MIDGET FARMERS

This band must have existed in every town that had even the slightest hint of an alternative scene in the early '90s. Equal parts melodic alternative rock and rehashed late '80s US punk, these are the bands who had friends who were sure they were gonna make it, though I dare say that none of them ever did (I can name at least a half dozen from my shithole town). There's a part of "James #1" that is dead on NAKED RAYGUN, but the song has none of the teeth, you get what I mean? But still,m there's a time and a place for this shit, and strangely I still find these scores rather endearing...perhaps the eight of you who bother listening after I basically said the tape is a stinker will find Georgia's MIDGET FARMERS rather endearing too.

AMERICA'S A PLACE TO WASTE YOUR LIFE

And yes, I am aware the that song "Black Girl" is, at best, really stupid but most likely it is just super racist. I'm not making excuses.

MIRROR

I'm not trying to break the next big thing here, but I like to make sure you're getting everything you need. Austin's MIRROR have been kicking around for a while, people from several other bands that you already (should) know, but it wasn't until I saw them in New York earlier this year that I truly understood what The People were talking about. Destructive and passionate hardcore, delivered under a wash of madness...shit just sounds demented, and I love it. The recent(ish) EP is mandatory material, and this demo is pure cream. Check the drums in "Univseral Dismay." Get it. 

MIRROR

TRAITOR CRUCIFIX

This one is something else, punk. Eleven minutes of Florida brutality...searing and relentless. Even when they "slow" things to a dull pummel on "Proclamation," these kids are a swarm of devastation. And that's when they scale it back a bit. You see where I'm going with this? Pure power..and those vocals. Ooooof. The shit is nasty in all of the right ways. Get it. 

TRAITOR CRUCIFIX

MANTOVANI

These are the sounds that quietly emanated from my grandmother's stereo 24 hours a day when I visited as a child. It wasn't traditional classical music, though I didn't really know the difference...pop music from a different time and for people left clinging on. They called his signature sound "Cascading Strings" and the descriptor fits beautifully. Palatable, light, schlock...no teeth whatsoever. But somehow the fact that all of the edges have been removed is what makes me pull these records out from time to time - they are harmless, they are sweet. It's like warm cookies on a rainy day, but for your ears. I guess sometimes everything doesn't need to be so angsty, the world has enough angst.

AN EVENING WITH MANTOVANI

TENSIÓN

Boots on the ground, punks. Street hardcore from Madrid, TENSIÓN get straight to it and don't let up. Every time I found myself starting to think "I've heard this before..." these kids would drop something so good - a tasty lick, a killer riff, a perfectly timed snarl - that I couldn't wait for the next track. Certified banger status achieved. 

TENSIÓN

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

PURE GROUND

Rarely does modern synth driven music completely capture the warmth of The Originators. PURE GROUND does. I feel like I am stepping into the comforting arms of CABARET VOLTAIRE circa Voice Of America and it never feels contrived. 2013's Protection is a dark force, simplicity as intensity and a constant underlying buzzsaw of distorted electronics...it occurs to me with almost alarming frequency that Chondritic Sound does not seem capable of slipping up...

PROTECTION

The recent "Giftgarten" and last year's "Standard Of Living" are obviously essential once you are up to speed...but whenever possible, I like to make sure all of your bases are covered. 

THE VARICAPS

A criminally short lived SF band, THE VARICAPS only played a handful of shows before calling it quits. The one I saw was great, even though fuck having to go to the Hemlock to see shows, and this demo is a way under the radar banger. Hopelessly catchy driving punk, Kat's vocals harness THE GITS and drip with soul while Kevin's buzzsaw guitar cuts through the melodies and gives the band just enough tension. Rhythm section is pure LES THUGS/LA FRACTION four on the floor power and never lets up. It would have been good to have more, for sure, but if nine minutes of killer punk is the whole of your legacy and nary a clunker in the mix....? Then you're doing pretty damned well, young punk.

THE VARICAPS

MUTWAWA

Gorgeous pounding EDM in the most primal sense. This is Midwest after hours dance clubs circa 1988, but seemingly with more drugs...and it's great.

MUTWAWA

CANDACE

Brilliantly crafted airy pop tunes. Three of them. I waxed at length when I first posted this Portland outfit a few months back, and all of those words ring true Return To Zero as well....apparently these ladies know how to write a fukkn song because they keep doing it over and over again. I mean, "Midnight Blue" could be a lost OCEAN BLUE or SUNDAYS track, and that's high muthafuukn praise for this grey(ing) beard grind freek geezer. Perfect is hard to fukk with, y'all. 

RETURN TO ZERO

Worth noting: CANDACE recently stopped using (the superior) moniker IS/IS for very obvious reasons....

KALI

Fierce and emotive (note the difference between this and emotional) grinding hardcore from Alberta. Pulls no punches, takes no prisoners, gives lots of fucks, leaves nothing on the table. Pure power.

KALI

IRON LUNG

For the discerning random cassette connoisseur, I present you with n accidental cacophony. Recorded at Mission Records sometime in the early 2000s, presumably over what seems to have been a pretty cool mix tape, this IRON LUNG set is preceded and interrupted by several layers occasionally recognizable sound - a few DANIELLE DAX tracks, some oldies, and tortured electro pop bangers from distant lands. The beauty of this organic manipulation is that it is still incredibly listenable, and when the sound gives way to the final few IRON LUNG tracks unhindered they sound extra deadly. It's a complete accident, to be sure, but a compelling one to say the least.  Been sitting on this one for a while...and today seemed like the day. Don't snooze.

IRON LUNG *plus

KROFFT

I don't understand why this exists. And how this is an actual. I feel like KROFFT probably have some weird cult following amongst underground doom freeks, and I celebrate the entire SOCKEYE catalog, so I'm not one to talk here...but...wow. And it would seem there's a Medieval Funk I?!?Someone want to explain this shit to me? 

MEDIEVAL FUNK II

CUNTROACHES

THIS. Complete overload, complete mania. Total aural blitzkrieg. Noisier than your band, and more fukkn guts than just about anyone can muster, even in their wildest dreams. After the churning brain melt of "Scum Parole," to roll right into the drum beat (so simple, so out of place, so perfect) that starts "Hard Stool," and then to just torture the shit out of that beat with low end and feedback before descending into relentless and monotonous bursts of chaos. Ugh. This Berlin trio is every kind of awesome. More please - NOW!

CUNTROACHES

Also, the bass player is named Suckles.

HICKEY

It just says Lost HICKEY Shits, and it's in my handwriting. That's all I can tell you, because that's all I know. Sometimes you live with people and they influence you and they move you and years later they are dead and you think about them. October 5th is one of those days....every year. 

LOST HICKEY SHITS