Boy, I've been a little slack of late. It's called being back at work. My pal Richard from Aarght! came over last Saturday night for dinner and an evening of hardcore music dorkdom. He'd commented to me a couple of months back that, even though I'd made the seemingly outlandish statement a while ago that the American underground/independent music scene went through a boom period ca. 1991-'94, he felt that right now we were experiencing a similar golden age, and yet I appeared to be barely even aware of it. He wished to rectify that situation and spin a few discs he possessed of contemporary outfits from the US of A who cut the grade and then some.

So, we kicked back and enjoyed the aural pleasures of the Wooden Shjips (my fave of the evening), Thomas Function, Eat Skulls, some bands on the S-S label and a few others whose names escape me. It was highly educational. I'd probably throw another one on the pile, a 4-track 12" EP I received in the mail from Nashville trio, Heathern Haints, a nice coloured-vinyl outing w/ a hand-screenprinted sleeve, in an edition of 300 copies. Thank the lord for the corporate behemoth known as Myspace. The band contacted me via the site, proceeded to blow a load of hot air up my backside and before you knew it I was pestering for a freebie (the shamelessness of it all!). Good thing I did. They belt out a super-nice basement-vibe combo of their acknowledged influences - Spacemen 3, Amon Duul, Ghost, Pink Floyd, Charalambides, etc. - and spice it up w/ some semi-soaring vocals and doom-rock theatrics, when the occasion warrants it.

There must be something in the water in Tennessee. I checked out some of their "top friends" and stumbled across a bunch of fellow weirdos by bands with names such as Hollow Ox and Mass At Dawn, and was similarly impressed. No one's reinventing the wheel here, but they're recycling a well-worn path in a very pleasing manner, and I'm always up for some lo-fi, atmospheric psych-rock from the backwoods of anywhere, and Heathern Haints fit the bill. The Kids are still doin' it for themselves...