Reviews

For review and radio play consideration:

Please send one copy of 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. We reserve the right to reject releases on the basis of content. Music without vocals or drums will not be considered. All music submitted for review must have been released (or reissued) within the last two years. Please include contact information and let us know where your band is from!

The Wirtschaftswunder Preziosen & Profanes LP

The WIRTSCHAFTSWUNDER (German for “economic miracle,” and a reference to the rapid development of West Germany post-WWII) was from the weirder and more experimental side of the ’80s Neue Deutsche Welle. They were a truly multinational group, featuring members from Germany, Canada, Czechoslovakia, and an Italian singer (Angelo Galizia) who sang/shouted in heavily-accented German. Preziosen & Profanes compiles their first EP Allein along with a handful of early singles and assorted compilation tracks. Demented zolo strangeness abounds here, in the same league as RENALDO AND THE LOAF, Sweden’s KITCHEN AND THE PLASTIC SPOONS, or fellow Germans PALAIS SCHAUMBERG. There is a playful sense of unpredictability to these tracks, combining musique concrète found sounds, sampled speech, cartoonish synth-pop, toy instruments, and various electronic squalls—often within the same song. “Allein” is an upbeat synth-punker with Galizia’s furious howl at the forefront, while “Metall” layers industrial noise over piano and violin (the overall effect reminding me of “Silent Command” by CABARET VOLTAIRE). “Television” is a bouncy synth-pop number, while its B-side “Kommissar” is a cover of what I assume is an iconic ’70s German TV theme song. “Ich steh auf Hagen” stretches out to nearly five minutes of experimental thrashing about, driven by the same propulsive drumbeat until it all falls apart near the end. Tremendous fun.

V/A Inkstains Across Atlanta cassette

Tired of digging through a wobbly stack of 7”s to find music by your favorite Atlanteans, only to put on a record that you then have to get up and flip a minute and a half later? There has got to be a better way! Introducing Ink Stains Across Atlanta, a collection of every Total Punk 7” by an Atlanta-based artist—fifteen songs on a single cassette! Total Punk? More like Total Convenience! Set adrift down the river of despair with GG KING’s “Joyless Masturbation,” soak in the healing aura of SLUGGA’s “Parasite,” experience pure ecstasy as the music of any one of a myriad of Brannon Greene-fronted projects (PREDATOR, NAG, HOSPICE) fills your ears, or journey into the unknown with a handful of unreleased and non-Total Punk tracks. To order this collection, take $7, wad it in a ball and put it in a bag with a SASE, and send it to Total Punk HQ, or simply log on to totalpunk.com using the browser of your choice.

Agoni En Röst För Fred 1984–1986 LP

AGONI of Stockholm was one of the predecessors of modern D-beat and Scandinavian hardcore, playing in the heavier register such as SVART PARAD, BOMBANFALL, CRUDITY, DNA, HEADCLEANERS, ANTIBOFORS, DISARM, or DISCARD…but in some cases, several years prior to those bands. So, if any of that is of interest, this review is for you, and you already want or have this LP. AGONI was fucking heavy and fast, and pre-any of those categorizations. Just hardcore käng (känga “boot” crust) punk. Grumbling, furious bass and a calamity of drumming and distortion. An intonating furnace of vocals. Classic tumbling intros and tempo changes you hear all the time in a D-beat “Dis” band today. Not just today, ever since the mid-’80s, and all over the world! But AGONI, and their Swedish contemporaries, wrote that skit. The freshness is almost palpable; it sounds so sincerely constructed and musically destructed. The remastering of these three demos(!) and a live 1985 gig is outstanding. Not to get too far off track here, but if you watch ’80s skate videos and you see the look on the skater’s face when they are like, “What the fuck did I just do and land?,” you realize they were inventing something raw and powerful and always went as hard as possible —it was their scene to do so. That is what it’s like to listen to this compilation. Beautiful hardcore in its the purest and earliest form. No carbon copies here, actually writing the often-imitated fill stylings and riffs you hear today, seemingly happening on the exact take you are listening to. Those subtle imperfections in timing and dropping tone that make it so fucking punk. Side B (demo three) moves into their more thrash-crossover material, as bands of this style were doing then, but even their take retains hardcore roots in its hooks. This collection is essential! Alas, all the liner notes are in Swedish. Use your translation app or something, it’s not 1984—and don’t forget your band is not AGONI when you rehearse that two-second raw moment they did, but you’re still pretty good.

Ataque Zero Ataque Zero 12″

Unrelenting five-track debut from Bogota, Columbia’s ATAQUE ZERO. Bass lines build to ride cymbal-clattering choruses, with Luis’ shouted vocals barely taking a rest throughout the entire EP. This project is part of the autonomous cultural center, Rat Trap, in Bogota, that features DIY artists and musicians. Limited copies going quick!

