Red Onion Records and Books has scores of new records that are worth checking out.  Among the best of the bunch: Real Estate's debut LP, the Fred McDowell reissue on Mississippi, and some new Slumberland releases. Don't forget to check out the new Best Coast single, Fuck Buttons latest LP, and the amazing Forge Your Own Chains psych compilation.

Used vinyl after the jump.

rock:
UPP: self-titled (jeff beck's backing band)
indoor life: self-titled
einsturzende neubauten: yu-gung 12"
madhouse: self-titled (fountain of youth records)
plan 9: frustration
the cure: kiss me, kiss me, kiss me
brian eno: ambient 1
brian eno: ambient 4
brian eno/moebius/roedelius: begegnungen II
the smiths: what difference does it make 12" (UK pressing)
james white and the blacks: off-white
yellow magic orchestra: self-titled
punch: self-titled (sunshine pop)
david byrne: catherine wheel
tom tom club: self-titled
vinegar joe: self-titled
jimi hendrix: cry of love
country joe & the fish: electric music for the mind and body (amazing album)
sister kate: self-titled (james taylor's sister, with linda ronstadt, john hartford, memphis horns...)
various artists: super rock (columbia 2LP sampler)
surf punks: my beach
DAF: voulez vous coucher... 12"
DAF: 1st step to heaven
kingbees: self-titled
tom rush: merrimack county
fabulous poodles: think pink
sue saad & the next: self-titled
yello: solid pleasure
tommy boyce & bobby hart: it's all happening on the inside (WLP)
lyres: someone who'll treat you right now 12"
psychedelic furs: self-titled
gary numan: pleasure principle (UK pressing)
anthony more: world service (henry cow, slappy happy member)
rorshach: remain sedate (original on gern blandsten, with inner sleeve)
the turtles: happy together (white whale pressing, vg)
ludovico's technique: self-titled
way of the west: feel the steel 12"
odgen edsl wahalia blues ensemble mondo bizarro band: self-titled
fresh today: self-titled (one sealed copy, one open)
jefferson airplane: crown of creation (orange label)
rubicon: america dreams
jimmy stevens: paid my dues
genya ravan: urban desire
various artists: punk and disorderly: further charges (vg)
chuck berry: golden decade volume 3
young rascals: collections
bruce springsteen: e ticket (german bootleg from 1975)
randy sparks: hazy sunshine
yazoo: the other side of love 12"
focus: 3 (dutch pressing)
focus: ship of memories
jan akkerman & thijs van leer: focus (1985)
rare earth: get ready
fleetwood mac: rumours (sealed)
country joe mcdonald: thinking of woody guthrie
country joe mcdonald: incredible! live!
various artists: 1969 warner/reprise songbook
invaders: test card (UK pressing)
artful dodger: rave on
rip rig & panic: beat the beast
nitty gritty dirt band: ricochet
eddie cochran: memorial album (french pressing)
sylvain sylvain
gary shearston: dingo
lizzy mercier descloux: press color (ZE records)
808 state: utd. state 90
the neighboorhood: debut
the fall: wonderful and frightening world...
the damned: eloise 12"
various artists: young, popular and sexy (factory records comp. with happy mondays, durutti column, a certain ratio...)
section 25: bad news week 12" (factory records)
shark vegas: you hurt me 12" (factory records)
wire: pink flag (US pressing)
grateful dead: anthem of the sun (later pressing)
kinks: lola vs powerman and the moneygoround (really nice copy)
neil young: harvest (original with inner sleeve)
byrds: younger than yesterday (360 stereo, vg)

jazz:
clark terry: tread ye lightly
ahmad jamal: portfolio of... (numbered 2LP collection on argo)
stanley turrentine: have you ever seen the rain
stanley turrentine: self-titled (blue note re-issue series)
herbie hancock: traces
don sebesky: the rape of el morro
john handy: live at monterey jazz festival
billie holiday: greatest hits vol. 1 (dutch pressing)
billie holiday: original recordings
billie holiday: lady sings the blues (japanese pressing, no obi)
antonio carlos jobim: tide
lonnie liston smith & cosmic echoes: visions of a new day
egberto gismondi: danca das cabecas
joe beck: self-titled (kudu)
keith jarrett: luminessence
mongo santamaria: at montreux
wayne shorter: phantom navigator
andre previn: the early years
gene krupa & his orchestra: that drummer's band
woody herman big band: hey! heard the herd?
lennie tristano/buddy defranco: crosscurrents
al cohn & zoot sims: either way (zim records)
ray bryant trio: potpourri
stan getz/sonny stitt: echoes of an era
paul horn quintet: here's that rainy day
ahmad jamal: piano scene of...
martha davis & spouse: a tribute to fats waller
billy taylor trio: the more i see you (UK pressing)
various artists: changing face of harlem
duke ellington: '66 (3 color steamboat label)
walfredo de los reyes & louis bellson: ritmos cubanos
ian carr's nucleus: in flagranti delicato
dollar brand duo: good news from africa
morrissey mullen: badness
ornette coleman: shape of jazz to come (original pressing, vg+)
johnny griffin: big soul
mccoy tyner: 13th house
lincoln mayorga & distinguished colleagues: missing linc (sheffield audiophile pressing)
milt jackson with the ray brown big band: memphis jackson (impulse)
brother jack mcduff: down home style (blue note)

