Ex-Dom: New EP!

 

I've already said a lot of good things about Ex-Dom from Bremen, Germany in my September 2021 review of their demo, with the raging hardcore punk of the Germans and Colombians even making my Top of 2021 list... so yes, you could say I was especially happy to hear that a new tape was on its way!

 

 

  Available for streaming only for now (except if you're ready to pay 666$!), you should be available to purchase these six new tracks really soon thanks to Abfall Records which is kindly going to put them on tape. Named Zwangsvollstreckung (Foreclosure), this records picks up right exactly where the demo left off, if you liked their raging hardcore punk à-la Jarada inspired by furious Colombian bands and modern D-beat hardcore groups you're going to absolutely love this new release. It's raw, it's fast, and it sounds big, powerful and angry as fuck!

 The dual (raw) vocals German/Spanish keep working perfectly, with both singers individually asserting themselves perhaps a bit more in their parts than in the demo as they continue to explore a raucous tone that smoothly takes us to the dark side of raw punk or even crust. My German is very rusty and I don't speak Spanish at all but it's easy to notice that with titles like Krieg (War), Kalt (Cold) or Devastación the topics of these songs are not the lightest or the happiest (and I like it better this way). 

I have to point out Massengrab Mittelmeer (Mass grave Mediterranean Sea) which seems to address the tragedy of migrants dying while trying to cross the sea (mostly) from Libya to Europe (it is estimated that more than 20,000 people have drowned since 2015) and I always salute punk bands that deal with today's topics instead of always rehashing the same worn out clichés about Hiroshima... On top of that, this track got a heavy and sad mid-tempo vibe which suits the topic perfectly and stands out from the rest of Ex-Dom's fast-paced tunes.

 

In a few words it's another great release by Ex-Dom, I unfortunately still haven't been able to see them live but I hope this will change in the coming months.

 

 

 

 

You can listen to Ex-Dom on Rien à Faire #35.

 

  

 

 

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VA - Rien à Faire #35 - Punk, Hardcore, Post-Punk... new stuff only! June 2022

 

Summer's finally hitting the northern hemisphere and it looks like the next months (and probably decades) are going to be hot as hell... well so is the new RAF compilation! 

Bands these time come mainly from the US (I can't help it if the quality of the American productions is so high) but also from Sweden, Germany, Serbia, Spain and France.

It starts out very hardcore before taking a more weird-punk turn midway through... 

  

N,J'Oi!

 

 

 

  01 - Gluer - Ride it Down
02 - Total Sham - Backstab
03 - Ex-Dom - Immer in der Ecke
04 - Crna Žuč - U Rovovima
05 - Salted Wounds - Count On You
06 - Invalid - This Life
07 - Irreal - Era Electrónica
08 - Judy and the Jerks - I Lost My Feet
09 - Little Angels - You Can't Always Get What You Want But I Can
10 - Daddy's Boy - Superspreaders
11 - Placid - Vexed
12 - Spread Joy - Ich Sehe Dich
13 - Girlsperm - Disembodied Man
14 - Syndrome 81 - Violence Sociale
15 - Astaffort Mods - Sentiment
16 - Malflora - Lady Damiana

 

 

 YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE WHOLE THING HERE

 

 

 

   

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Die Verlierer

 

 

Die Verlierer (the Losers) is a new band from Berlin, Germany, made of three guys from Chuckamuck and two guys from Maske (I wrote a little something about their debut tape two years ago because I liked it and I didn't write anything about their second tape because I didn't like it). Some of them are also involved in some smaller projects like Balcony's Paradise and Kinder (Children).

 

 

So their debut album was recently released on tape by Mangel Records (a vinyl version would be nice though) and, despite its duration (way over 30 minutes which is really long to me), I've found myself coming back to it several times, struggling to build a proper opinion but nevertheless finding a certain kind of enjoyment in the very German sound of the young Berliners... So it's well worth a short write-up, right?!

