Another beauty from italian powerhouse label Goodbye Boozy Records. You might remember Buenos Aires group repulsion switch from their 2019 demo and a bunch of EPs they put out since then. Here, we've got easily their strongest batch of tracks so far of their refreshingly simple yet equally explosive, garage-flavored oldschool hardcore sound. Another known quantity here at 12XU headquarters is synth punk guru Klint from Schleswig, Germany who takes charge of side b here with his usual workmanlike precision, curious experimantation and a new couple of tunes mostly on the rougher edge of the spectrum, perfectly complementing the RS tracks.
Following their most ambitious record so far in last year's Material LP, which expanded the sonic pallette out into the weirder fringes of somewhat Desperate Bicycles-leaning art punk and also featured some of the most infectious power pop songwriting of that year, the newest 7" by Nick Vicario aka Smirk, who's also known as a member of Public Eye, Crisis Man und Cemento among others, keeps things comparatively simple and straightforward this time while his heavily sample-backed songs and arrangements still unerringly hit their mark every single time.
Last year's steamroller of a (mini-)LP named Estray is a tough act to follow up for sure but the (probably) Leipzig/Berlin-based group manages to do so admiarably well on their newest album, retaining all of their previous qualities while expanding their garage punk sound with quite a bit of an abrasive noise rock edge which reminds me a lot of NY noise-/garage punk act Brandy and earlier Science Man. A good deal of melodic pop smashers á la Wouldn't You, Fomo or Get Clean is still present here so fans of that catchy, somewhat Booji Boys-esque power pop won't feel duped either.
A delightful batch of laid-back, off-kilter psychedelic- and garage punk goodness by a Toronto group. These tunes do have some slight US proto punk vibe to them in addition to pretty unmistakable space-/acid rock leanings, kinda like a mix between recent LPs by Jean Mignon, Peace de Résistance or older stuff like Faux Ferocious, even some early White Fence - with plenty of eggpunk weirdness on top. What's not to like?
A smart and intricately constructed mixture of Post Punk, Noise Rock and Postcore is being set off by this New York group on this plainly phenomenal demo. There's no way around addressing the elephant in the room though: This reminds me a lot of Straw Man Army - especially of their first LP - but you could do a lot worse than being compared to a band of such stature, right? Friends of Bloody Gears, Faraquet, Meat Wave and such will also get a kick out of this.
Following a thorougly fun demo and first EP in '21/'22 respectively, this Leipzig, Halle and Berlin-based group's debut LP packs some considerable punch which is no surprise really, given that we've got folks of Liiek, Ambulanz, Dee Bee Rich, Lassie, Exwhite at work here, of which the latter three groups would make for the most obvious reference points here. That is to say, playful but energetic garage punk you could further compare to a bunch of predominantly european bands including the likes of Dadar, The Dirtiest, Shitty Life, Mitraille, The Gobs, Finale… possibly even a bit of Booji Boys in their most melodic moments.
As i understand, Brick Head is the solo project of Sarah Hardiman who's also playing in Deaf Wish, Moon Rituals and a bunch of other groups you might've heard of. Following a still somewhat shaky debut album, the overall vision comes into much sharper focus here as all the parts just click into place on this one, interweaving familiar styles and flourishes into an ultimately quite unique experience. Carriying the hallmarks of a number of australian groups, the first things to come to mind are various incarnations of Alien Nosejob, the straightforward garage punk of Eddy Current Suppression Ring, the minimalism of The UV Race while over the course of the record, a kinda hazy, melancholic melodicism á la Kitchen's Floor increasingly takes center stage.
In recent years there's never been a shortage of solid oldschool hardcore punk releases but rarely do they ever feel as refreshing and charming to me as these NYC kids' debut LP, paradoxically channeling the spirit and youthful energy of Washington DC in the early-to-mid-eighties, kinda bridging the gap from the scene's humble beginnings to the rawer side of first-wave emocore groups - think less Rites of Spring and more along the lines of Gray Matter, Government Issue and you're on the right track, more or less.
Excellent shit as usual via Total Punk. This New York group's debut LP certainly won't open a new chapter for pitch black post punk, yet it manages to captivate nonetheless, by means of sheer force and intensity rather than finesse, charging up a sound familiar to fans of, say, Criminal Code, Sievehead or Rank/Xerox with a raw energy akin to Atlanta groups Nag and Predator, some of the psychedelic undercurrents of stuff á la Public Interest, Waste Man or Public Eye.
Funny what a few years of eggpunk-related insanity do to your brain. When Channel 83's previous EP dropped in 2019, i considered this shit to be pretty far out there and totally bonkers while in '23, i can't help but think they fit right in with the current wave of quirky synthpunk acts. I don't consider that a bad thing at all though. These new songs rip!
