The trajectory Brooklyn punks Shop Talk have taken over the years has certainly been among the less likely ones, having first come to my attention with their self-titled 2016 debut mini-LP, still featuring what i’d describe as a more leaned-back garage punk style very much of its time, somewhere inbetween equal parts Gun Club and contemporary acts of the time like Woolen Men and Eddy Current Suppression Ring. After that, it took them like seven years before their next release, 2023’s incredible The Offering EP which saw both a thorough overhaul and significant maturation of their sound defined by catchy-ass ’77-ish hooks rarely heard in such a rousing manner since the glory years of Dickies, Buzzcocks and Adverts, which would already be more than enough for them to perfectly stand out from the pack but it’s actually only half of their appeal here and wouldn’t be complete without the equally melodic, elaborate guitar work of front man Jon Garcia and his vicious yet soul- and tuneful singing. A winning formula to which they’ve stuck ever since and now their second or first longplayer, depending on how you count, feels like the logical culmination of all those years of infectious songcraft, half of it consisting of new material and the other half of kickass new recordings of some of their greatest hits so far, stretching back as far as their aforementioned debut record. The result sounds like a million bucks and as far as straightforward but elegant punk rock with a clear vision goes, i doubt you’ll get to hear much better this year. An instant classic if i ever heard one.
Here’s yet another delicious treat of oldschool, occasionally 77-ish garage punk goodnes of the highly addictive, catchy-as-hell variety, unleashed on the 5th EP already by a group from Long Beach, California. On this one, they’re considerably roughin’ up their sound and it fits their new songs really well, neat little accomplishments on their own by not being overly reliant on the basic magic of its decades-old main ingredients, instead reinforcing the old-fashioned tunes and stuctures with a good deal of rock-solid songwriting substance to rest on.
This new tape by London group Botox does absolutely nothing new but what it does, it gets absolutely right, distilling a strong and primitive concoction out of ’77-, KBD- and garage punk that’s like 35% fuzz and 45% attitude with the remaining 20% consisting of a thin remnant layer of tried-and-tested oldschool punk tropes and formulas that do their job just fine here in what must be one of the most frugally effective blasts of minimalist punk i’ve heard in a while.
A lovely and fun debut by some Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania group. The instrumental opening tune Liftoff Jam (White Boys in E) swells into a monotonous monster of psychedelic haze that sounds a bit as if MX-80 and Chrome were being fused with early The Men, only for the rest of the EP to settle into a slightly less cumbersome aesthetic of straightforward, somewhat Stooges-esque garage punk that occasionally approaches some hardcore speeds and energy levels and keeps setting itself apart by way of its subtle psychedelic overtones and a constant melodic undercurrent flowing through their catchy, oldschool garage- and proto punk stylings.
Admittedly, the debut LP of this Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania group is a bit of a cheat, as the first five songs are just their 2023 demo verbatim but then again, it’s kinda nice to have that shit given a proper release at last and the added new tracks are every bit as good! The opening track Nothing Left comes right out of the gate with a distinct proto- and first-wave US punk vibe calling to mind Stooges, Dead Boys and a bit of Gun Club. Televised Violence then almost feels as if Radio Birdman and Saints got fused with Hot Snakes and some of the more eccentric early eighties hardcore acts like Really Red and Saccharine Trust. All the way through, you also can’t deny an oldschool garage-ish vibe right inbetween Pagans and Dead Moon, as well as an equal measure of early west coast hardcore energy, in conjunction with some unfailing songwriting chops being distilled into a strong, explosive cocktail of primal punk rock excellence.
Another nice catch took the bait and triggered the hyper-vigilant sensors at Cincinnati, Ohio garage punk stronghold Feel It Records. This Minneapolis group shares members with Green/Blue, Citric Dummies and a whole bunch more and emits some rock-sold, ultra-catchy ’77 vibes on their debut LP, sorta bridging the gap between the US and UK scenes, combining all the best traits of, say, Dickies, Dead Boys and Adverts or, if you need more recent references, also bears some similarities to the likes of Shop Talk, The Celebrities, Tommy and the Commies, Sick Thoughts, Bad Sports and Tropicana.
Two outstanding releases rolled in this week dabbling in unapologetically oldschool aesthetics, both prevailing in their own way by fairly different means. No Brains from Utrecht, Netherlands present an uncompromisingly straightforward blend of timeless garage punk and early eighties, somewhat hardcore- and KBD-adjacent noises. I give this shit 0/10 stars for originality and 20/10 stars for sheer unrelenting force. That averages out to an actual 10/10 record, mind you. You think otherwise? That’s ‘cos you suck at math dude, deal with it. Also plenty of garage action, although with more of a ’77 and power pop vibe, is what we get on a brand new EP by California group The Celebrities via US garage punk bulwark Total Punk. A bit more relaxed tempo-wise but these are perfectly fun and catchy little tunes with some pronounced Dead Boys-meet-Dickies energy goin’ on here, making for an exquisite sugar rush of an admittedly, at times, kinda cheesy quality which thankfully always gets countered by way an expertly crafted wall of fuzz. I give it a 11/10 for all the glitz, glamour and star power. Maths man, nothing we can do about it.
The follow-up to last year’s sensational debut tape AN/AL by new york garage punk wizard Jean Mignon somewhat dials down the stylistic variety factor but absolutely makes up for it by considerably upping the average energy level of his straightforward punk smashers, propelled forward by an unstoppable, combustive drive with more than just a little undercurrent of proto punk in general and the ’74-’77 New York scene in particular.
I think this is the same band i’ve been yapping about many moons ago.. Their 2016 EP appears to have been completely wiped from the face of the earth and the web though, which is a fucking shame really ‘cos this was good stuff already. But admittedly, this shit is so much better… Melodic punk and garage vibes rule supreme here with more than a little hint of Dickies and some distinct ’77 and power pop flavors that would already make for a perfectly solid EP. What propells this one from good to plain out-of-the-ballpark spectacular though are the advanced songwriting chops on display here, running circles around 99% of all other current punk groups playing simple, straightforward pop tunes. This is truly transcendent, next-level shit, i mean it!
Garage Punk with a weird thematic fixation on mopeds and buttholes by some New York dude which sounds a lot like his city ca. ’73-’77, inhabiting a sonic space somewhere inbetween the proto- and early punk of the NY Dolls, Modern Lovers and Dead Boys, with further echoes of the wider early US scene á la Pagans, Black Randy and the Metrosquad on the more relaxed side of things as well some serious early australian Saints- and Birdman energy in its wilder moments.
