Stupid dumb catchy safe no-frills garage- and synth punk fun clearly harvested from the depths of a heavily Reatard-damaged subconscious on this kickass tape by australian dude Riley McCloskey, who supposedly has also played in at least two bands i didn't know shit about. Is that a styophone emitting these beeps and squeaks? We need more stylophone in everything!
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If nothing else, it's at least been a great few days for friends of oldschool synth punk action including not only a couple of essential The Steves reissues via Iron Lung records but also these two beauties from Oakland and Berlin respectively. Nasty World kinda go about their stuff like it's 1981 or something, conjuring up a vibe kinda like a wild mixture between Screamers, Devo, Units, Visitors, Nervous Gender or Minimal Man but also not quite dissimilar to more recent shit of the Isotope Soap, Powerplant, Lost Packages or Freak Genes variety. All of that could equally fit the description of that Lohn der Angst record but in their case, i'd add a good deal of Primitive Calculators on top as well as a couple of german influences ranging from ancient DAF to more recent acts like Puff! and Pisse, as well as some distinct kraut-/motorik vibes in tracks such as Warteschleife and Grelles Gesicht.
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I gotta say, following up on a promising but still somewhat undercooked and inconsistent debut tape from two years ago, i'm kinda blown away by the hypnotic pull of this second album by an Oakland (?) group having among their ranks members of a whole bunch of household numbers - The World, Andy Human and the Reptoids, Rays and Violent Change might just be the most familiar names among those for longtime watchers of this space, but these are just the tip of the iceberg really. While you can plausibly pick out some similarities to all these groups, i'm way more reminded of the relaxed post- and garage punk of australian groups UV Race and Wireheads, enhanced with some flavor of british psychedelia (Vital Idles come to mind as a contemporary reference), even a smidge of Wire and early Barrett-era Pink Floyd in Let The Light In. Just as well though, they might have drawn plenty of inspiration from '70s-'80s british DIY culture with groups á la Membranes, Swell Maps, Mekons and Desperate Bicycles being the closest comparisons i can pull out of my ass right now.
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A beautifully overwhelming mud shower of noise-infested Postcore, the debut EP of this Minneapolis group clearly inheriting some of the DNA of the city's own Noise Rock-related history while feeling perfectly contemporary all the same, mainly reminding me of recent bands á la Dollhouse, Launcher, Mystic Inane, Wymyns Prysyn and Optic Nerve… with a touch of Hot Snakes thrown in for good measure.
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At first glance i couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed by the lack of new material on the Nashville group's debut LP but then again, i can't say these new recordings of songs mostly known from previous EPs don't slap - they kick some serious ass, trading in some of the previous releases' shambolic quirkiness for a bit more of a hardcore edge and while i've really grown fond of the EPs' Lo-Fi aesthetics, there have also been some examples on these that never quite clicked with me in their earlier versions and its those songs that gain the most on this LP which is likely also a closer representation of the group's current live sound, their shows having gained kind of a legendary reputation at this point. Can't wait to see these folks tour Europe.
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Just as i think i'm done blogging for the week and while i least expect it, a new Neo Neos record materializes pretty much out of thin air! Now that's always a major event in the 12XU microverse anyway but the occasion is made all the more special as this is the first new release in a couple years (not counting the Hard Drive Experiments outtakes comps) by garage punk overlord and alternate-dimension guitar god Connie Voltaire. This shit has me feeling right at home from the start, unmistakably Neo Neos in all its depraved glory and absolutely up there with the best of his material. In case you prefer slabs of PVC, Under The Gun Records has you covered with a new LP compiling this thing on one side as well as the 2018 opus Get The Neo Neos on the other.
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Britain's most awesome DIY melodic post punk / power pop group of our time has yet another digital single out and you already guessed it: It's the greatest thing in the world ever - six-and-a-half minutes of pure ecstatic bliss and by the way, what have y'all been doing all the fucking time because in a just world, these folks would be on top of everything selling out fucking arenas. Also, why the hell hasn't there been some compilation LP on Drunken Sailor or Erste Theke or Total Punk or whatever yet? It's about fucking time i'd say. Argh, everyone out there can be so goddamn useless sometimes…
This Madison, Wisconsin duo's second LP delivers more of their very own brand of moderately Devo-fied, catchy little Garage-, Post Punk and Power Pop constructs with some added Wire-esque moments. What still came across as a bit samey and overpowering on the first record has gained a lot in class and maturity on this one - not least thanks to tons more variety - calling to mind groups as diverse as Powerplant, Andy Human & The Reptoids, Nick Normal, Smirk, Deletions, Why Bother?, Isotope Soap and Erik Nervous.
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A kickass mixture of straightforward, melancholy post- and garage punk melodicism on this Minneapolis group's debut tape. Most of all this reminds me of a mix between early Nervosas, Red Dons, The Estranged and Daylight Robbery, but even a hint of Volcano Suns, Moving Targets and the occasional smidge of Clumsy-era Samiam can be found in here. Also friends of Telecult, Short Days and Cheap Whine will sure get a kick out of this!
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The long-playing debut of this group from Marseille, France - originally self-released in 2021 and recently reissued by Lyon label Echo Canyon - is a bottomless well of outrageously catchy power pop gems brought to the next level by rock-solid songwriting chops. I'm reminded of a full wealth of contemporary household names like Tommy and the Commies, Warm Soda, Radioactivity, Mr. Teenage, Corner Boys, Bad Sports or Patsy's Rats.
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