Reviews

Dial Club

Big Clown Big Clown cassette

Excellent blast of high-speed screech-punk from this Memphis band, collecting two previously released tapes and a live set from Gonerfest. The band lays down fast and freaky riffs while vocalist Lucy sings in a pitch and style nestled somewhere between Poly Styrene and Carrie Brownstein. I thought there were dual vocalists until I heard the live tracks and read the liner notes, since many songs have them overdubbed an octave apart. It sounds awesome—immediate, frenetic, and intense. Not that the songs or band sound particularly angry. Take “Freaky,” a bubblegum pop tune enveloped in distortion and dirt that stands out as a little capsule of joy. Lucy sings “You don’t have to be nice to me / You don’t have to be nice to me / You don’t have to be nice to me / I know that you think I’m freaky” as a one-minute declaration of independence from the normies of the world. “Burger Salad” is another fun one that swirls with dissonant guitar lines, handclaps, and a sing-along chorus of “I wanna eat my burger salad.” Although frequently a joyous bounce, there are heavy moments of fast, churning punk like opener “Smell a Rat,” the raucous and atonal scream duet on “Hissy Fit,” and the chaotic blastbeat outro on “Big Girl.” The Gonerfest set sounds amazing, with the band jamming in absolute pro-mode. The only thing I don’t understand is the lack of audience sound. BIG CLOWN deserves a crowd into this as much as the band is. Recommended!

Catastrophic Dance Ensemble Vol. 1 cassette

Dial Club brings us more drum machine bedroom weirdness with this Ohio duo. But at this point, is it even that weird? This is in that same pocket we’ve been in for a while with bands like FREAK GENES and even some of ALIEN NOSEJOB’s oeuvre. There is, however, a little more of an unhinged feel to this. Bedroom, blown-out howled vocals and space siren guitars bring character to a subgenre of a subgenre I’d otherwise assume I knew everything about. So when a track like “Pay Me” really locks me in, manically bobbing my head at my desk like a true on-the-clock rocker, I take notice. It’s hard to do something the same but different, to innovate on a formula no matter how niche it is, but these two have done just that. By the closing track, “Again, Again,” I don’t know what to expect. Especially not the dissonant dystopian street anthem that devolves into echoey madness that hits a wall and goes dark prematurely. Kept me wanting more, for sure.

Feed Stimuli cassette

I guess it was bound to happen, but someone finally smashed the two plastic dinosaurs of NWI-style home studio synth punk and good ol’ fashioned ’80s hardcore. The results couldn’t be more fun or sensibly pissed-off. The bulk of the HC sound comes from the broken-glass vocals that send home the blunt force of tracks like “Numb.” Everything here drives forward, with a cool clean tone to the guitars and satisfying swerve to the synth. Everything congeals in a sound that’s truly disorienting at first, with brainy-but-dumb guitar leads and great riffs that make your teeth throb. The overall impact feels subtle at first, but this is some dank basement rage cage shit, not to mention the dizzying effect of almost every track title/chorus being the same cadence of growling three syllables. Pow pow pow. Almost every cut. I’d definitely slam to it, and I’m amazed I haven’t heard more imitators. Not yet anyway, but they’ll come. Check out “Tooth Decay,” you won’t even notice you’re getting bruised when you’re having such a good time.

Flop Machine Machine Beat Rock and Roll cassette

Nine songs of mid-paced, synth-driven garage punk out of Norway. If geography is indicative of genre, I would’ve guessed FLOP MACHINE to hail from Memphis, ‘cause this cassette has that Goner Records sound nailed. The vocals, in particular, feel very JAY REATARD-inspired. The layered yet lo-fi production is fitting, the guitar hooks are working, and there are some spicy little phrases being banged out on the keys, but my attention started to drift after a few songs that seemed to have the same tempo. After a closer listen, it became apparent that literally every song has the exact same BPM. Ah, the perils of drum machines! Gotta give that tempo knob a twist!! Setting that aside, FLOP MACHINE is clearly on to something. If you need more bleeps and bloops in your life, or just can’t wait for the next DIGITAL LEATHER album, flip on some FLOP MACHINE.

