More of that real belgian punk that's totally not actually made by any dudes from Montreal or New York, pinky promise! Musically, this is their most mature, well-rounded effort to date, blending them undeniable eighties euro punk influences they like to wear on their sleeves with equal parts of Oi!, Post Punk, slight traces Death Rock of that same era. Of more recent phenomena, the best comparison i can come up with is a more primitive and melodic variant of US post punk cornerstone Institute of whom, i've heard, some dude is also totally not involved here.
This second EP by an Austin group consisting of, quite possibly, fully imaginary members save for some lone dude in his bedroom, hits all the right pain- and pleasure points of the nervous system with three burning dumpsters worth of primitive and raw-as-fuck three-chord garage- and fuzz punk behaving just about demented enough to please demanding connoisseurs of other stupid fucking shit á la Buck Biloxi, ISIS or Giorgio Murderer. Love it.
Don't let the kinda standard surf rock intro fool you 'cos what it leads into is actually a lot more exciting: Two effortlessly shredding garage punk tunes with a bit of a '77 vibe to them, filled with catchy hooks on the inside and projecting sparkling melodic textures outward, all in all reminding me a bit of early Vaguess or that kickass Wild Rose demo from 2017.
I liked what i heard earlier this year on a neat split EP this Providence, Rhode Island duo (?) did with, well... themselves mostly, under the Cindy alias. This new two-track single has more of that same goodness, opening with a perfectly competent Nerves cover and concluding with an original tune carrying some catchy vibes not entirely dissimilar to the likes of R.M.F.C., Billiam, Gonk, Shrudd, Music for Microwaves or Liquid Lunch.
Although i still haven't dared yet to venture deeper into the kinda intimidating back catalog of Totowa, New Jersey act Monda, they have already made a lasting impression as a shapeshifting, restless creative force in constant flux over the course of this year. While this spring's Stiff Jumbo spazzed out gloriously and let its freak flag fly in short bursts of melodic noise and then, sumer's VIII saw them calm down and relax a bit, for large portions of their newest LP's I'd now say they're spacing out and i mean that in the most flattering sense. This is a fuzzy bundle of DIY space-/acid punk eccentricities that just can't hide the creative drive, human warmth, sense of wonder and curiosity behind its, admittedly, pretty fucking stoned appearance, on one hand reminding me a bit of groups like recent Mononegatives, late-era Useless Eaters, Pow! and some of the more motorik minded incarnations of The(e) O(h)Sees while other songs like I Alwys Have It Till I Need It, Chronic Embarrassment and Creek Time inhabit those same anthemic oldschool indie rock and fuzz punk qualities that made the aforementioned records so special.
Where the average group in the 12XU-related spectrum tends to become ever more elaborate until the point where they start to suck (well, if they make it that long...), Seattle group The Unfit seem to go the opposite route, becoming more stripped down and primitive until they're probably gonna suck at some point as well. Presently, they're far from having reached that stage though and this shit works out marvelously even if - or maybe just because - more than once, their fuzzy garage- and post punk tunes get boiled down to sort of a Feedtime-esque level of monotonous repetition and simplicity.
This Minneapolis group runs an interesting gamut on their newest EP ranging from the punchy fuzz punk attack of Like A Dream? over the math- and noise rock infused post punk of Yeehaw! to the comparatively straightforward garage punk of Saved, while the closing track 5678 branches out into some kind of a hazy space rock jam. At different points i'm reminded of groups as diverse as early Rolex, Cutie, Shark Toys, Reality Group, The Cowboy and Big Bopper.
Shady Lady and the Malefactor Schwein on a mission Spam Pelomuerte Abscam Megafone Bart and the Brats Hardest things in the world Fishfly Mothman Dick Hick Lock me up Body World Eyes Of The State Goblin Soap Goblin Offensive Piss Wizard Organic Mechanic Witch Piss Brighton Front Lackey Drunk Tank
The Idgets The Punkest Song Dick Hick Scary axe man Clean Needle Human Condition Ignorance Echo Chamber Paprika Supply Chain Wallet Speed Plans Lifestyle Voltage Liar Memory Strings Static Delta 8 TK's House Dream World Inside
Tracklist
.cum Magic 8 Ball Midgee (Somebody) Shot Me The Vancooths Past Is Gone Night Court My Last Acid Trip Street Sweeper My World At Night Polyglots A Cleansing Cure Steröid After Dawn Meow Meow And The Smackouts Numbers Gonk One and the Same
Knee Damage Electric Prawns 2 Portaloo Online Friends & Misha Hivemind Threshold Snarling Dogs Televised Violence Psychbike Living in a Shadow Zulo Extraña condición Strangelight Gratitude Practice Straw Man Army Staring At The Sun
