#alias records

Tri-fold paper catalog for California-based label Alias Records, 1994.

Alias Records was an odd duck in the nineties indie scene. It acted as a springboard for Yo La Tengo and American Music Club, putting out early records of theirs before those bands moved on to bigger labels (Matador and Reprise, respectively). And I was absolutely thrilled when Alias reissued the early Game Theory catalog, as well as providing a home for Scott Miller’s most recent musical endeavor, The Loud Family. But at the same time it issued a bunch of, um... less memorable music. A real collection of hits and misses. Though I suppose you could say the same about most indie labels.

Archers of Loaf - Underachievers March and Fight Song

Official music video

Dir. by Norwood Cheek

Originally released in 1996

from Vee Vee

https://soundcloud.com/noisyghostpr/ancient-warfare-the-last

If you’ve been following JOVM for the past couple of months, you might be familiar with the Lexington, KY-based band Ancient Warfare and “Gunsmoke,” the first single off the newly-minted quartet’s forthcoming effort, The Pale Horse, slated for an August 11 release through Alias Records. And as I mentioned in that post, the band can…

I like upbeat pop jams for summertime, sure. But I’m just as inclined to want dark, dreamy music for the sunny months, too. From Lexington, Kentucky comes a band that’s a perfect match for my darker moments: This August, Ancient Warfare is releasing their debut album, The Pale Horse, on Alias Records. While everyone else will be releasing songs about popsicles and dance parties, The Pale Horse grapples with the apocalypse and the “universal plagues of love and death.”