Toronto group Cult Crime have already made an excellent impression with thier first Demo and 7" in 2023/'24 respectively. Their full length debut now doesn't attempt to fix what ain't broken and delivers nine no-frills straightforward garage punk smashers strongly rooted equally in the sonic parameters of '77-era groups and early Hardcore Punk which i'm pretty sure will, among others, please admirers of such acts like early Sick Thoughts, Bart and The Brats, Jean Mignon or Hood Rats.
Silicon Heartbeat have been a constant presence at the periphery of the 12XU-relevant sonic spectrum for years now, yet it appears i've never given them a blog post so far for some inexplicable reason (though you've surely stumbled upon them on a couple of my mixtapes). This has to be rectified immediately i'll say and their newest EP is the perfect occasion for that, not only featuring some of their strongest tunes so far but also being further elevated by the production work of garage punk royalty Erik Nervous, whose magic touch adds plenty of oomph and contour to their somewhat Spits-indebted, catchy and psychedelic synth- and garage punk sound. I sure hope that, in spite of its title, this ain't actually the last we're gonna hear of them..
What a neat little oddity, this second EP by Chicago group Forklift Rodeo, on which they're mixing some weird-ass unpredictable bursts of cowpunk with small traces of 90s AmRep/Tough&Go-esque noise rock, postcore and occasionally also some kind of contemporary eggpunk quality, though in that regard i'm thinking more of early Skull Cult rather than the somewhat more codified recent crop of Lo-Fi-recorded insanity. Speaking of Lo-Fi... this record certainly ain't that, giving a well-produced sheen and transparency to their equally quirky, sprawling and intricate constructions that would indeed have absolutely no need for hiding behind an obscuring layer of noise and grime.
Incredible new Dungeon Punk-related material from a mysterious group operating out of some unspecified dark forest located somewhere in the US. These folks approach the whole blackened punk thing from a heavily post punk- and goth/death rock-leaning angle, shrouding their fully developed, well-rounded song architecture in a beautifully fucked-up, blown-out Lo-Fi aesthetic, altogether reminding me of a couple of fairly recent genre entries by the likes of Conifère, Unsheather and Bloody Keep.
This Philadelphia group's most recent EP delights with five wonderfully leaned-back and slightly off-kilter gems of jangly indie rock and slacker punk located somewhere inbetween the worlds of indie rockers Treehouse, Kitchens Floor, Thigh Master or, quite recently, Hungary's Dehidratált Fejek on one one side of the equation - and the more quirky, eccentric sonics of, say, Damak, Honey Bucket, Germ House and Far Corners on the other, while the standout track Artifact sounds a bit like a mix of the dusty acid/roots/garage rock fusion of Weak Signal with the fuzzy garage pop catchyness of The Wind Ups.
This second EP by Esmé Newman aka Glitter On The Mattress from Gateshead, England delivers four perfect little sugary treats of catchy oldschool noise-/indie-/fuzz pop goodness that would only need a bit of added tape hiss to successfully fool me into thinking this were some lost artifact of '80s DIY cassette culture. At the same time, this shit also has undeniable similarities to some groups of the past two decades like Feature, UV-TV, Private Lives, Slowcoaches, Star Party, early Vivian Girls or, quite recently, Indonesia's own Crayon Cats. No question, unpretentious fuzzy DIY pop is alive and well in this age!
For our weekly dose of very dead egg punk, this Pennsylvania group has us covered. Already having made some waves with a decent 2023 EP and a split EP with RONi last year, they deliver their most vibrant, propulsive and appealing set of tunes so far on their newest cassette with an overall vibe not dissimilar to the likes of Beer, Raya, Winky Frown, Midgee, Goblin Daycare and Pringue.
Melbourne's Punter already have a strong demo and a brilliant 2023 EP under their belt but if you thought that latter one was as good as it could possibly get, you've heard nothing yet! Building on that same familiar mixture of occasionally metal-infused, sleazy-ass hardcore- and garage punk á la Polute, Cheap Heat, Cement Shoes or Cülo, unafraid of over-the-top guitar solos and with further kinship to postcore acts like Dollhouse, Flea Collar and the larger-than-life drama and melancholy of Pist Idiots, Split System, these are thirteen deliberately and carefully crafted precision blows, every single one delivering without fail a meticulously planned and perfectly executed set-up and payoff. Yeah, these bursts of jet engine-powered rock'n'roll are anchored in tons of rock-solid song construction way smarter and more elaborate than you'd expect at first glance and peppered with plenty of unexpected stylistic flourishes and eccentricities that still never seem to overindulge and even their most extravagant - sparingly and deliberately placed - accents like the odd bit of organ, bagpipes and even an epic sax solo in the closing track It Ain't Pretty never fail to hit their mark and enhance the impact of these songs.
On their, like, hundredth release in just about three short years, this Minessota group has crafted an enchanting sonic landscape of timeless cool, combining elements of relaxed and strummy, insanely catchy indie rock and noise pop with just a tiny hint of shoegaze and Sarah Records-esque oldschool indie pop to insanely appealing results, which at times come across like a mix of the more power pop-ish ends of the Bevis Frond Spectrum, Flying Saucer Attack, LoFi-era Guided By Voices and a smidge of Eric's Trip, Sebadoh and Archers Of Loaf maybe? Also there's some quality akin to the more psychedelic side of eighties Flying Nun Records á la The Clean and The Stones. Moving on to increasingly more recent references, you may also sense lots of kinship to the densely foggy sonics of early Rat Columns or The Molds, the dreamy indie rock of Treehouse, the early works of Male Bonding, Wavves or, most recently, the Lo-Fi haze of Italy's Purp and the catchy-as-fuck indie rock / noise pop hymns of Vacation.
After their already quite notable, still way heavier egg-leaning 2023 EP, this Reading, Pennsylvania group really kicks into gear for their long-playing debut with a sound constantly riding the line between garage- and hardcore punk while not trying to reinvent the wheel for these tunes, mostly staying true to some fairly basic garage formulas but damn, are these folks getting everything about that so fucking right - as far as quirky, dumb and fun rock'n'roll riff orgies go, you can't do much better really.
