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!

3ª Guerra Mundial Violencia EP

This is a really special piece of Spanish punk. This group from Madrid, formed by members of the legendary band PANADERÍA BOLLERÍA NUESTRA SEÑORA DEL KARMEN, recorded these three tracks back in 1987, which you can listen to now for the first time on this archival release by Beat Generation. These songs have a very English sound, totally focused on the UK82 style, but with the humor and very spiteful vocal delivery of the best Spanish punk. It’s a quick listen and makes you want to repeat the experience, so do it.

Abuso De Poder Vago Muerto EP

All-caps street punk. Thick and low guitars playing simple-as-nail-type riffs over which the singer gets gruff about the hostile side of life. The atmosphere is pissed-off, violent, and a running-against-the-wall feeling of unsolvable frustration. If you feel let down by the injustice of everyday life and seek sing-along, mid-tempo hardcore as your coping mechanism, then you’ve found your companion. Overly streamlined, the band only leaves the locked-in beat and linear song structure for a few solos. Packed with three-note riffs, each song has the potential to be a fist-pumper hit to people who would happily kick each other in the head, although I have to focus to realize them, since they’re all blended into a mix that sounds good but lacks any exaggeration, thus holding back the in-your-face effect. This is what I struggle with: theoretically this is great stuff, yet it lacks something that might have gotten lost while polishing everything to perfection.

Abyecta Enemigos De La Razón EP

“Enemigos! Enemigos! Enemigos!” So shouts ABYECTA’s singer as this four-track EP begins. A metallic punk onslaught of thrashy riffs and D-beats ensues. They owe as much to Japanese hardcore as they do to speed metal bands like RAZOR or EXCITER. This duo recently relocated to Chile and has been touring the US non-stop, and seems to be on the right track to making their name known. An excellent EP that will satisfy metalheads and punks alike!

Bang Bang Babies / Reptilians From Andromeda split EP

This is a nice little international garage punk treat. REPTILIANS hail from Turkey and play some inspired axe-shred garage with distorted vox, reminding me a little of the long-gone TYRADES. They get two tracks here, of which “Occult Chemistry” is the rocker. You can’t help but be filled with visions of how much fun a garage punk show in Turkey must be. BANG BANG BABIES from Brazil only get one track to shine, but damn if they don’t pull it off well with a nice CRAMPS, LINK WRAY, and SUBSONICS-inspired track. It’s all a big blurry party. Enjoy and don’t think too much.

Crime of Passing Crime of Passing LP

A quick internet search will show that these Cincinnatian’s debut LP has garnished a lot of attention, from the likes of the ad-laden music blog site Stereogum, whose home page has a T-SWIFT post this week, to the more obscure minded Post-Trash site, to the questionable composure of myself here at MRR. Why, then? Because, simply, it is very, very good. With a moodiness and cadence like FEHLFARBEN and the energy of SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES, this band has a lot of bases covered: coldwave icy and reverbed-out drums, sculptured post-punk guitar riffs atop driving, high-octave bass, with the disdain of darkwave synth and vocals cast over everything in trailing slow motion. With Dylan McCartney and Dakota Carlyle of fellow Ohio DIY outfits the SERFS and the DRIN, this project is led by frontwoman Andie Luman who, gathering the full force of the band, lulls us into a state of hypnosis and reverie. Although this came out in the spring of 2022, this album is meant for the gray days of fall, the soundtrack of a thunderstorm and cracked brown leaves whipping through the sky.

Curleys Curleys cassette

Are you folks here to fuck around? Because CURLEYS sure as hell ain’t! These Gainesville cretins only have one setting—full fucking on—so, once this record gets going, it’s not stopping until your stupid head is crushed completely flat. The eleven tunes on here find the band sounding like a methed-up TEENGENERATE ripping through a set of MODERN WARFARE covers inside a giant novelty plasma globe, and the vocals are quacky as hell but still retain just the slightest bit of tunefulness, kinda like the singer of the CARBONAS doing an impression of fellow Total Punkers the SLEAZE. Everything about this record feels hectic and out-of-control, but it’s actually being delivered with blinding, pinpoint accuracy—it’s the aural equivalent of stepping in the ring with Sugar Ray Leonard in his prime. Highest of recommendations!

