New Releases: After Argument, Fast Son, Skip Skip Ben Ben, Mega Soul

Vinyl, cassettes, bandcamp, dropbox – don’t matter how it’s getting out there but music is coming at ya this week with a slew of new stuff from an eclectic bunch including the sophomore LP from Yang Haisong’s After Argument, the debut from new nu metal band Mega Soul, one man blues train wreck Fast Son, and a very special live performance from LBM all time favorites Skip Skip Ben Ben.

Stumbled upon this 12’’ last week at XP – the sophomore LP from post punk duo After Argument consisting of the omnipresent Yang Haisong on guitar and vocals with Zaza on drums. Entitled This Is Not Your Game, it’s a continuation of last year’s ‘stripped down to the essentials’ debut Furs of Time. Best why to describe it is it’s raw – between the noise and distortion, guitar riffs (much better this time round), and punch of the drums, what you’re left with is Haisong’s brass voice, spitting poetry to the masses. There are some nice touches here and there – particularly the use of Zaza on backup vocals, but I think your mileage is gonna vary depending on how much you connect with Yang Haisong’s voice. Which is A-OK with me. Listen to it over at Genjing Records’ bandcamp.

Fast Son is none other than Richard Doran aka Dong Mohan, that laowai off the TV who speaks really good Chinese but nobody has seen for a while. Well, they found him. He’s been hiding out in Chengdu and Dublin – and all the while has been recording under the moniker Fast Son. A slew of lo-fi one-man train wreck blues that feels like Doran one hundred percent. Dig in over here. Better yet, Doran is in town for a week or so and will be performing tonight with thruoutin and iimmune at fRUITYSHOP and with join buttcheeks with Michael Cupoli tomorrow for a Low Bow reunion at Jianghu Bar alongside Mammals and Birdstriking.

For you metal heads out there, there’s a new name in town and they go by the name Mega Soul. Formed two years ago by Wang Zhengwei and bassist Wang Le (of Yaksa fame), the band is full of talent – from MIDI School graduates, to ex-Discord guitarists, it’s clear these guys know how to wield their weapon of choice. Plenty of stellar guitar solos, some seriously gruff vocals from Yingpeng, and drums whose impact is felt, the self-titled debut made not set any barns on fire (especially in a mp3 format) but Mega Soul never comes off as soft or feeble – there’s a genuine crunch and fire to their sound that is often lacking in most bands of this ilk. Give it a listen here and check out the band officially release it this Saturday at Yugong Yishan.

A band I sorely missed since they headed back to homebase, aka Taiwan, is Skip Skip Ben Ben, the uber charming and fiery shoegaze indie outfit lead by the amazing Ben Ben. Well, looks like all that facebook stalking has paid off, as I stumbled upon this little nugget of rejoice. Head over to the band’s facebook page and you’ll notice a free dropbox download of a recent live 8-song solo performance by Ben Ben and it is indeed awesome. Great way to get a sense of the band in a different light. Grab it already!!!