CELL BLOCK

The (way) Northern California scenes in Chico and Redding have been killing it the last few years. VEXED, OUTSIDE LOKING IN, CRIMINAL WAVE and a host of others have been churning out punk and hardcore in the oft overlooked dead zone between the SF Bay Area and Portland...and it's time to stop overlooking. Add CELL BLOCK, dreary and lazy vocals clash with an affected guitar that lumbers awkwardly through distortion, settling into a comfort zone behind the rhythm section. It fits nicely under the "goth punk" umbrella, though at times ("Half An Hour" for example) CELL BLOCK are really just goth...but most notably they don't really sound like anyone else, and that's a huge plus. You can probably guess what bands they celebrate, you can probably guess what people will compare them too....and I'll just keep listening to "Bedroom Floor" and that damaged guitar, and I'll keep smiling. 

EIGHT

INEXTREMIS

How many more of these gems have yet to be unearthed and offered to hungry ears? From 1984, At The Point Of Death is an atmospheric death rock masterpiece - deadly plodding pieces with calculated vocals that fall back and sooth when appropriate....only to envelop you. This was new to me when Nostilevo released it a few years back....no history, only history. Superb.

AT THE POINT OF DEATH

UNUR

Chicago dark/minimal synth powerhouse UNUR returns with Halt And Start, four brilliant pieces of gorgeously dated (and timeless) dreary electronics with guitars that conjure Peter Hook (yes, I know Hook plays bass, I am not a complete idiot, just a partial one) and a driving tempo that comes off the like grown offspring of late '80s Belgian acid house. Yeah....UNUR are doing it that good. Good enough that I don't shy away from either comparison and good enough that I keep coming back to these tracks over and over....Modern Tapes are not fucking around. 

HALT AND START

AUBE

It's supposed to rain here today...so I guess this one will be perfect. Driving, brooding, dark punk with a rock solid rhythm section and a meandering guitar that lands somewhere between Love-era CULT and BELLICOSE MINDS. It's straightforward, and fans of the subgenre will be well pleased because these Canadians touch all the bases with equal vigor on this 2013 release, and the reverbed Revolution Summer vocals don't hurt one damn bit. Perhaps I was drawn because the first 98 seconds of the opener "Exil" remind me of one of my favorite current bands, but I certainly stuck around because these kids fukkn nail it. 

AUBE

TUMBAS

The connection between catchy Oi! and infectious dark punk makes sense. I mean, BLITZ demonstrated thirty years ago that you could take streetpunk guitar leads and turn them into brooding dangly earring licks with nothing more than a foot switch. TUMBAS hail from BogotĂĄ and they nail this transition on their four song demo....I'm assuming this is Paula from DEAD HERO handling the vocals because it sounds just like her (and I bought the demo from DEAD HERO...), which only solidifies the whole StreetGoth connection. This one has teeth, and the only thing that broods is the presentation - these goth punks will knock you on your ass. 

TUMBAS

CRIMNAL WAVE

These guys were good when I first saw them a few years ago, but the shit has gotten positively deadly since then. None of the throwback new wave fashion, this dark punk is fierce and aggressive. The Jefferson Crew delivers with desperation. 

RURAL SAVAGES

I'll be listening to this while we drive past the Chico turnoff on our way north. First STERILE MIND jaunt out of the Bay Area - Portland, come say hello and bring me all of the tapes...

KLAM

Sometimes when people dive into '80s dark indie tunes, it just sounds like a poor attempt at a recreation of a thing that was really cool. But sometimes modern beings dive in headfirst....and it works. I could have heard KLAM in 1987, and it would have been awesome....just like it is in 2016. Melancholic down tempo ethereal magic, that's what this shit is. Elizabeth Fraser caliber vocals, deconstructed Robert Smith guitars...I know it's lazy to make comparisons like this, but I could easily file KLAM alongside artists of that caliber, and these sounds would have been worthy of mainstream independent recognition in those years (Maybe they are now, too? I dunno, I mostly listen to mindless DBeat, atonal grindcore and country. Seriously). A feeling, a genre, and a moment in time, all perfectly captured on tape....good job. 

THE CONCRETE VAGINA

This cassette includes The Concrete Vagina and Canciones de Otras Bandas, a covers collection with tracks by RAMONES, WILL OLDHAM, RIDE, VANDALS and BOB DYLAND given the treatment. Well played, my Italian friends....

