crashsymbols: The trio that makes up unhappybirthday come from Wismar, a small and very old city in Germany that has almost always been small. If you’re like me, you might know the town from its contribution to the formation of the Hanseatic League, an important thirteenth century trade federation and mutual defense pact formed by several important Northern European commercial cities. Wismar is a much simpler place today and as the band tells it, rather isolated and contended with its slow pace while they were growing up. A single record store in the city made that unchanging tableau a little more dynamic, connecting them with bands like the Raincoats, Young Marble Giants, and Units; ultimately inspiring them to make their own music, taking a synth heavy approach to “Neue Deutsche Welle” – or, literally translated, new German-wave. Their debut album Sirup is a collection of songs written since the band resolved to make it their own way, renting a house together and making music nonstop. By their own description, these songs are “sometimes washed out like a raindy or sticky like chewing gum”, but never without a “pretty melancholic root to howl”. “Molly” is a sad prom-night-song about undefined yearning, while “Kalt” is more bleak, with cold synth tones stabbing, freezing the listener’s heart. These songs are direct and purposely catchy, but intimate – they seethe, too restrained for anything but a slow burn, regardless of tempo. Together, unhappybirthday is shaping a new reality for themselves and we can hope that the success of Sirup might inspire a happy occasion for them next year. Preorder Sirup on limited edition cassette and stream it on our bandcamp. We’ll be premiering some new tracks over the next couple weeks, but for now he’s our recent video for “Pyramiden”, the second track from the new album. I did the artwork and packaging design for Sirup, the debut album from German trio Unhappybirthday. Pre-order a copy of the tape today from our label Crash Symbols.
crashsymbols: We’ve been dying to let everyone know and a few folks in the Bay have probably already seen some of us wearing our copies of the shirt, but finally, our collaborative t-shirt with Forty Ounce Clothing has been unveiled. I also got to curate a cassette mixtape which you can order separately here - it has a ton of exclusive stuff from some our faves like Antn Hrkwk, Pregnant, a new jam from Chief Black Cloud, and even a relatively obscure Teen Daze remix of Born Gold’s “Lawn Knives” that we threw on there to get it some more attention. The tape also comes free with the shirt. Order the shirt here. The t-shirt that my husband and I designed for our record label is finally out, via Forty Ounce Clothing. There’s also a cassette tape curated by us (featuring tons of awesome bands), that you get for free with the shirt! :D
Got this New Order tape the other day. (Taken with instagram)
Hey everyone in Tumblr land, My husband and I, along with our friend Jheri Evans, are starting a semi-annual print magazine (yes, an actual printed publication!) to go along with our music blog, Decoder. It’s going to be chock-a-block full of art, interviews, poetry + short stories, comics, and more. To get the first issue off to the presses, we need to raise some clams, so we kindly ask that you consider donating to our Kickstarter. There are some pretty neat rewards for those who donate (besides getting a copy of the magazine, of course). Even if you only give $1, you’ll get to download the first Decoder mixtape that has tons of exclusive tracks from awesome artists and bands. Please check it out! And don’t forget to bookmark www.secretdecoder.net so you can keep your music library fresh and sparkly. 
crashsymbols: About a year-and-a-half ago I first met Dwight and his then girlfriend Liz while touring with Born Gold (then Gobble Gobble). It was obvious from the first handshake that I had just discovered two of my best friends in the most unlikely of places, West Virginia. It was upon this first meeting while smoking a bowl on the front porch that the idea of Crash Symbols was born. Fast forward to now; we’ve released around twenty tapes, our first vinyl release (both a 12” and a 7”), plus Dwight and Liz got married! The three of us couldn’t be happier with everything we’ve accomplished in so little time. To celebrate we bring to you today the second volume of our inaugural mixtape, Dope Mountain Fuck. With just as much energy and twice the confidence, DMFv2 is a symbol of achievement for us. It features new bangers from Main Attrakionz, Oxykitten, Ghibli, changemod, Gahza, Ricky Eat Acid & more; as well as remixes from Emily Reo & Ryan Hemsworth and a Deniro Farrar cut over a previously unreleased Clams Casino beat. This is potentially our most ambitious mixtape to date and we’re pretty damn proud of it. 2012 belongs to us and ours.<a href=”http://crashsymbols.bandcamp.com/album/dope-mountain-fuck-vol-2” _mce_href=”http://crashsymbols.bandcamp.com/album/dope-mountain-fuck-vol-2”>Dope Mountain Fuck Vol. 2 by Crash Symbols</a> Head over to the Crash Symbols bandcamp to snag all twenty-five glorious tracks from Dope Mountain Fuck Vol. 2!
crashsymbols: Thanks to Dan Casey, aka Yalls, my wife and I can breath safe at night. Thanks to him we’re still alive today, sucking down good Oakland air in the East Bay (more commonly the “Easy Bay” to those who call it home), while he might have just left us to die where our US Airways flight dropped us off in San Francisco, still fresh from West Virginia. So, it’s no exaggeration for me to say that thanks to Yalls, America will win the space race. As plans unfurl for a new Yalls-absence-suppressor in more solid form , Crash Symbols is proud to inaugurate its new series of lamentably fake 12”s with “Vapid Glitch Vow”. More than just an anagram of my name, it is uniquely Yalls; soul-funk poptronica driven by Casey’s incredible idiosyncratic beatwork, and lent further support by the inclusion of a totally indulgent ten minute extended mix that is absolutely necessary for fullest enjoyment. -Dwight MP3 :: Yalls - Vapid Glitch Vow Listen to the new track above and download the entire single, including (I repeat) a ten minute extended dance mix, over yonder from bandcamp. Got to do the album art for this dude. The song is sincerely amazing, you gotta check it out.
crashsymbols:  Here it is! Crash Symbols’ newest compilation, Dope Halloween Fuck. Halloween is my favorite holiday, so I was super excited to put together this delicious treat (and the album art) for y’all. All of the bands that contributed did an amazing job, and I think all of the tracks work really well together to create the perfect atmosphere — whether it’s a pleasant autumn moment, the anticipation of getting ready to go trick-or-treating when you were a kid, or getting psyched for a creepy-fun time at a party. The compilation features a ton of unreleased songs (from The New Lines, Bone Quida Ida, Daniel Sex Jr., Nomadic Firs, and more), as well as the first track from boy crush (Sean Posila ofHigh Pop fame). The Electric Nature/Pop Culture Shamantrack even samples Twin Peaks. Put this mix on while you’re putting on your facepaint and enjoy. Here’s to Halloween! Karma Vision - Teeter Totter  Bone Quida Ida - The Witches  boy crush - Lizzy Locke  Field Dress - Easy Shade (Shadow Mix)  The New Lines - The Phylactery of a Spring Street Malcontent  Nomadic Firs - In The Morning Red Hook - Lavender Punch Colored Girls - The Third Policeman Rabbit Punch - Watch The Elbow Daniel Sex Jr. - Prowl Goat Lightning - I Am Blue The Electric Nature with Pop Culture Shaman - Shut Yr Eyes and You’ll Burst Into Flames  MP3 :: Daniel Sex Jr. - Prowl Nomadic Firs - In The Morning Please download the whole shebang right HERE! -Liz ^ I put together this Halloween compilation for Crash Symbols. You should check it out! It’s freeee.