 

 

Because for a guy like me Die Verlierer got something slightly elusive, something which doesn't fit well in any of small and well-defined genre boxes of loud guitar music. Their music sounds a bit low-fi, a bit like a long-forgotten tape from an obscure 80s Berlin band, their music sounds punk sometimes, because of the "relative rawness" and the energy not because of a fixation on sounding like this or that band, but their music also got something deeply sad and disillusioned, something very German, very Berlin I would even say.

So yes to be honest I don't really where I am with this tape, probably somewhere between the early 80s from the SO36 and Die Neue Deustche Welle, the new Hipster Berlin and a more accessible kind of German rock...

 

Between great bass lines (Die Zeit, Mann in Mond), a real kind of punk energy (Nichts Funktionniert, Dead Girl), unbearable repetitive choruses (Plastic Life would probably have a good chance to supplant Slayer as an official torture anthem in the CIA secret jails), a great sense of simple but effective and catchy melodies, straight forward sing-along choruses tailor-made to lead the crowd in a joyful alcoholic bellowing (X-Ray Vision) and endless psychedelic outros (Into A), Die Verlierer deliver a dense and diverse album that doesn't ring like an "all killer no filler" type of record to me but is more a "grower", a cool anomaly I like to come back to from time to time (on Sundays especially) when I feel like relaxing without a raging D-beat band tearing my eardrums.

But most of all Die Verlierer sound like nostalgia, nostalgia for the crazy Berlin from the 80s and early 90s, leader of the European art scene and all kind of deviant innovative kind of expressions, a Berlin that appears more and more faraway based on what I hear...... Well I haven't been there for very long to be honest and I'm sure it's still cool to hang out there, but it's not the same.
 

Let's see if Die Verlierer and others manage to avoid falling into the "hype trap" and become the "leaders" of a new momentum of the Berlin alternative scene.

 

 

Video by Ciaran

 

 

 

 

N,J'Oi! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can listen to Die Verlierer on Rien à Faire #32.

 

  

 

 

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VA - Rien à Faire #33 - Punk, Hardcore, Post-Punk... new stuff only! April 2022

 

Here we go for the 33rd edition of the infamous RAF compilation featuring a quite balanced mix of hardcore punk, noise punk, anarcho-punk and even some post-punk here and there (yeah the options in terms of adjectives you can put in front of the word "punk" are literally limitless!).

The 17 bands of today are from the US, Australia, Austria, Malaysia, Germany and Romania, mainly from the US to be honest, I try to keep on covering bands from all over the world but the American scene is so vivid and full of great bands it's just impossible to ignore them.

  

N,J'Oi!

 

 

 

01 - Crisis Man - No Standing Ovation
02 - Split System - Climbing
03 - Pitva - Kapr
04 - Church Clothes - Relative Power
05 - D.Sablu - Bomber Stomp
06 - ConSec - You're Not Going Anywhere
07 - Crime of Passing - Tender Fixation
08 - Deluded - Wash The Scum
09 - Straw Man Army - Faces In The Dark
10 - Mercenary - No Uniform
11 - Xero - Scheme
12 - No Future - Pig Fiend
13 - The Hard-Crop's - The Band
14 - Cold Brats - Living Room La Vida Loca
15 - Science Man - The Want
16 - Maske - Eiszeit
17 - White Suns - Night Pours In

 

 

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VA - Rien à Faire #32 - Punk, Hardcore, Post-Punk... new stuff only! March 2022

 

The most observant of my readers will notice in RAF#32 cover "artwork" a subtle reference to tragic events currently taking place in the eastern part of Europe. It's not much, but it's a way to show a little support for Ukraine and its people. I care (and I hope you do too) about what's happening there right now.

FUCK PUTIN!

This being said let's get back to loud and music.

