Already having a couple EPs under his belt, this Whittier, California dude's first full length cassette, also his first release following over five years of radio silence, immediatley clicks with me. That shit is right up my alley with its endearingly crude, moderately psychedelic mix of garage-, post- and synth punk carrying the traits of so many household names, among them the likes of Mononegatives, Useless Eaters, Die TV, Electric Prawns 2, Beef, early Powerplant, Pow!, Freak Genes and Lost Packages.
Always an occasion of pure, unmitigated joy, new songs by Schleswig, Germany solo viking synth punk warrior Klint. The self-released new Stark EP delivers six-and-a-half excellent new blows of the equally rough and noisy, weird and catchy as fuck synth punk action we all know and love. His Should be Honey / Sherbet 7" released simultaneously via italian garage punk institution Goodbye Boozy then goes on a thrilling experimental side quest involving heavy use of ancient brass and vocal samples pulled from 1920s swing records. This is something… kinda random, baffling and unexpected for sure. Sick shit!
Excellent new shit by a group from Karlsruhe, Germany featuring, as far as i can tell, the two members of Thee Khai Aehm. There are parallels to be drawn to that group, especially concerning the heavy dungeon-esque vibe of which much is retained here as well, but overall i'd say this group's garage- and fuzz punk sound is a different kind of beast altogether, involving way higher velocities and more stylistic variety. The opener has some primal proto punk energy to it while the melodicism of As Loud As Me reminds me of early No Age or Wavves. Give Me Beat ventures deep into hardcore territorry and closing track Fomo Boy is a forceful blast of classic dungeon punk excess. Well… if the word "classic" even has any meaning for a genre this young. Whatever, there's no use arguing with this kind of fury.
German language "deutschpunk" that doesn't suck still is much of a rarity, sadly. This thing here indeed does not suck in the slightest though. The debut LP of this group from Aachen treads an interesting middle ground, having clear echoes of some of the better and quite obvious german influences (think the likes of Oma Hans, early Muff Potter, Turbostaat, Oiro, Düsenjäger…) while at the same time having a more garage-leaning vibe to them reminiscent of a quite diverse bunch of international acts like Crisis Man, Flowers Of Evil, Waste Man, Ascot Stabber, Mystic Inane… plus the ocasional hint of Hot Snakes / Drive Like Jehu to boot!
The Santa Ana, California group follows up on last year's kickass Executive Dysfunction EP with an equally exciting successor (albeit one consisting mostly of re-recordings of previously known tracks) on which once again timeless garage punk stylings meet plenty of oldschool hardcore energy and KBD-related depravity. A fun ride throughout whose overall vibes and occasional blues- and cowpunk leanings this time around call to mind early Dicks, among other things.
An excellent second tape by this Leipzig group dabbling in pretty much exactly the catchy and playful kind of blend inbetween the worlds of garage- and post punk you've come to expect coming out of that local scene which ain't a bad thing at all - it's all quality shit and friends of fellow Leipzig groups á la Exwhite, Laff Box, Lassie and Onyon will surely have a ball with this one too!
Two new EPs by some Louisville, Kentucky group who've apparently released a ton of shit already but are certainly new to me. The Microbiome EP delights with quirky and energetic garage-/synth punk in the vein of Billiam, Spodee Boy, Gholies, early Erik Nervous, Spits, Why Bother? as well as classic Reatard-related artifacts. A nice companion piece then is the more hardcore-minded Bizarro EP dabbling in a way rougher aesthetic of fuzzed-out oldschool mayhem.
Demo number two of this Haarlem, Netherlands group seamlessly carries on with the fun and excitement of its predecessor in the form of no-frills catchy, simple and effective garage- and synth punk smashers sure to please friends primarily of other euro acts á la Dadar, Shitty Life and Mitraille.
Following their still fresh, sensational debut EP, this new 2-track digital single of Cincinnati's Gremlins can do no wrong either, Same Fate being a snappy and perfectly economical garage punk ditty while Bliss once again taps into their more psych-infused melodic sensibilities with some distinct hints of Radioactivity, Ex-Gold or Bad Sports.
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.
