Following a thoroughly enticing debut EP last year, Bergen, Norway group Sklitakling present an even stronger first LP, retaining the strummy, quirky charm of the debut while expanding and branching out stylistically. Their songwriting has won a lot of contour since then, their idiosyncratic arrangements coming across much crisper now. Despite their norwegian origin, i can't help but feel reminded of the danish scene of the past decade - the Copenhagen approach to post punk you might say - with the likes of Iceage, Melting Walkmen, Spines and, just recently, Pleaser coming to mind at various points as having a similar sense of melancholy and melody. In addition, there's a distinct cowpunk vibe at play here, kinda like an LSD-soaked early Angst, Gun Club and, especially, the more recent hallucinogenic existential nightmare of Murderer.
The latest LP by this Tokyo group, originally released last year in Japan and now being reissued by Baltimore, Maryland label SPHC Records, kicks things off with not just one, but two maximally corny faux-orchestral intros seaguing into a cheesy faux-metal pastiche as if hellbent on one-upping any of the recent dungeon punk developments. Then, the actual fun starts in the form of equally basic but all the same unpredictable and inventive hardcore punk bursts, the aforementioned tongue-in-cheek dungeon/metal flourishes being counterbalanced by a freewheeling creative spirit reminiscent of, among other things, early Crass! There's no use arguing with this kind of insanity, just embrace the weird and enjoy the wild ride.
(…) as focused as they haven't been in a long while (…) i wrote about their previous album Smile Building's Exit. Tempe, Arizona group Soft Shoulder then be like: "Hold my beer…" and come around the corner with yet another LP, recorded around the same time as its predecessor and presenting their sound in an even more snappy and compelling light. Their unique blend consisting of both contemporary and ancient post punk magic tricks, oldschool noise rock and distinctly no wave- and '80s The Fall-informed noise experiments has never had more catchy appeal and sparkle than on this record.
Luxury new fodder for garage- and eggpunk aficinados by this Cincinati, Ohio group. Soft Violence and Why Fight resonate the quirky madness of groups like Prison Affair, Nuts, Beer, Cherry Cheeks and Pringue but extend that aesthetic with a distinct psychedelic feel transported mainly through the polyphonic vocals here. The latter tendencies are also leaving their mark on Null Future, which expertly treads in oldschool garage punk territory resulting in a vibe á la Mononegatives with a more purist fuzz punk edge. Closing track It Goes On, then, closely resembles the kraut-y psyched-out post punk vibes of fellow Cincinnati groups The Drin and The Serfs, suggesting some of the same folks might be at work here.
Thrilling post punk shit from NYC balancing out a classic Joy Division-/Bauhaus/early Interpol vibe with an unexpectedly playful and melodic power pop sensibility more reminiscent of the likes of Woolen Men, The Estranged, or Radar Eyes… also some hints of Wipers and Television can be found in there. Rather than just another standard genre pastiche, everything here is well thought-out and robustly constructed, every track on this EP is anchored by some sound and solid songcraft.
That's the dude from The Uglies barking here, right? These australians' new EP ain't entirely dissimilar to the latter group's output, pushing the whole thing into a more quirky, adventurous direction though, frequently having some Useless Eaters or Knowso feel to it in addition to quite a bit of musty dungeon-esque vibes throughout the whole thing.
Whatever there is to be found out about this Cincinnati, Ohio group is cloaked in a veil of uncertainty, not helped in the least by that kinda stereotypical "loser band" history given on this cassette's bandcamp page. So, probably, there are folks known from groups like The Serfs, The Drin, Crime of Passing and Motorbike at work here and at least some of the songs on this can be traced back to the year 2019, when they first appeared on the Pedestrian Sentiments EP. Otherwise i'm really not too sure if any of the details given are to be believed. You can't argue with the music though, which kicks ass from start to finish, in some way evoking the aesthetics, varying fidelity and stylistic variety of golden era Guided By Voices, otherwise roughly oscillating between jangly power pop in the vein of, say, Bed Wettin' Bad Boys or Bad Sports in tracks like Coward Of The State, Wannabe (A Star) and Silver Queen; grimy psychedelic garage rock (Didn't Win The Lottery, Obnoxious And A Neu) as well as a couple of catchy melodic garage punk smashers carrying the signature of groups á la Booji Boys, Tyvek and Parquet Courts. It's Been A Bad Week kinda resembles the garage-drenched noise aesthetics of A Place To Bury Strangers, Peyton's Kids has sort of a Woolen Men feel to it and throughout, the folk-infused post punk of earlier Chronophage comes to mind more than once.
Yet another kickass EP by Chicago's Cel Ray, picking right up where they left off on their Cellular Raymond EP earlier this year. I might be repeating myself here but once again their inventive and playful sound kinda strikes me as a combination of some of the past decade's greatest female fronted groups á la Vexx, BB and the Blips, Negative Scanner, Gen Pop or Amyl and the Sniffers on one hand, while also being somewhat reminiscent of that current breed of squiggly garage-meets-post punk groups like Uranium Club, Reality Group, Patti, Dumb or R.M.F.C..
Buffalo, NY group Ismatic Guru's two previous EPs were a promising and enjoyable affair already but it's on their newest cassette that their sound finally clicks into place, their vision matured and tightened-up significantly. I'd say their mix roughly located in the fuzzy realms of garage-, synth- and eggpunk has carved out their own little niche for them by enhancing their quirky aesthetics with plenty of funky action end even some slight touch of kraut-y and psychedelic vibes, most notably in the opening and closing tracks.
These folks have been around for a couple years already and i'm kinda surprised to realize this is actually their first real full length release to date. The intro falsely hints at a somewhat progressive-ish direction, though subsequently they settle into a more familiar aesthetic, a sound that's absolutely of their time yet kinda singular among their peers in its angular, elaborate elegance - a mixture of post- and garage punk hitting the perfect mixture of smart and fun, kinda relaxed yet incredible propulsive all the same, remarkable for its layered textures and effortless execution, also presenting them at their catchiest so far. At times you might compare them to artsy post punk groups á la more recent Institute, Exit Group and Mononegatives, the slightly psyched-up variant of this as played by, say, Marbled Eye, Waste Man, Bruised or Public Eye as well as playful, clever garage punk acts like Erik Nervous, Clarko, Tee Vee Repairman, Mononegatives, Pinch Points, Dumb, Uranium Club, Reality Group… and i could still come up with many more awesome reference points. This shit rules, plain and simple!