funk/soul/disco/rap:
motown instrumentals
motown chartbusters volume 5
bill withers: live at carnegie hall
george clinton: r&b skeletons in the closet
west street mob: self-titled
mtume: in search of the rainbow seekers
labelle: phoenix
hugh masekela: grazing in the grass
emotions: sunshine
percy mayfield: sings percy mayfield
earth wind & fire: that's the way of the world (quad pressing)
molecular beats squadron: coming by storm 12"
dionne warwick: here i am
dinah, joe & sarah: we three
cameo: we all know who we are
kool & the gang: spirit of the boogie
gene chandler: your love looks good on me
aaron neville: like it'tis
james brown: showtime
mary wells: two sides (mono, beautiful copy)
otis redding: live in europe
captain sky: pop goes...
lime II
brother to brother: let your mind be free

folk/country/blues/gospel:
bonnie dobson: at folk city (rare album on prestige, deep groove, excellent shape)
alf edwards: the art of the concertina (rare album on prestige)
joan baez: blessed are... (quad pressing)
fred neil: other side of this life (green label, with gram parsons on one track)
barry mcguire & the doctor: self-titled
tom paxton: morning again (gold label, vg)
charlie king w. paul despinosa: old dreams and new nightmares
newport folk festival 1963, evening concerts vol. 1 (with dylan, jack elliott, miss. john hurt, joan baez...)
malvina reynolds: self-titled (vg, hard to find album with members of the birds, dillards, sunshine company...)
vern gosdin: never my love
clarence "gatemouth" brown: blackjack
clarence "gatemouth" brown: the blues ain't nothing (french pressing)
doc watson: southbound (sealed)
jim kweskin & the jug band: jug band music
gram parsons: self-titled (shilo records)
oscar brand: laughing america (sealed)
angelic gospel singers: i'm bound for mt. zion
johnny cash: songs of our soil (360 stereo)
dave van ronk: no dirty names

world music:
hari prasad chaurasia: flute recital (sealed, indian odeon pressing)
bhavalu/impressions: south indian instrumental music (sealed, nonesuch explorer)
exotissimo vol. 1: jaipur, inde (french pressing)
maloko: soul on fire
incantation: canarios/atahuallpa
music of hungary (capitol, sealed)
sergio mendes: the great arrival
francoise hardy: star

miscellaneous:
bessie jones: step it down: games for children
a french monkey story
kronos quartet: white man sleeps
stories of guy de maupassant
ralph shapey: praise (CRI)
the hush of midnight
famous ghost stories with scary sounds
virgo rising: the once and future woman
poems and songs of middle earth
copernicus: deeper
les baxter: the primitive and the passionate (stereo)
ping pong percussion
howard stern: 50 ways to rank your mother
yevtushenko: readings from his new york and san francisco poetry concerts
the poetry of pat parker & judy grahn
john cage/christian wolff: cartridge music/duo for violinist and pianist

The Aislers Set

Slumberland Records, the locally formed label that has released some of the best, noisiest indie pop ever pressed to seven-inch, turned 20 this year, and it's celebrating all weekend. Tonight's show at the Black Cat features current Slumberland bands Crystal Stilts, Brown Recluse, Frankie and the Outs and Pants Yell!, as well as three reunited bands from the area, the Ropers, Lorelei, and Nord Express.