TRAUMA HARNESS

Sometimes punks go goth and buy a ton of effects pedals. And every so often, shortly thereafter, those punks learn how to write perfect pop tunes and manage to keep them dark. These punks seemed to already have that gift, as this full length dropped near the band's inception in 2012. TRAUMA HARNESS first stopped by The Escape three years ago amidst a slew of LUMPY-related cassingles that I shared all at once, but they've been rather busy since then (last year's Tried My Hardest is highly recommended). It's moody and weird, and the combination of chops and amateurish enthusiasm ("Blue Flame" for example) is refreshing. As is sometimes the case, my cassette copy sounds kinda fukkd here and there - guitars a little more out of whack, maybe a warble where the band didn't intentionally place a warble, if you know what I'm saying? - and here again I've decided to share as is. This is what I got from them, so it's what you get from me...you know? And besides, kid, that's the shit that makes tapes cool...right?! 

THE WAY YOU PRESS ON HARDER...

LOS LOCOS

Killer collection of Latin American punk rock and dark punk. Heaps of bands I was unfamiliar with (8 BOLAS, TODOS TUS ROUERTOS, POLO PEPO) and some that most studious punks will be familiar with (INOCENTES, AS MERCENARIAS, LEUZEMIA, ALERTA ROJA). Top tracks: LUXURIA's "Luxuria Insatisfecha" and the hopelessly out of tune untitled creamer from SIZE. First side is punk, and then the flip ventures into the new wave/goth sounds of the '80s...this is why mix tapes (still) rule.

LOS LOCOS - A Latino Punk Mixtape For The Punks

RHYTHM OF CRUELTY

Once again - I'm getting tired of the hoards of kids dishing out regurgitations of the new wave and goth that a sunk into as a teen. And once again - I hear bands like RHYTHM OF CRUELTY and all I want is more. The brutal simplicity of the opening track, with the caterwauling vocals sharing reverberating frequencies with the over treated guitars and a two track monotony that continues for three and one half minutes...that simplicity can also be described as perfection. The next two are slightly more up tempo, vocals lost swimming in those guitars while the phasered (of course) bass drives the train (actually, the drum tracks might be the most interesting aspect of this whole recording, but they are sadly buried in the mix...if only they had an effects pedal for drums - oh wait: it's a drums machine, so they've got that covered too). By the time "Still Life" settles into a 4/4 to close things out, you might be as addicted as I was. Lucky you, because this tape is from 2012, and this Canadian duo has been rather busy since then.

STILL LIFE

SPITTING IMAGE

All the bands who want to draw from '90s grunge and college rock need to listen to this. And all the bands who want to play dreary and boring goth punk but can't seem to remember how to make bleak music sound punk need to listen to this. And the people who just generally want an example of how to positively use effects pedals for guitars are welcome to give this a spin as well. Reno, you're doing a good job right now.

ICON ALIVE

ZOTZ

Murky and ominous deathpunk from Mexico. Forceful tracks from kids who know exactly what they are trying to achieve. "Christy" is the banger, a lurching and uncomfortable number with a tempo that surges, desperate vocals and guitar leads that put you on edge waiting for something to go wrong...nothing goes wrong. Everything goes right. This is their second demo from 2014, plus an EP released earlier this year and a third demo that just dropped a few weeks ago, so you've likely got some catching up to do, and i f you're feeling it, then ZOTZ are going to hit the spot. 

ULTIMA NOCHE

BRITISH AIRWAVES

I think that my vinyl copy of this release was the product of an expedition to Tulsa in the late '80s (teenage Wizard was neither adventurous nor mobile) and resulted in my discovery of 18 then-new-to-me bands (which is precisely what a comp is supposed to do). That said, the 1000 MEXICANS track gets stuck in my head at least once a month (it's that damn bass line), THE RENEES are killer, THE THREE JOHNS track is mediocre but resulted in several of their records in my arsenal, and this JAZAWHAKI tune is as infectious as anything I can imagine.In addition, you get burners from THE GLOBAL INFANTALISTS, HAGAR THE WOMB (my first introduction was this track), THE MOODISTS, NIKKI SUDDEN, and THE RENEES ("Drink Problem" seemed so racy as a 16 year old...) among many others. I think the motivation for this comp was financial, as British Airwaves seems to have been compiled and released by a label hoping to break UK post punk/new wave acts into the US market, but I can't really see anything here that we Americans ever gave a shit about aside from NEW MODEL ARMY....though this is still my favorite NEW MODEL ARMY jam. But seriously, "Last Pop Song" is beyond devastating....turn and face the lights.

