Reviews

Tenant

Chorus Pedal Typo Landscape cassette

Noisy, angular, effects-laden art rock. This falls on the indie side of post-punk, with jangly guitars and overdriven vocals layered between blankets of swirling phasers, tape loop echoes, and (I presume) emissions from the eponymous chorus pedal. This is the sound of knobs being turned. There is an undercurrent of no wave influence, so if you don’t find a band like DNA annoying, then CHORUS PEDAL will almost certainly pique your interest. The songs are fairly repetitive by design and contain sensible hooks and enough charisma to prevent them from being totally inaccessible. Not dissimilar to the INTELLIGENCE or the COOL GREENHOUSE.

The Losers / Rote split EP

Really great split between two bands out of California, albeit in different directions. Makes sense, as both of these groups sound like they’ve come straight from the heyday of Gilman. ROTE brings us some classic melodic hardcore while teetering on the edge of crust. They remind me a bit of LEFTÖVER CRACK with less ska and better vocals. Very authentic, and a lot of fun. If I can be honest, I didn’t expect much from a band called the LOSERS in this day and age, especially since they included a cover of “Rockin’ in the Free World.” But my mind was quickly changed during their first track “The Big Question,” owing to their very charismatic frontman and blistering guitar leads. Classic punk rock right here with a bit of an Oi! tinge. Hey, even the NEIL YOUNG tribute is pretty cool!

Spad EP cassette

Two-riff songs that last less than two minutes each, simple but effective guitars, and a voice that kinda speaks to you from behind a megaphone at a rally. I like the canned sound and how the bass takes over in the middle of “The Corner Room.” There are no pretensions here, just old hardcore punk with influences from the classic New York and Boston styles, but with a less solemn approach.