PISSE

Two killer demos one one killer tape. The third freakout weirdo release from Germany's PISSE, Kohlrübenwinter is such a gloriously chilled out approach to a particularly appealing brand of outsider punk, and it is predictably a favorite at TEHQ. The general vibe is ultra '80s new wave, but the approach is still punk, and it still has teeth. The stomper "Schwätzer" takes the caketape for this listener, but there are zero legitimate bummers contained on this cassette...you know you like this shit, so dig in. 

KOHLRÜBENWINTER

SLUGBUGS

Freaked out weirdo synth slogs from a crew of Ohio mutants who seem to have dished out two demos a coupla years back and then just slurked of into the mist. TAPEWORM level outsider vibe on these four cuts, the longest of which clocks in around 1:12 (after the intro). Get it. 

WANNA BE SLUGBUGS?

SEX OBJEX

Freaked out lo-fi Detroit synth punk with a horror punk bent, this 2013 cassette creams hard - and even harder once you get down with the washed out filter the whole thing is presented under. Fans of SPITS and REATARDS will rejoice, as there's as much garage punk (actual punk) crammed into these sounds as there is weirdness, but then tracks like "Cathedral Fever" and "Pink Clouds" drop and you wonder if these aren't just a coupla drugged out psych mutants who got lucky when they cranked up the speed. If it's luck, then I want some of this juju, but I'm pretty sure that SEX OBJEX are just really good. 

UNPROTECTED SEX

Worth noting that the included link contains six songs. For better or worse, I remain committed to sharing cassettes that I have my hands on, regardless of the intended condition or contents. This release is meant to have twelve tracks, but the A side on my copy is blank...so you get what you get. Of course, moments like this are what The Internet is for - the band's online presence is very helpful if you find yourself wanting more. 

PUNISH OR BE DAMNED

I know that when I posted Vol. 2 a few months back I asked The Cassette Gods to place a copy of Vol. 1 in my hands. So anyway, Cassette Gods, I just wanna say thanks. Just like the (sub)title suggests...."38 AntiSocial Punk Songs With Synth or Keyboards"....I'm not sure what more you need to know. From C.C.T.V. (2015, Indiana) to ROCK BOTTOM AND THE SPIES (1981, Los Angeles) to MIZZ NOBODY (1979, Sweden) and KAOS (1982, Yugoslavia)....yeah, you shouldn't really need any more convincing. The shit is straight gold.

PUNISH OR BE DAMNED Vol. 1

THE PINK BOLTS

Full on, flesh out Valley Girl-era new wave creamers from 2016? Fukkn sign me up, you monkeys. I have no idea what the agenda is here, but holy shit do these two tracks (yeah, it's a cassingle) hit the mark. Synth punks get ready to wring out your panties, and retro geeks start taking notes, because this shit is about two steps short of Game Over. I'm almost glad there are just two, because perfection is a tough thing to fukk with. 

SEX GYM b/w I JUST CALLED TO SAY I LOVE ME

PUNISH OR BE DAMND

Shit man, not really much to say about this one except that if you're gonna make a mix tape to open minds and melt ears...it should be like this one. 30 Minimal Synth Or Tracks With Keys jams through an hour of creamers from 1978 through a few months ago, and every fukkn song is essential. Starting shit with ALGEBRA MOTHERS sets the tone at weird, and that's where the tone stays - NERVOUS GENDER, BELINSKI ZID, SPITS, BLACK RANDY, SCREAMERS (duh), SM NURSE, THE UNITS....and an obligatory version of "T.V.O.D." because that's kinda where the shit started, right? It flows right, runs the spectrum of punk bands with keys through purely synth driven freak shows, and this tape holds your attention from start to finish. Also....cramming that BLITZ track in was such a sick move - this is a perfect mix tape. Someone send me #1 please.

PUNISH OR BE DAMND #2: 30 MINIMAL SYNTH OR TRACKS WITH KEYS

TEAM ROCKET // F.R.A.F.

Weird ass split from weird ass punks. Erratic and angular (and occasionally, endearingly inept) hardcore punk from F.R.A.F. and snarky synth punk from TEAM ROCKET. Canadians are on point with this one; irreverent, in your face, punk as shit and weirder than you. Sold.

TEAM ROCKET // F.R.A.F.

