What Evil Eye from Charlotte, North Carolina pull off on their debut cassette is easy to describe on the surface as a straightforward strain of Garage Punk combining '77-ish energy and catchyness with a KBD-like rawness and tons of Dead Boys- and Wipers-level Hooks, though as old as it all sounds on paper, as fresh and alive it all feels in practice and it's all thanks to some top-notch oldschool songcraft at its core and an adequately rough and propulsive performance to make the tunes stick.
Cincinnati, Ohio dudes Smarm are making a thoroughly promising impresson here on their debut EP sporting a completely unpretentious garage punk sound with a neat '77- and proto punk edge that clearly pays tribute to some local punk heritage with plenty of a timeless Dead Boys energy to these tunes, excelling in a simple but perfectly balanced kind of songcraft that also perfectly nails it in terms of infectious hooks and a determined, straightforward no-bullshit performance.
Yet another excellent burst of quite 77-ish garage mayhem then is the the new Demo of 700 Club from Athens, Georgia whose three songs are captured in a way rougher sonic guise here compared to the relatively Hi-Fi production values of that Smarm record and a bit more of a Saints or Wipers bent to their songs, even crossing over into hardcore territory a bit in the closing tune No Cash and all throughout there's also an actually quite contemporary-feeling infusion of Lumpy & The Dumpers or Fried E/m-like chaos goin' on.
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.
