SKiN GRAFT News for Yous

B A L L P E E N ( ! ) B U L L E T I N S

updated: May 1st, 2020

TIJUANA HERCULES "Evening Dressings"
MOD Digipack CD / Digital
( UP for PRE-ORDERS )

Now up for pre-orders exclusively at Bandcamp.
Release Date: July 10th, 2020.

All pre-orders include an immediate download of the track "Hands Down". A second single will also be released to pre-order customers before the street date.

Hailing from the southern regions of the U.S., John Vernon Forbes has a long and storied history of making music, cartoons, and comical mischief. His illustrations recall the golden-age of animation filtered through an absurdist lens - and this love of days gone by is rendered
with a futurist's ear in the blues-tinged music he's been creating for decades.

In Atlanta, Forbes played in Phantom 309 (with Mac McNeilly, future drummer of The Jesus Lizard) and Dirt, before settling in Chicago where he formed Mount Shasta, one of the founding SKiN GRAFT Records acts. Mount Shasta went on to release three albums and a collaborative LP with Japan's Space Streakings before disbanding.

Forbes then formed Tijuana Hercules, initially taking inspiration from obscure rock, blues, and gospel songs from the '50s and '60s. The band later gamma-radiated those threads into something altogether different in the labs of Forbes's own Frogg Mountain Recording Studio, located squarely within Chicago’s historic meat-packing district.

Tijuana Hercules's latest releases are a pair of collections that highlight the band's diversity: Bloodshot Records' “Six Pack to Go” 7” singles compilation (alongside Deer Tick, Elizabeth Cook, Kelly Hogan, and Guided By Voices' Robert Pollard) and SKiN GRAFT's "Chicago VS New York" compilation (featuring The Flying Luttenbachers, Bobby Conn, Cheer-Accident and Child Abuse).

Their new seven song Mini-LP "Evening Dressings" finds the band deep-diving into an oxygen-depriving bouillabaisse of boundary-busting blues, spaghetti-strung grooves, and tangled psychedelic roots music.

“This band has proven itself to be one tough piece of meat.”
- John Vernon Forbes as quoted in New City

TRACK LISTING:
01. Let's Make Out Own Action
02. Hands Down
03. Solid
04. Then After That
05. Going To St. Petersburgh
06. Getting A Lift
07. Gas Pumpwoman

LINE-UP:
John Vernon Forbes: Vocals, 12 String Guitar, etc
Joe Patt: Drums, Percussion
Doug Abram: Saxaphone, synth
Mike Young: Junk Percussion
Arman Mabry: Bass

Recorded at Frogg Mountain Recording Syudio by John Vernon Forbes
Mastered by Matt Engstrom

Artwork by John Vernon Forbes

Check out "Hands Down"
- and pre-order at the SKiN GRAFT Records Bandcamp page.

TERMS "Hoarder of Operations" EP
MOD Digipack CD / Digital
( OUT NOW: EXCLUSIVELY at BANDCAMP )

Digital EP out now exclusively at Bandcamp.

CD expected to ship in three weeks - and all orders include immediate download of the Digital EP.

TERMS, a socially-distanced band, deals in dissonance. Arriving by way of Tampa Bay, Florida and St. Louis, Missouri - TERMS is Danny Piechocki and Christopher Trull - and "Hoarder of Operations" is their SKiN GRAFT Records' debut.

Having served in acts such as Grand Ulena, Jitters and Yowie, TERMS bring a wealth of experience and a hearty dash of the unexpected to the operating table. The title track "Hoarder Of Operations" offers a taste of sounds to come - an altogether different version of the song is being readied to appear on a forthcoming full-length. This EP rendition features an alternate mix and an entirely different drum performance.

"Heal My Borings" and "Who Will Save The World From Art?" are newly updated mixes of songs the band previously self-released. Both feature new drum performances - and all three tracks were mastered specifically for this EP by Todd Rittmann (Dead Rider, U.S. Maple) in Chicago.

TRACK LISTING:
01. Hoarder of Operations
02. Heal My Borings
03. Who Will Save The World From Art?

LINE-UP:
Danny Piechocki: Drums
Christopher Trull: Guitar and Bass

All pieces composed, performed, recorded, and mixed by Terms.
Mastered by Todd Rittmann

Painting by Michael Trull
Layout by Mark Fischer

Check out "Hoarder of Operations"
- and order at the SKiN GRAFT Records Bandcamp page.

DAZZLING KILLMEN
"Medicine Me" Digital Single and PDF Comic Book
+ SKiN GRAFT Records Vinyl Magnet
( OUT NOW: EXCLUSIVELY at BANDCAMP )

Digital Single and Comic Book Set is available digitally or with an optional "SKiN GRAFT Records Vinyl Magnet" - measuring 5 1/2 x 3 inches.

Magnet ships via USPS and features the "Over Mid America" design as found in the "Medicine Me" comic.

