This Nottingham, UK group's debut EP feels pleasantly out of place to me in the current scene, channeling a number of currents of the mid-eighties to early nineties punk and alternative rock era. Most strikingly i'm reminded of Mega City Four with further bits and pieces of, say, Moving Targets, later Naked Raygun and even some traces of middle-period Hüsker Dü to be found in there, all of it anchored by some rock solid songcraft underneath. In addition, you might as well compare this stuff to a bunch of the previous decade's acts such as Pale Angels, Milk Music, Geronimo, Milked and California X.
Now this was kinda unexpected. This group from Cleveland, Ohio sharing members with Cruelster, Knowso and Perverts Again had released their previous EP in August 2013, just a couple months before this very blog came into existence. So now here's their third 7" picking things up pretty much where they left them over ten years ago, serving us five new examples of those straightforward catchy garage punk esplosions that, of the groups mentioned previously, probably bear the closest resemblance to the no-frills sonic attack of Cruelster.
Brandon Monkey Fingers of St. John's, Canada feel kinda out of place in this day and age and y'all know i'm a sucker for that kind of shit. Their debut album covers a sonic range somewhere inbetween oldschool fuzz punk, '80s and '90s (proto-) grunge and indie rock seasoned with just a hint of sludge-y Amphetamine Reptile-style noise rock flourishes. Among the old guard, you might consider U-Men and early Mudhoney among their spiritual ancestors or the rougher ends of the Sebadoh sonic spectrum. Of more recent ocurrences, i'd name Dog Date and Hellco as possible references as well as early Pale Angels or a less melodic California X. Darth Vader's Boner carries a similar vibe of garage-infused noise rock to The Cowboy and Flat Worms. H.M.P. sounds a bit as if contemporary noise rockers like Metz, John (timestwo), Greys or Vangas got imbued with heavy overtones of Angst-esque psych folk while Norbit has quite some Dinosaur Jr. and Cloud Nothings energy under the hood on its way to a '90s Weezer-esque melodic conclusion.
Fun little treat, the debut single of this group "from the northern americas". Kick You sounds like the best of Radioactivity, Sonic Avenues and Cheap Whine welded together, then given a distinct pop punk bent. Violins then lets a substantial hardcore salvo segue into a strange amalgamation of Surfa Rosa-era Pixies and early Mudhoney, spiced up with slightly psych-leaning vocal harmonies. Tasty!
New Orleans garage punk dude D. Sablu did make a quite positive impression already with a string of demos and tapes in 2020-2022. On his full-length debut via Yes We Cannibal though, his artistic vision comes into much sharper focus, spanning a good deal of variety in his sound from the slightly noise rock / post punk-leaning opener Bomber Stomp to straightforward garage punk smashers like Too Much Of The News and the Dead Boys-infected tune Stuck In A Rut, altogether having a bit of a Kid Chrome, Sauna Youth or Teenanger vibe to them, sometimes veering into straight up harodcore punk territory while detonations á la Scandalous and World Peace go all-in on that tendency. Whatever shit D. Sablu touches turns into pure gold or at the very least copper on this album. In some ways this thing also positively reminds me of the most recent EP by Jean Mignon.
Bootlicker of Victoria, BC, Canada remain an unstoppable force on the forefront of fairly contemporary sounding, yet simultaneously kinda oldschool harodcore punk with a distinct garage edge and just a smidge of Oi!, rich in catchy hooks and penetrative riffs. Only the finest references for this shit, some of which being the likes of early Electric Chair, Chain Whip, Illiterates, Hood Rats, Crisis Man, Headcheese and Imploders.
Another nice catch took the bait and triggered the hyper-vigilant sensors at Cincinnati, Ohio garage punk stronghold Feel It Records. This Minneapolis group shares members with Green/Blue, Citric Dummies and a whole bunch more and emits some rock-sold, ultra-catchy '77 vibes on their debut LP, sorta bridging the gap between the US and UK scenes, combining all the best traits of, say, Dickies, Dead Boys and Adverts or, if you need more recent references, also bears some similarities to the likes of Shop Talk, The Celebrities, Tommy and the Commies, Sick Thoughts, Bad Sports and Tropicana.
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.
This neat cassette out on Weather Vane Records by a group sharing members with Vintage Crop among others, immediately captivates with an absolutely timeless make of elegant and well-rounded power pop, supported by way above-average songwriting chops. Think of a couple of more or less contemporary groups like Bed Wettin' Bad Boys, Tommy and the Commies, Bad Sports, The Wind-Ups, Datenight, Ex-Gold, Vacation, Mr. Teenage, Yups, Frozen Teens… pick your poison! Though the whole thing may be a bit too front-loaded with most of the hits residing on side a, which leads to a bit of a slump in the second half… kinda like like a meandering Twin Peaks season 2 it still manages to work itself back up to a glorious finale in the closing track Hold Music.
Finally, a full album of Montreal's Hood Rats who've been making noise for a while already, although their sound really snapped into gear on their two most recent EPs in the winter of '22 - '23. Now this one is comprised mostly of punchy new recordings of songs already known from said EPs and a 2022 demo, but that shouldn't distract you from the fact of what a joyous and complete assault of early '80s straight-ahead, no-frills US punk- and hardcore energy this is, enriched with bits of ancient KBD- and contemporary garage punk. Certainly the definitive incarnation for this lavish set of killer tunes!
