Category: Punk

Top 30 Albums of 2018: #’s 10 – 6

Here we are at my top 10 albums of the year.  Read on to see who made the cut.

#10: Khruangbin – Con Todo El Mundo – I was a bit late to the Khruangbin party, but I’m glad I showed up.  This three-piece makes beautiful psychedelic jazz with few vocals.  The tones they produce are so clear they’re almost like Tibetan mediation singing bells.

#9: Janelle Monae – Dirty Computer – Ms. Monae is a genius.  She can blend hip-hop, R&B, electro, jazz, and rock with such ease that it sounds like she’s cloned herself at least five times and each of those clones studied a different genre to mastery.  Knowing her love of androids and science fiction, this wouldn’t surprise me at all if it were true.

#8 – Cookin’ Soul and MF DOOM – DOOM XMAS – I don’t remember how I stumbled upon this album after Christmas Day, but I’m glad I did.  It’s a wicked mix of lyrics by MF DOOM and Christmas-inspired beats by Cookin’ Soul.  Any DOOM is good DOOM, and this collaboration is among his best.

#7: Throw Down Bones – Two – I stumbled upon this excellent electro / industrial / rave album on Bandcamp and it turned out to be the best electronic music record I heard all year.  This will be booming in your favorite club soon if it isn’t already.

#6: Ron Gallo – Stardust Birthday Party – I’ve enjoyed Mr. Gallo’s garage punk music since I saw him open for Screaming Females in a dive bar a couple years ago.  Now he’s put out a Zen-punk record that blew my mind and included my top single of the year – “Always Elsewhere.”

The top five will be revealed tomorrow!

Keep your mind open.

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Top 30 Albums of 2018: #’s 15 – 11

We’re halfway there!

#15: MIEN – (self-tited) – This psychedelic supergroup (featuring members of the Black Angels, Elephant Stone, the Earlies, and the Horrors) had a fine debut indeed with this record that dabbles in some of the darker sides of psychedelia.

#14: Slaves – Acts of Fear and Love – How can two lads make so much punk noise?  Easy, they’re powered by anger, satire, ferocious beats, and shredding guitar.  These cats are probably the Next Big Thing, but I doubt they give a damn about that.

#13: Hprizm – Magnetic Memory – This rap record has more layers than an onion, wicked beats, philosophy, and calls for the disenfranchised of all colors, sexes, and creeds to band together.

#12: D-Tension – The Violence of Zen – Fierce hip-hop.  That’s the best way I can describe this solid record from Boston MC D-Tension.  He’s one of the wittiest rhymers out there and deserves to be heard more across the world.

#11: Caroline Rose – Loner – This pop-punk record is full of witty lyrics, sex, and snark.  Rose is like a ninja – jumping out of the shadows to wallop you and then retreating back into the rock and roll shadows to plan her next attack.

We’re into the top 10 next!

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Top 30 Albums of 2018: #’s 20 – 16

We’ve reached the top 20!

#20: Diagonal – Tomorrow – My wife doesn’t really like shoegaze music. She just doesn’t get it. This record, however, made her say she might grow to like shoegaze. I can’t write a better recap than that.

#19: Blackwater Holylight (self-titled) – This debut from these dark psych rockers has sexy goth touches, doom riffs, and psychedelic flair that made it high on my list this year.

#18: Neko Case – Hell-On – Case’s latest is another beautiful record of masterful songwriting, sometimes heartbreaking lyrics, and plenty of folk, Americana, and outlaw touches.

#17: Shopping – The Official Body – This post-punk fun-fest is poppy, peppy, and punky. It’s fun from beginning to end.

#16: Terminal Mind – Recordings – Speaking of punk, this reissue of rare material from Austin, Texas punk legends Terminal Mind was a great time capsule from the Regan administration and full of anger, chugging riffs, and trashing of authority figures.

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Top 30 Albums of 2018: #’s 25 – 21

#25: Protomartyr – Consolation – This EP from these garage punks is solid and intriguing. Sporting two tracks with the Breeders’ Kim Deal as well, the record hits hard but knows when to be soft.

#24: Steve Hauschildt – Dissolvi – I hadn’t heard of Steve Hauschildt until this album somewhat fell into my lap. It’s intriguing electro that reveals more layers with each listen.

#23: Bev Rage and the Drinks – Cockeyed – Besides having the naughtiest album name on this list, Cockeyed is also one of the best punk records I’ve heard in a long while. Queercore punk is back in business, bitches!

#22: Public Practice – Distance Is a Mirror – This post-punk EP from prior members of WALL was a welcome addition to my collection of post-punk records. It’s full of razor sharp lyrics and equally sharp guitars, bass, and beats.

#21: All Them Witches – ATW – These Nashville psychedelic blues rockers upped the volume and fuzz and became a three-piece to get back to basics and melt faces.

