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If the first-song-as-intro was supposed to lure me into the fog, it didn’t work. Bland, mid-paced metallic hardcore that just kinda plods along without hooks or groove. Even when it picks up the pace in that too-tough-for-top-speed sort of way—Victory Records Fast, anyone?—you’re just like “why bother?” The second side has a little more energy and considerably better songwriting, but doesn’t permeate into “memorable.”
More brickwall francophone Oi! from LAST CRUSADE and ULTRA RAZZIA alumni, this latest FORCE MAJEURE offering continues their celebratory blend of the classic French Oi! sound with TEMPLARS-style good time skinhead rock’n’roll. Stripped back of frills like a cutdown Lambretta, it still provides all the fun of the fair that one would come to expect. Fans of REICH ORGASM and NABAT will have a lot to enjoy here, as I did.
Posthumous release from this former K Records fuzzed-out garage-pop duo. On this release, the MAXINES deliver twelve songs of simple, wonderfully catchy mid-tempo garage rock. I have really been enjoying all the stuff on the Girlsville label that I’ve been sent lately and hope they continue to crank out such releases.
Debut cassette keeping the style of Kalamazoo, MI alive. SILICON HEARTBEAT sounds so much like the SPITS at times, it’s kinda crazy. Fuzzed-out, nasty mid-tempo punk with wild synth sounds peppered in. This tape is comprised of a mere four short songs, doing exactly what a good demo should: leaving the listener wanting more. I want more! Thankfully the attached note suggests they have plans to do another tape or record this fall. Consider one already sold!
Desperate music for long, late drives to nowhere. All kinds of driving, mid-paced melodic ’90s references are floating into my head as I listen to this Buffalo band—DRIVE LIKE JEHU, In on the Kill Taker, simplified Mascis leads, even a sprinkling of the JESUS LIZARD—but where this band transcends mediocrity or nostalgia is in the abundance of hooks, impeccable songwriting where every instrument makes its mark, and shapeshifting, anguished vocals. The test of any good mid-paced band is where they can keep (or improve on) everything that makes them good when slowing things down, and they succeed on “Split Self.” Though for all my praise, the sexual lyrics to “The Red & the Black” are kinda gross.
Well, there’s lots to say about this here compilation. Firstly, it’s a “Soli-Sampler für Indymedia Linksunten” as the Germans would have it. Indymedia Linsunten was a website, part of the international Indymedia network, that was open access and used by a wide range of the anti-parliamentary Left to post about actions, events, and suchlike, and hence was taken down by the German state in 2017. Thusly, I’m guessing that the 29 bands contributing to this compilation would come from the more “political” (i.e. anarchist/explicitly left) end of the ol’ punk spectrum. Which makes it a fascinating snapshot of international (I’m guessing from the non-English names of the bands that at least half of them are from Germany and/or Northern Europe—y’know, all them umlauts and suchlike) more or less contemporary political punk. Several things immediately stand out. Well over half of the vocalists are women, and often where there are male vocalists there are also female. I’ve only actually heard of one of these bands before (the UK’s AUTONOMADS, whom I love dearly—and unsurprisingly, have a female vocalist—and a male one too!), though that probably says more about my knowledge of international punk than it does the “state of the scene.” And I use the term “punk” deliberately, because hardcore most of these bands certainly are not. Twenty years ago, one would safely presume that such a political compilation would be full of crusty DISCHARGE-esque bands, with perhaps the odd raging thrasher to break up the metal and grind. There’s nary a single song that would fit any of these descriptions. Indeed, the early CURE, or SISTERS OF MERCY seem to be more of an influence than RIISTETYT or BOLTHROWER. I guess with the German tradition of ’80s legends such as RAZZIA and SLIME, it’d be no surprise that driving melody is the norm here, with barely a sore throat amongst them. Other than the aforementioned AUTONOMADS, standouts for these ageing ears are SJU SVARA AR, LITOVSK and 100BLUMEN (who do the rather fine SISTERS OF MERCY impersonation), but really, the entire compilation is of a really high quality throughout. There’s not a duffer track to be found, and the cause, of course, is outstanding. Comes with a thick booklet about the German state and its nefarious actions, though all but some of the lyrics are in German. Top notch.
