Reviews

OCCii

Nape Neck Nape Neck LP

You can skip reading this review and just buy the record. NAPE NECK is the realest shit, and I have already bookmarked this for end-of-year top ten season. Outstanding collection of post-punk meets no wave squall that sounds like a GANG OF FOUR, TEENAGE JESUS AND THE JERKS, and ERASE ERRATA tag team against your brain. There is a forward propulsion to these tracks that is effortlessly compelling and enormously fresh. Syncopated drums lock in with heavy bass grooves, while guitar lines tangle in and out and transform into a percussive element of rhythmic palm muted strumming. All three members sing, usually at the same time, their voices weaving an urgent tapestry of sound that comes together in ecstatic, unified chants on tracks like “Demonstrations” and “A Worm.” This LP compiles two previously released cassettes, and is bewildering in how fully formed the band emerged from the beginning. Essential urgent punk for right now.

Nape Neck The Shallowest End LP

I won’t beat around the bush, folks—Leeds trio NAPE NECK’s first LP The Shallowest End utterly and totally stunned me. This thing is a perfect mess of puzzling bass lines, proudly no wave guitars, and incredibly fucked-up drum beats. What’s crazier is the fact that all three members are singing while breezing through those dazzling signature changes and sharp turns in composition. I mean, how? How is it possible for three people to make that much noise and make it make sense? It’s an absolutely explosive and electrifying noise rock freakout, and I’m head over heels in love with it. Ring-ring: Hey Alex, I know I already submitted it, but is it possible to make a few changes to my year-end top ten?

V/A OCCII ~ DiY Comp Ltd EP

Excellent four-song freak collection from the Netherlands. Some dreary slow synth/No Wave from LANGE NIEZEL, followed by a whirling D-beat detonation from OUST (check their 12″ from last year if you haven’t already) on the A-side. As solid as that pairing is (and to be clear, it’s great), the flip features a stellar KBD rocker from GIF, and fans of AMYL AND THE SNIFFERS rejoice upon hearing “Comfort Zone,” because your shit just got punker. Then PONYTAIL TARTIFLETTE closes the record with an eponymous monster, a noisy track that channels the Trim Tab Tapes catalog while tripling down on chaos. “I make horses look like the police,” whispers the vocalist before the band launches into a jerky assault that descends into MELT BANANA-meets-free jazz and then just…stops. Fucking gorgeous pink wax, risograph cover, and a nice educational poster inside—the 7″ comp format catches a lot of flak, but this one is damn near perfect.