Once again, Leipzig group Onyon convince me by virtue of their adaptability and solid Craftsmanship rather than novelty, reproducing a number of tried and tested formulas that firmly click into spec on their second LP. Post punk that ain't trying anything funny, you could say. This time we get just a smidge of eggpunk weirdness added to the mix. Songs like Dogman then have more of a garage punk edge to them. There's a touch of Wire in Egg Machine, oldschool goth-/deathrock vibes in Invisible Spook and bits and pieces of Gun Club are sprinkled throughout the whole of it. Needless to say, echoes of other more or less recent artifacts of the Leipzig scene like Ambulanz, Lassie and Laff Box are to be found in there aswell.
Did i ever mention i've been a christian once? Yeah i know. True story and i hope y'all had a good laugh. Nowadays i'm only worshipping Satan though. Huge fan! The music's a lot better too. The Devil's australian, as everyone knows and so are his togas, who have as of yet utterly failed to ever shred a single tune that doesn't fucking rip. Their newest extended play has more of their signature blend of garage-/synth-/eggpunk and power pop goodness burning fast and brightly with obvious similarities to other recent shit á la Research Reactor Corp., Ghoulies, Gee Tee, Daughter Bat & The Lip Stings, Alien Nosjob, Buck Biloxi, Set-Top Box and Eric Nervous.
These folks have been around for a good bit longer than this blog and also have been a constant part of my life's background hum all the way, although things have gone a bit quiet around them in recent years. Their first new LP in five years once again presents the Seattle group in peak form though. Their secret weapons have always been their simplicity, tons of quirky charm and a unique knack for churning out catchy-as-fuck little slacker hymns that just grow on you, presented in an unpretentious, straightforward garage punk and fuzz pop sound.
On their second LP - once again brought to us by the tasteful folks of Total Punk Records - Orlando group Cherry Cheeks present themselves at their straightest and simplest, dumbest and catchiest so far making for yet another gloriously fuzzy lump of joyful high-calory power pop, garage- and synth punk fluff with abundant echoes of classy shit á la Smirk, Set-Top Box, Prison Affair, Gee Tee, Ghoulies and ISS.
This Kaloomps, British Columbia group's second LP now sees their kickass 2022 EP Best Before 2022 expanded into a full length, carrying more of that same kind of unpredictable chaotic hardcore mayhem - often rather simplistic at first glance but rich in elaborate detail once you take a closer look, enhanced with some appropriately rowdy garage- and KBD vibes which i'd say place them in relative proximity to such groups as, say, Cement Shoes, Fried E/m, Mystic Inane, Tarantüla, G.U.N., Cheap Heat or Imploders.
A new EP by Drew Owen aka Sick Thoughts and if you didn't expect sheer garage punk excellence at this point, better think again 'cos this record fucking delivers! The opening salvo Sick Thoughts is kind of a hardcore smasher suddenly taking a sharp turn into some distinct Ramones-meet-Cheap Trick territory. Hellraiser is pure '77-drenched power pop ecstasy with a thin icing of Hüsker Dü or Moving Targets on top. The seventy-seven-ish vibes then reach their apex in Schoolgirls in Chains, while My Heart is Breaking Over You is exactly the kind of unhealthy sugar rush that might just become a bit too much of everything in the hands of lesser songwriters and performers but shines here all the brighter by virtue of the rock-solid songcraft evident.
Montreal group New Vogue follow-up their excellent self-titled 2020 mini LP with another batch of kickass tunes - way more synth-heavy this time yet every bit as infectious as before, radiating a constantly shapeshifting kind of vibe calling to mind bits and pieces of Freak Genes, Useless Eaters, Powerplant, Andy Human and The Reptoids, Lost Sounds, Mononegatives and Alien Nosejob, to name just a few high-profile references.
A strong demo by this Toronto group has four delicious no-frills bangers in store for us located roughly on the intersection of garage punk and postcore, having some Hot Snakes energy to them and a similar vibe to the early works of Video and Teenanger in addition to straightforward punk acts such as Ascot Stabber, Flowers Of Evil, Piss Test as well as a more eccentric breed of garage-meets-hardcore acts á la Launcher and Mystic Inane. Music to my ears!
On this Oslo group's debut EP, an attitude and aesthetic inbetween the worlds of egg- and dungeon punk is given a distinctly far eastern theme. In the context of a genre cluster that makes a point of making no fucking sense, this makes about perfect fucking sense i'd say! Am i making any sense? Who cares, this shit is fun!
Billiam's first releases were around the 2020 mark yet it feels to me as if this dude has been around for a lot longer, a subliminal presence always hovering at the periphery of a wider 12XU-relevant bubble. His newest LP should launch him right into the spotlight though, this being his strongest and most consistent batch of new tunes so far in his hard-to-imitate (though plenty of folks are trying for sure…), vaguely egg-ish melange of sometimes rather bare-bones synth- garage- and post punk - catchy as fuck, simple and dumb yet every single move hits home!
