Pachinko - Who Shaved Pachinko?

 

Label: Rhetoric

Year: 1995

Aren't 5" records such a hoot? Is it anyone's favorite format of choice? No?

Yeah.

But is it weird that this funky 'lil platter (Spazz ref!) is pound for pound my favorite Pachinko record? Cause I think it is. Three songs, one of which is an Andy Kaufman diatribe set to music, all blown the fuck out noise rock boils. 

Also of note, wasn't it weird that Rhetoric Records bifurcated their discography between pop punk types (Boris The Sprinkler, Zoinks!, and Horace Pinker) and super heavy noisy types (Pachinko, Floor, and Ninefinger)? I did.

DL

Lowercase - Cadence

 Label: Amphetamine Reptile

Year: 1995

I think Lowercase categorized themselves as "slow-core noise rock", but if not, they could. I just typed it, so there are the words should they want to grab them and use them. Free of charge. Or they could rearrange those four words and say the same thing a slightly different way. Totally up to Lowercase.

What do those four words sound like? Legit question. I would throw bands like Codeine, Native Nod, Unwound, and maybe a sleepy version of Godheadsilo. 

It's good. It wouldn't be here if it wasn't. You trust me, right?

DL

Loveslug - Coyote Date / Quest For Fire

 

Label: Glitterhouse

Year: 1990

A Dutch band that I honestly don't recall how/when I came across, but they operated for a couple of years at the end of the 1980s and beginning of the 1990s. They did splits with both Skin Yard and The Fluid, which actually should give you a decent sense of what they sound like. Unabashed rock-n-roll with some of that grungy muck applied just to keep them honest.

Two songs, recorded two years apart, which is sort of weird for a band that put out three albums between 1988-1991, but, they are Dutch, and Dutch things skew...weird.

Tony Leeuwenburch, who was in first wave hardcore bands The Nitwitz and B.G.K., (and apparently also Fitz Of Depression) helms this group.

DL

Milkmine / Liquor Bike - Split

 

Label: Merkin

Year: 1993

Two bands, one song each, you're in and out in under seven minutes. No big commitments.

Even though Milkmine get top billing per the official title of the release, Liquor Bike start things off. And they start off in a convincingly rocking way, that channels some of the proto-punk that Mudhoney would hone, with some of the gonzo rock that Fluid liked to traffick in, and some of the post punk by way of garage rock that a band like Gaunt might make. All american good rock music that is played on some bizarro world FM radio classic rock station somewhere as we speak (right after the 18th airing of 'La Grange'...not that I'm complaining).

Milkmine round out the proceedings with a punishing double bass (the stringed instruments, not the drummer's foot pedal) boogie bummer lumber, that should sound like noise rock mating calls to the sweaty and bespeckled amongst you (us). You'll like it. I do, and you seem to like me. Although "like" may be a strong word.

DL

Thirty Ought Six - Eris

Label: C/Z

Year: 1994

Two songs, two pretty perfect examples of that sound when basement emo graduated into the college town bar. Assuming you feel that's matriculation. Maybe you don't, and maybe you would have a good point. 

My point though, is that Thirty Ought Six has some of those mid-90's emo vestiges, the flailing dynamism, the punk energy, and the emotional earnestness that made seeing Braid in a basement so much fun. But, they had a vocal and musical maturity that rounded off some of the jagged edges that kept those bands in the basement and out of the public domain. Not that those bands really cared, and not that Thirty Ought Six is a household name, but they were swinging for the fences a little harder than some of their peers. 

Try it out, and maybe that ramble above will add up to something approximating a cognizant thought. You tell me. I really liked this band a lot thought, I thought they were getting into that Boilermaker and Castor territory of emo perfection. Bands who played their fair share of basements, by the by.

DL

 

Genki Genki Panic - The Munge

 

Label: Uncommon Interests

Year: 2021

Our friends at Genki Genki Panic have returned with a three song 7" that continues to solidify their reign as the Premiere Surf CHUDS operating in America today. It's as if they finally paddled in from a surf expedition of the channels around Three Mile Island long enough to write the soundtrack for the Munsters R-rated reboot. The one where Herman embarks on a cross-country bloodsoaked revenge killing spree. The one that shows the Munster Koach careening through southern california beach parties, grinding Frankie and Annette into crimson tire treads, splattered across Malibu's pristine sands. The one where the Rats gang is commandeered as an unholy army of the misfit freaks, unleashed into the halls of every high school in the country to wreak a savagery so diabolical, a crusade so determined to erase normalcy from an entire generation, a terror so unspeakable that Herman himself fears he may have fallen prey to his own murderous fervor.