Democracy Western Relaxation cassette

Five minutes of filthy hardcore rumbling from Milwaukee. It’s a smoker. Nasty, ripping punk that’s been vomited on by manic, monstrous vocals. I suppose you could obtain this tape from the esteemed Unlawful Assembly label via traditional mail order, but I believe it would be distributed more appropriately if copies were left to be found half-buried in the dirt in random spots around the country.

Eater Ant CD

According to the promo for Ant, the recording was lost and the band released The Album instead. Think about that…one of the greatest UK glam punk LPs ever wasn’t even the band’s first choice. They wanted to release this recording instead, because they thought it was better. It’s hard for me to agree, if only because I’ve drilled that record into my skull more times than I could possibly count, but holy shit is this a score. Burning, flawless, hi-energy ’77 punk in line with SLAUGHTER and EDDIE & THE HOT RODS, with BOWIE, VELVETS, and T. REX covers that fit in perfectly with perfect Blade classics like “Public Toys.” I’m gobsmacked that something this good remained unearthed for so long.

The Flatliners New Ruin CD

OK. Full disclosure, I spent years actively avoiding this band. Like I’m talking about not listening to any of their records, hanging out at the bar or outside smoking if they were playing a show I was at, etc., all under the assumption that somewhere I had heard they were a ska punk band. Ha ha ha. What an asshole. Guess I learned my lesson, because that couldn’t be any further from the truth, on this offering at least. Instead, what we have is something similar to singer Chris Crestwell’s other band, HOT WATER MUSIC, at least in some of the ways the backups are presented and some of the melodies. I have been listening to this like every other day. It’s really good, surprisingly so. The one thing that did take a bit of getting used to for me right off the bat though was Crestwell’s vocals. Upon the first few listens, I couldn’t shake the idea that they sounded like a mixture of Chris Wollard, Geddy Lee, and the dude from MATCHBOX 20. It bugged me for a bit, but I actually dig his voice. I find myself enjoying this more and more upon each listen. Maybe next time they’re in town I’ll actually make a point of watching them!

Flexï Nothing cassette

Seven solid songs from this New York band that form a heady brew made from RUDIMENTARY PENI-style propulsive bass and drums, the exasperated vocals of METZ, and guitars that go from punk to atonal sheets of noise like early SONIC YOUTH. These ingredients work together well, and this tape sounds great with fat drums, tinny shards of guitar that stab and slash, and vocals set back in the mix for some slight noise rock distance. The drummer-boy roll of “Nothing” is attention-grabbing, as is the shattered strumming under the refrain “Is this even ethical?” on “Ethical.” I would gladly listen to a full-length from these folks.

Gehenna Negative Hardcore LP

GEHENNA is negative hardcore and negative hardcore is GEHENNA. Having the title of “the infamous” before their band name is just one of those details that makes the legend of GEHENNA a bit more frightening—famous (or infamous) for their “take no prisoners” approach to live shows, filled with violence and disgust, and a big “fuck you” to the metal and hardcore scene. They don’t follow the rules, they make the rules. Starting out in 1993 and adding the steps that INTEGRITY built, they created a monster of blackened metallic hardcore that would open the doors to the likes of ROT IN HELL or BLIND TO FAITH. After some years in silence, the excellent Negative Hardcore finally came out, the third album in thirty years, and it is everything one can expect from this band. You can hear SEPTIC DEATH, BOLT THROWER, and of course INTEGRITY with the black cloud of black metal hovering over every track and the hateful delivery of the end-of-the-world premonitions of Mike Cheese signaling the apocalypse. A class-A record for the Holy Terrorists out there.