We asked some of the people involved with Slumberland over the years to share their favorite memories of the label. We ran some yesterday, and here are the rest:

On professional jealousy: "The one record that I wish I had been a part of but wasn’t was Black Tambourine. I am forever jealous of everyone in that band because those songs are absolutely perfect. When I first heard "Throw Aggi Off the Bridge," I was filled with anger that it was something I hadn’t done. It represented what we were all about. It was noisy, it had the Wall of Sound, and it hinted at '60s girl groups. It had that element of what anyone could do and no one had."—Kelly Young (Velocity Girl)

On bonding over chipped beef: "My first encounter with Slumberland was in 1990. I went to see Whorl open for the Wedding Present at the old 9:30 Club. I distinctly recall Brian Nelson screaming until the shade of his face matched the red lights they were performing under. The stage was like the bridge of a submarine that is rapidly sinking. It was insanely loud and pummeling. I tracked down Mike Schulman after the show and demanded an interview. I met Mike and Dan Searing at the Tastee Diner in Silver Spring and interviewed them for the GW Hatchet. They told me about music like John Cage, Glenn Branca, and Skullflower. My article apparently failed to capture and convey what I had witnessed as Whorl's fan base did not explode in the way that I had imagined. But, I made friends for life over coffee and chipped beef."—Matthew Dingee (Lorelei)

On hazing: "Dan Searing and I went to meet John Cage at a book signing in Adams Morgan [around 1991], and then to a concert of his work downtown. I don't remember what we saw but I do remember mixing pills and drink. We did our best to focus but, like the composer himself, we nodded off a few times during the performance. We ended up where we usually did, back at Mike [Schulman]'s garden apartment listening to records at full crank. Pam [Berry] was over practicing some Bright Colored Lights songs with Mike. I eventually passed out on the floor. Much to my surprise, when I got home the next day I noticed that Pam had drawn eyes on my eyelids. I'll be looking to propagate this hazing ritual onto any member of the new crop of Slumberland bands that happens to pass out this weekend."—Matthew Dingee

On soul-induced nudity: "We had sort of a Slumberland supergroup with members of the Lilys, and the Ropers and Lorelei, and it was I think the 10th anniversary of the old 9:30 Club, maybe the 15th, and we were doing a cover of Archie Bell and the Drells’ ‘Tighten Up,’ which is a great soul classic, and Lorelei’s guitarist at the time [Dave Cerf], who was in the original lineup and who was back in town, who knows how or why, but he took off all his clothes and became a naked male dancer for this song, at a sold-out 9:30 club."—Stephen Gardner (Lorelei)

On surviving a blizzard: "I think it was October 1994, and Boyracer and the Ropers were on an American tour. Papa Slumber (Mike Schulman) and a German fellow named Ulrich were shepherding a caravan of sleepy musicians through a northern snowy mountain pass in two vans. Blizzard conditions...and I think we were supposed to be in Seattle the next day. Our vehicles were built for East Coast winters and wet city slop. They never should have seen West Coast mountains like these, not to mention this kind of snow. The heat was on full blast but still not enough to keep out that cold. Mike was driving one van, and Ulrich was driving the other. I could feel ours fishtailing back and forth at every turn. I was drifting in and out of consciousness from sleep deprivation but to actually fall asleep felt like certain death, so no one really slept. I can't imagine how we got through...Really, I was so frazzled, I can't even remember. It was something else...like Washington crossing the Delaware. Like this label...how did Mike do it? How did this label come out the other side of that mountain range with everything in tact? He kept it together. 20 years...amazing."—Greg Pavlovcak (the Ropers)

On touring Japan with the Aislers Set in 1999: "Amy [Linton] was being chased down the street for her autograph, like the Beatles or something.  We did a big show in Tokyo at the end of the tour, and the album wasn’t out in Japan yet but every single kid knew every word to every song. The whole crowd just went nuts from the first guitar chord. It was kind of shocking. Even I signed an autograph."—Mike Schulman, label head

On channeling influences: "One time Peggy [Wang-East] and I were out at an indie-pop dance night in New York called Mondo. All of a sudden, the opening chords of 'I Love You Like the Way that I Used to Do' by Rocketship came on, or so I thought. I said, 'Peggy, they're playing Rocketship, this rules—let's dance.' And she responded by pointing out that the song was actually 'This Love Is Fucking Right'—by us."—Kip Berman (the Pains of Being Pure at Heart)

Few independent record labels make it to 20 years, and even fewer can claim the influence of Slumberland. Founded in 1989 by members of Black Tambourine, Velocity Girl, Whorl, and Powderburns, the label blended noise rock and shoegaze with melodic, underground guitar pop, laying the brickwork for what's proved to be an enduring indie-pop aesthetic. Slumberland was initially based out of a house and record store in Silver Spring, and although the label's head, Mike Schulman,  moved to California in 1992, he continued to provide a showcase for great D.C. bands—like Lilys, the Ropers, and Lorelei—and, well, great bands, like the Aislers Set, Boyracer, Small Factor, Rocketship and many others. The current roster includes popular acts like the Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Crystal Stilts.

