Katiny Slezki is a punk band from Yakutsk, Siberia (Russia), which has been playing some kind of low-fi rock'n roll punk since 2015.
Yakutsk is a city in the very eastearn part of Russia, somewhere which looks extremely remote (and cold!) and it's interesting to see what a punk scene in this area can look like.
I discovered this band (and others) thanks to an article on bandcamp about the Yakutsk scene.
The main actor there seems to be юность севера which gives the opportunity
So Katiny Slezki has released a few digital recordings on their bandcamp page since 2015. It all sounds really low fi and russian and in my ears it could totally be some 80s underground band from the USSR, which is probably the reason why I like it.
Their latest record was released in december 2019 and is their best to date in my opinion.
Two songs of great rock'n roll punk, with a great early californian punk vibe,
a bit like a fast version of The Bags in Siberia! I really dig it.
Take some time to discover a bit more about this quite atypical scene.
You guys know Idles right ? of course you do! They have been pretty hard to miss during the last couple of years. Well I'm not gonna talk about them today, not too much at least.
Heavy Lungs is a band from Bristol, UK, formed in 2017, which name is, as we'll see,
always bound to Idles (not the Teen ones).
But where Idles is a bit too polished for my taste, Heavy Lungs is dark, rough and
Abstract Thought, their first release (digital only) in 2018, was a slap in the face.
5 tracks of highly disturbing noisy and dark (post?) punk, something between Bad Breeding
and Viagra Boys maybe. The vocals are angry but desperate, the bass lines are simple
but catchy and the guitar keep it all dark but dirty, well that's all I'm asking for!
And their big brother band is already there, the man with the big beard in the Descend clip is the bass player of Idles.
Their next release (late 2018) is a split 7'' with... Idles of course! The bearded band has clearly decided to support the new guys from Bristol and I can only thank them for that.
Blood Brother sounds more polished than the tracks from Abstract Thoughts, the guitar is clearer, closer to an Indie Pop sound, the vocals are cleaner... it's a catchy song though, is the band trying to get closer to their mentor audience ?
The split is followed by Straight to CD in february 2019 (on CD this time, obviously). Things have changed a bit for the band in a year, helped by their mentors' and friends' reputation the success is just around the corner, I was a bit worried that this release would be the confirmation of their indie turn... but no! Or not so much! Starting with Jealous, the band clearly shows that they are still in the same business. Heavy bass lines, noisy guitars and screamed vocals... Heavy Lungs is back!
Of course there are parts of Roy (and of Blood Brother, also on this release) which are nicer, more polished but overall... it's still great! Unfaithful Ones, the 6:38 long track closing this ep takes us from some lands trodden by Ian Curtis to some weird guitar solo which could have been taken from a Doors song... interesting experience! Released on Balley Records, the label created by the members of... Idles!
And it now brings us to Measure, their latest release (October 2019, on Balley Records again). First I wanna say that it is not available on bandcamp as the other ones were, only on (not free) streaming websites and it's not a nice move guys! not nice! But let's go back to the music, 5 new tracks of what Heavy Lungs does best, this release is clearly back to the Abstract Thought roots and I love it!
Self Worth is a great song, back to dark noisy punk, the band delivers what I was expecting from them.
Pacemaker brings us back to something slower, more chaotic, another almost 6 minutes long journey of weird guitar noises and dark thoughts and is a great conclusion to this new EP. So I can only wish them to keep doing what they're doing and stay away from the hype as much as it's still possible! Keep rocking boys!
Released in september 2019, Cry delivers 4 tracks of high energy punk with a lot of synth
(I prefer to call that way instead of synth punk) which are definitly more catchy than most of the ones from the demo. Looks like Demonism was re-recorded for the EP.
Their label compares them to Spotting from Melbourne and it's pretty true.
So yes it's a great first EP and I can't wait for a full length!
Headcount is a hardcore band from San Diego, California, featuring current and former members of Distressed, Drug Control, Meth Breath, and xReignx.
So yes those guys are playing some full energy and straight ahead youth crew,
and they do it well!
Their demo, digitally released in September, has been pressed on vinyl by Safe Inside Records and should be available now (or very soon).
