Chastity Belt
Fuck Chastity Belt
Out now, chastity-belt.bandcamp.com

"This is the worst music you will ever hear. Chastity Belt is the worst band to ever exist," proudly proclaims their Bandcamp profile. Sadly, for fans of the worst song in the world, that's far from the truth (and surely that honor is reserved for "Friday" or Weird Al's "Polka Face"). The four songs on Chastity Belt's debut EP were produced by fellow garage denizens Dude York (of whom the all-lady Chastity Belt could easily be the female counterpart) and pair the stripped-down punk-funk aesthetic of C.O.C.O. with the direct, at times risqué lyrical charms of Be Your Own Pet.

Listen to the lead track, "God Damn," after the jump.

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Jared Price

Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band play Friday, June 1st, at Columbia City Theater.

Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band
Prehistory EP
Dead Oceans

Post-rock blog darlings Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band recently returned to the stage after an extended hiatus (they hadn't performed since 2010). Now they've got a new EP coming out as well, and next Friday, they celebrate its release at Columbia City Theater. Those who remember the glory days of 2008-2009 will undoubtedly be excited for their return, albeit in a slightly toned-down form. "Warm Bodies," the EP's single, is a somber, acoustic ballad that explores the pain of human existence, while opener "Best Bet" shows the spark and swagger that made their first album so compelling. "The Day" exhibits an almost dub sensibility in its pumped-up bassline. Singer Benjamin Verdoes' versatile vocal performance, at times ragged, at times sensitive and sad, completes the hypnotic overall effect.

Read on for a taste of Prehistory, and an explanation of why their second album got such a bad rap.

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Ben Fisher
Roanoke
Out now, benfisher.bandcamp.com

Regular Ballard Sunday Market busker Ben Fisher may be young, but with influences like Bob Dylan, John Prine, and Guy Clark, has the taste of a singer-songwriter twice his age. The U Dub junior (major: Arabic) just released Roanoke, a five song follow-up to last year's full length debut Heavy Boots & Underwoods. Like Heavy Boots (whose title references the typewriter brand Underwood and themes from the Jonathan Safran Foer novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close), Fisher leans on the folk canon of the '60s, producing another set of carefully finger picked, plaintive ballads. But the twangy pedal steel of Kevin Suggs adds more Americana this time around, and after a few more years busking the streets and living in the songs he writes, Fisher might be citing Gram Parsons among his heroes.

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Dude York play Barboza Saturday, May 26th with Young Prisms and Posse and Sunday, May 27th at the Artist Home showcase at Folklife.

Dude York
Escape from Dude York EP
The Sounds of Sweet Nothing
dudeyork.bandcamp.com

Party punks Dude York stay in the PBR-strewn garage on their new 7'' EP Escape from Dude York, out in July on the UK label The Sounds of Sweet Nothing.

In classic DY fashion, the single is called "Fuck City," and thus probably won't be wafting out of your car radio this summer. But it's nonetheless perfect for a Wayfarer-clad day at Madison Park Beach, with its thundering drums, raucous guitar solo, and celebration of picking up babes and going... well, I'll leave that part to your imagination.

In other Dude York news, Claire England of Brite Futures recently signed on to play bass for the trio. As the sole lady in both bands, she's sure to be able to bro down with the best.

Listen to "Fuck City" after the jump and catch Dude York this Saturday at Barboza with Young Prisms and Posse and Sunday at the Artist Home showcase at Folklife.

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Ray Spaddy

Fox and the Law, "Feel So Blue"
Out now, self-released
Website

Fox and the Law's 2010 self-titled EP alternated between straight-ahead punk and slow, gritty blues-rock, and with "Feel So Blue," the first offering from the band's forthcoming full-length, they've found a happy medium between the two styles while keeping their garage-rock ethos intact. The song is uptempo and riff-heavy, if not particularly novel, featuring a breakdown and a noisy solo section while melding the best elements of the band's earlier work. It shows Fox and the Law haven't evolved or moved on from their first EP's garage-rock sound--they've only gotten better at it.

Watch the video for "Feel So Blue," featuring some self-recorded tour footage, after the jump.

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Band: Fergus & Geronimo
Single: "Roman Tick"
Label: Hardly Art
Release Date: Out Now
Forthcoming Album: Funky Was the State of Affairs, Out August 7

Soft-core, tongue-in-cheep pop-punk pastiche from a pair of dudes capable of much better (see 2011's "Baby Don't You Cry"). Here's hoping their forthcoming LP, Funky Was the State of Affairs, isn't riddled with "Ticks." That's it.

Artist: Brandi Carlile
Album: Bear Creek
Label: Columbia
Release Date: June 5
Local Show(s): Nov. 23 and 24, Benaroya Hall, with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra

After two well-received record with the biggest producers in the business -- Rick Rubin and T-Bone Burnett -- Carlile turned to a knob-twiddler with decidedly fewer bonafides on the other side of the board: herself. The result, Bear Creek, is the best album of the Ravensdale-born artist's career. Carlile's voice is more self-assured than it's been in the past, and the songwriting -- highlights include "A Promise to Keep" and the Dixie Chick-esque "Hard Way Home" -- is as compelling as it's ever been, straddling the strong side of the adult/country line.

Invisible Hour

Band: Serial Hawk
Release: Buried in the Gray
Label: Self-released
Release date: June 1st, 2012

The four-song debut from this Seattle trio is filled with slow and heavy chromatic riffs that blend the stoner rock of Kyuss with the pre-grunge sludge of bands like Tad and The Melvins. In fact, the EP's closer, "Watch It Burn," is so sludgy and slowed-down it may be un-headbangable. Will Bassin's vocals go from whispered to full-on shouting, sometimes in the course of the same song, like on "Silence Means Nothing." Though they've self-released this 12" (which means plenty of room between the grooves for all that heaviness), it wouldn't be surprising to see Serial Hawk signed to local heavyweights Good to Die.

Sample a song after the jump.

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Band: Lemolo
Track: "On Again, Off Again"
Release: Out now via Bandcamp
Full-Length: Kaleidoscope, the band's full-length debut, drops July 3
Local Show(s): The Triple Door (June 14), Columbia City Theater (June 29 and 30)

"On Again, Off Again" feels more like the trailer to the band's debut LP than a lead single. This tease from The Kaleidoscope, one of the most anticipated local records of the year, is a clean, sparse, restrained piece of dreamy pop, sonically on par with the band's earlier, relatively lo-fi efforts, but with the sheen and diligence of a serious studio effort, and should only add to the clamor for what the band has coming.

Daydream Vacation releases their debut LP Dare Seize the Fire next month.

It's that time again--we're getting ready for the June issue of Reverb Monthly and rounding up all the local releases from Seattle bands or Seattle labels for review. If you're a musician who's got a song, EP, or album coming out in June, or if we missed you last time around, please email us at reverbreviews@seattleweekly.com with the name of your band, the name of the release, and the release date along with the music itself. As always, a zip file (one file, not 12!) or a stream of the record (Bandcamp is nice!) is the easiest way for us to listen to your music.

Here's what our June line-up looks like so far:

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