NOTE: The original 7" Vinyl Single and Comic Book Book set is out of print, but the songs and comics have been included on SIDE THREE of 2016's DAZZLING KILLMEN "Face Of Collapse: Special Edition" Gatefold Double LP and Book. This archival Bandcamp release includes remastered audio and a downloadable PDF of the comic book sleeve as it originally appeared in 1993.

ABOUT: Dazzling Killmen's second release on SKiN GRAFT Records - "Medicine Me" is a whirling prog-hardcore masterpiece, technically precise, but emotively performed. "Poptones" is an update of the classic as only the Killmen could muster.

TRACK LISTING:
01. Medicine Me (Remastered)
02. Poptones (Remastered)

LINE-UP:
Darin Gray: electric bass
Nick Sakes: vocals and guitar
Blake Fleming: drums
Tim Garrigan: guitar

Recorded by Steve Albini
Art and comics by Mark Buckheit, Rob Syers, Paul Nitsche and Mark Fischer.

"Poptones" is a Public Image Limited song.

Check out "Medicine Me"
- and order at the SKiN GRAFT Records Bandcamp page.

SPECIAL DEAL!

CAMP SKiN GRAFT
"Now Wave" Compilation
MOD CD / Digital
( OUT NOW )

PANDEMIC PRICING! - Digital Download: "Pay What You Want"
For a LIMITED TIME at our Bandcamp Page

MOD Compact Disc is just $12.85.

This long unavailable, critically-acclaimed compilation was the first attempt to arrive at an audio definition of the “Skin Graft Records” sound. File under: No Wave, Electronic, Jazz, Rock, Noise, Progressive Rock, Free Jazz, Abstract, Fringe Metal, Space Rock, Punk, Avantgarde, Glitch, Art Rock, Hardcore, Outer Jazz-Rock - - or as they say with a wink and a sub pop nod: “Now Wave".

Collects rare and exclusive tracks from bands such as Brise-Glace (Jim O'Rourke), Zeni Geva, Dazzling Killmen, Bobby Conn, The Flying Luttenbachers, Cheer- Accident, The Scissor Girls, Quintron, Ruins, UFO Or Die (Boredoms), U.S. Maple The Denison Kimball Trio, Omoide Hatoba and many more!

--------------------------------------
TRACK LISTING:
--------------------------------------

SIDE ONE:
The Browns: My Name In Italics
U.S. Maple: Missouri Twist
The Flying Luttenbachers: Demonic Velocities
Lake Of Dracula: Plague Of Frogs
Yona-Kit: Skeleton King
You Fantastic!: Riddler 5
UFO Or Die: Zombie Tube
Zeek Sheck: The Beeper Gets Digested
Chuck Falzone, Telepath: You're Just Too Scared Boy
Shakuhachi Surprise: Nande
Melt-Banana: Zoo, No Vacancy

SIDE TWO:
Strangulated Beatoffs: Satan's Pool Party
Monitor Radio: Insouciance
Colossamite: Bewilderbeast
Flossie and the Unicorns: Chewing Gum
Shorty: Mitzy Lodge
ZZZZZ: One Two, May
Cheer-Accident: Filet Of Nod
Denison Kimball Trio: Framed
Ruins: Hydromasgroningem
Akaten: Latham's Snipe
Omoide Hatoba: Pikadom

SIDE THREE:
Last of SG's: Bye To Bags
Mount Shasta: S171
Dazzling Killmen: Windshear
Quintron: Bug Attack
Bobby Conn: 69 Annee Erotique
Nood Ham: Tokyo Santa
Tortured Machine: Flash Fire
Space Streakings: F.O.J.K.
Zeni Geva: Terminal HZ
F-Stein: Mighty Fuckin' Robots
Brise-Glace: Likeness

Check out "The Browns: My Name In Italics"
- and order at the SKiN GRAFT Records Bandcamp page.

updated: April 1st, 2020

SPACE STREAKINGS
"Sexual Aesthetic Salon After School"
b/w "Complaining Children"
Digital Single and Comic Book Set

Hi Everyone,

Due to COVID-19, we are currently unable to ship merchandise to addresses outside of the USA. Digital orders worldwide and LP/CD orders within the States continue as usual through our Bandcamp Shop. We'll keep you posted as things develop. We have many distribution partners around the world thanks to our alliance with Redeye Distribution, so please support your local vendors if you live outside the USA. For LPs/CDs shipped throughout Europe at a great price, you might want to give Mandai Distribution a look.

In addition to the digital resissue of Space Streakings first single (see below), we have added copies of the elusive 7th full length from The Flying Luttenbachers to our Bandcamp page. CDs of "...The Truth Is A Fucking Lie..." come packaged in clear jewel cases with an irrationally large wraparound OBI - held securely in place by a resealable, crystal clear sleeve. Physical quantities are limited. You can grab it on CD or digitally HERE.

DESCRIPTION:
The seventh album from Chicago's notorious punk-jazz group nails a new high water mark in an already unforgettable discography. "The Truth..." finds the Luttenbachers at their darkest - a band distilled to it's most raw and sore - interspread are hyper-structural epics, minimalist noisescapes, high energy free jazz blows and bizarre electronic satellite transmissions.

