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Hailing from the Western Mass town of Holyoke, this solid debut album has the mid-tempo gut-punch of the STOOGES and DEAD BOYS—the kind of punk that doesn’t need to speed through the songs or pull some Epi-Fat double bass drum fills and is comfortable pulling back and letting the songwriting and a little attitude bring the message. There’s also a tinge of post-punk here à la WIPERS or HURRY UP.
Portland’s decade-long, Motör-fueled, charged and speedy metalpunk project. Lemmy worshipers with a punk’n’roll grip that gets monotonous quickly, yet is very well-executed. Great recording and guitar and vocal sections. Recommended mostly for Motör-heads.
Twelve-track CD release by SKEPTIC? from Birmingham, Alabama. Politically-driven lyrics with hardcore punk songs somewhere between RUDIMENTARY PENI and NAKED AGGRESSION. Slightly metallic but still nasty-sounding distorted guitars with maniac vocals. Chaotic yet well-written songs about our cruel world.
The SPORRS furnish their indie pop with a little feedback and yowling, but leave it otherwise undiluted. It’s a nice touch to their dulcet, PIXIES-eque record. Each song has a memorable tune which the band turns out in a thoughtful but not overthought way. Their punk DNA keeps things to-the-point. It’s all supported by some conservative but solid drumming.
Your typical run-of-the-mill garage rock here. There’s some decent stuff on this disc, but a lot of it comes off like JACK WHITE trying to ape the NEW YORK DOLLS and RICHARD HELL. I usually love me a good drum machine, but the lack of real drums hinders this album quite a bit. It’s way too clean, robotic, and precise. This is an odd complaint, but this album is a tad too long, almost like being forced to eat an entire bucket of ice cream. The first four scoops are great, but halfway through, you’re choking it down and wondering why you have so much ice cream in the first place—very ironic considering the band name. Vocals are great, snotty and charismatic, and carry most of the album. Lots of potential for STRANGELY ADDICTIVE, I think they just need to adjust their game plan a bit.
TEMPLE from Portland, Oregon is a goth rock band of the finest caliber. Heavy, primal drumming, thunderous bass, and soaring, flanger-distorted guitar come together to form a formidable arrangement, while the vocals have a smooth, rich delivery similar to MORRISSEY. The Submisssion LP is an eight-song album that flows like the river Acheron, dwelling upon emotions of grief, loss, and isolation. However, the strong rocker mentality permeates deeply and creates a sonic environment that is instantly danceable and anthemic. If you’re looking for a way to beat the winter darkness, then look no further than this LP.
I hope we all realize how incredibly lucky we are to have a musician in the world as consistent and prolific as Vinny Earley. Between frequent touring and myriad side projects, he still manages to bring us new material from his long-running solo project annually, thus giving sad sack aging punks like me something to look forward to in this crummy world. The melancholic Nothing’s Secret from 2022 was an almost meditative collection of earworms, and while there are still some excellent weepers on display here such as “Texas Clouds,” Earley also dips a wing in the waters of synth pop and garage punk with the evergreen sentiment of contemporary existential dread, like closer “2 Car Garage.” The genre-hopping isn’t a parlor trick either, and it all comes from Earley’s strong voice as a songwriter. This is a cohesive work from someone who seems to never run out of ideas and whose frequent output strengthens his work rather than dries up the well. In summation: god save Vinny Earley, may his reign last a thousand years.
More psychotic sci-fi punk from the twisted mid-western minds of WHY BOTHER? Like a psychedelic showdown between TIMMY’S ORGANISM and the SPITS, Calling All Goons oscillates between hook-ladden stompers like “Enter Xterminator,” and disquieting somber numbers like “Climbing Out of the Sky,” where the synth adds the bulk of the color. The highlight for me was the odd sock, punk-pop goofiness of “I Wanna Be Like Pete,” with bassist Pamela lending vocals and a slight departure from the quasi-disturbing lyrical content found on songs like “What’s Wrong With Me?”. Apocalyptic themes course through the album like tributaries of toxic ooze, creating a pervasive sense of foreboding that is heightened by the layers of undulating effects and waveform patterns. This offers a nice contrast to the catchy riffs that drive much of the album. Delightfully demonic. For the goons, by the goons.
