In a somewhat unexpected but, all things considered, perfectly sensible move, the Philadelphia group on the cutting edge of the still kinda vaguely defined and developing dungeon punk genre release their first full length effort on the well established, rather metal-leaning label Relapse Records. Thankfully this has precious little influence on their sound, aesthetics and production values, with their newest batch of songs even presenting the group at their grittiest and most Lo-Fi so far, their still absolutely singular, elaborate sonic constructs made up of post- and garage punk, noise rock, postcore, a very slight hint of Oi! and only the most ancient ingredients of proto- and old-oldschool metal remaining obscured by in a thick layer of tape hiss all the time. Yeah, the whole thing sounds glorious i gotta say!
Punter came up with an excellent demo in 2020. Their new EP on Drunken Sailor Records elevates their sound to a whole different level though, combining the strengths of "heavy" metal- and hard rock-infused garage acts á la Polute, Cheap Heat, Cement Shoes or Stiff Richards, the hard rockin' hardcore attack of, say, Cutters and Cülo, postcore of the Dollhouse, Acrylics, Flea Collar variety and all the drama, rage and melancholy of Pist Idiots, Jackson Reid Briggs & The Heaters.
Another australian supergroup made up of folks who gave us, among others, the wonders of C.O.F.F.I.N, White Dog, Research Reactor Corp, Satanic Togas, Stiff Richards, Split System and Cutters - a fuckin' who's who of recent garage punk goodness down under. Of course Polute delivers the goods, with a twist though as there's a strong oldschool "heavy"-/speed metal vibe imprinted here on the familiar garage punk sound, reminding me of fairly recent acts á la Tarantüla, Cement Shoes and even the incredible Poison Ruïn may serve as a viable comparison - dungeon dwellers will approve for sure.