CITY BABY ATTACKED BY BATS

New York City scene is all over the place and pretty over the top musically these days. Handfuls of punks have taken the blown out noise paradigm and applied it to all kinds of weirdo subgenres with often excellent results. 23 bands on this cassette put together in the manner of a classic hype inducing mix tape with shout outs and samples galore - highlights include G.M.K., SURVIVAL, CHILDREN WITH DOG TEETH, WART HOG, SEX CROSS, and SPIDER MAN. Irreverent, raw bursts of punk sound. Also, there are a couple of bands from other places (Seattle, Boston)...I guess it's good to have friends in high places.

NUKE YORK MIX TAPE 2029

ON ON ON

The wise among you will recall the debut offering from ON ON ON that appeared on The Escape last you, and you will rejoice upon seeing their sophomore effort on this page today. On the one hand, 28 Children Songs For Wasted Adults has a touch more structure than the interplanetary outsider punk of the previous tape, but rest assured that ON ON ON are still coming at you from a place you don't understand. Jerky post/art punk that will swing like early B-52S for a minutes and then devolve into CRASS-esque arhythmic marches. Guitar/drums/organ and vocals spitting from all directions with a sharp DeutschPunk tongue, these women grab your attention first, and deal with the nuances later. Simple tracks like "Lazy" and "Die Stanze" both clock in well under 60 seconds (like most of the songs here) and are act like bridges from one burst of weirdness to the next. Sometimes they might be impossible to groove to, but equally impossible to turn away from. Tongue firmly in cheek and without a hint of pretense, this trio just plopped another winner in your lap..

28 CHILDREN SONGS FOR WASTED ADULTS

Trim Tab Tapes does not disappoint, and will happily provide you with physical copies. And while you're at it, you should probably just go ahead and snag that CAT 'N GUYEN tape since you probably missed it last time around.

ON ON ON

ON ON ON are coming from another planet. Most of these 20+ tracks clock in well under the minute mark, but they pack so much weirdness in their short bursts and the sounds are all over the map. Post punk dirges, jerky Deutsch punk manifested through some interplanetary HUGGY BEAR filter and shot up with keyboards. And then there are nursery rhymes ("Samantha The Owl," "Stress"), fuzzed out SPACEMEN 3 styled manipulations ("Sorry Miss," "Happy Sad Treat Me Kind," "Mix"), and tunes like "I Am It" that are just short bursts of swagger. It isn't often that you hear something so totally unique in sound and presentation, and whether ON ON ON have achieved this result by design or by glorious accident...I want more. 

ON ON ON

ononon(at)go(dot)to

TRASHLEY

Sometimes I listen to shit and I just think that the band knows something I don't, that somehow they have the inside scoop on life and sound and that's why I can't stop listening to them. TRASHLEY do this to me - there's a secret they aren't letting the rest of us in on, but they seem to have the formula for aural earworms perfected. The vocals remind me of FUZZBOX and the keyboards certainly serve as further justification for that comparison, but the rest of the music is much more in line with catchy garage punk...or maybe with some weird proto-pre-indie band like VASELINES that NIRVANA would have celebrated even though no one had ever heard them. It confuses me....both that it exists and that I like it so much. TRASHLEY...laid back and smart and I can't get enough.

TRASHLEY

MUTATING MELTDOWN

Totally killer and hopelessly infectious synth punk that has been sitting on my shelf even longer than the POTTY MOUTH demo from this past Thursday. Call it art if you want, file it with bizarro no wave if it makes you feel better, or maybe just say it's yet another modern incarnation of no rules post punk oddity. But whatever you do, just know that this 2009 cassette release is a total creamer.

LP

a pain in the ass for everybody

BLACK PIRANHA

For folks who think that the term "synth punk" applies only to dreamy and artificially introverted idealists in tight pants moping about in dark corners. Aggressive and in your face dual vocal punk, an insistent Korg attack with live drums. There are moments you can shake your ass to, but this is primarily rock music - just reinterpreted and twisted. 

PAS PROPRE, PROPRE

BAD NEWS

I got a package from Chondritic Sound a couple of weeks ago, and this BAD NEWS cassette has been on near constant rotation ever since. Waves of frustration crash in desperate rhythms, driven into the ground by distorted minimal percussion and a swarm of sound. Not harsh by any means, BAD NEWS just come off as intent. The second track almost pulls off late '80s industrial dance/industrial BPMs, but accompanies it with such a dizzying array of oddities and shrill female vocals that the result has more in common with solitude in dark corners than crowded dark dancefloors. While obviously aware of the primitive (mostly) electronic music they will get compared to (SKINNY PUPPY, JOINED AT THE HEAD, CONTROLLED BLEEDING), these sounds are a progression and not just an homage. I have a feeling this is going to be on rotation for a while.