Blitz Voice of a Generation LP reissue

Look, I’m not here to tell you how to live your life. If you want to not eat your greens or avoid looking both ways before crossing the road, that’s on you largely, and given the natural truculence and stick-it-up-yer-bollocks mentality of the punk community, it’s likely to be met with resistance at best and open hostility most likely. That being said, if you haven’t listened to this record, I am going to tell you to go and listen to it right now. From the opening drum salvo and the first time Nidge’s guitar cuts through, it grabs you by the lapels and doesn’t let up. Unlike many of their contemporaries in the Oi! scene that was coagulating round Bushell, et al., BLITZ doesn’t have the same panto “don’t mind if I do, missus,” end-of-the-pier approach to street violence and class politics that came to define the scene in postcard caricature fashion. Undoubtedly you’ve heard this LP a billion times before, and a reissue’s a reissue’s a reissue, but if at the very least it’s stopped you and made you go back and try and capture that lightning-in-a-bottle sensational you got the first time you dropped that needle on the record for the first time, then it’s job done as far as yours truly is concerned.

Brower Live and Contagious LP

As we hopefully near the end of the COVID pandemic, what we are left with is a deluge of bedroom four-track albums or bathroom laptop solo epiphanies. However, this album will stand as the last live concert album to be recorded before the March 2020 shutdown. I left the mystery alone whether the live recording is in the vein of the BLACK LIPS Los Valientes del Mundo Nuevo album recorded “live” in Tijuana, or more authentically, THIN LIZZY’s Live and Dangerous, which the art on this album cover reverently replicates. Regardless, it’s a fun raucous ride throughout. Sporting sounds from glam, English disco, and funk punk, the influences range from MUD and STATUS QUO to early KISS and late PHARMACY. The supporting band includes Josephine Network on guitar and Hershguy on drums. The songs pull from a range in BROWER’s career, so it’s a great intro if you haven’t heard this treasure before.

Crippled Fox Attack of the Thrash Wrist EP

Everything to be said about CRIPPLED FOX is in the lyrics of “United Mosh Pit,” the fifth track of eight on this EP. “Long-haired thrashers / And skatecore punks / Hardcore kids / Blasting the show as one.” That is the entire text of the song and could be the band’s manifesto. Occasionally punctuated with out-of-nowhere samples from DE LA SOUL, the TV show Married With Children, and others, this album shreds with fun, blistering, thrash-soaked hardcore. DRI’s Dirty Rotten LP is an obvious comparison to make. Close your eyes and you see nothing but kids in flannel shirts and bandanas zooming up and down half-pipes. The choice to record live in a rehearsal space was inspired. The resulting spontaneity and energy makes these good songs great. CRIPPLED FOX puts out some amazing crossover thrash and are now 95% of the reason I want to visit Budapest.

Decade The Impossible Scale of Increasing Slaughter EP

Few D-beaters out there stand out as much as Ontario’s DECADE, and the band’s unique range of styles is on display on this EP. We’ve seen a few different shades of DECADE over the course of their handful of releases, and this four-song record seems to have a hot little mix of everything. The chugging charge and ethereal vocals of the opener give way to the spaced-out, confusion-packed banger “Indifference” on the A-side. The flip opens with the crusty pounding of “Existence is Ignored” before the bass-heavy rocking swagger of the closing track, and the whole thing is painted with killer metal guitar licks. Some of the band’s best looks are when they pick up on less popular sources of inspiration like later ’80s-’90s DISCHARGE and FINAL BOMBS, and overall they’ve got an uncanny ability for forcing strange innovations into the genre with great results. If you haven’t heard their 2018 World Stops Turning LP or split with FATUM, you gotta check those too. These guys are killers.

Ford’s Fuzz Inferno The Book of Fuzz: Selected Verses (Part 1) CD

Two excellent EPs from 2021 on one little encoded piece of plastic for your bopping pleasure. Dutch duo FORD’S FUZZ INFERNO pretty much sounds like their moniker—walls of garage-damaged, blasted combo amp guitars topped with sweet in-your-face croons; these chaps serve up hit after should-be hit. They don’t rely on the heaviness, but they get there because they just want to crank the shit out of those guitars, you know…to fuzz ‘em up. Fans of RADIOACTIVITY and the like may find familiar hooks in here, but FORD’S FUZZ INFERNO is a stripped-down model—getting straight to business with none of the excess.