I ponder all of the arguments about what punk is or isn’t—the unresolvable conflict, always dead before it even starts. It’s maybe a more productive exercise in our formative years, and then when you find yourself to be an aging white guy you realize you might be out of touch and should just shut the fuck up. Now that I’ve alienated two thirds of you, let’s get to what’s really important, and that is that Toledo’s B’CE is back with four new cuts that have me throwing all of those arguments about punk into the “who gives a fuck” bin. “Too Many Times” is unmistakably a hip hop track about B’CE’s experiences being harassed by police, for simply existing. The beat has a very ’80s vibe and the song fucking rips. The fact that the chorus gets stuck in my head for days is not irony. The other three are raucous, raw and loud hardcore punk songs, captured as urgently as possible. One or two mics in the middle of the room style. “What do you know about these police? / What do you know about these streets? / What do you know about these street dreams? / What do you know about dumpster diving?” There is a song called “Punk,” which I can’t even do justice explaining how awesome it is. “This is lit man talking shit / Bloody Money that’s my click / Punks get rich, now punk is in / Punk is out now, punk is in / Punk greatness this is it / Punk greatness we the shit!” I like how all of the songs are strung together with candid quips, like they just let the tape roll so you get the whole experience. So what is punk? Well it should be liberating and subjective and this tape is affirming in so many ways that I’m going to urge you to write the band (2040 Alvin St., Toledo OH 43607) for a copy, and check out the music video for “Street Dreamz/Too Many Times.” You know where to look for that. Thank you B’CE and friends.
Quality introduction for me to this Boston band. Stylistically, it’s eyeliner-ified ’80s new wave, with a layer of synth cutting through a thick, reverbed production that suits them really well. The album is largely punctuated by the frequent lead guitar lines and vocal-forward approach, although sometimes it feels like those two elements are battling for prominence. The opening track threw me for a loop (in a good way!), a lulling layered instrumental intro that releases into an uptempo surprise once the drums kick in. The overall presentation looks great opened up and spread across my coffee table. Striking artwork goes a long way! If you can’t get enough of the dark and dreamy punk, this will fit neatly into your rotation.
Pop quiz: can you name Belgium’s biggest genocider? We’re all (hopefully) filling in the gaps of our colonial histories and IMPOTENTIE is here to remind us who was behind the murderous Belgian mercenaries that caused an estimated ten million Congolese deaths in the 19th century. Disclaimer: you should not rely on punk lyrics for historical facts, but I’ll be fucked if punk didn’t at least nudge me down a morally rich path in life, and I don’t even owe any college debt! In this case, IMPOTENTIE is factually correct. Oi! music has seemingly become trendy outside skinhead circles in recent years and I think those comparisons might reduce the potency of this, so I’m gonna lean more into my appreciation for old Vögelspin releases, or how about the Alle 24 Goed! compilation? These two fellows are stationed in Montreal but sing in Dutch. Or Flemish? I’m not qualified to tell the difference. If you like the brutish, bashing punk sound with melodic highlights and a firm anti-colonial message, you couldn’t wrap it up much better than this. It would be the coolest thing to turn in as a project in history class! Also features Belgium’s most famous statue pissing on their most infamous statue—almost too perfect!
ITCHY SELF is the new group from Joe Chamandy of Canadian art-scuzz ensemble PROTRUDERS, who were avowed and proud card-carrying members of the joint Hearthan Records/Cleveland Confidential Appreciation Society. Here’s the Rub definitely draws its own inspiration from the damaged brilliance of Ohio’s subterranean sounds, but ITCHY SELF dispenses with most of PROTRUDERS’ skronkier tendencies in favor of smart, smudged-up garage blasts that bring to mind some fantasy Ron House project that could have existed between GREAT PLAINS and THOMAS JEFFERSON SLAVE APARTMENTS. Throw in a little scrappy ALEX CHILTON/CHRIS STAMEY-schooled pop charm on “Reprobate” and “God Bless the Ego,” the loose MODERN LOVERS-via-VELVET UNDERGROUND rock’n’drone of “Playing MTV,” and the shambolic rush of those first couple of HOME BLITZ records (for at least one slightly more contemporary reference point), and you’ve got a pretty solid take on what the concept of “proto-punk” could be almost fifty years removed from its origins.