The top 20 is up next!

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Top 20 Singles of 2018: #’s 15 – 11

#15: “Christmas Time Is Here” by Khruangbin – Seriously, their cover of the Vince Guaraldi Trio classic is a pure delight and a lovely oasis during the crazy Christmas season.

#14: “I Came Back to Bitch” by L7 – The exact opposite of the above track, this tune is a kick in the junk from these punk legends who have been simmering with aggression and fire for a few years now. It was a welcome comeback for them and a great example of what to expect on their upcoming album this year.

#13: “Black Habit” by MIEN – Possibly the creepiest track on my top 20 list. This song was the first single release by this psychedelic supergroup, and it instantly got under your skin and crawled around in there.

#12: “Fresh” by D-Tension – Full disclosure, D-Tension and I knew each other in middle school. He grew up to be a major player in the Boston hip-hop scene and on Boston radio and this year he put out one of the best hip-hop singles of 2018. My jaw dropped when I heard this.

#11: “The Hype” by Shopping – I knew this song by these British post-punks was going to be in my top singles list as soon as I heard it. The bass groove is wicked and the track feels and sounds like a good time.

Who makes the top 10? Come back tomorrow to find out, amigos.

Keep your mind open.

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Review: Slaves – Acts of Fear and Love

British punk duo Slaves‘ third album, Acts of Fear and Love, is one of those albums that assures you guitar-driven records aren’t dead. 

Getting right in your face from the outset, drummer / lead vocalist Isaac Holman asks, “What are you doing?” and claims, “Nobody is the shit.” on “The Lives They Wish They Had” – a sizzling diatribe against selfie culture, Facebook profiles, and “a desperate need for acceptance.”  The second half of it might be the most punk thing you’ve heard this year.  “Cut and Run” is one of Slaves’ catchiest tunes with guitarist Laurie Vincent putting down distorting, squealing riffs and Holman almost getting funky with his stand-up kit. 

The punk fuzz is back with full force on “Bugs” (a song about two-faced politicians causing “another letdown generation”), as Vincent’s guitar chords crawl all over you and Holman’s beats are liable to induce a mosh pit wherever you may be while listening to it.  “Magnolia” is about the gleam and sheen put on British suburbia while the country struggles with Brexit, xenophobia, and an uncertain economic future.  “It’s gotta be perfect,” Holman sings again and again.

“Daddy” is a little, clever tune about men and their mid-life crises.  “Chokehold,” a song about a break-up, has Vincent putting down angular post-punk riffs as Holman sings about drowning his sorrows and noticing the smell of his girlfriend’s hairspray on his pillow after she’s gone.

“Photo Opportunity” is a clever track about being famous as Holman tries to tell a fan that he means no disrespect for turning down a request for a photo with him, but he’s a busy guy…although he later has second thoughts as he goes out with his mates and realizes not much has changed in his life. The opening guitar roar on “Artificial Intelligence” will snap you awake better than a mug of coffee.  Vincent’s guitar is fierce throughout the whole track, almost relentless in fact.

The title track closes the record.  The title could be a reflection of the reasons behind Brexit, the day-to-day workings of any relationship, or how we make everyday decisions…or none of the above.  Holman mentions a teacher who taught him hate doesn’t exist, just “acts of fear and love,” and a friend who would “do anything for anyone” whose decisions / acts of fear and love eventually led him to an eight-year prison sentence. 

Acts of Fear and Love is a solid record.  Guitar rock is not dead.  Punk is not dead.  Slaves, three records in, are just getting started.

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Rewind Review: Naked Raygun – All Rise (1985)

I was 14 when Chicago punk legends Naked Raygun released their classic album All Rise. It would be another two years before I was able to drive a beat-up station wagon that formerly belonged to my Uncle Tony to a punk rock club about 45 minutes from my house and there become aware of Naked Raygun and their cult status.

It’s easy to figure out how they rose so fast in the mid-1980’s punk scene. All Rise‘s opener, “Home of the Brave,” is an instant anthem for the Reagan era. Pierre Kezdy‘s bass on “Dog at Large” is heavy enough for a metal band. “Knock Me Down” begins with a subtle start, but soon roars to life with frantic drums by Eric Spicer and Jeff Pezzati‘s snotty lyrics about a girl he can’t shake after she’s dumped him for good. One can’t help but wonder if “Mr. Gridlock” refers to President Regan, Chicago mayor Harold Washington, or someone else. The song has a deadly swagger to it, as if it’s looking for a fight. John Haggerty‘s guitar sounds like a tuned chainsaw on it. “The Strip” moves back and forth between chugging punks riffs and Husker Du-like jams as Naked Raygun pay homage to a seedy hotel-bar. “I Remember” has some of Spicer’s wildest drumming on the album.