 

Graveripper Radiated Remains CD

GRAVERIPPER of Indianapolis plays very cleanly produced thrash death with elements of blackened metal. The vocals are grim, reminding me of CENTINEX but with the punk attitude of BAT. Also, the themes create illustrious visions of cosmic, bleak scenes of monsters and beasts. Think AURA NOIR played a bit more melodically but just as intensely. Black hypnotic riffs blanket my soft brain with scorching bile. All the greatness of ’80s US thrash with the demonic harmonic vibes of Scandinavian death-beat. This is catchy and cold, and I can’t help but be ripped from my seat into the talons of GRAVERIPPER. I see this was mastered by Joel Grind of TOXIC HOLOCAUST, and Joel really gave it the full-on hexing and unholy treatment. Definitely recommended for escaping into a headbang and a mind-melt. It also seems to be selling like hotcakes, so grab this whenever you can. Damn, the vocal rhythm and IMMORTAL grimacing is insane on “Cherenkov Light.” Six evil tracks, each one more impressive than the last. Did I mention the cover art rules?? GRAVERIPPER is detailed as hell on every level. This is a great new one evoking thee metals of olde.

John, Paul, George, Ringo & Richard Das ist die Zukunft, Aber Nicht Deine! LP

I can’t imagine this band name would work if you went with anything other than “Richard.” “Richard” just has this poncy air about it that really sells this dumb joke. Anyway, this project is the work of a single person—presumably a Richard—who’s been at it since about 2016. He peddles an oddball mix of noise, minimalist avant-pop, dub, yé-yé, downtempo electronica, and space age bachelor pad music. It’s out there, man! Depending on the track, it can sound like a more listener friendly MEN’S RECOVERY PROJECT, a less wacky MR. BUNGLE (Disco Volante-era), or, like, the entire Ralph Records roster covering the poppier cuts from CABARET VOLTAIRE’s Red Mecca. Dude may be a Dick, but he made a cool record. This is the future, but not yours!

Lightheader Lightheader cassette

LIGHTHEADER has a math-rock musical style. The music is busy, sometimes frantic, sometimes drifting. The vocals are laidback and sincere. The combo flows pleasantly from my stereo speakers, occasionally perking my ears up to some odd sound.

Mr. and the Mrs. Kill a Corporate Nazi to Free an Indigenous Slave 2×7″

I kinda dug a tape this Kansas duo released a few years ago, but I may need to go back and revisit that shit because this record is bonkers good! The guitar snarls, the vocals snarl, the drums lurch, the songs are just so gloriously simple…as if they’re saying “we’re going to do this thing—here it is—we’re doing it—you know what it is because we told you we’re doing it—and you can’t escape” on repeat. Space garage psychedelics meet four-on-the-floor rock’n’roll. It’s easy to drop comparisons and maybe that’ll get your ears tuned up, but ain’t no one sounds like this shit. Now I’m gonna dig out my copy of that Deo Volente tape and bounce these two fuckers off each other for a while.

Ogro Ogro cassette

First things first, check out the rad packaging from this Basque punk band: a cassette nestled inside a tiny burlap sack, like some kind of dungeon treasure. Love it. The songs are super raw hardcore with primitive, blackened vocals. This is filthy, knuckle-dragging, cave-dwelling orc-core of the finest kind. The band is tight, and the mix sounds perfect for this kind of savagery. I don’t know the words, but there are some subtle differences that keep things interesting, like a heavy, palm-muted bridge during “Primitivo,” some attention-grabbing time changes in “Venganza,” and gang vocals in “731.” Recommended for fans of RASPBERRY BULBS and BONE AWL.

Print Head In Motion cassette

It’s a challenge—a fun challenge!—to keep up with every limited-run cassette release from Canada’s prolific PRINT HEAD, a.k.a. Brandon Saucier. The man put out something like six or seven of these last year, and 2022 appears to be bringing us more of the same. In Motion doesn’t deviate far from the formula of aggressively lo-fi, egg-flavored punk, but hidden (just barely) beneath all the noise and chaos are some pretty tuneful and competent songs. PRINT HEAD may be mining similar territory as other hyperactive noiseniks like SET-TOP BOX and ERIK NERVOUS, but it’s definitely worth checking out on its own—all of it!

