Reviews

For review and radio play consideration:

Please send vinyl (preferred), CD, or cassette releases to MRR, PO Box 3852, Oakland, CA 94609, USA. Maximum Rocknroll wants to review everything that comes out in the world of underground punk rock, hardcore, garage, post-punk, thrash, etc.—no major labels or labels exclusively distributed by major-owned distributors, no reviews of test pressings or promo CDs without final artwork. Please include contact information and let us know where your band is from!

Bikini Beach Atoll LP

Stoner-psych-fuzz-death-garage-rock with rotating vocalists that I’m sure would leave that high-pitched tinnitus lingering in your ears for several days when (if?) live shows happen again, and one forgets or has a credence against ear plugs. The ringing would be a subtle reminder that you saw a band sweat, scream, and destroy a set leaving it all on the stage. I used “stoner” as a description because if the band were from Southern California or signed to Castle Face Records, that’s a term that may get dropped around. But the band hails from Weinfelden, Switzerland and is too tightly explosive and punky energetic to really be stoner per se, more like a triple espresso with a heavy pour of kirsch brandy.

The Black Black Careful on Your Way Out LP

This is super catchy, dance-y rock’n’roll. It’s got an ’80s sound without sounding dated. High-energy and bouncy with some politics thrown in for laughs. Standout track is “Fun Police”—”Who made you the fun police?” A good question. Pretty swirled, tan-colored vinyl, too.

Caltrops Do We Have a Future? cassette

Fiery Colorado crust with near-constant vocals in line with Japanese greats and almost too many leads. Two solid D-beat bangers and one stoner/grind ripper, but the breakneck “Bastards Will Pay” steals the show here, noteworthy because it’s the track where they seem to burst out of their comfort zone and really unleash. Recording is appropriately raw, and CALTROPS fall in line with late ’90s US political crust, which is a compliment.

Cesspool We Hide Among You LP

Copenhagen’s new hardcore outfit CESSPOOL sets a very simple goal for the listener: a boot to the face. We Hide Among You is composed of eight tracks of slam-dancing, pit-clearing anthems of mid-paced hardcore in the fashion of WARTHOG or TARANTULA. Their strong suit is the heavy groove they achieve and a strong sense of musicality. Clear your room and feel the stomp of CESSPOOL.

Custody II LP

This sounds like a SAMIAM record. Like almost to a T. The only difference is this band is from Finland. So I suppose take that however you’d like. In fact….this is their bio on the internet: “We are a band. We make melodic music that makes us happy. We sound like Sergie Loobkoff having a knife fight with Matt Pryor and Mike Carter in the ’90s!” So it’s totally intentional, I guess. Fortunately I happen to thoroughly enjoy SAMIAM, so that helps.

Death Ridge Boys Boots on the Streets cassette

Portland’s hairy exponents of leftist Oi! return with four new ones and three covers. This may be the best thing I’ve heard from them so far. The songs are catchy as hell, especially the excellent 4 SKINS-inspired, menacing “Let Them Know.” They feel like a more tuneful CRIMINAL DAMAGE that’s less obsessed with BLITZ here. The drums are snare-heavy, up front, and the wailing guitars are nice and buried and shitty-sounding like a proper Oi! mix. “Always Darkest” excelles with pandemic-inspired lyrics like “Can’t go out without wearing a mask / Cuz people are in fear for their lives / You see me on the street / But you’d never guess I’ve been wearing one my whole fucking life!” LOL. The covers (BIG BOYS/7 SECONDS/WIRE) are pretty straightforward and don’t add much to the originals, but are well-thought-out and untraditional while remaining street in spirit. The overused term “banger” could be apt verbiage here, but without a side of mash it falls flat as pavement. See you fucks at the microbrewery!

DeStructos Blast! cassette

This cassette is the answer to the age-old question, can you combine the sound of the JESUS LIZARD, MELT BANANA, and JOY DIVISION? Well, apparently you can, and it sounds goddamn amazing. The riffs are angular, thick with distortion, and catchy as hell. The vocals spit with attitude and remind me heavily of Siouxsie Sioux or the RAINCOATS. DESTRUCTOS prove here that they are one of the most creative and badass punk bands coming out of Philadelphia, and that means something because I’ve heard a lot of stellar bands from Philly recently. This tape is a melting pot of sounds from across the spectrum of punk and noise, and all of the sounds come together to create something really special and unique. Give it a listen, I promise you won’t regret it.

