Allvaret – Skam Old Sculd LP (Dirt Cult)
Sweden’s
Allvaret are back with the second LP, Skam
Old Sculd, which translates to shame and guilt. First of all this LP is not
sung in English, which does make it lyrically tough to get into too. Musically,
the band is in the same vein as the new wave of Sweden and Denmark bands like
Terrible Feelings and Masshysteri. In some respects, Allvaret remind of a mix
of punk and post-punk much like early Samian did taking elements of both worlds
into their sound. – Ed Stuart
Bad Mojos – I Hope You OD LP (Voodoo
Rhythm)
The title alone
should clue you in that this LP will be no Hallmark movie. Swiss ski mask
wearing aficionados play some mean ultra simple punk in the vein of Spits. Bad
Mojos really sticks to the influence on I
Hope You OD, which isn’t bad because sometimes punk isn’t about reinventing
the wheel. It’s just to release some frustration, which three guys who are
landlocked in the Alps do on this LP. Straight ahead lo-fi influenced punk that
gets the party started and the keg drunk. – Ed Stuart
Bazooka – Zero Hits LP (Inner Ear)
Greece’s Bazooka
is definitely not afraid to mix it up. On Zero
Hits, they cover the spectrum of indie rock from more psych influenced to
peppy angular indie pop. Bazooka, on their third LP, sings entirely in Greek so
good luck to you. There is always Google translate, if that does the job. Bazooka
has been kicking around since 2008 and don’t show any signs of stopping now. – Ed Stuart
Boss – Steel Box 7” (Goner)
This is an
unexpected find. Jonah from Fucked Up and Career Suicide and Maxime from Rixe
lead us into a world of bootboy glam like early Cocksparrer and Slade’s sleazy
‘70’s glam rock n’ roll. It’s a pretty bold move to name your band Boss, but on
this single they deliver. “Steel Box” is NY Dolls dirty glam rock n’ roll meets
Slade’s gritty glam. “I’m The Dog” is a sped up ’77 track that could easily be
on a Slaughter and The Dogs LP with bits of early Cocksparrer’s street glam. – Ed Stuart
Brendan Kelly and The Wandering Birds – Keep Walkin’ Pal LP (Red Scare)
If you’re
expecting The Falcon or Lawrence Arms, keep walking. I know; I went there.
Brendan Kelly of Lawrence Arms and The Falcon, writes an entirely different
record with The Wandering Birds. Keep
Walkin’ Pal is more of a singer/songwriter LP with synth influence and
appeal. In some ways, it reminds of Hold Steady especially on “Bottle and
Tray.” The title track is straight acoustic singer/songwriter, but “Shitty
Margarita” is keyboard fueled slower punk. – Ed Stuart
Clowns – Nature/Nurture LP (Fat Wreck)
Originally
starting as a hardcore band, Clowns on Nature/Nurture,
their fourth album, have slowly morphed into something else. Now the common thought
is that Fat is split into two camps. First are the NOFX influenced bands and second
the bands that aren’t like Dead To Me, Night Birds, Pears and Clowns to name a
few. Fans of Clown’s discography shouldn’t be surprised by the continued
progression. Does Clowns still have some hardcore parts? Yes, they do, but they
also mix in more melodic parts and straight ahead punk anthems to get their
message across this time. – Ed Stuart
The Cool Greenhouse – Landlords 7” (Drunken Sailor)
Casio fueled
Fall meets Los Microwaves arty coolness. Both tracks are swipes at their titled
tracks and both are incredibly British. “Landlords” takes a swipe at you
guessed it, Landlords. I get landlords are an easy target and they seem to be a
worldwide problem. 4chan, the notorious image site gets their treatment as
well. “4chan” satirically goes after a typical 4chan user. Both tracks are simple,
minimal and snarky. – Ed Stuart
Death Lottery – EP II (Self-release)
Florida’s Death
Lottery is a lo-fi dirty garage punk n’ roll that channels early Stooges with
Brian James from the Damned playing lead guitar instead of an Asheton brother.
