Trouble In Mind

Conceived and recorded as a sort of therapy to help cope with adjusting to life post-college, an insuing break-up and geographic isolation Mikal Cronin steps momentarily away from the rhythm section of Orange County surf-punk bashers The Moonhearts with his debut solo LP. Fans can take heart, this isn’t a “vanity project” or half-baked endeavor - Mikal’s solo debut is fully realized, cohesive and beautiful, with themes that are as personal as they are universal; questioning your future, accepting your past and living in the moment. Taking influences such as late sixties Del Shannon and The Everly Brothers and filtering them through his own mutant California fuzz, Mikal deftly explores his singer/songwriter side that at moments feels like a punk Harry Nilsson or Curt Boettcher that balances sweet melodies & chords with chunky, psychedelic guitar freak-outs. Don’t let the opening Beach Boys-ian harmonies of “Is It Alright?” fool you into thinking this record can be easily pinned down... with long-time friend & collaborator Ty Segall producing, Eric Bauer (Ty Segall, Royal Baths) running the tape machine and guests like John Dwyer of The Oh-Sees, you can be positive you’re in for something special. Once those guitars kick in, and you hit that first transcendent chorus, you’ll be hooked and anxiously awaiting what comes next.

Trouble In Mind - er, we mean TIM Records is proud to present this limited vinyl reissue of psych-wunderkinds The Paperhead's debut cassette! Before they dosed the world with their vinyl debut earlier this year, these three teenage journeymen were known as The Looking Glass, & honed their chops playing extended jam-sessions at house parties & shows in their hometown Nashville scene. Originally released as a limited cassette by Infinity Cat, this recording is a "further-out" trip - a bit more experimental & free than their s/t debut, but no-less engaging. Psych-pop nuggets are peppered in between & on top of extended sonic explorations, creating their own musical vision filtered through the prism of greats like Pink Floyd, Blossom Toes & The Soft Machine. This "bootleg" edition is a one-time pressing of 500 copies on mixed vinyl, hand-numbered & is brought to you by TIM Records (a division of Trouble In Mind Records, LLC).

RIYL: Soft Machine, Pink Floyd, Dungen, Parson Sound

Any number of bands cite 60’s Texas psych as an influence, but rarely does a group actually capture what made those bands special. Following their debut EP also on Trouble In Mind, The Night Beats have expanded on the bedroom immediacy of their first recordings to create an LP that perfectly captures and modernizes the hallucinogenic and exhilaratingly demonic aura of bands like The 13th Floor Elevators and Golden Dawn. With blazing guitar work and a razor sharp rhythm section Danny Lee Blackwell and company mutate conventional chords & progressions into a mind-blowing sonic sprawl. The record reels you in with 2-3 minute pop songs like ‘Ain’t Dumbo’ and ‘Dial 666', forging a landscape that then throws you into a chaotic journey of jams a’la ‘Dewayne’s Drone’ and ‘Little War in the Midwest’ that bend and meander but never overstay their welcome. Tune in, turn on, & drop that needle on this record! The first press of this LP is on randomly-mixed vinyl & includes a download code!

RIYL: Black Angels, Thee Oh Sees, 13th Floor Elevators, Electric Prunes

Wait, have the Wax Museums MATURED?!?!?! After a 3 year hiatus north TX’s lovable misfits (who share members with The Bad Sports and Mind Spiders) are back with a four-headed thirteen eyed monster of an album that while still slightly awkward, is undeniably focused and endearing.

‘Eye Times’ is a musical step forward with moments of glammy art-rockness that proves once and for all these clowns ain’t just one-joke jerks. ‘Mosquito Enormo’ swarms and stings with it’s way-out delay pedal induced chaos and ‘Bruiser’ proves the Wax Museums still just write killer punk anthems. The charming nerd-o aesthetic that was so prevalent on the early singles and first LP remain, but NOW with added sexual frustration, ‘Breakfast for Dinner’ just very well might be the Wax Museum’s “Me So Horny“… or something. The first press of this LP is on randomly-mixed vinyl & includes a download code!

RIYL: Bad Sports, Cheap Time, Icky Boyfriends, Dickies, Devo

Upon your first listen to this record you may think that you’ve stumbled onto some lost nugget from 1968. The Paperhead take their name from a lyric in July’s golden-age psychedelic single “My Clown” and while the record may have a vintage sound, it’s mind boggling to learn that it was written and recorded in the summer of 2010 by three 18 year old kids from Nashville, Tennessee. Neo-psych fans may hear a more ambitious ‘White Fence’ or a poppier ‘Spacemen 3’ while more classic minded listeners may recall ‘The Pretty Things’, their namesake ‘July’ or post-LSD ‘Beatles’. Before they all went their separate ways to start college Ryan Jennings and his closest childhood friends Walker Mimms and Peter Stringer-Hye holed up to record an album that combines all the orchestrated pop layers, eastern influence and groovy instrumentals of a classic British Psych record. With Cheap Time’s Jeffrey Novak as producer & “spritual advisor” these guy’s technical and songwriting abilities far outreach their young age, while still maintaining a sense of wonder about the world and a dash of charming naivete.

RIYL: White Fence, Black Angels, Pink Floyd, J.K. & Co, Kaleidoscope (U.K.)

For those of us who take our record collection maybe a little too seriously, it’s a comfort when a band just seems to get it. While there isn’t much left to be said about the current music scene in San Francisco (where The Wrong Words hail from) we like to think they have combined all of its best elements (power pop, punk and a dab of flower-psych) on this amazingly solid debut LP. Recorded by Greg Ashley of The Gris Gris and mastered by Mikey Young of Eddy Current Suppression Ring, The Wrong Words have been referred to as a “West Coast Gentleman Jesse”. While there is no denying the Californian influence, there is a midwestern blue collar pop feel as well a’la The Scruffs or more than a few tracks off of the Yellow Pills comp. This album has pop hooks galore, great lyrics and ripping guitar work.The Wrong Words take tried and true themes such as hating your day job and letting your girl down but put their own ‘catchy as hell’ spin on them. Stick it on the turntable, but be warned, it’s going to be there for a while.

“Sounding like the best moments of The Quick and maybe even a little Shoes thrown in...a vintage blast of power pop soul that's sunny with just the right dose of syrup on top.”
— Raven Sings the Blues

“You'll hear some of the touchstones (The Turtles, The Troggs) that citymates like Thee Oh Sees incorporate into their attack, but there's a crystalline melodic intuition that runs through the core...”
— Impose Magazine

RIYL: Gentleman Jesse, Jaill, XTC, Nick Lowe, Barracudas