How often do you get the chance to review a split record between two bands from Vilnius? In fact, depending on how attentive you were during geography class, you may even have to quickly check Wikipedia just to be sure. I don’t know much about the current Lithuanian DIY punk scene, but I am always eager to learn in order to shine at dinner parties, so this split LP comes properly handy. I am usually a little scared upon reading the “grind” tag when it comes to bands’ descriptions, because I am not exactly a grindcore lover, especially if it gets technical, but ATTAKTIX is really good. I was a little skeptical at first hearing the blastbeat moments, but in the end, I think it does not distract because they are not overwhelming. If the grindcore influence is obvious (even in terms of production), ATTAKTIX resides on the metallic käng side of the river. They are heavy with a perfect guitar tone, really tight but still very much hardcore punk which makes them sound wild and angry. I am reminded of the potent, relentless vibe of bands like DRILLER KILLER or WOLFPACK, with added blastbeats and a CELTIC FROST influence in terms of grooviness and vocals, not unlike what AKRASIA is up to. The last song, eerier, is brilliant. It’s a win for me. I must confess that I was afraid STRANGULIATORIUS would be totally out of my comfort zone, but I enjoyed their five songs, even though I suck at death metal. Again (and thank fuck for this), the band does not sound all technical and remains on the punk side, although they undeniably belong to the old school death metal category. They sound primitive and filthy and almost grave-like enough to appeal to lovers of metallic crust like myself, with their dirty guitar sound and gruff, guttural vocals. I can picture STRANGULIATORIUS sharing the stage with TERMINAL FILTH or CANCER SPREADING and definitely making sense. Overall, this is a pretty strong record that can be played in a festive environment, especially if you never want to get invited to your in-laws’ again. Recommended.
German bass-and-drums powerviolence that sounds like a cross between SPAZZ and GODSTOMPER. The songs have enough variety to sound fresh, often moving from blastbeats to heavy breakdowns and back again. You will be rewarded if you speak German because there are plenty of samples from what sounds like news reports, films, and even Alpine folk songs—this is a release full of personality. The vocal stylings are…unique. The lead vocals are traditional multi-syllable-per-second hollered PV fare, but the backing vocals sound like a guttural “OohoOohOoh.” Imagine a drunken Frankenstein’s monster wearing a Tankcrimes hat, and you get the idea. At first, I was like “WTF is this?” but then it actually started to grow on me and rip pretty hard. Caveman-core one-upped? There are plenty of highlights on this compilation of tracks, including a heavy psych groove on “You Only Lobotomize Once” that sounds like prime LIGHTNING BOLT, tongue-in-cheek autotuned vocals on “Kräftemethen,” and filthy jet noise distortion on “Blümeranz.” Check it out from one of the million labels that helped with the release.
A strong offering of death metal from Philadelphia’s CONCRETE CAVEMAN. Some touches of punk-leaning styles like grindcore and powerviolence (especially in the song lengths), but this is definitely a death metal record. I don’t think the production is really good enough for an album of this sort and makes it sound weak at times, but the sharp, tight musicianship does make up for it. Worth a listen if you’re into death metal.
Blown-out, hook-packed ramshackle garage pop from Kiwi DIY lifers (if name-dropping the PORTAGE or NUX VOMICA doesn’t mean anything to you, it should), traipsing through the kaleidoscope world of early Flying Nun as they gleefully kick up dirt all around them. If there’s an obvious comparison for CUTICLES’ freewheeling tumble between melody and noise, it’s Siltbreeze alums TIMES NEW VIKING, who (for better or worse) helped usher in the mid-’00s “shitgaze” blog hype tag with their scuzzy, in-the-red CLEAN daydreams—the slightly out-of-sync, sweet-but-not-too-sweet vocal harmonies from CUTICLES guitarists Matt Plunkett and Lisa Preston, the subterranean warble of keyboards buried under layers of fuzz and distortion, the get in/get out economy of their eccentric two-minute pop songs not overpowering a willingness to also get weirder and more atonal as it strikes their fancy (the collapsing sax-skronk outro of “Helping Out My Dad,” or the ranting, menacing thud of “Democracy or Dictatorship” sounding like the FALL covering the DEAD C’s “Bad Politics”). It’s a bit of a backwards reference, given that CUTICLES are actually from New Zealand, and Lisa Preston in particular has been behind some crucial ’80s NZ deep cuts that I’m sure their Buckeye labelmates studied rather intently, but you’d still be hard-pressed to find a finer example of the form than Major Works.