Dropdead Dropdead 2020 LP

I’m a DROPDEAD fan, but I’ll admit they’re a band with a far too big catalogue and that I have quite gladly picked and chosen the specific few records and comps I think they excel on. When I sat down to listen to Dropdead 2020, I ended up digging out and relistening to 落とす死 (which is still an absolutely stellar HC record), and I guess that was a mistake. Revealing a band in its adolescence at the cusp of their prime no doubt colours what I imagine crossover fans would call an alright crossover thrash record, if you’re into that sort of thing. Included in a write-up for this record was a statement about how they have (vocally) moved away from the “raw screaming” of previous releases, and with that I guess I’m out. Mind you, there are some catchy tracks on this and some really good drumming, it just doesn’t hold a candle to their earlier records.

Eskorbuto Los Demenciales Chicos Acelerados 2xLP reissue

One of the most influential bands for the Spanish and Latin American punk community, ESKORBUTO has a special reputation that has only grown with time. After the classics Eskizofrenia and Anti Todo, they released Los Demenciales Chicos Acelerados originally on Discos Suicidas in 1987. This is a band way ahead of their time and that had a huge impact, making this the very first “punk opera” ever about a corrupt politician who finally sees his demise because of his ego. Housed in a controversial gatefold sleeve, this double LP reissue of this classic album contains the original artwork complete with a political satirical work against any kind of dictatorial regime. Still relevant and still resonates with modern days.

The Fadeaways Bad Dreams / Don’t Tread on Me 7″

Two fun songs from this Japanese power-poppy garage band. The FADEAWAYS’ sound is steeped in ’60s style. The A-side is a 21st century take on the 13TH FLOOR ELEVATORS classic. The B-side is a cover of KIT AND THE OUTLAWS.

Fleur du Louve Sparkwood cassette

This Northwest duo creates rudimentary witchy goth with repetitive programmed drums and melodies carried by single-note guitars, while both members float in the top of the mix with airy, oft-spoken vocals. Their target is in plain sight, and the fact that they land just off the mark in some places only serves to make FLEUR DU LOUVE feel more honest, more real. I’m wondering what a sophomore effort might conjure.

G2G Animated Satisfaction EP

G2G is a DIY band out of Sydney, Australia. In this age of overproduced, over-saturated, and at times overly self-indulgent music, G2G embodies a bare-bones intensity that stands out. With songs that bring to mind various late ’70s/early ’80s female-fronted punk bands, their song structure is simple, and unadorned by instrumental frills. It sounds like three friends having fun and talking about things that are important to them—the recordings feel intimate, as though you’ve stumbled in on a practice. As a whole, this record transmits an energy that is both joyful and fierce, in a way so fitting for this moment in time. I hope there is more to come from this band.

Intelligence Un-Psychedelic in Peavey City LP

Back in 2015, I read an MRR  review of Vintage Future (the INTELLIGENCE’s previous LP) where the reviewer lamented the band’s pivot to “blog rock.” At the time, I was hitting the Lars Finberg Kool-Aid pretty hard—not only did he helm one of my favorite active bands in the INTELLIGENCE, but he had been involved in so many other projects that I loved (A FRAMES, DIPERS, PUBERTY, THEE OH SEES)—so I had trouble understanding how someone could dislike anything he’d put out. A lifetime has passed since then, which has allowed me to see this as a fair assessment. I’m probably still higher on that LP than the reviewer, but it’s certainly a much more sedate affair than you would expect given their past trajectory. Unfortunately, this latest album travels even further down the soft rock avenue, and I’m having difficulty finding much to enjoy. It pains me to say this, but the LP sounds like BECK at his sleepiest or some of the lamer FUGAZI records that appeal to folks who go to Burning Man. I’m willing to grant that Lars’s songwriting has matured in ways that I should learn to appreciate, and I wouldn’t want to sentence him to a life of endlessly cranking out iterations of Icky Baby or Males. Still, I need something with more bite than this.