The Punks / Skateboard Skateboard & The Punks split cassette

For background, SKATEBOARD was a band from Buffalo, NY and the PUNKS were a band from Rochester, NY. A dude named Brandon was in a band called BROWN SUGAR from Buffalo, NY. Later, that dude was in SKATEBOARD and also in the PUNKS, and that’s why this tape has a weird and confusing title. MRR reviewer Biff (who was also in BROWN SUGAR, but was not in SKATEBOARD or the PUNKS) told me this one was good. Biff told me I was gonna like it. That motherfukkr….he was right. SKATEBOARD is gruff and wildly catchy punk, like early ’00s Toronto shit through a filthy American filter with no health care. The PUNKS swing harder (like a hardcore MENSCLUB, for the lucky few who will get the reference) and land like a lost ’80s Rust Belt punk nugget. But this whole thing is a lost Rust Belt nugget, because both of these bands were gone before they even got off the ground. So all hail Capitol Idea Cassettes for making this happen…but because NY punks are weird, there’s no song titles, no band information, no label contact information, no lyrics, nothing. So good fucking luck finding a copy…but when you do? Don’t snooze.

Sect Mark Promo MMXXI cassette

For the sake of this review, let’s call it “futurecore.” I’m talking about the dystopian hardcore with menacing, spiral riffs, venomous echoed vocals, and borderline-mocking tone played by bands like S.H.I.T., FAZE, COAX, Singapore’s excellent C.H.U.TE., and others. That’s what this is, and it’s one of the better takes on it that I’ve heard. This promo tape of four songs was enough to make me check out the forthcoming LP.

Spooky Demo 2021 cassette

With quirky drum machines, reverb-drenched vocals, and scratchy guitars, SPOOKY create self-described DEVO-core. I think that’s an apt description of the genre, like an even more DIY, homemade DEVO demo. Besides the obvious influence of DEVO, this tape shares a lot in common with the sounds of ALIEN NOSEJOB and GEE TEE. There’s just four tracks on the tape, all of which are playful and quick to end. Without a lot of substance, it’s hard to say this is something great, but for a demo tape it’s still pretty fun.

Taulard Dans la Plaine LP

French band TAULARD brings us their second LP of upbeat, post-punky art-rock. As the opening track kicked off, I was immediately reminded of another song by another artist…that I annoyingly could not place. After listening to the song dozens of times over a week or so, pausing it every so often to run through a half-remembered melody in my head, it finally hit me—the song I was thinking of was BLONDE REDHEAD’s “In Particular,” in particular “En Particulier,” the French version of the track that appears on the Mélodie Citronique EP. With that sorted out, I listened to the songs back-to-back…and they maybe don’t sound as similar as I initially thought. “In Particular” was quite a bit slower and had a much more intricate production. Still, the melodies were similar, and both tracks were supported by a steady, driving beat. TAULARD even delivers their lyrics in the same cold, detached manner as Kazu, an attitude that both bands balance out with super cozy low ends. So, yeah, this doesn’t sound entirely unlike late ’90s BLONDE REDHEAD. And while the remaining ten tracks may get a little punkier or a little poppier, that’s true of the rest of the album as well. But TAULARD really ups that coziness I mention above by adding, of all things, a droning high-pitched keyboard. Very light, agreeable chords run under all these tracks, imbuing them with a sense of nostalgia that really makes for a pleasant listening experience. Now, I hate to leave you on a click-baity note, but I really don’t want to spoil an incredible moment on this record. If you want the full effect, you’ll have to listen to the whole thing along the way (do it—it’s good!), but there’s a moment shortly into the eighth track that literally made me exclaim “wow!”.

Wirus Pychoza LP

The sound on Psychoza is tuneful and even a little danceable. There’s singing, not screaming, which is always a challenge for punk. But the vocals have enough growl and gurgle to keep the punx (or at least me) happy. The bass has a real sharp, treble-heavy sound which brings to mind KID DYNAMITE or the CHOKING VICTIM LP. The whole record has a great, consistent sound without becoming repetitive.

Zero Zeroes Mirrors / Dreamcrawler 7″

A good, old-fashioned two-song 45 from these German punks. Both songs are mid-tempo, two-guitar crunchers with gruff, melodic vocals and plenty of great guitar leads. With anthemic refrains perfect for singing along, especially on “Dreamcrawler,” both songs are catchy but definitely not pop, and would fit in nicely on a playlist with early JAWBREAKER and LEATHERFACE. Good release if you like traditional, heartfelt punk rock.

V/A Let’s Bubblegum the Punk! Volume 1 LP

French label Pop Superette has put forth a compilation of vintage (1975–1985) North American power pop featuring a roster of bands that flew well under the radar at the time, but were on par musically with more recognizable contemporary acts like the NERVES, the DB’S, and the RUBINOOS. Despite the title, there’s not much punk to be found here—these are by and large sugary sweet songs lacking the edge of even the most pop-oriented of punk bands. Still, there’s a charming DIY spirit imbued throughout, alongside a strain of American ’60s Merseybeat worship that was already anachronistic by the late ’70s. Selection is great and surprisingly varied in mood, with highlights including “Conditional Romance” by New Brunswick, NJ’s ROCKIN’ BRICKS and “She’s Hifi” by the TREND out of Columbia, MO. After a while, though, the noticeable lack of any women in these groups (besides as lyrical subject matter) sent me off to listen to the SHIVVERS instead.

