This Los Angeles supergroup of sorts (members have previously played in Ex-Cult, Bad Sports, Shark Toys, OBN IIIs and Richard Rose, among others) has been around for a couple years already but i never quite got over the pervasive dad rock vibes (or at the very least a quite dad-ish, middle-of-the-road variety of garage punk) of their previous two records. That new one is a whole different kind of beast altogether though and what may come across as a bit half-hearted and undercooked on previous releases suddenly clicks into razor-sharp focus on this, their second LP via In The Red Records, firing off one catchy-as-fuck killer tune after another, presented in their most flattering light by way of an unrelentingly tight and explosive performance and a high-end, punchy production that only works to add sharp contours to their sound rather than watering it down or sanding off the edges (I'm looking your way, Hymns From The Hills). This is nothing less than a top-tier little time capsule of 2010s-era garage punk you could almost call oldschool again at this point, pulled off with incredible momentum, workmanlike ease and unerring consistency worthy of a bunch of seasoned genre veterans.
This group from Kansas City has hammered together a thoroughly impressive debut Cassette here, available via the local powerhouse Dirtbag Distro, made up of eleven punches of deliciously raggedy and pissed oldschool-ish hardcore. I do think the bandcamp blurb mentioning Minor Threat and Black Flag kinda undersells this record though, which actually comprises of a lot more than just your average retro early '80s hardcore rehash, keeping things thrilling and unpredictable all the way thanks to tons of neat little quirks and creative brainfarts, enhanced with a constant garage-y, KBD-ish undercurrent and pulling it all off in a way that to me feels as much in conversation with the weirder end of the more contemporary hardcore spectrum as it certainly is with the ancient classics and as far as those are concerned, there's always a peculiar, eccentric quality to these tunes and an offbeat layer of dissonant noise that often reminds me way more more of oddities of the Gray Matter, Flipper and Really Red variety (though i do get the Germs comparison), rather than the usual suspects of old.
Billiam, busy as ever, has just recently blessed us with a new lathe cut 5" on Low Ambition Records and there's also a new LP waiting to drop sometime via Erste Theke Tonträger. Before that though, we get this neat odds-and-ends compilation of outtakes, compilation tracks, alternate versions… you know the drill. Some of it you may have heard before in one form or another, some you probably didn't but one thing's for sure: Many players in the current garage punk field would be willing to sell their kidneys for these quality scraps and leftovers conveniently compiled on yet another kickass LP.
What Evil Eye from Charlotte, North Carolina pull off on their debut cassette is easy to describe on the surface as a straightforward strain of Garage Punk combining '77-ish energy and catchyness with a KBD-like rawness and tons of Dead Boys- and Wipers-level Hooks, though as old as it all sounds on paper, as fresh and alive it all feels in practice and it's all thanks to some top-notch oldschool songcraft at its core and an adequately rough and propulsive performance to make the tunes stick.
Shrudd from Louisville, Kentucky already have been a more than notable presence in the garage punk scene for a while but they really hit it out of the ballpark with their first longplayer No Man Is Good Three Times from last winter, leaving behind much of their humble eggpunk beginnings for a more fleshed-out, sophisticated sound very much on the psychedelic, spaced-out side of the garage- and post punk spectrum. A tough record to follow really, but with their first substantial release since then (leaving aside that silly christmas single from late last year) they're doing a perfect job at that with two flawless new rippers in the previously established sonic spectrum of elaborate and kinda elegant post-/garage punk vaguely in the neighborhood of such groups as Mononegatives, Useless Eaters, Institute, Corker, Marbled Eye, Tube Alloys or Electric Prawns 2, but also very much their own thing really.
The former Synth-/Electro Punk one-man-band Klint based in Schleswig, Germany quite obviously has grown into a duo now and, as i've caught wind of some time ago already, is planning to finally hit the stages as a live act at some point and if you thought damn, these vocals sound unfamiliar this time around, then that's because yes, it's not the same dude doing the singing here. That minor technicality aside, Klint mostly stick to their winning and still completely unique-sounding formula of synth- and sample-based mayhem and if you dug previous Klint records, there's no doubt you'll happily absorb this one too.
Cincinnati, Ohio dudes Smarm are making a thoroughly promising impresson here on their debut EP sporting a completely unpretentious garage punk sound with a neat '77- and proto punk edge that clearly pays tribute to some local punk heritage with plenty of a timeless Dead Boys energy to these tunes, excelling in a simple but perfectly balanced kind of songcraft that also perfectly nails it in terms of infectious hooks and a determined, straightforward no-bullshit performance.
Yet another excellent burst of quite 77-ish garage mayhem then is the the new Demo of 700 Club from Athens, Georgia whose three songs are captured in a way rougher sonic guise here compared to the relatively Hi-Fi production values of that Smarm record and a bit more of a Saints or Wipers bent to their songs, even crossing over into hardcore territory a bit in the closing tune No Cash and all throughout there's also an actually quite contemporary-feeling infusion of Lumpy & The Dumpers or Fried E/m-like chaos goin' on.
You could easily file these swiss dudes away as yet another artifact of kinda fashionable, Pisse-induced german-language post punk but this stuff is operating on a high level and standing very much on its own two feet with enough identity and ideas of their own to set them apart with a sound that strikes me as just a tad more international, with Rien Pour Moi reminding me a bit of the likes of Ismatic Guru or Landowner for example, while Animal Farm has a bit of an old Giorgio Murderer Vibe. Anyway, even if they won't be able to shake off that Pisse comparisons just yet, this is a neat and excellent debut EP in its own right and i can't wait to see where they'll go from here.
Snarewaves' discography can feel kinda confusing and overwhelming with tons of releases so far that may suddenly appear and then disappear again at any given time, have tracks added to or trimmed off them and most recently there's also been that throughline of "haven't i heard this song before" and "is this just a reissue or a re-recording?". So yeah, that kind of situation is often the point where i choose to temporarily check out of the whole thing and take a step back while waiting for something more definitive and permanent to emerge out of it. Here we have just that kind thing in the form of a new EP via the reliable purveyor of maybe a bit too boldly premium-priced egg-ish punk quality, Nashville-based tape label Knuckles On Stun - an artifact that will probably just stay the way it is this time. Some of these tunes you may have heard before in one form or another too, but does that even matter at this point? It's good shit as usual and i still don't know of any other band that sounds even remotely like Snarewaves.
Here are two new kickass artifacts of egg-ish garage punk delight. The first one is by Triple Ente of Alicante, Spain. It would be pure understatement to say the spanish scene has become an indispensible force in that whole genre clusterfuck and Triple Ente have been taking part in that from early on. So they don't need to prove anything by now but nonetheless they won't half-ass a thing on their newest LP, which delivers 14 new smashers of a heavier garage punk-leaning variety that already feels pleasantly oldschool by now in the eggpunk context, more reminiscent of the genre's early wild west days.
Relatively new in the game then are Philadelphia group Dasgüt who at times lean into an even more oldschool-ish garage punk energy like in the heavily Gun Club-esque opening tune Dasgüt, before more of the expected eggpunk insanity kicks in with tons of weird ideas and irresistable hooks strewn all throughout this record. Like that Triple Ente record, this one avoids some of the genre's most pervasive clichés by staying 100% free of synths, electronics or pronounced lo-fi bedroom recording aesthetics, instead boiling things back down to a lean core of catchy, fun and offbeat garage punk joy.