Death Lottery has five tracks in all played in this style, but with a party
feel on the vocals. – Ed Stuart
DFactor Pop – The Bang Session 7” (Self-release)
Phoenix’s
prolific power pop songwriter is back with The
Bang Session. The A-side is
power-pop played like Newtown Neurotics and The Carpettes. It’s rudimentary
power-pop with a heavy touch of minimalism. The B-side, Mission of Burma’s “How
I Escape My Certain Fate” is played looser than the original. – Ed Stuart
Freak Genes – III LP (Drunken Sailor)
Round three is
here and remember Freak Genes have released three LP’s in 20 months. Charlie
(Red Cords) and Andrew (Proto Idiot) continue making their Devo meets 154-era
Wire with a stripped down Gary Numan feel. III
is fueled by more synth than previous releases and skews post-punk, but Freak
Genes mix a variety of influences from ’77 – ’79 to make this a treat. – Ed Stuart
The Gala – Bad News LP (Dead Beat)
When you’re
puking up hearts, it’s definitely bad news. The Gala plays a hard rock n’ roll
with keyboards. A lot of reviews compare them to Blondie, which I don’t see at
all. Bad News is far dirtier and
sleazier than anything Debbie and the boys would ever get into. The Gala take a
no frills approach and let the keyboard do the melody talking. – Ed Stuart
Good Riddance – Thoughts and Prayers LP (Fat
Wreck)
Good Riddance
was one of the original crop of Fat bands way back when the label started. I
think that really dates me, but oh, well. Good Riddance had called it quits
only to make a comeback in 2012. Thoughts
and Prayers is the second LP since the reforming and ninth LP overall. The
opening quote is Gordon Gecko from Wall Street, a movie full of arguably
prophetic dialogue. Good Riddance was never one to shy away from social and
political topics and they don’t on this new LP. The Good Riddance staples of galloping
drums, heavily chunked guitar and octave filled melodic leads are showcased
through out. – Ed Stuart
Hakan – III LP (One Chord Wonder)
If you’re a fan
of Ramones meets Marked Men style punk-pop, than why haven’t you been listening
to Hakan? Who is Hakan, you ask? They are ex-members of Snookys from Italy who
really, really like Turkish culture. III
delivers the goods just like their first two records did. C’mon take a chance,
you punk-pop self won’t be disappointed.
– Ed Stuart
He Who Cannot Be Named – The Good The Bad and the Brutal LP
(Spaghetty Town/God’s Candy/Beluga)
The most
mysterious man in rock and roll is back with his fourth album. On this LP, half
of the songs have the word “good” and the other half has the word “bad” in the
title. He Who is still playing punk rock with a heavy Ramones influence on The Good The Bad And The Brutal. It’s
pretty amazing that He Who has been in the punk game for over 30 years. He Who
is most notably known for the riffs he supplies The Dwarves with. Although,
according to song lyrics, he doesn’t give a fuck, he writes songs with pop
hooks to lure his fans regardless of the song’s velocity. – Ed Stuart
Lee Corey Oswald – Darkness, Together LP (A-F)
Portland’s Lee
Corey Oswald writes straight to the heart of the late 80’s/early 90’s
alternative scene. In a weird way, this is Weezer/Everclear, musically, mixed
with Bright Eyes, lyrically. Maybe a more current band would be Menzingers.
Oswald started as an indie folk duo, moved to Portland and released their debut
LP four years ago. Darkness, Together
is their follow up LP. Oswald isn’t afraid to put their vulnerability out
front, but balance it with crunchy power chords and melody. – Ed Stuart
Lenny Lashley’s Gang of One – All Are Welcome LP (Pirates Press)
Lashley has been
involved in the Boston scene for over twenty years now. He has been playing
with Street Dogs recently and his long running band Darkbuster. Are All Welcome showcases street punk
ethos, blended with Americana. Lashley got some all star help to record this LP
with members of Bouncing Souls, Street Dogs and Mighty Mighty Bosstones to help
round out his recording band. Lashley does draw from Billy Bragg and adds folk,
country and punk touches. – Ed
Stuart
The Lizards – Inside Your Head LP (Adrenalin
Fix)
Is hard punk
rock n’ roll is making a comeback or did I just have a lot of these bands to
review this round? The Lizards are a hard driving punk n’ roll power trio from
Spain. Inside Your Head, the band’s
third LP, is a mix of faster Joan Jett with bits of later Donnas backed with
whoa’s and oh’s vocals. The Lizards aren’t reinventing the wheel, but fans of
this genre won’t mind. – Ed Stuart
The Lost Tapes – Inconvenience LP (Rockstar)
I guess there is
a band by the same name in Spain. Spain’s version is very poppy. This Lost
Tapes from Germany draw their influences from ‘80’s melodic post-punk and
darker bands of the new wave. Inconvenience
displays the band’s Joy Division meets Wipers sound. – Ed Stuart
Jacques Le Coque – Positively LP (King
Pizza)
What if the
Modern Lovers and Television were more power pop? It might sound something like
Jacques Le Coque. Positively pulls
from all the good ‘50’s, and ‘60’s rock n’ roll and ’70’s power pop influences
all rolled into one. This is the band’s third LP after a three year hiatus.
