Reviews

Strange Mono

Be Nothing Be All the Nothing You Can Be cassette

For something wanting to “be nothing,” there is a whole slew of somethings going on here that are a little difficult to decipher. This is the bands second full-length release, and it features a total of fifteen songs which have pretty close to just as many confusing amalgamations of sub-genres within them. Some have simplistic drunk punk repetitive riffs, other songs add in a bit of garage-freakout BUTTHOLE SURFERS kinda vibes, and still others feel like artsy math-rock, but math-rock played by people who maybe flunked out of their algebra classes. There’s certainly some cool aspects peppered in here, but it all comes off a bit confusing and overwhelming. One of the songs, “Battle of the Billionaires,” feels like a combination of the introduction riffs to about a dozen classic rock songs butted up against one another but never getting to the real meat of the song. TGI Fridays Endless Apps™ in band form.

Concrete Caveman Feral LP

A strong offering of death metal from Philadelphia’s CONCRETE CAVEMAN. Some touches of punk-leaning styles like grindcore and powerviolence (especially in the song lengths), but this is definitely a death metal record. I don’t think the production is really good enough for an album of this sort and makes it sound weak at times, but the sharp, tight musicianship does make up for it. Worth a listen if you’re into death metal.

Diuretic Zero Days Without Incident EP

It’s been a long moment since I’ve listened to a grindcore album and simultaneously enjoyed the riffs while giggling at the jokes. Enter DIURETIC, a four-piece from Philadelphia. With all the ways grindcore is stretched to fit these days, it’s really refreshing to hear a band that sounds like old school, straight-up, no-holds grindcore. NAPALM DEATH and UNSEEN TERROR-inspired guitar with speed-shifting rhythm and blasts that race through your aural canal straight to your brain. DIURETIC chose to write this ten-song EP with the theme of “workplace accidents” as the inspiration. Song titles like “OSHA Supersoldier,” “Forklift Certified Early Retirement,” and “The HR Rep is Dead” deepen the joke behind the album title. A really fun listen and definitely something I want to catch live.

False Tracks Hymn for Terror cassette

Play this cassette by Philadelphian rockers FALSE TRACKS loud! Their jangly, distortion-heavy, psych-drenched garage punk is sure to blow you away. If you ever wondered what the YARDBIRDS might sound like if they were into the BUZZCOCKS and JAY REATARD, then look no further. Occasionally soulful but more often noisy, FALSE TRACKS is definitely a unique sound in our currently bland musicscape. The song “Dandelion” is a rocking track that seemingly combines everything FALSE TRACKS is capable of into a stirring and hypnotic presentation. If you’re a fan of psychedelia and garage rock, then do not sleep on this release.

Fugue State Subtlety’s Dead cassette

As time continues moving on and the world gets more and more back to “normal” in this perceived post-COVID world, the one and only thing that I feel sad for is the amount of cool isolation-inspired solo projects beginning to fade—for a number of months, that made up the majority of tapes I was sent to review. There was something incredibly beautiful and inspiring about the resilience of the creative punk rocker left to their own devices and having to make something work alone in order for it to exist at all. Well, FUGUE STATE is coming to me rather late in the game, but it just may be my absolute favorite of all such COVID projects I have yet heard. Beautifully crafted and demented driving garage rock tunes with more hooks than a meat locker, and some killer saxophone playing on two of the tracks. FUGUE STATE combines elements of tons of classics without  sounding like aping them at all. Highly recommended for fans of the CRAMPS and BUTTHOLE SURFERS. Truly top-notch. I have no idea if this Western Massachusetts-based solo project has made the transition into being a live band, but dear god, I hope so.

Programmed Hatred I Wish I Could Have Nice Things But I Live in Philadelphia cassette

Nine tracks of blown-out powerviolence/noisecore from a new Philly group. Side A has some unexpected ambient sections paired with plenty of voice-over clips (pretty on-brand for this type of thing), yet they are still structured as songs. Alternatively, Side B is an indistinguishable gargle of digital-distortion-peaking wreckage that made me double check my speaker connection. I threw headphones on and it sounded the same; as if the audio of Star Wars had been condensed to a nine-and-a-half-minute cassette and then bastardized by thousands of pirated copies. To be certain, the album title is my favorite part of this project, but maybe there’s a fan base for this kind of off-kilter depiction of urban decay, which, if you follow the liner lyrics, you complete a picture of—otherwise, good luck getting the message.