This collection contains the entire output of Japanese anarcho-crust band DESTRUCTION from Ibaraki. Aside from their name, they also carry a very strong peace punk sound, while being a crustcore calamity at times. Loose and pulverizing. Reminds me of AXIOM, with some melodies of PAINTBOX or BASTARD…it’s like A.P.P.L.E. meets INITIAL STATE. There are upbeat grooves that collapse into grinding, blasting rage, like E.N.S. or LUDICRA with intros by LIBERTY. DESTRUCTION members have gone on to form bands such as UNARM and ATARAXIA. This is definitely worth your attention these days; very unique, passionate, raw, and powerful punk about war, children in war, the working class struggle, and the constant oppression from a controlling class.
Here we have some quirky and lighthearted pop punk out of Hawaii. It’s a friendly kind of rockin’ with just enough weird themes to make it appropriate for Halloween time. Musically, if the likes of MXPX were a little too rough and jarring for you in the ’90s, this should be about your speed. But who am I to hate on these dudes playing fun music in paradise?
The latest release from Paris-based GUIMAUVE. When listening to the intro, I was initially given the impression that I had been assigned some terrible electro-industrial punk record to review for some reason—thankfully, for the sake of my own mental well-being, this was not the case. In reality, this is six tracks (intro notwithstanding) of solid, POISON IDEA-influenced hardcore punk. It’s not too shabby, although it’s probably not something I’d ever feel the need to revisit. Certainly not bad though, and worth a listen if you’re interested.
Every once in a while the universe presents me with a collection of sounds that resonate as if they were made specifically with my tastes in mind. Such is the case with the phenomenal debut LP from this screaming Australian blues-punk unit. The JUDGES obscure their scorching electricity with a smokescreen of soul-stirring riffage to create quite an addictive din. Distortion-laden stomps and jumping, jaded laments pour freely from these ten tight tracks, recalling old favorites and breathing new life into classic cult-rock concepts. If the first couple of jams fail to convince you, jump ahead to “Top Gun,” and that should do it. I hope the dude didn’t really trade his guitar for a bottle of booze as suggested on the cover, because I’m looking forward to seeing how this particularly hot shit evolves.
This lot is from Richmond, home of many a good band, and this is my first contact with them. I am a little torn over this one because I am not sure what KONTAMINATE is really trying to pull off. Technically, raw D-beat hardcore is a style I literally feel at home with, as I have a room in my palace that is exclusively dedicated to the genre. KONTAMINATE strives, as far as I can tell, to locate themselves at the crossroads between snotty American hardcore and ’80s DISCHARGE-influenced hardcore. When they manage to sound like early FINAL CONFLICT or recreate BODY COUNT’s raw angry sound, I think they are great, but there are songs that I feel sound a little disjointed and lacking direction. But then I have never really cared for traditional ’80s US hardcore, so it could be me. One thing KONTAMINATE is undeniably good at is the recreation of an almost perfect raw ’80s hardcore sound, warts and all. Eight songs in about ten minutes, so you know what you are in for. Urgent hardcore worth keeping an eye on.
Seattle’s LEXICON’s latest EP is a six-track lethal brainbomb of filthy noisecore at its finest. Full-on DISORDER meets CHAOS-UK-style assault without having to resort to punk cosplay mode, because we all already know punk still isn’t dead. Noise guitars and insane vocals exploding into an onslaught of rapid-fire blitzkriegs.
About a decade ago, Tina “Boom Boom” Lucchesi from the TRASHWOMEN and her life partner Jonny Cat were a two-piece garage rock tour de force called CYCLOPS, playing short, simple brutal punk songs dressed as, well, cyclopes. MONGO has the same raw energy and a similar aesthetic with songs like “I’m Dumb,” “Mongo,” and the monosyllabic “Ugh,” which has an accompanying video that is as beautifully provisional as the music. This is the kind of release that Slovenly would have put out, but it is equally at home on the legendary Die Slaughterhaus label.
