Silicon Heartbeat – Galaxy Invaders
Silicon Heartbeat 7" releases November 23rd via It's Trash Records.
Brute Spring – Into Ribbons
The Perilous Transformations of Kid Spit releases November 12th.
Ouzo – Balloons
State Of Affairs / Balloons releases December 10th via Polaks Records & Weather Vane Records.
Sweet Knives – House
Spritzerita releases January 14th via FDH Records.
Metdog – Bins At Barkley Square
Certified Lover Dog releases November 13th via Critter Records.
Dr. Sure’s Unusual Practice – How Can Anybody Be Sober These Days?
Remember The Future? Vol. 2 & 1 releases November 5th via Erste Theke Tonträger & Marthouse Records.
Cotton Crown – Wretched Lie
Power pop aficinados might already be familiar with Owen Williams as the singer of The Tubs, who stood out earlier this year with their excellent Names 7". Cotton Crown is the name of his solo recording project whose debut cassingle inhabits much of the same awesomeness but enriches its two oldschool pop tunes with more of a goth and new wave aesthetic adding just the right amount of low-level cheesyness to elevate, rather than water down the material.
Jackson Reid Briggs – Fear/Move
I gotta admit i had some trouble warming up to the last few Jackson Reid Briggs releases, whose production seemed just a bit too-much-of-everything for my taste. On this newest EP however, recorded during a breather between Australia's covid lockdowns with a line-up which, i assume, is different from his usual "Heaters", is just bursting with fresh energy channeled into four of his strongest jams, presented in a much slimmed down, unexpectedly playful fashion.
Album-Stream →Tunic – Quitter
Another Tunic record, another veritable kick in the teeth. After their recent compilation LP Exhaling, collecting their previous singles & EPs, their second "real" album pretty much continues where they left off with those, while only very cautiously expanding their sonic vocabulary. At times this can feel a bit repetitive to the point where you catch yourself wondering: "Haven't i already heard that song just a minute ago?" That's a minor nitpick though. As long as these dudes continue to wield their noisemaking powertools with such determination and raw, overwhelming force, that's more than enough for me.
Album-Stream →Shove – Shove
This melbourne group's debut EP delivers five versatile high-energy blows, shapeshifting their way somewhere around the fringes of the extended hard-/post-/noisecore multiverse, their relentless yet sophisticated attack calling to mind the likes of Dollhouse, Cement Shoes or Vexx.
Album-Stream →The Cowboy – Riddles From The Universe
Cleveland punks The Cowboy have yet to release a record that doesn't totally rip and their third LP won't dissapoint either with their sound feeling perfectly worn in and at this point, i'd say they've established their very own, instantly recognizable micro-niche on the intersection of propulsive garage punk and abrasive noise rock while still breaking things up enough to keep shit interesting.
Album-Stream →White Stains – 2021
Blood On The Beach releases Novmber 5th via Neon Taste Records.
Bambara – Mythic Love
Love On My Mind releases February 25th via Wharf Cat Records.
Gewalt – Es Funktioniert
Paradies releases November 5th.
Remember last year?
Um… so there's a new Escape-ism record out and the situation around last year's awkward self-cancellation of Ian Svenonius is still murky as fuck.
Quick refresher: Last year, around the time when it became known that the California garage label and record store Burger Records had been a hotbed for sexual predators and creeps for years at that point, reiginiting the discussion around sexism and predatory behavior in the punk scene (also leading Burger Records to cease operations soon after), Washington D.C. scene legend Ian Svenonius (of Nation of Ulysses, The Make-Up, Weird War, Chain and the Gang, Escape-Ism, XYZ…) did a weird kind of self-cancellation post on instagram, admitting to predatory or at least very creepy behavior towards women in the past and apologizing for it, then deleting the whole thing soon after.
The reactions were varied. Merge Records seem to have gained some deeper knowledge about the accusations and deemed them severe enough to sever ties with Ian Svenonius.
Dischord Records, on the other hand, who should also know a thing or two, are still working with him, keeping his old records in print and in-stock. The new Escape-ism record, while not a Dischord release, is being sold via the Dischord Records website right now. No clue how to interpret that coming from a label that has been so well known for their strong ethics in the past.
I'm just gonna say, the whole situation stinks. It's been over a year and we know pretty much nothing about what was happening around Ian Svenonius. As a fan, music blogger, webcaster, i am especially conflicted. What kind of person am i supporting if i buy his records? Can i still justify posting his stuff? Should i remove all of his music from 12XU Radio?
At first, i really wanted to give Ian Svenonius the benefit of the doubt. It seemed like he was actually feeling remorse for his actions (their severity still being unknown) and some dude actually apologizing, being honest about it and willing to work through his shit would have actually felt kinda refreshing at that point.
Instead, it looks to me like the punk scene has collectively agreed to shove the whole thing under the rug, not demand any answers and move on as if nothing actually ever happened. Once again, everyone gets the silence treatment. I think that's the worst possible way to go about this. This. Sucks. So. Much.