The label celebrates its 20th anniversary this weekend with shows at the Black Cat and in New York, which is as good an occasion for nostalgia as any. City Paper asked some of the people involved with Slumberland over the years to share their favorite memories. Today and tomorrow, read what they had to say.

On the first Slumberland release, 1989's "What Kind of Heaven Do You Want?" compilation: "We had recorded the songs ... on four-track cassette in the basement [of the Slumberland house], and we needed to send a DAT to the pressing plant. We had no real concept of mixdown; we just thought we needed to get the songs from four-track to cassette.  So we found this classified ad for a guy with a home studio in Rockville who called himself 'Bebop.'  We took the four-track machine (with marks on the faders for each song), and played them for Bebop. He was listening to our poorly recorded, noisy, murky psychedelic songs, and had absolutely no idea what to make of any of it. He kinda scrunched up his face and said that the Black Tambourine and Velocity Girl tracks were 'kinda like' Pink Floyd. We had him add a little bit of reverb, and he suggested a bit of chorus on the guitar for the Black Tambourine song, to give it more of that taste of Floyd."—Archie Moore (Black Tambourine/Velocity Girl/The Saturday People).

On recording the 1989 Powderburns seven-inch: "Mike [Schulman] and I lived in the same house and had both dropped out of [University of] Maryland. One weekend we decided we were gonna make a record, and called a recording engineer. We just got it in our head that this guy Wharton Tiers had recorded all these noise bands we liked. So we went up [to New York], brought a case of beer to the studio, and ripped through the songs.”—Kelly Young (Velocity Girl).

On making the first Black Tambourine single even louder: "I have fond memories of recording Black Tambourine's first seven-inch at Barret Jones' studio, somewhere in Virginia at the time. We were playing back one song which was already wrapped up in two or three tracks of Mike's trademark feedback/fuzz guitar. Mike's analysis: 'It sounds pretty good, but I think it could use some more guitar.' Barrett just rolled his eyes and head back, but squeezed in another guitar track we did."—Brian Nelson (Black Tambourine/Whorl/Velocity Girl), currently a network administrator at City Paper.

On stuffing record sleeves at Vinyl Ink in Silver Spring: "The Black Tambourine seven-inch had two sleeves. I always liked the limited circus tiger sleeve, with glow-in-the-dark ink added by hand. I recall Pam Berry not liking the circus tiger, called it depressing (the drizzling fountain/rain drops on the other sleeve were more her cup of cheer), but she was outvoted." —Brian Nelson.

On Black Tambourine gigs at Abi's Restaurant in College Park: "Why did we play there? It was fun, but why? More importantly, why did I think it would be a good idea to invite my parents to experience the squall when they were such fans of my brother's WHFS-hits cover band? 'We couldn't hear the words!' 'I know, that's the way we like it.' 'But we couldn't make out anything you were singing!'—Pam Berry (Black Tambourine).

On Kurt Heasley, and hearing Lilys for the first time: "There was this kid we knew as Wally who worked at a D.C. club called the BBQ Iguana.  He was kind of strange and goofy, speaking in short monologues that followed his own internal logic. ... During a cookout at the house where I lived with Pam Berry, Dan Searing, and a few other college friends, Mike Schulman pulled out a cassette that he told me had been given to him by Wally, with 'Lilys' on the label. I asked him if it was any good. 'Nah, it's terrible,' Mike replied with a smile. 'But you have to hear it anyway.'  So he played the cassette, and the whole time it played I thought, 'Um, this sounds pretty fucking amazing to me. Mike's tastes are impossible to predict.'  It reminded me a lot of Dinosaur Jr. and Ride, but with an interesting circular guitar figure throughout. Finally, I told Mike, 'I don't think that sounded too bad at all. I kinda liked it actually.'  Mike laughed at me and practically yelled something along the lines of 'It's pretty fantastic, isn't it?! Can you believe it?'"—Archie Moore

On drinking after a game of golf, and discussing the first Ropers single: "[Kelly Young and Jim Spellman and I] were sitting around having a drink up in Friendship Heights somewhere, and I remember talking about that first Ropers single and how much I liked it, except that the production on it "wasn't particularly good." Jim piped up immediately and said "I know, I did that." It was his first effort at engineering. I would've felt worse about it had he not so readily agreed with me."—Mark Williams, an old friend of the label, who runs the Soundclash dance night.