In this fast world of sensory overload and 24 hour news cycles, ya gotta love a great band that can endure a decade of existence. It’s been seven years since their last LP, but well worth the wait! I have the softest of spots for Norwegian hardcore punk so I’m embracing my biases here. Kenneth’s guitar intuitions plus the tremendous familiar bark of Hasse should have you pulling out all of your STENGTE DÁ˜RER and SO MUCH HATE records and cancelling all of your other commitments for the day. I’m sure the best moments are lost in translation, but lyrically there’s a lot for the listener to interpret and project onto. We don’t always need directives or absolute answers in our punk music, but maybe more humility and reflection. Kind of emo, right? In the authentic kind of way. “Black Pearls” is the only song in English and I couldn’t help but relate it to the solidarity and rage we are pouring into these times of uprising against state/police repression. The cover art isn’t really my vibe aesthetically but, yeah, there are clear messages there to help you understand what they think about it all. And please appreciate the elephant in trousers. I love this shit, such a killer record and a killer band. BÁ¸rre would be proud.
I have been a fan of MARTIN SAVAGE since the 1990s. His former bands the BLACKS and the LOCOMOTIONS remain in high rotation around my house. MARTIN SAVAGE GANG continues his remarkable musical legacy. High-energy garage punk with frantic guitars, stompin’ drums and distorted organ. But it’s the vocals that reel me in. He has such a distinct, wonderful singing style and sound to cap off the great songs. Fantastic.
Oakland’s NAKED ROOMMATE entered this world as a duo of Amber SermeÁ±o and Andy Jordan, at a point when both were also busy with the WORLD. Although they’ve swelled to a four-piece for Do The Duvet, with extra muscle from members of bands like PREENING and EXIT GROUP, it’s that first-mentioned band which feels like the big sonic clue here. If the WORLD were kinda like YOUNG MARBLE GIANTS as a ska band—minimalist, shivery, but with a very pronounced groove—NAKED ROOMMATE are closer to YMG meets ESG, the most discofied end of early ’80s post-punk rendered extra febrile and delicate. The beats are programmed and synths twinkle and burble blithely, nudging minimal synth territory on “Fill Space,” but Jordan’s guitar and Alejandra Alcaca’s basslines retain meatspace humanity over these ten songs, providing hooks galore as they do so.
Seems like this is to be a past tense review, with NEUROTIC FICTION returning from a longish break by releasing this four-song 7″ only to tell us in the process that it’s their last. Sucks! But we, especially the “we” in their part of the world (the bottom left corner of the UK, basically), had a good run. Romance pushes most of the buttons that made their 2018 LP Pulp Music such a slinky banger—classic twee pop kicked out with the tempo and toughness of classic pop punk, plus some added rockabilly/B-52’S/Johnny Marr vibes—and embellishes this by way of garage/psych organ and weirdo post-punk twists. NEUROTIC FICTION packs so many clever bits into each two-minutes-and-change song, without ever getting flashy with it, but if someone isolated Livi Sinclair’s guitar parts I think I’d be nearly as happy just listening to those on repeat. Anyway this EP rules, this band ruled, go get!
I listened three times before I typed a single word. PROTEIN took me back to a time and place that I wanted to hang out in for a while…so much that I kinda didn’t want to leave. That place still exists, it’s still vibrant, and the hardcore there is still enthusiastic and supportive. That place is not just where Poland’s PROTEIN comes from, it’s where they live, and that comes out in every one of the six tracks on their second EP. Modern youth crew, early ’00s posicore and classic ’80s SXE all come together on this release, and when I hear Rob shout “I try…I fucking try” after you drop the needle on the second side, I believe him…and I’m all in. The short blast of “For Us” was the winner for these old ass ears, but then the record closes with “Growing Distance” that conjures the very best modern HC comparisons. A fucking excellent hardcore record, but they make a point by ending with the track that makes it clear that there is definitely more to come.
A true and total dream! A lot of the time, the C86 sound is a little too twee and contained for this girl; you want something that has the longing of “Where’s Clare Grogan Now?” with the dreamy snot of the SHOP ASSISTANTS or why get outta bed in the morning?! Well, finally after years of frustration and punishment, RIBBON STAGE has stepped up to the plate with actual hooks, and vocals that are plaintive without sounding saccharine, whilst maintaining the dream pop appeal. Obviously with a snip of punk underpinning all proceedings. This sounds like something that woulda come out on thee Subway Organization in 1985, a beautiful shambolic and also perfect popscape for our falling-apart times! Every song is a masterpiece! You will wish you had one of those ’50s record players that just plays 45s over and over again until time stops! Pop music made by NYC punks that you probably know. I am obsessed.
The hype is completely justified on this one. Classic UK anarcho stylings injected with a fury and menace fueled by the new reality. “No More” is a perfectly sinister, cranked-up punk banger; “Wander In The Park” is a dark pogo masterpiece showered in descending guitars; it seems like every song stakes its own individual claim on the wax. Dark and brilliant, you’ll turn new stones with each listen…but the root of everything here is furious intensity.
