Big month here at Lulu’s!!

First thing on the agenda is the latest big announcement from Lulu’s HQ - as of April 1st Lulu’s will be open every day of the week. No more excuses - come hang out.

We hope that these extended permanent opening hours will mean people are able to come and spend time in the shop at their leisure; hang out, talk shit, share knowledge.

We wanna take the opportunity to remind everyone that all the Lulu’s crew is more than happy to talk out your latest creative project and help facilitate it any way we can - we’ve all got a varying degrees of experience in making stuff, whether it be dubbing cassettes or printing zines or getting records pressed, and we’re keen to share these resources with anyone interested in also making stuff.

Hopefully see you in the store sometime, love you all heaps as always.

xoxo Lulu’s

KVKA “CUPID’S REVENGE” LP
Mirage Records

Fresh drop by KVKA - an energetic and surprisingly well traveled young MC from Zambia, via Melbourne, who isn’t afraid to try varied beats and flows on this debut full length. Though there seems to be two distinct and icy cool sides to both the rapper and the album, the overarching outward mojo is something quite hardened and tough - whether straight up aggressive and taunting over a gritty beat, but even when songs move to the slicked drink sippin’ dance floor, or more sentimental experimental jazzed out funked up poetics. Admittedly it makes for a bit of a schizophrenic album, but that doesn’t stop KVKA from shining in all areas. Hell, you can’t blame him for showcasing as many of his strengths in one place when you never know when your next chance might come along.

Cupid’s Revenge is mos def a modern rap record; there’s the auto tune and introspection and R&B swings and sways, but it does drip with the boastful swagger that the genre has always had as it’s cornerstone. The joy here is that it all works. In a recent interview KVKA shared the following and it shows.. “I felt like even being born on Valentine’s Day couldn’t guarantee me luck in love, and I was trying to create the soundtrack to my new world as a way of moving past it. It’s also a fuck you to everyone that doubted me in the past and a celebration of finding myself, cherishing the people around me and taking brave leaps to chase my goals.” Right on.

BIG LAUGH “MANIC REVISION” 7”
11PM Records

11PM is on the crest of a new wave of US Hardcore that’s steeped pretty damn equally in all the decades which came before. So what I mean by that is there’s usually as much throwback to 2004 as there is 1984 which is cool as hell and pretty highly appreciated by some of the heads of hardcore at Lulus. Some classic quick parts, cool drum breaks and some hella slammable riffage. Big Laugh typifies this sound just right I reckon. Makes me wanna run a mass front flip off a stage or piff a beer at a wall and crack another, pierce my ear and pirouette in the pit. I think that’s the whole point. Ha. Ha. Ha.

MIKEY YOUNG “CURTAINS” CS
Altered States Tapes

Draw back the curtains and step into a world of bliss where melodies float like dust around you and sunlight is the rhythm you seek. There’s nothing lacking or lazy about the sounds constructed here, in fact it’s actually quite a genius blending of sounds and styles. A truly gorgeous tape.

CLOCK OF TIME “PESTILENT PLANET” LP
Static Shock Records

Firstly, official nomination for one of the best band names of the new decade. This one is quite the record, there’s a lot going on but the front is united. At the fore are typical post punk tones, but you’re quickly struck by the fact that the backbone - the drumming especially - is made of hardcore thump n roll. There’s also something in the atmosphere that feels prog rock, probably the guitar leads basically ignoring the rest of the band at a whim whenever it suits their fancy. In a nutshell, if Low Life is the Springfield band then Clock Of Time is the Shelbyville band. Absolutely worth listening to if you’re a fan of Low Life, Diat, Constant Mongrel or Total Control at their punk end of the spectrum. Lastly, official nomination for “Swallow The Feed” with having some of the best punk riffs so far this decade. Bugger it, while we’re at it I’ll give the artwork a nomination as well.

SARCASM “CREEPING LIFE” LP
Static Shock Records

I believe it’s worth letting this one creep into your life. Pretty sure this is (slam) poetry with a Crisis X Wire soundtrack beneath it. Dare I say Hank Wood if he and The Hammerheads met at The Juilliard School? If you’re scared off by any such descriptions then this record either plain isn’t for you, or you just gotta open up your mind a little more. To be perfectly honest I didn’t think this would grab me the way that it did... turns out it’s refreshing for a punk record to be interesting. Can be played loudly by yourself or quietly to your chin stroking erudite associates. Highly recommend giving this one a chance, because if it is your thing it’ll be a rewarding listen. And if it’s not then you can probably stop wasting money on books.

