I think this is the same band i've been yapping about many moons ago.. Their 2016 EP appears to have been completely wiped from the face of the earth and the web though, which is a fucking shame really 'cos this was good stuff already. But admittedly, this shit is so much better… Melodic punk and garage vibes rule supreme here with more than a little hint of Dickies and some distinct '77 and power pop flavors that would already make for a perfectly solid EP. What propells this one from good to plain out-of-the-ballpark spectacular though are the advanced songwriting chops on display here, running circles around 99% of all other current punk groups playing simple, straightforward pop tunes. This is truly transcendent, next-level shit, i mean it!
It's been a whopping five years since we last heard of this Los Angeles group. Their first LP (duh!) is a bit heavier on the hardcore- and garage punk side of things after their older shit had been leaning stronger into its synth-/electro punk tendencies. Those relentlessly brutal electric beats are still front and center here though, giving especially the epic opening shot Open World kind of an industrial-tinged, cursed Ausmuteants-meet-Big Black vibe… with additional overtones of Crisis Man maybe?
This San Antonio, Texas group delights with a throwback to the most melodic parts of eighties punk, indie- and college rock, clearly informed by the likes of Hüsker Dü, Replacements, Moving Targets, Guided By Voices and Dinosaur Jr. in the more jangly melodic moments, as well as some early Naked Raygun in the straight-ahead rockin' tunes, all of it held together by frictionless songwriting that wouldn't feel too out of place with more recent bands á la Booji Boys, Bad Sports, TV Crime or Bed Wettin' Bad Boys either.
In a somewhat unexpected but, all things considered, perfectly sensible move, the Philadelphia group on the cutting edge of the still kinda vaguely defined and developing dungeon punk genre release their first full length effort on the well established, rather metal-leaning label Relapse Records. Thankfully this has precious little influence on their sound, aesthetics and production values, with their newest batch of songs even presenting the group at their grittiest and most Lo-Fi so far, their still absolutely singular, elaborate sonic constructs made up of post- and garage punk, noise rock, postcore, a very slight hint of Oi! and only the most ancient ingredients of proto- and old-oldschool metal remaining obscured by in a thick layer of tape hiss all the time. Yeah, the whole thing sounds glorious i gotta say!
Crawling out of the same brown puddle that previously spat out the wonders of Scab Breath we get two more raw and delightful clumps of garage punk, this time with more of an hardcore edge to it and a slight note of KBD muck. An attack on the senses just as straightforward as it's crude and shambolic - traits you might also find in recent acts á la Modern Needs, Liquids or Fried E/m.
Absolutely fucking brilliant shit once again arriving at our shores courtesy of Total Punk Records! Glittering Insects feature members of GG King, Predator, Wymyns Prysyn and Uniform (the atlanta group, not the NY industrial punk/-metal duo) and of these, it bears the most similarity to the latter two groups with the melancholy arrangements strongly echoing that distinct Uniform vibe. Overall the combination of gritty abrasive textures, the aforementioned sense of melancholy, a songcraft that comes across as sad and unwieldy yet melodic and catchy at the same time, reminds me a lot of australian noise-/indie rock gods Kitchen's Floor, the scuzzy post punk of City Yelps or, in its most catchy moments, the noise pop of early Treehouse. An exceptionally immersive and epic experience best taken in as a whole - a rare thing these days.
The first LP of Melbourne's Body Maintenance excites with excellent post punk sounds of the catchy melodic kind, which won't exactly win any prices for originality but excells instead thanks to some confident songwriting chops that never falter as well as a super disciplined performance, both things combining into an experience that feels soundly constructed at all times. Essential listening for fans of shit á la The Estranged, Sievehead, Criminal Code or Schedule 1.
Members of Bib and Nihilistic fit, among a whole shitload of other groups, deliver their first EP here and it's hard to not get excited in face of this explosive force. These are super-solid, mature and elaborate song assemblies made up of a timeless postcore sound which is also perfectly able to slow things down - like in the doom/sludge-leaning excercise Face Down - without boring you to death. Always always a sign of compositional excellence if you ask me. In recent years, we might've heard similar blasts from bands like Romance, Shove, Ascot Stabber, Flowers of Evil or early Bad Breeding.
Over the course of the past year or two, San Antonio, Texas group Sex Mex have proven to be a reliable bet with their knack for catchy garage-/synth punk and fuzz pop tunes. Their newest batch doesn't disappoint either, delivering a pop goodness highly indebted, among other things, to the more melodic end of the Reatard-related universe, Lost Sounds being the most obvious comparison here but also newer shit á la The Gobs, Witch Piss or Ghoulies wouldn't be too far off.
Another release bearing the Erste Theke seal of quality and indeed this one's a huge step ahead for the Oakland group after a more garage- and synth punk-leaning debut tape in 2019. Now they've transformed into a way more sophisticated post punk sound that comes across as moody yet conspicuously song-oriented and catchy all the same, a quality you might have also noticed in the most recent material by Marbled Eye, whose member(s) are also lending a hand in this new kickass record. Imbued with a psychedelic haze that reminds me a bit of Chairs Missing / 154-era Wire at times, you might just as well compare their elaborate song constructs to a diverse cluster of such contemporary genre cornerstones as Institute, Rank/Xerox, Public Eye, Diät, VR Sex, Bruised, Waste Man or early Paint Thinner.