Isolationsgemeinschaft Der Tanz Geht Weiter! LP

This is wonderful and kinda hilarious all at the same time. It totally makes me think of that old Saturday Night Live sketch, “Sprockets” (YouTube that shit). It’s so German that it’s almost a parody. Really well-done synth punk, dance, post-punk…whatever. I guess it could be called coldwave these days, but unlike those poseurs, these guys are really German. For fans of COLD CAVE, KRAFTWERK, NERVOUS GENDER, etc. Now we dance.

Lollygagger Total Party Kill LP

A righteous, sex-fueled party is crammed into the grooves of the debut LP from Chicago’s LOLLYGAGGER. Serious QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE vibes, especially on the opener, but this act is fronted by a snot-nosed punk who hates boss, hates system, hates cops, loves screaming, loves exposing hypocrisy. Total punk attitude, total stoner metal groove.

Melt Citizen Dullard II cassette

Up-tempo guitar riffs with a crushing drum and bass back-end that complements the witty, snarly vocals for this El Paso band’s latest. Too fast and hook-filled to be stoner rock and too punk/grunge heavy to be shoegaze. The older kids will think of post-Land Speed Record HÜSKER DÜ and the young ones will compare it to DRUG CHURCH. Both great compliments.

No Dead Monsters Line Up / D Hall 7″

Punk, no chaser. The vocals are mixed louder than the guitars, usually a bad sound. Did we learn nothing from the first CLASH LP? The choruses are memorable and stuck in my ears after the finish. There’s only two songs here, the perfect length for a punk record.

No-Heads Concrete & Steel / New Normal 7″

A new release from Richmond’s NO-HEADS coming four years after their first, and perhaps you could have waited another four years, lads, because this isn’t for me. By-the-numbers, plodding UK82 worship with none of the grit that makes it endearing. Gruff vocals veer dangerously into RANCID territory and deliver absolutely nothing of substance. NO-HEADS? No tunes, more like.

The Out-Sect Out-Sect Theme EP

Sunglasses, leather jackets, Vox guitars, fuzz, use of the word “sect”—yup, we’re dealing with some genuine garage turkeys here! After a handful of digital-only singles, this Philadelphia outfit is dropping their debut 7”, featuring three originals and a cover of “Go Away” by ’60s garage punk unknowns the PLAGUE. I don’t know that the contemporary punk landscape has anything like a predominant sound, but this has to be the opposite of whatever that would be. I haven’t heard too many folks clamoring for a turn-of-the-millennium garage rock revival revival. But maybe we’re due! This thing rips. It’s a great pastiche of that mid-’60s sound with just enough modern punk thrown in to prevent it from seeming like total cosplay. Plus, it sounds real cool! Sims Hardin (MESH, TOE RING, SOCIETY) recorded and mixed this thing, and he’s given the record a really thin and buzzy production that nevertheless packs a wallop—it comes off sounding like someone wrapped the SONICS in wax paper. Give this one a go!

Personal Style False Memories / Heartbeat 7″

Three-piece from Buffalo, NY with what seems like their second release? Although I didn’t find much on the band, I get a very jam-econo/MINUTEMEN thing from “False Memories,” with sparsity and intention throughout. The live take from Duende at Silo City, on YouTube, is rough and full of feeling—I wish they’d gone for that sound on this recording. “Heartbeat Memorial” caught me by surprise based on the A-side, starting with a wall of distortion and a faster tempo that doesn’t see any rests, along with a more melodic structure. All that said, I thought I was headed for a synth-wave band based on the cover art, so color me confused.

Private Hell Private Hell cassette

If you like your crossover with the thrash and hardcore elements equally dialed up to eleven, this cassette is for you. One marching, anthemic track follows another, reminiscent of CRIPPLED FOX, early D.R.I., or S.O.D. but stripped of those bands’ silly streaks. The anguished lyrics more closely resemble SUICIDAL TENDENCIES in tone, with themes of depression and inner pain, and are very well-written. “Total Massacre” differs from the other tracks by being less a skate park rumble from start to finish and creeping toward mosh time with more than two minutes of a slow, metallic, instrumental build-up. Clever, smart stuff.

