I don’t think i’ve ever given Media Puzzle from Lismore, Australia the full blog post spotlight here so far which is a freakin’ crime really, as this dude has by now been a constant presence on the eggpunk periphery for close to two years and, despite keeping relatively close to a well-established genre formula at the surface-level at least, has since developed a voice pretty much of his own after all and it’s just pretty fucking hard to escape the gravitational pull of his super catchy and instantly likeable make of garage punk, stuffed to the brim with contagious hooks.
This New York group has just dropped an insanely strong debut cassette via Popular Affliction Records bursting at the seams from all the equally punishing and vitalizing energy, compacted into eleven bursts of garage-, electro- and synth punk with a bit of a dissonant noise rock edge to them but also some of that sci-fi b-movie obsessed Spits- or Stalins Of Sound vibe. A distinct knack for sometimes basic but always exceedingly potent punk hooks and noisy textures which occasionally may even evoke some vaguely Big Black-ish spirit, coupled with a sprinkling of somewhat cheesy, (just barely) egg-ish flourishes most noticeable in Faith in Football, plus slight catchy hints of The Gobs and Sex Mex respectively later on in Accelerate and ADHD make for a thoroughly flammable concoction that doesn’t have to shy away from comparisons with some of the best shit the genre had to offer in the past decade-plus like Exit Mould, Kerozine, Cthtr, De()t, Quitter, Broken Prayer, Molbo, C57BL/6, STDees, The Q-Tips and Spyroids, just to name a few that immediately spring to mind.
Austin, Texas group D.A.R.Y.L. had made a strong impression already with last year’s Rock N Roll High School mini-LP and now build on that same foundation of synth-enhanced fuzz punk, noise pop and garage punk to even greater effect with their second release. Below the thick layer of blown-out, sledghammer sound aesthetics you’ll find a perfect track record of simple, dangerously catchy tunes and melodies, a way broader stylistic variety and much improved songwriting qualities compared to the, at times, still somewhat one-dimensional vibes of the debut. This now kinda sounds like only one half Buck Biloxi / Giorgio Murderer and the other half smelling of Gobs and Exwhite… or Booji Boys, Dadgad maybe? Everyhing about that mixture sounds so fucking right to me!
