Glen Schenau, otherwise probably best known as the Frontman of Brisbane group Kitchen's Floor, has so far released two EPs of borderline-avant garde art rock, convincing by virtue of its sheer weirdness, marked by dissonant, hyperactive guitar strumming - kinda like an out-of-tune funky alternate reality version of The Wedding Present - complemented by crude pots-and-pans style percussion. On his newest 7", the latter gives way to an actual drum kit as well as a full band sound and as a whole this takes on a slightly less experimental, way more tangible form on the fringes of post punk, noise rock and 90s indie rock while retaining the quirky, inventive qualities of its predecessors. Melkbelly-meets-Live Skull? Nah, not quite… but not too far off either.
This Philadelphia band's debut tape via State Champion Records already makes an excellent first impression. Distinctly 90's indie rock vibes akin to Breeders or more recent stuff by Melkbelly collide with rather contemporary sounding post punk elements, somwhat comparable to WALL or The Baby, radiating a wonderfully crude, off-kilter charme throughout.
Last year's long playing debut by Seattle group Big Bite already struck me as an anomaly of the most welcome kind. Now their sophomore effort comes across as no less brilliant - once again breathing new life into a particular 90s niche, oscillating somewhere between straightforward, no-fuss but high-thrust indie- and alternative rock plus a bit of shoegaze. Think Sugar, Polvo or Swervedriver when it comes to bands of the aforementioned era, or of more recent acts like early Ovlov, Pardoner, Milked or Dead Soft. Psychedelic moments are given a bit more emphasis here than on their first, while in the album's final stretch you can sense a subtle post punk vibe of the Teenanger or Constant Mongrel variety.
