Pretty fucking amazing shit, the second long player of this group from Tournai, Belgium. Right out of the gate i'm reminded of so much good stuff both ancient and contemporary on the intersection of art-, post- and garage punk, rounded out by a distinctly dissonant no wave-ish, noise rock-y edge. Sometimes they sound a bit like as if the americana-infused post punk of Angst were to collide with the simplistic beat of Man Sized Action and a good measure of early The Fall strumminess. Other moments, i imagine to hear echos of Membranes, Gordons or Swell Maps, while you might just as well draw comparisons to more recent acts such as Honey Radar, Toe Ring, Lithics, Germ House, Shark Toys and Subtle Turnhips.
Now what kind of black death is this shit supposed to be again? The Bandcamp-bred dungeon punk (micro-)genre rarely fails to amaze when its over-the-top absurdity collides with such top-notch performances and quality songcraft repeatedly. What kinda starts out like an oldschool black metal-infused bastardization of Chubby and the Gang and early Sheer Mag subsequently throws quite a bit of (neo-?)folk punk RNA into the mix, dares to build up kinda elaborate and flexible song structures while never neglecting its pop qualities, making for a both dread- and joy-inducing soundtrack for a doomed humanity on its way towards the new post-apocalyptic dark ages.
Another release by Kalamazoo, Michigan garage punk luminary Erik Nervous is always a rusty bucket full of of pure joy to behold. Largely delivered with a borderline-hardcore energy level (halfass my ass!), this EP is without question among his most direct, compact and streamlined batches of tight-ass smashers to date. Oh, and what would an Erik Nervous release be without the promise of a yet-to-be-recorded vaporware song that might or might not crop up at some point?
Four-and-a-half fun litte strumming excercises of the heavily proto punk inspired kind, done by a dude who also happens to be a member of Toe Ring. Sounds a bit like a mix of Peace De Resistance, Woolen Men and Honey Radar with a hint of Modern Lovers on top.
Quality shit from Phantom Records once again. The culprits, this time, are yet another Berlin group playing a breed of post punk (really, who'd have guessed.…) which proudly wears its origins on its sleeves yet manages to put an inventive and playful spin on every single track. Funky but thankfully not too polished, there's also a prominent surf rock vibe at play here ricocheting through their arrangements like a steel rod willfully thrown into the spokes, always making for some delightful stunts and maneuvers. Sometimes we also get a touch of rockabilly as put through a Gun Club-meet-The Fall meatgrinder. My personal fave here is a little banger called Angerman which perfectly applies the carrot-and-stick approach in its juxtaposition of dissonant noise and melodicism.
