Exclusive: Listen to the premiere of Witch Jail’s Too Much Rock single

When The Pitch premiered the last installment of the Too Much Rock single series, last October — Hipshot Killer’s “All the Hell in the World” — the man behind the series, Sid Sowder, let us know that he already had the next single ready to go for early 2017.

Here it is, not even a full month in: the exclusive premiere of the next Too Much Rock single, in the form of Witch Jail’s “Slimewave, U.S.A.” Like the band’s Depseration Beach cassette, it’s a hit of surf-infused, psychobilly madness.

The flip side of the vinyl single, a cover of Alien Sex Fiend’s “My Brain Is in the Cupboard (Above the Kitchen Sink),” will make its debut on KKFI 90.1’s MidDay Medley on Wednesday, February 8.

I asked Witch Jail’s frontman, Guy Slimey, how the single came together.

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The Pitch: Were you aware of the single series before Sid asked you to do it? If so, were you excited or apprehensive about what song he might ask you to cover?

Guy Slimey: Absolutely we were aware, yes. In fact, I was kind of in disbelief when Sid approached us. I thought for sure he was just trying to get us together in a room to murder us for some reason. I don’t know … it’s refreshing — and a little shocking — when someone likes your work and is willing to take a chance on you, especially when that same someone has put out records from some of your favorite local artists. So, at that point, we didn’t really care what song he asked us to cover: we were just blown away that he wanted us at all.

How familiar with Alien Sex Fiend were you before being asked to cover their track?

I listened to them a LOT in college, back in my “black eyeliner” phase. Didn’t everyone go through one of those?

What’s the process of learning a song from scratch?

We took the song and immediately threw it out the window. I was determined to do a lounge cover, with vibes and shimmery ocean sounds. I had it all worked out in my head. I broke it all down for the band one night at practice. Then we got loaded and said, “Fuck that,” wrote a completely new song from scratch, and put the Alien Sex Fiend lyrics into it. We went into the studio the next day.

Where did the A-side come from — was it a recent composition, or did you have something left over from the Desperation Beach cassette?

We wrote the A-side specifically for the record. We met with Sid last March and really wanted to do something new for him. [Guitarist] Eddie Morphine was still pretty new to the band and we hadn’t written anything with him yet. We told him to come up with a riff or he was out of the band. We’re assholes like that.

I think he bought the riff from some forum on the Dark Web — spent all his hard earned bitcoins. He brought it to us and we knew it was an all-timer, so we spared his musical life. At the time, we were between drummers, so we had to sit on this chunk of gold until Matty Rat finally swooped in and got us back on our feet. Viola!

We actually recorded it with the mighty Joel Nanos at Element over the summer. We didn’t record our tape until last October. It’s been real hard keeping this baby a secret for so long, knowing how many lives it could change.

Are you all vinyl fiends?

Oh yeah, totally. There’s something about vinyl giving weight to your music — actual, physical weight that you can feel in your hands. And doing a single for Sid sweetens the deal. He’s a great guy doing great things — every single he’s put out so far has been incredible, and we’re absolutely flattered to be in such good company. 

Who did the art, and what was the inspiration?

[Guitarist] Suzy Bones and myself built those sets and took those photos. Our cat, Waxy, was kind enough to pose for us. We’re both big fans of thrift-store lounge records, that whole idea of luxury living on a nickel budget, and it’s always been our plan to re-create that feeling for a record cover should the opportunity arise. Our original idea for the back cover kind of fell apart at the printing stage, but Sid had a few suggestions that actually helped it conform more to our vision. Our tacky, tacky vision.

Witch Jail will play a release show for their Too Much Rock single at Mills Record Company on Friday, February 10. Keep an eye on the band’s Facebook for the forthcoming details.