Amyl and The Sniffers – Big Attraction/Giddy Up LP (Homeless)
Amyl and The
Sniffers are the hot shit, mullet wearing, mullet cutting, garage punks from
Melbourne, Australia. Big Attraction/Giddy
Up is a combination of the band’s first two EP’s. Amyl and Sniffers play a
rudimentary ’77 influenced punk that leans more towards the Lurkers than the
Saints. According to the many written stories, the first EP was written and
uploaded to Bandcamp in a four to twelve hour session after work. Big Attraction shows off the Sniffers
style sound, “’70 Street Munchies,” while Giddy
Up tries to grow it up, “Mandalay,” slightly. In the last two years, the
band has garnered a lot of attention and 2018 should be a big year for the
band. – Ed Stuart
Archie and The Bunkers – Songs From The Lodge LP (Dirty Water)
Is organ punk a
thing? In this endless sub genre world of underground music, I’m not really
sure, but I’ve seen it used to describe Archie and The Bunkers. The Bunkers,
actually two brothers from Ohio, are a two-piece band that only features organ
and drums. Songs From The Lodge mixes
‘60’s garage, psych, and blues with Stranglers, Screamers and Cramps influences
throughout. Archie and The Bunkers even cover “122 Hours of Fear” on their
second release. There are parts of me that misses a guitar and bass especially
on a song like “Laura”, but on other songs like “Bill’s Bad Day” the other
instruments aren’t that missed at all. – Ed Stuart
Broadway Lafayette – Subway Zydeco LP (Hound
Gawd)
This is a bit of
a left turn for Hound Gawd. Usually, Hound Gawd deals with bands like
Lovesores, No Tomorrow Boys and Born Loose. Broadway Lafayette features Mick
Collins of Dirtbombs with members of Heavy Trash and Mama Resin. Subway Zydeco goes straight into the Creole
heart to bring back true zydeco music back. If you’re a fan of Gogol Bordello
or want to step outside punk, but not leave it’s periphery, Broadway Lafayette
could be for you. The band sings in several languages and features traditional
zydeco influences along with early ska/reggae as well. – Ed Stuart
The Cavemen – Nuke Earth LP (Slovenly)
No one should
really be surprised that a band named The Cavemen is primitive garage. Nuke Earth, the band’s third LP, mixes
50’s rock n’ roll, Stooges, Cramps, Back From The Grave punk and ‘90’s era Rip
Off Records in one raw scuzz filled bag. Most of the time the songs are fast,
wild and loose with the notable exceptions being “Thug” and “Jenny.” It sounds
like this record was recorded direct to cassette 4-track. The Cavemen are all
about energy and rock n’ roll abandon and the boys from New Zealand capture
that on Nuke Earth. – Ed Stuart
CROM/DAM – Black Nylons EP (Screen
Test)
Art damaged
synth punk from Victoria, Canada. CROM/DAM are a two-piece band from former
Line Traps members. Black Nylons is a
lo-fi homage to Screamers, Los Microwaves and Normal run through scuzz, grime
and other non hi-fidelity means. The EP is three songs of unrelenting synth
punk from this boy/girl duo. – Ed Stuart
Dusk – The Pain of Loneliness 7” (Dirtnap)
While Dusk may
be lead by Amos from Tenement, Dusk is not in the musical background as them.
Yes, both bands hail from Appleton, Wisconsin and contain members of the
expanded version of Tenement, but that is where the similarities stop. This
7-inch features the band’s mix of early Stones, honky-tonk, alt-country, blues
and ‘70’s singer/songwriter influences. “Pain of Loneliness (Goes On and On)
encapsulates this musical concoction from its sweet slide guitar to Badfinger
vocal harmonies. The B-side “Go Easy” is steeped in the same musical stew, but
showcases the more breezy side of ‘70’s singer/songwriter duties with Tyler
taking over vocals instead of Amos. Dusk is part of the new Wisconsin focus of
Dirtnap since the label moved from the Pacific Northwest to the Midwest. Dusk
has an LP coming out later this year, which hopefully will be as good as the
single. – Ed Stuart
Favorite Things Band – Coming Clean LP (Self-Release)
The Twin Cities
seems to be carving out a sound all their own. Minneapolis scene musicians
decided to form back in 2014 and create The Favorite Things. Coming Clean, the band’s debut, is full
of later Replacements meets later Husker Du with a heaping of alt-country,
Americana and bits of old R.E.M. Favorite Things have put the melody at the
forefront of Coming Clean and have
created songs that would have challenged for the charts in the ‘90’s indie,
guitar pop world. – Ed Stuart
Faz Waltz – Double Decker LP (Spaghetty
Town)
Now, I’ve reviewed
Faz Waltz a few times over the years and the band definitely has stuck to its
guns. Double Decker, the band’s sixth
LP, is what Faz has been doing best for the last decade. Faz has taken the
sounds of ‘70’s glam and Bovver rock and brought them to the modern era. Now,
one thing I’ve noticed with Double Decker
is the slower songs like “Is this The Way” and “Sleepy Head” definitely have a
real “Cosmic Dancer” feel. What about the rest of the LP? Faz is strutting
their glam rock riffs as if punk never happened and the show Marc was never
went off the air. – Ed Stuart
The Fritz – S/T LP (Drunken Sailor)
Short songs for short
attention spans? The Fritz hails from Indiana and feature members of The
Liquids, CCTV, Pentas and Punkoid. This S/T
debut is the ballpark of early ‘80’s punk hardcore played by a minimalist no
frills band. It’s like Killed By Death meets parts of Circle Jerks, 7 Seconds
and sped up Posh Boy punk recorded lo-fi. – Ed Stuart
Kensington Hillbillys – Belly of The Beast LP (Boppa Do Down)