Antibodies LP 2021 EP

Straight-up, no-frills hardcore from this Canadian band. Fast and instantly likeable, with simple riffs pounded down into the dirt and vocals that go from rabies to a sarcastic sing-song quality that sounds like DOLLHOUSE (especially on “No Pension”). Feedback creeps in around all the edges, making it sound like the whole thing will crash apart at any second, but it never does cuz it’s just so tight. Every song rips, but some standouts are “Neuro Crutch,” where the vocals turn into a near-blackened thrash attack, and “Rent-a-Cop,” which adds a saxophone for texture but never lets up the punk battering ram. Great record for those times when you just want to punch, punch, punch the air.

Body Farm Living Hell LP

Oh, I feel fortunate to be assigned this record. The flexi by BODY FARM I reviewed last month was thoroughly impressive and a powerhouse of consolidated hardcore. Politically drenched in passionate activism, BODY FARM brings an intense, clear, and brilliant message in a positive light. Musically, BODY FARM goddamn rips. A flurry of powerblasting and anarchistic cheer punctuation. Feeling some old favorites such as EBOLA, HARD TO SWALLOW, GRIEF, CAPITALIST CASUALTIES, DR. KNOW, PLASMATICS…you have likely not heard anything like this recently. Part dooming breakdowns, part raging blasts, with brief skips of D-beat and thrash ferocity. Bass gargles like a leviathan, vocals are manic and echoing. Complimentary lower vocals are smoldering crust. “Ohioan Solidarity” is a bolstering anthemic crusher. “Death on Two Wheels” might be my favorite, starting off with a Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure quote from the biker bar. Love it! The closing title track grooves me out, just to want to spin it again. It is a fast listen, but there is a lot to pick up on. This record is fantastic if you are looking for something very fresh and very smart. A+!

Consec Demo cassette

Killer lo-fi hardcore/punk from Athens, Georgia. CONCEC’s debut release clocks in at just over four minutes—very brief but very effective, taking no more time than is needed. The vocals are snotty and the instrumentation is riffy and intense. This rough-and-ready dose of HC shows off a lot of future potential and is a much recommended listen to anybody who likes their hardcore punk on the scrappier and primitive side.

Crippled Fox In the Name of Thrash LP

It’s always respectable when something is accurately labeled or identified. If you see a red MAGA hat, you can make some safe assumptions about the person wearing it. With the album title In the Name of Thrash, you can expect unrelenting speed and melt-your-face riffs. Straight out of Budapest comes 23 tracks of mosh-pit power-ups in the vein of early DRI, NUCLEAR ASSAULT, and STORMTROOPERS OF DEATH. Every song is devastatingly fast and tight with an attitude of fun and unity throughout. This band does not hide what it’s about under layers of nuance or lyrical gloss. Take the track “High on Thrash,” which asserts “Thrashing is my drug / I’m wasted with my riffs / Bashing myself / With a killer song that rips.” After nearly two dozen thrashcore classics, the album closes with a hilarious send up of power metal pretension and bombast, “P.M.A. (Power Metal Attitude.)” It’s all big hair, knights with swords, and soaring falsettos that had me grinning ear to ear.

Darby Trash Trashin’ II cassette

Do you like LIQUIDS? If so, you’re in luck, because DARBY TRASH from Chile does, too. So much, in fact, that everything from the artwork to the washed-out production of these egged-out songs mimics the LIQUIDS to a T. Originality is overrated, anyway.

Demonios Demonios cassette

L.A. punks are always making great bands—there is a special thing about Latino punk bands from there that always makes them different from the others, and it’s not like they all sound the same, I just think they have a really special thing that is really, really unique from other L.A. punks. As always, the drums from Kat are amazing, I’m a huge fan of hers. I remember her from other amazing bands like DESTRUYE Y HUYE, and she always gives the bands the punch that they need! Also I love how the voice sounds kinda like the singer is speaking/singing, it gives the band a special touch. A really great tape, six amazing tracks of L.A. punk.

Endless Bore What Do You Dig For?! 10″

All the way from Melbourne, Australia comes ENDLESS BORE, with a record that has the power to shake the Land Down Under to its very core. In this 10″ EP, ENDLESS BORE offers some riffy, shit-stomping hardcore in the vein of the nastier Boston-style HC. They also throw some of the grinding intensity and superhuman speed of powerviolence into the mix—the combination is immensely palpable.

