A neat little bag of tricks and surprises, the debut EP by this Memphis group. The opening track seems hellbent on reanimating the late '80s / early '90s vibes of the AmRep and Touch&Go multiverse and, though not affiliated with those labels, i'm particularly reminded of the Lo-Fi noise rockers Drunks With Guns. Diesel Disco then kinda smells of early UK DIY á la early Mekons, Swell Maps and Desperate Bicycles while being transformed into a contemporary fuzz punk context. The Junt is just a perfect midtempo blast of a proto-grunge eighties garage rock throwback. Newspeak cranks up the weirdness with its distinct stop-and-go dynamics and structure. Finally, Control is more like your standard stooges-indebted fuzzy garage rocker and, quite honestly, overall the least thrilling thing on this otherwise thoroughly engaging EP.
Quality shit as usual from the ever-reliable spanish post punk stronghold Flexidiscos. On their debut LP, this Valencia group conjures up quite the storm of smart and angular, yet never tiresome noise that comes across like an amalagamation of the No Wave-ish noise rock / post punk abstractions of Spray Paint with a number of similarly genre-fluid crossover acts like the contorted, interlocking garage punk grooves of Uranium Club, Reality Group and Vintage Crop on one hand, the eccentric post punk constructions of acts á la Rolex, Knowso, Meal, Exit Group, early Marbled Eye and Patti on the other. All of it feels way less grating and catchier than you'd expect, propelled ahead with unrestrained drive and concentrated, punctually applied energy.
Like a rougher companion piece to the Demo Rally LP i'm gonna be postin' about in just a minute, the debut LP of this Leeds group from late summer - now given a cassette release by french label Discos Peroquébien - delivers more of that excellent noisy and no wave-ish post punk eccentricity, the possible influences of which alternating between such agents of dissonant chaos as Spray Paint, Brandy, Rolex, Lumpy and the Dumpers, Cutie and Soupcans, while comparatively slow and disciplined tracks like Bog Witch even exude a bit of a classic '90s Chicago-style math-/postcore energy.
This Portland group's debut EP delights with an effortlessly cool make of fuzz punk alternating between melodic noise pop gems that kinda resemble rougher and simpler variants of early No Age, Terry Malts, Male Bonding, Why Bother?, The Wind Ups or Deletions, and a couple of even more primal bursts that call to mind the likes of Buck Biloxi, Lumpy and the Dumpers, Giorgio Murderer, Bart and the Brats and that Zhoop/Djinn/Feed/etc. dude. Closing out the bunch is a neat acoustic tune that doesn't shit the bed either.
Where the average group in the 12XU-related spectrum tends to become ever more elaborate until the point where they start to suck (well, if they make it that long...), Seattle group The Unfit seem to go the opposite route, becoming more stripped down and primitive until they're probably gonna suck at some point as well. Presently, they're far from having reached that stage though and this shit works out marvelously even if - or maybe just because - more than once, their fuzzy garage- and post punk tunes get boiled down to sort of a Feedtime-esque level of monotonous repetition and simplicity.
This Minneapolis group runs an interesting gamut on their newest EP ranging from the punchy fuzz punk attack of Like A Dream? over the math- and noise rock infused post punk of Yeehaw! to the comparatively straightforward garage punk of Saved, while the closing track 5678 branches out into some kind of a hazy space rock jam. At different points i'm reminded of groups as diverse as early Rolex, Cutie, Shark Toys, Reality Group, The Cowboy and Big Bopper.
The successor to these Melbourne punks' excellent car-themed EP from past December has them considerably streamlining and improving the structural foundation of their songs while also diversifying their musical spectrum, giving them a more post punk-ish feel overall yet this is also the most noisy and concentrated attack we've heard of them so far, which even holds true in the case of the midtempo post punk jam TV Screen, while closing track Tough Cunt still closes things out with a bit of hardcore energy akin to their previous material. Anyway, i'm reminded of so much goodness of the last decade-plus by the likes of Romance, Vexx, Cel Ray, Gen Pop, Warp, Downtown Boys, Fugitive Bubble and Warm Bodies just to name a few... plus maybe just a hint of old aussie noise rock / post punk greats Fungus Brains? Yeah, this is some highly combustible shit for sure!
Wow, now that's is one marvellous debut EP by this Philadelphia group dealing in a kind of earthy, dissonant and eccentric, yet equally graceful blend of art- and post punk. The monotonous no wave-ish strumming of the opening track The Shield calls to mind the minimalism of Shop Regulars or Honey Bucket while Green Man has more of an early eighties The Fall vibe with further commonalities to, say, fellow philadelphians Toe Ring and B.E.E.F. 39X. The vicious grooves of Gangstalker, holding a delicate balance of dissonance and catchyness, are then approximately channeling some more spiky version of Lithics coupled with some dissonant Glenn Branca- and eighties Sonic Youth guitar work, a bit like we've more recently heard from Self Improvement, for example.
The successor to last year's kickass second EP of this Cincinnati, Ohio group makes no attempt at fixing what ain't broken and instead delivers four new blows of that very same awesomness incorporating elements of noise rock, post-, garage- and synth punk with various bits and pieces reminding me of the likes of Busted Head Racket, Brandy, R.Clown, ISS, Spyroids and Knowso, De()t, Toy Brigade or Nervous Tick and the Zipper Lips.
Having already tasted some of their new LP in the form of a perfect teaser EP a couple weeks ago, we finally get to hear the full debut LP by the dungeon punk wizards of Karlsruhe, Germany and oh boy, we're in for a fucking treat that combines a couple of new recordings of tunes already heard on their 2023 demo with plenty of equally strong new material into a breathless thrill ride that's further helped along by a perfectly fitting and outright filthy lo-to-mid-fi production that sounds as if the whole thing had been recorded in some fucking parking garage. There's tons of sparkly psychedelia to the garage rock of the opening track Locket, a primitive proto punk punch and simplicity in Tear it Up while tracks such as As Loud As Me and My Dawn lighten things up with unexpected flashes of melodicism, the latter of the two having a distinct vibe of early The Men to itself. Contrast to that the hardcore-meets-motörpunk attacks of Give Me Beat and All This Heat, the oldschool Sabbath leftovers fused with the space rock abandon of late Destruction Unit in Supression, which is simultaneously being embedded into some vague post punk context á la Nag. The dungeon punk hymn Fomo Boy remains every bit a destructive force as we've already gleaned from the demo and the new track Inte Mer Hem following that one has much of the same momentum and qualities. Fuck me, this thing slaps.
