There are two questions Sacramento, Calif.’s Ganglians say they’re asked all the time: Is the band named after ganglion cysts? (Those are gross and kind of cool, frontman Ryan Grubbs said Tuesday, but no.) Also, what’s it like to trip on ayahuasca?

Grubbs said he loves talking about psychoactive drugs almost as much as taking them. But he and his bandmates have never ingested that particular one, which is hard to find outside of South America. (Not that he wouldn’t, he said.)

“We definitely talk about acid experiences a lot,” said Grubbs, whose band opens for Wavves tonight at the Rock & Roll Hotel. “I think it was Rob [Enbom] of Eat Skull who told some guy from The Agit Reader that when we were on tour with him we were finding psychoactive stuff along the road like ayahuasca and ingesting it.” Which is true, Grubbs said, except for the ayahuasca part. “Our bass player Adrian [Comenzind] is a botanist. He’s like the hippie of the group.”

Read More ““What’s the Question, Again?”: A Trippy Interview with Ganglians” »

Clipse (ft. Pharrell): “I’m Good”
Clipse has finally leaked a track from it’s long-in-the-works follow up to Hell Hath No Fury and, surprisingly, it’s a love song. But before you get down on the dour coke-rap duo for going gushy, keep in mind that that the object of Clipse’s adoration on “I’m Good” is Clipse. Pusha T and Malice get all up on themselves, praising their taste in cars (”Hell yeah the rims match!”), their accessories (”Ice cubes on my chest, look at my blackberry freakin’ me on the texts”), and letting themselves know that they’re quite a catch (”Fly as I could ever be/ a level of success that you could never see.”) You have to hand it to them, though. When it comes to some Clipse-on-Clipse action, they’re not afraid to come on strong.

Ganglians: “Lost Words”
Remember that scene in Animal House where John Belushi rips the guitar out of a hippie’s hands and smashes it to bits against the wall? “Lost Words,” by Sacramento’s Ganglians, might insight a similar style of blind rage, at least for the hot tempered. Gilded in reedy falsettos and cascading waves of autumnal guitar, this is, ostensibly, a song about going to the grocery store.

Black Meteoric Star: “Death Tunnel”
A name can go a long way in techno. Were this song composed under a more upbeat moniker and given a title with a little more sunshine, it could easily be misconstrued as party music. But this is “Death Tunel,” by Black Meteoric star, and as such, the track’s pulsing sequenced synths suggest something more sinister. This is music for vintage-sci-fi dystopia and the darkest old-school Nintendo games.

Gang Gang Dance: “First Communion (TV on The Radio Remix)”
Less of a remix than a grudge-match between Manhattan and Brooklyn’s two most widely discussed art-rock bands. But there are no winners or losers here, just judiciously programmed 909s. TV on The Radio hurls itself into one of the better songs from Gang Gang Dance’s Saint Dymphna, stripping off some of the original’s lush synthesizers and locking down the tempo to a steady, if jittery, pulse. It’s hard to call it an improvement, but it’s hardly a throwaway.

Red Onion just updated its new arrivals list. The stacks now include the new Ganglians self-titled LP. Shop  owner Josh Harkavy endorses the album, writing:

“Sacramento’s Ganglians want an island somewhere where they can soak in the sun and prowl the canopy by night. It’s not often that they do get out, but they can get down for that. Recording sometimes as one, sometimes as four it’s a real game to figure out where the entity comes from and where it’s going. First and foremost it’s about uncertain pleasures.”

Don’t feel like decoding another Woodsist LP? There’s more. Other new arrivals include the new Field LP, new Ducktails LP, and the new Real Estate 7-inch, as well as the new Dischord remasters.

Used vinyl list after the jump.

Read More “New Arrivals @ Red Onion” »