"That playful dichotomy between big and small turns out to be the anchor for the album’s title track, a pretty, march-like drone drenched in so much reverb the sunny vocal harmonies sound like they’re shining in through a pinhole."
– Pitchfork

Empty Cellar Records is proud to introduce to you the first single from Tiny Rebels, the forthcoming album by The Cairo Gang (out 7/23). Listen below and watch a video by Angel Olsen for an alternate mix of the track. Pre-order HERE

Track Listing:
Side A: Tiny Rebels / Take Your Time / Shake Off
Side B: Shivers / Father Of The Man / Find You With A Song

Tiny Rebels is a new collection of songs by The Cairo Gang. They are about awareness. They show a new economy in the work of The Cairo Gang’s leader Emmett Kelly, conjuring up quick and defined songs un-housed in the shimmering of two burning electric 12-string guitars. the sound of them a swirling desert night sky under which songs call to arms multiple voices that long to be freed from the contraints of song. to be re-blooded in a frenzy of hard hitting drums and bass. all the while set against a wild array of compressed overtones that jangle by the hand of Kelly’s inversly delicate touch.

In The Cairo Gang’s previous efforts The Corner Man and the Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy collaboration The Wondershow of the World, Kelly displayed a heaviness in subtlety. The songs laboured over and performed so that the fire and rage were things to play in tandem with, as a pranaic exercise even. the result is audience for a certain type of in-tuneness, that although powerful and realized, nurture both the playing and the fire and the rage… this can be a dangerous place. this leads to Tiny Rebels. Recorded in a week, it is an epiphany of sorts. it is the boiling point that which Kelly surrendered to in one sense, but obliterated in another. the songs are empowering leaps of faith:

“Say what you want, babe. dont just sit and listen to what you are told. you’ve got what it takes.
Lord knows the only way that can suit you well.”

And from that leap they fall at a speed..

The sound of this record is what distinguishes it the most from previous works. Each song has the same instrumentation. two electric 12-string guitars, bass, and drums, with many voices often double tracked exciting a gorgeous spring reverberation and cut fiercely onto quarter inch tape. always in the red and fighting for space, the layers are deeply compressed and pulsating, creating an un-ease that fluctuates as if the listener is in a vacuum, pushing and pulling. or a wave pool. when cranked, it sounds as if there is music happening beyond the music. in the abstraction of the guitar sound. in the spacial irrecognition of the tape and reverb. the non-presence of the drums.. the jagged tremoloes. The Cairo Gang has armed itself well on this record. turn it up loud and let it wash over you like an ocean. Get yours HERE!

QUEEN SOPHIE by Cool Ghouls music video from Melanie Shaw on Vimeo.

IMPOSE debuted a rad new video for “Queen Sophie” from Cool Ghouls’ new self-titled debut on Empty Cellar Records.

Pick up a copy HERE

We have settled on the release date for the new mini-album by The Cairo Gang. It will be released on July 23rd 2013 on Empty Cellar and The Disneyland Reform Party.

It is unlike anything the gang has done before… that is all we can say for now.

This is the first music video by Cool Ghouls, taken from their debut Self-Titled LP on Empty Cellar (available here).

Tomorrow, Tuesday 5/7, BURGER RECORDS will be releasing their self-titled debut on cassette!

ALSO tomorrow, they will be headlining this month’s Wood Shoppe at Brick and Mortar

“[Cool Ghouls] self-titled album is a concoction of an unlikely mix; drawing on psychedelic deliciousness, country style twang and even strands of feverish, pure pop to mash up a killer new sound.” – Filter Magazine

Empty Cellar Records is proud to bring you the debut self-titled album (recorded by Tim Cohen (Fresh and Onlys / Magic Trick)), by San Francisco’s latest and greatest, Cool Ghouls (In stores worldwide on 4/23). Pre-order below…

In the words of Tim Cohen (Fresh and Onlys / Magic Trick)…

“First things first: Cool Ghouls are not a retro act. If you seek musical salvation in the form of mop-topped mannequins with vintage riffs and hand-me-down rags, please stop reading. Yes, the Cool Ghouls borrowed their name from George Clinton’s Funkadelic-era pre-show banter. Yes, they dwell penniless in the storied hills of culturally resurgent San Francisco. But these boys have their feet firmly planted in the soil of the now. They look not backwards for approving nods of hipster forebears, but rather skyward, hoping that the “supernatural forces” they yodel for, guide them to all corners of a half-deserving world. Truth be told, this being their first official release, they may even be a bit naïve in their dogged pursuit of the true-blue, home-spun, rock and roll lifestyle.

If one were to ascribe to them a 60’s-reverent description, as one often does in the case of San Francisco bands, one would most likely find an artistic kinship with some the most inimitable, idiosyncratic, yet unmistakably influential bands of the retro-fitting oeuvre. The Troggs, The Monks, Sir Douglas Quintet come to mind immediately. (Save your Kinks and Rolling Stones references.) Like the aforementioned, the Ghouls are natural heirs to the folkloric lineage which precedes them, adding dashes of weirdness where needed. And despite their mid-fi leanings and natural fit within the current pantheon of San Francisco rock ‘n’ roll bands (Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall), theirs is a timeless record, which will hopefully transcend the descriptors (garage, psych, etc.) that will undoubtedly plague it in the blogosfear. The reason being – they write good SONGS.

These young men have honed their three-headed vocal attack in front of ambitious and unexpected chord progressions, an unrelenting rhythm section, and a keen ear for harmony. Theirs is a trifecta of songwriting styles, ranging from the raspy, rambling psychedelic soul of longhair Pat McDonald (“Grace”), to the high yonder twang of bassist Pat Thomas (“Natural Life”), to the boisterous, fever-pitched, perfect pop of lead guitarist Ryan Wong. Despite the seeming disparity between styles, the Ghouls make it work. Theirs is a truly democratic song-making process, wherein all members are eager to contribute their most zealous performances. Hence, the debut record, an adventurous, colorful romp seen through the eyes of old-souled youths, feels wholly coherent and intentional. The self-assuredness of their songwriting is evident. And no, the Ghouls are not afraid to wear their influences on their sleeves; this is partly what makes the record so digestible. It doesn’t claim to be anything other than what it is; a record for now, a record for then, and a record for forever.”

Pre-order the LP!
Endlessnest: http://www.endlessnest.com/store/index.php#coolghoulsst
Bandcamp: http://emptycellarrecords.bandcamp.com/album/cool-ghouls