This four-piece out of Leipzig turned quite a few heads last year with their debut cassette. Among the folks wowed by their odd mix of primitive post-punk, drippy garage (think Help-era THEE OH SEES), kitschy sci-fi timbres, and goth-adjacent art-punk were the good folks over at Trouble in Mind, who reissued that cassette in the US and are now here with the group’s debut LP. In her review of their last release, MRR’s Erika Elizabeth expressed hope that on their next record they might “lean even harder into the wild electro-art-punk impulses,” a sentiment I would have echoed at the time. The band, however, has leaned garage-ward. I think it still works, and fans of their debut should still find plenty to love across the twelve tracks on this LP. Any disappointment that I have stems from some potential I imagined from chalking the band’s initial sound up to a choice on their part, rather than something necessitated by their amateurism. In any event, they seem to be playing with more confidence now, the record has a beefier sound, and they really manage to craft a unique atmosphere, even if some of the songwriting is a little blander than I’d hoped. Overall, I think it’s a cool record, and it contains some absolute bangers—“Alien Alien,” with its detuned extraterrestrial beach party vibe, is one of my favorite tracks of the year. At the very least, give that a listen!
Vancouver’s PHANE blasts through four cuts of straightforward, UK82-charged punk on their Police System EP, one of which is an UNRULED cover (and the strongest showing in my opinion). Sticking to themes of menial city living and the fookin’ cops, PHANE gleefully sticks up two fingers at the system. I have no complaints, and if you’re a fan of bands like the VARUKERS and G.B.H., you’ll have none either.
I imagine there is an audience for this Czech band’s 1999 album, but it’s not me. The tracks are more dance than punk, with repetitive, skittery techno beats and tinny, distorted guitar on top. It sounds very dated, and with some of the songs running past the five and six-minute mark, they become tiresome. The lyrics may be amazing (I don’t know—I don’t have a copy of them to translate), but the music is pretty bad. If you told me this had a low-level major label distro deal in 1999 and the band made a mark at outdoor European festivals, I would totally believe you. ROZKROCK fans only for this one.
Another wonderful offering from Phantom—Berlin, Germany-based SPLIZZ takes a page out of the ’80s post-punk book, maybe something like the SOUND with rougher edges. Not totally sure what they’re getting on about, except for “Bored” which is sung in English, but the mix is great with bass way up front, dueling male/female vocals, and shimmering guitar riffs. This follows their first EP from 2019 (also self-titled) and comes out at a time when Western European post punk is in full-fledged revival. That said, SPLIZZ stands out to my ears, and has all the makings for greatness (or maybe I just can’t get enough of this type of thing)—you decide.
Challenging, avant-garde post-post-punk, pushing beyond the outer bounds of the sonic parameter staked out on their previous album, Spllit Sides, also on Feel It. This is a dense collection of songs! Although SPLLIT sounds nothing like CAPTAIN BEEFHEART, I assume this would appeal to someone for whom Trout Mask Replica is casual listening. Or maybe fans of the RESIDENTS? Angular anti-pop with swirling, chirping synths and alternating male/female vocals. In their more motorik moments, I think of FAUST and NEU!, though SPLLIT is more often scratchy and abrasive, with jerky tempo changes and atypical time signatures. Is this what math rock for egg-punks sounds like?
First things first, I think the name of this LP is genius. Musically, this record bounces around between traditional, melodic punk and Oi! In the end, I think I’d call it “street punk,” which is somehow different from Oi! to me. It’s mid-tempo and steady and pretty catchy. I like it. If not mind-blowing, I’d say this is very solid.
There’s plenty to love about a three-piece of Seattle DIY vets laying out simple, confident, and melody-packed punk with a tinge of pop and garage. If “my shit” could be narrowly defined this would fall well within its parameters. From the midtempo beats that boogie in the pocket to the charmingly disaffected vocals of Rachel Ratner, these tracks keep up the momentum set in motion on their previous full-length (released on the iconic Kill Rock Stars). There is some of that KRS flavor here without relying heavily on ’90s nostalgia, but there is that Gen X slacker patina that still fires me up well into the new millennium. A track like “Big Dipper,” with its garage-y swagger, or the snotty follow-up “Never Leave the House” both showcase the group’s strengths beautifully. The lyrics are impressively simple as well, with condensed rhythms and repetition all with an ear for satisfying rhyme scheme. “Doing It” has plenty of gems such as the ever-relatable line “I pretend to be funny, but I never get the joke / I never spend my money, but I always end up broke / Don’t know what I’m doing, but I’m doing it.” When it comes to the music, though, these are clearly folks who have known what they’re doing for a while now.