Klick & Aus Tapetopia 003: AIDS Delikat LP

The ’80s tried its hardest to kill rock’n’roll. In 1984, KLICK & AUS didn’t give a fuck about rock’n’roll per se, but still they managed to tap into its eternal well-spring of possibility and indulge in reckless, ramshackle sounds. KLICK & AUS stitched their music together while adjacent to quarantine (West Berlin gazing at East) and that patchwork existence influences their output. This is human music, as modern as a car phone and thirty times more useful. At times, KLICK & AUS recalls similar collectives such as HANS-A-PLAST (“Halt Mich Fest”), LUCRATE MILK (“Gebt Mir Schnaps”), TUXEDOMOON (“Slow Virus”), and FAUST (“Das Schicksal Der Lymphozyten”). Unfortunately, due to format constraints, the entirety of the original hour-long cassette is relegated to the web, but the material that shows up on this LP is more than enough to kickstart your own scene where the rules get chucked out the nearest window (and of course that is recorded for future use).

Litterbug Abstract Melodies Saying Terrible Things LP

Tuneful indie-punk from the UK, with strains of later VISIONS OF CHANGE, DESCENDENTS, or even SENSELESS THINGS. The record avoids the pop punk tag because although the guitar lines provide a lot of melody, the vocals themselves are somewhat deadpan (rather than sung) and the choruses aren’t particularly hooky or catchy. The vocal delivery draws welcome attention to the slice-of-life lyrics, which have a tongue-in-cheek humor not unlike a punk version of HALF MAN HALF BISCUIT. Good stuff.

Mess Intercity 12″

If you like BLITZ (which you fucking well better had like), you’ll like this, simple as, end of. No pissing about, it’s about as perfect a slice of UK82 skiiiiinhead rock’n’roll as you are likely to find. Anthemic, euphoric, and bleach-stained as they come, could have easily booted its way onto a No Future release. One that will be in heavy rotation chez yours truly for the foreseeable future.

Moth Machine Nation EP

MOTH is a new recording project from Darcy Berry, whom you may know as the drummer from Melbourne acts GONZO or U-BAHN. He’s playing all the instruments on this four-song EP, and the sound basically splits the difference between those two bands, like he’s pulling the tight, DEVO-esque start-stop rhythms from the former and the synthy post-punk atmospherics from the latter. The end result brings to mind a less wacky URANIUM CLUB or meaner AUSMUTEANTS. These songs are all covering very well-trodden ground, but the execution here is pretty flawless and elevates this EP to something worth seeking out (Mikey Young also mixed and mastered this, so of course it sounds great). Standout track is “Jealousy,” which features Veeka Nazarova (from indie pop band KOSMETIKA) providing lyrics and vocals (in Russian!).

Nervous Tick and the Zipper Lips / Science Man The COVID Collaborations: Vol. I cassette

Cool split between Buffalo’s NERVOUS TICK AND THE ZIPPER LIPS and SCIENCE MAN where each band contributes one original song, a cover of the other band, and two collaborative tracks. The groups have a pretty different sound and energy, but this tape works and is a hopeful document that the spirit of artistic collaboration can thrive in this time of isolation. The first three tracks show off SCIENCE MAN’s no-frills/no bullshit rock’n’roll with sleazy vocals and meaty STOOGES instrumentation. “The Mask” is three minutes of slow churn proto-punk with a full-ass guitar solo. The next two from them are a little faster but still have OG hard rock vibes with a throaty menace. Tough! The three NERVOUS TICK songs are forged in jerky new wave rhythms, complete with a drum machine under the trebly guitar work. “Don’t Know Where to Go” has stiff, robotic vocals that sound like GARY NUMAN on punk. This tape is a great idea done well, and I look forward to future volumes (hopefully after COVID).

ÖPNV ÖPNV cassette

Five songs of plodding, synth-heavy punk from Germany. Mid-tempo and dirgy, this falls somewhere in my mind between post-punk and slower peace punk stuff like POISON GIRLS. I really dig it. The strange occasional synthesizer blip-bloops are really cool and kind of push this over the top for me. Between the stuff here on Phantom Records and the handful of things I’ve gotten to review on Billo Records, it seems Germany has a wide array of killer stuff going on currently and I am thirsty for more.

Pänika Demo 2020 cassette

This short dose of PÄNIKA is flush with a menacing and pounding sound. Blasting sparse riffs with a mocking tone, haunting echoed vocals, and overt political themes, its got all the ingredients for a captivating hardcore experience, even if it only lasts a couple minutes. They kinda remind me of a female-fronted version of Italy’s KOBRA, which is great praise, and I’m thinking this has got to be one of the hottest bands in Wroclaw, Poland.