6 great songs clearly influenced by bands like Floorpunch, Side by Side, Straight Ahead, Carry On etc... There are absolutly no surprises here, you got your heavy riffs, your killer bass lines, your gang vocals and everything is as expected.... yes this is Youth Crew man, not Math Rock and as long as it throws punches, that's fine with me!
Hacker is a female-fronted hardcore punk band from Melbourne, Australia, featuring members or ex-members of bands like Soakie, Masses and others.
The band released a furious 4-track demo tape last year and you should give it a listen now!
As they write it on on the back of the cassette they seem to be inspired by the work of Jan McKay, Marie McMahon and by posters found within the Di Holdway Collection. I am not familiar with the work of these artists but they seemed to be critical enough of our society to fit into punk lyrics, which is a good point for them I guess.
You can listen to Hacker and other art inspired punk shit on Rien à Faire #7!
But instead of playing some teenage garage punk or some weird shit with too
much synth, they play some kind of melancholic punk rock with direct influences
from the Portland punk scene (Autistic Youth, The Observers, Red Dons etc...)
and bands like Youth Avoiders which were themselves influenced by Wipers (which is a way overrated band in my opinion)...
Isolation released a 6-track digital album on bandcamp in November 2019. It's honestly a good first release but for some reason there is something in the drums that keeps bothering me... I don't know maybe the snare, it really sounds bad and I can't help but having it straight in my ears in every song... But I'm getting picky, keep up the good work guys!
N,J'Oi! You can listen to Isolation and other crappy snares in Rien à Faire #7.
After TheDebbie Downers, I had to write a little something about Cold Meat, probably one of the leading band from the Perth (and Australian) punk scene.
With members from Helta Skelta (great band!) and Ashley from The Debbie Downers and Plastic Bags as singer, these guys already had a solid experience in the punk business before getting together and were of course hanging around the Helta Skelta Records label.
With Sweet Treats, their demo released late 2015, the band shows the teeth,
ready to bite. A good preview of what would come later...
With their first EP Jimmy's Lipstick, released in september 2016 and which name comes
from the drummer's dog penis, Cold Meat jumps to the next step and delivers 4 great tracks of angry, snotty and snarky feminist punk.
Early 2018, Cold Meat releases Pork Sword Fever their second EP with finally the good recording quality sound the band deserves. Even better than the first EP, these 5 tracks are a serious feminist punk attack with great energy which won't leave you unmoved. Released once again on Helta Skelta but also on Statick Shock this time in Europe.
In May 2018 the band releases their latest record to date, a split EP with Ubik, Cold Meat counterpart in Melbourne, which has a fantastic EP and a good but slightly disappointing recent LP. Two new songs and a cover of Siouxsie for Cold Meat, one new song and a cover of X for Ubik, this is not their best material and looks more like the easy split EP to get rid of the B sides of the previous recording session than something really new (even if Nausea will always be a great song). The covers are not really interesting and the songs are ok but not as good as what both bands have accustomed us to produce.
So it's been a while now since the last Cold Meat release and I hope to see something new in 2020!
You can listen to Cold Meat and other australian bands on Rien à Faire #3.
The Debbie Downers were a female punk band from Perth, Australia. They used to play some great fun and feminist punk, quoting Kleenex/Lilliput as an influence and
yes there is a clear 77 female punk vice.
Their only release is titled Eat My Skorts, a 6 tracks tape, and got out in 2018. More fun and arty than your next-door female-fronted punk hardcore band, it's a real pleasure to listen to the band make fun of the fashion industry (Practical Unfashionable), the married life (Bridal Dress), shitty jobs (Jobs (Nuts)) or celibacy...
After the demo they recorded 2 new songs which were supposed to be released on a Helta Skelta Records (THE Perth punk label) Compilation called Stranded in Orstralia (which never got out as far as I know). More garage in a low-fi way these two songs keep make fun of the aussie male dominated society, I mean listen to the hilarious Trackie Willy, a deeply political charge about sweatpants dick sightings.
The band doesn't exist anymore but Ashley, the drummer is now singing in the very good Cold Meat which I may write about next.