Repeat Offender Summary Execution EP

Sharp stuff here as REPEAT OFFENDER continues to hone their unique, catchy raging on their second 7”. Bestial vocals and a thumping rhythm section make a fun pairing, and across these six songs they shift seamlessly between menacing hardcore, anthemic street stomping, and a blend of the two. A lot of the Oi! stuff that has come out in recent years has leaned in the direction of post-punk, so I appreciate that this band has opted for a demon singer and a raucous and pointed sound instead.

Satan’s Rats What a Bunch of Rodents LP

Of the skadillion bands that emerged in the wake of the first wave of British punk, few got out more than a single, usually on a small regional label or on their own dime (er, quid?). I have quite a few of my favorites, but there’s still always more of them to hear. Put out by Overground (to whom I will always be grateful for reissuing a large chunk of the CRAVATS catalog), this compiles all the recordings SATAN’S RATS put together in their short lifetime, with most of it gone unreleased at the time. Notably the band got an opening slot for the SEX PISTOLS, got shit on by Bob Geldof in his review of their first single (“Exceptional only for its mediocrity,” Sir Bob writ, presumably miffed at another band with a RATS band name), and then the second and third singles promptly went nowhere. The singer quit, and the rest of the band went new wave as the PHOTOS and got a hit album from it. Them’s the breaks, as they say. But was it fair? The songs on here are rockin’ and melodic, definitely showing the influence of GENERATION X or BUZZCOCKS. But I wouldn’t say any of these have the big pop hooks or catchy choruses of a “Ready Steady Go” or “What Do I Get?”—if you’re a ’77 Brit punk fanatic, this could be for you, but I don’t think this is anywhere near an unearthed trove of classics.

Space Danish & the Sewer Diamonds Six Dungeons cassette

This slime punk from Michigan is definitely not for everyone, but if you want something truly fucking weird and gross, you’re in for a rancid treat. These six tracks are built around three-to-four-note detuned synth lines, programmed drums, and bluesy barf vocals ranting about germs and grease. I can imagine a rat climbing out of a sewer and singing these songs. Or maybe the ROCK-A-FIRE EXPLOSION on bad drugs. While this tape sounds like a mix between WESLEY WILLIS and an 8-bit BRAINBOMBS (for the repetitive dum-dum riffs, not the misogyny), I have never heard anything quite like it, and once I got over the discomfort of the first few songs, I got into it. Recommended for the real outsider greasy grimies.

Squelch Chamber Much Drugs cassette

If this weren’t a cassette, I would have checked the RPMs after a rumbling noise intro gave way to a four-note dread missive. Instead, I reached for the volume and felt the rumble take over while I struggled to make out anything not in the lower frequencies. I thought I was prepared after that opening cut…I was wrong. This one’s weird. Noise-drenched dirges, the BODY + crunked MITB + KILLDOZER…and then they fade into the background just long enough to make you think you can relax. Don’t let them fool you.

These Roving Years These Roving Years CD

Mid-tempo punk with positive lyrics about not giving up and standing up for each other and such. It’s catchy enough for me to have found myself bobbing my head a bit, and if this was on in the background while doing something else my foot would be tapping for sure. The thing here for me was the lyrical content. While I enjoy positive, uplifting lyrics, this came off like a punk rock version of motivational speaking to me, and that kinda turned me off a bit. Like I’m not sure if it was the singer or the simplistic lyrical style, but it just kinda seemed hokey. I suppose there are worse things than having a positive outlook on life, though…I guess.

V/A Nuestra América Hardcore Punk Vol. III cassette

A very interesting diagnosis and snapshot of the state of the South American punk and underground music scenes, with bands from Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Bolivia, and Brazil. As with any compilation, there are tracks that you connect with better than others, but I dare to highly recommend the hardcore metallic tinge of Argentina’s ASESINATO EN MASA, the brutality of DL50, the raw crust of Brazilian veterans TERROR REVOLUCIONARIO, and the honest and politically charged funk-metal of Bolivia’s AMUKINA NUNCA MÁS.

