Another solid EP by Melbourne's Moth, this time coming across a bit less synth-heavy than on their last one. Once again this takes some cues from familiar garage punk acts like Useless Eaters, Ex-Cult, Ausmuteants and early Teenanger, as well as some of the Warttman Inc.-affiliated groups like Research Reactor Corp., Set-Top Box. Also, in Digital Crisis, their sound takes an unexpected turn towards dark post punk of the Exit Group, Diät, Rank/Xerox variety.
Hardcore Punk that starts out like a throwback to the early days both in terms of its uncompromising force as well as its inventiveness, unburdened by genre rules and conventions. Then things get… even more interesting with every passing minute. Often making use of uncharacteristically melodic guitar work and catchy garage-style riffing, the Nashville group's freestyle approach to plundering their way through punk's rich history fits in just as well with more recent developments in Hardcore and bands such as Cement Shoes, Rolex or Pink Guitars.
Two years after their promising, though at times somewhat undercooked debut LP, we get to hear a way more consistent sophomore effort by this Auckland, New Zeeland trio. Their rather abstract yet always catchy compositions somewhere on the fringes of Post Punk and Noise Rock - plus a hint of Industrial - at several points remind me of Acts like Girls In Synthesis, Haunted Horses, Ice Balloons or Tunic - with a small dose of Lightning Bolt sprinkled in for good measure.
Following a 7" on Total Punk earlier this year, we now get a full length taste of this Louisville trio's raw energy via another highly reputable garage label, Goner Records. Don't expect anything clever or original about their music. Instead, expect something very familiar done exceptionally well - an undiluted blast of straight, stupid and simple, '77-flavored, balls-to-the-walls unapologetic garage punk mayhem.
Some Los Angeles group consisting of a truly all-star garage lineup delivers a pleasantly quirky mix of garage-, post- and synth punk, sometimes coming across like a crossbreed of Nots and Pow!, or like Primitive Calculators-meet-Useless Eaters in other moments.
Yet another postcore LP by yet another UK group, this time of the more conventional yet thoroughly convincing variety. Think of a mix of old guard staples like Jawbox, Drive Like Jehu, Hot Snakes… while of the new school, Bench Press, Stuck or USA Nails might come come to mind.
Having only released one 7" before, the maturity of this Dublin group's debut album is quite stunning - nothing less than a fully realized, versatile and inventive take on Noise Rock, Postcore and Math Rock clearly taking some cues from classic 90's and early 00's acts like Unwound, Bastro, Chavez, Frodus, some early Shellac, while still standing on its own two feet. In the current genre landscape, Multicult might also be a somewhat useful comparison.
It's quite fitting that the first-ever 12" record on US garage überlabel Total Punk starts with a thumping groove reminiscent of ISS, whose most recent EP might have been the last 7" ever to be released on that label - the transition into a new Total Punk era couldn't feel any smoother really, reassuring us that despite a change in format, the label's spirit is still the same, is alive and well. Grown up a bit, maybe. New York garage noise group Brandy sound their most compact and forceful on their sophomore LP after having cut their teeth already on a rough and brilliant debut album and on another 7" - guess on what label that one came out… More ever before you can feel some distinct Feedtime influence, while in their most abstract moments there's some kind of a Spray Paint vibe going on. But even more than that, i'm reminded of contemporary post punk acts Knowso and NAG, both of whom had released records on Total Punk in the past - just amazing how things come full circle here.
Another release courtesy of Satan. Thanx a lot Satan, we're all big fans of your work over here at 12XU. The newest longplayer on Sydney's exquisite Warttman Label along with italian powerhouse Goodbye Boozy amazes with another fun, fast-paced twenty minutes of oddball garage- and synth punk that has quite a lot in common with other Warttman acts á la Research Reactor Corp., Dot.com, Set-Top Box. Other than that, comparisons to early Useless Eaters or Ausmuteants don't seem too far fetched either.
Here's some ultra-simplistic, drum machine driven garage punk shit by a Copenhagen duo, catering only to our most animalistic instincts. Style-wise this falls somewhere in the neighborhood of Buck Biloxi and the Fucks, S.B.F. and Dr. Mix & The Remix - just imagine even further dumbed down versions of each. Absolutely perfect, i love it.