Pinocchio My Time Vol. 1 EP

Punk isn’t about competition, it’s about community, but if I had to pick a band that best represents the vibrancy and creativity of the current renaissance of NYC punk, PINOCCHIO would be near the very top of a short list. Simply put, this is one of the most confident debuts in punk in at least a decade. Self-assured, fearsome, and downright odd where it counts—it makes you start to wonder if starving to death in the big city might be worth it just to get a taste of what’s going on over there. Somewhere between new wave and hardcore, with some detours into a dimension we’ve yet to fully explore, PINOCCHIO has already proven they belong in the pantheon of greats, and they only needed eight tracks to do it. Essential listening for yesterday, today, and many tomorrows to come.

Polyester Dipsomaniac / Bite Me 7″

Pretty decent shocking pink hard-wave from Sweden that looks and sounds damn fine under a black light. EPOXIES, X-RAY SPEX, the DAMNED, and VAGEENAS are good places to look if you’re needing that feeling of control by comparison. The title track excels and smokes on this platter and being a former “dipso” myself, it gives me that fuzzy feeling inside. “Bite Me” has a much bigger and theatrical sound and is no slouch in itself making this EP flow like luminous paint down the gutter.

Priors My Punishment on Earth LP

The album art is a kitschy, psychedelic take on classic B-movie horror images. PRIORS from Montreal return with their particular strain of garage punk with a pop sensibility. Mixing freaked-out fuzz, abrasive synth, and vocals that approximate the later output of JAY REATARD. Familiar elements to be sure, but they keep it interesting. The opening tune “Brew Ha Ha” is mostly direct and pummeling but it leaves space for eerie melodic touches. It’s sonically saturated to all hell and sounds like a party. TOM WAITS had a schmaltzy song called “The Piano Has Been Drinking.” PRIORS should have a song called “The Synth Has Been Dosing.”

Shitload The Marrero Atheist Truck CD-R

This one’s a marathon of solo noise grind diarrhea out of New Orleans. It collects a bunch of SHITLOAD split appearances and live recordings on one CD-R, and it goes on for what feels like hours. All of this sounds pretty much the same, 30 seconds of drum machine blast with unintelligible bass and shouting, followed by a few seconds of feedback and repeat over and over again. They do switch it up for the last couple of tracks with some noise dirges, which are not so bad but it sure took a lot to get there. Highlights are the “Takeshitload Collab Session” and when it’s over. SHITLOAD… it’s not just a clever name.

Soft Shoulder Copy Machine Fall Down 7″

Gilgongo Records mainman James Fella is an industrious sort. His label is constantly releasing interesting, occasionally great, art-damaged records by an array of projects. His own group, SOFT SHOULDER, is the best of these, and for the last year, they have been on a tear, including two excellent LPs. This 7″ is the third single in the last twelve months, and it continues their streak. Both sides were stitched together from remotely-recorded parts, pandemic-style. “Copy Machine” features the band’s current line-up for a quick primer of their fractured aesthetic, while “Fall Down” brings in past members and associates for free jazz-like deconstruction. New LP coming soon!

Spiritual Mafia Al Fresco LP

Real Rorschach blot test music, this: I feel like one person could listen to SPIRITUAL MAFIA’s debut album and hear bleak, glazed-eye noise rock drudgery, and someone else could take in the exact same 32 minutes and walk away having experienced transcendent psych/Kraut heat damage. The pointedly mundane, repetitive lyrics thoroughly underscore this too, especially on Al Fresco’s opening and closing cuts, “Lunch” and “Bath Boy”—the latter of which runs past ten minutes, cycles through all manner of delicious dub manoeuvres and treats the act of jumping in the tub as a solipsist’s charter. “Hybrid Animal,” no one-pump chump itself at nearly nine minutes, is kinda HAWKWIND guitar frazzle with BIG BLACK subject matter (reputedly based on the time a friend’s neighbour called round, in the nude, to inform him she was pregnant with her three-legged dog’s offspring) and sounds like someone’s playing pool in the background at one point. “Smiles” and “Poolside” are shorter, thuddier arch-rockers that feel most emblematic of the Melbourne swamp SPIRITUAL MAFIA come from, thinking here of CONSTANT MONGREL and VOICE IMITATOR’s most recent releases. This one was a slowburner but I’m all about it now.

