Sometimes when I'm searching around for songs for the Just Some Punk Songs show I'll come across something that at first doesn't seem to fit in with the general punky vibe the show aims at. But punk is covered by a broad umbrella and after listening to the recent album by London duo The Slugs (https://www.facebook.com/theslugsband/) I decided they're punk as fuck!
The slime rock duo, Phoebe (drums/vocals) & Lib (guitar/bass/vocals), have been around for a several years and released a few eps with humorous titles but a couple of months ago they unleashed a debut album. It's titled A Song For Every Feeling and it announces itself with an opening track that's one of the most endearing welcomes you'll ever come across.
If you are familiar with those releases or you're a fan of catchy lo-fi pop punk tunes you'll be interested to hear there's a new album called Digital Pet coming out on October 18th via Erste Theke Tontraeger. You can get those pre orders in here : https://erstetheketontraeger.bandcamp.com/album/ett-106-1-800-mikey-digital-pet-lp
This is the very infectious opening track, it's called Rental Girlfriend...
Many of the songs I post on here are intelligent, well thought out and passionate commentaries on modern day society. Today's song isn't one of those, it's just a whole bunch of fun.
One of my favourite videos from last year was for Hard To Be Broken by Mad Mojo Jett, a budget garage rocker that gladdens my heart every time I watch it (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDbCKR0Hpqk). The video for today's song has a similar effect.
Blowers (https://www.facebook.com/blowersband) are the garage punk band from Melbourne who I featured on here a couple of years ago (https://justsomepunksongs.blogspot.com/2021/03/blowers-hitman.html). I described them as being "a mash up of Cavemen style sleaze with some of the "pop" sensibilities of early period Ramones." I've been granted an early listen to their new album and happily that comparison still stands up.
The album boasts 14 tracks of lo-fi rock n roll fun that doesn't take itself too seriously. It's the sound of a band having a ball. The band in question is Kit Convict (vocals/guitar), Andrew Porter (vocals/guitar), Shannon Aswell (vocals/drums) & Pip McMullan (bass). The album's titled Blown Again and it'll be available on vinyl and digital download on April 14th via Chaputa Records (Worldwide) & Spooky Records (Australia).
Neon Belly are the lo-fi punk band from Wilmington, North Carolina, who impressed back in September when they released a very decent name your price S/T ep on Fort Lowell Records https://fortlowell.bandcamp.com/album/neon-belly
That song has just resurfaced on a new album by the band titled What's Mine Ain't Yours. The other tracks from the ep also feature, along with a few new tracks including a very fine cover of the Zero Boys' classic Civilisation Is Dying. It's just the kind of enthusiastically scrappy punk rock that I gravitate towards. You can find it here : https://neonbelly.bandcamp.com/album/whats-mine-aint-yours
In my previous piece on the band I mentioned I was impressed with their cover of a single originally released back in 1978 by Netherlands band Filth. This is it, it's called Don't Hide Your Hate...
in which I mentioned they're a trashy lo-fi garage punk outfit from Moncton, Canada, featuring Phone Jerks' frontman Tyler Boots.
They return today (with the name abbreviated to T J Cabot) with a song from a new album from Italy's Mimetics Zine which combines the tracks on their 2020 eps Dick Charles & Get Ready Get Set and then throws in a few unreleased songs as an added bonus.
It's out now on ltd edition cassette though with only 20 copies available you might struggle to get one (only 4 are left as I type this). Fear not though, there's also a digital download.
"I had these slower songs laying around and thought they wouldn't fit for MOAR in a live setting so decided to do it myself"
Moar released stuff on his label in the previous years, that could be placed somewhere in the
Coneheads-Liquids-and-other-quirks section, if you like it being compared.
However this 8 tracker sounds even more lo-fi on these 60s psych inspired recordings than previous renditions of the band/man.
I selected 2nd Century because it represents the vibe on this 7", well, maybe not this much because
most song are slower but you must find out yourself. 60s inspired, for sure, so if that's your thing, check this band out! The 8 track ep is available on 7" vinyl or as a name your price download :
Silicone Values are a lo-fi post punk band from Bristol that I came across a few months ago when I played their very fine single, I Hate Fascist Rock And Roll, on the Just Some Punk Songs show and stuck it on Youtube ready to post on here. As often happens, I didn't get round to writing about it and it's still languishing in the "to do" pile. Or it was till they released a follow up single which I'll feature instead.
I don't know much about the band other than they're a D.I.Y. collective headed by Brin Davies. The debut single saw him collaborating with various members of The Moles, Yamasuki667 & Kobayushi Tape Counter. I also know they're now two for two when it comes to great releases.
Of the 2 tracks on offer on this sophomore release (this time we get various members of White Owl and The Anomalies "dipping in and making a bit of a noise") Nuclear Sun is about growing up during the Cold War dreaming about the coming apocalypse, total nuclear destruction and radiation poisoning. "Every Night I Dreamt about the end of the bloody world, every night I dreamt about the end of everything and everyone. Every night I dreamt about getting the shit kicked out of me." Grim and worrying times, thankfully there's nothing around nowadays to keep us awake fearing for our health!
