An awesome debut cassette by this group out of Athens, Geoargia, delivering a salvo of fuzzed out tunes on the intersection of hardcore- and KBD-soaked garage punk. While at times resembling the noise-laden output of groups á la Lumpy and the Dumpers, Soupcans and Black Button i think this stuff would fit equally well within the catalogs of LoFi specialist cassette labels Impotent Fetus and Deluxe Bias, having a similar shambolic energy in common with acts like Septic Yanks, C-Krit, early Electric Chair, Exxxon and Motor Corp.
Two outstanding releases rolled in this week dabbling in unapologetically oldschool aesthetics, both prevailing in their own way by fairly different means. No Brains from Utrecht, Netherlands present an uncompromisingly straightforward blend of timeless garage punk and early eighties, somewhat hardcore- and KBD-adjacent noises. I give this shit 0/10 stars for originality and 20/10 stars for sheer unrelenting force. That averages out to an actual 10/10 record, mind you. You think otherwise? That's 'cos you suck at math dude, deal with it. Also plenty of garage action, although with more of a '77 and power pop vibe, is what we get on a brand new EP by California group The Celebrities via US garage punk bulwark Total Punk. A bit more relaxed tempo-wise but these are perfectly fun and catchy little tunes with some pronounced Dead Boys-meet-Dickies energy goin' on here, making for an exquisite sugar rush of an admittedly, at times, kinda cheesy quality which thankfully always gets countered by way an expertly crafted wall of fuzz. I give it a 11/10 for all the glitz, glamour and star power. Maths man, nothing we can do about it.
Awesome to hear this dude's angel voice again! Just a couple weeks ago, Shogun, best known as the powerhouse front man of Royal Headache, made his triumphant return (let's not forget the neat 2018 Shogun and the Sheets 7" though) with the debut EP of Finnoguns Wake, the duo comprising of him and Finn Berzin and now, pretty much out of nowhere, there's also the debut EP by another band of his, Antenna, popping up which, of his projects so far, aligns closest to the oldschool Royal Headache vibe in terms of its song material while moving on from the rough garage sound towards a somewhat slicker aesthetic inbetween the parameters of straight-up melodic punk rock, noise- and power pop with a kinda unexpected Leatherface edge to it. Sweet!
Now here's some brilliant shit i've been totally unprepared for, certainly having a mind of its own and being delightfully out of touch with the zeitgeist! Sure, the whole thing feels kinda old. I'm kinda old too, so i like that. Imagine the likes of Saccharine Trust, Minutemen, Swell Maps and The Pop Group partaking in an occult ritual to conjure up an ancient '60s acid rock demon, an unholy crossbreed of psych- and math rock. This is quite terribly self-indulgent of course, but that aspect kinda comes with both of those genres, i guess. At this point i'm pretty sure you've already made up your mind about it and know if you're gonna love or hate it. In my humble opinion, what the Philadelphia group hallucinates up here is pretty fucking swell and totally should be legalized!
Excellent shit straddling the fine line between hard- and postcore with a smidge of garage thrown in is what we get on the debut EP of Winnipeg group Jug, reaching our shores courtesy of the always reliable Vancouver noise forge Neon Taste Records. Their sound encapsulates exactly the rough and unruly qualities i seek out most from these genres, at the same time sounding reasonably elaborate and well-constructed. At points, you might draw comparisons to stuff like Acrylics, Mystic Inane, Arse, Daydream, Video, Crisis Man, early Bad Breeding… plus a surprise hint of '77 New York in My Body's Doomed!
Similar things, albeit in a somwhat dumber, equally fun and delightfully primitive fashion, are then brought forth on the debut LP of Milwaukee's Innuendo which has just dropped via Unlawful Assambly and Roach Leg Records and on which they hit a sweet spot between simple and stupid oldschool hardcore energy and KBD-drenched garage insanity, ingredients that have stood the test of time being presented in a way here that still feels fresh and alive.
After a somewhat mixed bag of a cassette four years ago and a string of collaboration EPs with the likes of Eyes And Flies, Science Man and Ricky Hell, the newest album and accompanying extended play cassette of Buffalo, NY group Nervous Tick and the Zipper Lips sees them returning at their most focused to date, their mix of post-, garage- and synth punk with just a slight hint of industrial coming across like a decent middle ground between, say, Droids Blood, Beef and The Spits - far from reinventing the wheel here but always energetic, catchy and effective.
iPad Baby of Glassboro, New Jersey first came to my attention with a fun little debut EP last fall but their newest EP/mini-LP thingy is just a so much stronger, more consistent effort in which they dial the weird energy and creativity up to eleven, coalescing into a new lump of completely off-the-rails insanity sure to please discerning fans of all kinds of other unmedicated, beautiful trainwrecks in the realm of Egg-, Synth- and Garage Punk as done by the likes of Zoids, The Gobs, Mateo Manic, Prison Affair, Metdog, Nuts or Nubot555, to name a few.
Another bomb has just dropped via Tetryon Tapes. The previous EP Better Homes & Gardens by the Rochester, NY group was a perfectly fun occasion already, albeit one still kinda struggling to seamlessly integrate their oldschool '70s/'80s metal elements into their overall aesthetic. This new cassette rectifies this in part by way of a rough-as-fuck Lo-Fi sound that simply fits them a lot better while their powers of song construction have undoubtedly made plenty of progress as well, resulting in an unforgiving force that skillfully imbues some of the most furious instances oldschool hardcore grime and filth with a distinct dungeon punk note.
Holy fuck, has it seriously been a whopping five years already since the last LP by one of the most influential, defining groups of the current era of quirky and intelligent garage punk? It certainly didn't seem that long to me and part of that might be down to their distinct mix of playful, angular and elaborate garage- and art punk having been such an omnipresent undercurrent of so many things that have happened in the last few years, with groups such as Dumb, Vintage Crop, Pinch Points, Aborted Tortoise, Reality Group, Yammerer and Patti being only the tip of the iceberg concerning groups that appear to have taken some inspiration from them at one point or another. On their fourth LP so far, Uranium Club keep expanding their stylistic scope as well, showcasing a matured songwriting ability which pays off especially well in slower numbers like the strummy and folk-ish garage pop almost-a-ballad Tokyo Paris L.A. Milan, which unites some qualities of groups á la Wireheads, Tyvek and The UV Race, or in The Ascent. with its pronounced Television-esque vibes. Like any of their previous albums, this is nothing short of an instant genre classic!
This New York group's third EP once again showcases them as an overwhelming rowdy force to be reckoned with, made up of equally smart and furious postcore with some surface-level similarities to groups such as Mystic Inane, Wymyns Prysyn, Launcher, Cement Shoes or Liquid Assets. New to me from this group is some pronounced melodic vibe á la Drive Like Jehu-goes-Leatherface in the title track… surprisingly, this too works flawlessly!