Pezzati’s vocals on “Those Who Move” (about speaking truth to power and freedom of information, among other things) are urgent and still relevant in 2018. Kezdy’s bass on “The Envelope” certainly pushes the envelope of the studio amps because it nearly knocks you to the floor right out of the gate. Not to be outdone, Haggerty shreds on “Backlash Jack.” As soon as “Peacemaker” starts, you get the feeling that it’s not going to be all that peaceful. It isn’t. It’s heavy, squealing, and even a bit terrifying. The album ends with “New Dreams,” a punk anthem that sounds as fresh, raw, and vital today as it did in 1985.

All Rise is classic working class punk rock by four lads who deserve to be in the same conversations that bring up Fugazi, Bad Religion, DRI, the Dead Kennedys, and other legendary punk groups.

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Darwin’s Finches unleash “HWY 787” on unsuspecting world, and we’re all better for it.

Darwin’s Finches share first track from forthcoming album Good Morning Creatures II

 Houston psych-punk trio RIYL: Camper Van Beethoven, The Frogs, Pixies

Hear & share “HWY 787” track (Bandcamp) (PopMatters)
“A kind of collision between Hawkwind at its most hyped, the Butthole Surfers at their most acidic with little doses of Krautrock thrown in for good measure.” — PopMatters
Houston trio Darwin’s Finches share the first track from their forthcoming album today via PopMatters. Hear and share “HWY 787” HERE. (Direct Bandcamp HERE.)
With a name making reference to obscure minutia of Charles Darwin’s research regarding the adaptive evolution of birds’ beaks, one might expect a certain esoteric character to a band. And Darwin’s Finches is certainly an anomaly of its own. But that doesn’t mean that they’re not a brilliantly catchy band. In fact, Good Morning Creatures II, the trio’s third album is a tart and twangy, hook-filled 10-song batch of great rock songs that sound as if they’d evolved completely out of contact with the rest of the rock world.
The Galveston, TX based band of pranksters, formed around a biology class, who got their start crashing biker bars and playing shows that provoked fisticuffs, Darwin’s Finches aren’t a normal band.
The album’s music hearkens to late-80s weirdo indie-rock tinged with psychedelic Western vibes like Camper Van Beethoven, Butthole Surfers, Alice Donut, and the Pixies combined with the demented melodies of The Frogs. Guitarist/vocalist and bandleader Justin Clay sports a master crooner’s wail; sounding something akin to a young Paul Westerberg.
Darwin’s Finches was formed in 2006 by Justin as part band, part prank. Joined originally by friends in his Biology class, Clay and a rotating cast of players have played everything from pop-up shows at biker bars (to mixed reviews), art museums, random national parks, shows at clubs that ended with fruit fights and a culminating three-hour show at the legendary Balinese Room that ended with a guitar sacrificed to the Gulf of Mexico.
Justin took a break from music in 2012 for two years to enjoy his family and the birth of his son, Odin.  When he returned to music in 2014, he reformed Darwin’s Finches with long-time music partners, Cody Honey on drums and Morgan Moody on bass.
Good Morning Creatures II will be available on LP and download on December 14th, 2018 via Artificial Head Record & Tapes (AHRT).
DARWIN’S FINCHES LIVE:
11/17 Houston, TX @ Bohemeo’s
12/21 Houston, TX @ Fitzgerald’s (Cowpunk X-mas Party & Farewell to Fitzgerald’s)

Artist: Darwin’s Finches
Album: Good Morning Creatures II
Record Label: Artificial Head Records & Tapes

Release date; December 14, 2018

01. Good Morning Creatures (Big Stinky)
02. Yaupon Tea
03. Hosea!
04. Hwy 787
05. Tapir
06. BEK
07. Cowdog
08. Family Circus (ae)
09. Jonnobonnacca

10. Quixotic

On the Web:
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Review: Bev Rage and the Drinks – Cockeyed

I didn’t know how much I and the rest of the world needed queercore punk in this day and age until I heard Chicago’s Bev Rage and the Drinks‘ debut full-length album Cockeyed.

Launching out of the gate with wild punk riffs on “Why Won’t You Hate Me?” Ms. Rage and her bandmates thrown down the gauntlet to any other punk band thinking of releasing a record in 2018.  “Mouth” is a fast, funny takedown of a lying lover whose lame excuses and dumb alibis become enjoyable farce.  It’s appropriate that the follow-up is the thirty-second “Don’t Know Shit.”

“Short Shorts” and “Limp Wrist” are each under two minutes and still pack more punk squalor into them than an entire Ataris album.  “Limp Wrist” is one of the best punk tracks of 2018.