The other track, the one featured below, is a little more up tempo though still in the same dystopian vein (I don't want to live in society"... I can't even stand another day"). The single is accompanied with the quote "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be" which is taken from the Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. novel Mother Night. He's an author famed for his wryly satirical novels which frequently used postmodern techniques as well as elements of fantasy and science fiction to highlight the horrors and ironies of 20th-century civilization. Much of his work is marked by an essentially fatalistic worldview that nonetheless embraces modern humanist beliefs. A pretty good summation of the themes on the single. His first novel, Player Piano, "spins the chilling tale of engineer Paul Proteus, who must find a way to live in a world dominated by a supercomputer and run completely by machines. Paul’s rebellion is vintage Vonnegut—wildly funny, deadly serious, and terrifyingly close to reality." It was also published under the title Utopia 14 and I'm pretty sure it's an inspiration for Utopian Futures.
We might be suffering from the effects of a global pandemic but that ain't keeping the band from carrying on recording and they've already released a great new song. No doubt inspired by one of The Ramones' most famous tracks (the one that starts "Gabba gabba we accept you we accept you one of us...") it's a stripped down blast of primitive garage in which Kool proclaims that though he might not have had much of an education and he certainly ain't got much in the way of class or money, he ain't dumb enough to follow your rules. He'd rather be dead than be like you.
The Ramones' classic was based on the Tod Browning 1932 movie Freaks in which sufferers of a neurological disorder called microcephaly (cruelly referred to as pinheads) were "attractions" in a sideshow. Despite the movie being titled Freaks, it was the "normal" characters in the movie who in he main were the horrific ones. In this song, the Pinheads are the all to numerous members of modern day society who lack empathy for their fellow human beings. The emotionally retarded. The blissfully dumb.
It seems as though Kool & The Gang Bangers may have some competition in the race to be crowned the best trashy budget punk band of 2020. All hail Sydney denizens of the underworld, The Satanic Togas. (https://www.facebook.com/thesatanictogas666/)
They've been putting out an impressive catalogue of shitty songs for shitty people for the last 6 years and their latest toxic emission has just dropped in the form of the Underworld Cassingle Club ep. It's a rather wonderful short sharp blast of offensive lo fi goodness and it suggests that the band's upcoming new album on Goodbye Boozy Records will be something very special indeed.
The album is due next month and will be titled X Ray Vision. It's just one of a number of exciting looking releases from the label so keep an eye on their Bandcamp page (and whilst you're at it, check out their recent 96-98 Mixtape) https://goodbyeboozydigital.bandcamp.com/
Well I certainly wasn't planning on featuring a cover song for the 3rd day in a row. I dragged myself out of bed, turned on the pc, started writing out today's update and noticed a Facebook post from Steve from Richter Scale Records which read "Perfect Friday LP, who wouldn't want to hear Sick Thoughts cover Thin Lizzy or Erik Nervous doing Slayer.....Fuuuck!"
Intrigued I thought I'd click the link and Fuuuck! indeed. A compilation album from Australia featuring 20 "COVERS BY THE HEAVY WEIGHTS OF ROCK N ROLL BABY." And what a compilation it is!
It's on the Bandcamp page of excellent Sydney synth punks GEE TEE (who I last featured on here in November on what proved to be a very popular post : (https://justsomepunksongs.blogspot.com/2019/11/gee-tee-fbi.html) and who are a band you need to check out if you've not yet done so.
The comp is titled G.T.R.R.C II and it features an inspired selection of covers by some very cool bands. Not only are there the ones Steve mentioned, there's also inspired and eclectic song choices such as Lights Out (Angry Samoans), Don't Bring Me Down (ELO), Sick On You (The Boys), Food Fight (Village People), 60 Nights Of Boredom (The Spaceshits) etc, etc, etc...
I think the cassette version of the comp has already sold out (though it sounds as though there could be a second run) whilst the vinyl version is upcoming on Legless Records. In the meantime you can (and very definitely should) grab the digital download as a Name Your Price download here : https://geeteeband.bandcamp.com/album/g-t-r-r-c-ii
The track that I was instantly drawn to was the 1980 debut single by the totally awesome Girls At Our Best. This version does justice to the original and it's by R.M.F.C (aka Rock Music Fan Club) (https://www.facebook.com/rockmusicfanclub/). It's made my Friday a little bit special.
The Gee Tee side kicks off with H.S.S. 69 seconds of raw and trashy punk with the singer telling how he failed science and math and how there wasn't even a teacher in class. No wonder High School Sucked. The song you'll find below is slightly longer but still doesn't get to the 90 second mark. Our favourite uneducated vocalist admits he doesn't like baths or combs and he doesn't want soap in his home. He also doesn't like sprays or wipes, please don't kill him cause he's alright. This is I'm A Germ...