Shitty Wizard Shitty Wizard cassette

Self-described Philadelphia party punk. SHITTY WIZARD opens with a GG cover (piece of shit glorified rape for most of his career, so minus ten points—fight me) and careens through eight more high-energy slammers with heavy rock’n’roll vibes. Vocals have an occasional Rev Summer tinge that genuinely sets SHITTY WIZARD apart from the dirt rock set. There’s something here, for sure.

Straight On View Gotta Step Up demo cassette

Lace up your high-top Nikes and take a little stroll with me, won’t you? STRAIGHT ON VIEW plays by-the-numbers throwback youth crew. No reinventing the wheel here, nothing particularly original added to the formula (except maybe the couple wildly shredding solos peppered in through this eight-song debut demo), but who needs originality in this day and age? New genres of music are all crummy anyways, why not find the subgenre of hardcore/punk that really speaks to you and completely ape it?  Chuggy guitars, gang vocals, the weird plink-punky bass that somehow is prevalent in this genre, STRAIGHT ON VIEW has everything on this demo, if your everything happens to be youth crew-style hardcore which absolutely oozes positivity.

The Justice League of America Strange Mono Unsung Gems: My Uncle Geno’s Band cassette

The first installment of the Strange Mono label’s Unsung Gems series, releasing recordings that have been lost to time. The JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA was active from 1979–1983 in Bergen County, NJ. Now, I know what you’re thinking, fellow MRR hardcore punk enthusiast: a long-lost recording from a band a mere hour drive from powerhouse record label Mutha Records from the exact Killed By Death time frame?! What wonders might await us? Well, I was wondering the exact same thing, but alas, the JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA was undoubtedly a rock’n’roll act. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Hell, who doesn’t love rock’n’roll? This collection of recordings is a confusing roller coaster to ride on, though—hopping from genre to genre it all feels a bit rudderless. Rock en general, blues rock, reggae, ’70s hard rock, power pop. It plays more like a mixtape than an album by a singular band. None of this is surprising, as I doubt this was ever intended to be a group of recordings played back to back. Moreso, it was likely a band trying to find their sound or whatever people say. Being a bit of an amateur shitty archaeologist myself, It’s always a fun thing to see long-lost recordings unearthed and brought to light. While it may not have scratched the itch I had initially hoped, the songwriting is solid, even if some of it isn’t my thing. The few power-pop-leaning tracks are legitimately cool; “Settled Sons,” “Fifth Amendment,” and “Martyrs For Each Other” are easily my favorites on the tape.

V/A Benefit for Prevention Point EP

Great compilation for a great cause. Nice mix of different-sounding bands, ranging from snotty garage rock to grind-influenced hardcore, from catchy to brutal all within fifteen minutes. Each band hails from the same region, so suffice to say Philly has a pretty healthy scene. Lovely stuff here, reminds me of the old compilations of my youth. Well worth a pick-up.

Worshiper To Binge and Purge in LA cassette

This one is heavy for all of the right and all of the wrong reasons. Active in the 2000s, Philadelphia’s WORSHIPER created a misanthropic cacophony that would make fans of UNSANE, 16, and BUZZOV•EN swoon, and offer a wake-up jab to fans of UOA, SLEEPING BODY, and other pillars of ’90s DIY discordance. Fronted by Mike Parry’s vocals that sound like rusty razor blades desperately trying to saw through stone walls, their controlled chaos translates to the recorded medium in a way that makes it clear you’re only getting a small taste of how massive and overwhelming the live experience must have been. But while the sounds are heavy, the context is devastating. After years of struggle that contributed to the dissolution of the band, To Binge and Purge in LA was given a new life by friends of Mike’s after his relapse and overdose in 2021. A six-song tribute to a friend, to a band. A six-song release dedicated to a release from pain and benefiting people still fighting through it. Without the context, WORSHIPER’s posthumous release comes highly recommended. But when you take everything in, it feels cathartic and necessary.