LINE-UP:
Weasel Walter: construction, drums, trumpets mellotron, electronics
Michael Colligan: reeds
Chuck Falzone: guitar
William Pisarri: bass guitar, shriek, clarinet
Fred Lonberg-Holm: cello
Dylan Posa: keyboards, conduction
Julie Pomerleau: violin
Kurt Johnson: bass guitar
Nandor Nevai: intro and outro

Produced by Weasel Walter with Chris Hutchison

Also AVAILABLE to ORDER at the
SKiN GRAFT Records BANDCAMP Store

updated: March 20th, 2020

OUT NOW!

SPACE STREAKINGS
"Sexual Aesthetic Salon After School"
b/w "Complaining Children"
Digital Single and Comic Book Set

Hi Everyone,

This is Mark writing. I am very excited to announce that as of ten minutes ago, the Space Streakings "Sexual Aesthetic Salon After School" Digital Single and Comic Book Set went live at our Bandcamp shop!

Those with long memories may recall that this single was originally issued on SKiN GRAFT way back in 1993 as one of our 7" vinyl singles packaged inside a comic book sleeve. Many of these early singles have been out of print for decades and have never been reissued in any form whatsoever.

Here are the details...

DESCRIPTION:
What happens when four of Japan's premiere video game designers form a band? SPACE STREAKINGS!

Out of print for years, SPACE STREAKINGS first two song single is now available digitally for the first time! Includes a densely illustrated 18-page PDF comic book that reproduces the original 7" and comic book set packaging. Recorded in 1993 by ZENI GEVA's K.K. Null and remastered in 2020, both tracks are exclusive to this release.

NOTE: The "Papa's Got A Brand New Karaoke" comic reads from right to left, like all traditional Japanese manga!

FUN FACT(S):
~ Space Streakings first came to SG's attention via the now classic Japan compilation "Dead Tech 3". After releasing their stunning debut LP on K.K. Null's Nux Organization (reissued on SKiN GRAFT with demo tracks in 2018), Null put the two parties in touch and we were off and running.

~ On Space Streaking first series of shows in the United States, they became fast friends with Mount Shasta, resulting in a notorious cartoon war between Kame Bazooka and John Forbes. It wasn't long 'til the two bands agreed to form a band together, which resulted in the "Space Streakings Sighted Over Mount Shasta" LP by Shackuhachi Surprise.

LINE UP:
Captain Insect: bass, voice, programming
Karate Condor: Discoattacker, Dragonballz, voice
Kame Bazooka: vocals, alto saxophone, bazookhaorn
Screaming Stomach: vocals, guitar, trumpet, kazooka

Recorded by Kazuyuki K. Null in 1993
Remastered in 2020
Cover art by Nobta Koike

COMIC BOOK:
"Papa's Got A Brand New Karaoke" by Nobta Koike
7" single label artwork by Rob Syers
"Drippy The Elephant" by Mark Fischer

- includes downloadable 18 page comic book

PRESS QUOTES:
“The obstreperous, utterly contemporary sound of Japan’s Space Streakings is composed by Captain Insect (bass, programming), Kame Bazooka (bazookahorn(!), vocals, alto saxophone), Karate Condor (turntables, guitar synth, vocoder) and Screaming Stomach (guitar, trumpet). Utilizing a mix of live instruments (both traditional and custom built) and harsh, repetitive programming, Space Streakings create a vivid new listening experience rather than a formulaic copy of a western style.” - All Music Guide

“The story of their formation, as well as their real names are a complete mystery (although rumors swirl that all members of the band originally worked as video game programmers), though they were probably the only band ever to utilize a gas powered guitar.” - I Heart Noise

Thanks! You can grab Space Streakings "Sexual Aesthetic Salon After School" Digital Single and Comic Book Set HERE!

updated: January 31st, 2020

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hi Everyone,

This is Mark writing. The family and I were busy moving over the holidays and I've been so preoccupied with hanging pictures and moving furniture back and forth that I've been a bit derelict in my "pong score updating" duties here at our website's home page.

- a corner of the new office: January, 2020

The Pong homepage is in its 20th year and everything has now been brought back up to date. We started with score of 20 to 01 in 2001 - and in an incredible comeback, a click to our home page now reveals that the score is tied at 20 20!

We hope your New Year is off to a great start! You can read all about our latest releases below - - - And we'll be back at you with news of our first releases of 2020 soon!

- OUT NOW -

CHILD ABUSE "Imaginary Enemy"
includes CHILD SUPPORT
(CHILD ABUSE + ERIC PAUL of PSYCHIC GRAVEYARD)
Vinyl LP / MOD CD / Ultimate Edition

KOENJIHYAKKEI
"Angherr Shisspa: Revisited"
Vinyl LP / Glass Mastered CD / Ultimate Edition

CLICK HERE FOR MORE NEWS