Another rock solid batch of rhythmic post punk gymnastics by some usual suspects of the Berlin scene. Sound-wise it won't get more Berlin-esque than this and you also might call Liiek a bit of a one-trick pony, however, that particular trick still works admirably on me and has never been done with such precision engineering by this group before. Think of a mix between Pigeon, Diät, Negative Space, Institute and Nag, boiled down to their raw essentials. Blah blah "concise vision" or something, i guess…
A curious little beast, this cassette by some NY dude brought to us via Portland's Spared Flesh Records. Disjointed and fragmentary at times, yet rarely devoid of a catchy melody. There's certainly a bit of a no wave influence in there but most of the time i'd say there's a weird and chaotic transcontinental mashup at play here with clear echoes of early british post punk, specifically of Wire, Swell Maps, The Fall, Early Mekons… colliding with decidedly american folk and roots elements as well of random anomalies straight out of the 1980s cassette culture both sides of the pond. I guess admirers of Australia's Wireheads will also get a kick out of this and it appears the man in charge here has also had a hand in Hobocop, which makes perfect sense to me as well.
Damn, that's some top-notch quality oldschool postcore shit here, the kind capable of transporting middle-aged fucks like me into higher spheres, elaborate yet unpretentious and with a melodic sensibility that evokes the glory days of Volcano Suns, Moving Targets and Mission of Burma. The monumental opening suite, on the other hand, kinda reminds me of Dragoon, the opening behemoth of Bitch Magnet's final album Ben Hur. Otherwise, 90s Dischord influences rule supreme here with ubiquitous echoes of the likes of Autoclave, Bluetip, Hoover, Crownhate Ruin, Kerosene 454, early Jawbox… you name it! And yeah, of course there's also a bit of Fugazi going on but i'd say they're far from a primary influence here. Hungry Man are able to pull off all that without coming across like a dull ripoff and rather like a band who values its influences, yet perfectly stands on its own two feet, speaking into the present day with their own voice.
A spectacular first impression of a Copenhagen group playing a rather unconventional mix of post punk, hard- and postcore incorporating a rare sense of melody and a strong psychedelic, almost shoegaze-y undercurrent. Also, thinking of the Copenhagen scene, you can't help but register a faint echo of early Iceage and Lower.
Garage punk from Spain that hits all the right spots dead-on and conveys exactly that kind of explosive momentum of a band hungry to play - the kind of vibe that's been a bit scarce recently, owing to obvious circumstances. To me, their sound calls to mind bits and pieces of Dadar, Sauna Youth, Ex-Cult, Constant Mongrel, Jackson Reid Briggs or Pedigree while also revealing a strong post punk vibe at times, kinda like Berlin groups such as Pigeon, Diät, Pretty Hurts crossbred with the melancholic moods of Red Dons, Telecult or Nightwatchers.
Yay! New shit by that person or group who might or might not be based in Hicksville, NY and whose 2020 garage-/post-/eggpunk borderline-masterpiece Happyhappy made me exactly that. So now we get a new short playing Hi-Fi experience as well as some other, slightly less short and ever-so-slightly less Hi-Fi thing. Boring this certainly ain't and as for that other thing… i think i have some basic idea what they don't think they know the fuck they're doing and they're doing it just fine and it's fucking glorious and i love every fucking second of it!
Yet another EP by Bristol's leading powerpop/postpunk manufacture holds yet another pair of irresistibly melancholic earworms. Does it still make sense to namedrop Television Personalities here or might this shit already qualify as downright, dare i say it… beatlesque?
The debut EP by Brisbane's Refedex is a heavy steamroller of dark noise rock, sludge and post punk that's often rather slow and atmospheric without ever getting tedious or losing its irresistible groove. Although their overall vibe sounds ultra-classic to me, i'm having trouble pinpointing exactly where i've heard this kind of thing before as their sound kinda transcends the usual genre boundaries, among other things incorporating the kind of dark americana blues & country vibes you might expect from an 80's Scientists record or more recently from US post punk group Bambara, while on the more classic noise rock side of things, you might draw comparisons to contemporary Bands like Alpha Strategy, Luggage, Heads or Tropical Trash. You might also find a bit of Cows, U-men or Scratch Acid in there, each of them spun on half-speed. Whatever you wanna call it, this is first rate shit!
Cleveland punks The Cowboy have yet to release a record that doesn't totally rip and their third LP won't dissapoint either with their sound feeling perfectly worn in and at this point, i'd say they've established their very own, instantly recognizable micro-niche on the intersection of propulsive garage punk and abrasive noise rock while still breaking things up enough to keep shit interesting.
The London postcore/noise rock duo once again convinces by way of sheer force coupled with unerring precision, every single detonation on their second LP using a rather minimalistic recipe in the most focused way possible to achieve maximum damage. Don't miss this spectacle if groups like Tunic, Death Pedals, USA Nails or Metz are your thing.
