Hattiesburg label Earth Girl Tapes has yet another delicious treat for us, namely the debut tape of Chicago group Cucuy which delivers six blows of noisy and beautifully oddball hard- and postcore, balancing chaos and dissonance with way-above-average musicality, all of which calls to mind such offbeat classics as the early works of Minutemen, Really Red and Saccharine Trust, but just as much does this shit have in common with newer phenomena such as Rolex, Launcher or Mystic Inane.
Excellent shit emanating out of some cellar in Bremen, Germany. This group’s own make of propulsive garage punk plays out a bit like a mixture of more or less hardcore-infused acts like Vexx, Warm Bodies, Fugitive Bubble, Sniffany and the Nits, Warp, Skin Tags and Dots on one hand, heavier egg-leaning groups á la Cel Ray, Snooper, Prison Affair, Autobahns and Beer on the other.
Hattiesburg hardcore rarely ever disappoints and this tape by Silo Kids is yet another proof of that scene’s potency, having both a rough and fuzzed-out oldschool quality to itself while also being catchy as hell and quite varied. Never content with simply copying the genre’s established rules and conventions, there’s a distinctly free creative spirit at play here which is kind of the defining attribute of so many other Hattiesburg groups anyway.
Having already released a whole ass full of nifty EPs and splits neatly fitting in with much of the the current eggpunk mold, their previous one recently marked a notable departure into a rougher, fuzzed-out aesthetic form. The newest release by this group based in Rome, Italy feels like a successful integration of both tendencies, sharing a similar quality to weirdo tunes by the likes of Die TV, Electric Prawns 2, Temporary Curse and recent Erik Nervous.
Just as on their three demos leading up to this new EP, New Jersey group Feeding Tube are bringing about yet another depraved orgy of pure sonic perversion in a quirky-as-fuck blend of angular egg- and post punk full of choppy rhythms, odd time signatures and blown-out sonics.
What this dude from Chico, California pulls off on his debut EP i can best describe as a pleasantly antiquated sounding burst of late aughts / early 2010s fuzz punk and noise pop with plenty of a Wavves, Male Bonding and early Terry Malts kind of energy, but equally imbued with some of that certain surf-infused psychedelia of the same era á la Crystal Stilts and Fresh & Onlys.
A neat little bag of tricks and surprises, the debut EP by this Memphis group. The opening track seems hellbent on reanimating the late ’80s / early ’90s vibes of the AmRep and Touch&Go multiverse and, though not affiliated with those labels, i’m particularly reminded of the Lo-Fi noise rockers Drunks With Guns. Diesel Disco then kinda smells of early UK DIY á la early Mekons, Swell Maps and Desperate Bicycles while being transformed into a contemporary fuzz punk context. The Junt is just a perfect midtempo blast of a proto-grunge eighties garage rock throwback. Newspeak cranks up the weirdness with its distinct stop-and-go dynamics and structure. Finally, Control is more like your standard stooges-indebted fuzzy garage rocker and, quite honestly, overall the least thrilling thing on this otherwise thoroughly engaging EP.
As you might already have guessed from the title, this shit isn’t exactly brand new, having been released in November already, but this Miami group totally is news to me right now. On their debut EP we’re served four exquisite bursts of rough and primitive hardcore punk goodness whose tinny and blown-out LoFi aesthetics wouldn’t feel too out of place next to anything released on Deluxe Bias or Impotent Fetus.
The time between the years is – as far as punk rock is concerned – usually defined by those rather tiny and more obscure nuggets, scraps and crumbs that randomly pop up. Same thing this year, so here’s a little roundup of some of the curious little short-playing treats that washed up in the last few weeks.
London’s Rifle already delighted with two excellent EPs before and their newest one is another full-on blast inbetween the worlds of garage punk, postcore and old KBD-related noise somewhat reminiscent of groups as diverse as Ascot Stabber, early Golden Pelicans, Mystic Inane, Launcher and Rolex. Madrid group Raya, whose debut EP a couple already left me impressed a couple months ago, has another two-track single out now and guess what, it’s yet another excellent burst of quirky garage-/eggpunk most reminiscent of other spanish acts like Pringue, Finale and Prison Affair but also international bands like Beer, Set-Top Box and Gremlin. Vacation from Cincinnati have long proven to be a treasure trove of high-octane songcraft in the realms of Power Pop, oldschool Indie Rock, Garage- and Fuzz Punk and their track on a new split single is another high-caliber weapon in their arsenal. The other track by Madison, Wisconsin post punkers Whippets is also really fucking good, reminding me a lot of canadian groups Dead Cells and that recent Psychbike LP. Another high-class gem comes to us in the form of a new 7″ by Perth group Pleasants who set off another two explosions of simple and confident power pop that admirers of the likes of Teen Line, Bad Sports, Tommy and the Commies, Mr. Teenage or Corner Boys shouldn’t miss. Speaking of catchy tunes, english group Cream Soda have two more of those on their debut 7″ via Spinout Nuggets. They have equal amounts of both a Buzzcocks- and Television Personalities-energy to them or alternately, you might name old US underground acts like Broken Talent or more recent shit like Britain’s The Suburban Homes and Silicone Values, Australia’s Nasty Party or earlier stuff of canadian greats Neutrals as reasonably valid references. And finally, there’s another high quality bit of heavy metal-infused fun from Austin’s Ninth Circle. It’s been an interesting last few years as i actually wouldn’t have thought – having lived through the embarrassing, metalcore-infested period from the late ’90s to ’00s – that the marriage of punk and metal-related sounds would ever produce any more offspring i could get behind, being forever tainted by the era’s blunt moshing and cringy display of hypermasculine rage. But here i am in the 2020s, regularly finding much delight in metal-ish sounds from bands that aren’t necessarily named Poison Ruïn. Having ignored the metal industrial complex for a long time, i’m severely impaired when it comes to naming any references so i’m just ganna say these two songs fucking rip and that’s all you need to know anyway.
So, that’s it for this year. As usual i’m gonna take a 2-3 weeks long vacation from blogging and you’ll hear back from me when next year’s release machine gets into gear again. See you in whatever depressing abomination the year 2025 is shaping up to be.
I’m just gonna assume that certain Nick G. mentioned in connection with this newest release courtesy of our favorite bullshit enterprise Discontinuous Innovation Inc. is that same dude who also gave us the underrated post punk highlight that was 2023’s Broken? If so, his sound has certainly evolved a good bit into a more catchy and melodic direction on his first EP under the NRG moniker while still being recognizable as having arisen from the same mind, adding psychedelic flourishes and sprinkles of melodic indie rock to the mix. Less Criminal Code and Sievehead this time and more in line with such highly regarded, more or less recent post punk phenomena as Marbled Eye, The Drin, Straw Man Army, Institute, Public Eye and Waste Man but eaqually having some distinct vibes akin to a bunch of indie rock-leaning post punk groups from roughly a decade earlier, like The Gotobeds and Sleepies.