Fatigue Barbecue Times cassette

Better late than never, here are some words about a tape that Berlin’s FATIGUE released in 2019. Total Girls in the Garage vibe, amped up real high with tough no-bullshit, in-your-face riot grrrl energy. You wanna take SMUT and TEAM DRESCH and reimagine that shit as a snotty garage bar-punk outfit? I’m here for it—three years late, but I’m here.

Gape Gape cassette

Los Angeles-area act brings us their second release, a five-song cassette of competently-made noisy hardcore punk. If you were to strip out the slower, artsy intros on the opening and closing tracks, you’d be left with a handful of sub-two-minute tracks whose sound falls somewhere between pure crust lust and the mean hardcore of a band like STRAIGHTJACKET NATION. Imagine taking the 2011 CONVERGE/DROPDEAD split and pulling the vocals from the COVERGE side and the music from the DROPDEAD side—you wouldn’t be too far off from what we’ve got here. If that sounds like your bag, give it a go. I certainly ain’t mad at it!

Green/Blue Offering LP

On the first listen, this record offers a mesmerizing experience. By the second listen, it still refuses to lose any of its magic. Equal parts dreamy and primal, GREEN/BLUE brings wiry guitars, raw beats, and plenty of songwriting magic. There are times when this record feels triumphant and other times when it’s melancholy to an extreme, but the blend comes together perfectly. I hear a lot of influence from bands like WOMEN, WAVVES, and SONIC YOUTH. This isn’t entirely punk or entirely pop, but it is damn sure something special.

Isotope Soap In Need of Systematic Entropy LP

The glorious synth freaks from Stockholm are back, and ISOTOPE SOAP has outdone themselves here. SPITS, TG, SCREAMERS, DEPARTMENT S vibes all collide with a heavy emphasis on bizarre structures and a timeless sound that refuses to fit in any decade past or present. If anything, In Need of Systematic Energy is slightly more accessible than some of their previous efforts (with a title track that belongs on every mixtape you make this year), but you still never know what to expect from one track to the next. Worth noting that RAPED TEENAGERS and PUSRAD personnel are behind this genius…which is not even remotely surprising.

Karma Sutra Be Cruel With Your Past and All Who Seek To Keep You There LP

This is a really, really special release of an amazing anarcho-punk band from England. As a record collector, I always get really excited when a label makes releases like this, because some of this stuff is almost impossible to get or the bands simply didn’t release any material at that time. KARMA SUTRA were one of those bands that have all the elements that makes me fall in love with anarcho-punk—I don’t think they have any song that is not good, it’s a classic, it’s timeless, a record you should get before people try to sell it on Discogs for incredibly stupid prices.

Last Gasp The Storied Weight of It All LP

Cleveland’s LAST GASP has somehow successfully managed to make a record that merges fast hardcore with breakdown parts that don’t sound out of place and a vocalist that wouldn’t sound strange singing in something poppier. Almost reminiscent of RESTRAINING ORDER with more “welcoming” vocals. I can see this growing on me more and more with every listen. Extra points for the nod to Cleveland legends DEAD BOYS with the opening ring-out of “Sonic Reducer” on their song “One Last Drink.” A fun easter egg and classy nod to their city’s punk rock history.

The Missile Studs / Thee Evil Twin 10 Piece Feed split 12″

I don’t know if it’s just me, but I just have this bone in my ear that wiggles wrong when rock‘n’roll music comes in too squeaky clean. That bone is wiggling here for sure with Sydney’s THEE EVIL TWIN. The music is serviceable, well-done even, but it just has a sparkle to it that I have trouble getting past. I’m a grouch, I guess, I just want everything to sound like it was recorded in a basement in hell. The hi-def garage punk of a track like “Let’s Go Again,” with its crispy clapping hi-hats and compressed guitars, just doesn’t have the patina of evil I crave in this style of music. By contrast, the MISSILE STUDS kick things off with a sloppy melodiousness that locks into place. There are drunken backup harmonies, a mic-slobbering singer with proper gruff and grizzle, and the band sounds just right. Everything has an impact, the crunch of the guitar and the slightly wet tambourine/snare that boogies through the night. “Stockholm Love” hits hard with the tight drums keeping the band from slipping off the rails and the harsh guitar holding up the catchy “Hey! Ho!” vocals that will always feel timeless even as they echo the golden years of the late ’70s. I hate to pit side vs. side and band vs. band for a split, but sometimes there’s just a clear preference. The MISSILE STUDS are the nasty fun I’m looking for in garage punk.

Nowaves Odd Secrets LP

Driving post-punk synth from Dresden with the dark sparsity of COMSAT ANGELS or BAUHAUS, but with the lyrical creativity of NICO’s The Marble Index. The JOY DIVISION comparisons will be made, but they have their own original dark surf vibe going. The album has a danceable goth-pop sound, and the ten tracks grow more with each listen for a solid release.

