Promising and fun shit, this first digital single by some San Francisco group. Post-/art punk of the particularly quirky, playful kind that admirers of bands like Patti, Rolex, Reality Group or Emergency Contact will surely appreciate.
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.
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.
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Following two strong demo tapes and the flawless ripper that was last year's debut album via Emotional Response Records, Oakland's Neutrals already have another EP out on which they seemlessly resume their remarkable winning spree. No other band right now so effortlessly nails this specific subgenre of endlessly charming, qirky heart-on-its-sleeve style DIY post-/art punk surely inspired by the likes of Television Personalities, early Mekons or Desperate Bicycles, while still seeming firmly rooted in this day and age.
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Two preview tracks from this (probably) british band's debut EP already made me kinda hungry for more of their shit and now the record's other two songs prove we haven't been promised too much. A soundscape of restless garage punk unfolds, transporting a feeling of widescreen spaciousness you rarely get to witness in this genre - somewhat as if recent Uranium Club met Radio Birdman and Modern Lovers, complemented by a bit of MX-80 weirdness. Also, the epic closer Seasons 13-31 seems to have taken some cues from Wipers' Youth Of America.
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Although other british bands of their genre enjoyed much more media attention than london art-/post punks Italia 90 have in recent years, few other bands, in my humble opinion, embody so much of the soul and rebellious no-bullshit DIY attitude of the scene, a bitter and emotional indictment of a society collectively shrugging off its own guilty conscience. It's about time this Band gets noticed a lot more. On their third EP -just like on its predecessors - i hear strong echoes of old post punk greats: Crisis, Membranes, Swell Maps and early Mekons for example. Simultaneously Italia 90 keep expanding on their sonic spectrum. Usually when punks go slow, this tends to result in a horrible trainwreck. But surprisingly, the slowest, most subdued moments are the clear highlights of this record. In Open Veins, the gentle performance collides with the disillusioned and angry charges delivered by its lyrics. This combination reminds me a bit of recent Protomartyr, while the closing track Against The Wall has a subtle psychedelic note in common with Wire's Chairs Missing album.
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