Punk meets
country might be the best way to describe Kensington Hillbillys. The Hillbillys
have been kicking around Toronto for fifteen years and building a following in
that time. Hillbillys do like their punk as evidenced by their Clash covers LP,
The Crooked Beat. Belly Of The Beast is not the wild
abandon of the first Gun Club. The guitar distortion is geared to the twangy
sound of country, but infused with punk spirit. “Down In the Dirt” is a good
example of this. I wonder if the band switched out their Telecaster sound for a
Les Paul sound what would happen? – Ed Stuart
King Kong Blues – Make Rock N’ Roll Again LP (Le
Passage)
King Kong Blues
or KKB is a three-piece rock n’ roll blues driven band out of France. If you’re
thinking class power trio, you will have to make a modification. KKB has two
guitar players, no bass and drums. Make
Rock N’ Roll is guitar driven rock heavy on big riffs and big chorus that
are yelled a little more than sung. KKB sings in three languages on this LP,
French, Spanish and English. The majority of the vocals is sung in French,
which will make it difficult to join in the sing along or shouts unless you
speak French. KKB is probably closer to a better playing White Stripes mixed
with ‘70’s rock. – Ed Stuart
Knifey – Beached LP (Self-Release)
California
influenced beach punk pop by way of Toronto. What? That’s right, you read that
correctly. Knifey fuses early Weezer, surf leads, Pixies, ‘80’s alternative and
punk-pop into one glorious package. Beached
really is a surprise, mainly that’s it’s self-release and has got so much
press. Your first thoughts about a band named Knifey are not melodic surf-pop,
but in this case it is. The band reminds of the Chinchees a lot and eventually
a label gave Chinchees a proper release. Its not like Canada is short of good
bands, but here is another to add to the list. – Ed Stuart
Impotente – Demonstrative Opnamens 7” (Drunken
Sailor)
Impotente is a
two-piece lo-fi band from Montreal that sings in Dutch. The members have been
in the Nodes and Omegas. Demonstrative
Opnamens is rudimentary lo-punk that
has been described by others as ugly. If you were looking for melody, I would
search elsewhere. This 7-inch is a re-release of the Swollen City cassette. – Ed Stuart
Lawrence Arms – We Are The Champions Of The World LP (Fat Wreck)
Twenty years and
these Chicago mainstays are still kicking around. We Are Champions Of The World serves as introduction, compilation
and testament to the band. We Are
Champions pulls from all their releases, six LP’s and five EP’s, on Asian
Man, Fat and Epitaph that range from 1999 - 2014. Lawrence Arms play a
Midwestern pop-punk that features dual singing styles of clean and
throaty/raspy. Lawrence Arms sound has always blended more traditional rugged
straight-ahead pop punk “The Devil’s Taking Names,” with Jawbreaker/Get Up Kids
melodic influence “Alert The Audience” to their advantage. – Ed Stuart
Maniac – Dead Dance Club LP (Dirt
Cult)
Round two for
the oft-described Gentleman Punks. Now, you probably have read in the past, in
the abandoned halls of this blog, that Maniac has been on many of the top
year-end lists and if you listened to the band, you’ll understand why. Dead Dance Club, LP two, is a transition
record, but the transition is slight at best. It’s like growing up from 21 to
27. This time around is less
“Hello, alcohol. Keg handstands are a great idea because beer is my new water”
to “Sure, I can sit at the bar to order drinks with my friends and get to work
tomorrow.” Maniac still has the elements of what makes them Maniac. The frantic
high energy, wild abandon, Briefs/Dickies/Weirdos ’77 LA sound with group
vocals is still there on “Midnight Kino” and “City Lights,” but ‘80’s influenced
songs like “Modern Love” and “Neutral Libido” find a home on Dead Dance Club too. – Ed Stuart
Neighborhood Brats – Night Shift 7” (Taken By
Surprise)
The Brats are
back after a hiatus, so enjoy it because it might be for a limited time.
Neighborhood Brats had called it quits after their LP, but have decided to get
back together to bring the world Night
Shift. I don’t think there was really any danger that this wouldn’t be any
good. I think the surprise may of how good this is. It reminds me more of the
earlier Brats material. They seem light and carefree and less influenced by
‘80’s hardcore and more by ’77 LA punk instead. Maybe it’s a guitar switch or
the attention to the melodic riffs. It sound like riffs are played on
Telecaster or just more favoritism given to the treble then I remember in
previous releases. Night Shift is
classic Brats. Brats are notorious for delivering amazing singles that required
repeated listening because the songs are so good. – Ed Stuart
The Scaners – S/T LP (Dirty Water/Adrenalin Fix/Casbah
Records/Dangerhouse Skylab/ Strychnine Recordz/Teenage Hate Records/Trokson Records)
It would be easy
to dismiss Scaners as a synth punk band and leave it at that, but there is a
lot more going under the hood. Yes, this a global release and a stellar effort of
collaboration if you read the label list. Scaners, from France and with one n,
mix Spits, Dickies, Screamers, Devo and Epoxies mayhem in a ’77-’79 blast of
camp and punk with all phasers set to fun. There is a definite B-movie sci-fi
aesthetic running through the LP, but it doesn’t get in the way of the songs.
Scaners may “Want To Talk To Your Leader” on a “Checkpoint Planet,” but what
they really want to do is have fun. – Ed Stuart
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