Altar De Fey And May Love Conquer All LP

The latest release from this cult band from San Francisco is exquisite deathrock, written with the confidence that comes from years, experience, and a full knowledge of the dark underbelly. You have your tribal drumming, your simple but powerful bass lines holding everything together, the deep and dramatic vocals, and an expressionistic guitar that elevates the songs to the quality of personal anthems. The closing track, “Division,” is absolutely addictive.

Antinomia Trilha Sonora Para um Jantar de Família Pós-Apocalíptico cassette

From the booming punk scene of Oporto, ANTINOMIA is one of the bands to keep an eye out for. These young fellows are old school hardcore afficionados and know what the hell is going on with the style that they do. They pay homage to the oldies like RIPCORD, VOID, HERESY, and ELECTRO HIPPIES, so basically every good fastcore band on the planet, plus some of the weird anti-hardcore riffage of NO TREND. There is an urban element that can’t be denied in the vibe of the band that goes beyond hardcore, turning it into a more visceral and palpable piece of music. Excellent artwork by the gruesome Legfarmer, once again able to put disgusting sonic putridity into visual form, and let’s not forget the added bonus that is a MISFITS cover of “Earth A.D.” Play fast or don’t, they will still be faster than you!

Belmondo Du Är Död EP

Du Är Död, the latest release by Gothenberg’s BELMONDO, consists of seven mid-paced hardcore punk tracks. Sweden has a reputation for DISCHARGE-inspired kängpunk, but this one is snotty punk that might sit right in between the KBD/Bloodstains and Really Fast compilations. Not hardcore or punk enough. With song titles like “Bathroom Floor” and “Drinking the Day Away,” BELMONDO certainly has a different approach to expressing anger than ANTI-CIMEX. They probably don’t give a fuck.

Black Dog Black Dog demo cassette

Another demo recorded in a bucket. BLACK DOG plays almost-D-beat, sloppy hardcore that reminds me of DISCHARGE, or how WHY could sounded after the twelfth tape dubbing played on a boombox that has been thrown into a lake. It’s obvious that bands can play this type of music; what is becoming incredibly hard is to put their own authenticity into it. The overdrive on an already pitching recording does its part and satisfies the noise lovers. It is a fun listen, but not really much more than a bunch of people into this type of punk making a record over a weekend. It is great they did that, it is great they shared it with us, and no one should feel restrained to do the same. This demo is as good as it is effortless, which could be an inspiration too, for all the anxious people who worry how they will sound. Do not overthink and overproduce your stuff, just create what you would love to listen to. Not completely sure, but the cover suggests that a skeleton is taking its dog (on a chain leash) to walk while riding a horse. This is silly.

Crime San Francisco’s Doomed LP reissue

I hold CRIME on high as one of the platonic ideals of late ’70s punk who, on top of being the first on the West Coast with a record, also seemed to come out fully formed, conceptually and aesthetically superior from the jump. Dressed up alternately like slick, sleazy gangsters or crooked beat cops, CRIME sounded like the distillation of everything crude, delinquent, stupid, and degenerant-ly fun about rock’n’roll—from the gnarled amphetamine twang of rockabilly to the primitive, pimple-faced stomp of garage rock—cooked down dirty and shot up with the amplifiers on ten. The music roars out lean, mean, and loud, with a white-hot attack of volume and attitude. The guitars sound like a souped-up muscle car revving its engine, with unhinged and untuned leads, while the rhythm section runs you down, swerving and careening, ending every song like a flipped-out ten-car pile-up. Following the mindblowing record-and-DVD live set San Francisco’s First and Only Rock n’ Roll Band: Live 1978, this is Superior Viaduct’s reissue of the original LP of then-unreleased recordings put out in the ’90s by UK label Solar Lodge. This was also subsequently reissued by Swami in the 2000s as San Francisco’s Still Doomed, which is where I first heard it. While I haven’t been nearly nerdy enough to A/B it side by side, this Superior Viaduct version seems to sound just slightly more cleaned up compared to the Swami one. But there isn’t much you can do to really clean up CRIME, and these recordings remain a perfectly raw and high energy document of the band at their best.

