So this group from Reno, Nev… aw, fuck off! My best guesses are either Leipzig or Berlin with 95% confidence. Probably not wearing cowboy hats either. The music rips though. Ultra-competent garage punk with that certain Useless Eaters, Sauna Youth or Flat Worms flavor and occasional hardcore flourishes.
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This group from Dortmund, Germany plays a distinctly old-fashioned style of rather straightforward, melody-driven post punk, the kind that was in fashion for a short period in the late 2000s/early 2010s, probably embodied in its purest form by The Estranged, slightly less so by Criminal Code and aspects of which have been picked up more recently by groups such as Anxious Living, VR Sex and Ufosekte. Sure, this EP is still pretty basic and, as far as this particular subgenre goes, not the epitome of originality, but then again all the basic elements fall into place just right to form a rock-solid foundation that will hopefully enable the band to expand, explore and elaborate further.
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NJ/NY Label State Champion Records has yet another quite awesome tape for us and this time it's by a group from Helsinki, Finland who deliver a fully realized sound taking cues from so much of what's good in recent years, i don't really know where to start… The EP starts out with propulsive post punk that feels like a fusion of darker sounding groups in the Rank/Xerox or Pigeon vein with artsy post- and garage punk groups like Patti, Lithics, Reality Group, Vintage Crop or Yammerer. The middle two songs then introduce a more relaxed, slightly indie rock leaning vibe á la Gotobeds, Sleepies, Tape/Off or B-Boys, with the closing track Plastic Marine feeling like the perfect symbiosis of both tendencies.
Album-Stream →Content That Makes You Feel Good releases August 13th via Exploding In Sound.
The Sydney group's latest EP seamlessly builds upon the awesomeness of their 2019 debut, setting off a perfect storm of post punk/-core that appears to draw just as much inspiration from the more odd corners of the 80's scene like Saccharine Trust, Really Red or Man Sized Action as it does from the folk- and cowpunk of Angst, with some undeniable Hot Snakes momentum on top.
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No wonder this shit feels familiar. The Wind-Ups is a new solo project of none other than Jake Sprecher of Terry Malts and Smokescreens fame. Much rawer and louder than any of his other groups have dared to sound recently (albeit not quite reaching early Terry Malts levels of speed and fuzzyness), this at times sounds like a fusion of Terry Malts' melodicity with slightly post punk-leaning garage groups like Tyvek or Parquet Courts, while in other moments you can sense a breeze of The Spits, Ricky Hell or anything Reatard(s)-related. Yet when he goes all-in on power pop, there are some undeniable british invasion vibes emanating from his arrangements and compositions.
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Phew… this thing must've been mixed/mastered by a deaf person. I'm pretty much used to all kinds of sonic extremes by now but this must be the first time ever that i can't bear listening to a thing without at least applying some heavy EQ. Maybe the actual cassette release is less painful to listen to though…
Otherwise this thing kicks butt with unerring precision. Don't know how i managed to overlook this so far but somehow stupid me needed another reminder in the form of a (digital only?) reissue on Goodbye Boozy to finally notice its qualities. These texans play some pretty wild and unpredictable amalgamation of post- and garage punk, noise rock and postcore which you might, at different points, compare to groups like Patti, Cutie, Rolex, Mystic Inane or Brandy.
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Another kickass EP by this Philadelphia group. This time they crank up the garage factor considerably while maintaining their taste for oldschool proto-noise rock and -sludge. Think of a curious mix between NY's Cutie and aussie garage groups like Mini Skirt, Pist Idiots on a collision course with old-timey noisemakers of the U-Men, Scientists, X (Sydney, not L.A.) variety plus a slight touch of Mudhoney.
Whoosh! The second EP by Stockholm group Wails holds yet another perfectly solid batch of noise-infused high-octane straightforward garage punk tracks, a sound somewhere inbetween the sonic virtues of powerhouses such as The Cowboy, Sauna Youth, Ex-Cult and True Sons Of Thunder.
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