Somehow i must’ve overlooked this Chicago quartet’s first EP two years ago… gotta catch up on that now, since their new 7″ immediately won me over with its first-rate blend of somewhat garage- and hardcore-infused no-fuss punk rock not too far off from Negative Scanner (whose designated guitar user Matt Revers is also among the perpetrators at work here), Vexx and rounded off by a measured dose of Amyl & The Sniffers-esque ’77 style riffing.
Now this one’s a curious beast. Nashville group Donors already won my attention two years ago with their first EP and a somewhat more conventional mix of garage- and post punk, but this is a different level of weirdness altogether, as they infuse their sound with increasing amounts of dissonant no wave havoc and proto noise rock á la Flipper, No Trend. What in the world could i compare this stuff to? Tyvek or Constant Mongrel reimagined as a no wave act? Spray Paint as a garage band? I’m not entirely sure what they actually set out to do but there’s no doubt they’re succeeding with flying colors. Just when you thought you made sense of the whole thing, the closing track Fine Print manages to surprise once again by adding some Haunted Horses-style industrial flavor to the mix.
The cologne scene appears to be picking up steam in recent months. Newest piece of evidence is this thoroughly enjoyable demo of quirky one-man DIY garage punk somewhat in the vein of acts like Prison Affair, Set-Top Box, T.L.B.M, Dot.Com, Dee Bee Rich… maybe even a bit of early Erik Nervous. Fine stuff!
On their recent 7″ via Iron Lung, Oakland’s Shrinkwrap Killers blow a pretty little hole in your speakers by way of a flawless one-two punch made up of fuzzy, melodic garage punk and bearing some similarity to The Stalins Of Sounds, S.B.F. or Kid Chrome. Nuff said.
Not too long after their recent 7″ suggested some amount of relaxation in the Cleveland trio’s sound, they fall right back into their tense and gritty old ways on their second album – even double down on them compared to the already rough blast of their debut album three years ago – amounting to another perfect round of fuzzed out garage noise glory, this time reminding me of early Greenberg-era The Men in all their uncompromising force.
So far, the synth-/garage punk project Isotope Soap a.k.a. swedisch punk veteran Peter Swedenhamar has released nothing but top quality stuff in the form of three EPs, all of them were reissued last year on a compilation album via Emotional Response. His first longplayer doesn’t dissappoint either. On it, Swedenhamar considerably expands his eclectic raid of obscure punk history, resulting in his most varied and playful release yet, incorporating among other things moments of trippy space punk, pure synth pop, dreamy krautscapes. And of course also a lot of his more straightforward signature Devo-meet-Ausmuteasnts style that made up the bulk of his EPs.
San Francisco’s Modern Needs let off one delicious fart after another into the atmosphere, consisting of straight, simple & effective Fuzz reminiscent of early 80s westcoast punk & hardcore as well as plenty of crude KBD-vibes. As such, they make good company to other contamporary bands like Launcher, Freakees, Beast Fiend or Liquid Assets.
This London trio delivers some new high quality bursts of decidedly crude garage punk with a clear post punk edge. Admirers of bands like Constant Mongrel, Ex Cult, Tyvek, Useless Eaters or Shark Toys will know to appreciate this.
New recorded material by Hank Wood & his crew has become a somewhat rare occurence in recent years… but whenever some new tunes crop up, you’re instantly reminded why you fell in love with his soul-infused Garage Punk in the first place – more than ever, i’d say. Songwriting and arrangements are just as spot-on here as we’ve seen on past releases, propelled forward by razor sharp performances. Those hammers keep hitting every nail with impressive precision.
No rocket science on Chubby & The Gang’s debut album, just the plain old melodic punk rock schtick. But boy, is that some really fucking good stuff. ’77 catchyness is injected with loads of hardcore energy and given a rough garage surface. Kinda like Booji Boys recorded in high fidelity.
