The second EP by this San Francisco group, coming to us by way of the weirdo suits at the headquarters of Discontinuous Innovation Inc., marks a quite impressive step up in energy, sophistication, elegance and stylistic variety after their already perfectly enjoyable debut cassingle in 2020. In the year 2024, their quirky and chaotic mix of postcore, post- and art punk with just a smidge of garage punk thrown in for good measure is still gonna evoke universally favorable comparisons to quirky noisemakers in the vein of Rolex, Patti, Reality Group, Big Bopper, Warm Bodies, Uranium Club and Brandy.
A dense and noisy post punk spectacle unfolds on this Richmond, Virginia group's debut EP, its four elaborately constructed songs making a fully mature and confident impression already. At times this has a curious vibe of, say, Straw Man Army plus a subtle trace of Poison Ruïn while in other places this shit reminds me a lot of some of the past decade's more melancholy and song-oriented post punk acts in the vein of early Estranged, Public Eye, Criminal Code, Bruised, VHS, Waste Man as well as Atlanta heavyweights Wymyns Prysyn and Institute/Mothers's Milk.
California group Lamictal follow up last year's insane pair of EPs with another strong tape, their overall vision coming across a little more focused on here which might in part be a result of ever-so-slightly increased production values… although polished would certainly be the wrong word here as their curious mixture of garage punk, hard-, post- and weirdcore is still filthy as fuck, upredictable and hyperactive, overwhelming the senses for just under four minutes before getting the fuck out as quickly as they turned up. Mandatory shit for friends of, say, Big Bopper, Rolex or early Patti.
This Portland Group's third full length further refines their explosive formula of seriously noise- and slightly garage-infused postcore into their most realized and elaborate effort do date, their hyperactive vision of structured chaos constantly shapeshifting and throwing curveballs all the way, leading into all kinds of interesting maneuvers. Although no two songs are too much alike on here, the most frequently applicable comparisons i can come up with are groups such as the various incarnations of New York's Kaleodoscope, early Bad Breeeding, Acrylics and, in some parts, Crisis Man, early Video and Ascot Stabber.
Pedigree of Tournai, Belgium follow up their excellent 2020 mini-LP with another strong batch of tunes, continuing the trend of their originally more garage-leaning sound gradually moving into more of a post punk direction and even some flashes of '90s postcore can be gleamed in songs such as Trapped,S.A.D. and Bread, calling to mind bits and pieces of Jawbox, Drive Like Jehu, Polvo and Hot Snakes. Disgraced, on the other hand, has more of a melodic sensibility right out of the Vaguess, Bad Sports or Motorbike playbook. And overall, my previous comparisons to french groups á la Telecult, Nightwatchers still hold true, as well as a bunch of international acts like Sauna Youth, Teenanger, Video, or Clamm.
Last year's demo by this London group has been a thoroughly pleasant occurence already and their newest EP even packs considerably more of that same kind of punch, their mix of noise-heavy postcore and garage-leaning fuzz punk at times coming across like a variant of Hot Snakes or Obits with more of a melancholic undercurrent which also kinda reminds me a lot of Wymyns Prysyn, with further credible comparisons to be made to acts such as Ascot Stabber, Crisis Man, Zero Bars, Beast Fiend and Mystic Inane.
Chicago trio Luggage have, over the course of the past eight years, proven to be a true bulwark in the sector of unapologetically excentric, dissonant and unwieldy noise rock, postcore and math rock which they usually happen to throttle down to a sluggish crawl. If anything, they've just grown ever more uncompromising over the years, culminating in their newest deformed lump of an LP, yet another challenging outburst of noise heavily indebted to the likes of Slint, Tar, Shellac and if i had to name something more contemporary, i'd say the first two Behavior albums (especially the spectacular second one Bitter Bitter) make a close enough comparison as well.
A strong demo by this Toronto group has four delicious no-frills bangers in store for us located roughly on the intersection of garage punk and postcore, having some Hot Snakes energy to them and a similar vibe to the early works of Video and Teenanger in addition to straightforward punk acts such as Ascot Stabber, Flowers Of Evil, Piss Test as well as a more eccentric breed of garage-meets-hardcore acts á la Launcher and Mystic Inane. Music to my ears!
Exciting shit in the realm of noise rock, postcore and garage punk on this Tokyo group's newest EP showcasing quite a bit of stylistic variety. Proto-Being crashes right out of the gate like a mix of Multicult, Tar and Drive like Jehu. Slug then exhibits a more catchy, melodic sensibility akin to, say, Bitch Magnet, Polvo or Chavez. Evidence has some acid-drenched proto punk vibe to it like MX-80 colliding with early The Men plus a hint of Wipers and last but not least, Disconnect radiates some distinct Hot Snakes-meeet-Nation Of Ulysses kind of energy.
Following up on their incredible 2021 demo, this Copenhagen group delivers an equally exciting debut full length. On one hand, this sounds vaguely familiar as the local legends Lower and (early) Iceage have sure left their mark on Pleaser's music - having a similar appeal of larger-than-life drama tangled up in chaotic and emotional no-holds-barred performances - in addition to lesser known Copenhagen groups like Melting Walkmen, Echo People and Spines. But then again, Pleaser totally hold their own owing to top-notch song substance and plenty of neat little surprises like some black metal flourishes in the instrumental The World Says Its Name, Morricone stylings and a Murderer-esque psychedelic cowpunk haze in Drive of Distress while Light and Fire and This Is How I Die have some distinct Poison Ruïn vibes to them. Last but not least, in The Dream, a good bit of Rites of Spring, Dag Nasty collides with some 90s Leatherface or Samiam vibes as well as somewhat younger noise pop acts á la Star Party, Times Beach, No Age, Male Bonding or Joanna Gruesome.