This is definitely in Whiffs and Gentlemen Jesse territory for fans of both
bands. – Ed Stuart
Miscalculations – Sharp Solution EP (Rockstar)
London’s
Miscalculations are back with their new 5-song EP, Sharp Solutions. If this is your first exposure, this is a good
place to start. Miscalculations feature Marco of Gaggers fame, No Front Teeth
Records and numerous other bands on vocals, but instead of pure ’77 UK punk
mayhem, he channels his post-punk side. Sharp
Solution is more synth heavy than previous releases, but the musical
cocktail is basically unchanged. Wire, Joy Division, Tubeway Army, New Order,
Depeche Mode with a touch of Screamers for an late ‘70’s early ‘80’s post-punk
romp. – Ed Stuart
Motosierra – S/T LP (Spaghetty Town)
Uruguay’s
Motosierra has been at it since 1999 making a name for themselves in Brazil,
Argentina and their home country of Uruguay. This S/T release is their first LP in ten years. Motosierra play a hard
rock punk that is greatly influenced by Motorhead and Turbonegro. Unlike
previous releases, which were sung in English, this S/T is sung entirely in Spanish. – Ed Stuart
Mystery Girl – Bad Vibrations 7” (Self-release)
Mystery Girl
plays a trashy NY Dolls with a touch of rock n’ roll glam soaked pop that oozed
out the local dive bar. Mystery Girl hails from Albany, New York and features
members of Bourbon Scum, Neutron Rats, Scuzz, The Rigs, and The Mistake. If
these guys lived in Atlanta, they would be playing shows with RMBLR, Ravagers
and the rest of the crew. There are bits of The Cry and the dearly departed
Barreracudas in the songwriting. Don’t sleep on them, this is just one of four
singles they already have released.
– Ed Stuart
Mystery Girl – I Love Kissing 7” (Self-release)
I really should
just have written read my other Mystery Girl review on Bad Vibrations, but I won’t. “I Love Kissing” is a sped up Chuck
Berry ditty mixed their trashy Dolls meets glam pop rock n’ roll. The B-side,
“Shattered Dreams” is more power-pop meets dirty rock n’ roll influenced with a
big helping of The Cry and Exploding Hearts. Both songs are really good. – Ed Stuart
Nasty Rumours – Straight To Your Heart LP (Wanda)
After a slew of
singles and compilation tracks, Switzerland’s Nasty Rumours step up to the
plate with their debut LP, Straight To
Your Heart. Nasty Rumours channel Lurkers, 999 and add their touches of
Buzzcocks, Briefs, later Boys, and even Duncan Reid’s solo stuff. All the songs
range from ’77 punk to punk-pop with “I’m Not Okay” being the former and
“Messed Up Girl” being the latter. It’s a pretty solid debut from these Swiss
punks. – Ed Stuart
Nicotine Pretty – Real Life Glories EP (Glunk)
Welsh glam
influenced punk n’ rollers, Nicotine Pretty’s debut EP is also their last will
and testament. Real Life Glories
follows two digital singles that were self-released from a couple years ago.
Nicotine Pretty, featuring members of Sick Livers, reminds me of ‘00’s era punk
n’ roll like The Dragons. Heavy guitars mixed with melody. Earlier in the year,
Nicotine Pretty did end up calling the band quits due to some member’s health
issues. – Ed Stuart
The Old Firm Casuals – Holger
Danske LP (Pirates Press)
Tim may be
wearing the leather in Rancid, but Lars is the band’s street punk warrior.
