A new dungeon punk artifact from Karlsruhe, Germany. In contrast to the bulk of this young micro-genre's acts, Thee Khai Aehm don't incorporate a whole lot of oldschool metal influences, rather approaching the musty dungeon aesthetic from a distinct psych-/acid rock angle, kinda like a mix between classic Oh Sees, Strange Attractor and… Salamirecorder, maybe? Always playful, mostly weird, sometimes epic and presented with a muddy, dusty production aesthetic as if these songs haven't been exposed to daylight and oxygen for centuries.
Awesome synth-/ electro punk shit from Berlin that kinda plays out like a curious mix of Pisse, Puff! or the most recent, electro-heavy Schiach EP. Further you might draw comparisons to Spyroids, Heavy Metal as well as old synth punk staples á la Screamers, Nervous Gender. Klickfarm in particular might have taken some cues from the Visitors' classic ripper Electric Heat as well.
The most unexpected gem of this week comes from a Paris group and apparently has already been recorded in 2018. This is a puzzling and overwhelming burst of chaotic noise crudely wedged inbetween the edges of garage punk, KBD-style oddities and the weirder fringes of early 80s hardcore punk. The opener VVV evokes a vibe kinda like a mix between fellow frenchmen Subtle Turnhips and US hardcore oddballs Landowner while Moose Lodge conjures up the legacy of, among others, proto noise rockers of the Flipper, Broken Talent or Fungus Brains caliber. City Blocks unites the qualities of Bad Brains and MC5 in a neat little package. Other times, they evoke The Mentally Ill or kinda bridge the gap between Neos and Neo Neos while numerous more recent groups á la Total Sham, Liquid Assets, Launcher, Crisis Man, Freakees or Liposuction aren't too far off either at one point or another. This shit is as unique as it's primitive and mostly unpredictable, more than once defying any attempt at categorization.
Another primitive blast of no-bulllshit hardcore-infused garage punk by a group kinda predestined to get released on Total Punk Records, conjuring up only the most primal and chaotic tendencies of acts like Crisis Man, Liquid Assets, Launcher, Mystic Inane, Fried Egg… and maybe a slight hint of The Mentally Ill on top?
Excellent shit via Turbodiscos. Leipzig/Berlin group Exwhite shouldn't need an introduction at this point, having blasted a respectable hole in the floor with their recent Estray EP. Their side to this kickass little EP won't disappoint either as they deliver two comparatively straight-ahead, no-frills garage punk smashers. No less exciting are the tracks by Olympia, Washington synth-/garage punk act The Gobs who've already been making waves with a whole shitload of blown-out lo-fi demo releases. Here we get to witness them in something approaching proper mid-fi quality for the first time. Sounds fucking awesome too, who would've thought?
New shit by the world's only viking synth punk project… and we've got another winner! The title track just sucks you right in with a throbbing beat not unlike to the recent Dance single, spiked with a hint of ancient eurotrash cheesiness. With Go Ahead we then get an effective straight-up no-frills punk smasher, while the oddly placed/titled Instrumental Interlude feels like fun hommage to classic chiptunes that will also mesh well with the ongoing dungeon synth/-punk wave.
Kickass mechanical post punk from Cleveland, Ohio. From the very first notes it doesn't take much of a genius to figure the obvious involvement of Knowso members and it appears there are also connections to Cruelster, among others. While Knowso stay the most obvious comparison here, there's also a slight semblance of Atlanta rippers Nag and Predator. At other times the're branching out into a Wire-esqe vibe as in Cut Ups while The Old Way bears some similarity to the bad-trip cowpunk of Murderer.
The Minneapolis group's debut EP last year was altogether excellent stuff already, yet on their most recent output they still up their game considerably - some added punch owing to a modest increase in production values perfectly matches up to a substantially cranked-up energy level on the group's part, showcasing their quirky and playful style of garage- and synth punk from their best side yet. Don't miss out on this if shit á la Patti, Reality Group, Research Reactor Corp., Satanic Togas, Erik Nervous, Ausmuteants, Liquids or Spodee Boy means anything to you!
Reliable quality shit from the Berlin post punk scene, once again featuring some of the usual suspects known from groups such as Useless Eaters, Idiota Civlizzatto, Clock Of Time, Exit Group… and boy does it sound like it, especially with regards to the latter two bands, striking a sleepwalking balance between classic death rock flourishes, tight-ass grooves and noisy textures. Though not exactly pushing the boundaries of the worn-in, distinctive Berlin sound, they nonetheless manage to stray just far enough from their sonic comfort zones to keep things fresh and interesting while even in their most conventional moments, their vigorous thrust never fails to electrify.
As coincidence would have it, here's yet another group of somewhat fuzzy whereabouts although the available evidence generally points toward Pennsylvania this time. On their most recent full-length effort, a warbly blown-out lo-fi acoustic intro gives way to a knockout punch of a post punk blast that sounds a bit as if the hallucinogenic haze of groups á la Piles or Die! Die! Die! entered the pitch black worlds of Nag. Other times we get somewhat more conventional yet nonetheless ass-kicking flashes of oldschool doom- and sludge-leaning AmRep-style noise rock colliding with the spaced out acid punk excess of, say, Destruction Unit, Hamer or Super-X.