Belgian (so far as I can tell) quartet who have successfully channelled White Trash-era NOFX (with lots of early BLINK 182 thrown in)—the bassist is also the singer no less!—for six suitably melodic/harmonic SoCalesque hardcore tracks. And one completely throwaway surf instrumental to end on a pointless down note. Anyone who digs the aforementioned bands will enjoy this immensely. I did.
Gloriously ignorant East Coast noisecore. VARIATION bounces between start/stop fastcore blasts and a low-end North American WANKYS irreverence. “No Way Out” is doubtless the choice cut, and shows that if they wanted to shed the noisecore tag and just be a force of intensity then they would be terrifying. Sixteen bangers in total, with exactly one song on each side over 60 seconds.
The second collaboration between JAMES WILLIAMSON (Raw Power STOOGE, IGGY POP collaborator) and DENIZ TEK (RADIO BIRDMAN). The music is pretty good. It’s got TEK’s signature guitar sound. WILLIAMSON and TEK know how to write a riff. There are some nice ones on here. They try to hit on some relevant topics (“Climate Change”) as well as personal stuff. It’s the vocals that are lacking. I hate to trash one of my all-time favorite musicians, but there was a reason TEK wasn’t the singer of RADIO BIRDMAN. That said, I give them both credit for trying new stuff and not just rehashing their infamous pasts. Keep making music, guys.
One cut each by TIGER TOUCH, FRET RATTLES, JJ AND THE REAL JERKS, and MISSILE STUDS. This 7″ appears to be the first in a series of records we can expect from the Stamp Out Disco label, a name that is presumably a tip of the hat to RAZAR and their classic tune. This one features four real rockers. All are certainly punk, but each also clearly draws from their rock’n’roll roots. The one thing that I think they’ve all got in common is that they’re straightforward, melodic, and pretty catchy. Each of the four tracks is worthwhile, and to find them on a single slab of vinyl is a treat. This really is an excellent record.
Reissue of the sole record from the apparently forgotten New York band 14TH WISH. It was originally released in 1980 on Orange Records. I’ll fall in line with the label’s hype. How did that happen? These two songs are great. Laid-back vocals with biting lyrics backed by a great band with a driving style and lo-fi sound. They simply exude coolness and the songs are so catchy. This band could have easily filled the HEARTBREAKERS’ shoes while they were off shooting up, or taken the place of any other overhyped first wave punk band. 300 copies so don’t snooze (again).
By blowing into Dublin, embittered Polish punks BLOWINS have substituted one bleak, rain-soaked Catholic state for another. The move to (objectively slightly more progressive) Ireland doesn’t seem to have softened their worldview or tempered their anger. This album has nine songs of dark melodic hardcore, with tinges of deathrock, anarcho, and post-punk. Shades of POLITICAL ASYLUM, the MOB, and LEATHERFACE among others can be detected in the sound. Lyrics are in Polish but the insert includes little explanations in English. Lovely stuff.
Damn, this is rocksteady fire! Metered, rhythmic, dense, dank hardcore from the Czech Republic! I am really digging the knuckle-dragging heavy production. It’s like a smooth mix of raging D-beat Á la DISPENSE and raging metallic hardcore Á la FORÇA MACABRA. The bass is pulling a fierce barge of weight under all this. The accentuation of these lyrics are on point. Like, a jackhammer point. This band is cutting it up. It’s not a long EP, but it’s full of tight riffs, gut-knotted death-grunts, and blasting beats mixed with circling D-beats. The BRÜNNER TODESMARSCH, or death march, was the expulsion of Germans from surrounding provinces during late/post WWII. Resulting in the obvious; disease, malnutrition, death. I need to read these lyrics, because this sounds like the difference between 2020 inspired crust/hardcore and 2020 sincere crust/hardcore. 20:20 is definitely recommended.
Nasty, gritty, sloppy hardcore punk from San Diego. Gruff vocals barked over mostly driving mid-tempo (with occasional fast spurts) hardcore punk. Very cool. Very angry. Four songs, short and sweet, same program on the A and B sides of the cassette.