On creating art for a Swirlies seven-inch: "We did a limited edition sleeve for the mail orders, and I had this idea: ‘Oh Swirlies, I’ll do spin art, like that carnival kind of thing. And I bought a spin-art kit which was 7 1/2 by 7 1/2, and I was like, ‘Oh, records are 7 by 7 inches, I’ll be fine,' not thinking that if you spin a square in a circle, the circumference of the circle is bigger than the square. It wouldn’t spin, so I took a knife and cut the edges off, thinking I was being really clever, and not thinking that the edges are what keep the paint from flying all over the place. And I did it at this place I was renting, this pretty nice house in Adams Morgan. So I got it all set up and Kelly from Velocity Girl came over, we drank a bunch of beers and then we were like, ‘let’s do it.’ So we put one down in the spin-art thing and threw a bunch of paint on it and that shit flied everywhere. Just everywhere."—Mike Schulman (Black Tambourine, label head).

On the unusual origins of Chickfactor's name: "I did an interview while I was in Lorelei about the Slumberland scene, and I was unaware of what the process of interviews are like. And I ended up just reciting lots of unfortunate things which a 16-year-old kid might say. One was talking about this name that had developed in the band for bands that were popular, obviously for their music but notably for an attractive singer or band member. We had called it, depending on the female or male variant, 'chick factor' or 'dick factor.' And so I talked about how Velocity Girl, who at the time were basically the stars of Slumberland, were benefiting from this fact, and that there were a lot of other great Slumberland bands that were not getting attention. ... It was sort of an unfortunate thing, but lo and behold, everyone sorta laughed about it, and they [Black Tambourine's Pam Berry and others] started this zine called Chickfactor."—Stephen Gardner (Lorelei/Chessie).

On the early recording "Ode to Lenny Bias": "This would have been in the summer of 1986 and, at least in my opinion, gave birth to what would become Slumberland Records. Slumberland was certainly born of the mid-to-late '80s scene at the University of Maryland-College Park campus, where Mike [Schulman] and I shared a dorm, and where Len Bias was king of basketball.

"Len Bias was significant to us because he seemed to be everything we were not: a star athlete—indeed the Boston Celtics had just announced him as their No. 2 pick—and a larger-than-life personality on campus. Shockingly, Len Bias, who seemed to have everything going for him, lost his life to a cocaine overdose just days after being selected by the champion Celtics.

"Mike and I had a shared taste in music. Actually, he introduced me to many great bands and I adopted his taste. It didn’t take long for us to make a go at our own brand of noise.  The night we recorded 'Ode...' I stole my mother’s cheap classical acoustic guitar and we rendezvoused at Mike’s parent’s house to try our hand at recording. We were armed with Dr. Peppers, Utz Crab Chips and inspired by Sonic Youth’s Bad Moon Rising. We didn’t really have any other instruments, cords, or skills but Mike had figured out that if you plug headphones into the recording jack on a stereo tape deck, the headphones turned into a microphone! We set the guitar on the living room floor, tapped it with the headphones, and proceeded to beat on the strings, sometimes violently sometimes softly, for about 10 minutes. The result was dark, noisy, and complete with unintentional feedback; what with the recent tragic passing of Len Bias on our minds, it seemed a fitting homage."—Robert Goldrick (Whorl).

Way back in 1989, when DC was still more of an all-hardcore-all-the-time kind of place, Slumberland Records took a chance and pressed its first 7", What Kind of Heaven Do You Want, a compilation featuring DC-based indie-pop bands Velocity Girl, Black Tambourine, and Powder Burns. Since then the label has become one of the most beloved purveyors of twee and fuzzy music, releasing a slate of well-loved records by Stereolab, Rocketship, and, more recently, Crystal Stilts, and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart.

The anniversary concert will feature performances by label artists both new (Crystal Stilts) and old (The Ropers, Nord Express). Lineup details after the jump.

Slumberland 20th Anniversary Concert

Friday, Nov .13
The Black Cat

Crystal Stilts
Brown Recluse
Pants Yell!
Frankie Rose and The Outs
The Ropers
Nord Express
Lorelei

Might as well post the details for the Brooklyn show, too:

Saturday, Nov. 14
Brooklyn, NY
The Bell House

Crystal Stilts
Brown Recluse
Pants Yell!
Frankie Rose and The Outs
The Ropers
Nord Express
Lorelei
Special Surprise Guest

On Sunday night, Pop Cesspool and I walked over to DC9 to check out the Crystal Stilts show only to be faced with a flier on the door telling us that the band had canceled.

