Yet another thoroughly compelling load of new egg-ish garage- and synth punk goodness comes to us by way of this crunchy split cassette featuring two Providence, Rhode Island groups. Jimsobbins are a duo comprised of Adam and Lucy. Is that the same Adam who's also in Balloon Thief? Plausible but unconfirmed. With the addition of vocalist Ella, they then transform into the trio Cindy7. Jimsobbins are the more typically eggpunk-sounding of the two groups, calling to mind stuff like Daughter Bat and the Lip Stings, Gee Gee, Billiam and Toe Ring… plus a slight shambolic touch of Neo Neos in Leopard. The latter tendency then persists throughout Cindy7's side, exhibiting even more of that scrappy DIY charm, with their opening track Gonna Break! even evoking a bit of an oldschool no wave vibe while the final two tracks charge things up with an increasing amount of chaotic hardcore energy.
A kickass debut EP by this Brooklyn, NY group. The opener No Recourse evokes a distinct mid-'80s to early '90s Dischord vibe á la Rites Of Spring, Nation Of Ulysses, Gray Matter… plus a hint of Drive Like Jehu or more recent groups like Wymyns Prysyn, Beast Fiend and Launcher. Fixate comes with a hard change of pace, mostly resembling the spirit of old australian punk and garage legends like X, Saints and God. Scraping Away then returns to the postcore stylings, somehow combining a bit of early Saccharine Trust with the proto-noise rock of Flipper.
Even in a busy week like this one (ya know, bandcamp friday and whatnot…), i just gotta mention this new digital two-track single by Tel Aviv synth-/eggpunk act Paulo Vicious ''cos if these two songs don't fuckin' rip then i don't know what does, mastering the neat trick of considerably slowing down things without ever evoking boredom, effectively filling the new gaps between the thumps and beeps with plenty more of interesting squeeks, groans and kablowies to an altogether animating overall effect.
Another quality release from that bastion of off-kilter punk and noise, Erste Theke Tonträger. Busted Head Racket is a group based in Newcastle, Australia centering around vocalist / multi-instrumentalist Arden Guff and in the past year has already made waves with a number of EPs, compilation appearances and split releases. Their long-playing debut now delivers another strong batch of odd little tunes of distinctly egg-ish qualities which manage to come across as equally catchy, quirky, rough and energic, kinda combining the traits of, say, Billiam and the hardcore attack of last year's Snooper LP, with further parallels to be drawn to such acts as Slimex, Daughter Bat and the Lip Stings, Set-Top Box and Ghoulies.
Here's yet another pair of moderately egg-related small fry in the form of two new digital (?) 2-track singles. First off there's Minneapolis garage punks Liquid Lunch delivering two excellent new blasts on a fucking holiday-themed release in fucking April which then again, i'd say is actually one of the most egg things possible to do. Then, there's also a new release by Melbourne DIY magician Billiam which unsurprisingly doesn't disappoint either. The title track indeed appears to take some cues from Jackson Reid Briggs and his current band Split System in particular.
This Cleveland, Ohio group, named after the infamous scumbag nu metal bros' very own summer of love, has always been kind of an, ahem… acquired taste, though always a ton of fun as well, at least as long as they don't indulge too much in their weed, their Fred Durst, their occasional stoner rock flourishes… and also, as it appears now, their letting A.I. making crappy music for them, a brand new vice in their arsenal. That said, this passes easily as their strongest release to date and is nothing short of a must-have for any afficinado of inventive, unpredictable and garage-flavored hardcore punk right up there with the likes of, say, Cement Shoes, Cülo, Chain Whip, Headcheese, Flea Collar… just to tick off a few of the most obvious and thoroughly flattering references.
This New York group is kind of a curious, zeitgeist-defying beast in this day and age, wearing their fondness of late eighties to early nineties punk, grunge and indie rock on their sleeves with the opening track even being titled Nirvana, although i'd rather liken them to early Mudhoney and the noisy, early incarnation of The Pixies, maybe a hint of U-Men, Scratch Acid and Drive Like Jehu aswell. So basically, they're the kind of group that would've gotten various Pitchfork writers wet a decade-and-a-half ago, when the height of the first '90s nostalgia wave hit. These days though, they're kind of an obscure oddity and that makes this record all the more endearing to me.
On their second cassette, Glueman of Denver, Colorado don't get any funny ideas, keeping things simple, stupid and fun at all times. Fairly oldschool garage punk goodness with some added '77 and KBD-vibes that is, reliable and time-tested shit which in the current landscape you might compare to groups such as Buck Biloxi, Sick Thoughts, The Dirts oder Bart and the Brats. In somewhat similar terriroty you might also locate Kent, Ohio group Chum Lord, going all-in on an ultra-oldschool garage vibe and staying clear of any ingredients that haven't already been around 40 years ago, hammered home with an infallible gift for no-frills straight-in-your-face, super effective little tunes that hit the right spot every single time. Yup, i'm sold.
Finally, a full album of Montreal's Hood Rats who've been making noise for a while already, although their sound really snapped into gear on their two most recent EPs in the winter of '22 - '23. Now this one is comprised mostly of punchy new recordings of songs already known from said EPs and a 2022 demo, but that shouldn't distract you from the fact of what a joyous and complete assault of early '80s straight-ahead, no-frills US punk- and hardcore energy this is, enriched with bits of ancient KBD- and contemporary garage punk. Certainly the definitive incarnation for this lavish set of killer tunes!
In recent years, i highly doubt there's ever been such a thing as a bad week for eggpunk but this one has been especially fruitful with three notable, way above average releases. Paulo Vicious of Tel Aviv you might already be familiar with from last winter's kickass debut EP and on this one, they seemlessly continue the depraved fun with strong echos of Prison Affair, Set-Top Box, Nubot555 and, at times, an added sheen of 8-bit chiptunes. Oslo, Norway act Dårskap then approach egg-related noises with a bit of a dungeon undertone and some ever-so-slight traces of oldschool death rock, begging the question if there's some overlap with another Oslo group, Molbo, who've also been featured on here just a week ago. To round things out with what is probably the most straightforward and classic (hah!) sounding example of the bunch, Stockholm, Sweden's very own Gurk deliver four new attacks of ultra-catchy egg-induced joy on their newest EP that might just be their strongest effort to date.