Wow. Milwaukee, WI really has a hit on their hands here with CURBSITTER. Five-song cassette that reminds me a lot of super early NOFX. I’m not going to go on a ramble about how that’s a good thing, but I’m talking that early Mystic Records stuff that’s nasty, and many of the songs are too gross to make a lot of musical sense. Yeah, that stuff. This is great. If this band is a fraction as entertaining live as this tape is, they have just moved to the top of my must-see list. With songs about humanity coming to an end, disgust of social media, and spending your last 30 seconds alive masturbating, what’s not to love?
Refuse Records brings us a new vinyl reissue of FIREWALKER’s 2018 cassette-only promo, originally on lame-o mersh hardcore label Pop Wig. The new cover art by Emma Hendry is a vast improvement on the original art and re-situates this release within the larger FIREWALKER visual world of smirking impish devils. It’s crazy that FIREWALKER has been around for five years now. They have been a truly game-changing band, inspiring cool girls and enraging small-minded sexists with overtly feminist lyrics set to the previously male-only province of NYHC-inspired music. “Role Model” is an antipodean take on ALONE IN A CROWD’s “Who You Know” (which AIAC puzzlingly played at a 2019 reunion show—yikes, go ahead and prove FIREWALKER’s point), while “Out of Time” bemoans the punishment that accompanies the slow march of progress in hardcore. “Cyanide” features singer Sophie and guest singer Sen of the short-lived Olympia band MALA RACHA trading off over a lurching, heavy riff. I’m glad this got the vinyl treatment—it’s a worthy follow-up to their excellent 2017 LP, and it’s quite a bit better than 2019’s The Roll Call. Still an unimpeachably cool band to me.
As the name implies, FORCLOSE is another DISCLOSE worship band. Vocals like Kawakami, but the chord progressions sound a little melodic at times (especially on the title track). Yes, it’s fuzzy noise guitars and boxy sounding drums, but less CONFUSE/Jackie Crust War/static noise/EQ treble boost-type stuff, and more of the torn speaker-sounding Super Fuzz texture. Lyrics are about war (what else did you expect?). At this point, not really sure if anything positive or negative can be said about this approach. It really just begins and ends with Kawakami. RIP.
One of the holy grails of the femme-punk underground gets a much-deserved reissue! “Mental” has found its way onto multiple compilations focused on either late-’70s/early-’80s punk in Switzerland or female-fronted punk and post-punk in general from the same era—rightfully so, because it’s a bona fide classic, with Dorette Schmidt’s desperately shouted sore throat vocals, a naggingly repetitive guitar line, and the same sort of raw, tumbling drums that have marked any number of primitive KBD hyper-obscurities, but GLUEAMS’ integration of those fairly standard elements just sounds so perfect and effortlessly cool. “365” has more of a straightforward ’77 punky energy (are those handclaps?!), and in addition to both of those tracks from the original 1979 version of the single, this reissue also includes the previously unreleased and comparatively sparse studio cut “Arsen,” which positions GLUEAMS as a slightly more aggressive counterpart to fellow Swiss national treasures KLEENEX. To top it off, the whole thing comes packaged in a beautiful foldout sleeve with an eight-page booklet of interviews, photos, and a thorough written history of the band, so buy it now or regret it later.
Man, this is just the best shit. Record of the year. GUNN from Orange County plays gruff, no-frills American hardcore, with vocals not unlike HUMAN SUFFERAGE and GAS RAG. Side A packs three songs into three minutes, and “Slacker” distills an innate universal truth into its brief chorus: “I’m so sick of this shit / I just can’t wait to quit / All this shit is a waste of time / I just want to see you die.” On the B-side, GUNN slows down to a NO TREND or later BLACK FLAG swing for “Not Original,” then speeds up a bit for “Killing Time.” I was born and raised in Southern California’s endless suburbia, and there is no more appropriate soundtrack for the oppressive, brain-deadening sunshine than this song. An instant classic. Kings of suburbia. Long may they run.
I appreciate a new band that conducts a sonic examination of a thing that I experienced, as it allows me to hear it all again but through different ears. Switzerland’s HEAVY HARVEST are instantly familiar, and when they do things like the bass break into the added drums and then back into the punishing simplicity of the chorus to “Scream,” I’m like “oooh yeah, that’s the right thing to do there!” The sound is filthy and massive, UNSANE comparisons are inevitable on tracks like “Candy” just like you can’t not think of TORCHE when the hard driving hooks of “Oven” stop by in the middle of the disc. At the same time, Iron Lung is definitely their own, and vocalist O’Neal lays a distorted urgency on top of everything. This is their second release, and I do not see this band mellowing. Quite the opposite.
