Roughly four years after their last sign of life we quite unexpectedly get another fine EP from this Vancouver group, who pulled off a flawless first EP in 2016/17, followed by a somewhat disappointing, slightly undercooked second effort. On this one, however, they're back in their zone and alternate between two excellent in-your-face rippers and another pair of slower, more melancholic songs demanding a bit more patience from the listener but culminating in a worthy payoff. As before, they remind me a lot of a more melancholic, subdued and melodic incarnation of Rank Xerox, Sarcasm or Sievehead.
Speaking of the devil… here's the latest venture of the mighty Warttman empire and it's yet another beauty to behold. Four rough gems of catchy garage punk and power pop that, of all the Warttman-related groups, reminds me most of R.F.M.C. and Satanic Togas, albeit with a certain southern rock (in this particular case… southern what, actually??) bent bearing some similarity to what you heard on early Sheer Mag EPs.
Not only do Warttman-affiliated australians Research Reactor Corp. and Barcelona's Prison Affair have a lot in common in terms of their Lo-Fi garage aesthetics, but also both of them had earlier EPs reissued by Erste Theke Tonträger at some point. Thus, it makes perfect sense for them to join forces on this kick-ass new split-EP on ETT that once again is guaranteed to satisfy connoisseurs of all the finer things inside the realm of weird-ass yet catchy-as-hell garage punk goodness.
Berlin group Skeleton Glove have already put out a bunch of demos, all of which suffered to a varying extent from their Lo-Fi production values, so it's nice to finally hear them in a sound that does their sheer sonic force justice. The result is every bit as good as i could've hoped for, their ultra-primal brand of post- and hardcore punk with flourishes of death rock and garage never failing to hit where it hurts the most.
This EP by Kyoto group LLRR is a real treat! Post punk that's simultaneously catchy and abrasive, often danceable, sometimes leaning towards math rock structures and oldschool no-wave-funky in other places. A rock-solid rhythm section creates the ideal space for guitarist Yuzuru Sano's unruly yet often quite melodic eruptions of noise to unfold as well as the hypnotic chants by vocalist Minami Yokota, the latter being interwoven into the rhythmic foundation to a degree seldem heard from contemporary groups.
Gotta tell you about this Super Cheap EP i got super cheap from Painters Tapes! It's a weird little lump of blown-out noise - it's fast and wild, it's pleasantly short. Kinda like a mix between Soupcans, Lumpy and the Dumpers, Stinkhole and Connie Voltaire's more hardcore-centric projects.
Whoa, what an excellent debut EP by a Memphis, Tennessee group! The opener plays out kinda like Drive Like Jehu or Hot Snakes in creative overdrive mode, also being somewhat reminiscent of contemporary bands like Meat Wave, Mystic Inane, Tunic or Wymyns Prysyn. Next they change gear entirely and come up with a mid-tempo post punk tune in which a pulsing beat collides with some serious Flying Nun-style psychedelia and a certain Sauna Youth vibe. The latter also permeates the subsequent two garage punk smashers with echoes of Ex-Cult, early Teenanger or Dumb Punts, gradually shapeshifting into more of a post punk and indie rock style not unlike Gotobeds, Sleepies or B-Boys, which in the closing track once again morphs into kind of a Swervedriver-esque slow jam. There's not a single weak spot to be found on this record!
Having released four EPs on Neon Taste so far, Vancouver's Bootlicker have hit the bull's eye every single time, so why change anything now? They haven't. Accordingly, on their first longplayer, their brand of no-frills oldschool hardcore attack once more manages to be mostly unsurprising yet perfectly gripping from start to finish.
Chunklet Industries is killing it again with this debut 7" by a noise rock/post punk supergroup, kind of an unholy trinity made up of members of Wilful Boys, Spray Paint and Brandy whose sound incorporates familiar elements of all three aforementioned groups yet eschews predictability - with the A-Side giving off that distinct Spray Paint vibe and the other track veering a bit stronger towards the other two bands' sonic hallmarks. To make things even better, we're also promised a full length sometime this fall!
With the Berlin group's 2018 self-titled full length being their most varied, playful record and the subsequent Bug EP their loudest, most uncompromising one, their second long player recently released via adagio830 certainly showcases their most concise, effective and elaborate bundle of songs so far. Once again i'm reminded of pretty much any great post punk act of recent years both in- and outside Berlin. Think Negative Space, Pretty Hurts, Rank/Xerox, Diät, Public Eye, Exit Group, Nag… the list could go on and on. In other words: First rate shit!