BRITISH AIRWAVES

Turn up the music, one last time // This is the last pop song, come on and sing // This is the last pop song, it didn't mean a thing...

COSMIC TOILET

Just one more absolutely killer Bay Area punk band that came and went before anyone noticed. Four songs from 2014 that trump damn near anything else released that year....

COSMIC TOILET // WORLD PIECE OF SHIT

COSMIC TOILET

SAINT LORENA

The scourge of the Bay Area, I suppose. So many tiny and insular sub-scenes that if you aren't on the hunt at all times then you miss out. SAINT LORENA were short lived, but this demo makes me cringe at the thought of this band right under my nose and me just not smelling it. Angular, weird post/anarcho punk with some of the most gloriously awkward vocals I've come across. Bass and drums hold the songs together while the guitar does....well, it's doing something awesome. And those vocals....shouted in bursts of apparent hyper-dimentia and nasal congestion. They are weird and nowhere near what is traditionally considered "good," but that's what makes them so fukkn good. Atonal and in your face while still seeming distant, not unlike the band as a whole. I like this tape a lot...top track: "Brick Fire."

SAINT LORENA

MUERTE

This demo floored me. It's everything that deathpunk should be...which is mostly to say that it's fukkn punk. Dark, terrifying punk. Hailing from Mexico City, MUERTE come from a lineage that includes INSERVIBLES, HOG and TERCER MUNDO and absolutely live up to whatever expectations that lineage might bring. There's a brief moment at the start of "Nadie" when it sounds like they are going to settle into a goth punk groove for the final minutes of the demo, but then a horrid squall six seconds into the track crushes that thought. Instead, that final track is an aggressive, mournful burner that leaves you drained as the vocals trail off....a suitable conclusion.

MUERTE

The folks who saw them live on the recent North American jaunt are very fortunate, and their full length on SPHC is every bit as good as this demo would suggest.

LITOVSK

While I feel like the formidable '80s goth/new wave rehashed by punks might soon be cast aside for the next regurgitation du jour, releases like this one give me pause. France's LITOVSK just fukkn nail it on their 2014 demo, and I have every hope that the upcoming vinyl release will be even better. It's as close to perfect as any brooding punk could ask for - driving, forceful, catchy, engaging...all of the right adjectives apply. Five tracks that have been passed around the internet for some time already, but I like to be thorough and make sure your needs are met.

LITOVSK

Đ§Ă«Ń€ĐœĐ°Ń РДчĐșĐ°

Sometimes something is so well done, so on point, so....perfect, that you just listen with your mouth half open and wonder how simple human persons could have possibly done something exactly as things are supposed to be done. That's what happened when I started the Đ§Đ”Ń€ĐœĐ°Ń РДчĐșĐ° (BLACK RIVER) tape. You can file it alongside your goth/dark/new wave/80s rock reincarnated as new millennium punk bands, and you won't be wrong, but I'm telling you that this band is doing something special. Two demos, both from 2014, are contained on my cassette, so you get ten songs....and every fukkn one of them is perfect. Listen to "ĐĄĐœĐ”Đł," and then listen to "ĐŸŃ€ĐŸĐżĐ°ŃŃ‚ŃŒ" and you will know that I am right. This band just turned my world on end, and I can't thank them enough.

A & Đ‘

Find the band and even more brilliant sounds here.

DECADES/FAILURES

This one knocked my fukkn socks off the minute I pressed play. Captivating retro synth/cold wave, these kids totally nail it on the tape, and their new LP on Dead Tank promises to be even better. Shades of '80s Belgium in the presentation (and the vocals) even though DECADES/FAILURES concentrate on the vibe more than the beat, this is solitary listening more than a dance floor banger. 002 hits every nerve with me, as close to perfection as I could ask for. Obviously, these tracks are highly recommended listening.

002

FEASTS OF BLAZE vol. 1

A slightly different vibe that what you found on last week's Feasts Of Blaze vol. 2, this mix focuses more on driving dancefloor friendly goth and dark punk jammers. RED LORRY YELLOW LORRY is an under recognized band from these worlds, and it was a good initial introduction for me to acts like ONE MILLION BULGARIANS and AURORA (whose track is excellent dreary '80s with anguished vocals that seem like they would be more comfortable fronting a hardcore band). Great combination of underground standards and unknown bangers, and the level of quality is just as high as the later installment...I can only hope that the two volumes indicate a budding series?

FEASTS OF BLAZE