This Los Angeles group's most recent EP is some excellent, albeit disturbing shit. Gloomy post punk about rather dark subject matter concerning the human abysses both exposed and enabled by our modern technology (and yes, that explicitly includes child porn and -abuse, among other things). Sound-wise, i would describe this as a weird fusion of The Estranged and The Spits, supplemented with some serious death rock and synth wave action.
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I've been a bit late to the party when it comes to this Atlanta group which has been around for over a decade by now, with their 2018 No Face 7" being my first exposure to them. Also, i didn't know at that time they're sharing members with post punk minimalists Nag. Now that certainly makes sense. Not only is this clearly the same singer here, but there are also abundant sonic similarities to note. Predator kinda sound like the slightly more sociable cousin to Nag, leaning heavier into garage territory with occasional hardcore moments. I mean like… at times they almost sound like they're actually enjoying themselves!
This Melbourne group's newest EP starts out quite good, then becomes even better with every song, first suggesting kind of a mix between synth-less (at first) Ausmuteants, Ex-Cult, Sauna Youth, early Teenanger… but also with a slight post punk edge á la Flat Worms, Constant Mongrel. The latter tendency (plus the formerly elusive synths) then kicks into overdrive in the record's second half and that's where things go from good to great, culminating in the epic anti-hymn Australia - an unmistakable fuck you to nationalism in their home country whose lyrics strike me as unapologetically frank and straightforward.
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Another worthy release by London group Italia 90. The A-Side Borderline presents their post punk sound in its most slick and accessible iteration so far, having a bit of a Gotobeds, Sleepies or B-Boys bent. If you ask me though, the main attraction here is the much darker, edgier b-side Declare, which comes across like a more sophisticated throwback to their very first EP, showing a similar minimalist, noisy Swell Maps- and Membranes-leaning vibe.
An awesome new ruckus let loose by some Philadelphia group, equal parts garage punk and noise rock and carrying the spirit of so much classic shit on the intersection of old school (post-) punk and (proto-) noise rock. At one point you might recall Brainiac, but mostly it's 80's stuff like U-Men, X (AUS), Flipper, Feedtime, No Trend… even a hint of early Minutemen shines through on the closing track. Of the more recent scene, i'm thinking of acts like Cutie or Patti.
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This Sydney/London based duo hits every nail on the head straightaway on their first EP with an honest urgency to their straightforward lyrics and a sound not entirely dissimilar to recent british DIY phenomena like Silicone Values or Suburban Homes, although Nasty Party supplement their obvious Television Personalities vibes with quite a bit of Buzzcocks drive. I'm also vaguely reminded of Proto Idiot and Freak Genes.
Plenty of goodness on this split 7" by two australian bands. Last Quokka's side showcases some of their best material to date and their familiar, heavily garage-boosted postcore sound with traces of Hot Snakes and early Jawbox, as well as more recent groups like Video, Bad Breeding and Ascot Stabber.
This marks the first time i hear about False Cobra. Some of the above comparisons may also apply to their songs, though overall they lean a lot heavier into the garage and classic punk side of things, having a bit of a Ruts or X (L.A.) vibe and also some vague siminarity to The Living Eyes, Mini Skirt or early Teenanger.
On their second longplayer, New Orleans group Waste Man have gotten rid almost entirely of the hardcore elements that were still front and center on their incredible 2018 tape A New Type Of Worry, but that doesn't mean their newest LP is any less thrilling. Quite on the contraty, this has become both their most ambitious and well-rounded release so far, a captivating and unpredictable ride at different points reminding me of smartypants garage punk of the Vintage Crop, Dumb or Uranium Club variety, art punk akin to Lithhics or Patti as well as contemporary post punk in the vein of Public Eye, The Gotobeds and Bambara… at the same time emitting some distinctly oldschool vibes - faint echoes of Wire and Saccharine Trust being the most noticeable ones here.
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This is already the second awesome release for this week coming out of Mexico. To be fair, this record is already a few months old but still… there's clearly something brewing over there. The debut album by this group is a highly concentrated caffeine shot of drum machine-driven full-speed-straight-ahead garage punk with some slight similarity to groups like S.B.F., Kid Chrome or Arse. Sometimes noisy, sometimes melodic, always catchy and exhilarating.
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Dollhouse's 2019 demo already was a thoroughly respectable blast of forward-thinking noise and even more so is their new EP that came out recently via Toxic State Records, thanks to a comparatively slick production putting their sound emanating from a gray area between modern hardcore, post punk and postcore in just the right light, balancing abrasive scuzz with sheer force. The whole thing calls to mind a refreshingly diverse cluster of groups like Mystic Inane, Hot Snakes, Wymyns Prysyn, Launcher, Cement Shoes or Liquid Assets.
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