This Minneapolis group runs an interesting gamut on their newest EP ranging from the punchy fuzz punk attack of Like A Dream? over the math- and noise rock infused post punk of Yeehaw! to the comparatively straightforward garage punk of Saved, while the closing track 5678 branches out into some kind of a hazy space rock jam. At different points i’m reminded of groups as diverse as early Rolex, Cutie, Shark Toys, Reality Group, The Cowboy and Big Bopper.
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So here’s the second cassette by a certain group of witches, once again spreading their bodily juices over any decent, moldy dungeon wall they can find in their hometown of Simi Valley, California. Like anything they’ve done so far, this is a gloriously burning dumpster of fuzzed-out garage punk mayhem spiked with heavy-duty hooks and catchy melodies that shall not be missed by friends of similar worrisome developments á la The Gobs, Slimex, early Exhite, Exit Mould, Geoduck Diodes and 3D & The Holograms.
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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.
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Their recent split EP with The Dumpies showed huge progress for both groups and now, after the Dumpies followed that one up with an absolutely brilliant LP already, it’s about time for the other shoe to drop in the form of a new Night Court LP, which it does so with an equally respectable thump in a generious seventeen-song burst of pure power pop supremacy, held together by first-rate songcraft and presented in a sonic mode of variable intensity, alternating between garage punk and oldschool indie rock which calls to mind such high-caliber acts as Bed Wettin’ Bad Boys, Radioactivity, Bad Sports, Tommy and the Commies, Datenight, Vacation, Teen Line and Cheap Whine.
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The past weeks have seen a couple of outstanding new offbeat, not-exactly-your-standard-hardcore releases. Just a mere week after their last one, we’ve already gotten a new Piss Wizard EP which once again delivers fuzz-laden hardcore mayhem fused with pronounced KBD, garage- and surf punk vibes, raw and catchy in equal measure with plenty of unlikely flashes of melody hidden under its abrasive surface. The new EP of Winnipeg group Lackey then scratches a similar itch of garage-soaked hardcore in a way more straightforward but by no means unsophisticated manner, their highly flammable riffs plowing ahead in a fashion not entirely dissimilar to recent acts á la G.U.N., Crisis Man, Jug, Chain Whip or Termite. Last but not least, take the traits of the other two groups featured in this post and drench it in more of a ’77 vibe plus a hint of oldschool west coast hardcore and the new EP of Philadelphia’s Body World should be what you get, roughly, but that alone would be disregarding just how inventive and adaptable this group acts here with none of these songs sounding quite alike.
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Salt Lake City, Utah group Gonk have been raising eyebrows on the periphery of the eggpunk wave for a good while now and their full length debut gives plenty of evidence for them as a perfectly worthy force and addition to the scene. Although these songs don’t add anything new to the game, every single one simply hits the spot and admirers of quirky, catchy artifacts by acts like Shrudd, Billiam, Music For Microwaves and Power Pants can’t go wrong here.
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The third EP of this Stockholm group makes an excellent impression with its moderately eccentric and quite varied mix of garage-, post-, synth- and art punk of the somewhat Devo-ish variety that simply delivers the goods, among which is a quirky chaos akin to the likes of Skull Cult and Belly Jelly, the eighties synth punk flashbacks of more recent Isotope Soap, some psychedelia á la Mononegatives and the unpredictability of Pressure Pin. Also quite the surprise is that bonus remix of the thumping closing track Wendy Got Balls, radiating tons of a retro eighties 12″ disco edit vibe.
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Our favorite garage frenchies Bart and The Brats don’t ever seem to change a whole lot but so doesn’t the consistently high quality of their output either. Yeah, this is exactly the simple and stupid garage punk you know and love á la Buck Bolixi, Spits, earlier Sick Thoughts, Uglies and The Dirts. I don’t think i’m ever gonna grow tired of that shit.
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Horror-/dungeon-themed Garage Punk from Houston. Blown-out, smelly and abrasive, this shit strikes me as a mix of early Strange Attractor, Neo Neos, Lumpy & The Dumpers, Stinkhole and Research Reactor Corp. What the fuck’s not to like about such a proposition? I’d much rather listen to that than whatever shit you’re listening to.
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This long-running, slow-moving dutch group, which i’ve previously been blissfully ignoring, catapults itself all the more impressively onto my radar with their third and hands down most accomplished LP so far which pours some top-notch songwriting abilities into a quite adaptable sonic pastiche oscillating between oldschool, sometimes psych-leaning garage- and fuzz punk, buzzsaw noise- and power pop as well as a couple of pulsing electro punk bursts. Exactly twice they stumble in my view though, by veering too heavily into kinda sugary oh-so-fucking-twee ASMR territory but hey, ten out of 12 Songs is still quite a good hit ratio and in some of the best moments, they strike me as an alternate reality garage-y version of eighties Fastbacks.
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