While these two make a superb partnership, Old Firm Casuals is clearly Lars
vision. Lars, arguably, has been far more consistent in non-Rancid bands and
this shows on Holger Danske. Danske
is a Danish legend about a sleeping king who only wakes when Denmark is
incredible danger and saves the entire nation. Old Firm Casuals are a
combination of tough, gritty, Oi!, street punk meets AC/DC with touches of
early British metal. Holger Danske is
the band’s second LP and expands on the foundation The Casuals already laid
down. – Ed Stuart
Pale Lips – After Dark LP (Gods Candy / Spaghetty
Town / Alien Snatch! / Waterslide)
Montreal’s Pale
Lips are done wanting to be bad and now are causing trouble after dark. Their
signature ‘50’s bubblegum meets early Ramones meets Chuck Berry riffs enveloped
in ‘60’s girl group mystique is still there on After Dark. When the system is working, why fix it? Pale Lips don’t
completely just press repeat for their follow-up. “That Ghost Don’t Lie” is a sultry
‘60’s pop number with a dark guitar line with a Motown blues feel. While the
overwhelming mood is bubblegum fun in the candy shop, Pale Lips have a little
more up their sleeve when needed. – Ed Stuart
Pandemix – In Condemnation LP (Dirt
Cult)
Pandemix is
definitely a band that refuses to be pigeonholed. In Condemnation, their second LP, is the follow up to 2016’s Scale Models of Atrocities. Pandemix mix
‘80’s hardcore, harder punk, bits of post-punk and goth without relying on any of
the genre’s formula. What makes this more impressive is that the band members
don’t live in the same state. Pandemix reside in Boston and Pittsburgh. It
really does take a certain commitment to keep a band going when you don’t live
in the same town. – Ed Stuart
Pkew Pkew Pkew – Optimal Lifestyles LP (Dine
Alone)
Can you party
forever? Well, for the majority, sadly no. Someone has to work. If you party
forever, where do you end up? Alcoholism? Swapping Starbucks for the local bar
for that morning starter? I’m not sure. Optimal
Lifestyles is the slightly more grown up companion to their S/T party punk debut. Pkew Pkew Pkew is
still playing pop punk, but dealing with the after effects of the party as your
body ages. Optimal Lifestyles takes
the Pkew x3 formula and adds more Gaslight Anthem melodic style pop. – Ed Stuart
Proto Idiot – Find Out For Themselves LP (Third
Uncle)
Art damaged,
it’s like the Fall in bed with Wire, UK art punk and NY no-wave scene.
Manchester’s Proto Idiot aren’t only listening to art punk, they do add some
garage and bits of ’77 and Gang of Four. Find
Out For Themselves is equal parts noisy garage punk and equal parts angular
riffs meets funk-ish bass lines. –
Ed Stuart
Rations Noise/Unknown River Driver – Split LP (86’d / Different Kitchen / Tor Johnson / Ersatz Reality / Farsot
/ Rad Girlfriend)
Both bands arise
from the demise of Long Island, NY punk bands Rations who went on undetermined
hiatus in 2014. Unknown River Driver plays a ‘90’s based guitar punk that relies
on gritty tuneage like early Jawbreaker and Built To Spill. Rations Noise is
pretty apropos title for this band. It reminds of late ‘80’s/ early ‘90’s
industrial that is big on mechanized drone. – Ed Stuart
Re-Volts – Leeches 7” (Pirates
Press)
Re-Volts are a
San Francisco band that until recently had been dormant. In the last year, the
band has released several singles and Leeches
is one of them. Re-Volts is fronted by Spike (Filthy Thieving Bastards, Swingin
Utters, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. Re-Volts musically sound like ’77 punk
meets Hives garage. – Ed Stuart
School Drugs – Relative Suffering EP (Hell
Minded)
School Drugs is
a New Jersey hardcore punk that draws from Rollins-era Black Flag and other
mid-‘80’s punk like Dead Kennedys. Relative
Suffering a quick EP that shows the band’s mix of hard punk with melodic
vocals that burns straight to the heart of the era. – Ed Stuart
Shrug Dealer – S/T EP (Self-Release)
These guys
didn’t waste any time with the riffage. Shrug Dealer, from New York City
reminds me of ‘90’s Fat Wreck era bands like Propagandhi, Lagwagon and early
Strung Out. This S/T EP is full of
that brand of skate punk/metal with all the quick riffs, start/stops and
energy. – Ed Stuart
Sick Of It All – Waking The Sleeping Dragon LP
(Fat Wreck)
Can you believe
Sick Of It All has been around for over 30 years? That’s impressive for any
band let alone hardcore. Waking The
Sleeping Dragon is the band’s twelfth LP. Currently, depending on where you
fall politically and or socially, I’m sure you can find something to be angry
about and that’s where hardcore comes in. SOIA hasn’t seemed to lose a step
over the years with their penchant gang vocals, bravado, pummeling drums and
crunching guitars. – Ed Stuart
Sore Points – Sore Points LP (Deranged)
Canada is at it
again. Of course they are. When Canada isn’t churning out some of the world’s
finest power pop bands, they try their hand at KBD punk and guess what, it
succeeds. Sore Points is made of members of Nervous Talk, Spectres and other
Canadian pedigrees. Sore Points,
debut LP, is quick brash amped up Ramones meets Blitz in a KBD knife fight.
