From the same boutique New York noise manufacture that has brought us, among other things, the vigorous and smart hard-/postcore of Kaleidoscope, we're given another force of nature to deal with. The debut album by Tower 7 sure bears some resemblance to the aforementioned Kaleidoscope but, by also taking more than just a few cues from ancient UK crust tradition, manages to deliver a bunch of blows even more relentless. Their tools of choice are obviously a bit more blunt, though equally effective.
Glen Schenau, otherwise probably best known as the Frontman of Brisbane group Kitchen's Floor, has so far released two EPs of borderline-avant garde art rock, convincing by virtue of its sheer weirdness, marked by dissonant, hyperactive guitar strumming - kinda like an out-of-tune funky alternate reality version of The Wedding Present - complemented by crude pots-and-pans style percussion. On his newest 7", the latter gives way to an actual drum kit as well as a full band sound and as a whole this takes on a slightly less experimental, way more tangible form on the fringes of post punk, noise rock and 90s indie rock while retaining the quirky, inventive qualities of its predecessors. Melkbelly-meets-Live Skull? Nah, not quite… but not too far off either.
A flawless debut EP by a Philadelphia Duo, delivering four precision blows of a quite smart and versatile mixture located somewhere in the contemporary postcore-/noise rock-/post punk neighborhood and reminiscent of such diverse acts as Dasher, Cutie, Donors, Little Ugly Girls, Hit Bargain, Street Eaters, Xetas.
Somewhat unexpectedly on this London band's new 7", their sound takes a strong turn towards early 2010's scandinavian post punk, pretty much in between the uncompromising early Copenhagen school (Lower, Iceage, Echo People…) and way more accessible Acts like Holograms, RA. Also, Australia's Low Life might be a viable comparison. Then, on the B-Side they inject Cure's Grinding Halt with a slight hint of New Order, which also works quite admirably.
After having churned out an excellent Demo and a no less amazing EP in '16/'17, it took a while for Melbourne's Reality Group to come up with their first full length, which makes up for the long wait with a noticeably matured - although, thankfully, in no way or form sanitized - set of tunes. This album is everything you might have have hoped for from this band; a deliciously quirky frankenstein brew made up of garage-, art- and post punk you simply shoudn't miss out on if you have any affinity for shit in the vein of Pinch Points, Uranium Club, Andy Human & The Reptoids, Erik Nervous, Lithics or even earlier Teenanger.