That one. Did you ever see it? Came on right after Love Boat.

7" is very close to being sold out...so...help them be the sellouts they deserve to be.

DL

MTN ISL - Big Question

 

Label: self released

Year: 2021

I don't mean to be posting only Atlanta bands, but Atlanta bands keep making music that needs to be shared, so I feel duty bound to share it. I'm a giver (of other people's things...which is easier than being a creator of your own things).

MTN ISL continue to not just fly under the radar, but they seem to actively be jamming it. Case in point, I actually really like this band, yet, they released an album in 2020 that I did not know about until roughly 72 hours ago (well into the year 2021) when I looked to see if this new record was on Spotify (it is...along with the 2020 release, and their older records). I mean, should I set up a Google alert or something? Maybe just pull my head out of my ass?

But you know, whatever. Can't blame the band for me being out of touch. Maybe it's just a good reminder to always be digging, look for the next thing that excites you and reminds you of the transcendent power of art. That's how it's supposed to be. No digital algorithm will ever "know" you anyway.

So what about the music?

Well, let's just say this one has a spot somewhere on the end-of-year Best Of already. It's really really fucking good. It's a lurching tour through the grittier end of the noise rock neighborhood, where the yellowing sodium halide lamps never quite illuminate the sidewalks, and there's a constant rumble form beneath the streets. MTN ISL have a sound that remains consistent from record to record which relies on a trudging stomp and bellowing roar. A sound that generates its own turbulence, a slow ominous thud from the dark end of the corridor. A slow motion hulking tumult pushing towards you.

Don't let this one fly under the radar. I'm telling you. It's one you will want.

DL

Palaces - Live From West End Sound

 

Label: self released

Year: 2021

Another day, another bruiser from the fair city of Atlanta for your consideration.

This time it's the band Palaces, who were around a decade ago, then went dark (didn't pay their Georgia Power bill?), then showed up last year with a blistering record of metallic hardcore/metallic noise rock/metallic metal. Rather than taking another ten years off, they recorded a live set of tracks from that record (and an unreleased song) and in January of 2021 set that free in to the world. That was very nice of Palaces to do, because I actually think this live documentation is stronger than the album. It's still very mean and nasty sounding, but it (not surprisingly) has a more raw and direct energy that I think really benefits the songs. It takes some of the metal out of their sound, which I prefer.

See which you prefer. It's your preference. Or perogative. 

DL

Nowhere Safe - Voices Inside My Head

 

Label: self released

Year: 2018

Fuck it, we stick with Atlanta bands for another entry. Why not?  What did they ever do to you?

Nowhere Safe is gearing up to put out new music this year(?), but today we post their initial four song ep that they self released as a trio a few years back (they have fattened up to a four piece as of now). In these songs the band run the gamut from post hardcore that is modern hardcore adjacent, to post hardcore that is space rock adjacent, to post hardcore that is very slightly death rock or goth adjacent, to post hardcore that is just...good fucking post hardcore. I want to say that they remind me a bit of that band Sparta mixed with something darker and with a more sinister edge. But honestly, I'm not sure if I'm remembering Sparta exactly right, and being as lazy as I am, there is literally no way to check and see if Sparta sound remotely like they sound in my brain hole. 

So, let's just forget that part, and say that this is a very enjoyable ep, and I look forward to see what they come up with next.

DL

Naw - Head Pain

 

Label: self released

Year: 2021

The Atlanta train keeps on a rollin'. Choo choo.

Naw is relatively new, but in a short time they have pulled together a nasty album that blends a metallic take on hardcore with a gritty take on noise rock. So, in short, it's loud, it's guitar based, and it keeps its boot pretty squarely on your windpipe. It's squarely within your wheelhouse, I'm pretty certain of it.

DL