This 22-band compilation album of current Polish post-punk is a continuation of one originally released in 1986. It features never-before-released material by fledgling bands and documents a developing new wave scene. This compilation highlights a variety of sounds on a spectrum extending from melodic, avant-garde rock to dark-tinged, minimalist post-punk. Each of the bands enshrined in this collection displays their singular aural presence while the collection accentuates a striking cohesion. The gatefold 2xLP features a 24-page book archiving the scene’s existence. This collection is a great entry point into the Eastern European underground.
Brutal powerviolence out of the Philippines. Teeters more on the metal side than the punk side of PV. Super heavy, but slow and low at points. Has a doom metal element, but also reminds me of the early era of nu-metal when it was still experimental and not the cornball mallcore it later became. Lots of dissonant guitars and deeply heavy barre chords. I love non-American grindcore because they think more outside the box than their Western counterparts—always comes off more authentic and less fashionable. Really beautiful production, everything is crisp and full. Vocals are full-throttle and front and center. Everything sounds great here; super tight and groovy as hell. Well worth a spin if you’re into this type of thing.
Two unapologetic bands join forces to make the world a bit more fun. Malaysia’s greatest punk export, APÄRATTUS, delivers yet another vicious raw hardcore attack in a ANTI-CIMEX meets DOOM mash of noise. Italian motörcharged punks OVERCHARGE slam on the gas with their jams on an ANTI-CIMEX meets MOTÖRHEAD route. I can only guess that both these bands really clicked on their love for the Scandinavian Jawbreakers and decided to immortalize it on a record. A split made for the open road and the smell of gasoline.
This is another release on the very active Black Konflik label (a passionate enterprise indeed), with yet another Japanese hardcore band that I am clueless about. Which, in fact, is a lovely feeling, as it allows me to register new bands, expand my knowledge, and give me new opportunities to outshine (if not outcrust) the competition during important punk social events like the annual Punk Nerds Symposium. I was expecting 暴力装置 (BOROYOKU SOHCHI) to deliver Burning Spirits hardcore but, beside the song “State Power” that does abide rather gloriously by the epic standards of the genre, the main influence is beefy Swedish hardcore. The vocals are right between BASTARD’s Tokurow and CIMEX’s Freke. The riffs and overall songwriting clearly point to ’90s ANTI-CIMEX and the bands that worked on that specific angle, like NAILBITER or early WIND OF PAIN (to name just a few). I am not convinced by the production though, there is too much reverb on the vocals for me and the sound sometimes makes me feel like I am listening to the band underwater. I think it would have sounded more powerful and impactful with less effects. Still, it does the job, I really like the vocal tone, and I had a good time listening to the five songs, so I may just be an ungrateful bastard like my dad always told me when I skipped classes.
This is just not my thing. Berlin’s CHOIR BOYS are certainly talented at their instruments and what they do, but I just can’t get into it. “Chaotic hardcore” is a bit of a coin-toss genre for this reviewer—I dig DEADGUY, I dig RORSCHACH, but I don’t dig this. It’s not complex enough to grab my attention, and the riffs that are played just do not register. Once it reaches “2000,” the tracks just become second-long blasts of whatever—just makes it feel like nothing more than a mere gimmick. This isn’t to say that you won’t enjoy it; maybe I’m just a philistine, but I am not interested in this.
