Sex Beat (https://linktr.ee/sexbeat) are a post punk band from Berlin who I'd like to think took their name from the Gun Club song (though I've no idea if this is true). They released a demo in 2020 and now return with a debut album titled Call Me.
The album's out now on This Charming Man Records and it rocks hard. Shouty vocals are complimented by "driving drums, distorted bass lines and noisy guitars." You can check it out here : https://sex-beat.bandcamp.com/album/call-me
This track gets highlighted mainly because of the attention grabbing title though it's a great song and deserves your attention. It's called What Would Hüsker Dü?
For those like me who don't follow American sports, Dennis Rodman is a former professional basketball player. Nicknamed the worm, he was obviously one of the best in his field as even I've heard of him (though this is possibly more to do with his friendship with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un). His retirement from the sport was followed by numerous tv appearances and a couple of action movies. The reason I'm writing about him is that I know very little about the band I'm posting today so I need a paragraph of waffle to pad things out.
SEX TAPE are a quartet from Berlin who are trying (pretty damn successfully) to create a new and unconventional sound that pays homage to the records they have in their record collections. Think angry 90's post hardcore with snotty vocals, noisy guitars and driving drums & basslines.
They released a single last year titled Nasal Spray and have just followed it up with a Demo cassette. 3 new songs "tributing Dennis Rodman, liftboys and truthtelling" with the addition of the songs from the single on the flip side. It's lively, heavy but very accessible and you can get it here (though there's only 2 copies left as I write this so you might have to settle for the digital download) :
It's always great when you hitch your wagon to a new band that you think has potential and then go on to feature them over the years as every release improves upon the last. When I featured Reading dystopian post punkers Who Killed Nancy Johnson? (https://www.facebook.com/WhoKilledNancyJohnson/) last year I said that the chatroom folk on the latest Just Some Punk Songs show were commenting that Pretending To Like People was their best song yet. I'm expecting similar comments when I play a brand new track from their upcoming album later today (feel free to come join us and listen to an hour of great new punk music (https://www.facebook.com/events/679743719494244/).
The album is their debut, it's titled I See Six and it'll be released on June 26th. There's 2 tracks already streaming and they sound much better than a diy recording in a village hall in Oxfordshire has any right to. It's going to be a vicious political assault on a myriad of worthy targets backed by a frantically pounding back beat. The opening track is spot on. Our leaders aren't "lizards, not alien super creeps, not that bug-eyed conspiracy theory crap..." They're snake oil salesmen, they'll convince you that you can trust them, they'll promise you the world as they pick your pocket. A revolving fresh face with a handful of shiny baubles but in reality a cancer on society.
Track 2, the one you'll find below, deals with City folk. Not me and you and the majority of city folk who work hard to eek out a living but the ones who've been around since the onset of society, grasping, greedy and always hungry for greater wealth. Other song titles will include Communist, Rothmans and Notre Dame and I'm really looking forward to hearing them.
Born AD43 A Roman legacy Of trade empiracy Always raiding Entire history From Saxon royalty To slaves in Chancery Power and money
Shitty City Shitty
The rich all ran away In time of fire and plague But now they’re back to stay Bet your money Law con and banking cock Wash cash and launder stock In high-rise haven blocks Dirty greedy - shitty
City Shitty City
Dirty, so dirty, so dirty, dirty greedy Shitty City Shitty City
Forming in 2013, Gouge Away are an "angular blend of sass and spitefulness" from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, who are influenced by the likes of Unwound, Jesus Lizard, Nirvana, Foo Fighters & Fugazi and who previously appeared on here back in 2016 with a song from their debut album , Dies (https://justsomepunksongs.blogspot.com/2016/12/gouge-away-wildflowers.html). Since then they've released the Swallow/Sweat single and are shortly about to unleash album number 2, Burnt Sugar.
The line up of the band features Christina Michelle (vocals), Mick Ford (guitar), Tyler Forsythe (bass) and Tommy Cantwell (drums). The new album was recorded live in one room at The Atomic Garden, without headphones, 100% analogue onto a 2" tape and then mixed manually onto a 1/4" tape. It deals with personal and social political subject matter and once it's released they plan to promote it with plenty of touring. You can get more info here : https://www.facebook.com/gougeawayfl/
The first single from the album deals with the topic of mental health and in particular vocalist Michelle's battle with paranoia. It's called Only Friend...
Felt things change for just one day But now it's back to the same old ways Failure is an ocean instead of a floor The bed is a raft floating away from the door Swallow salt just to taste something Heart can't push blood that's thickening Some say it's suffocating Say that I'm not living
Paranoia comes knocking She's my only friend Paranoia is here again She's my only friend
I let my guard down to meet someone new Said she was disappointed Said I fucking knew Sometimes it's suffocating I don't feel like I'm living Paranoia's always lingering She's my only friend.
Paranoia comes knocking She's my only friend Paranoia is here again She's my only friend
Once upon a time, Black Francis sang, ominously, "it is time, for stormy weather"
The sense of foreboding and unease found on the above mentioned Pixies song is nothing compared with that on the lead track on Rooms Of The House, the new album from Michigan post hardcore outfit La Dispute. Poetic and imbued with a sense of creeping dread the song, HUDSONVILLE, MI 1956 tells of the battening down of hatches to ride out the tornado which is tearing up power lines, splitting neighbour's sheds and bending in kitchen windows. A mother trying to drown out the cataclysmic sound of sirens and the howling wind whilst worrying for the safety of her absent husband as he in turn worries about his wife and baby son. The worst of the storms touched ground up in Hudsonville.....