NEIL RICHARDS “ANCIENT LOYALTIES” CS
Hobbies Galore

Who doesn’t love music as a time capsule? Who doesn’t love music as a transporter, to another place, feeling, or time? Recorded between 1981 - 2020, ‘Ancient Loyalties’ conjures many of these feelings and revealing modes of music’s uncanny capability to take you some place. Sometimes it’s a porch or bedroom in a quiet, probably shabby, suburban home with one foot planted in reality and the other rather... elsewhere. Sometimes it’s in the courts or fields of a faraway land either mostly forgotten or entirely imagined altogether.

As the sounds of Neil Richards’ music float through the room I find myself beginning to picture an ageing individual playing and singing these sweet folk songs to themselves, to the birds, to the tape recorder. Much like a child might play intricate games alone, or draw colourful pictures with rich and fanciful tales to accompany their newly realised physical artefact of their imagination.

There’s a certain “la dolcezza della vita” to be cherished on the contents of this cassette. Ever so humble and lofty. It really is a wonderful thing, music.

V/A - "OZ ECHOES: DIY CASSETTES AND ARCHIVES 1980-1989" LP
Efficient Space

Steele Bonus returns to his work as curator with Oz Echos; the sequel to his excellent anthropological excavation Oz Waves. With Oz Echos, Bonus delves even deeper into the wild and globally interconnected world of the Australian tape underground from 1980-89.

Sorting through the collections of obsessive tape traders, community radio live archives, and even abandoned studio sessions, Bonus had dug harder then perhaps anyone has before to unearth the gems that best reflect the depth and complexity of the Australian underground scene during this period.

A period in which consumer level recording equipment had become accessible enough that anyone could begin making music in their bedroom without much hassle, and the global DIY networks than had sprung up disorganised and wild out of punk had finally solidified into a thriving ecosystem of freaks communicating via tapes in the mail.

The reverberations of this time in our underground history are still being felt today, via the myriad of Australian tape labels that continue to operate on the fringes, and the strong bonds our scenes have with like minded oddballs overseas. Oz Echos is not only an important document, and a killer listen (don't even get me started on the immaculate sequencing), but essential context for anyone wanting to understand where we are now, and how we got here as an underground community.

MK8ULTRA "LIFE ON OTHER PLANETS" CS
Weirdo Mazic

WM returns from a long hiatus to issue the mysterious debut release of Melbourne's MK8ULTRA. Lavishly layered elements create a pop-fog through which sensual rhythms and vocal hooks play just outside of reach, inviting the listener deeper into it's vaporous soup.

Produced by NIGHTCLUB's Sam Hill and released on a strictly limited run of YSL scented cassettes by Weirdo Mazic, Life On Other Planets is destined to move directly from your shopping basket to your make-out playlist, where it will soundtrack your seduction for the foreseeable future.

CIVIC “FUTURE FORCAST” LP
Flightless

On their inception CIVIC were one of those rare acts that seemed to emerge from the ether fully formed and level the landscape. If ‘NEW VIETNAM’ was their call to arms the following string of 7”s and EPs served them well - exploring new influences, experimenting with the elements, honing their craft and searching for new horizons. There’s been a whole lot of anticipation ahead of their debut long-player finally dropping and fear not true believers coz this feels like the moment they have been building towards and more. ‘FUTURE FORECAST’ feels like the culmination of all these elements with an increased focus on song craft elevating the band to new heights, every single member firing on all cylinders and running the gamut of 70s gutter rock to the modern Australian hustle and back again like a trained prize fighter. Sonically it leans heavily into a 70s Michigan-cum-modern Australian underground hustle hybrid with trace elements of glam, power pop, post punk and hardcore executed with pure economic precision. It’s evident even the long-playing format itself has opened new avenues up for the group allowing them to take detours into uncharted territory and resulting in some LP highlights. Spinning it all morning as I was finishing off this here write up my neighbour across the hall starts beating on my door demanding to know what record I’m playing and where he could get it. What more could be said? Music for the masses. Play it loud. Maybe you'll get a knock at the door, too.

MONT ICONS - "JEAN GENET" BOOK
CRIME AS BEAUTY. A scrapbook collection of Jean Genet interview excerpts, speeches, photos and art contributed to MONT FC anonymously by worldwide obsessives. Includes an essay by Mahmood Fazal.

MULCH - "ONE" BOOK
MULCH “ONE” is the debut poetry collection from Perth based company man Theo. Mont Publishing House presents the second edition of this absurd and brilliant work.

MAHMOOD FAZAL & DANIEL STEWART - "19/20 VISIONS" BOOK
19/20 Visions is a collection of photos taken by MF and DX over 2019 and 2020.

MONT PUBLISHING HOUSE - "ROSE" SHIRT
Design by Christopher Wayne Simpson for Mont Publishing House. Limited to 50, printed on "natural" AS Colour cotton shirts - slight off colour white. Front print and sleeve print in black.

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LULU'S APRIL 2021 NEWSLETTER

LULU'S APRIL 2021 NEWSLETTER

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