A bit more tracks than usual this month with seventeen songs from bands from the US, the UK, Brazil, Sweden, Finland, Greece, Spain and Germany, who play fast and angry punk and hardcore music of course but also post punk, garage punk and noise-rock.

A lot of diverse stuff, I hope you'll like it!

  

N,J'Oi!

 

 

 

01 - Hogar - Humillado
02 - Rifle - Feet First
03 - Lasso - Nêmesis
04 - Blue Venus - Am I Punk Yet-
05 - ΜΠΡΙΤΖΟΛΙΤΣΕΣ - Βzin
06 - Thank - Punching Bag
07 - Ugly World Amusement Park - Gut Oil
08 - Dead Stare - Distorted Truth
09 - Spicer - Tense
10 - Kätyrlauma - 1827
11 - Soft Torture - Medusa
12 - Exil - Overdose
13 - Prayer Group - Continuity
14 - Chinese Junk - X-Ray Eyes
15 - Running - WUYFOWTIA
16 - NightFreak - Surprise!
17 - Die Verlierer - Mann im Mond

 

 

 YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE WHOLE THING HERE

 

 

  

 

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Glaas

 

Glaas is an international band from Berlin, Germany, featuring five ladies and gentlemen who all together have a rather very long curriculum vitae... There is Seth (American, guitar) who has played in numerous bands from numerous genres including Clock Of Time, Couteau Latex, Useless Eaters, Idiota Civilizzato, Life Trap (I love Life Trap!) and many more (these days he is involved in an electronic hip hop project called Blaq Hammer and in a no-wave/post-punk act called ÖPNV)... there is Raquel (Spanish, bass) who has played in Tortura, Owner, Retrofuture, her own solo project called Lacquer and plenty of other bands... there is Alexis (german?, vocals) from the furious Cage Kicker, there is Cosey (german, synth) from DAS DAS who also released a solo tape last year called Interior Escapes and there is Jan the drummer who was also behind the drums in Idiota Civilizzato and Life Fucker.

Yes on paper Glaas does look like a "super group" or an "all-star punk band" and we know that the result, although almost always making labels extremely happy, can very quickly turn into a pompous show-off where everyone tries to justify their "reputation" by overdoing it (I have in mind the example of a 7", recently released on the same label as the group which interests us today, yuck) but let's not give in to the ease of prejudice, let's open our minds and ears and listen carefully to these first three tracks, a little appetizer before the release of a LP in a few months.

 

 

  Easy Living was probably the obvious song to choose for a promo tape, it's not "surprising" in the sense that you know you've heard that kind of stuff before but you also remember enjoying it a lot. It's a very good catchy bass-driven song mixing modern post-punk influences (Sarcasm, Clock Of Time and even Negative Space at times) with old classics like Crisis and Uk Decay (the "punk period"). Lead by Alexis' vocals, which remain quite "punk" (if that means anything), the mix lets the upfront guitar build the melody whereas the synth stays in the background... and that works really well! That's exactly the kind of "post-punk" I like to listen to!

 

All this remains rather similar on I'm The Problem and Concrete Coffin (even if Alexis' vocals get even more aggressive, which is not to my displeasure) with the exception of the synth which gets more in the way of the guitar, building melodies of its own, a very fashionable symptom nowadays which can really quickly lead to some synth-punk bullshit if you're not cautious (I hate synth-punk)... and Concrete Coffin for example is clearly approaching my tolerance limit in terms of synth melodies...

 

 

  So you got the idea, Glaas proved being able to make a great songs of "predictable" post-punk and may give birth to one of the best European album of the genre in 2022 (and I'm sure the hype around it is going to be absolutely massive anyway) but it will find grace in my eyes only if the whole holds the road in a certain diversity (that should be fine in view of these three tracks) but especially if the majority of the songs are not built around upfront synth melodies... but that's probably just me and my old allergy to "new wave".

