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.
I haven't got the slightest clue where these folks hail from and also how this EP, having been released a year ago apparently, could go unnoticed for so long. 'Cos this certainly ain't your typical average boring post punk record. Their sound of equal parts post punk and -core equipped with some excellent garage propulsion kinda bridges the gaps between a wide range of stuff of early Protomartyr or Constant Mongrel caliber on the Post Punk side of things, more garage-leaning acts in the Tyvek, Parquet Courts or Gotobeds vein, plenty of Hot Snakes-/Drive Like Jehu-esque postcore vibes and even the occasional hint of Mission Of Burma or Moving Targets can be found in there.
Canadian garage dude TJ Cabot's output only grows stronger with each new release and this one ain't no exception in once again hitting every single nail on the head, hammering home a catchy-as-fuck mix of power pop and garage punk that doesn't need to shy away from comparisons to greats such as The Marked Men, Erik Nervous, Tommy & The Commies, Andy Human & The Reptoids, Liquids, Bad Sports or Nick Normal.
The full length debut of this London group is a perfect storm of delightfully off-the-rails hard- and postcore, often permeated with unexpectedly melodic subcurrents and at first glance kinda playing out like a middle ground between weirdcore powerhouse Warm Bodies and fellow someone-and-the-somethings group Judy and the Jerks… but theres more than just that going on here with moments reminiscent of an eclectic cluster of ambitious hardcore groups á la Acrylics, Crisis Man, Murderer, Kaleidoscope or Straw Man Army.
The debut cassingle (?) of this Seattle group delivers a way too short yet altogether exciting synth- and garage punk freakout, the A-side HTCM in Block City bursting with an energy not too distant from acts like Liquid Face, Klint, Mononegatives, Ghoulies or Slimex. As for the B-Side Jerk Squad… Is krautwave an actual genre? 'Cos that's exactly what i'd describe this stuff as.
Now this is a kickass, impressively confident longplaying debut assembled by some dude from Brasília, Brazil out of only the finest bits and pieces contemporary DIY garage punk has to offer with acts like Andy Human and the Reptoids, Erik Nervous, Spodee Boy, Nick Normal or Belly Jelly particularly coming to mind, spiced up with occasional outbursts of Skull Cult-esque pandemonium. Even some psychedelic vibes á la Mononegatives, Osees or Pow! get mixed in, culminating in the monolithic acid punk one-two punch of Dddelirium and Plague V.
Don't expect too many surprises from the newest Vintage Crop LP but expect plenty of goodness nonetheless, following that certain garage punk formula the Melbourne group certainly did their part to establish in tandem with fellow acts such as Pinch Points, Dumb, Uranium Club and Aborted Tortoise, of which they deliver a slightly more straightforward and catchy variant here, also containing some occational traces of stuff like Patti, Parquet Courts or Institute. The two standouts here are the slower jams Impact of Wisdom and The Bloody War in which their songwriting qualities really get to shine, the latter one also carrying a melancholy, distinctly wire-esque vibe.
From some uncertain place in Bavaria, Germany comes this beauty of an EP meddling in a fittingly nebulous, fuzz-laden genre spectrum between garage- and acid punk, psych- and space rock. A required listen for, among others, connoisseurs of noise in the vein of Destruction Unit, Osees, Super-X, Hamer, Ounce, Faux Ferocious or Draggs.
