazy afternoon album where you feel like Ross Brown knew you were going to be leaning back in a comfy chair and giving this a listen and wanted to make a little something suited for staring out the window and making evening plans. The lyrics are, as noted, charming, and even the instrumental “Eye Exam” feels like it’s telling a little story with its burbling synth and jangly guitar.

Despite covering High Dive for ages, I don’t think I’ve ever commented on just how delighted I am to slide a new record from the label out of its jacket and see the center labels through the hole in the inner sleeve. They’re quietly iconic, and seeing that design means I know that whether I know a little or a lot about the music etched in its grooves, I can be assured the record is going to be worth a listen.

Zephr
Past Lives
(Dumb Ghost)

Did I hop in a time machine? Denver punk rock trio Zephr play the kind of music I saw weekly from my late teens to my early 20s, and thought had almost completely gone away. Gang vocals, big riffs, and lines you can yell along with while trying to keep your beer from sloshing all over yourself and the barroom floor are the name of the game here.

Past Lives is the sort of record which sounds better the louder you crank it, and combines all of these late ’90s sounds into one cohesive blast of energy, with touches of indie rock mixing with the punk and just a hint of country for spice. There’s a rock band out of Manhattan called Headlight Rivals who’ve covered Guided By Voices’ “Game of Pricks” and this whole album makes me feel the way I do when I hear them do that.

Does that make sense? Maybe to, like, a couple of dozen people, but the fact of the matter is that there aren’t enough bands out there today who heard what Dillinger Four did, took it as inspiration, and got it right. These are songs which grapple with getting older–”My Memorial Day,” featuring mandolin from Cameron Hawke, is a slow tear-jerker–but don’t rage against it. There’s strength in not necessarily accepting age, but certainly acknowledging it.

The album’s liner notes feature lyrics and a bunch of Zephr photo booth pictures, and you get the sense that these guys really have fun making music.

Tone Scientists
Kiiroi Tori
(ORG Music)

Per the label, Tone Scientists “joins Mike Watt and Bucky Pope […] with drummer John Herndon of Tortoise and two longtime Watt collaborators, flute/sax player Vince Meghrouni and keyboard player Pete Mazich.” There are four tunes by Watt and Pope, and a cover of Sun Ra’s “The Sun One.”

While all that might hint at this being music nerd shit, listening to the five songs across Kiiroi Tori‘s two sides will make that readily clear. It’s jazzy, angular, and somewhat confrontational–there’s a very limited audience who will regularly put this on for funsies–but despite the oddity, it feels gently calming at times.

These are the old guys playing in the hotel bar who have you wondering just how they got the gig, because this feels way more aggressive than you’d expect for cocktail hour. Still, somehow, by the point you’re halfway through listening to the second track, “Struggle Bus,” with its jazz flute and very Minutemen-styled guitar, you’re tapping your toes and getting into the weird funkiness of it all.

The release is a 12-inch 45rpm record pressed on yellow swirl vinyl in a limited edition of 250 copies. The label calls it “banana peel,” and it perfectly complements the cover art.

Sleepersound
My Own Dead Love
(Self-released)

I’ve probably heard the last three Sleepersound albums, and this new one, My Own Dead Love, is my favorite by far. The band has openly acknowledged that they leaned more into their influences on this record, and it really shows. The post-rock of Sleepersound has always been good, but here, the Milwaukee band embraces an openness I’d always felt they were trying to avoid.

As the title makes clear, this is not an upbeat record, but it feels like a Midwestern winter. The band sees the overcast skies and bitter temperatures, and chooses to soar above the landscape, seeing the beauty in a desolate world of hibernation.

I could live inside “Tread Down” for an entire week, honestly. The sound is so big and the way the murky vocals contrast with the cleanness of the guitar and galloping bass make me want to lift the needle again and again to hear it forever. The only reason I don’t is because the second side has “Falling Dream,” and its ever-so-slight embrace of Gothic rhythms lends it a surprising danceabilty which is only enabled by the synths that kick in halfway through.

The album comes in a jacket with art that looks like it could’ve come from a Smiths single. The LP is pressed on clear vinyl. Lyrics and credits are printed on the back of the jacket, making this a lean package, but you’re going to be so wrapped up in the music that it doesn’t matter.