Gonk Gonk cassette

There’s a lot to be said about bedroom tinkerers putting out home-taped outsider punk like this. I respect it, keyboard drums and telephone-compressed guitars/vocals and all. But it doesn’t shake my ass. There’s a sleepiness to this tape, and one could call it restraint, which has its place (and is often underrated). But even on the shout-along chorus (on paper) of “UFO,” it’s too muted to reach out and grab me. It’s a great exercise in aesthetic and execution, with dialed-in songwriting, but I just wish it had some wattage behind it.

Kat Haus Manic cassette

Fantastic EP that stands between egg-punk and post-punk, in the vein of KLEENEX/LILIPUT with the sense of humor of K Records. Songs are fun and catchy, lyrics are smart and satirical, guitars are razor-sharp, the bass wants to dance with me. A delight. My fave track is “Bum a Light.” Listen to that, right now.

Klint Klint cassette

Here’s something worth sinking your teeth into! Driving electro/synth punk utilizing a drum machine with tons of attitude. LOST SOUNDS pops into mind as a stylistic reference, but KLINT isn’t as guitar-forward, nor are they flirting with new wave in quite the same way. The vocals are overdriven and at times end up sounding robotic. In fact, it’s all vaguely robotic and suitably low-fidelity. The song “Noiseless” sounds like the SPITS if they were more obsessed with DEVO than the RAMONES. Fans of the PRODIGY or ATARI TEENAGE RIOT may find this appealing.

M.A.Z.E. Live at the Archer Ballroom cassette

Live documentation by Japan’s M.A.Z.E. on tour during 2019. If you’re a fan of their LPs, the songs will be familiar. Sounds decent for what was probably just a tape recorder in the back of the room.

O.R.C. Feeling Safe cassette

This five-track cassette was released by Dial Club from Japan (Katakatou Punk Collective) and consists of lo-fi Melbourne punk directly from a bedroom. Imagine vocals like an ’80s telephone conversation on a submarine, mixed with heavily-layered tasty riffs. This is eggy garage punk, and it could get monotonous—for fans of PRISON AFFAIR, as the heavy synths are companions with the diminutive, distorted guitars. Recommended if you are into lo-fi bedroom creatures and frantically recorded cassette tapes. Suggested tracks: “Self-Proclaimed Narcissist” and “Too Much Fun.”

Polluter Demo 2021 cassette

High-octane is the name of the game. South Korean fast hardcore infused with blastbeats and occasional D-beats. Highly energetic music with a very, very pissed-off vocal delivery. Sometimes it reminds me of a slower and less spazzy RAINBOWS OF DEATH. The shifts in style and beats only bring another dimension to their love of hardcore punk. Amazing debut display of modern hardcore.

Rudix Demos cassette

Dial Club, a new cassette label out of Japan, brings us this Buenos Aires duo’s first two demos combined into a single release. RUDIX plays bratty, frantic garage punk in the vein of LOLI AND THE CHONES, and the eight tracks on this cassette are loud, fast, tinny as hell, and over nearly as soon as they start—just as god (or at least Greg Lowery) intended! Real good shit!

Spewed Brain Spewed Brain cassette

Egg-punk often feels like a reductive term, but SPEWED BRAIN is out to scramble your noggin’, and I gotta say it when the shell fits. Carrying the torch passed down from fellow Hoosiers CONEHEADS and LIQUIDS, SPEWED BRAIN plays the kind of tight, catchy lo-fi punk that is best served on cassette tape. Unlike their forebears, they veer away from worshiping at the altar of DEVO, choosing to inject some good ol’ rock’n’roll into the mix instead, with ‘50s-inspired guitar work and pop sensibilities. The vocals are rapid-fire and snotty, acting almost as an instrument unto themselves. The guitar riffs tend to be the driving force in most songs, but the drumming is certainly nothing to scoff at, with plenty of meticulous rolls and precise hi-hat work. Including the synth, everything rolls up into a nice, gooey, omelet. Fans of the GOBS, CHERRY CHEEKS, and GEE TEE will find something here to sink their decaying teeth into.