Just as i think i'm done blogging for the week and while i least expect it, a new Neo Neos record materializes pretty much out of thin air! Now that's always a major event in the 12XU microverse anyway but the occasion is made all the more special as this is the first new release in a couple years (not counting the Hard Drive Experiments outtakes comps) by garage punk overlord and alternate-dimension guitar god Connie Voltaire. This shit has me feeling right at home from the start, unmistakably Neo Neos in all its depraved glory and absolutely up there with the best of his material. In case you prefer slabs of PVC, Under The Gun Records has you covered with a new LP compiling this thing on one side as well as the 2018 opus Get The Neo Neos on the other.
V.D. I've Got My Sights On You Woolen Men Spoiled Silicone Prairie Victorian Flame Famous Mammals Like A Shadow Billiam Freak Line Power Pants Flys On My Face Pequeño Victor Cerebro de Gelatina Powerplant Beautiful Boy Landowner Thousands of Years in Fast Forward
Media Puzzle Keen Street Beta Maximo Straight Egg Neo Neos Clockwork Häuser Alright X-Acto You Sliced Up My Wife Texture Freq Granite Head El Myrons Not A Good Mode Cereal Glyphs Shadow Slaw
…now that's kind of an insane move, dumping four to six LPs worth of material in a single album on bandcamp. Didn't see that coming at all, good thing we like insane shit here at 12XU HQ. With this album the group from Moffat Beach, Australia seriously earned the title "The Guided by Voices of space egg punk". Amazingly, most of this stuff is pretty freakin' awesome too, although a fair bit of fat and redundancy sure could've been trimmed off this 2-hour release for an even stronger 80-minute album to emerge in the process. Their high egg-factor mixture of Psychedelic-/Space Rock, Post- and Garage Punk might draw comparisons to the likes of Mononegatives, Neo Neos, Liquids, The Gobs, Set-Top Box, Print Head or Useless Eaters in its more high-energy moments while in the more relaxed and/or downbeat songs, groups like Die TV, Cool Sorcery, Snooper might come to mind or even an extra Lo-Fi version of the Woolen Men!
Three fifths of this EP have already trickled out very slowly in the form of demos and digital singles. Finally, we can witness the thing in full now. I'd say the Nashville outfit have found their own unique little niche inside a crowded pool of egg-related weirdness, their jangly garage punk detonations shrunken to microscopic scale… a bit like a super-muted incarnation of R.M.F.C. with additional hints of Print Head, Neo Neos or early Erik Nervous.
The most unexpected gem of this week comes from a Paris group and apparently has already been recorded in 2018. This is a puzzling and overwhelming burst of chaotic noise crudely wedged inbetween the edges of garage punk, KBD-style oddities and the weirder fringes of early 80s hardcore punk. The opener VVV evokes a vibe kinda like a mix between fellow frenchmen Subtle Turnhips and US hardcore oddballs Landowner while Moose Lodge conjures up the legacy of, among others, proto noise rockers of the Flipper, Broken Talent or Fungus Brains caliber. City Blocks unites the qualities of Bad Brains and MC5 in a neat little package. Other times, they evoke The Mentally Ill or kinda bridge the gap between Neos and Neo Neos while numerous more recent groups á la Total Sham, Liquid Assets, Launcher, Crisis Man, Freakees or Liposuction aren't too far off either at one point or another. This shit is as unique as it's primitive and mostly unpredictable, more than once defying any attempt at categorization.
This Santa Ana group emits short and noisy KBD-soaked artifacts, equal parts oldschool garage- and hardcore punk with the occasional touch of Gun Club. The overall impression ain't too far off Neo Neos or any of maestro Voltaire's various hardcore projects, early Erik Nervous and maybe some hint of Launcher, meshed together with some beautiful accident of the kind that might've just as well occured on some random Deluxe Bias or Impotent Fetus release.
One of Spain's best kept secrets has finally made it into the garage punk big league as evidenced by their new 7" on Slovenly Recordings, containing what is without doubt their strongest set of tunes yet, confident and catchy as fuck while keeping their distinct weirdo edge intact, finding a perfect middle ground between the particular eccentricities of acts like Erik Nervous, Reality Group, R.M.F.C. or Neo Neos.
A fresh batch of fucked up lo-fi DIY garage punk jewels by some barcelona group, reminding me of so much that's good right now in the genre. Like a weird mix of R.M.F.C., Neo Neos, Erik Nervous, Alien Nosejob in hardcore mode… also, there's a striking similarity to fellow barcelonians Prison Affair. Wait, are these the same band?
Fun & inventive Garage Punk from Melbourne clearly on the eggy side of the spectrum (man, i always wanted to avoid this Egg/Chain-Terminology here but in this case it just fits so perfectly) coming accross a bit like Eric Nervous, R.M.F.C. or Neo Neos covering old Dead Milkmen anthems.
Shame Alphabet Ray Gun Seance Rancher Head Crash Blacklisters White Piano Shifting Spudgasm Wax Chattels Yokohama Girls In Synthesis Pressure TOL Collapsing Wortlis Quozo Это Не Я Chainshot Victim Soul GAG Mad Dog Laundry Boys Mustard Monster UAV Emk True Sons Of Thunder Toob Sock Chico Perro Estamos Mejor Que Nunca Other Half Trance State Rolex Stripes Landowner Being Told You’re Wrong Remote Control Subject Ok Satán It Is Today (Believe It) Yammerer Boa Constrictor The Archaeas Reality Commander
Side B
Tracklist:
Brandy (Wish You Was) Madball Baby Speed Week Phishing Moth Work Isotope Soap The Happiest Kid on Earth Erik Nervous Toil Is Stupid Digital Leather Compass I Am The Fly Axolotl Tor Wifi Head Diode Tomothy Borky!! Post Punk Provo Ihml Escare Only Lives Neo Neos Big Chin Ruben Riley Dead Man's Rocket Ex-White My Love, The Rock Gee Tee Mutant World Sinkin' Feelings Gimme The Look Satanic Togas Hit #69 Vaguess Mask of Vanity Silicone Values Nuclear Sun Toner Under the Gun
