On their second LP, this New Jersey group dabbles in a make of garage punk that feels weirdly old-fasioned and pleasantly out of touch with most genre developments of the last decade or two. Really, this artifact could have been released anytime between the classic Reatard(s) era and the last gasp of Male Bonding- or No Age-esque melodic fuzz punk in the early 2010s. Now it feels like a bit of an oddity in our times and you all know that’s the kind of shit i like best, especially if it comes with such an abundance of strikingly simple, charmingly sloppy and viciously catchy pop tunes of fuzzy, melodic bliss.
Mexico City group La RAF certainly have an unlikely knack for taking decades-old post punk formulas and tropes while always succeeding in putting their very own stamp on them with every tune here kinda weirdly sounding like something that may have been released at any point from the late seventies onward, yet never quite like a tune you thought you’ve actually heard before – there’s a fresh and lively energy to these tunes, imbued with plenty of personality and propelled forward in tight and punchy performances, even if the basic ingredients are as old as time.
