Two guesses as to where this lot is from. We Stand Defiant comes with the perfunctory middle finger ethos (and cover art) and there really isn’t much there beyond that. Big guitar punk indebted to DEAD BOYS and the ilk: less brain cells, more bruised knuckles. Pure lash-out stuff, very ugly and tough, but not even a tiny bit memorable.
The vocals here will make or break your listen. They’re droning, snotty, and repetitive. I kept thinking of English anarcho-punk bands, whose vocals can be a barrier to entry. The guitars have a thin, whiny quality, which seems odd for a band really channeling bawdy bar punk. I kept waiting for them to thicken or turn up. This band initially struck me as a kind of bombastic proto-punk outfit, and they kept making choices which pulled me away from that impression. I don’t know if that contrast was intentional, but for me it defined the listen.
As the title says, this comp is a collection of bands from Detroit, MI. The record starts off with “Limelight” from TIMMY’S ORGANISM. It is a short, thrashy track from this wildly entertaining band. It sets the bar high for the rest of the LP, which is filled with manic, angry, silly, loose and harsh bands. They are WEREWOLF JONES, DEVIOUS ONES, the STRAINS, PRIMITIV PARTS, BUBAK, UDI, LOWCOCKS, ERODERS, THROWAWAY and more. If these songs are representative of what’s happening in Detroit, things are about to explode. Watch out.
This record is brought to us by 442 Music, DETROIT 442’s own label dedicated to their music and compilations of Detroit-based artists. While I usually struggle to find succinct words for a release chock-full of so many artists, Life Long Garbage is a pretty consistent gathering of lo-fi, scuzzy, and buzzy bands that take no shit, and are, if you didn’t read the album title, all female-fronted. Without listing all the contributions, some favorites are MILKBATH’s “Steamroller” that features some lovely, deep and rich vocals, ROUGH PATCH’s “Shit Day” that describes just that, making you feel alright about your own mess and sung over stripped-down drums and bass, and DEAR DARKNESS’s “You Wanna Beat Him Up” with soaring melodies and big, meaty guitars. After a few listens, I could go on to mention more favorites—all to say, this record contains a lot of powerful women from Motor City making excellent music.
