Pretty fucking amazing shit, the second long player of this group from Tournai, Belgium. Right out of the gate i'm reminded of so much good stuff both ancient and contemporary on the intersection of art-, post- and garage punk, rounded out by a distinctly dissonant no wave-ish, noise rock-y edge. Sometimes they sound a bit like as if the americana-infused post punk of Angst were to collide with the simplistic beat of Man Sized Action and a good measure of early The Fall strumminess. Other moments, i imagine to hear echos of Membranes, Gordons or Swell Maps, while you might just as well draw comparisons to more recent acts such as Honey Radar, Toe Ring, Lithics, Germ House, Shark Toys and Subtle Turnhips.
Now what kind of black death is this shit supposed to be again? The Bandcamp-bred dungeon punk (micro-)genre rarely fails to amaze when its over-the-top absurdity collides with such top-notch performances and quality songcraft repeatedly. What kinda starts out like an oldschool black metal-infused bastardization of Chubby and the Gang and early Sheer Mag subsequently throws quite a bit of (neo-?)folk punk RNA into the mix, dares to build up kinda elaborate and flexible song structures while never neglecting its pop qualities, making for a both dread- and joy-inducing soundtrack for a doomed humanity on its way towards the new post-apocalyptic dark ages.
Another release by Kalamazoo, Michigan garage punk luminary Erik Nervous is always a rusty bucket full of of pure joy to behold. Largely delivered with a borderline-hardcore energy level (halfass my ass!), this EP is without question among his most direct, compact and streamlined batches of tight-ass smashers to date. Oh, and what would an Erik Nervous release be without the promise of a yet-to-be-recorded vaporware song that might or might not crop up at some point?
Four-and-a-half fun litte strumming excercises of the heavily proto punk inspired kind, done by a dude who also happens to be a member of Toe Ring. Sounds a bit like a mix of Peace De Resistance, Woolen Men and Honey Radar with a hint of Modern Lovers on top.
Quality shit from Phantom Records once again. The culprits, this time, are yet another Berlin group playing a breed of post punk (really, who'd have guessed.…) which proudly wears its origins on its sleeves yet manages to put an inventive and playful spin on every single track. Funky but thankfully not too polished, there's also a prominent surf rock vibe at play here ricocheting through their arrangements like a steel rod willfully thrown into the spokes, always making for some delightful stunts and maneuvers. Sometimes we also get a touch of rockabilly as put through a Gun Club-meet-The Fall meatgrinder. My personal fave here is a little banger called Angerman which perfectly applies the carrot-and-stick approach in its juxtaposition of dissonant noise and melodicism.
Somehow i must've overlooked this Ocean City, NJ dude so far. His long playing debut and third release altoghether hits my nerve dead-on though, with a variety of simple & stupid garage-/electro- and, occasionally, synth punk, often with a distinct 77-ish bent calling to mind old pioneers à la Screamers, MX-80, Metal Urbain/Dr. Mix & The Remix as well as a slight hint of Chrome. In Country Girls, quite fittingly, we even get a touch of Gun Club-esque americana-/cowpunk while of the more recent scene, you might draw comparisons to groups like S.B.F., Kid Chrome, Zoids or Mateo Manic.
Nothing short of pure brilliance is what we get once again from that weirdly british sounding Oakland, California group. Their newest EP might be their least post punk, most power pop sounding record so far, bristling with tons of masterfully crafted, endlessly charming Television Personalities worship plus a touch of Mekons or Desperate Bicycles.
Uh… these folks appear to have been at it for ages now, yet this is the first time i've ever stumbled upon their music. The Chicago group's latest EP is one hell of a treat made up of melodic punk rock with a certain rough 80's SST-era alt rock edge - the specific breed that became kind of a thing again for a short period in the early 2010s but has since then been an increasingly rare ocurrence once again. Think of a mix between early Milk Music, Needles//Pins, California X, Commander Keen or Happy Diving.
Wow, i didn't really expect that much enjoyment out of the most recent LP by this New York group… in fact, these folks have completely evaded my radar so far. What we get is a heavily Velvet Underground and Jesus and Mary Chain-inspired melange of fuzz-/power-/noise-/dream pop that convinces by sheer strength of the underlying song substance while in terms of sonics, they sure like to slow-cook their songs at low-to-moderate heat - the results are fucking delicious, just totally melting in your mouth as you relish every single hook, every speck of low-level texture in their rich sonic landscape.
I don't think i've ever given this dude from Hammond, Indiana the full spotlight he deserves here, although you might've encountered his shit on some Verspannungskassette mixtapes, where his various alter egos have been a regular occurrence in recent months. Now here are three of his latest batches of minimalist hardcore punk, each of his projects sounding pretty similar if you account for some slight variation in tempo and intensity… as well as some added bottom-of-the-barrel-end electronic reenforcement in the case of Feed, which should've rightfully earned him the title of greatest stylophone player in hardcore punk by now.