Cur Ínugamì cassette

Short, no-bullshit, demented hardcore punk from Philadelphia. Imagine the darker ’80s Japanese heavyweights, but ultra-primitive and with throaty USHC vocals. The tape is good, but the vision mostly makes me anxious to hear what they’re going to do next.

Dräumar D’Krig EP

Norway’s DRÄUMAR put forth a slab of pure punk fury in the form of D’Krig. Jam-packed with vicious riffs and ferocious vocals, this record is an incredibly hard-hitting punch of super pissed-off, mid-tempo(ish), noisy(ish) hardcore. There’s also some fantastic, more ominous guitar lines here sprinkled on to great effect. Awesome work from these Oslo Obliterators. Recommended! Stoked to hear more from DRÄUMAR.

Erupt Left To Rot EP

Love it when punks play metal! Featuring members of SHEER MAG, GELD, and many more, ERUPT knows their metal well. This Aussie bunch dug up the classic extreme metal albums and did their own take on the genre. One can hear SODOM, SLAYER, and BATHORY, providing a thrashing sonic eruption that almost goes into black thrash metal territory. Horns up for the punks!

Fastidio Fastidio cassette

Dreamy, drum-machine-powered post-punk from Argentina. I imagine a lot of JESUS AND MARY CHAIN and SUICIDE worship with this duo. The synth has moments of “Cheree” and “Dream Baby Dream,” and the “Just Like Honey” drum sound gets a go-round, but I prefer when the band programs a more danceable beat like on “La Antena,” or something harder and more synthetic like on “Tifus.” They win points with a SERGE GAINSBOURG cover, and if you’re in the mood for the gloomy, swoony, and reverb-drenched, FASTIDIO may fulfill your needs.

Grave Return / The Hamiltons DCxPC Presents, Volume 6 EP

Two songs each recorded live at The Danger Room in Orlando, FL. The concept of this series is very similar to the V.M.L. live series that was seemingly endless in the mid-to-late ’90s. In theory this is a cool concept, but as someone who doesn’t particularly enjoy live recordings, I’m not sure I’d pick this up unless I was a massive fan of the bands featured. As a collector’s piece though, this is limited to 150 copies and a nice document of a certain scene at a certain time and place, so that wins extra points with me for sure. The bands? GRAVE RETURN has a darker pop punk’n’roll sound; the HAMILTONS are “RAMONES-core.”

Herida Profunda Power to the People LP

Latest release by HERIDA PROFUNDA from Poland. This sort of stuff probably would’ve been considered just “thrashy” or “crusty,” reminiscent of the pre-internet era of DIY punk when people didn’t have enough info to pigeonhole bands. Somewhere in the context of being in squats, social media track sharing, tagging, and dollar bin punk records, Power to the People must have been created. The world may need this unclassifiable aggressive music that just simply is an output of intuitive pure aggression.

Male Patterns / Under Attack split EP

This is a split 7″ containing two pretty different sounding bands, but both sides of this slab of wax are worth the price of admission. The first three tunes come courtesy of Albany, New York-based MALE PATTERNS. This rips! Killer early ’80s East Coast-style hardcore like the ABUSED or (excuse the more contemporary comparisons) AGGRESSION PACT and CHAIN RANK, with the gravely, pissed vocals to match. It absolutely kicks butt. The flip side is also killer, with three tunes from Richmond, Virginia’s UNDER ATTACK, who deliver some righteous, crusty and fast hardcore. Powerful stuff on both sides! Even though the MALE PATTERNS side does win over this reviewer’s heart more, the UNDER ATTACK side is also a bona-fide burner.