A gay friend of mine heard “Bitter Old Queen” and declared it his “new theme song.”  I think he meant it for past lovers, as Ms. Rage does because both of them are too busy having fun to be bitter.  Ms. Rage’s former beau does nothing but complain and no longer wants to hit the town (“I want to go out for a walk, but that is too fucking hard…”), tempting her to push her man off a bridge and end the relentless bitching.

Mission accomplished on “Someone New,” in which Ms. Rage proudly declares she’s moved onto to someone better.   Unfortunately, her new man is already looking for the “Next Best Thing” (hint: He won’t find it, judging by the angry guitar chords and wild rhythm section chaos this tune has in it.).

“I’m Having a Tryst with a Narcissist” is so damn clever that you can’t stop grinning throughout it.  Ms. Rage is a witty lyricist, so be sure to pay attention to the words behind the distortion, bass thumps, and mosh pit beats.  “Waffle House” is another great example of her storytelling, as Ms. Rage tells of falling asleep at a Waffle House and having a naughty dream about the waiter.  The album ends with “Looking,” another verbal / musical smackdown / high heel boot stomp of a lover who can’t or won’t take the Nestea Plunge with Bev Rage.

This is one of the best punk albums I’ve heard all year.  It’s full of squalling guitars, rough-edge drums, fuzzed-out bass, and more anger and sass than the green room at a Parisian fashion show.  Don’t miss out on it.

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Constant Lovers share heavy, frantic track “You Are Dinner” from upcoming album.

Constant Lovers share first track from forthcoming album Pangs
 Chaotic, fun punk rock’n’roll w/ members of Helms Alee, Damien Jurado, Harkonen, Suffering & The Hideous Thieves, Triumph of Lethargy

Hear and share “You Are Dinner” (Soundcloud) (Heavy Blog)
“A curve ball…A barely contained explosion of rock n’ roll riffs and potential, shaking off bonds that lay at the base of why rock n’ roll is so good.” — Heavy Blog Is Heavy
Seattle, WA quartet Constant Lovers premiere the first track from their forthcoming sophomore album, Pangs today via Heavy Blog is Heavy. Hear and share “You Are Dinner” HERE. (Direct Soundcloud and Bandcamp.)
It’s like we’ve all forgotten what a great rock ‘n’ roll band should sound like. Everything’s been subdivided into narrower and narrower genres. The idea of a loud, fun, sometimes heavy, other times chaotic, brash and unfettered rock band seems completely alien today. Constant Lovers is one of those – like how the MC5 sounded completely different on every album, yet always unparalleled in rhythmic, propulsive force.
Considering that Constant Lovers is a coterie of Seattle musicians from a mixed musical background, their collision of styles makes perfect sense. Drummer Ben Verellen plays guitar and sings in celebrated crunchers Helms Alee (Sargent House), guitarist Eric Fisher played with Sub Pop songwriter Damien Jurado, guitarist/vocalist Joel Cuplin played in Murder City Devils offshoot Triumph of Lethargy Skinned Alive To Death and bassist/vocalist Gavin Tull-Esterbrook in murder balladeers Suffering and The Hideous Thieves. The entire band’s members have generally vacillated across the board of musical convention over the years.
Hearkening to the late-60s/early-70s boundary pushing of proto-punk, Constant Lovers have added saxophone and the use of improvisation in both recording and their live shows. Some tunes are as taut and wiry as Television, others are heavy as modern doom metal, most of them are just loud and fun and less than serious — aside from delivering the goods to the good people. Of course, more modern comparisons are equally fitting, like early aughts chameleons and fellow Seattleites The Blood Brothers, rock iconoclasts Cloud Nothings, and a more playful amalgam of the band members’ other outfits.
At once a celebration of the heavier sounds featured in their last album, Experience Feelings, Pangs also signals a turn towards a more exploratory nature. Pangs opens with a slow fade in to the propulsive skree of “The Wound Up Get Down” reminiscent of The Birthday Party. “You Are Dinner” repeats an urgent, chirping guitar line before erupting in a heavy, slinking riff. “Meow Meow Meow” takes a rock’n’roll swagger, chopped into jagged slashes of guitar over syncopated drums. Elsewhere, “Bone Shard Fashion” and “Lullabye” serve up low end fury and frantic vocals. Throughout, while it’s an aggressive and wild ride, Pangs never abandons melody for the sake of crunch.
Pangs will be available on LP and download on October 26th, 2018. Preorders are available HERE.

Artist: Constant Lovers
Album: Pangs
Record Label: Self-released
Release Date: October 26th, 2018
01. The Wound Up Get Down
02. Meow Meow Meow
03. Ceiling Sweats
04. It’s Electric
05. You Are Dinner
06. Bone Shard Fashion
07. Know The Knot
08. Rally Cry For The Pang In Your
09. Lullabye
10. Amuse Bouche
11. Pang Time
On the Web:
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