From Malmö, Sweden comes this hard-rocking hardcore punk outfit with some familiar faces—namely, members of SLOA KNIVAR, BEYOND PINK, and HAG, among others. Patricia from SLOA KNIVAR chooses to be restrained (not) behind the drums for this outing, but Jessica is more than competent in expressing the necessary rage involved for this release. ILL FIT is very similar to the aforementioned bands with maybe a notch up on the hard-rock scale, and songs like “The Chain” even have a little ZZ TOP boogie in them. I’d have to say MOTÖRHEAD is a driving force here, especially in the ripping opening track, and NEGATIVE APPROACH is maybe behind some of the rage in “Mamas Boy” and “Consequences.” There’s a little classic Swedish hardcore here, but I’d say the influence is more American and British than anything. It’s a good time orgy and that pizza on the cover is making me hungry. Gotta go.
Infectious, hard-driving punk from Paris. The record sounds massive, and the songs are crafted by true pros. Perhaps a touch heavier than LES THUGS, but surely in a similar realm (and not just because they’re French).
This is a three-piece featuring Mickey Mocnik from NERVOSAS on guitar and vocals. The song “Stiff” is so strong. It starts out with a basic beat with drums only, but then a heavy and twangy guitar riff cuts through for a measure or two before we hear Mickey’s wail to really kick off the song. “I Wanna Know” is a fucking great song too, but it’s quite frantic and I think it helps build the momentum they showcased in “Stiff.” There’s moments where I hear a lot of SHEER MAG, and by association THIN LIZZY, though I wouldn’t pigeonhole the MISSED as a power pop band. They have an awesome grit, fuzz, and sharpness to them, but also so much sweet, sweet melody. Great band.
I mean, hey hey! Here is a collection of melodic ultra-fast hardcore from young Swedish legends MODERAT LIKVIDATION. This is a no-brainer must-have for noisefucker. Whenever I hear “Hiroshima” or “Enola Gay” my brain and heart melts. MODERAT LIKVIDATION packs the classic ’80s rough fuzz and fury into every track. And might be the ’80s band with the most pairs of glasses on. Fun fact! As a longtime spectacles-wearer, I appreciate how hard they rocked in cable knit sweaters, bleach-splat denim, leather and glasses. What do we want, excessive LIKVIDATION? NO! The CD quality sounds great, and my CD player isn’t even that great. Get this for a road trip or something—LIKVID your life a little! *pushes glasses up onto noise*
Solo project from Brooklyn, NY. It’s impressive how all-over-the-map this is, being that all the music and production is done by one person. Stylistically, every song is a bit different so it’s a little hard to pin down. The different songs span into areas of new age, new wave, synth-wave, synth-pop, dance pop, and there’s even a song on acoustic guitar that sounds kind of like solo SYD BARRETT stuff, you know, without the gallons of psychedelics. A lot of this is definitely out of my wheelhouse, but it’s very well done, and the aforementioned pseudo-psychedelic acoustic song, “Psychiatrist With A Sample Bin,” is actually pretty good.
OK, this is what I can glean from the liner notes. Four young German lads, greatly influenced by US bands that were busy touring Germany in the late ’80s/early ’90s, form a band called DBF (a.k.a. DISORGANIZED BUNCH OF FUCKERS). They jump in a VW camper van and tour Europe, and have their eyes opened (politically, certainly). And then come home. And are a bit knackered. And instead of doing a new DBF record, start a new project called SHATTERED DREAMS. The resulting new album (which includes one or two DBF tunes) sounds a little overblown/histrionic to these ears. Too many breakdowns, and tough-guy hardcore posturings. Nevertheless, some good melodic hardcore, melded with some of the fury of later-period CONFLICT (the UK anarcho-punk chaps), provides some highlights. This is in 1991. In 1992, a bit underwhelmed, the four-piece picks up a new drummer, records some new demos, and enters into a battle-of-the-bands-type effort (which was duly recorded), and actually come into their own, musically, as a sort of European melodic angry hardcore band with excellent metallic guitaring. Somewhat reminiscent of a fledgeling LIFE….BUT HOW TO LIVE IT? Needless to say, I much prefer this second effort, which doesn’t seem to have appeared at the time (recorded in 1992), but was released decades later, largely for “friends and family.” So much so that if there’s a website or address on either of these discs, it’s in unreadably small print. Which is a pity. Well worth tracking down Days of Rage.
