It's shaping up to be a pretty awesome week for eggpunk already, helped further along by another genre fixture of the last couple years, Melbourne's Metdog, having just released their full length debut after an impeccable string of EPs and singles. They promised shit about computers and oh boy do we get shit about computers here, leaving more questions than answers though, most of which begin with "What the fuck…?". Perfectly underscoring the subject matter we get to witness the group at their most electronically inclined so far, their overall vibe here being reminiscent of a bizarre 8-bit mashup of vintage Ausmuteants with the distinct added flourish of Windows 3.11 midi files.
Having first come to my attention via a split tape with AJ Cortes and The Burglars, this group from West Palm Beach, Florida has only gotten stronger with every new release and this one is no exception, delivering a new round of catchy, compact blasts in the somewhat eggy realms of power pop, synth- and garage punk evoking thoroughly favorable comparisons to the likes of Gee Tee, Erik Nervous, Vaguess and Satanic Togas.
Already having a couple EPs under his belt, this Whittier, California dude's first full length cassette, also his first release following over five years of radio silence, immediatley clicks with me. That shit is right up my alley with its endearingly crude, moderately psychedelic mix of garage-, post- and synth punk carrying the traits of so many household names, among them the likes of Mononegatives, Useless Eaters, Die TV, Electric Prawns 2, Beef, early Powerplant, Pow!, Freak Genes and Lost Packages.
Always an occasion of pure, unmitigated joy, new songs by Schleswig, Germany solo viking synth punk warrior Klint. The self-released new Stark EP delivers six-and-a-half excellent new blows of the equally rough and noisy, weird and catchy as fuck synth punk action we all know and love. His Should be Honey / Sherbet 7" released simultaneously via italian garage punk institution Goodbye Boozy then goes on a thrilling experimental side quest involving heavy use of ancient brass and vocal samples pulled from 1920s swing records. This is something… kinda random, baffling and unexpected for sure. Sick shit!
Two new EPs by some Louisville, Kentucky group who've apparently released a ton of shit already but are certainly new to me. The Microbiome EP delights with quirky and energetic garage-/synth punk in the vein of Billiam, Spodee Boy, Gholies, early Erik Nervous, Spits, Why Bother? as well as classic Reatard-related artifacts. A nice companion piece then is the more hardcore-minded Bizarro EP dabbling in a way rougher aesthetic of fuzzed-out oldschool mayhem.
Demo number two of this Haarlem, Netherlands group seamlessly carries on with the fun and excitement of its predecessor in the form of no-frills catchy, simple and effective garage- and synth punk smashers sure to please friends primarily of other euro acts á la Dadar, Shitty Life and Mitraille.
Two current powerhouses of weirdo garage- and synth punk join forces for this neat new little EP and guess what: It sounds exactly like you'd expect and all i can further say is what the fuck is not to like about that proposition? The shit rules!
Spanish noise pop overlords Beta Maximo return with a strong new batch of tunes. Hard to believe their prolific output began just sometime last summer… Starting out with what i'd consider more of an eggpunk-aesthetic, they've constantly kept changing things up, gradually evolving into a somewhat slower, dreamy and slightly shoegaze-y direction and these new songs strike me as the most realized and well-rounded stuff we've heard from them recently.
Another constant presence of the garage scene who's been around pretty much since the beginning of this blog has a new LP out and it's such a thing of beauty! As versatile and inventive as ever, these new songs more or less continue the dude's very own quirky, slightly Devo-fied vision of garage punk that first fully took form on that Beta Blockers LP in 2019 - instantly recognizable yet always a couple steps ahead of the listener, always good for a surprise or two. Tracks like Hemgeeh und Projector come with kind of a spaced out, psychedelic Mononegatives energy. Also, we get a bunch of compact and catchy-as-fuck synth-driven smashers in the second half as well as a neat They Might Be Giants cover and Alligator Facing East is such an epic fucking hymn for the ages! Further plausible reference points for the overall sound of this record would be the likes of Andy Human and the Reptoids, Freak Genes, Isotope Soap and New Vogue.
Hard to believe Winchester, Virginia group Power Pants have only been around for less than a year as of now, but indeed their three impressive LPs so far have all been churned out over the course of 2023 and their newest EP still shows no signs of their über-productive song machine slowing down anytime soon! This is yet another ridiculously charming treat of catchy-as-hell, kinda egg-ish garage- and synth punk pushing all the right buttons to further enchant connoiseurs of shit roughly in the vein of Ausmuteants, Set-Top Box, Gee Tee, Erik Nervous, Sex Mex or Daughter Bat And The Lip Stings.
