New stuff from all-lowercase anything-goes-let’s-try-it desert rock weirdos earthlings? should inherently be thought of as a specialty item. It isn’t for everyone, and it doesn’t happen all the time, and when it does, it’s to be thought of as something special. It’s been four years since the band released their third album, Muddafudda on Last Hurrah Records — it’s streaming below — and with Dave Catching and Pete Stahl at the core, they’re back with a new untitled two-songer through the same label that’s available now for ordering. I’m not trying to spend your money on five different versions of the same release or anything, but for those of you who might NOT have it, let me explain the collector’s mindset: Every copy of this earthlings? 7″ I get is one copy no one else owns.

You see what I’m saying?

I haven’t found the tracks streaming anywhere, and there are 500 copies of the single available. If you’re listening to Muddafudda and thinking you might like to get yourself a piece of that action, the vinyl’s long gone. That’s kind of how it goes with this stuff. Word to the wise and all that.

Here’s the release info for the single:

– NOW AVAILABLE – earthlings? Untitled 7-inch

Last Hurrah Records is proud to announce the release of earthlings? brand new Untitled 7-inch, featuring artwork by “Bad” Otis Link. A limited edition of 500 records, the vinyl is available in five different colors:
SAND (translucent brown),
SKY(translucent magenta),
VEGETATION (neon green),
ASTRONAUT (translucent blue),
and SOLID BLACK.

The 7-inch record contains two unreleased tracks – the lumbering juggernaut “The Clapper” and the slightly more light-hearted “Off My Nut”.

For this interplanetary escapade, the earthlings? are co-piloted by David Catching (Mojave Lords) and Pete Stahl (Goatsnake, Scream) above the star-filled sky over Rancho De La Luna in Joshua Tree, California. Also present during blast-off are drummer Adam Maples, the multi-talented Matthias Schneeberger, and bassist Molly McGuire.

https://www.facebook.com/earthlingsJTree/
https://earthlings1.bandcamp.com/
http://www.earthlingsinfo.com/
http://lasthurrahrecords.com/

earthlings?, Muddafudda (2016)

I’ll admit to knowing next to nothing about Stockholm psychedelic rockers Deem. I know they’re from Stockholm because their social media says so, but there’s very little other info announced about the release, and quite frankly, I’ve seen their moniker written as Deem, as D?em, with the mid-central vowel-style, upside-down ‘e’ (the character for which WordPress won’t show, hence that question mark), and as Daem, all in the span of less than a single day since I got sent the tracks by producer Paris Fragkos, also of Greek desert rock upstarts Tuber. The only reason I’m going with Deem is because it’s a word.

Sometimes new bands start out this way, and I’ll admit I have a soft spot for that process unknowing. It means I put on Deem‘s apparently untitled four-track EP and dig into the vaguely Mideastern psychedelic inflection of “Three Doors Leading out of the Dark Room” or the subsequent meditativeness of “Qurban” — named for the animal slaughter practiced during Eid — and have only the music to go on. I don’t know who made it, don’t know where they come from originally or what their connection might be to the ideas they’re working with.

“Qurban” obscures its vocals deep in the mix as well in its quietest parts, letting a subdued drum progression move the song forward for a time as it starts its build. As the spacier shuffle and percussive intricacy in “Digital Paganist” and return to ritualism on the chant-laden psych-folk of finisher “The Trail” continue to expand the palette beyond genre confines, I feel refreshed and renewed by the fact that I’m curious about how the release was made, where Deem are coming from sound-wise, how they wound up recording in Greece and incorporating what sound like regional influences while being based in Stockholm, and so on. Or hell, how many people are involved. My interest is piqued.

Even their artwork carries a sense of mystery. And so, needless to say, I’ll be keeping an eye out for more from them going forward. Here’s the art and tracklisting for now, along with what little info they posted about the release itself, and of course the stream of the tracks from Bandcamp, which I hope you find as exciting as I do.

Enjoy:

_ by Deem

Recorded, mixed and produced by Paris Fragkos at Flow Recordings, Serres, Greece. Assistant Yannis Goudanos.

Tracklisting:
1. Three doors leading out of the dark room 07:43
2. Qurban 05:41
3. Digital paganist 06:07
4. The trail 08:55

Deem, _ (2016)

Deem on Thee Facebooks

Deem on Bandcamp