Well, dungeon punk’s supreme overlords Poison Ruïn need no introduction at this point i guess. On their newest EP you can clearly sense an effort at expanding upon their sonic palette and pushing the boundaries of their very own subgenre, resulting in a somewhat more muted record, trading in some of the anthemic battle hymns for more of a melancholy post punk vibe in tracks such as Attrition and Sanctuary, making this a record less densely packed with obvious hits. Nonetheless, rippers like Execute and the title track Confrere are sure to turn into undeniable fan favorites and high-octane staples for the years to come and anyway, don’t get too concerned now ‘cos it’s all great and classy shit just as we’ve come to expect from this group and these new songs will grow on just the same.
The full-length follow-up to the their fine debut EP from earlier this year (which recently got reissued on tape via Goodbye Boozy) doesn’t fuck around, simply churning out ten more of these short-fused dumb and primitive no-bullshit garage punk blasts walking in the footsteps of such greats as Buck Biloxi, Bart and the Brats, Giorgio Murderer and earlier Sick Thoughts. Demented fun for the ill-adjusted. No more, no less… and it fucking rips!
A kickass new EP by this Sydney group delivers the goods of rough-ass rowdy punk rock weaving elements of Wipers-esque post punk, fuzzed-out garage punk, some Hot Snakes-infused rocket-powered postcore and just a little hint of first-gen aussie punk into an overall pattern that reminds me of a whole bunch of female fronted punk greats of the past decade-plus, among whom range such wild and deranged creative forces as Vexx, Fugitive Bubble, Warp, Dots, Gen Pop, Warm Bodies and Skin Tags.
The previous 2020 cassette by this Grand Rapids, Michigan group has been an extraordinary detonation already and their newest one – as usual being released via Detroit’s specialist label Painters Tapes – is just more of that same goodness in the form of twelve new propulsive, varyingly hardcore-infused garage punk attacks that don’t even try anything smart and instead fully succeed in something rather stupid and fun, having a similar primitive energy to the likes of Ex-Cult, Sauna Youth, early Teenanger, The Cowboy, Protruders or Shitty Life at one point or another.
Following a couple of releases which largely dabbled in mellower sounds, Spain’s prime eggpunk-/noise pop act Beta Máximo at long last is cranking up the speeds again while applying and consolidating all the lessons they’ve learned at previous excursions for the benefit of their newest EP, which easily marks their strongest release so far made up of nothing but hits and gelled into place by plenty of simple but rock-solid, top-notch songcraft at its core.
Excellent shit, the second EP by this Christchurch, New Zeeland group on which they combine quite a bit of oldschool aussie Rock’n’Roll á la Radio Birdman, Saints and New Christs with also a ton of oldschool “heavy” ur-metal and motörpunk into four sweaty puddles of filth, an unapologetically sleazy strain of garage punk that reminds me a lot last decade’s mainstays Golden Pelicans and, to a somewhat lesser extent, Cement Shoes as well as the Split System/Stiff Richards/Cutters-adjacent sleazepunk act Polute.
Melbourne’s Kitchen People as a band are about as old at this blog and although it took them a couple years to turn into the highly combustible garage punk force we know them as today, their 2020 EP Planet Earth sure saw the group in creative overdrive and their newest six-track cassette once again is nothing short of brilliant! No wonder, since these folks are partly responsible for other top-rated groups such as Ghoulies, Pleasants, Aborted Tortoise and Dr. Sure’s Unusual Practice, all of whom are perfectly suitable references for describing these quirky and slightly egg-ish garage-, post- and synth punk tunes, in addition to such household names as Ausmuteants, Checkpoint and Research Reactor Corp..
An incredible debut by some NYC group, oscillating somewhere around the rough parameters of hardcore, fuzz-, art- and post punk. Not least because of these psychedelic synth stylings i can’t help but think of the hallucinogenic cowpunk nightmares of another awesome New York City act, Murderer, while in their mellower and catchier moments this surely has a similar quality to past-decade fuzz punk greats á la Feature or Slowcoaches.
Having already made a bit of a splash with last year’s quite promising debut EP, this group based in Madrid, Spain follows up with an even stronger 4-track EP, starting out with a pair of simple and undiluted punk attacks in some kind of hardcore-meets-post-punk mode followed by the melodic punk rock of Quiero Ser Olvidado and the crowning closing track La Luz, a perfect example of propulsive post punk operating roughly in the oldschool Criminal Code and Sievehead mould. More of this shit, please!
Another neat little cassette of moderately egg-related insanity comes our way from this Madrid group, operating in a nebulous zone somewhere inbetween the worlds of garage punk and spaced-out melodic fuzz punk, spiced up with quite a bit of surf rock twang and some dense psychedelic haze. All in all i’d say this shit successfuly combines some of the best traits of acts like Beta Máximo, Beer, Pringue and Prison Affair into a cohesive whole.