If you’re only familiar with COMATEENS’ mersh early/mid-’80s synth pop/new wave dance sound, this reissue of some of their earliest material will likely throw you for a bit of a loop. Bassist/vocalist Nick O. Teen (né Nick Dembling) takes the lead on “Danger Zone” (which was actually the B-side of COMATEENS’ debut 1979 single), and it’s more KBD than MTV; an almost VOIDOIDS-ish punk rave-up with the sort of effervescent, undeniably pure pop choruses that graced countless now-classic Ork Records singles. When guitarist/vocalist Ramona Jan left the band in 1980, she brought their unreleased track “Elizabeth’s Lover” along with her and soon re-recorded it with her new project DIZZY AND THE ROMILARS for their own debut 7”, but her take on it with COMATEENS is given the B-side here (replacing “Cool Chick,” the original A-side counterpart to “Danger Zone”). Much like the ROMILARS’ version, it’s a giddy hodgepodge of sugar-coated ’60s girl group melodies, fizzy power pop bounce, and high-gloss new wave, like an extremely synth-forward iteration of BLONDIE or NIKKI AND THE CORVETTES. I’m not sure that I fully understand the resource utility of a two-song 12” that’s over and done in less than six minutes (especially when one can still easily find the “Danger Zone” single for like $20), but COMATEENS completists and early New York new wave obsessives might beg to differ.
There’s some sinister chain punk coming out of this band from Montreal. Their demo from 2022 was a solid blast of whipping, mean hardcore, and this 7” continues the assault. The four tunes here put a darker and bleaker feel to the menace with compelling results. I love the premature fade-out on the closing track, it makes the record feel like some type of unfinished riddle that I immediately need to play again to figure out.
This record has an exuberant, slapdash feel, as if it were recorded on a whim. The drums have a honky-tonk stride with fuzzed-out guitars tilting the sound back towards garage. There are other qualities that feel more bar-room than studio: the group vocals, the feedback, and big, brash bass. Now all we need are some puddles of spilt beer and we’re set.
Second release, and seemingly first physical media release, from Helsinki, Finland’s LIKA. Eight songs on this cassette, most of which are around the three-minute mark—it gives them plenty of time to meander through different genres, which they do possibly a bit much for my tastes. At times, LIKA sounds like a fast hardcore punk band, while at other times, they sound like a classic metal-infused crust punk band, like TEM EYOS KI or something. Still at other instances, LIKA sounds like screamy, aggressive, moody ’90s alternative rock. The band is super tight, but the mixture of genres might come across a bit off-putting, though.
Moody post-punk meets warbly new wave on this Dresden band’s first album from 2019. The ten mid-tempo tracks don’t break any new ground, but they maintain an atmosphere that is gloomy without feeling hopeless. Imagine the disaffected vocals of INTERPOL and the coldwave spirit of NORMA LOY with bits of exotica (“89/90”), woozy synths, and co-ed vocal interplay (“Dark Side (of the Moon)”) for good measure. A low-key, consistent album with enough variety to keep it interesting all the way through.
On their wild cassette Captured Alive, OVERGROWN THRONE from North Carolina plays raw D-beat with themes of class war, shitty cops, and hating I.C.E.—basically all of the things I want my crust punk to be about. What’s so wild about that? You’ve gotta hear the vocals on this thing. I’m not sure if it’s three or four people sharing vocal duties or one person who’s possessed, but there are multiple styles of singing throughout and it’s truly unique. While I don’t always love each style, I’ve gotta give credit for the creativity and outlandishness on some of these songs, something that sets OVERGROWN THRONE apart from the crowd. Check out “Couchsurfer” and “Victim of My Own Prescription.”
Soft garage rock, clean guitars, and sufficient drums. Reissued from 2018, plus a newly-mixed track. Catchy and fun sounds on this 12”, but evidently more on the garage side than with any punk rock features. Fresher than most garage projects, and even has some slight MINUTEMEN references in the instrumental, but the second the voices start to sing, you can tell the tidiness of all this. It’s a bit boring and excessively existentialist, yet very well-executed.
It’s hard to believe that Roy Vucino’s RED MASS project has been around for fifteen years now. An amorphous collective that can manifest as ten people on stage or just Roy at home with his four-track cobbling together lo-fi collage rock, RED MASS keeps you guessing as to what kind of mask they’ll be wearing when you pick them up for date night. On this 7”, they look backwards to the garage-adjacent rock they kicked their run off with. The title track recalls Vucino’s alien-in-our-midst contemporary Timmy Vulgar, but that unmistakable SEXAREENOS strut confirms that this is Vucino through-and-through. “Millionaire” nicks the guitar lick from GREAT PLAINS’ classic “Letter to a Fanzine” for a compact screed dissing the financially-advantaged, while “Addicted” finds Vucino and HPENNY DIVING’s Chantal Ambridge laying down a heartache-laden duet. Here’s to another fifteen trips around the yellow mass up above.
