I know you've all been waiting for this. The second dispatch from Copenhagen garage-/hardcore punk duo OK Satán has arrived, filling us in on seven epic new stories from their magical world limited only by an ever-expanding technicolor horizon, dealing with important and controversial topics such as their names, your very problematic face and them not giving a shit. Another brilliant, multi-layered masterpiece!
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An awesome new ruckus let loose by some Philadelphia group, equal parts garage punk and noise rock and carrying the spirit of so much classic shit on the intersection of old school (post-) punk and (proto-) noise rock. At one point you might recall Brainiac, but mostly it's 80's stuff like U-Men, X (AUS), Flipper, Feedtime, No Trend… even a hint of early Minutemen shines through on the closing track. Of the more recent scene, i'm thinking of acts like Cutie or Patti.
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Here's yet another short and sweet tape carrying one of those delicious oldschool hardcore/KBD-style/Garage Punk hybrids, so simple and elegant and flawless in its execution. I never get tired of this kind of shit.
This Sydney/London based duo hits every nail on the head straightaway on their first EP with an honest urgency to their straightforward lyrics and a sound not entirely dissimilar to recent british DIY phenomena like Silicone Values or Suburban Homes, although Nasty Party supplement their obvious Television Personalities vibes with quite a bit of Buzzcocks drive. I'm also vaguely reminded of Proto Idiot and Freak Genes.
Plenty of goodness on this split 7" by two australian bands. Last Quokka's side showcases some of their best material to date and their familiar, heavily garage-boosted postcore sound with traces of Hot Snakes and early Jawbox, as well as more recent groups like Video, Bad Breeding and Ascot Stabber.
This marks the first time i hear about False Cobra. Some of the above comparisons may also apply to their songs, though overall they lean a lot heavier into the garage and classic punk side of things, having a bit of a Ruts or X (L.A.) vibe and also some vague siminarity to The Living Eyes, Mini Skirt or early Teenanger.
While, for my own taste, releases by that canadian garage weirdo TJ Cabot have so far been a rather hit-or-miss affair, his newest 7" - a collaboration with synth wave artist Sonic Hz - falls squarely into the "hit" category. This high-sugar feast for your eardrums artfully combinines the best ingredients of both worlds and reminds me quite a bit of Sweden's synth punk powerhouse Isotope Soap.
On their second longplayer, New Orleans group Waste Man have gotten rid almost entirely of the hardcore elements that were still front and center on their incredible 2018 tape A New Type Of Worry, but that doesn't mean their newest LP is any less thrilling. Quite on the contraty, this has become both their most ambitious and well-rounded release so far, a captivating and unpredictable ride at different points reminding me of smartypants garage punk of the Vintage Crop, Dumb or Uranium Club variety, art punk akin to Lithhics or Patti as well as contemporary post punk in the vein of Public Eye, The Gotobeds and Bambara… at the same time emitting some distinctly oldschool vibes - faint echoes of Wire and Saccharine Trust being the most noticeable ones here.
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Okay… it looks like the current dungeon craze, which seemingly started out in the realm of synth-based soundscapes some time ago and has since then progressively been making its presence known on the fringes of garage punk, is now slowly but inevitably extending its grip into the musty cellars of hardcore punk. This fun new tape of medieval survival hymns about other people's heads meeting blunt, heavy objects sounds a bit as if Lumpy & The Dumpers, Cülo and Strange Attractor joined forces to record an alternate Jabberwocky soundtrack.
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Another way-too-short cassette bearing the gift of quality dumb oldschool punk crankiness of the heavily KBD-leaning kind, made by two members of L.A. weirdos Launcher. What's not to like?
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This is already the second awesome release for this week coming out of Mexico. To be fair, this record is already a few months old but still… there's clearly something brewing over there. The debut album by this group is a highly concentrated caffeine shot of drum machine-driven full-speed-straight-ahead garage punk with some slight similarity to groups like S.B.F., Kid Chrome or Arse. Sometimes noisy, sometimes melodic, always catchy and exhilarating.
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