 

Anyway the best way to have a good preview of what's will be in the LP is to watch this livestream concert with Pigeon (Pigeon rules!) recorded at SO36 last August (and it's true that it's rather promising):

 

 

  

 

 

N,J'Oi!

 

 

 

 

You can listen to Glaas on Rien à Faire #30.

 

 

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Fix - More is More LP

 

Ok let's take a step back today and focus a minute on one of the most underrated release of 2021 (or at least a release which didn't get the deserved coverage outside of the German-speaking world). Let's talk about Fix and their More is More LP (I'm gonna skip their 2019 self-titled 7" as most of their tracks are also on the 12").

Released on Phantom Records, home label of the great Schiach and Pisse among others, Fix features regulars from the German label who played in Ex-White, Sergeant Dennis, Schiach and others and who seem to be spread between Israel and Germany (the album's been recorded in Tel Aviv)... Actually I would not be surprised if the guy(s)/girl(s) behind Phantom were involved in this.

Let's not forget that the tape version of the album was released on Kuba Salami.

 

 

  While checking a few reviews about this album I've seen Dean Dirg mentioned a couple of times and it's true that when it comes to quality German fast punk these guys are at the top of the game (they totally blew me away years ago when I saw them live in Paris). But I wouldn't say that Fix is similar to Dean Dirg, ok they have the same kind of quite "clean and light" sound but even if they share (almost) the same name with one of the fastest first generation american hardcore punk band, they're far from being in the same kind of super fast punk shit as their compatriots.

 

More is More starts with a slow and dark synth intro which could evoke the beginning of a cheap vintage horror movie, the message is clear: what you're going to experience is an entertaining work of fiction and should not be taken seriously. Indeed Fix's tunes, made of biting guitars and very forward and in-your-face vocals switching between English and German, got titles like Basement, Not A Punk, Spazieren (Strolling), Baby I'm A Car or Super Garage Cocain Type which obviously express a kind of twisted sense of humour not without recalling the already mentioned Pisse.

 

 

artwork by Ricaletto

 But let's stop goofing around, I wouldn't want to look like I'm missing the point here: This album is very cool!

More is More is full of fun and catchy fast punk songs that will make your head bang and your mouth smile. Most tracks are less than one minute long so no time to get bored and just in case your ADHD would make you think of pressing "next" on your fucking smartphone, two synth interludes (based on the same kind of idea as the intro and the outro, yes that's the kind of record with an outro, dude) give you plenty of time to breath, make yourself a cup of fair trade coffee or a fucking quinoa salad before Sinn or Hot Pockets take your brain back to punk rock.

 But don't get me wrong, even if the track structures look deliberately simple, these 11 songs (if you don't count the synth instrumental parts) sound different enough not to feel like enduring the same old worn out joke over and over again, it's really enjoyable I'm telling ya!

Anyway let's stop here, listen to More And More and have a look at the Phantom Records catalogue if you're not familiar with it, you may find a couple of fun stuff worth of your time and your lonely quinoa salad night.

N,J'Oi!

 

    

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Liiek - Deep Pore LP

 

If you've been around this page before you should know that Liiek is a regular here and needs no introduction. However, and if for some unforgivable reason you still ignore who Liiek are, you can discreetly catch up, and avoid carrying the heavy burden of a shame that will stain your descendants for centuries to come, by reading my enthusiastic posts about their first LP and their follow-up 7", two absolutely essential modern post-punk records.

 

Yes I really love Liiek and you can guess how excited I was when I heard that a new LP should be out before Christmas. I immediately pre-ordered the vinyl on the Adagio830 page, made sure to keep a "slot" in my year's end top (the one you can check out here), certain to be absolutely delighted by the Berlin trio's new release. Unfortunately, and as I'm sure you're already aware, the vinyl production industry has been under pressure for months due to a global lack of raw material, delays in the material shipping process and a very high demand (everybody wants to have their shitty band's songs on wax these days, you and me included), which has had the sad consequence of postponing many vinyl releases dates, Liiek's LP included. Deep Pore digital version was made available on time though, but the vinyl version won't ship before mid January (depending on the pressing plant and god's will), which is a a bit frustrating but not the end of the world either, right ? (ask those who ordered the Dischord 7" boxset how they feel about the delays and you might get a less relaxed answer).