The Throwawaze Punkstars cassette

It has been a few years since I have heard new bands playing street punk songs like this. Five songs of driving, beer-soaked, pogo-crazed nastiness from Oklahoma City. With choruses of “I’m unemplOi!Oi!Oi!ed / I’m unemplOi!Oi!Oi!ed / I’m unemplOi!Oi!Oi!ed / Fuck you!,” I imagine that the avid MRR reader can hear this song in their head right now without ever listening to the THROWAWAZE. Big fan of the band’s glamour shot in the insert being in front of a row of pinball machines.

Trigger Cut Rogo LP

TRIGGER CUT is a German noise rock band that takes several pages from the SHELLAC playbook, but goddamn, they do it well. Steve Albini’s influence is definitely all over this record, from the trebly dissonant guitar to the slightly distorted bass production to the detached shouted/shrieked vocals. So they didn’t invent this particular template, but TRIGGER CUT may have perfected it. Each track comes out pummeling with heart-pounding, head-bobbing hit after hit of noisy, muscular grit. The relentless energy and super-crisp recording is as good as this genre gets and pairs excellently with the classic Touch and Go or AmRep bands of the ’80s and ’90s. This shit is exciting. When vocalist Ralph moves from a half-spoken/half-shouted verse to a voice-cracking shriek like in “Coffin Digger” or “Regular Funk,” the effect is arresting and awesome. “Fireworks” manages to get even heavier with the sturm und drang of a drop-tuned doomy bass riff with explosive full-band response that absolutely rips. The rest of the record never slows or weakens the full-tilt destructive onslaught. Highly recommended!

Ugly Thing Ugly Thing cassette

The Richter Scale label in Oxford has been transatlantically repping the Moreno Valley, CA hardcore scene, or one specific node of it, by running off UK editions of its bands’ extremely short tapes. Being objective here, anyone paying to have a toilet-break-length piece of music cargoed across the world is exhibiting decadence on a par with the last days of Rome. Not totally sure who’s in UGLY THING, but they’ve sprung from the same well as SUNK, REJEX, and PROCESS OF ELIMINATION, all of whom have Richter Scale tapes too, and their demo—four songs in two-and-a-half minutes—is tasty, “take a buzzsaw to a brick wall” HC with cool rabid dog vox and no song titles.

Warsh EP II cassette

Always love a good church bell gong-like intro, and on a demo? Even better. WARSH plays echoing, lo-fi riffed hardcore with urgency and chaotic warmth. The tempo is reminiscent of DR. KNOW and the delivery reminds me of LIFE CHAIN. Songs lacerate shut around the one-and-a-half to two-minute mark and it seems a bit anxious and hasty, but maybe that works. I wonder what WARSH would come up with if they added a bit more to each song. Breakdowns are momentary, intros as well, but there is something unhinged about it. This self-described “potato punk” band from Prince Edward Island, if I was to guess, is not baked, but I look forward to hearing more toppings.

Zero Zeroes Zero Zeroes LP

The ’90s often get overlooked by punk bands looking to mine the past for fresh style references, but while plenty can (and has) been said about the ’70s and ’80s, the pre-Y2K years had tons of acts deserving of revisits and updates. Germany’s ZERO ZEROES know this, and while their sound still feels contemporary (and certainly not retro), they also aren’t afraid to harken back to some of the trademarks of heavy hitters like NEW BOMB TURKS and ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT. Combining high-speed swaggering thumpers with whip-smart riffing, this ends up being one of the most fun punk releases in recent memory. It’s smartly conceived and has a worn-down authenticity to it just to seal the deal. The standout track “7070’s” exemplifies the anthemic songwriting this band utterly nails—with big ringing chords, vocals with conviction, and a tough-as-hell rhythm section. Damn near perfect modern punk.

V/A Vertigo: Synth Punk Blasts 1978–1984 LP

Well, first things first: compared to the unrelated but similarly-themed Killed by Synth LP that preceded it, this new comp at least succeeds in only including bands that actually used keyboards, so no BIG BOYS, OIL TASTERS, or BOB this time around. In true KBD tradition, the focus here is on the the flipped-out and the fucked-up—in the words of the compiler(s), “no synth pop, no new wave, no experimental music”—and despite (presumably) being named after the SCREAMERS song, Vertigo skips over the usual synth punk suspects in favor of some deeper and less obvious cuts. Highlights include the Bloodstains-via-Red Snerts snot of “Sophistication” by PLASTIC IDOLS (Houston’s answer to DOW JONES AND THE INDUSTRIALS), organ-smeared mutant new wave with wild femme vocals from Santa Cruz’s SCHEMATIX on “Nothing Special,” the dark, frenetic end-times robo-pulse of “Happy Funeral” by Sweden’s KITCHEN AND THE PLASTIC SPOONS, the jarring juxtaposition of sparse minimal wave and intense, unhinged vocals in German from DER KÜNFTIGE MUSIKANT’s “Es Ist Kalt”… also, totally bold move with the inclusion of “Food Fight” by the VILLAGE PEOPLE (yes, really)—in the post-disco early ’80s, they revamped their image to pass as New Romantics and recorded this one-off, utterly dumb but kind of amazing slice of PLASTIC BERTRAND-esque punksploitation with the former “construction worker” channeling his inner Tomata Du Plenty, now officially enshrined as the first dollar bin KBD bonzer. Not a predictable comp by any means, and that’s very much to its credit.

