Gus Baldwin and The Sketch
The Sketch releases January 17th via Permanent Teeth Records.
Delivery – Digging The Hole
Force Majeure releases January 17th via Heavenly Recordings.
I begrudgingly give in to bluesky…
Oohkay... a (not so) quick rant and announcement. Since the death of corporate social media is taking longer than expected and the ActivityPub-powered fediverse (Mastodon, Akkoma, etc...) seems to feel too complicated (it isn't!) too anti-viral (that's a good thing) for many people and whatever other excuse you folks have for not showing up there, i'm reluctantly dipping my toes into Bluesky, although i have many reservations regarding that company so here's a quick breakdown of these:
(more…)The VanCooths – A Sunny Day With Clouds
This long-running, slow-moving dutch group, which i've previously been blissfully ignoring, catapults itself all the more impressively onto my radar with their third and hands down most accomplished LP so far which pours some top-notch songwriting abilities into a quite adaptable sonic pastiche oscillating between oldschool, sometimes psych-leaning garage- and fuzz punk, buzzsaw noise- and power pop as well as a couple of pulsing electro punk bursts. Exactly twice they stumble in my view though, by veering too heavily into kinda sugary oh-so-fucking-twee ASMR territory but hey, ten out of 12 Songs is still quite a good hit ratio and in some of the best moments, they strike me as an alternate reality garage-y version of eighties Fastbacks.
Album-Stream →Midgee & Electric Prawns 2 – Split
New shit by Midgee? Awesome, i'll have two. Wait what, it also has new tunes by Electric Prawns 2? Just shut up and take my money! Melbourne's Midgee once again prove to be a safe bet for fans of quirky synth-/garage-/eggpunk goodness in the vein of Prison Affair, Nuts, Set-Top Box or Beer. Quite a bit more ambitious and varied then are the four tunes by Moffat Beach garage sensation Electric Prawns 2, although on this one they mostly act on the sunnier side of their musical spectrum in a set of compact and catchy-as-hell smashers that exhibit many of the virtues of recent Billiam or Alien Nosejob.
Album-Stream →Piss Wizard – Piss Wizard 4
The fourth EP of Melbourne's Piss Wizard combines their least crappy production values so far with their strongest set of tunes to date in their trademark rough-as-fuck mixture of garage-flavored fuzz- and hardcore punk imbued with plenty of surf twang, rockabilly leads and noise-infested texture. That shit feels sickly, smelly, perverted and contagious in the best possible way!
Album-Stream →Knee – Knee
The Debut EP of this Brisbane group delights with four energetic blasts of no-frills garage punk/-core, a hint of death rock in the opening- and closing tracks, some distinct proto punk feel and constant flourishes of sleazy '70s and '80s cock rock - a somewhat unreal sounding mix that reminds me a lot of groups like Cement Shoes, Golden Pelicans, Tarantüla, Flea Collar, Polute and the early days of Electric Chair.
Album-Stream →The Idgets – Demo’d
Quality shit from a Salt Lake City, Utah group on their second tape. Fuzzed-out Lo-Fi hardcore punk whose rough parameters feel kinda predestined for a cassette release on Impotent Fetus or Deluxe Bias, having as much of an oldschool west coast tendency to it as a rough and shambolic KBD vibe, a bit of a Flipper and Broken Talent-style eccentricity and further similarities to more recent groups ranging from the more garage-leaning Launcher, Liquid Assets and Freakees to hardcore artifacts by the likes of Insane Urge, Youth Regiment, Motor Corp und Tupperware.
Album-Stream →Chimers – 3AM
Through Today releases November 8th via Poison City Records.
Kool-Aid – Small Talk
Straight-Up releases November 1st via Flippin' Freaks.
Psychbike – Living In A Shadow
Psychbike releases November 15th via Tetryon Tapes.
Heavy Lungs – Get Out
Caviar releases April 18th via Fat Cat Records.
Second Death – Sycophant
Second Death releases November 15th via La Vida Es Un Mus Discos.
Verspannungskassette #83 (C-90)
Tracklist
Munchkin Head Bimbo
The Caries Company Amor Prohibido
Dick Hick On The Internet (How Did You Know I’m A Neet)
Завірюга Ai, Fuck You
Temporary Curse Not Good Vibes Guy
Oh Telephone Feed Me
T.T.T.T. Mountain King Killed My Car
Outside View Freedom
Midgee I Hope You Get Injured
Krise feat. Sucker Midlife Crisis
Crackups Sgt. Haze
Coffer Cups
Tripe Chip 4 Brains
The Antics Stuck
Gold Cup Honey Boy
The Dumpies Hot Wash
Brass Lip Domestic Splendour
The Losers Working Woman
No Wrong Bottle Opener
Minds Controlled Wasted Life
S.H.I.T. Rotten Column
Faze Cloud 9
Bleaks The Mess
Centipede Turn Around And Die
Pied-de-Biche Cercueil
Conifère IV - Décombres Fumants
Tracklist
The Lipschitz Interestingly
Faux Départ Si tu disparais
Why Bother? Out of Tune
Strange Visitors Death Masque
Human Pyramid Time Skips
Jealous Yellow Baker's Dozen
Data Animal Crime Or Bust
Black & White Cat / Black & White Cake Slipping Away
Coded Marking Amnesty
Glas Nost Gun Haver
Medium Peeking Through The Blinds
Corker Dependency
Metro Amor
Snooper Relay
Lower Slaughter All The Day Long
Cyber Twin I Feel Awful
Stiff Richards GFC
Street Sweeper Don't Wait
1-800-Mikey Digital Pet
Sex Mex Too Young
The Dumpies – Gay Boredom
Astoria, Oregon group The Dumpies have been around for a bit already and have been a thoroughly lovable force ever since, yet their recent split EP with Night Court (of which most songs are also included here) signaled a huge leap forward in terms of energy, stylistic diversity and songwriting potency - a promise they certainly make good on with this incredible new LP, cycling through endless iterations of power pop-infused (garage-)punk, melancholy indie rockers and also numerous attacks of straight-up hardcore punk in a single impressive burst of uncontainable creativity, crude humor and eccentricity. There's not a trace of filler to be found on this record. Every song hits home without fail.
Album-Stream →