The second tape of this supposedly Tokyo-based group delivers the goods of simple and effective, garage-flavoured synth- and post punk that makes me first of all think of frenchmen and -women Catalogue and Belgium's Le Prince Harry, but might just as well be compared to the likes of Spyroids, O-D-EX, Mind Spiders, Powerplant, Crime Wave and Liquid Face… a less quirky Freak Genes maybe? Dunno, what's important is this shit just works!
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Dunno if you already noticed, but the UK's most under-the-radar group of sheer awesomeness just recently released a compilation EP bringing together most of the previous singles plus three new tracks on french label SDZ Records, which is the perfect place to start if you haven't already fallen for this band hook like and sinker. Anyways, here is their newest in that endless string of two-track digital singles already and as anything the group has touched so far, this is yet another instant classic of endlessly charming Mekons-, Desperate Bicycles- and Television Personalities-informed oldschool british DIY punk goodness.
Following a strong debut EP that still presented this Antwerp group from a more garage-leaning angle, the follow-up has them going all-in on a post punk vibe which on one hand takes plenty of cues from the James Chance-informed, funky end of the No Wave spectrum while also bearing a slight resemblance to the current Berlin scene and groups like Pigeon and Liiek in particular. I assume then it's more than just a lucky coincidence this thing got released on Berlin post punk label Mangel Records.
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Fantabulous new garage-/synth-/electro punk shit from Graz, Austria, using minimal means to actually bring some fresh and as-of-yet unheard impulses to the whole eggpunk clusterfuck as, at certain points, i can't help but dub that shit Big Bl…Egg! Then again, there's also no shortage of fluffy pop melodies on here. I'm not quite sure what to make of the closing track Freibad Fürstenwald though, which… fuck me, research that shit for yourself. Or maybe don't, just… don't.
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This Walsall, UK group comes at us with an intentionally overpowering, uncompromising and maximally nasty clump of dissonant, kinda monotonous noise bridging the gap between only the most confrontative fringes of post punk, noise rock and postcore. Interestingly, almost all of the comparisons i can come up with right now already date a few years back, reminding me of how much of an unexpectedly fertile decade the 2010s were for unwieldy noise rock fare, a genre i struggle to find much excitement in, looking at the current landscape. This record takes me right back there, to the genre's second golden era of groups such as early Metz, USA Nails, Keepers, Overtime, Death Panels, Greys, Vangas, Tunic or John (timestwo). Well, at least a couple of these are still around. Then again, the thick veil of constant, dissonant blown-out noise texture these songs stay cloaked in at all times, somewhat reminds me of the short-lived US post punk sensation Dasher, while the cacophonous saxophone parts call to mind Nearly Dead and the kinda obscure australian 1980s post punk act Fungus Brains or, whenever they add some melodic overtones like in Crime, i can even sense a bit of australian post punk / proto-noise rock powerhouse X.
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Berlin post punk solo act DBR has already been sticking around for a bit and put out a whole bunch of EPs along the way, first under the name Dee Bee Rich, later shortened to the acronym DBR. His newest cassette via Turbo Discos is easily his most accomplished and versatile creation in a while, equipping the fairly minimalist, understated approach his more recent work has gradually morphed into with a whole new sense of melody, elegance and catchyness, while still coming across quirky, playful and odd as fuck.
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Atlanta's post punk scene strikes again! This group appears to have at least one (ex-?) member of Predator on board, whose sound this stuff certainly bears some resemblence to, as well as the genre's other quite obvious local mainstay, Nag. Whiphouse choose to label themselves as a death rock group and indeed, what (ever so slightly, though) differentiates this group from the aforementioned acts is a more pronounced classic goth rock vibe and a more simplistic approach to songwriting and arrangements. What can i say, nothing wrong with that. This shit works!
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On their third LP, coming to our shores via Sydney label Urge Records, the Berlin post punk duo consisting of Erin Violet and former Trust Punks vocalist Joseph Thomas sees them dialing down the folk-ish leanings a bit in favor of a slightly darker, heavier sound while retaining all of that overbearing sense of melancholy and the song-focused qualities that already had the previous records towering way above the bulk of the genre, prompting exclusively flattering comparisons to acts such as Public Interest, Marbled Eye, Waste Man, Tube Alloys, Corker, Glittering insects, Public Eye, Kitchen's Floor, VR Sex and Mothers Milk.
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Atlanta post punk group Nag never ceased to be an uncompromising, abrasive force with no signs of slowing down anytime soon, maybe with the minor caveat of their newest cassette almost sounding somewhat friendly and approachable in direct comparison to their extra-grim previous LP Human Coward Coyote, as every song on here has some kind of catchy hook at its core, their song constructs holding a perfect balance between their trademark spiky, rigid oldschool minimalism and just the right amount of straightforward, satisfying ear candy.
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This Detroit group made quite a bit of a splash already with a strong EP in 2022 and now they're throwing an even better LP at us, once again combining a bit of local (proto-) punk history with flavours of garage punk, hard- and postcore, calling to mind a bit of Nervosas in American Lies and Dollhouse in Kill Your Parents, while otherwise playing out a bit like a good cross-section of a bunch of garage/hardcore-hybrid groups like the somewhat more garage-leaning, KBD-influenced stylings of Launcher, Freakees, Liquid Assets and Mystic Inane as well as the more hardcore-heavy side with groups such as Imploders, Headcheese, Hood Rats, Alf and Cement Shoes.
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