Antisocial Skills / Rules split LP

Prague’s ANTISOCIAL SKILLS spit out ten tracks of mid-tempo HC that has no right to be as catchy as it is, absolutely reeking of youth, hopelessness, and occasionally series of blasts just to remind you that they can kick into gear when they’re not doing the snotty teen thing. Though a fair bit too melodic for my taste, even someone as misery-guts as myself can acknowledge that this band could easily destroy a house show with this kinda energy, real foot-tapping shit. It’s RULES on the other side of this record, hailing from Zagreb, Croatia, who perplex me. We go from songs that barely scrape the two-minute mark to the five-minute, borderline noise rock of TRANSIENT CARE? The tempo amps up considerably after this, a kind of raw HC crossed with some of the weirder shit on Amphetamine Reptile Records with screeching noise rock coming through with every twist of the guitar in this. It grew and grew on me, especially the harsh, slightly deeper vocals. Highly recommended.

Away 4 Song Demo cassette

This is, judging by the liner notes, a project recorded by two friends. Very heavily influenced by the Revolution Summer era of D.C. hardcore, with the lyrics all sung in Spanish. I really enjoyed this and was more than a bit disappointed when the four songs came to an end, as I wish there was a bit more. Perhaps there is more forthcoming but, if this is all that AWAY has to offer, it is a hell of an offering.

Benni Diamond Man / Heavy Metals 7″

BENΝI is Ben McCullough from WIZZARD SLEEVE, NATURAL CHILD, and HEAVY LIDS. He plays the synthesizer in a rollicking tribute to KRAFTWERK. I enjoyed listening to this on repeat while walking the still-empty streets of San Francisco, taking in the post-apocalypticness of the first anniversary of the pandemic. It’s just the right soundtrack. On the cover, BENΝI is wearing a chainmail hood and black sleeveless shirt, looking like an extra from a Monty Python film. That juxtaposition is just another part of the fun.

Bombardement Bombardement LP

Bordeaux’s finest purveyors of chaos BOMBARDEMENT drop a huge-ass atomic bomb in the form of this self-titled LP. This is pure D-beat in a DISCLOSE-meets-MEANWHILE fashion with the classic DIS- formula in place, with nods to The More I See-era in songs like “Warriors Of The Night.” The sound is not too clean, nor too ear-shattering, just the perfect balance of “noise not music.” Eight tracks of pummeling dis-beat with viciously angry vocals, a precise rhythm section, and anthemic guitar leads. Coming hot from above!

Child’s Pose Eyes to the Right EP

I fell in love with ELASTICA long before I ever had the opportunity to hear WIRE, and the collective works of RED MONKEY and Slampt Records were basically responsible for shifting my attention toward spiky DIY-revolutionary sounds in the late ’90s, so the acerbic, whiplash angular pop destruction of this second CHILD’S POSE EP is basically a direct line to the pleasure centers of my brain. Raw-nerve guitar slashes and needles, stark, see-sawing rhythms give way to total frantic tumbling-down-the-stairs inertia, and Sop’s vocals careen from fierce, spoken word detachment to wild ebullience breaking down and drawing out words into entirely new sound forms, with “Eyes to the Right” posing the eternal punk question “Do you ever feel like you’ve been cheated?” with a more genuine sense of danger (and simultaneously, anarchic joy) than anything Sir Jonathan Rotten ever snarled. Perfect pogo anthems for complicated modern realities.

Cuero Cabezabota 12″

More Basque brutality from the boys from Bilbao. Four tracks of blackened Oi! with bile-curdling vocals, as tough as the leather from which they take their name and hard as Bizkaian iron. Pounding drums and robust industrial riffs are a solid chassis on which to build this twelve minutes of fury. Will make you want to kick down buildings.

