Another quality release from that bastion of off-kilter punk and noise, Erste Theke Tonträger. Busted Head Racket is a group based in Newcastle, Australia centering around vocalist / multi-instrumentalist Arden Guff and in the past year has already made waves with a number of EPs, compilation appearances and split releases. Their long-playing debut now delivers another strong batch of odd little tunes of distinctly egg-ish qualities which manage to come across as equally catchy, quirky, rough and energic, kinda combining the traits of, say, Billiam and the hardcore attack of last year's Snooper LP, with further parallels to be drawn to such acts as Slimex, Daughter Bat and the Lip Stings, Set-Top Box and Ghoulies.
Following a quite stunning debut EP last year, this israeli group just keeps up the energy level of their very own brand of exquisite structured chaos on their first full length record. This is yet another unmitigated, noisy kick in the balls being performed somwhere inbetween the rough specs of noise rock, post punk, hard- and postcore, bearing some very slight similarity to groups such as Cutie, Big Bopper, Brandy, early Patti… add to that a generous helping of Big Black on top!
This neat cassette out on Weather Vane Records by a group sharing members with Vintage Crop among others, immediately captivates with an absolutely timeless make of elegant and well-rounded power pop, supported by way above-average songwriting chops. Think of a couple of more or less contemporary groups like Bed Wettin' Bad Boys, Tommy and the Commies, Bad Sports, The Wind-Ups, Datenight, Ex-Gold, Vacation, Mr. Teenage, Yups, Frozen Teens… pick your poison! Though the whole thing may be a bit too front-loaded with most of the hits residing on side a, which leads to a bit of a slump in the second half… kinda like like a meandering Twin Peaks season 2 it still manages to work itself back up to a glorious finale in the closing track Hold Music.
These New Yorkers' latest LP is basically just an expanded version of their 2021 EP Triangulation by way of Strangulation, though i'm gonna say the addition of the four opening tracks elevates the whole thing to another level altogether, counterbalancing the kinda rigid, somewhat more late-eighties noise rock-leaning tracks of said EP with a fresh infusion of chaos that really seals the deal here, quite obviously taking cues from local no wave history - both the unstructured noisy kind and the funky James Chance-isms - as well as a bunch of other early eighties proto noise rock acts á la Flipper, Primitive Calculators and, most of all, No Trend.
Here's yet another pair of moderately egg-related small fry in the form of two new digital (?) 2-track singles. First off there's Minneapolis garage punks Liquid Lunch delivering two excellent new blasts on a fucking holiday-themed release in fucking April which then again, i'd say is actually one of the most egg things possible to do. Then, there's also a new release by Melbourne DIY magician Billiam which unsurprisingly doesn't disappoint either. The title track indeed appears to take some cues from Jackson Reid Briggs and his current band Split System in particular.
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.
