MR. AND THE MRS.

I ripped this little creamer just before I left for tour, and it got me pretty good. Many (many) listens during my month away, including one especially memorable one in the middle of a crystal clear and pitch black night in the southern Arizona desert. Something about this recording just draws you in...the tracks may be simple but the presentation is deep, and these two kids from Kansas utilize the tools at their disposal to make a compelling collection of sounds. You can call it garage if you like, and in the most literal sense you would be pretty spot on....I think of it as dark and sweaty full power rock 'n roll stripped down to the barest essentials. But I don't get paid to think, so there's that to consider also.

DEO VOLENTE

SHAKING HEADS

It's cool if I don't always have the right words, isn't it? Because the things that SHAKING HEADS remind me of sound so dreadfully typical so I'm going to keep me references to myself and wait for yours. I'll just say that it's good. And that's it's perfect for those punk occasions when hardcore isn't actually king. I mean, hardcore is obviously king, but we don't always want to be in the king's court all the time, right? 

SHAKING HEADS

GURR

This GURR band from Berlin had me hooked from the first note. Andreya's vocals are the first thing the reel you in, and her shrill wails that lead into the chorus of "Super Tired" make it very clear that this outfit is not one to be fukkd with. Hyper infectious dark (but peppy) garage jams with songs that stopped me in my tracks like few things I've heard (DASHER comes to mind, however), the shit is just right. A weird amalgamation of GORILLA ANGREB and DEAD MILKMEN and LOST SOUNDS....it rules. Period. And "Hey My Friend" is like the "Couldn't (If I Tried)" for the new millennium, and if you know what that means then you fukkn know what I'm talking about. 

GURR

THOUGHT PATTERN

Outta sight Southern California garage mutants, THOUGHT PATTERN dust up old and well worn vibes from bands like '90s SF warehouse denizens GAY BARBARIANS while harnessing the energy and irreverence of THE SPITS. "Kimberly" is either the creepiest or the sweet love song ever (why do I have to choose?) while 4-track missives like "The Sound Of One Hand Clapping" are straight out of the 50 MILLION catalog (more under the radar Bay Area references here....I would say I'm sorry, but if you know, then you know) and "God's Country" is a full on guitar frenzied psychrock freak out a la DEBRIS and I hear SPARKS seeping through the tracks more than a few times. What I'm trying to say is that if you want to make it weird, then make it weird....but it helps if you also know how to make it right.

THE BRADFORDS

BUTTZZ

Feisty and catchy garage punk with '90s college radio hooks, but delivered with the bombastic distorted fury that the cover implies. M.O.T.O. meets D-CLONE? Yeah.....

BUTTZZ

THE DEATH // FLOWER ZOMBIES

FLOWER ZOMBIES are so gloriously simple and innocent sounding - crooning indie/garage that sneaks up on you, and before you know it you are joining them in off key choruses. Kinda reminds me of a less polished ORANGES, but there are maybe four people who will ever see that, so I'l;l move along to the other side.  THE DEATH are another animal entirely (well, were, they have moved on to other projects)....truly bizarre lo-fi outsider garage sounds that have grown on me immensely since I got this tape from Naoki last year. Favorite tracks: "Ghost Of Dream" and "My Specs."

SPLIT CASSETTE

The timing of today's post is not accidental, as folks from EXTRA PLANTS (ex-THE DEATH) are currently hosting my pals RAKTA in Japan. Tokyo residents would be well advised to catch them while they are in your country - starting 19 August at Hatagaya Forest, then continuing with this absolute crusher at Antiknock on the 21st::::

ALIVE FROM INSIDE CHAPEL OF THE CHIMES

Nasty garage hardcore, noisy pogo punk, blown out distortion fests, angular no wave...what the fuck do you want that this compilation doesn't deliver? Sandwiches? Well those don't come in plastic shells (at least they shouldn't) so eat these tracks or no dessert. CUM, SPETSNAZ, FLEXIBLE AMMUNITION BELT, CHEMOS, THE OINTMENT, MPK, FRANKY...and some guy named Steve. 

ALIVE FROM INSIDE CHAPEL OF THE CHIMES

Link repaired...thanks to all who let me know I fukkd up. It happens sometimes....

DAGGER

Frantic NWI bangers, reminding us why Rust Belt is king. Six bursts of classic maximum energy raw and nasty USHC in just six minutes, kicking rehash culture in the teeth with thrift store combat boots. Just enough twang to get the garage punkers off their asses (I'm talking "Worn Away" here, punks) to show the stuff up fashion mafiosos that being a punk means sometimes you gotta get a little wild and mess up your hair. And the riffs? Fukk, man, these mutants cram a double LP discography's worth into these brain melting bangers. This is all you want today.

JOHN SQUEEL SESSIONS

NASTI

Snotty snarling hardcore with a sleazy garage rock presentation. Saw these fools in Oklahoma earlier this year and they killed - was not at all disappointed by this tour demo, but I confess that the Ex-Static tape is even better. Three tracks here, and one of them is a POISON IDEA cover...I steer you wrong so rarely, so just do the thing, ok?

THE TOUR TAPE 2016

BLEEDING GUMS

Garage punk is supposed to be dirty. It's supposed to be ugly. I'm fine if it's a little sloppy, I just need it to have teeth, you know? Chicago's BLEEDING GUMS don't just have teeth, they have fukkn fangs. Off the rails snotty hardcore, vicious and swinging. I'm in....you coming?

