Montreal garage punks Priors follow up their rather playful recent NEWNEWNEW EP with yet another smasher of a mini-LP, often taking their sound into kinda unexpected territory in what is hands down their most versatile release so far. Right out of the gate you can sense a certain quirky vibe calling to mind the likes of Andy Human and the Reptoids, Nick Normal, Erik Nervous and the Beta Blockers while in other moments, you might find some echoes of, say, Vaguess, Proto Idiot, Freak Genes, early Teenanger, Mind Spiders or Sauna Youth… and let's not forget Sonic Avenues as another helpful reference, of whom at least two members are taking part here as well.
It's a new LP by the Detroit group and as you might already suspect, there's not a whole lot in the way of surprises here, which is totally fine for their particular local flavour of garage mayhem. As far as fairly traditional, heavily Stooges-/MC5-informed garage punk (and just maybe, a hint of Feedtime?) goes, it doesn't get much better in terms of raw, primal energy. This is the kind of record which convinces almost exclusively by virtue of brute force and boy do i feel saved now, which is to say: Ouch!
Lately it appears as if barely ever a couple of weeks go by without a new release by synth punk sensation Klint from Schleswig, Germany. No introductions necessary at this point i guess! Following the pretty rough split EP with Repulsion Switch, here we get another strong batch of tunes predominantly on the rather catchy, often viciously danceable end of the spectrum.
A spectacular split 7" via Slovenly Recordings! Italy's Destroy All Gondolas have been around for like a decade by now yet somehow they're completely new to me and their track here makes me think i've got some catching up to do. Gutara Kyo from Kobe, Japan have made a lasting impression with their 2017 EP - also out on Slovenly - and show no signs of slowing down with their new pair of tracks in that style which i can't describe other than just a very particular japanese brand of deliciously over-the-top garage insanity.
It took a couple years to materialize but here it finally is, the first LP by some dude of unclear whereabouts who previously sparked our curiosity with a kickass 7" also on Iron Lung Records in 2019. The full length debut is everything you could have hoped for in a new batch of kinda Devo-fied, whimsical, deliciously insane garage-/synth-/eggpunk malfunctions, spicing things up with a slight touch of Television guitar leads and solos added to an overall mixture whose rough parameters also kinda reflect a bunch of more recent phenomena vaguely in the Snooper, Useless Eaters, Alien Nosejob, Set-Top Box, Mononegatives or R.M.F.C. ballpark.
Oakland's Shrinkwrap Killers, whose prior output always struck me as a bit one-note and hit-and-miss, easily deliver their strongest and most versatile set of new tunes so far on their second LP on Iron Lung Records. This is an eerily familiar mix of sounds and influences which i might describe as simple and accurate as a horror/sci-fi/dystopia themed mashup of Lost Sounds, Spits and Stalins of Sound. Well… for me, it works just fine!
This Adelaide group has been around for well over a decade by now, yet it almost appears as if they've finally found their own groove just now on LP number four - or at the very least i can say, having taken a perfunctory glance over their previous records, that their newest one is playing in a different league altogether as everything here from the songwriting to the arrangements and production smoothly assembles into a way more realized vision while keeping things interesting with plenty of stylistic variety. I'm reminded of a whole bunch of other Australian groups in the garage-/post punk spectrum, among which are garage-/pub rock-leaning acts á la Mini Skirt, Hideous Sun Demon and Pist Idiots, post punk/-core acts like Batpiss, Bench Press or Rip Room aswell as some traces of classics from the likes of ('80s) Scientists and The New Crists.
Another beauty from italian powerhouse label Goodbye Boozy Records. You might remember Buenos Aires group repulsion switch from their 2019 demo and a bunch of EPs they put out since then. Here, we've got easily their strongest batch of tracks so far of their refreshingly simple yet equally explosive, garage-flavored oldschool hardcore sound. Another known quantity here at 12XU headquarters is synth punk guru Klint from Schleswig, Germany who takes charge of side b here with his usual workmanlike precision, curious experimantation and a new couple of tunes mostly on the rougher edge of the spectrum, perfectly complementing the RS tracks.
Following their most ambitious record so far in last year's Material LP, which expanded the sonic pallette out into the weirder fringes of somewhat Desperate Bicycles-leaning art punk and also featured some of the most infectious power pop songwriting of that year, the newest 7" by Nick Vicario aka Smirk, who's also known as a member of Public Eye, Crisis Man und Cemento among others, keeps things comparatively simple and straightforward this time while his heavily sample-backed songs and arrangements still unerringly hit their mark every single time.
Last year's steamroller of a (mini-)LP named Estray is a tough act to follow up for sure but the (probably) Leipzig/Berlin-based group manages to do so admiarably well on their newest album, retaining all of their previous qualities while expanding their garage punk sound with quite a bit of an abrasive noise rock edge which reminds me a lot of NY noise-/garage punk act Brandy and earlier Science Man. A good deal of melodic pop smashers á la Wouldn't You, Fomo or Get Clean is still present here so fans of that catchy, somewhat Booji Boys-esque power pop won't feel duped either.