Ditches Ditched LP

Smart, tight, fast, power-garage-pop from Stockholm, Sweden. The tight guitars, staccato lyrics, and relentless pace immediately bring to mind the North Texas scene (the Denton Sound, if you will) that spawned the MARKED MEN, RADIOACTIVITY, MIND SPIDERS, POTENTIAL JOHNS, HIGH TENSION WIRES, and any other band that Mark Ryan or Jeff Burke had a hand in and likely ended up on the Dirtnap roster. In regards to the above, DITCHES don’t so much duplicate, but more so translate, creating their own sound and style that lands a bit rougher and more earnest than their Texas counterparts. After giving this a few listens, I checked out the liner notes and found out that Jeff Burke of MARKED MEN/RADIOACTIVITY recorded and mixed the album and also lent some back up vocals as well. Suspicion and legitimacy confirmed.

Dollhouse Summer Love demo cassette

NYC’s DOLLHOUSE fucking knocks it out with this excellent demo. First of all, the haunted Blythe doll artwork makes me uneasy and fits the music perfectly. These songs definitely fit under the hardcore umbrella but with darker, post-punk guitar leads that are simple and effective. The first song “Summer Love” starts out with an aggressive 1-2-1-2 stompy beat and two-chord attack pattern but is tempered by a six-note guitar line that turns the fury into creepiness. The rest of the tape follows suit with a level of consistency and continuity that sounds like an established band’s proper LP. The lyrics are frequently introspective and vulnerable and are delivered with the higher-pitched screams of someone on the verge of losing it. These songs cover some seriously dark territory like self-harm, drug abuse, and suicide, but they are written in such a poetic way that doesn’t glamorize or sensationalize them but rather give insight from a voice that sounds like they have seen it firsthand. For example, “The Shadow Baby” has the lines, “You’re dumb if you trust a friend / Dumb if you trust a lover / The whole world is meant to make you live in the shadow of another / If my mother was dead I would have joined her by now.” There are moments like this in every song that give me pause because they sound so emotionally raw and heavy. Definitely check this out for some excellent tense and affecting hardcore with lyrical depth. I look forward to their next release.

DWP DWP cassette

This appears to be a solo project from a member of the group NAIL POLISH. What we have is a pretty neat set of experimental punk intersecting early WIRE, COLIN NEWMAN solo records, and TOTAL CONTROL. Those are all pretty top-shelf references for me to make, so you know this is probably worth checking out. I look forward to hearing more.

Final War Gimme Speed demo cassette

An aggressively lo-fi demo cassette. This is what I call a non-stop pummeling of the senses. Musically, it punishes the ear and assaults the mind. It evokes the smell of a sweaty basement, stale cigarettes, and split beer. Really, this tape is the closest I’ve felt to a DIY hardcore show since the pandemic started. It’s so in-your-face that you can’t escape it and that is really fucking cathartic. Like therapy for gutter punks. The band doesn’t pull any punches or take any great experimental leaps with their sound, but it doesn’t really matter. It’s fast, noisy, aggressive, wild, and that’s all we really need right now. 

Gimmick Needle Caps EP

The opener “Needle Caps” quickly makes you think that you are listening to something that NO TREND would have made back in the day, but halfway through you get thrown a curveball to the face with pummeling punk hardcore. Once the punk hardcore bubble bursts there is no going back, as you get fed a healthy dose of frantic and snotty hardcore akin to SICK PLEASURE or the GERMS. By no means do they sound like a retro band but rather like a younger version of the aforementioned bands, just check the video for “Numbing” and you will catch my drift. If you are into the chaos of ELECTRIC CHAIR or the anxiety of GAG you will enjoy this angst-ridden piece of disgusting (in a good way) punk.

The Gorls Fall in Love 1992–93 LP

Before I even took this record out of the sleeve, I noticed a song called “Planet Vator” and thought of one of my favorite songs from the ’90s called “Planet Vator” by the DOBERMANS. I immediately played that track and it was the same song. A quick scan of the liner notes of the DOBERMANS 10″ and sure enough, the GORLS’ singer Dawn Johnson wrote the lyrics. Though that seems to be the only connection between the bands. I am immediately intrigued. Fall in Love 1992-93 collects all the recordings by this Seattle band. Eight of the tracks are unreleased. The music is catchy, lo-fi, garage-y rock. Johnson’s vocals are amazing. They are deadpan and easygoing with a wonderful lilt to them. She has such a distinct sound. Her style lifts the songs to a different level. The lyrics are cool, too. I am always in favor of songs about potato chips. Plus there is a great cover of the VICTIMS’ “Television Addict.” I can’t stop playing this record.