Two St. Louis bands join forces on this here cassette; four songs from SHITSTORM and three from SUNWYRM. With the exception of SHITSTORM’s opening track (a clipped, concise 110-second buzz-pop gem: riff, hook, chorus, brief solo, repeat the chorus, we’re out!), both groups share a devotion to the psych-punk gods of fuzz and wah wah—driving riffage, freakout sounds, and propulsive rhythms, with the Cyclotron™ cranked to 11 and plugged into Jupiter. Great stuff and short enough to leave you wanting more.
This is the never-before-released, first recording by these bile-inducing, poser-crushing, noise-grind originators. This shit was recorded in 1987, in one of their bedrooms, with the drum-less “drummer” just banging on a desk or something, and a young sibling coming in at the end screaming at them to shut the fuck up. Other than that, it’s all blast and hideous noise, similar to their other early releases. The last track is a ripping live show from the era that features a real drum set and an average recording. This one’s a bad place to start but a fine place to end up. Welcome to shit-grind hell, fuckers!
I reviewed their first album Noun when it came out many moons ago, and then proceeded to wear that shit out. I still love that record. Similarly, this one comes out of the gate throwing punches, just driving right at you. It’s relentless. There’s a piercing quality in the strings, and the drums carry the energy. It’s rough. And the vocals (female and male) aren’t pretty, but they’re strong and not at all unpleasant. There’s nothing cute about this. At the same time, it seriously is catchy as hell. It’s got a poppiness to it. I love bands that can pull that off. And, as with most any record that takes it to the next level, there’s an undeniable sense of urgency here. They even slow things down a little on the last track. This is worth searching for.
This is an amazing compilation of all three releases from Melbourne’s WHIRLYWIRLD. WHIRLYWIRLD was led by Ollie Olsen previously with the YOUNG CHARLATANS and drummer John Murphy formerly of NEWS. The music is minimal electronic sounds, guitar, bass, drums and occasional squawking saxophone. Strikingly Olsen’s vocals have similar cadences and style to Nick Cave and Peter Murphy. They are dramatic, repetitive and playful with the sounds being emitted. The vocals may be the focus of the songs, but the experimental punk-y music forms a catchy foundation that I find equally fascinating. WHIRLYWIRLD was short-lived, only playing fourteen shows, but their music should be remembered along with their more well-known and celebrated contemporaries. Good thing Hozac decided to remind us of that.
AIHOTZ from Bilbao immediately creates an exciting atmosphere on their debut demo tape. While the strangeness is rather within their sound, which when dissected, shows how the layers are not alien or renewed attributes of punk rock, only here paired and played in an unusual way. I got it, but would not go as far as the promo text which suggests a blend of PARALISIS PERMANENTE and G.I.S.M., but indeed, they use echoed to spooky vocals mixed with airy metallic power riffs. Both the echo and breezy chords create a lot of open space over which AIHOTZ has control and they are able to fill it with energy. The space separates the music from the determined and playful vocals and the two, parallel yet together, create the unique atmosphere, that tricks me to think more of them than a simple hardcore punk band. This demo is not a scam, though it tends to present itself to something wilder than it really is. Which is very human. Occasionally the bouncy rhythm wonders from dark territories to more direct hardcore/punk forms where high pace is agressively maintained, along the way we encounter strange parts and all of a sudden tempo changes to vary the spectrum. Some of these bridges are theatrically heavy and slow, that recalls too much of the MTV metal, here in an ironic, “let’s revise trash” way. Going further within the short record the charm of the band is based on the same autonomous fundament that is at the core of every good demo tape made by an enthusiastic group. AIHOTZ’s attempt is fun and promising, but this tape would get better if their upcoming record will be crazier.
This album is getting me right in my early ’90s Riot Grrrl nostalgia feels. Jubilant sunny-day punk that is equal parts vulnerable BRATMOBILE jangle and noisy BIKINI KILL/HOLE swagger. The transition between the muscular sub-metal riffage and more introspective pop numbers is so dramatic that it suggests the members are switching instruments—if so, another ’90s staple brought back to life. Add in the references to My So-Called Life and you’re hitting the trifecta. Lest this review lead you to think BAM!BAM! are nothing more than a throwback to an earlier era, I must say that for all the stylistic borrowing the songs themselves hold their own, and I predict that this LP will compete with the best Olympia has to offer for turntable time. I also sincerely hope to get a chance to see the band play once live music is a reality again.
