Roughly four years after their last sign of life we quite unexpectedly get another fine EP from this Vancouver group, who pulled off a flawless first EP in 2016/17, followed by a somewhat disappointing, slightly undercooked second effort. On this one, however, they're back in their zone and alternate between two excellent in-your-face rippers and another pair of slower, more melancholic songs demanding a bit more patience from the listener but culminating in a worthy payoff. As before, they remind me a lot of a more melancholic, subdued and melodic incarnation of Rank Xerox, Sarcasm or Sievehead.
Berlin group Skeleton Glove have already put out a bunch of demos, all of which suffered to a varying extent from their Lo-Fi production values, so it's nice to finally hear them in a sound that does their sheer sonic force justice. The result is every bit as good as i could've hoped for, their ultra-primal brand of post- and hardcore punk with flourishes of death rock and garage never failing to hit where it hurts the most.
This EP by Kyoto group LLRR is a real treat! Post punk that's simultaneously catchy and abrasive, often danceable, sometimes leaning towards math rock structures and oldschool no-wave-funky in other places. A rock-solid rhythm section creates the ideal space for guitarist Yuzuru Sano's unruly yet often quite melodic eruptions of noise to unfold as well as the hypnotic chants by vocalist Minami Yokota, the latter being interwoven into the rhythmic foundation to a degree seldem heard from contemporary groups.
Whoa, what an excellent debut EP by a Memphis, Tennessee group! The opener plays out kinda like Drive Like Jehu or Hot Snakes in creative overdrive mode, also being somewhat reminiscent of contemporary bands like Meat Wave, Mystic Inane, Tunic or Wymyns Prysyn. Next they change gear entirely and come up with a mid-tempo post punk tune in which a pulsing beat collides with some serious Flying Nun-style psychedelia and a certain Sauna Youth vibe. The latter also permeates the subsequent two garage punk smashers with echoes of Ex-Cult, early Teenanger or Dumb Punts, gradually shapeshifting into more of a post punk and indie rock style not unlike Gotobeds, Sleepies or B-Boys, which in the closing track once again morphs into kind of a Swervedriver-esque slow jam. There's not a single weak spot to be found on this record!
Chunklet Industries is killing it again with this debut 7" by a noise rock/post punk supergroup, kind of an unholy trinity made up of members of Wilful Boys, Spray Paint and Brandy whose sound incorporates familiar elements of all three aforementioned groups yet eschews predictability - with the A-Side giving off that distinct Spray Paint vibe and the other track veering a bit stronger towards the other two bands' sonic hallmarks. To make things even better, we're also promised a full length sometime this fall!
With the Berlin group's 2018 self-titled full length being their most varied, playful record and the subsequent Bug EP their loudest, most uncompromising one, their second long player recently released via adagio830 certainly showcases their most concise, effective and elaborate bundle of songs so far. Once again i'm reminded of pretty much any great post punk act of recent years both in- and outside Berlin. Think Negative Space, Pretty Hurts, Rank/Xerox, Diät, Public Eye, Exit Group, Nag… the list could go on and on. In other words: First rate shit!
One of my favorite unidentified noise-emitting Berlin entities has done it again! Gear up to be enraptured by four of his newest, straightforward-yet-playful lo-fi garage- and post punk jams.
The Berlin scene, where every musician is also secretly playing in all your other favorite groups, has dropped another pile of something. That something starts out kinda like S.Y.P.H. filtered through Wire and Crass, subsequently touching on Weirdcore stuff á la Stinkhole, Stuttgart-style-post-punk-but-much-more-fun and last but not least, dissonant post punk/proto noise sketches reminiscent of Membranes. Sometimes they opt to spew their lyrical nonsese in the english language which i think has its own awkward charm.
This demo by a Cardiff group lures the listener in with an ultra-raw hardcore red herring, though it doesn't take long after that to realize there's a lot more to this burst of concentrated Lo-Fi energy as you blaze a trail through a thick layer of fuzz and distortion, which finally gives way to bright flashes of melody and an overall soundscape combining core ingredients of post punk and noise pop, coming across kinda like a beautifully deformed crossbreed between Sievehead and Piles.
Business as usual on the newest 7" by L.A.'s Flat Worms. Delightful, high quality business that is, with these two songs nailing their very own formula incorporating elements of garage punk, post punk and bursts of noise just dead on. So far, Flat Worms never failed to deliver the goods.