Nightbreed Plague Dogs cassette

I love stuff like this. Lo-fi, gruesome, death-beat blackened punk. NIGHTBREED plays squealing, hypnotically rhythmic riff blasphemy with whisper-like chanted vocals. Clear comparisons to TRANQUILIZER, KURO, BEHERIT, GHOUL (Japan), and ZOUO— NIGHTBREED shines in a dark, eerie chamber of punk madness. Psychedelic metal punk D-beat that is grim, cosmic, and enrapturing. I guess there are only 22 copies of this tape available, so if any of this appeals to you, I recommend you go after it now. These four tracks are kvlt as fuck. NIGHTBREED? Plague Dogs? So unassumingly creepy and weird. Sonically, this sort of creeps me out, but I also kind of want to listen to it over and over for hours, seesawing between feeling insane and feeling relaxed.

ÖPNV Deutsch Funk Revolte LP

It’s really all there in the album title. This Berlin band delivers a solid collection of cold post-punk songs with early industrial elements, and it’s pretty great. Several tracks have spoken word intros, and most all begin with heavy, distorted bass grooves and electronic drums. The vocals and production sound like EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN with some THROBBING GRISTLE at their most “Hot on the Heels of Love,” and several tracks feature a dying no wave trumpet twisted in the swirling synths. “Einzeltäter” dips into Euro techno but never loses its cool, perfect for a Berlin dorm room or a dancefloor. “Blockiert” is the closest to traditional punk, via the SUICIDE synth-and-drums route. Its crackling three-note riff and pounding kick drums combo is as economical as it is heavy. A simple and effective stomper to end a strong album. Sehr gut!

Phantasia Ghost Stories LP

NYC’s PHANTASIA drops a very well-rounded debut LP. Riddled with sentimentality (“Falling Falling”), darkwave bliss (“Out of Spite”), and poppy interludes (“All the Flowers”), this album is a culmination of noted influences like BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN and PYLON, to name a couple. Mixed with an original styling, I find a debut that captures this band at its rawest, and most close to the heart. The closer “Leftover You” reminds me of the REPLACEMENTS’ “Answering Machine,” or any of their B-side reveries, for that matter. The vocalist warbles through elongated notes of heartache, sounding like she’s hanging on to the microphone for dear life. This is worth your time.

Prize Hog Sweat Farm cassette

PRIZE HOG is a four-piece out of Cleveland who play a sludgy mix of noise rock, grunge, and punk. It’s certainly ’90s-influenced and undoubtedly a product of Ohio. Also, there’s a theremin. Just as the opening track gets going, a ’50s sci-fi ray gun sound effect kicks in. You think it’s just a fun opening salvo to establish the tone of the album, but it just keeps going…throughout the entire cassette. It’s kinda playing the same role as the electric jug on 13TH FLOOR ELEVATOR tracks, but it’s way more prevalent in the mix. Over the course of the nine songs on here, I went from thinking the theremin was interesting to annoying to fine to back to annoying again. Point is, I devoted a lot more time thinking about that theremin than I did the songs it was featured on. Which is a shame, really, because they were pretty good! Had it played more of an accompanying role or had it been buried more in the mix, I think I would have been really into it. In any case, an interesting release—give it a listen!

Proud Parents Live at Union Pool cassette

Eleven tracks of jangly sing-along jams from Wisconsin’s PROUD PARENTS, recorded live in Brooklyn (at a pool party, apparently). At times it (almost) sounds like Gordon Gano dropped in on some indie band’s basement rehearsal just to make it weird, but really, this is just smooth-ass garage-lite. Be careful though, it sticks.

Rudimentary Peni Media Person EP reissue

I love witnessing the early flashes of bands as transgressive and iconoclastic as RUDIMENTARY PENI. This is the reissue of their stunning debut EP, originally recorded in 1981 and released on their own Outer Himalayan label. Twelve songs in twelve minutes,  absolute glory remastered from the original tapes. Obviously this 7″ is a sample of a searching period of Nick Blinko’s project, where lines are thrown into dark areas of the psyche that the band would later explore in their sound, but where influences and youthful impetus are also noted, manifested for example in an unabashed love of speed.  The songs are short outbursts full of creativity and precision—you can already see the intention to create a private universe, a mental map, so to speak, that can be expressed through an assault on sounds. “Teenage Time Killer” and “Media Person” already point to the Death Church sound, while the rest inhabit a place where an abrasive, dark Pink Flag exists. This is a cultural artifact that deserves to be in our collection.

