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Clown Sounds

Par For The Curse
Recess (2024)

“I’m a real band!” When you write about an artist a billion times, sometimes your head goes to strange places -- leading to references that probably only make sense inside your own head. With Par For The Curse, the third album from the Todd Congelliere founded project, Clown Sounds has evolved from solo origins to a collaborative effort. The results … Read more

The Dreaded Laramie

Princess Feedback
Smartpunk Records (2024)

There are a lot of ways to find new music, from word of mouth to opening acts to algorithms. For the better part of the last 20 years, The Fest has been a way I’ve discovered new artists. One the biggest surprises for me at FEST 21 was The Dreaded Laramie. With a name that makes with think Wyoming and … Read more

Post Scriptvm

Eisstoß
Tesco Organisation (2024)

Post Scriptvum’s works are defined by their hypnagogic quality, and ability to construct a harsh dreamscape and lead the listener through. Take the start of their newest record, Eisstoß, as an example. “Frazil” unfolds slowly, the beeping sound mimicking a faraway radar trying to slowly cartograph the unknown space. This anchoring quality is vital in any noise and power electronics … Read more

No Future

Mirror
Iron Lung (2024)

No Future are unleashing their debut record, following many short-fused, chaotic EPs and demos. The hardcore punk band from down under subscribes to the genre’s noisier, most extravagant, and brutal sub-division. Mirror’s energy is outright belligerent, capable of inflicting maximum damage with its minimalistic tendencies. The electrifying effect of “Silent Morality” is explosive, with a hi-hat sound capable of literal … Read more

Carly Cosgrove

The Cleanest Of Houses Are Empty
Wax Bodega (2024)

You should never judge a band by their name alone, but it’s impossible to ignore it too. Carly Cosgrove is an emo-style band that chose a band name that sounds like a person’s name -- it seems to be a long-running tradition in the genre. I point that out because Carly Cosgrove the band has a lot of traditional elements, … Read more

Merzbow & Meat Beat Manifesto

Extinct
Cold Spring (2024)

Extinct is a meeting of giants, seeing the breakbeat-fueled leftfield industrial electronic of Meat Beat Manifesto clashing with the noise onslaught of Merzbow. As the first of the record’s two tracks, “¡FLAKKA!” settles in, it is the intricate and layered rhythmic backbone of MBM prevails, setting the tone. It is a post-club application, the staggered percussion forming complex structures and … Read more

Grumpster

Grumpster
Pure Noise (2024)

  Grumpster is just one of those bands. The first record caught my attention, the second was a “whoa” moment, and now it’s already album number three, five years later. It’s been a relatively quick progression and there’s a big jump in sound between the first and last albums, but it’s also linear and it makes sense. The band come from … Read more

Spells

Past Our Prime
Big Neck Records, Keep It a Secret Records, Rad Girlfriend Records, Shield Recordings, Snappy Little Numbers (2024)

Calling your record Past Our Prime and then having a song named “Past My Prime” is messing with my head as I write this. But while there is no arguing that SPELLS are a self-aware band, that’s about as much as they’ll really mess with the listener on this record, titled (again), Past Our Prime. Musically speaking, the band play … Read more

Various Artists

Horrorpunk's Not Dead Volume 3
We Are Horror Records (2024)

We Are Horror Records are back, after a brief hiatus, and are better than ever. To celebrate this fact label founder, Dan Phillips, has truly outdone himself and put together the third bloody horror-fuelled instalment of the Horrorpunk's Not Dead compilations. These compilations are the finest collection of what's what and who's who from modern horrorpunk today. Volume 3 boasts … Read more

Urgent Care

Fast Medicine
Healthcore Records (2023)

Doctor, Doctor give me the news…. Some of you might pretend you don’t have a winking brown starfish on the bottom of your nether region but Urgent Care is here to tell you that Colonoscopies can save your life. Get your pack of Pico-Salax and let the chocolate fountain bubble and flow. The colonoscope is a thin catheter with a … Read more

Laura Jane Grace

Hole In My Head
Polyvinyl (2024)

On her second solo album Laura Jane Grace throws back, looks ahead and reminds us why we should be grateful for the present. Against Me! frontwoman Laura Jane Grace released her solo album, Hole In My Head, earlier this year. A foil to pandemic times Stay Alive, it reaches out with retro tinged punk tunes that catapult her from sounding … Read more

Sex Organs

We're Fucked
Voodoo Rhythm (2024)

Sex Organs is a duo based between The Netherlands and Switzerland, formed by members of The Anomalys and The Jackets who play scuzzy garage-punk while dressed as genitalia. Obviously, it’s a gimmick where the band has a focus on their fun, sex positive message rather than breaking new artistic ground. That’s a short way of saying this record reminds me … Read more

Distants

Distants
Salinas Records (2024)

Something about this guitar tone always picks me up. Add in the raspy vocals and it really only takes me a few seconds into this record to know that Distants are my kind of band. Honestly, I’ve seen them before too, so I already knew that, but that was just a half set at The Fest, not a deep dive … Read more

Vacation

Rare Earth
Feel It Records (2024)

As a generalization I’d call vacation garage-punk, but the band has just as much grunge to their sound as those other styles -- and a whole lot more too. It’s raw ‘n’ straight-forward rock ‘n’ roll in a balance that pulls from the classic structures, balancing emotion and fuzz within melodic and building structures that ebb and flow for powerful … Read more

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