Ten-song cassette from Madison, WI, recorded, mixed, mastered and released by immortal turkey Bobby Hussy. Grunge/alt-rock revival with some real nasty, sleazy riffs, doing it the best that this style can possibly be done. BASHFORD sounds a lot like Bleach-era NIRVANA to me, like you could probably slip a couple of these tunes within that record and play it for someone who has never heard it before and I doubt they would stand out that obviously. I am personally not the biggest alt-rock revival kinda guy, but if early teenage me had heard this, it would have certainly gotten a lot of plays.
Straight out of Columbus, OH, BRAT CURSE leans heavily on a mixture of power pop and grunge. It takes some real vision to take two distinctly different genres and squish them into one band without it being a jarring clash between the two, though they manage to remind me of MARKED MEN, the BREEDERS, and LUSH all at the same time. There’s this beautiful guitar part over the bridge of “Under the Gun” that just screams late-’80s shoegaze. It’s almost like feedback, but instead it builds into this screechy warble that when put into words doesn’t sound appealing, though I promise it is! A layer of dreamy wash of melody undercuts many of their tracks, really making a case for adding shoegaze to their list of styles. They have a soft reverb on the vocals, snappy drums, and guitars that both wail and crunch. It’s mellow, yet upbeat. I’m into it.
I won’t buy a flexi disc just because it’s what’s available. It is the most annoying format. The band and their songs need to make it worth the hassle. I’m happy to report that the COWBOY passes the test. Three catchy, post-punk-ish-style songs. Jittery and choppy music with bended guitar strings and spoken lyrics. I’ll flop this piece of plastic on my turntable any time.
DEEP TISSUE are from Philadelphia and pitch their tent somewhere between ’80s goth and ’90s alt-rock, with complementary slick-but-not-too-slick production and outsized, prominent hooks. Their home city is noteworthy, to me, in that Patience or Fear (their debut LP) has me thinking back to a Philly band from a few years ago, DARK BLUE, and how they sounded like something that could find a seriously big audience if they wished. Never happened, for better or worse, and with 250 copies of this record in existence and no current option to tour it’s unlikely to happen for DEEP TISSUE either, but damn if this doesn’t sound like a lost hit. There are some punky, uptempo moments (“Despair,” “Dead Head”) powered by booming toms and Lauren Iona’s strong vocals; things built from textured, swirling guitars which suggest that LUSH and (specifically major label-era!) THROWING MUSES have been closely studied by the band as a whole (“Liminal Space”); and a tiptoe into the deathrock side of the border (“Injury”), although perhaps this album’s great strength is that it blurs distinctions between that, goth, shoegaze and punk by just placing them in one package of fine playing and songwriting.
What a great fucking name for a band right now. This is Candy and Justin from the TRIGGERS, SLEEPWALKERS R.I.P., and DARK/LIGHT so you know you’re getting a quality product. This release is more on the punky side as opposed to some of the gothier post-punk of some of their previous bands, and it rips. A really nice balance of classic Dangerhouse-style slam and pogo and bit of SADO NATION combined with that classic “only in the Northwest” WIPERS-like dreariness. Zach from PISS TEST does some serious Sage channelling on songs like “Struggle” and pretty much rages throughout this record. The lyrics are brilliant—bleak and optimistic at the same time, if that even makes any sense. Just listen and sing along to some of my favorites here, like their theme song “Era Bleak, “MRI” and “Opinions,” and you’ll get a nice “we’re all gonna die but it’s kinda fun” vibe that’s pretty swell. Not a stinker here, and as we brace for the coming military state and poisoned planet, we now have a nice soundtrack as we sift through the rubble. Now go vote.
Blown-out, driving noise-crust that is constantly on the brink of total collapse. When I say blown-out, I mean the feedback pierces like twisted steel through your already burst eardrum, and bass rumbles unintelligibly like the moment right before the doomsday earthquake hits. They successfully take the typical D-beat crust formula to maximum chaos while delivering crushing and devastating impact. The whole thing is just ugly and furious. Check it out!
Reading their own description of the band, you’ll see words like “pop punk” and “power pop.” I’m not going to argue with them, but those weren’t the first things that jumped into my mind. I’d have said “rock’n’roll” or “punk’n’roll.” I’d say there’s also a gritty slice of Americana in there, and certain Celtic influences. It’s mid-tempo and catchy, and they convey a certain authenticity. You get the impression that these four are just doing what they enjoy doing and are sort of unapologetic about it. They remind me of BOUNCING SOULS without really sounding much like them, though they do bring that energy. And they like the fact that they’re from Philadelphia, an awesome city.