Poison Idea Record Collectors Are Still Pretentious Assholes LP

I just checked, and the classic Portland punk of POISON IDEA still destroys. This sophomore release from the band captures a POISON IDEA that’s matured from the straight beatdown thrash of Pick Your King and is in the process of turning into the polished unit that would produce Kings of Punk, and it rules. This LP reissue pairs the original eight tracks from the EP with five more from the Drinking is Great and Cleanse the Bacteria compilations, including a cover of the STOOGES “I Got a Right,” and its humblebrag cover artwork remains intact (who the hell was thinking about JOHNNY MOPED in 1984?).

Kim Salmon Let’s All Get Destroyed / Unadulterated 7″

KIM SALMON, progenitor of “swamp rock” himself, has always been a grade-A weirdo. His solo work really lets that strangeness shine and this single is no different. From the off-key falsetto backing vocals to the shambolic just-behind-the-beat drums—this single puts FLAMING LIPS to shame without even really meaning to. It’s a freak parade marching through the town square, gleefully banging on a cowbell and singing with abandon. It would be foolish to really critique SALMON at this point for anything. So long as he stays himself, it’s worth listening to whatever he’s cooking up. B-side “Unadulterated” is a great counterpoint, too, with a dreamy piano lead and early-ENO guitar that flows you down the stream of SALMON’s subconscious. Compelling and deeply satisfying through and through.

Split District Invitation to Exile LP

OK…this record. Where to start. At first, when the opening song started, nothing really hit me. Then the vocals came in and I was immediately overcome with a NAKED RAYGUN sort of vibe. As the record played on, it became apparent to me that what I was reminded of musically was mostly SWINGIN’ UTTERS. Then as more time went by, the vocals also started to remind me of something else…boom! RADON. So then, what started out as nothing particularly special started to grow on me. SPLIT DISTRICT has managed to create an album that, while it has callbacks to other bands/albums, is original enough to have caught my ear. In a very good way.

Squire Girl on a Train / Every Trick (In the Book of Love) 7″ reissue

Forming in the late ’70s in Paul Weller’s own Woking, SQUIRE was a mod revival band mining the same territory as the PURPLE HEARTS and SECRET AFFAIR. And they had plenty of mod bona fides, having opened for the JAM in 1978 and being featured on the 1979 compilation Mods Mayday ’79. “Girl on a Train” was originally released in 1982 on songwriter/guitarist Anthony Meynell’s own Hi-Lo records, a label still active today. Both tracks here are consummate power pop, sweetly melodic and full of hooks and handclaps. It was enough to get me interested in the rest of SQUIRE’s catalog, which has conveniently been reissued by Hi-Lo.

Stinkbird Stink cassette

Helsinki, Finland-based poppy garage punk band STINKBIRD brings us a five-song, scent-centric cassette EP. Catchy, mid-tempo songs peppered with noodly guitar work and a vocalist teetering towards the bar-rock realm of things. Surprisingly, it doesn’t stink nearly as bad as the song titles/lyrical content would have one believe.

Top Down Backyard Thunder LP

Third full-length LP from Berlin trio TOP DOWN, who clamor out effortless garage punk with anthemic choruses, my favorite being “Broken Hearts.” They play scratchy guitar riffs, steady-as-ever drum and bass, and seemingly lazy, yet perfectly placed, vocals that groan and crack, reminiscent of Fred Cole. Would highly recommend this for fans of that desperate, lo-fi garage sound.

Ultras Ultras cassette

Not to be confused with the great Spanish band ULTRA, this Oakland crew rips through four sinister, crushing hardcore stompers in about as many minutes. Pummeling, no-frills, no-fills brutality with relentless drums and vocal-cord shredding, all bookended by bleeding shards of feedback. This is fighting music, and I would cross the street if I saw this tape coming my way. Every track is strong, but let’s take the lyrics to “One and the Same”: “Problem made flesh / Each breath a regret / Wake up, same shit / Life counterfeit.” Nihilism you can smash your head on. Featuring members from WORLD PEACE and FENTANYL, and for fans of mean-ass punk like VACCINE and CITY HUNTER.