II

Seattle tonight at The Nuthole with JJ DOLL, KID CHROME, PARANOID TIME and PRIVATE ROOM. Should be an absolute ripper....so bring me all of the tapes.

COLD SHÏTS

Dirty and sweaty garage punk. Sounds like it was recorded in a garage, sounds deranged. Sounds good. Only seven minutes long, so it's a pretty small investment with a very generous return. Get into it, then get on with your day. You're Welcome. 

2+2=4

THE FLOOR ABOVE

I mean, it just sounds SO fukkd, you know? Those guitars are.....well sometimes I don't know what they are doing, but this bedroom-by-way-of-basement-or-vice-versa outfit from Tennessee spends just five short minutes reminding you that modern hardcore punk is weird, is interesting, is engaging, is alive....and is very very good. Noisy, chaotic, and infectious as hell, everything I said about the first two demos still applies. The guitar at the 0:13 mark of "Trespass," are you kidding me?!? Do this. 

THE FLOOR ABOVE

This one was gifted to the world by your friends at Not Normal Tapes...

LIQUIDS

I'm just gonna say that watching this band rip through a set of bangers at 11am was one of the highlights of 2016...and that wasn't even two full months into the year. Sugar sweet garage/power pop all jacked on pharmaceuticals and delivered at maximum speed, there's a reason why people moisten when the conversation turns to the current crop of mutants from Northwest Indiana. 

"BLINDIN" FLASH

And all those weird stops and tape edits? Yeah...that's just how they roll, and you get what I get.

ANO

I can't tell you anything about them, but I can tell you that ANO capture Girls In The Garage and actual modern punk rage at the same time on their 2013 demo, and that is a thing worth noting. Stripped down, feisty punk that struggles to keep a beat as much as it struggles to stay inside a (self imposed?) box. But that struggle (on both counts...) is what makes this so fukkn compelling. This isn't an easy listen, necessarily, but it's also clear that ANO do not give half a shit about what I think - which is also what makes this so good. The guitar that starts "You Stop My Time" is perfect, by the way. 

ANO

Hey you - You bore me!

KAPPA CHOW

Garage punk is supposed to sound like it doesn't give a fukk, right? Like the band is half drunk and almost forgot to even bother coming to the gig but since they are here they are going to get sweaty and work on the other half of their drunk while showing show how effortlessly they can crank out hit after hit. "Shrug It Off" is a perfect pop/rock 'n roll track demented to oblivion, "Love Drug" is an impossibly simple 67-second creamer, "Knee Jerk Reaction" is quintessential power punk, and "I Don't Like You" is just pure damage. Cigarettes hanging in their mouths not because they are trying to be cool, but because they forgot they were smoking. Too busy rocking.

"TOUR TAPE" 2015

MOON HAG

One of the riffs in the quieter part of "End Of Haze" sounds like PINK FLOYD. Nothing else on this tape sounds like PINK FLOYD. Instead they sound like a bunch of raucous snots with a penchant for snarky vocals and heavy riffs and garage punk chaos. And '90s Olympia. Yes, all at the same time.

DEMON

ZINK TABLETZ

There's something to be said for studio projects. When it comes down to it, you're pretty much doing it for yourselves, for the pure enjoyment, and if no one likes it or cares or ever even hears it? Well then maybe that's fine too. It relieves virtually all of the pressure, removes pesky irritants like outside influence, and opens up the songbook so you can essentially do whatever you want. ZINK TABLETZ was a two-day studio project from upstate New York, and it sounds like they had no qualms about baring their garage rock 'n roll souls while playing killer basement punk. Keyboards on "Bloodbath At The Disco Prom" give off a vague SPITS vibe, while the whole thing has an ear to the past that is equally in tune to STOOGES as to the kind of early punk that you hear on those Songs By Bands That Broke Up Before You Knew About Punk compilations. "Idiot Box" is a screamingly simplistic banger, and everything else is rough, feisty and very nice. 

ZINK TABLETZ

THE PATTERN

A Bay Area supergroup if their ever was one, THE PATTERN seemed like they were primed for success, but a slew of singles and a seemingly straight-to-the-dollar bin full length and they were gone. Poof. Lucky for you though, young rocker, because the wise amongst us know that the dollar bin is sometimes where you find the gold. Motor City proto punk and new millennium garage rock clashed headfirst into all these young dudes who knew just how to meld their collective experiences into a sound with a serious swagger. Members of THE POTATOMEN, TALK IS POISON, YAPHEY KOTTO, THE MOONEY SUZUKI, PEECHEES, BLACK FORK and countless others in case that helps seal the deal, this is a band that coulda been huge.

THE PATTERN

BAD BOYFRIENDS

Bare bones, no nonsense garage punk from Arkansas. Vocals perfectly tweaked and then reverbed just a little bit extra (for good measure), while the band plows through Goner jams galore. Raw, basic and a sound that is perfectly and intentionally dated. Sometimes you shouldn't have to think too much - sometimes simple is better....but I swear that "Little Girl" could be a crushing hardcore banger.

SONGS YER MOM TAUGHT US

THE MOTHERFUCKERS

Met one of these dudes when WHN? was in Brasil in 2002...I think he lived with Pedro, but I know he was super nice, he wanted to talk about ZZ TOP (something I'm almost always ok with), and he gave me his band's demo when we were rolling out. High octane rock 'n roll with hardcore punk delivery and a little extra swagger in the vocals. Tracks like "Motherfuckers Set The Pace" are just pure screamers and these kids crank out the leads like nobody's business. I mean, you like to rock....don't you?

THE KINGS OF THE BEACHES