Following a thoroughly enticing debut EP last year, Bergen, Norway group Sklitakling present an even stronger first LP, retaining the strummy, quirky charm of the debut while expanding and branching out stylistically. Their songwriting has won a lot of contour since then, their idiosyncratic arrangements coming across much crisper now. Despite their norwegian origin, i can't help but feel reminded of the danish scene of the past decade - the Copenhagen approach to post punk you might say - with the likes of Iceage, Melting Walkmen, Spines and, just recently, Pleaser coming to mind at various points as having a similar sense of melancholy and melody. In addition, there's a distinct cowpunk vibe at play here, kinda like an LSD-soaked early Angst, Gun Club and, especially, the more recent hallucinogenic existential nightmare of Murderer.
Over the past two years, Portland label Spared Flesh Records has proven itself a real powerhouse of weird and offbeat noises in the realm of post-, garage- and art punk and this new LP by Reuben Sawyer aka Anytime Cowboy is yet another rough gem to behold. His bluesey low-key cowpunk sound comes across kinda like an incarnation of early Gun Club incredibly mindful of not waking the neighbors or a super-muted version of Parquet Courts, Tyvek, while in parts also not entirely dissimilar to that recent Peace de Résistance album. It's a soundscape that could softly lull you to sleep if it weren't for that pervasive sense of unspeakable abysses lurking just around any corner now, with Sawyers calm deep voice further adding to the music's quite uncanny yet weirdly comforting qualities.
This group from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania pulls off a vaguely familiar but nonetheless spectacular combustion of catchy oldschool hardcore energy with some cowpunk vibes to it, operating somewhere inbetween the rough parameters of Germs, Dicks, the early hardcore incarnations of Angst and Meat Puppets, as well as more recent stuff like Fried E/m and Modern Needs.
New garage punk mayhem set on fire by a Greensboro, North Carolina group. The EP starts off with a strong cowpunk vibe reminiscent of shit like Deodorant, Spodee Boy, Optic Nerve… also Leche and Murderer, maybe? Subsequent songs then settle into a more conventional but no less exciting garage punk direction provoking comparisons to kickass groups of the Cutie, Erik Nervous and Sick Thoughts bracket.
These Nashville garage punks' latest EP continues the strong cowpunk vibes that took center stage roughly since their Rides Again EP, this time making a much stronger case for their vision though, thanks to a much improved song substance and a super tight performance, which ain't all that surprising once you learn that at least in their current incarnation, these appear to be the exact same dudes otherwise known as Safety Net. The two middle tracks Barn Burner and The Plan then again have a bit of a Flat Worms or - quite fittingly - The Cowboy feel to them.
