The February selection(s) for our Record of the Month Club are two recently signed groups to the Fat Possum Records roster. ย This is our first Fat Possum selection for the ROTM Club, and itโs a doozy. ย As many of you know, Fat Possum Records is based right here in Oxford. ย Theyโre just down the street from the record store actually and we work closely with them acting like an unofficial storefront for the label. ย Fat Possum made its name by releasing hill country blues classics from R.L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough, but we wanted to show the newer side of the label by showcasing some of their best up-and-coming artists like Sunflower Bean and Seratones (also check out Fat White Family, Mother, Yung, and the now-classic album Sweet heart, sweet light by Spiritualized among lots of others).
First up, weโre sending out the debut album by Brooklynโs Sunflower Bean. RollingStone magazine gives it 4 stars and says, โListening to the debut album, Human Ceremony, from Brooklyn trio Sunflower Bean is a bit like flipping through some smart stonerโs impeccably refined record collection. All the correct drone-rock references are present: the Velvet Underground at their beachiest, the Autobahn liftoff of vintage Seventies Kraut-rock, the Eighties drug-punk of Spaceman 3, recent garage-grind aesthetes like Ty Segall, and the entire college-jangle canon from early R.E.M. to the Smiths to Real Estate and beyond.โ Weโve got super limited, coke-bottle clear vinyl copies just for our Record of the Month Club members. ย Club members will also be getting a limited CD (only available via Rough Trade in the UK) featuring Sunflower Bean covering some of their favorite songs. ย Weโll also be throwing in a promo poster featuring the Human Ceremony cover artwork.
Second up, weโre sending out the debut 7โณ single Necromancer/Take it Easy from Shreveport, Louisiana group Seratones. ย Theyโve been working on their debut album with Jimbo Mathus at the production helmย and if this first single is any indication itโs going to rule. Seratones have played in Oxford several times now and theyโre live show is top notch, so go see them when they come to your town (theyโll be back at Proud Larryโs on March 5th!) and be on the look out for their debut album coming later this year. Club members will be receiving the limited, blueย vinyl version of the single.