NO END

COPS // BLEAK ETHNIQUE

The first demo was good, this one features a few of the same tracks, and is way better. A truly damaged bulldozer, this is hardcore made by people on another plane. Listen to WHITEHOUSE and CROSSED OUT while drinking tequila and strange things happen. Strange and glorious things. COPS live are one thing, and this second demo is getting close to that thing.

MUSIC FOR BOYS, MADE BY MEN

========================================================================

Langford told me this tape was really good. That recommendation and hearing that this was one (or more?) of the $2 OUT THE DOOR was more than enough for me to cough up three hard earned dollars and trudge up the hill with a shiny new cassette. I put it in, I pressed play, I hated it. But some months later I decide to spend a week on the internet focused on bands from the place where I live and I figure I should listen to that tape again. And it was great. Same tape, same ears, same brain, different mindset. Bass, drums, synths and monumental vocals combine forces to create an amalgamation of hipster indie sounds and Nuggets styled psych punks after they ingested a bottle full of somewhere else pills. I get the feeling after diving into my second listen that after spending some time with this tape I could start to find BLEAK ETHNIQUE potentially life altering. Well, at least mind altering in a very temporary interpretation of the term. Tuck in to some sound.

THE BLEAK ETHNIQUE

COP SHADES

From the bordertown of Moncton (that's the border between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, in case you were confused) come COP SHADES. Bass, drums and a weird ass sounding dude wailing into a microphone and making some electronic synthesizer sounds. The traditional half of the band is not far from KARP and the like, while the weird part is like THE VSS on mescaline playing theremin with their collective ballsacks. Shit sounds fukkd up and it totally works. So good job, kids: you don't sound pretentious, you just sound really awesome.

COP SHADES LIVE

NOTHING

This is some genuine Other Music shit right here. Synths, erratic drums and sound collages combine to create something way outside of conventional sound constructs. Moments of proto post punk brilliance poke their head above the sand, but in disjointed neurotic bursts that confuse more than engage. This six track experiment from 1992 will either turn you off instantly or draw you in completely.

BEAMS OF GOLDEN SUNLIGHT 

DEN

Waves of sonic aggression in the form of space age electronic sounds doing battle with ferocious noise rock bass and drums. Sporadic vocals affected into complete oblivion and a collection of sounds that command attention from start to finish. Like THE VSS harnessing tortured JESUS LIZARD vibes and interpreting the result through the filter of modern noise punk. Moody and dark, but DEN never lose their grip on chaos, and they often tighten the grip with alarming results. "The Ground" might be the most traditional sounding song (due largely to the steady tempo I suppose), but the synths that swirl in and out of that sound are deadly, and from that song they launch into "TDJ," a full speed mind fukk that shows DEN could rip you apart with blistering hardcore....if they wanted to. Likewise, "Kuiper Belt DNA" is a noise track that builds with a subtle intensity that would rank these kids well into the upper echelons of sound dealers, and the bizarro SABBATH cover that follows seals the deal. Thankfully their overall approach is substantially more awkward than any one of these angles.

BRONZE FOG

This was the debut release from Retrograde Tapes, a pretty good start, I'd say.

TEARIST

Repetitive and distorted sampled beats that lurch as much as groove make up this beast, but what drives the beast is the vocals. A distinct and powerful female voice that owes equally to SIOUXSIE, DIAMANDA and a robotic interpretation of Lebanese pop. It's a dark and creepy kind of dance music, digital and cold sounding but fronted by a voice that is sultry and oozes with urgency. If you could cram THE NORMAL's ground breaking late '70s sounds into Bay Area proto-cool THE VANISHING and hand it to a mid '80s Wax Trax records producer along with a bag of speed then this killer tape might be the result. Yet another essential product from Nostilevo (who never cease to amaze me) this is for those of us who don't pay attention to what's "cool" (which LA's TEARIST clearly already are) until it's too late. It turns out that every now and then, the stuff that is "cool" is actually, well....cool.

PURPLE VIDEO

VACUÜM

Second (and final) full length from VACUÜM, Holland's weirdest '80s drum machine bizarro punks (though I imagine Jos might be able to contradict me on this point). While this one didn't grab me as immediately as their self titled debut platter, these songs are excellent far beyond their sing-song exterior. I wish that the soul nice enough to copy 1985's Feest onto this cassette had been nice enough to include song titles, but we punks are used to making do with less, so I'm sure you will have no problem overcoming this obstacle.

FEEST