When we last reported on First Communion Afterparty, it was prior to their reuniting to play at the July 5th Bathysphere: A Psychonautical Voyage in hometown Minneapolis. We knew about it because of a tip from a loyal reader in the Twin Cities, and pulling on the string of magic yarn he dangled before us, we found out not only that, at long bloody last, FCAP are going to release Earth Heat Sound, the album they’d recorded before they broke up, but that there were two off-shoot bands that sound an awful lot like the original Minneapolis psychedelic champions — whom you know we believe to be the greatest band this steaming glorious wreck of a nation has thrown out there since about 2000. We don’t know when Earth Heat Sound is to be released — though we urge any and all FCAP fans to channel info this way — but we do have some instructions on how you can bide the time until the magic moment arrives. Ready?
1. Go to Bandcamp and listen to Driftwood Pyre’s demo/early version of their forthcoming E.P. Scenes of The American Midwest Underground Vol. 1 of course takes its name from Big Hits From Mid-America, Vol. 1, the 1979 Twin/Tone sampler from which so many boss Americans learned about the great Suicide Commandos (by that time, forced by Suicide’s lawyers to change their name to The Commandos), not to mention NNB and the Suburbs. (Come to think of it, wasn’t Vol. 2 how we all first heard of the Jayhawks?) But we digress. Driftwood Pyre’s Bandcamp songs sound like exactly what you’d expect from the boys in First Communion Afterparty. (There are two girls in the band, but we don’t know if one is the fantastic bass player who was in FCAP.) If you just have to have your hit of FCAP Minny Psyche, this is an excellent way to tide yourself over until Earth Heat Sound is, at last, released.
2. Go to Bandcamp and download the single by FCAP offshoot Is/Is. Not as good as Driftwood Pyre, but the same squalls of guitar wrapped in reverb. You’ll like it.
3. Go find Three, the third album by the Flavor Crystals, which is more ruminative than the straight-ahead psychedelica of either FCAP or their offshoots, and perhaps not as good as their Television-esque early work, but still a fun listen.
4. If for some reason you’ve been slow on the uptake of checking out the Magic Castles, get thee to the iTunes store and start downloading. The eponymous 2012 release, produced by mentor Anton Newcombe, is one of the most thrilling records of the past two years, as we pointed out last year when we asked, “Are the Magic Castles the best young band in America?” Landing somewhere between Brian Jonestown Massacre and classic psyche, we’re disappointed we don’t have a new album to push, but as of July 8th, their Facebook page was reporting progress on a new ‘un.
5. Finally, for something a little further afield, go check out the Bandcamp page of Fire In The Northern Firs. Why do we include it here, since they don’t really sound like a Minneapolis psychedelic band? Mostly because we like their album, which you can download, and the Minneapolis Rock’n’Roll Chamber o’ Commerce promised to send us a lutefisk if we pimped for all their most promising bands.
Hey First Communion Afterparty? You could end this, and guarantee yourself an audience of, well, dozens, if you’d just give us a firm date for the release of Earth Heat Sound. (Taps wristwatch.) We are waiting.
Tulip Frenzy 