 

All this to say that, in the end, I decided to not include Deep Pore in my 2021 Best Records list and to take my time to write a proper review (the one you're reading now) of the full LP even if I still have the vinyl spinning on my turntable yet.

 

 

  Indeed I feel that Deep Pore deserves to be listened to several times before any diligent individual is able to give a valid opinion about its eleven tracks... not that the record is utterly dense, weird or hard to get into but I wanted to feel like I had gone deep enough into Liiek's world to be able to bring back something real enough to be put into words that would not sound as hollow as all the trite clichés dispatched in a few tweets by the critics of a consumer pop culture (yes I can be quite haughty and arrogant sometimes too).

 

Lieek's previous records expressed some kind of youthful enthusiasm in their bass-driven songs fuelled by jerky guitar jabs, and that enthusiasm is undoubtedly still here but feels more mannered, more controlled, slightly colder and more disillusioned also. Don't get me wrong, the Berlin band is still full of an energy which takes more on the "most punk" side of the British post-punk "wave" than on the "airy" bands of the Factory. Skilfully mixing the early days of Gang Of Four, the martial side of Warsaw and the harshness of Crisis, Liiek delivers a mature kind of post-punk that may not immediately appeal to the 20 year old punk on amphetamine looking for thrills but deserves to be known and therefore explored and tamed.

  

 

As often, everything starts with the drums... always steady, they build two kinds of atmospheres inextricably linked to the very close relationship with the bass. In the first one the drummer hammers out a steady, sharp beat that the bass can build upon to create a bewitching, but never overwhelming, melody, the 4-string sound never drooling in the very low frequencies or embracing any kind of dirty effects. In the second type of atmosphere Liiek prove that they understood how bands like Gang Of Four or A Certain Ratio introduced funk bass lines in English post-punk, not that the Berlin band pushes the idea that far but rather keeps it closer to upbeat rhythms reminiscent of early Wire. 

Once the foundations are built, the guitar can come and chop up a heady rhythm or paint a pleasant, but never joyful, melody depending on the atmosphere, the whole thing being to remain always jerky, always halting, the energy coming from the inextricable rhythmic association of these three instruments with very distinct frequencies, each one clearly occupying its own space, the guitar and the bass taking turns to give the essential amount of melody to the whole...

But let's not forget the central role played by the vocals which surprisingly manage to be always powerful, almost "chanted", while always keeping a certain coldness, a certain "blasé detachment" which corresponds so well to the kind of powerful but refined post-punk that Liiek masters perfectly.

 

But let's shorten the musical analysis a little bit, you should have got it by now, Liiek delivers a great album made of songs whose diversity (there is even a discreet reference to Jello Biafra reference in the vocals of Take On A Dramatic Scale) doesn't take anything away from an general atmosphere that I would describe as "driving", I would even say catchy at times, but never dancing or "joyful", served by the sound mastery of what could be called "almost groovy" post-punk. Once again recorded and mixed by T-Rex who, with this album, continues to consolidate himself as a pillar of the sound of the Berlin ADK scene.

Listen to Liiek... please...

N,J'Oi!

 

 

 

 

  You can listen to Liiek on RAF#29.

  

 

   

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VA - Rien à Faire #30 - Punk, Hardcore, Post-Punk... new stuff only! January 2022

 

Welcome to 2022!

It's your lucky day mate! I've selected all you need to calm that nasty jackhammer that's drilling between your ears, yeah that's a bad bad hangover you're starting the new year with and fifteen tracks of nasty hardcore punk, post-punk and other sorts of blissful melodies are gonna take care of it in no time!