Montreal’s premier slop rock act returns with another heaping helping of loose proto-punk, this time ditching most of the mid-’60s R&B influence of their debut in favor of some late ’60s/early ’70s sounds. Thanks to some STONES-y ballads, a horn section (if you can call two dudes with three horns a section), backup singers, and some budget funk thrown in among the Raw Power-ed spin age blasters, Live on Cool Street has more of an AOR vibe. Even their VELVET UNDERGROUND influence seems to have shifted out more toward Loaded or solo LOU REED. It’s tempting to say they’ve matured, but of course they haven’t. Just listen to a track like “The River,” one of the aforementioned ballads (not to mention an album highlight), and you’ll hear what I’m talking about. The first fifteen seconds of the song seem to signal a new, gentler direction for the band, but then the vocals kick in and it’s clear these are the same greasy party rockers who brought you that last record. They’re just letting some of their dad-ish influences show. And it works! This record rules.
I never get sick of this stuff. Power pop is a broad umbrella, and frankly a lot of what falls under it is just a drip. Luckily we have groups like this, who belt out the harmonies and play with a fire under their ass. This is gritty, articulate guitar pop that I’d love to sing along with as long as I had a Swedish phrase book in my back pocket. There are elements here of HOT SNAKES, albeit more melancholic than pissed-off, especially in the guitar. In general, the tunes evoke a sort of longing nostalgia for nowhere. A time that never really existed, and opportunities you don’t even know you missed. Is that overly poetic? Sure. But that’s a testament to the disarming vulnerability of this music. Turn it up loud, go for broke, and dance with whoever’s nearby until far too late. My only gripe? After five cuts of supercharged pop rock, it all ends with a lo-fi, single-guitar closer that I keep waiting to turn into something anthemic with the full band behind it. It sort of just fizzles out. It might not even bug me if it were the second-to-last track. But it isn’t, so it does. Otherwise, a beautiful record.
Wow, I don’t remember the last time I actually listened to a SUBSONICS record. I often used them as comparisons for a certain style of voodoo-ish CRAMPS and GUN CLUB worshippers. Slagging them off as just a rehash of the aforementioned bands would be a mistake, as the originality of this Atlanta band shines through very clearly on this reissued second LP. I always thought they looked reeeally cool, and I seem to recall having a little fan crush on their drummer, Buffi, in my youth. The influence of the VELVET UNDERGROUND is something I’d not heard before, with the occasional Lou Reed-ish deadpan vocal and jangly rhythmic guitar. My unfounded reasons for dismissing them as not punk enough at the time because they weren’t taped on some shitty boombox are completely unfounded, as this holds up better than some of those Rip Off Records releases. The EVERLY BROTHERS, BEACH BOYS, ELVIS, and ESQUERITA can all be heard here in some really heartfelt songwriting on tunes like “No Such Animal.” Shit, the CRAMPS pretty much just did covers anyway. Check it out, and pick up the first one while you’re at it, too.
Yet another unknown band knocking at my door just before Christmas, asking for a merciful review that would pave their way for glory. TORTURE AGENDA is from Buffalo, and the first impression of them is one of evil roughness. We are not talking about the pretense of rawness that many bands revel in these days—no, TORTURE AGENDA is genuinely raw, primal, and probably paying the studio by the hour so that they did not arse around during the session and arrive late to a goat sacrifice or somethig. I enjoy this more than I thought I would. The band is fast and the songwriting is simple (if not basic), not unlike early extreme metal back when it was still highly influenced by hardcore punk, like demo-era POSSESSED or SEPULTURA when they still had acne. But TORTURE AGENDA is a punk band, and they also have that rotten crust vibe, especially in the aggression of the female vocals (maybe like EXCREMENT OF WAR’s?). The overall threatening primitiveness is, I’d suggest, an aesthetic choice, and given the template, it works. I am not sure I could listen to a whole LP, but the six-song tape format is appropriate. I love the artwork, it has that ’80s serious cheesiness that defined extreme metal’s visuals. However, what is the person in the background holding in their Bandcamp profile picture? It looks like a paint roller.