Schizos Banned! From the Hi Tone cassette

I want to make my own “If you don’t like SCHIZOS, fuck you” shirt. They’re such a refreshing band in that you know immediately if you’re in their corner or not. And if you’re not, friend, you should sip your beer elsewhere. This is beautifully unhinged and sounds shit-hot (I mean, recorded by Erik Nervous and mastered by Will Killingsworth, so no surprises there). There are very few groups that I’d rather hear a live recording of (I’m reminded of OBN III’s Live in San Francisco for the extra jolt of energy and the combative stage presence) and now I have another. And then there’s just the biggest dick-kicking cover of “Born 2 Be Wild” that actually manages to make me finally get that song. What this tape really gets across is that while the narrative is that this is totally unhinged, chaotic rock‘n’roll, this band is tighter than Rambo’s bowstring. Where I expected a sloppy, glorious blaze of glory, I got a band that knows exactly who they are and exactly how to blow up a stage. Heavy as hell. Wish I were there. Doubt I’d remember if I were.

Socoträ Born to Chaos cassette

Indonesia’s SOCOTRÄ brings us a stench-laden, damaged crust assault on their sophomore release, and it’s one of my most listened-to albums of the year thus far. It’s nine songs with no weak spots, just killer D-beat hardcore with all the spikes and patches. Covered in desperate, raw-throated vocals, these tracks have a ton of character and nuance, even tastefully delving into black-metalry a bit on “Disgust,” and “Toxic” is just an absolute crusher and one of the best songs of this style I’ve heard in a minute. The tape comes in a box set package along with a t-shirt, stickers, buttons, and a booklet with lyrics, etc. Fuck yeah.

Spooky Visions Spooky Visions cassette

Debut release from this mysterious recording project that’s maybe out of Buffalo. SPOOKY VISIONS plays downer-y synth punk, and their sound can be pegged somewhere among the broody/funky analog squiggle of early-aughts TRANS AM, the antisocial bile-spiting of GIORGIO MURDERER, and, like, the soundtrack to Doom (1993). Nothing mind-blowing going on here, for sure, but I found myself really digging this. Sometimes some meat-and-potatoes tunes by a lone weirdo yelling at you about digital slime or whatever just really hit the spot.

T​.​L​.​B​.​M. & the Joy Toys T​.​L​.​B​.​M. & the Joy Toys cassette

Incredibly catchy lo-fi punk rock with an emphasis on the rock. Seemingly recorded in a closet with the microphone underneath a pillow, this cassette contains four tracks of RAMONES-y, three-chord sweetness. I wish I could learn more about this band. The lyrics are unintelligible, but the spirit is wild, carefree, and infectious. You’ll be bopping your head but to what? Who knows.

Tuff Bluff Poppies flexi EP

Three-song release from this young Denver band, released as a flexi disc. Punk with enough heavy, rough edges to balance the smatterings of pop that lead vocalist and guitarist Sara Fischer sprinkles in. The distinct meandering bass lines tie it all together, almost like a second vocalist. The right mix of Kait Eldridge’s songwriting in BIG EYES and the energy of the SOVIETTES.

V/A Chaos in Basque Country LP

Another dip into the thriving Euskaran punk ‘n’ Oi! scene, taking inspiration from the classic Chaos En France series this time. Those who are already familiar with bona fide Basque hit factory Mendeku Diskak will know luminaries like the mighty STA. CRUZ, IRMO, and REVERTT who are all stand-outs, but the rousing gang vocal choruses of TAXTERS (like REICH ORGASM in their pomp) and the feral stylings of ATTURRI are also a treat. Not much to discover if you’ve already heard the excellent Kaosa Euskal Herrian LP from a while back, but a great intro to one of the more interesting scenes going at the minute.