This one collects songs from December releases and a couple of late comers I discovered only recently (shame on me).

Happy new year anyway!

 

 

N,J'Oi!

 

 

  01 - Sect Mark - Denied Self
02 - Faze - Tu N'existerais Pu
03 - Ztuped - i don't wanna see
04 - Shock Tactics - Fall Of Rome
05 - Asesinato - Manufactured Crisis
06 - Butchers Dog - Scandal Monger
07 - Glaas - Easy Living
08 - La Milagrosa - Pánico
09 - Gel - Mental Static
10 - Eterno Ritorno - Sola
11 - Mano Fico - Inferno Night
12 - Wipes - Dumpster
13 - Xyresic - Nuevo Orden Mundial
14 - Ultras - Deniability
15 - Börn - Norn

 

 

 YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE WHOLE THING HERE

 

 

  

 

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BEST OF 2021

 

Well well well here we are, the traditional list of top punk records of the year, the second one for RAF, a good occasion to focus on what's what was worth worsen your hearing loss this year... ok ok another shit year goes by blablabla a shitload of cool records this year again blablabla was really hard to choose etc... you know the usual bullshit everybody writes for their BEST OF xxinsert-shitty-year-herexx so let's skip that and get right to your only point of interest: DID MY BAND MAKE IT TO THIS JERK'S TOP ?

Well let's have a look!

 

 

 PS: I've made a special BEST OF 2021 edition of the RAF compilation, gathering one track of each record mentioned below. 

You gotta go listen to it HERE!

There is a link to the full review of the record (when there is one) below each short write-up.

In no particular order :

LPs

 

 

 

Headcheese - Self-titled LP

Neon Taste Records

Lewis Podlubny and the Kamloops punk crew never stop writing and playing all kinds of punk music and this year the Bootlicker and the Headcheese LPs were without a doubt some of the top notch north-American hardcore punk releases, but to me the Headcheese one is slightly above the Bootlicker one... it's fast, it's fun, it's pure straight forward punk edging with hardcore, Bon appétit!

Full Review here!

Pink Room - Putain Royale

Zoe Zoe Records

Six Tonnes de Chair

Rockerill Records

If there was only one record to keep from this year it could really be this one... Pink Room delivers a perfect mix of noise-rock and wild rock'n roll attitude I will never grow bored of, Bart and his mates please all my regressive and shameful rocker instincts in a big pool of sex, anger and silliness...and a big thank you for that guys.... I mean, and once and for all, Belgium über Alles right?!

 Full Review here!

Pigeon - Deny All Knowledge Of Complicity

Adagio830

 

 Pigeon is a band I've been following closely since I discovered their two previous records, two beautiful gems of fresh noise-rock meets post-hardcore. Well the Berlin trio is now also busy working on the killer post-punk tracks of Liiek and this new album has clearly taken a post-punk turn... and it's still brilliant! A very well written, and very smart, perfectly mastered modern punk record!

Full review here!

 

 

 

Sarcasm - Creeping Life

Static Shock Records

 

This last Sarcasm (RIP) release may be quite short (six tracks only for this MLP), it nevertheless deserves its place in this top. The London quartet has perfectly digested the sound of British 80s "punk" post-punk, delivering a great kind of dark, but catchy, arty post-punk lead by a very upfront kick and very deep bass frequencies, midway between UK Decay and Crisis... 

 Full review here!

 

 

Valse Noot - Utter Contempt

Atypeek music, Ideal Crash, Vollmer industries, Super apes, French wine records, Offoron Rex records.

 

 These French guys from Brittany take their time between each records, but time is necessary to do things right sometimes, and Utter Contempt is a great example of very well made modern kind of daring noise-rock / post-hardcore. It's all elaborate and intense at the same time and for a guy like me who's not usually really into that kind of scene, it means a lot that this album reached this top! Good job!

Full review here!