The Cesspool was miffed by the sudden no show. So he decided to e-mail the band. One Crystal Stilts member replied. Apparently, the band's van had broken down.

Slumberland notes that there are more tour dates so maybe you can catch the band in....Lawrence, KS on the 23rd. Or Harrisburg on the 26th.

*photo of Crystal Stilts courtesy of highrize.

Post-punk got a second chance, so did garage rock. Even disco has had a bit of come back lately. But when the indie-pop music of the early '90s–naive but noisy sounding bands that populated labels like Slumberland, K, and Sarah–finally died out, it seemed like somebody pinned a "do not resuscitate" order on it. It was dead. Deader than IDM, even.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart have made a pretty good argument for twee resurrection, though. The Brooklyn band's chiming chords, swooning melodies, and blasts of guitar feedback place a defibrillator on indie-pop's chest. Singer/guitarist Kip Berman spoke with Washington City Paper about the band, getting signed to Slumberland, and why it isn't as hard as you might think to play kinda wimpy music in New York City.

The band performs tonight at Black Cat with The Depreciation Guild and The Sugarplums.

Washington City Paper: Did you ever find a new job? (Kip was laid off from his job at Drill Team shortly after this Stereogum interview ran)

Berman: It’s embarrassing, I did that interview and then I lost my job right after that. I don't have an actual job right now. With all these dates coming up I wanted to wait before …you know, it’s hard to tell your new boss that you have to go away on tour the first week you start a job.

WCP: How long have you guys been doing this band, you knew each other before, right?

Berman: It's been about two years now; it’s been really exciting. We were friends before then, though. It’s not like we met through looking at classified ads. We formed up to play at Peggy’s, the keyboard player’s, birthday party. We had book some bands and we thought that if we formed a band, we could play too. It's been really fun every since.

I mean, I worked with Alex; we worked the same place, our desks right next to each other at. We liked so much of the same stuff– Exploding Hearts, Rocket Ship, and all sorts of stuff. Peggy was just somebody I had known in New York. She was a friend of a friend at an indie-pop dance party. She seemed too cool, I was scared to ask her to play in the band, but she said yes. She’s super fun. And Kurt [drummer], we actually started off with a drum machine. We had all of our drums on an iPod and we would play along. He [Kurt] came to our early shows and really enjoyed the music, he's my roommate now. We play a lot of Nintendo.

WCP: New Nintendo, or old-school Nintendo?

Berman: Original. He likes original systems a lot.

WCP: When you were starting out, was it hard to play such, well, twee music in New York City?

WCP: Yeah, you would think that it would be, but people in New York City are really open minded and supportive. There was this very fantastic DIY pop scene: Crystal Stilts Night School, Vivian Girls, Cause Co-Motion. All of these really good DIY pop-bands. We were all supportive of one another, and not hyper-competitive.

It's like how DC has a strong tradition of that. You know, with the Slumberland Records stuff. We actually went down there to mix our album with Archie Moore [Velocity Girl, Black Tambourine]. He was telling us a story about recording Chisel, Ted Leo’s old band, that they were this totally out of place mod pop band. They would play all these hardcore shows and be totally different than everyone else, but people were still supportive.

WCP: Speaking of Slumberland, how did you connect up with that label?

Berman: I don’t know the whole story, one of his [label founder Michael Schulman] other bands was playing a show, I don't know if he was a little wasted, but he was really enthusiastic about our set. We were completely flattered. Slumberland was a huge influence on us.

We took our time and tried to make a good record– we didn't want to let him down. He's been so supportive, he’s a huge vinyl enthusiast. He said we could do colored vinyl if we want to do colored vinyl. He’s like a weekend dad, you go visit him and he just says yes to everything.

WCP: Do you ever feel like you’re maybe a little too much like older Slumberland bands? Do you feel like your bring your own voice to that music?

Berman: I do, because it's my voice on the record. It’s us playing it in 2009. We're not too hero worshipful. We’re respectful of all the tradition, but the lyrics are really personal and really distinct and about our lives and our experiences in our world right now. We’re never in danger of slipping into time capsule mode. We feel very alive at the moment, we don't necessarily want to live in a different time or place at all.