Visual Purple Visual Purple cassette

Canton, Michigan, 1996: three fifth-grade boys (we’re talking ten/eleven-year-olds!) buzzed on the likes of NIRVANA, R.E.M., and the KINKS form a jangly, lo-fi garage pop band called VISUAL PURPLE, play a handful of shows of the D.A.R.E. graduation ceremony/school talent show variety, and get one of their dads to record their original songs to four-track; things were all over before anyone hit teenagehood. I was also a fifth-grade alternatween in 1996, so the wild backstory immediately drew me in (and with no small amount of awe, as the “bands” I was starting with my friends at the same time only ever existed as concepts), but VISUAL PURPLE wasn’t some sort of kiddie-punk novelty act, and the six songs on this cassette could have just as likely been the handiwork any number of indie rockers of legal drinking age who were putting out fuzzed-out, ramshackle home recordings on labels like Siltbreeze and Shrimper at the height of the Clinton era—GUIDED BY VOICES, STRAPPING FIELDHANDS, SEBADOH, etc. Think of a Midwestern counterpart to Australia’s contemporaneous teen scenesters NOISE ADDICT (for the two or three people out there who will pick up on that reference), except even younger and (thankfully) minus any songs about Evan Dando. The kids were alright!

V/A Vol. 2 CD

The title might not say much, but Vol. 2 is a stunning 1985 collection of punk, primitive hardcore, and pure energy rock’n’roll from more than a dozen different bands from Peru. Legendary acts like EUTANASIA and PANICO share space with the stark, otherworldly delivery of EXCOMULGADOS, the inept shit-fi chaos of CONFLITO SOCIAL, and FRENTE NEGRO’s ferocious pogo. There are more favorites to be sure (ERUCTO MALDONADO and SOCIEDAD DE MIERDA, for example), but every minute of this disc is essential listening that highlights how totally varied and diverse the punk scene was in Peru. Contents: tape hiss, ultra-raw recordings, ramshackle punk, booklet with lyrics and info solo en español…what more could you ask for? My only complaint is that I’m never going to find an original copy of the tape.

AKT 3 Frauen​-​Feuer 12″

AKT brought together four women from Brazil’s mid-to-late ’80s underground scene (Sandra Coutinho from the legendary MERCENÁRIAS, Dequinha Camargo of minimal wave act BRUHAHÁ BABÉLICO, Karla Xavier from experimental electronic post-punks R. MUTT, and Biba Meira, drummer for genre-bending rockers DEFALLA) who were all interested in exploring more improvised and less rock-oriented approaches to music-making with the German avant-garde serving as a primary touchstone, from tranced-out Krautrock rhythms to industrial/electronic-minded Neue Deutsche Welle groups like MALARIA! The numbering of the band’s name actually changed through key phases in their brief existence—AKT 1 for their first live shows in 1990, AKT 2 later that year when they recorded the six tracks collected on Frauen-Feuer (only two of which have been previously released, on a 1991 Brazilian comp LP), and now AKT 3 for this 2022 archival resurrection. “Habits” pairs deep post-punk bass throb with English lyrics lifted from Ezra Pound and samples of howling dogs, and “Wir Haben” (with foreboding, theatrical vocals in German, natch) runs the acute-angled rhythms of CARAMBOLAGE through a dense fog of processed electronics, while the lurching low-end, spin-cycle drumming, and disorienting synth textures of “Prince No Deserto Vermelho” (sung in their native Portuguese) is totally no wave via NEUBATEN. That cold-stare intensity lets up on the instrumentals “Carrossel” and “Os Sufis Dançam,” although the unsettled Metropolis-worthy atmosphere remains, which makes the almost conventional post-new wave pop lilt of “He is Happy” AKT’s sharpest turn of all. History exists to be rewritten.

Baby Tyler Vol. 3 cassette

A solo artist from Madison, WI, BABY TYLER’s got some real songwriting chops. Apparently this guy does a whole acoustic thing in addition to the punk bile found on this cassette, which isn’t hard to imagine when you focus in on the thoughtful composition of these ten tracks. The songs have depth and complexity that will really draw you in if you let them. I didn’t, mostly, but in an ocean of so-so modern acts, BABY TYLER bobs above the surface.

CEO / Shitbots split EP

This is the type of lo-fi garage rock that inspires spontaneous acts of violence. You will be hard-pressed to find a more crusty, rough-around-the-edges, intensely in-your-face record. On the A-side, SHITBOTS bring two absolutely flaming tracks with all the audio quality of an old CD that’s been burnt in the toaster. On the B-side, CEO brings a much more reigned-in sound. Of the three tracks CEO provides, the majority are led by acoustic guitars, incorporating elements of country and blues.

Coax Coax cassette

COAX from Russia plays that heavy modern hardcore, feeding us foreboding riffs played tightly with a sense of urgency and a touch of dystopian angst. This one slides into the same category as S.H.I.T. and FAZE, but with a subtle element of grooviness packed into the sound. Every word of the lyrics is laced with hate, and I’d love to get the singer a glass of tea with some honey after all that rough hollerin’.