Richard Rose are a new band from Los Angeles whose lineup includes members of Ex-Cult, GØGGS, Bad Sports and OBN IIIs - in the small world of garage punk, it doesn't get much more exquisite than this! Their music however doesn't sound all that much like california to me, but rather i'm reminded of high energy australian garage acts like Jackson Reid Briggs & The Heaters, Mini Skirt, Dumb Punts or WOD. Somewhat of an outlier here is Queen Selene, a crawling stoner jam, which is usually not exactly my cup of tea, but for some reason i kinda like this one.
Wet Specimens' current EP - their third already - turns out to be a massive sonic assault made of uncompromising breakneck hardcore punk with traces of post-/dark punk, bearing some similarity to what we've heard in recent years from bands like Acrylics, Policy, Anxiety or Impulso.
Warp hail from San Francisco and have members of - among others - Flesh World and Blank Square among their lineup. Their debut album is already kicking butts in a fully convincing fashion and delivers an adorably excentric sound roughly in the realm of fuzz- & garage punk, hard- & postcore which comes across just as unpolished as it's inventive. The whole thing is somewhat reminiscent of bands like Vexx or Dots, as well as the occasional faint echo of Surfa Rosa-era Pixies. Quality stuff!
Whoa… three years after i first noticed this band from leeds and a quite charming, chaotic early EP of theirs, i honestly didn't expect their debut album to blow my socks off the way it did just now. Instead of the EP's relaxed DIY-Vibes you now find yourself in the middle of a ferocious high speed trip whose rough coordinates hover somewhere between fuzzed out space-, psych- and garage punk. Sure, these Songs won't win any awards for their originality but totally make up for that by developing into a blast so potent and restless it doesn't give you a second to think about such bullshit anyway. I'm reminded of bands like Destruction Unit, Wash, Flat Worms, Draggs or even japanese genre veterans High Rise.
For the austin noise rockers with that distinctive no wave edge, the past three years were marked exclusively by several collaboration projects, resulting in one album, another EP and two 7"s, all of it first rate stuff. Now we get a new "regular" album, although the recordings already date back to the year 2016. Accordingly, these songs sound more like the logical evolution from their last LP Feel The Clamps, released that same year. As always with this band, there's no rush to reinvent themselves. Instead, their sound is evolving gradually and diligent, revealing only a few new facets at a time. Most notable this time is a more minimalist approach to their compositions as well as the increasing use of drum machines and synths. And as always, the results are quite thrilling.
Rarely in recent years has a band of its genre carved out and expanded upon their own niche in such a quick and enduring manner, has become a significant influence on seemingly every cool new garage crew in such a short time span, as everyones favorite corporate entity from Minneapolis. Seeking to expand their customer base, the Minneapolis Uranium Club Band has partnered with a well established brand to bring you their latest piece of merchandise. As we've come to expect of them, it's a thing of beauty and elegance, taking you on an unexpectedly epic journey in two acts and seven minutes that feel - as always - way too short.
Although not exactly brand new stuff, i totally missed this nice Demo by St. Louis, Missouri Band/Project Bigpig. The musical compass clearly points towards garage punk and occasionally a bit of electro-/synth punk. Give it a spin if you appreciate stuff in the vein of Digital Leather, early Erik Nervous, Powerplant, Giorgio Murderer or Booji Boys.
Portland's Nick Normal already made a most welcome splash in the form of a handful of rather Lo-Fi sounding EPs in recent past. Not only has the dude now found a perfect home in between all the other whacky motherfuckers releasing their stuff via Discontinuous Innovation Inc, but we also get to hear his music for the first time in a sonic presentation that takes at least some advantage of the audible range. Otherwise it's business as usual, which in this case means a shitload of off-kilter fun halfway between post- and garage punk. Add to that a hint of new wave and you might be reminded of Andy Human or Erik Nervous, also you might draw some parallels to Ausmuteants or Useless Eaters.
