Some straight, simple, stupid, and super-effective garage punk fun made by some folks of the extended Vaguess, Useless Eaters, Fernando & The Teenage Narcs orbit. Has some Ex-Cult vibes, but primarily i'm reminded of australian groups like The Living Eyes, Eddy Current Suppression Ring and Mini Skirt. Even a slight Saints/Radio Birdman feel is clearly present here.
It took the Portland, Oregon trio a few releases to get there, but their newest 7" is pushing all the right buttons for me with its no wave-infused as well as Gang Of Four-inspired danceable post punk, which in this particular case reminds me especially of Brighton group Austerity.
The recent recorded output by Los Angeles garage project Shimmer Bed is, to be quite honest, a bit too prolific for me to dive deeper into right now - which is why this excellent compilation tape put out by the spanish label Discos Peroquébien is such a welcome gift that made me aware of this dude in the first place. Over the span of a whopping 22 tracks we get to witness a remarkably diverse spectrum of sounds ranging from bedroom weirdo garage punk that might evoke the melodicity of Vaguess, the noise pop of Jah Hell and the playfulness of Dee Bee Rich, Nuts or Prison Affair, to psychedelic pop reminiscent Rat Columns or various eighties Flying Nun acts and inbetween al this, there's even time for some noisy post punk sketches.
New shit from this Kitchen People-affiliated Melbourne garage project. The A-side presents a sparkling power pop gem reminiscent of Liquids, Satanic Togas or Datenight, while the B-side continues the direction of the previous EP - the kind of quirky & snappy garage punk you might assiciate with the likes of R.M.F.C., Set-Top Box or Research Reactor Corp.
Has it really been a mere two-and-a-half years since we've last heard of New Orleans garage powerhouse Sick Thoughts? It feels a lot longer to me. Anyway, the first new music in quite a while by Drew Owen and company sounds as fresh and electrifying as ever - the pure essence of oldschool '77- & garage punk distilled into two ultra-dense shots of adrenaline.
…and here's yet another half pound of competent DIY garage punk made by some british dude, although this stuff smells more like something out of the australian Warttman Inc. roster. I'm thinking especially of Set-Top Box, R.M.F.C. or Satanic Togas here, plus the unavoidable hint of Ausmuteants.
On their fourth Longplayer, the UK punk duo consisting of both a Red Cord and a Proto Idiot goes for an all-out synth punk sound - more stubborn and bare-bones than ever before - and it works admirably, the way they're churning out one minimalist blast of quirky bleeps and lo-fi beats after the other.
Fun & inventive Garage Punk from Melbourne clearly on the eggy side of the spectrum (man, i always wanted to avoid this Egg/Chain-Terminology here but in this case it just fits so perfectly) coming accross a bit like Eric Nervous, R.M.F.C. or Neo Neos covering old Dead Milkmen anthems.
Excellent post punk of the moderately dark variety with some traces of postcore, math- and noise rock is what we get on this australian group's first EP, kinda like a Fusion of B-Boys, Girls In Synthesis and Rank/Xerox… but also not entirely dissimilar to stuff like Video, Public Eye, Tunic or The Estranged.
Third longplayer by this Oakland group and of course it's some pretty amazing shit once again. I still find it kinda hard to believe how what started out as sort of a Hüsker Dü soundalike has developed into one of the most powerful, original and instantly regognizable bands of recent years, effortlessly channeling the raw energies of hard- & postcore, noise rock and garage punk into a rowdy, unpredictable force.