U.S. GRAVE is from Phoenix, Arizona and shares members with goth metal band TAKE OVER AND DESTROY. However, you’ll find absolutely no metallic influences on this LP. Darkwave blending with power pop forms a sound that is all its own, while the highly polished production and restrained but adept musicianship creates a foot-tapping spirit. Melancholic and desperate in nature, this album is perfect for the long nights of winter. I really enjoy the energy of “Shallow” which kicks off midway through the B-side.
Five tracks of raw punk destruction from VITRIOL out of Singapore. Wailing vocals roaring within the chaos of blown-out speaker buzzsaw noise guitar, with bulldozing drums crushing the eardrums. Teeth-ripping tracks that will make your flesh rot while you’re listening.
Sisters Erica and Sylvia Rodriguez, along with Daniel Doyle (DANIEL FRANCIS DOYLE & THE DREAMERS, EARLY LINES) present their debut LP, Smell of Money. Austin, Texas-based WET DIP sings half in English, half in Spanish, and delivers a no-fucks-given-wave, cool-as-they-come sound. Guitars scratch and jitter over anxious bass and drums with a mixture of spoken word, innocent melodies, and downright venom, like on the closer that yells “smells like shit” until you too are ready to choke out an ethereal greed. The sparse and wandering PIXIES track “Silver” gets covered, as well as an angular take on “Pelo Suelto” by Latin pop star GLORIA TREVI—both covers fit nicely and give a contextual range of influence. Solid sound and a great debut.
After forty-two years stored away in the archives of a member of the band, eight extensive years of insistence, and four years of labor, Nada Nada was able to unearth this precious Brazilian new wave gem. For a bit of context, AGENTSS were a pioneering band of the country’s new wave movement, mixing elements of electronic and minimalist music. They quickly became a cult band in the city of São Paulo, bringing a huge following to wherever they played. AGENTSS was in tune with the international new wave scene and were on the same wavelength as acts like DEVO or KRAFTWERK. This compilation collects their four songs released as EPs in 1981 and 1983, plus eleven more exclusive tracks recorded around the same time. An important piece of Brazilian music.
This split features two bands from L.A. that sound like something that would have appeared on one of those Voxx Records Battle of the Garages comps from the early ’80s. LOST CAT, a self-described “all femme fatale four-piece,” contributes a fuzz-forward ditty reminiscent of the PANDORAS. The expected ingredients are all present—pulled-apart-Velcro guitars, harmonica solo, shankin’ tambo, raspy smoker vocals, reverb on everything. The look, the sound…it’s all so well curated that it seems a little perfect. BLACK MAMBAS trade in the fuzz for a ’50s-inspired, vocal-driven rave-up. “Love Danger” is quite a catchy tune, but I fear it may suffer the same affliction as the LOST CAT track of being too on-the-nose.
Debut EP from this North Carolina trio who’ve pegged themselves as “amateur new wave,” which isn’t really the self-deprecating dig that it might seem—BONIES aren’t trying their hand at recreating slick, radio-saturated (but still punk-accepted) new wave influences, but rather the scrappier, more genuinely oddball sounds that existed further underground in the new wave era. It’s all presented through a decidedly modern lens, though: “Cake Decorator” recalls the WORLD if they’d been fixated on PYLON instead of ESSENTIAL LOGIC, loping along almost entirely on a slinky bass/drums groove and bassist Dani’s blank-emotion vocals, with sparse, needling guitar cutting in only as punctuated choruses; the tougher, echo-effected “Tango” hits a similarly tense nerve as NOTS in their post-punk/NORMAL-covering incarnation, and the B-side pairing of “Mommy” and “Belly Button” (the latter with some cheapo synth thrown in) goes a little nuevo-garage, picking up more or less where the various SUBURBAN LAWNS-idolizing bands of Lumpy Records circa 2015–2018 left off. Potent and punchy.
Juvenile, scathingly fun pop punk out of Sacto that sounds influenced by anything in Dr. Frank’s back catalog from mid-career MR. T. EXPERIENCE circa Love is Dead. Lyrically, they are pulling from Cheshire Cat-era BLINK-182, or a more mature Buddha. Musically, it’s very adept and well-executed in that mid-tempo punk style of the PARASITES or SCREECHING WEASEL.
