Reviews

Computer Human

Erik Nervous Bugs!! LP

ERIK dropped the BETA BLOCKERS for this LP; he’s going solo and the results are marvelous.  Eleven tracks of DEVO-worshipping, synth-laden Midwest garage rock which sometimes veers into absolute hardcore mayhem. Songs are fast, hooks are catchy, riffs are sick, guitar solos are quick and frantic, with a vital impulse to push things to the extreme which is very alluring and fun. This kind of sound’s been on a revival kick of sorts lately, I haven’t been that interested in it to be honest, but ERIK NERVOUS delivers. Just listen to the chaotic opener “Our Hungry Fruit,” ERIK never lets up the intensity throughout the record. This was released on cassette last year but now you can get it on red, white, or black vinyl. Be stiff!

Liquids Life is Pain Idiot LP

Considering this was on my best of 2021 list, it’s not surprising that I love this record. Revisiting it now, especially now that it’s finally on vinyl, I’m amazed at how comparatively clean it all sounds given the band’s legacy of ear-bleeding basement punk. There’s no hesitation in recommending this sprawling collection of songs, though if anything, Mat Williams’ songs have even more heft to them with the details and turns of phrase (both lyrically and musically) put into sharper focus. Tracks like “All You Say” and “Shitty Fuckin DNA” are undeniable classics that continue the tradition of mirror-smashing hopelessness that keeps hardcore and punk vital to this day. The playing is as tight as ever, the songs are perfection. This band might be tidier than ever, but that doesn’t stop them from burning everything to the ground.

Silicone Prairie My Life on the Silicone Prairie LP

Keeping the Midwestern punk freak flag flying high, Kansas CIty’s SILICONE PRAIRIE arrives with a dense, hooky, high-speed genre-hopping LP mixing elements of the FEELIES, DEVO, synth pop, folk, and even glam rock. This is the work of Ian Teeple from WARM BODIES and NATURAL MAN BAND, but unlike those outfits, SILICONE PRAIRIE takes a bit more work to untangle and get into. The songs are dizzying helium bursts of energy, taking wild turns combining familiar but irreconcilable (or so I thought) genres. It’s kind of an amazing act of dexterity. It made my head hurt at first, but so did PERE UBU the first time I heard The Modern Dance. It truly is one of those records that grows on you and reveals itself after a bunch of listens. I can’t quite figure out what is and isn’t satire here, but it is nothing if not inspired. “Silicone Prairie”—the song, not the band—is hook city, but could also pass for a phased-out- sounding theme to a ’70s sitcom. The song ejects before the two-minute mark and gives way to a folky number that smacks of 4-track lo-fidelity. Then there’s my favorite, “Song for Patrick Cowley,” a tribute to the electronic music pioneer that lacks the ironic detachment of the rest of the record. “Come Away” ends the whole affair on some worn-down cassette bedroom pop. A daring and oddball collection of music. I approve.

Snooper Music for Spies EP

SNOOPER is a Nashville-based duo made up of Connor Cummins (SPODEE BOY) and Blair Tramel. This is their first release, and it’s quite an impressive debut. They cover so much ground over the course of these four tracks that I was genuinely surprised to see that the whole EP’s running time is just seven minutes and twenty seconds. The inevitable comparison here would be to the CONEHEADS, as they certainly crib a lot from the NWI sound. But they infuse it with enough other influences that it feels like a fresh take. I hear fellow Tennesseeans LOST SOUNDS in their explosive choruses and a little bit of the URINALS in their production. The best track on the EP might be the one that bears the least resemblance to Mark Winter and company. “Running” establishes a borderline Krautrock groove with a simple drum beat, a DEVO-esque bassline, and chanted vocals, then it alternately weaves in a fuzzy surf guitar line and a MINUTEMEN-like funk riff. It really is something. An essential release!

Steröid S.M.O.K.E. Show EP

In the late ’80s/early ’90s, there was this syndicated cartoon programming block called The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera. It featured classic Hanna-Barbera cartoons alongside crude, low-budget shows seemingly cooked up in an ’80s fever dream (see: Fantastic Max or The Further Adventures of Super Ted), and it was hosted by the Down and Dirty Dinosaurs—a trio of dudes in dinosaur costumes dressed in punk/hip hop garb. It was really something. Anyway, I bring this up because the contemporary Aussie punk scene—particularly the stuff coming from the rock mutants of Sydney—really reminds me of that show. And this latest 7” on Computer Human, a label run by the head scientist at RESEARCH REACTOR CORP, is no exception. STERÖID, the brainchild of ex-GEE TEE member Gordo Blackers, is a Hobart-based recording project that plays “eggy metal.” The five tracks on this EP (four originals and one OVERDRIVE cover) sound like the music that the heroes of Galtar and the Golden Lance might play if there was ever an episode that involved a battle of the bands for some reason. Just imagine mid-’80s montage music with chipmunk vocals written by a guy whose record collection was full of, like, RAMONES, THIN LIZZY, and NWOBHM records. It rules.