Lysol – Padded Cell

Down The Street releases March 22nd via Feel It Records.

Why Bother? – Heroin Dancer

Serenading Unwanted Ballads releases March 22nd via Feel It Records.

Heavy Lag – Time Was Never On My Side / Bad Crime – Same Thing

Heavy Lag / Bad Crime split LP releases April 5th via Bloated Kat Records.

Snooper – On Line

Snooper / Prison Affair Split 7″ releases sometime this summer.

The Minneapolis Uranium Club Band – Infants Under The Bulb

Holy fuck, has it seriously been a whopping five years already since the last LP by one of the most influential, defining groups of the current era of quirky and intelligent garage punk? It certainly didn’t seem that long to me and part of that might be down to their distinct mix of playful, angular and elaborate garage- and art punk having been such an omnipresent undercurrent of so many things that have happened in the last few years, with groups such as Dumb, Vintage Crop, Pinch Points, Aborted Tortoise, Reality Group, Yammerer and Patti being only the tip of the iceberg concerning groups that appear to have taken some inspiration from them at one point or another. On their fourth LP so far, Uranium Club keep expanding their stylistic scope as well, showcasing a matured songwriting ability which pays off especially well in slower numbers like the strummy and folk-ish garage pop almost-a-ballad Tokyo Paris L.A. Milan, which unites some qualities of groups á la Wireheads, Tyvek and The UV Race, or in The Ascent. with its pronounced Television-esque vibes. Like any of their previous albums, this is nothing short of an instant genre classic!

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Dollhouse – I Hate You Dont Leave Me

This New York group’s third EP once again showcases them as an overwhelming rowdy force to be reckoned with, made up of equally smart and furious postcore with some surface-level similarities to groups such as Mystic Inane, Wymyns Prysyn, Launcher, Cement Shoes or Liquid Assets. New to me from this group is some pronounced melodic vibe á la Drive Like Jehu-goes-Leatherface in the title track… surprisingly, this too works flawlessly!

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Jean Mignon – Dirty Mean Fast

The follow-up to last year’s sensational debut tape AN/AL by new york garage punk wizard Jean Mignon somewhat dials down the stylistic variety factor but absolutely makes up for it by considerably upping the average energy level of his straightforward punk smashers, propelled forward by an unstoppable, combustive drive with more than just a little undercurrent of proto punk in general and the ’74-’77 New York scene in particular.

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Balaclava – The 1/4 Inch Almanac

A bucketload of unhealthy sugary joy, the second EP by this NY act delivering a quirky and catchy mix of synth- and garage-, art- and eggpunk that skillfully and precisely hits kind of a sweet spot inbetween the sonic worlds of, say, Metdog, Smirk and Cherry Cheeks, more or less. Good shit!

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