The Surburban Homes are the Swell Maps/Desperate Bicycles influenced diy lo-fi punk band that have seen most of their previous releases featured on here and have always gone down very well when I've played them on the show. It seems as though I'm mistaken but I could have sworn the last time I played them I was told they were splitting up. As today's update will prove, this hasn't been the case though looking on Bandcamp it appears as though they've relocated from West Sussex to Gijon, Spain.
Originally it was scheduled as their second ever release but problems with In The Red Records saw it put back several times before eventually being pulled. It's now seen the light of day. The band would one day like to release a Spiral Scratch for the modern era and whilst they doubt this is it, it's still a bloody good critique on our "crappy society." This is the lead track, it rails against the current trend to package everything up in shiny plastic. Glossy sells. "Rock n Roll is dead but they'll give you a cozy alternative....a false sense of rebellion" This is Magazine Version...
Another old favourite returns to the blog today, West Sussex lo-fi post punks Suburban Homes will soon be releasing a new single. I had heard rumours that they'd split up but happily that doesn't appear to be the case, the single will be called Unemployed and it's due next month on Total Punk Records.
Their previous releases have all been excellent and they're often compared to classic old post punk bands such as Desperate Bicycles, Mekons and Swell Maps. Those releases were 2014's D.I.Y. ep, 2015's Conformity in The UK single and 2016's ...Are Bored ep. You can (and should) check them all out here : https://thesuburbanhomes.bandcamp.com
Despite it being a couple of years since ...Are Bored, things don't seem to have gotten any better for their frustrated sounding singer. Unable to get a girlfriend due to his lack of ambition, the height of his existence is to play alone in his room. He's totally void, unemployed and feeling suicidal (though he's not even capable of managing to tie a decent knot). The medium is still tedium, he's bored of small talk and on the verge of a breakdown, welcome to suburbia in the UK 2017.
A catchy as hell dose of lo fi pop punk today, I played this earlier in the week on the Just Some Punk Songs show and it picked up numerous positive comments from the folk in the chatroom.
The Globs (or The Globs From Outer Space as they also seem to be known as) are from Sacramento and feature members of The Bananas and Charles Albright : Audrey Motzer (bass/vocals), Charles Albright (drums), Christine Shelley (vocals), Mike R Mike (guitar/vocals) and Nick Shelley (keyboard). They released a cassette last year and it seems to have done well enough to have been rereleased by Dead Broke Rekerds.
This is the lead track, it's upbeat, it's cute, it's sloppy, it ain't what you'd call your traditional punk banger but I like it. It's called Spiral Stairs....
A cautionary tale today, be careful where you stick it!
I don't know anything about the band featured in today's update other than that they were called Fucking Pigs and that they were recording offensive lo-fi punk n roll songs sometime back in the 90's. It's not really surprising though that I missed them at the time, most people did.
Now we have the opportunity to discover them, and a host of other obscure 90's acts thanks to the efforts of Black Gladiator and Slovenly Records who have just released a wonderful compilation of songs from the archive of Jaime Paul Lamb. A double lp entitled WE'RE LOUD: 90's Cassette Punk Unknowns, it's a veritable pick and mix of off the radar, outsider anthems that demands your attention. 19 bands, 33 tracks, recorded between 1993-99 on cassette by bands such as Barf Bags, Mega & The Nerdz, Lukey & The Chicken Slitz etc, you can check it out here : https://slovenly.bandcamp.com/album/were-loud-90s-cassette-punk-unknowns-2xlp
Today I'm happy to bring you their new single. It's due to be released on September 15th on Total Punk Records and it's really rather good. A Suburban Homes bandcamp page is scheduled to launch in time for the release but the A side is up on the Total Punk page (at a rather offputtingly steep price!) : https://totalpunkrecords.bandcamp.com/track/conformity-in-the-u-k.
Earning comparisons with the likes of The Swell Maps, early Mekons and The Pop Rivets, this is a rather splendid critique of modern society. Conformity In The U.K.....
Today sees a band from Crawley, West Sussex ("in the shadow of Gatwick Airport") who are set on confronting the mediocrity and hypocrisy of 21st Century living. The Suburban Homes decided that a good way to alleviate boredom was to get off their arses and record a few songs and so August 2014 saw the release of their debut single, The Suburban Home ep. It came out on Market Square Recordings, limited to 300 copies each of which contained a piece of Izal toilet paper. Thanks to the wonders of the internet you can find the ep here : http://marketsquarerecordings.bandcamp.com/album/the-suburban-homes-the-suburban-home-e-p .
With a sound reminiscent of all your favourite lo-fi, post punk bands from yesteryear they aren't afraid to give a lyrical kicking to middle class pricks or pseudo-intellectuals or anyone else who might give them cause to vent their spleen. It's easier than 1-2-3, It's easier than ABC, you can do it yourself......this is track 3 on the ep, it's a call for creativity, it's called D.I.Y, it's a corker, Lend it your ears......