The Hammer Party Smashed Hits LP

This sounds like the frustrated pulse of my angry, black pandemic heart. Providence’s the HAMMER PARTY apparently began as a BIG BLACK cover band and boast a pretty extensive pedigree including, but not limited to, SIX FINGER SATELLITE, the BEVIS FROND, and SILVER APPLES. That idiosyncratic resume did not prepare me for how gloriously pissed-off this record sounds. It’s lyrically brutal and literal and the songs grind out elements of UNWOUND, DRIVE LIKE JEHU, and SHOTMAKER, especially in the deep and crunchy bass. Like someone trying to destroy the lowest piano keys. Perhaps post-Kerr NOMEANSNO is the best comparison—especially in the brazen satire of some of the more odd vocal constructions. Songs like “Russian Collusion” may be a little on the nose, but it sounds so darn good. It works. It’s great to see folks who may have been around the block, but nonetheless spit out a record tuned to this time.

Ike Yard Night After Night 12″ / Ike Yard LP reissues

Nearly forty years after the fact, and IKE YARD still sounds like the future. Both of these records function as aural documents of New York City and its varying levels of reality. IKE YARD belongs to the shadows, and it’s here, tucked away from the light, that the brilliance of this music shines forth. The creative use of analog synth alone qualifies these reissues as objects of interest. That the band can meld murky industrial rhythms, unnerving bits of sonic detritus, and scraps of junk guitar so perfectly is a testament to their vision. The bass slithers like an underground pipeline, linking up with the sunken floor disco beats. With his intimate declarations and observations, Stuart Argabright (also of the incredible DEATH COMET CREW) is a tour guide talking you through a field trip to the parts of the city that you try to ignore. This music has such a vivid sense of scene, style, and space. The description “cinematic” truly applies here. VANGELIS can take a hike, IKE YARD should have scored Blade Runner.

Kneeling in Piss Tour de Force LP

Was I prepared to like a band called KNEELING IN PISS? Actually, yes—as far as band names go, this one is cool and good. Was I expecting a band with such a name to sound like this or to blow me away? I was not! KNEELING IN PISS is a Columbus-based project led by songwriter (and apparent novelist)  Alex Mussawir, and despite what their name might suggest, they don’t play black metal-infused hardcore, jokey thrash, or snotty punk. Instead, their debut LP is full of smart, funny, catchy, blown-out, lo-fi pop. The tracks range from goofy gentle numbers (“Feeling Romantic”) to flat-out rockers (“Song About Being Unemployed”) and remind me of any number of excellent bands (STRAPPING FIELDHANDS, COUNTRY TEASERS, DAN MELCHIOR, TYVEK, TALL DWARFS, the SHIFTERS) without ever sounding like a straight-up copy. It’s really an incredible record and easily the best thing I’ve listened to in a while. Get on it!

Lip Commodity cassette

Solid seven-song release from these Baltimore post-punks. The clean op art cover of some kind of hazy temple building gives a good indication of the tape’s contents. There is a sturdy structure holding up the buzzy energy within. Each track has a fairly traditional rock format with distorted bass, snaky guitar leads, and detached vocals that are shouted but never sound angry. LIP channels the noisier aspects of JOY DIVISION and the non-electronic sounds of TOTAL CONTROL but does so in a way that still sounds distinct enough to set them apart. “Morse Code” starts off with a syncopated bass line that creates a welcome hook under the guitar squall. Final track “Obstacles” is the best song here: a near-perfect post-punk chiller with a catchy melodic guitar line and paranoid lyrics that could bear the Factory Records logo. Worth checking out if disaffected post-punk is your jam.

The Mendozaz Up and at Them CD

Second full-length from this Toronto pop punk trio. They wear the obligatory RAMONES influences on their (record) sleeve, and all have the Mendoza surname. Being somewhat modern in their pop punk tastes, the RAMONES are suitably interpreted through a strict SCREECHING WEASEL snot-covered lens. At their best, this is up there with Anthem for a New Tomorrow, but more often falls squarely into the Boogada Boogada camp.