 

Unidad Ideológica - Self-Titled LP

 La Vida Es Un Mus

Unidad Ideológica doesn't know the word moderation, Unidad Ideológica turns all the knobs to the maximum. Absolutely all of them I'm telling you. All of them in the scarlet red! And these Colombian punks deliver one of the most raging hardcore punk albums of the year, an album that doesn't only sound great, but is also very well written and doesn't get boring for a sec. If you're obsessed by Finnish hardcore and Muro is your favourite Colombian band, well it's not anymore!

Full review here.

 

Exil - Warning

Armageddon

 

 Exil may not have reached all my (very high) expectations but it would have been unfair to not include Warning in this year-end top, these guys know how to play great raging Swedish hardcore punk and have definitely released one of the top record of 2021.

Full review here!

 

 

Turquoise - Hantise

Les Choeurs de L'ennui

Symphony Of Destruction

These Scandinavian hardcore fans from Paris have perfectly captured the best of the genre to deliver a great raging (and exciting) D-beat record... and sung in French s'il vous plait!

Maybe the record that brought me back to D-beat this year, highly recommended!

Full review here!

D.Y.E - Rules

Dirtbag

 

 Damn these guys from Kansas City literally blew me away with this twelve track tape of perfect blistering hardcore punk with angry/snotty vocals. It simply got everything you want from this kind of band, make yourself a favour and listen or DYE!

Full review here!

 

 

Thought Partner - Work Cake

Crass Lips Records

Thought Partner plays beautifully an "elaborate" kind of modern rock music that evolves steadily from classic 80s/90s post-hardcore to "funky" post-punk all along the dense but subtle record that Work Cake is. It's quite different from most records reviewed here but it nevertheless has what it needs to make it here, and I invite you to take the time to find out why.

Full review here!

 

 

In no particular order :

EPs

Taqbir - Victory Belongs To Those Who Fight For A Right Cause

La Vida Es Un Mus

A World Divided

 

 Probably the most discussed release of the year (and my most viewed post of the year!): a mysterious band, supposedly from Morocco, delivers a killer 7" of fast punk with synth sung in Arabic with really bold anti-religion (Islam) oriented lyrics and artwork... a very very daring record!

 Essential!

Full review here!

 

Fairytale - EP

Desolate Records

If you try to get me into a band by talking about a mix of Scandinavian hardcore and early crust à la Nausea with raging female vocals, I'm not sure I would get very excited, I should though because that's exactly the kind of music Fairytale plays and damn they do it very well! I've listened a lot this EP this year, it's just super good! The new-york hardcore punk / raw-punk scene is definitely one of the most active and angry at the moment.

Full review here!

Electric Chair - Social Capital

Iron Lung

 

This one's gonna be in everyone's tops (at least it should!): Electric Chair confirms its position at the top of the current pantheon of American hardcore punk, the whole thing is brilliant from start to finish, a real treat... how high can they go?

Full review here!

 

 

During - EP

Chunklet Industries

When I heard that one guy from Brandy and one guy from the Wilful Boys (two of my favorite current bands) were teaming up in a new band with one guy from Spray Pain I was not only super curious I was also super excited! And these two tracks don't disappoint, making a great introduction before a coming LP.

Full review here!

Dyatlov - EP

Spazz Records

 

 Dyatlov delivers two tracks of pure rock'n roll nihilism, adding non-sense and synth layers to a very angry kind of silly noise-garage-punk, all that coming straight from the rugged country of Netherlands... beautiful!

 Full review here!

 

 

Imploders - EP

Neon Taste Records

Featuring Toronto old timers from the rock'n roll scene, Imploders took everybody by surprise with this neat and snotty hardcore punk 7" whose well-written more or less fast tracks can't do anything but please the punk crowd. Released on the unavoidable Canadian label Neon Taste Records this EP is just a tease before the full length which should nukke your eardrums in a very near future!

Full review here!

