An insanely fun debut EP by this St. Louis, Missouri group that sounds like... no one group in particular really, which in our heavily genre-codified times may be among the best compliments you can make. Rather, this is some freewheeling choose-your-own-adventure-style shit mixing-and-matching an abundance of synth-enhanced garage punk influences with varying degrees of egg-ishness into a super catchy, coherent whole that at different points may call to mind the likes of Skull Cult, Print Head, Warm Bodies, Rearranged Face, Snooper or Wax Minds.
This group from Bordeaux, France at first glance appears pretty much in line with that omnipresent background hiss of french groups playing rather basic, mildly Oi!- and Post Punk-infused catchy punk hymns but damn, do these folks just hit the bullseye with their debut EP, getting pretty much the optimum bang out of a subgenre as restricted und ubiquitous as this. Friends of such groups as Telecult, Litovsk, Bleakness or Nightwatchers absolutely shouldn't miss this one!
Toronto group Cult Crime have already made an excellent impression with thier first Demo and 7" in 2023/'24 respectively. Their full length debut now doesn't attempt to fix what ain't broken and delivers nine no-frills straightforward garage punk smashers strongly rooted equally in the sonic parameters of '77-era groups and early Hardcore Punk which i'm pretty sure will, among others, please admirers of such acts like early Sick Thoughts, Bart and The Brats, Jean Mignon or Hood Rats.
Silicon Heartbeat have been a constant presence at the periphery of the 12XU-relevant sonic spectrum for years now, yet it appears i've never given them a blog post so far for some inexplicable reason (though you've surely stumbled upon them on a couple of my mixtapes). This has to be rectified immediately i'll say and their newest EP is the perfect occasion for that, not only featuring some of their strongest tunes so far but also being further elevated by the production work of garage punk royalty Erik Nervous, whose magic touch adds plenty of oomph and contour to their somewhat Spits-indebted, catchy and psychedelic synth- and garage punk sound. I sure hope that, in spite of its title, this ain't actually the last we're gonna hear of them..
What a neat little oddity, this second EP by Chicago group Forklift Rodeo, on which they're mixing some weird-ass unpredictable bursts of cowpunk with small traces of 90s AmRep/Tough&Go-esque noise rock, postcore and occasionally also some kind of contemporary eggpunk quality, though in that regard i'm thinking more of early Skull Cult rather than the somewhat more codified recent crop of Lo-Fi-recorded insanity. Speaking of Lo-Fi... this record certainly ain't that, giving a well-produced sheen and transparency to their equally quirky, sprawling and intricate constructions that would indeed have absolutely no need for hiding behind an obscuring layer of noise and grime.
For our weekly dose of very dead egg punk, this Pennsylvania group has us covered. Already having made some waves with a decent 2023 EP and a split EP with RONi last year, they deliver their most vibrant, propulsive and appealing set of tunes so far on their newest cassette with an overall vibe not dissimilar to the likes of Beer, Raya, Winky Frown, Midgee, Goblin Daycare and Pringue.
Melbourne's Punter already have a strong demo and a brilliant 2023 EP under their belt but if you thought that latter one was as good as it could possibly get, you've heard nothing yet! Building on that same familiar mixture of occasionally metal-infused, sleazy-ass hardcore- and garage punk á la Polute, Cheap Heat, Cement Shoes or Cülo, unafraid of over-the-top guitar solos and with further kinship to postcore acts like Dollhouse, Flea Collar and the larger-than-life drama and melancholy of Pist Idiots, Split System, these are thirteen deliberately and carefully crafted precision blows, every single one delivering without fail a meticulously planned and perfectly executed set-up and payoff. Yeah, these bursts of jet engine-powered rock'n'roll are anchored in tons of rock-solid song construction way smarter and more elaborate than you'd expect at first glance and peppered with plenty of unexpected stylistic flourishes and eccentricities that still never seem to overindulge and even their most extravagant - sparingly and deliberately placed - accents like the odd bit of organ, bagpipes and even an epic sax solo in the closing track It Ain't Pretty never fail to hit their mark and enhance the impact of these songs.
After their already quite notable, still way heavier egg-leaning 2023 EP, this Reading, Pennsylvania group really kicks into gear for their long-playing debut with a sound constantly riding the line between garage- and hardcore punk while not trying to reinvent the wheel for these tunes, mostly staying true to some fairly basic garage formulas but damn, are these folks getting everything about that so fucking right - as far as quirky, dumb and fun rock'n'roll riff orgies go, you can't do much better really.
The debut EP of this Portland group is kind of all over the map stylisticly but also fucking brilliant at all times, with the first two songs leaning into a sound between angular garage- and post punk, holding a delicate balance of dissonant textures and catchy hooks like you may have heard previously from groups such as Reality Group, Print Head, early R.M.F.C., Exit Group and Beef. Technology Discriminates Against The Poor then sounds a bit like a kraut-y Spray Paint fused with the likes Mononegatives or late Useless Eaters. False Reality reminds me somewhat of the spaced-out garage punk of Pow! while Identify has a quality of catchy minimalism similar to shit like Busted Head Racket and Daughter Bat and the Lip Stings. Beat Struggle then goes all-in on the motorik kraut-y vibes before the record gets to its worthy conclusion in the form of a neat cover tune of old dutchmen Ivy Green and the slow-burn synth punk grooves of Conflict Driven Entertainment.
I'm rarely ever posting compilations here 'cos, quite honestly, most of these are too much of a mixed bag. I'm gonna make an exception here though as this shit has been put together by none other than see/saw dude Evan and just as you'd expect from him, this thing is certainly a couple notches above your average "Everybody send me your unreleased stuff for a good cause"-type comp and absolutely stacked with exclusive tracks by what amounts to a massive who's who of the international punk underground right now. That, plus your 10$-or-more donation will be spent in support of those affected by the Los Angeles wildfires. Win/win i'm gonna say! What's not to like?