What kind of combo is that? Listen and find out. – Ed Stuart
Stephen’s Ruin – Never Too Late LP (Kool
Kat)
There is hiatus
and then there is a hiatus. Stephen’s Ruin recorded their debut EP over thirty
years ago in 1986. In the meantime, Stephen from Stephen’s Ruin ran a pub for
over 30 years. Never Too Late is full
of ‘90’s guitar pop or a little more mature power pop that isn’t short on
melody that has been on a slow simmer for over three decades. – Ed Stuart
Steve Adamyk Band – Paradise LP (Dirtnap)
Do I really need
to write a review for this one? If you have been a fan of modern punk-pop than
you have already heard Steve Adamyk Band. Paradise
is LP number six for this hard working band. Adamyk is like a Ramones and Buzzcocks punch to the gut. Paradise is leaner and meaner than
earlier releases, but they have stripped down to a trio with a brand new rhythm
section. It doesn’t matter because the songs are solid as ever. – Ed Stuart
Suspect Parts – You Know That I Can’t Say No 7”
(Dirt Cult/Wanda)
The
international men of power-pop are back with their new three track single and
it’s a banger. “You Know That I Can’t Say No” and “Song For Sadie” definitely
carry the third track, which is a slight departure from their sound. The global
quartet known, as Suspect Parts comprises of members from More Kicks, Maniac,
Clorox Girls and a little band called The Briefs. Does Suspect Parts just
simply take parts from all these bands and mix them into a stew? No. Suspect
Parts plays a ‘70’s Nerves/early LA power pop meets Protex meets bubblegum.
Don’t sleep on this one. – Ed Stuart
The Transgressors – They Made Her A Criminal LP (Super
Secret)
The Transgressors
summon their outlaw country; rockabilly and Telecaster twang to make They Made Her A Criminal. Now the
backstory, the band recorded this LP in 2006, finally made a self-released CD
ten years later, 2016, and one of the people that bought the CD was the owner
of Super Secret. Super Secret decides to release this Texas twang-y, reverb
drenched ‘50’s and ‘60’s era music that pulls from Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens
as well as Johnny Cash. – Ed Stuart
Urban Outfielders – Out Of This World EP (Hidden
Home)
In the ever
increasing, endless genre realms of punk comes another, baseball punx. Bands
singing about baseball and wearing baseball jerseys isn’t entirely new. The
Isotopes were one of the first bands I heard doing this. It’s grown into such a
movement that there is a short documentary titled Baseball Punx about it on
YouTube, but what about Urban Outfielders? Right. Out Of This World definitely fits the mold with songs about “Big
League Chew” and Japanese pitcher Ichiro Suzuki. Musically, Urban Outfielders
is playing ‘90s/’00’s pop-punk in the Blink 182 and Alkaline Trio vein. – Ed Stuart
Urochromes – Beat Sessions 7” (Drunken
Sailor)
Chaotic, not in
a no holds barred way, but more like Jesus Lizard style punk. I couldn’t find a
ton of info about Urochromes. Beat
Sessions is a very hard driven guitar band, but more in a ‘90’s Touch and
Go way. – Ed Stuart
Vanilla Poppers – I Like Your Band 7” (Drunken
Sailor)
One thing about
the Vanilla Poppers is that they are committed. I mean three out of four members
move from Cleveland to Australia, the home of their singer. If the Pagans
played a more scuzzy punk, you’ll get the idea. They play a no frills, raw and
dirty punk, which fits their new homeland as well s the city they left behind. – Ed Stuart
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