Five excellent new bursts of catchy, simple and mimimalist synth punk is what we get on the newest EP of this Dallas, Texas group. Though the title of the opening track Q:Where? A: On The Square! kind of evokes associations of Devo, i'd say actually this shit sounds a lot closer to some of the more underground acts of the '70s and '80s á la Minimal Man, Nervous Gender, Screamers, Units, Primitive Calculators or Visitors, while in the current scene you might also compare them to groups such as Victor, O-D-EX, Lost Packages and Freak Genes.
Atlanta's post punk scene strikes again! This group appears to have at least one (ex-?) member of Predator on board, whose sound this stuff certainly bears some resemblence to, as well as the genre's other quite obvious local mainstay, Nag. Whiphouse choose to label themselves as a death rock group and indeed, what (ever so slightly, though) differentiates this group from the aforementioned acts is a more pronounced classic goth rock vibe and a more simplistic approach to songwriting and arrangements. What can i say, nothing wrong with that. This shit works!
On their third LP, coming to our shores via Sydney label Urge Records, the Berlin post punk duo consisting of Erin Violet and former Trust Punks vocalist Joseph Thomas sees them dialing down the folk-ish leanings a bit in favor of a slightly darker, heavier sound while retaining all of that overbearing sense of melancholy and the song-focused qualities that already had the previous records towering way above the bulk of the genre, prompting exclusively flattering comparisons to acts such as Public Interest, Marbled Eye, Waste Man, Tube Alloys, Corker, Glittering insects, Public Eye, Kitchen's Floor, VR Sex and Mothers Milk.
The Sydney garage-/eggpunk powerhouse's newest record is actually more of a collection of scraps, demos, odds and ends left on the cutting room floor over the years but... damn! If this shit here represents Gee Tee's b-material, i'm gladly gonna eat up whatever c-list shit they've got lingering in the archives too. This is a brilliant record from start to finish and mandatory listening for any discerning connoisseur of catchy goodness in the realms of garage punk, fuzz- and power pop, all killer no filler!
Atlanta post punk group Nag never ceased to be an uncompromising, abrasive force with no signs of slowing down anytime soon, maybe with the minor caveat of their newest cassette almost sounding somewhat friendly and approachable in direct comparison to their extra-grim previous LP Human Coward Coyote, as every song on here has some kind of catchy hook at its core, their song constructs holding a perfect balance between their trademark spiky, rigid oldschool minimalism and just the right amount of straightforward, satisfying ear candy.
Cincinnati group Vacation remain a rare zeitgeist-defying gem, once again delivering a brilliant new batch of bangers equally catchy and propulsive, to be located in the rough ballpark of Power Pop, Garage Punk, Noise Pop and oldschool melodic Indie Rock, brimming with a pervasive sense of joy and euphoria in the face of rough times ahead while never missing the mark thanks to their remarkable skill in crafting simple but effective, perfectly balanced and to-the-point little tunes they then like to blow up to larger-than-life cinemascope proportions.
