Reviews

Under Heat

Billiam 8 Hours in Billiamville EP

While I have developed a general aversion to the unabashedly quirky and messy styles of what is commonly referred to as “egg-punk,” BILLIAM has managed to win me over a bit with this little eight-song garage banger. There’s a frankness to these frantic and grooving tunes that makes the weirdness quite tolerable, and songs like the synth-driven “Soup Season” and the dreamy “Metal Bed” are just so damn catchy it’s hard to resist. This is probably my favorite collection that he’s put out thus far. He’s got a number on here entitled “B-Beat” where he pounds out a rudimentary D-beat for a few seconds before flatly proclaiming “I don’t get D-beat,” which I can totally understand because I used to not “get D-beat” either, back when I was stupid.

DEB5000 Debutante cassette

Auckland, NZ punk four-piece with all its female members coming out of other bands (though I haven’t been able to find which ones) to create the ridiculous, the fabulous, DEB5000. Take one look at the cassette cover, it’s amazing; take one look at the track list—where’d they come up with this shit? “Bad Guts” about gastro-intestinal problems, “Keanu (Wyld Stallyn)” that makes a song out of Keanu Reeves characters. I think “Termite Queen” rocks the hardest and makes a great metaphor for female strength. This is some wild Down Under punk rock, and I would recommend.

Futurat Incinerat cassette

A perfect collision of modern freak punk stomps and early fuzzed-out grunge. Imagine MUDHONEY + LUMPY. Recording is blown to shit and everything feels like it’s studio-tweaked to death in the best way. Russian punk on an Australian label—up all the international punks!

Leeches Return to Sludge cassette

LEECHES is a drum machine/synth punk recording project from Henrik Berg (the INSEMINOIDS) out of Gothenburg, Sweden. Dude’s been at it for about five years now, and he’s got quite a few releases under his belt, with this being his second for the Aussie cassette label Under Heat. The six tracks on this release are a cool mix of kitschy sci-fi punk, goth-y EBM, and late-night cable sleaze. This cassette might not be winning any points for originality, but these are some good-ass songs with a really big, almost cinematic sound. Worth checking out!

Pensioner Pensioner demo cassette

PENSIONER is the name of this no-fi solo effort from GHOULIES’ Alec, recorded (as so many solo projects have been recently) during the pandemic lockdown in Perth, Australia. This demo comes off like a stripped-down, purposely ugly version of GHOULIES’ frenetic synth punk; all slimy, irradiated grooves and warbled vocals. Sounds like it could have crawled out of NWI in 2014 with the rest of the Lumpy gang. There’s even a devolved RAMONES cover (“Commando”). “Slip Slop Slap” is a delight, appealing to my eternal love of simple pop songs buried beneath layers of fuzz and noise.

Print Head boringboring cassette

One of the like six or seven cassettes this project released in 2021. If you’re unfamiliar with PRINT HEAD, the anything-goes no-fi recordings of prolific Canadian Brandon Saucier, this is probably as good a place as any to start. The five tracks on this release are easier to digest than the potentially daunting (though very excellent) 25-track compilation cassette that Discos Peroquébien put out last year, and it’s less likely to rankle than his cassette of PARQUET COURTS covers. And you’re getting a pretty good idea of what PRINT HEAD is all about—minute-long vignettes exploring a variety of punkish sounds. The first few tracks hew a little closer to the garage-y end of the punk spectrum with a touch of DEVO-core (you just can’t get away from it these days!), but it’s never really eggy—think if early TYVEK was a little more herky-jerky. And the rest of the tracks take some of the tunefulness that you’d find in mid-’90s GUIDED BY VOICES and weds that to the concrete-slicing jazzy funk-punk of early MINUTEMEN. Really compelling stuff—give it a go!

Remote Control Remote Control EP

REMOTE CONTROL is a new recording project from the ever-prolific Ishka Edmeades (SATANIC TOGAS, SET-TOP BOX, TEE VEE REPAIRMAN, and probably every other band out of Sydney). This time he’s opting to apply his sharp songwriting chops to some synth-free blistering punk tracks, and—big shocker—it’s cool! You’re getting three sub-two-minute corkers here (along with a couple of tracks of soundscape-y farting around). This is probably the closest Ishka’s come to putting out some straightforward USHC, but, of course, coming from this dude it’s not gonna be all that straightforward. It’s still a little cartoony and still sounds like something the weirdest kid you remember from high school might cook up. In other words, it’s real good shit!

Revv Amusia cassette

Here we have four sunbaked, relaxed-but-tight tracks of verbed-out rock‘n’roll from Australia (who seem to specialize in it). REVV stands out in how the sound balances more laid-back cruisin’ vibes with a healthy dose of dissonance and angularity. The title track really exemplifies this with guitar licks that slip around hazily and disorienting, all draped across a tight and confident rhythm section. The other cuts are strong, too; a good little tape that gives you what you need.