Portland label Spared Flesh Records has established itself as a real treasure chest of quirky, unconventional garage- and post punk goodness over the course of just over two years and the newest cassette is no exception. Society is a solo project of Sims Hardin who you might have also heard as part of Philadelphia groups Mesh and Toe Ring. Having already made a great impression with last year's All Flies Go To Hell EP, the second one seamlessly continues the scrappy charm of his sound hovering somewhere inbetween the strange worlds of '80s cassette culture and other artifacts on the fringes of garage-, proto-, post- and art punk. Think of a fusion of Modern Lovers, early Mekons, The Fall and Desperate Bicycles and you're roughly on the right track. Or you might compare them to more recent groups like the rustic jams of Honey Radar, Far Corners, Germ House and earlier Woolen Men, the proto-meets-post-punk experiments of Shark Toys and NY's Peace de Résistance.
It's a new LP by the Detroit group and as you might already suspect, there's not a whole lot in the way of surprises here, which is totally fine for their particular local flavour of garage mayhem. As far as fairly traditional, heavily Stooges-/MC5-informed garage punk (and just maybe, a hint of Feedtime?) goes, it doesn't get much better in terms of raw, primal energy. This is the kind of record which convinces almost exclusively by virtue of brute force and boy do i feel saved now, which is to say: Ouch!
A delightful batch of laid-back, off-kilter psychedelic- and garage punk goodness by a Toronto group. These tunes do have some slight US proto punk vibe to them in addition to pretty unmistakable space-/acid rock leanings, kinda like a mix between recent LPs by Jean Mignon, Peace de Résistance or older stuff like Faux Ferocious, even some early White Fence - with plenty of eggpunk weirdness on top. What's not to like?
Garage Punk with a weird thematic fixation on mopeds and buttholes by some New York dude which sounds a lot like his city ca. '73-'77, inhabiting a sonic space somewhere inbetween the proto- and early punk of the NY Dolls, Modern Lovers and Dead Boys, with further echoes of the wider early US scene á la Pagans, Black Randy and the Metrosquad on the more relaxed side of things as well some serious early australian Saints- and Birdman energy in its wilder moments.
Following last year's somewhat uneven debut LP of this Berlin group, their newest album is a huge step forward in every aspect - the hugely improved song substance being driven forth with unrelenting momentum and captured in a mid-fi aesthetic that fits them perfectly. Soundwise, they're clearly taking cues from a long lineage of proto- and oldschool garage punk - obviously Stooges, MC5 and Death to begin with, in addition to Dead Moon and some Wipers touches but, most of all, that austalian breed of groups like Saints, Radio Birdman, Scientists appear to have left their mark in their sound, not to mention the larger-than-life fuzz punk one-hit-wonders God - but while the latter seemed to flame up and burn out over the short duration of one glorious A-side never to reach such heights again, S.U.G.A.R. show no signs of wear yet, repeating that marvel eightfold for a certified all-killer-no-filler album.
When this New York dude's enchanting and bewildering 2020 debut EP Hedgemakers hit, i didn't have the slightest clue who's the mastermind behind Peace De Résistance. Turns out it's none other than Institute vocalist Moses Brown - yeah, kinda makes sense in retrospect, i guess. Dunno how i missed that. His first longplayer now unfolds a somewhat more elaborate, yet still pretty minimalist soundscape that once again feels out of place in all the best ways - a time capsule of hazy false memories weaving early strains of proto-, art- and post punk into a vivid, semi-plausible case of the Mandela effect.
Four-and-a-half fun litte strumming excercises of the heavily proto punk inspired kind, done by a dude who also happens to be a member of Toe Ring. Sounds a bit like a mix of Peace De Resistance, Woolen Men and Honey Radar with a hint of Modern Lovers on top.
Now this is some pretty incredible shit right here. The minimalistic DIY garage rock on this tape by some NYC dude (or band, not sure about that) sounds kinda like some lost proto punk relic and would just as well blend in on any one of those Messthetics/Homework compilations. The sparse percussion, weary vocals, overall lean arrangements and Lo-Fi production values all do their part in lending these songs a particular quality that feels both gritty and drowsy.
This tape by Melbourne group Super-X isn't exactly new stuff, but that shit is way to strong not to be mentioned here. Witness a sonic spectacle unfold, fusing the old garage-/proto punk fuzz of Fun House-era Stooges with spaced out vibes not unlike Destruction Unit or early Telescopes, all the while dragging along with it some traces of contemporary post punk.
