A whole barrage of digital singles in recent weeks already appeared to foreshadow a new record by the London, Ontario group and indeed here it is, their second LP in all its glory, carrying an excellent new batch of their quite distinct, catchy as hell, always slightly off-kilter and quirky genre mixture containing elements of garage-, post- and synth punk, space- and psychedelic rock. You might compare some bits and pieces here to such groups as Pow!, Useless Eaters and of course the recent collaboration Telegenic Pleasures which also features some of the band members at work here - at this point though, i'd say they're pretty much carved out their own, instantly recognizable little niche.
It took a good while for this group's debut LP to finally materialize after the the label Chunklet Industries already promised this longplayer around the release of the Birds Of Juneau 7" in the summer of 2021… I suspect you can once again blame the challenges of the current vinyl economy for that. It's another strong record though, on which the group featuring members of such powerhouses as Spray Paint, Wilful Boys, Brandy, Pampers and Pyrex admirably manages to keep things exciting with quite a bit of eclectic variety. For example, we get a kind of Swell Maps-go-Synthwave vibes in HoloLens, a strong dub feel in Mallman, kinda like a sped-up variant of Exek. That all said, you can't really deny their sound obviously having inherited the largest chunk of its DNA from Spray Paint, especially their later work (although, speaking of DNA, a certain no wave vibe is ever present on here aswell). Further i've also got a suspicion though that there'll be some quite familiar sounding echoes of this record to be heard on the upcoming Pyrex LP on Total Punk!
Coming off a series of neat EPs last year, Marmora, New Jersey garage group or, probably, solo artist Die TV returns with a new album presenting their tunes in an even more stripped-down, low-key manner at first glance, yet underneath the unassuming surface unfolds a spectacular fireworks of DIY creativity. While at some points you may still find the occasional speck of Spits or Stalins of Sound in there, Die TV's strummy, jangly blend of garage- and post punk with sprinkles of psychedelia comes into even sharper focus here, the minimalist production providing plenty of breathing room for the melancholy, sparkling guitar arrangements with more than a little hint of Desperate Bicycles in some places, Power Plant or Freak Genes in others, even a touch of Digital Leather in the muted pop vibes of Goner. Don't let first impressions fool you, this is quite potent and awesome shit from start to finish!
A sonic experience wonderfully out of touch with the zeitgeist, crafted by some Bellingham, Washington group. Prime influence here seems to be a whole battery of early-to-mid eighties, loosely SST and Touch & Go-connected stuff - on the more strummy, folk-infused side of things admittedly, but never afraid of spontaneously morphing into short bursts of hardcore punk either. Most obvious amoung those influences would probably be shit among the lines of Angst and Meat Puppets, early Dinosaur Jr. and, secondarily, U-Men, Mudhoney and 80s Scientists, some very slight hints of Dicks and Wipers. Or alternately, you might think of more recent Acts like early Milk Music, Dharma Dogs, Chronophage and Damak.
Apparently, formerly New Orleans-based group Waste Man have relocated to New York City recently. Sound-wise though, they stay true to themselves on their newest EP, by which i mean they stay unpredictable as ever and keep the listeners on their toes every second in their very own mixture on the intersection of Post Punk, Postcore and slight touches of Americana (the latter are less obvious here though…). Especially notable this time is the six-minute slow-burn track White Horse that plays out kinda like a fusion of early Shellac, Slint, Jawbox & Fugazi.
This group from Portarlington, Australia creates a droning, sprawling and nonetheless absolutely ripping soundscape that combines the traits of such timeless greats as Wipers, 80s Sonic Youth, U-Men or Live Skull, just as much as a fuzzy clump of AUS and NZ groups like The Gordons, Fungus Brains, X and Feedtime.
New shit from Nick Vicario aka Smirk, also known as part of such potent punk powerhouses as Public Eye, Crisis Man und Cemento. His second LP carries more of his eclectic post- and garage punk extravaganza sourced out of a generous grab bag of punk samples, bearing fleeting similarities to such diverse acts as ISS, Institute, Alien Nosejob, Cherry Cheeks, Uranium Club, Reality Group or Marbled Eye.
The second LP by that Duo featuring none other than Spray Paint's Cory Plump as well as some mysterious Chris, who has in some capacity worked with Les Savy Fav, Trans Am and Scene Creamers in the past, delivers more of their addictive melange of post punk and noise rock with that certain industrial feel, as experimental as it's hypnotic and catchy all the same. Maybe it's just due to the mix and mastering, but the sonic spectrum appears somewhat decluttered here compared to the predecessor with an at times less claustrophobic, more natural feel and plenty of room to breathe. Still tons of Swell Maps or, alternately, Exek vibes to go around though and there's even a hint of Protomartyr in Rotting Profits, some echoes of Wire in Florida Gasoline.
Three fifths of this EP have already trickled out very slowly in the form of demos and digital singles. Finally, we can witness the thing in full now. I'd say the Nashville outfit have found their own unique little niche inside a crowded pool of egg-related weirdness, their jangly garage punk detonations shrunken to microscopic scale… a bit like a super-muted incarnation of R.M.F.C. with additional hints of Print Head, Neo Neos or early Erik Nervous.
I'm sure everyone's already taken notice, but i can't leave that one out here, a new release by the only german punk group i've ever heard of. In a nutshell, Pisse are still very much Pisse (and yes, that is indeed the german word for piss), their jet of yellow liquid still being very precisely focused on the various processes and phenomena involved in the gradual crushing of the human soul in that society of ours while not sparing the punk scene their due amount of ridicule either. Their music on the fringes of post- and garage punk ain't nothing to be embarrassed about either, even in the closing track Favorit, which drags some Suicide-esque synth minimalism through a decidedly german schlager hell.
