An awesome debut cassette by this group out of Athens, Geoargia, delivering a salvo of fuzzed out tunes on the intersection of hardcore- and KBD-soaked garage punk. While at times resembling the noise-laden output of groups á la Lumpy and the Dumpers, Soupcans and Black Button i think this stuff would fit equally well within the catalogs of LoFi specialist cassette labels Impotent Fetus and Deluxe Bias, having a similar shambolic energy in common with acts like Septic Yanks, C-Krit, early Electric Chair, Exxxon and Motor Corp.
Another bomb has just dropped via Tetryon Tapes. The previous EP Better Homes & Gardens by the Rochester, NY group was a perfectly fun occasion already, albeit one still kinda struggling to seamlessly integrate their oldschool '70s/'80s metal elements into their overall aesthetic. This new cassette rectifies this in part by way of a rough-as-fuck Lo-Fi sound that simply fits them a lot better while their powers of song construction have undoubtedly made plenty of progress as well, resulting in an unforgiving force that skillfully imbues some of the most furious instances oldschool hardcore grime and filth with a distinct dungeon punk note.
I'd almost forgotten about this San Francisco group yet here they are following up their impressive 2019 debut album with a new EP showcasing their quirky and inventive sound on the fringes of noise rock, hard- and postcore in a shape both rougher and more refined at the same time, echoing some of the greatest noise-/weirdcore releases of recent years including those by the likes of Warm Bodies, Sniffany & The Nits, Vexx, Dots, Judy & The Jerks or Mystic Inane.
A simply delightful debut LP by this Philadelphia group, brought to us via local label SRA Records. I wanna describe this shit as a mixed bag in the best sense possible, an eccentric repository of slightly cowpunk-infused art punk hovering somewhere between garage- and noise-heavy hardcore shit with a certain KBD-extension somewhat reminiscent of early Electric Chair plus a touch of Soupcans on one hand, and then on the other, there are some ubiquitous echoes to be found of old acts on the intersection of '80s noise rock and proto-grunge like, say, U-Men, Scratch Acid, Volcano Suns, Butthole Surfers, Minutemen, Saccharine Trust, Feedtime and very early Meat Puppets, just to name a couple of the most obvious references.
Like a smelly puddle of pure hard- and noisecore disgust, this neat little tape by New York group Opsec has kind of an extensive Flipper- and No Trend feel to it just as well as bits and pieces of more recent phenomena like Soupcans, C-Krit, Stinkhole, Crisis Man, Black Button or Mystic Inane.
Just another quick roundup of noises and disturbances out of the extended hardcore orbit. Starting off the batch with Sex Hater of Kansas City, who will surely please admirers of chaotic and downright filthy hardcore shit in a similar vein to groups á la Total Sham, Fried E/m or Launcher.
Speaking of filth, Clinic from Fresno, California dial that certain aspect even further - their latest EP feeling like one single murky puddle of primitive anger and deep despair, not entirely dissimilar in some places to the early Beast Fiend EPs.
pH People, a group of unknown origin, then slow the tempo down considerybly while by no means lacking energy - their tape on Urticaria Records is a potent mixture from the fringes of harcore punk and (proto-) noise rock with clear echoes of mostly older stuff á la Flipper, Spike In Vain, Noxious Fumes or Broken Talent.
And lastly, there's one for the dungeon dwellers among us in the form of Philadelphia's Alien Birth who deliver an oldschool metal-infested beast kinda like a mix between a more primitive Poison Ruïn and Golden Pelicans going all in on their sleaze rock leanings.
The most unexpected gem of this week comes from a Paris group and apparently has already been recorded in 2018. This is a puzzling and overwhelming burst of chaotic noise crudely wedged inbetween the edges of garage punk, KBD-style oddities and the weirder fringes of early 80s hardcore punk. The opener VVV evokes a vibe kinda like a mix between fellow frenchmen Subtle Turnhips and US hardcore oddballs Landowner while Moose Lodge conjures up the legacy of, among others, proto noise rockers of the Flipper, Broken Talent or Fungus Brains caliber. City Blocks unites the qualities of Bad Brains and MC5 in a neat little package. Other times, they evoke The Mentally Ill or kinda bridge the gap between Neos and Neo Neos while numerous more recent groups á la Total Sham, Liquid Assets, Launcher, Crisis Man, Freakees or Liposuction aren't too far off either at one point or another. This shit is as unique as it's primitive and mostly unpredictable, more than once defying any attempt at categorization.
Fuck, that shit smells… but in a good way. After their mildly disturbing one-and-a-half tapes on Impotent Fetus we finally get their first “full” length cassette from Tetryon Tapes and once again this is some joy to behold. Ultra-septic hard- and noisecore vaguely reminiscent of present-day acts like Soupcans, Stinkhole or Vulture shit but also of old pioneers of the Flipper, No Trend, Broken Talent variety. There was a time when, as a kid, folks from my church told me that listening to evil rock’n’roll music might give you a demon infestation (thankfully, the fearmongering didn’t work for long…). I don’t know what listening to C-Krit is gonna leave you with but its side effects include violent sarcasm, diarrhea and not giving a shit.
This Philadelphia group's line-up brings together generations of punks, having Chuck Meehan of hardcore dinosaurs YDI among its ranks as well as members of more recent acts like Blank Spell, Haldol and DeStructos. Their first EP explodes right into your face with eight-and-a-half bursts of unpredictable, chaotic and noise-infused hard-/post-/weirdcore roughly in the ballpark of what you might've heard in recent years from bands like Kaleidoscope, Daydream or Fugitive Bubble.
This melbourne group's debut EP delivers five versatile high-energy blows, shapeshifting their way somewhere around the fringes of the extended hard-/post-/noisecore multiverse, their relentless yet sophisticated attack calling to mind the likes of Dollhouse, Cement Shoes or Vexx.
