This Cleveland, Ohio group, named after the infamous scumbag nu metal bros' very own summer of love, has always been kind of an, ahem… acquired taste, though always a ton of fun as well, at least as long as they don't indulge too much in their weed, their Fred Durst, their occasional stoner rock flourishes… and also, as it appears now, their letting A.I. making crappy music for them, a brand new vice in their arsenal. That said, this passes easily as their strongest release to date and is nothing short of a must-have for any afficinado of inventive, unpredictable and garage-flavored hardcore punk right up there with the likes of, say, Cement Shoes, Cülo, Chain Whip, Headcheese, Flea Collar… just to tick off a few of the most obvious and thoroughly flattering references.
This New York group is kind of a curious, zeitgeist-defying beast in this day and age, wearing their fondness of late eighties to early nineties punk, grunge and indie rock on their sleeves with the opening track even being titled Nirvana, although i'd rather liken them to early Mudhoney and the noisy, early incarnation of The Pixies, maybe a hint of U-Men, Scratch Acid and Drive Like Jehu aswell. So basically, they're the kind of group that would've gotten various Pitchfork writers wet a decade-and-a-half ago, when the height of the first '90s nostalgia wave hit. These days though, they're kind of an obscure oddity and that makes this record all the more endearing to me.
On their second cassette, Glueman of Denver, Colorado don't get any funny ideas, keeping things simple, stupid and fun at all times. Fairly oldschool garage punk goodness with some added '77 and KBD-vibes that is, reliable and time-tested shit which in the current landscape you might compare to groups such as Buck Biloxi, Sick Thoughts, The Dirts oder Bart and the Brats. In somewhat similar terriroty you might also locate Kent, Ohio group Chum Lord, going all-in on an ultra-oldschool garage vibe and staying clear of any ingredients that haven't already been around 40 years ago, hammered home with an infallible gift for no-frills straight-in-your-face, super effective little tunes that hit the right spot every single time. Yup, i'm sold.
This Sydney group brings a lot of local baggage to the table with its members having been, among other things, in groups such as Bed Wettin' Bad Boys, Royal Headache, Tim and the Boys and Mundo Primitivo. But honestly, they don't sound one bit like any of these groups. Rather, their rabid mixture of post- and hardcore reminds me a quite a bit of Atlanta wrecking crews Nag and Predator as well as other US groups like early Institute, Acrylics, Tube Alloys, Pyrex, Corker and Criminal Code or, alternately, Sydney's very own Arse and Xilch. Add to that some ultra-raw proto-noise rock edge á la Flipper or No Trend and you're roughly in the right ballpark. The unhinged bark of the singer, however, reminds me a lot of UK group Akne.
A new Dischord Records co-release and as is usually the case with these, we're once again dealing with a group whose members had their hands in a whole shitload of important bands spanning several decades of Washington, D.C. punk history, the most obvious of these probably being the likes of Kerosene 454, Channels, Beauty Pill, Soccer Team, Office of Future Plans, Alarms And Controls and to make this namedropping-circlejerk complete, the whole thing has been recorded by Jawbox's J. Robbins. But here's the thing with many of these more recent Dischord releases: They rarely ever sound like a tired rehash or bloodless nostalgia-driven cash-in. It's a unique quality of many actors in this particular scene, the ability of staying true to their own musical heritage while still sounding every bit as vital and passionate as back in the day, willing to do the work necessary for making this by now very oldschool thing sound as fresh as ever, helped by an apparent inability to half-ass any of it.
Finally, a full album of Montreal's Hood Rats who've been making noise for a while already, although their sound really snapped into gear on their two most recent EPs in the winter of '22 - '23. Now this one is comprised mostly of punchy new recordings of songs already known from said EPs and a 2022 demo, but that shouldn't distract you from the fact of what a joyous and complete assault of early '80s straight-ahead, no-frills US punk- and hardcore energy this is, enriched with bits of ancient KBD- and contemporary garage punk. Certainly the definitive incarnation for this lavish set of killer tunes!
