The debut EP of this Auckland, NZ group feels a lot like a welcome throwback to the early days of (proto-)eggpunk to me in how they combinine a sound somewhat akin to the likes of early Erik Nervous, Hobocop, Coneheads, Neo Neos, Skull Cult and an up-and-coming young Billiam with plenty of an oldschool abrasive garage punk edge not so often heard from the more recent wave of eggheads. No complaints here, that shit still works.
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Over the last couple years, Shrudd of Louiseville, Kentucky consistently upped their game with each new release and yet i’m gonna say their newest one is playing in a different league altogether, such an amazing leap from anything they’ve done before. Where their previous work cycled through numerous subgenres but had an undeniable egg-ish quality in common especially on their most recent bunch of EPs, this one moves way beyond that with the opener M.M.I.T.L. still bearing the closest resemblance to their previous work with kind of a Ghoulies vibe before Stagnant shows the first subtle harbinger of a darker, more psychedelic-leaning overall vibe reminiscent of the likes of Useless Eaters, Pow!, Electric Prawns 2 and Mononegatives, which really kicks into gear with the slightly Powerplant-esque aura of Bodies. EMT on the other hand has quite a bit of a classic blues-y, slightly cowpunk-ish garage vibe to itself, followed by Gift where they’re going into full spaced-out acid punk overdrive. And in such a vein it continues, gradually expanding their sonic color plaette with almost every new tune. So basically, here we have the newest example of a band growing the fuck up and branching out from their humble eggpunk beginnings towards new horizons, which i guess is gonna make ex-Lumpy Martin Meyer kinda happy and it makes me quite happy too cos this shit is so freakin’ good!
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This new tape by London group Botox does absolutely nothing new but what it does, it gets absolutely right, distilling a strong and primitive concoction out of ’77-, KBD- and garage punk that’s like 35% fuzz and 45% attitude with the remaining 20% consisting of a thin remnant layer of tried-and-tested oldschool punk tropes and formulas that do their job just fine here in what must be one of the most frugally effective blasts of minimalist punk i’ve heard in a while.
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Chicago’s Omniwhores have been fucking around in the noise rock-, post- and art punk niches for many years now but never have they hit the spot for me as much as on their newest EP Sucker Face, on which they arrange their moving parts like the monotonous electric beats, buzzsaw guitars, sharp basslines and a battery of weird-ass samples it appears – all of which have been present on previous releases – in a way that comes together in a much more organic and seamless way, a mixture that mainly reminds me of such ’80s-to-’90s noisemakers as World Domination Enterprises, Braniac, Royal Trux and Butthole Surfers in one way or another.
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Australia’s garage punk whizz kids are at ist again with a new EP which presents them going all-in on the monotonous acid-rockin’, psyched-out side of their sonic spectrum, though you can make a clear distinction here between the first two tunes, having a more minimalist formula and darker tone reminiscent of groups such as Mononegatives, vintage Oh Sees and Pow!, and the following two tracks, which i’m gonna say are the real jewels on here (though the other two are perfectly accomplished pieces in their own right) and add a more melodic, albeit deeply melancholic vibe to the mix through which flows what you might describe as a classic dreamy synth wave quality. Good shit, as always.
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This Vancouver group creates a delightful and eccentric blend of fuzzed-out, garage-infused oldschool indie rock, post- and art punk on their debut EP with the opening tune Running and Running having much of an early Woolen Men or Shark Toys vibe, while Dud reminds me a lot of Volcano Suns. In Roundabout, some ’80s Nomeansno appears to collide with a classic cowpunk vibe. The closing track Anyone Anywhere has certain Scratch Acid-meets-Jawbox feel goin’ on and there’s no denying the whole EP also has some faint Mission Of Burma background radiation detectable.
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Hamilton, Ontario group Corpus Earthling mad quite a splash at least in my own backyard with their 2024 The Glove LP and followed up on that with another neat EP and a whole LP full of cover tunes. Their newest EP of original songs has yet another excellent batch of spaced-out psych punk tunes for us that on one hand sound inspired by old art punk groups of the MX-80, Chrome and Métal Urbain variety but on the other, also fits in quite well with a number of contemporary groups like Pablo X, Stdees, Zoids, Silicon Heartbeat, Mateo Manic and Thee Hearses.
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New fodder for soft-hearted eggheads comes from a (probably) Providence, Rhode Island based dude or possibly duo, delivering five first-rate fluffy and sugary power pop anthems in a modest, unpretentious eggpunk-ish guise quite similar to the likes of Gonk, Power Pants, Gee Tee, Music For Microwaves, 1-800 Mikey and Rude Television, with the song material itself being the main attraction here, never ceasing to amaze in its simple, straightforward pop glory.
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The Beta Máximo dude’s new synth-driven project Sonic Youth Of Today shapes up to beome a tireless tune factory just as prolific as his former thing. EP number three kicks things off with a neat cover version of the greatest fake punk tune ever put to tape and probably one among the essential eggpunk foundational texts, Village People’s Food Fight, but the real meat of this EP are once again its three original tunes which are simply synth punk at its very best, every bit as throbbing and propulsive as they’re irresistible in their catchyness while carrying the unmistakable signature of its creator.
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I’m having kind of a hard time warming up to the opener’s fluffy ’90s beats and alternative radio rock vibes but thankfully, it gets a lot better from there on with Tryna Do sounding like the seeds of a power pop tune reconfigured into a fuzz-laden Saints or Stooges context. Put it Back does similar things but adds a slight touch of a Flying Nun Records-esque quality to the mix before the EP concludes with its most accomplished tune Gracia, which is sounds like four decades of catchy college rock-adjacent guitar strummery perfectly boiled down to a compact two minutes.
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