SAVAK - Beg Your Pardon

Label: Ernst Jenning / Taken By Surprise / Bang / Geenger / Orangeire
Year: 2018

From the "Oops, I Forgot To Listen To This Last Year" file, comes an incredibly well conceived, performed, and delivered package of twelve post punk informed indie rockers. Punchy, nervy, scrappy, loose, garage rocky, type post punk indie rockers. Not unlike something Les Savy Fav might come up with?
The core band is Sohrab Habibion (Edsel, Obits), Matt Schultz (Lab Partners, Enon, Holy Fuck), and Michael Jaworski (Puberty, The Cops, Virgin Island), but they get help from a cast of characters that include members of Snakes, SOA, One Last Wish, Embrace, Faith, Don Caballero, Bellini, Nation Of Ulysses, All Scars, Ted Leo + The Pharmacists, Girls Against Boys, Soulside, Monsterland, Bunny Brains, Garden Variety, Radio 4, Obits, Edsel, Silent Majority, New Wet Kojack, and a million others but I'm running out of steam. Point is, soak that roster in. It represents a lot of really great, adventurous, groundbreaking records...and if those dudes are co-signing SAVAK...what's you're deal? You're all of a sudden somehow better than a guy who was in fucking State Of Alert?!

DL

ILS - Pain Don't Hurt

Label: self released
Year: 2018

Had I heard this prior to January 6th, 2019 (the day it showed up in our inbox), then you would have already read about it in the Best of 2018 list. Cause it's one of the best things that was released in 2018, without a doubt.
That I missed.
But hey, whatever, there's always 2019. I'm sure we'll make up for it. Somehow.
This ILS record will make up for a lot.
First thing that the astute listener will notice, is that Tom Glose of the criminally underrated band Black Elk is back behind the mic here. And that rules. Second thing the astute listener will notice, is that ILS have channeled a few other late, great, criminally underrated bands in the five songs here; namely, Sluhog's knuckles in the dirt low end grunge-sludge, Shiny Beast's warm, fuzzy, off kilter propulsion, and Pigs' colossal fuck-all barrage. Which, frankly, harkens back to the aforementioned Black Elk...to close the circle (by and by Lord, by and by).
It's a real nasty proposition. Just how we like. Snarling, clawing, breathing rank heat down your neck, staggering relentlessly towards the door, pulling your family photos off the wall with its outstretched paws. A goddamn bear in your goddamn parlor! Call wildlife management!

Word is, these songs may see the light of day on vinyl as an ep, or with some additional material as an lp. Which we would be most excited to see (and presumably hear). And, it would be on out 2019 Best Of list. Already.

DL