Enola Gay - Gransha EP
Self-Released

Yes I like my punk to keep digging the same old genres but I also like to follow new bands that don't follow the (over) beaten path and Enola Gay from Belfast is one of them. These young guys play a mix of noise rock and daring post-punk with hip hop influenced vocals that sounds like the next revolution... and I wanna be part of it!

Full review here!

Black Button - I Want To Be In Control

11pm Records

 

 11pm Records has proven to be one of the top American hardcore punk label these days, I've written a few rave reviews about some of the records the label's produced over the past couple of years and Black Button is another success which holds a special place in the label catalogue in my opinion. This young band from Richmond plays "long" songs (for the punk dimension) and doesn't hesitate to mix slower and heavier influences with a very tight and aggressive punk game, and that's a blast!

Full review here!

 

The Stools - Car Port

Goodbye Boozy!

The Stools released two EPs this year but it's this one, the first of the year, that really blew me away. Think of a raw version of the MC5 best tracks played by a raging UK82 band and you'll have a slight idea of the level of energy you're gonna take straight in the face with this garage-punk EP. That cute nose of yours gonna bleed baby!

Killer!

Listen here!

Sial - Zaman Edan

La Vida Es Un Mus

For some reasons Sial (which means unlucky in Malay) and I didn't really get along before this EP, I guess the very in-your-face type of hardcore punk played by the Singapore band was too "extreme" in its aggressiveness, too heavy and metallic also maybe in its noisy anger... Anyway it all changed with Zaman Edan (Crazy Ages): carried at arm's length by a very robotic beat, evoking more the rush of an old clock overtaken by the flow of time than the hardcore deluge of the previous records, these two tracks take us very deep, very far into the primitive womb of the beast buried in every human mind... the noise is overwhelming and unavoidable, you wake up drowning in sweat, you're the Captain Willard wandering like a madman in god-forgotten temples in the deepest Cambodia jungle, yes you're lost in the heart of darkness and the way out doesn't pass through sanity...

These two tracks are titled Kita Dilahirkan Untuk Melawan (We Are Born To Fight) and Kita Dilahirkan Untuk Mati (We Are Born To Die), and it says it all...

Listen here! 

In no particular order :

Demos

Krimi - Demo CS

Helta Skelta Records

 

The Perth punk gang is back with a new band fronted by Ash from Cold Meat. Less straight forward punk, leaning more on the post-punk side, Krimi confirms the talent of the small group of Western Australia punks for making great music in various kind of punk genres, keep it up!

Full review here!

 

 

Kero - Four track demo

Self-Released

 

And another one from Perth! These guys don't hide their love for heavy rock'n roll and manage to mix it perfectly with a fast kind of snotty punk rock edging with hardcore punk reminiscent of a lot of great names. It's fast, it's catchy, it's another great Aussie tape baby!

 Full review here!

 

 

Gluer - Pumping The Iron / The Room

Self-Released

 

 Ok I know these Swedish guys haven't properly released anything yet but let's say that these two songs dropped on bandcamp can be considered like a demo ok? I had to include Gluer in my Top anyway, this band is just too good at writing super catchy punk songs (at least the two released for now) and you're gonna hear from them very very soon, get ready!

Full review here!

 

 

Posy - Bongga Ka Dai

Self-Released

 

 Very much influenced by the "raw" side of the 90's Riot Girls movement (Babes in Toyland, early Bikini Kill), Posy successfully manage to mix it with some hardcore punk influences as well as with a Filipino twist, which is quite original (the band's from Olympia), and delivers a very solid demo full of energetic and angry punk tracks.

I hope to hear more from these guys very soon!

Full review here!

 

Spleen - S/T CS

Interceptor Editions

Spleen are definitely a punk band but these guys from Leipzig don't hesitate to add a lot of noise and effects to their sound, giving birth to something that can be a bit shaky at times but is always interesting and makes me curious about what comes next...

Full review here!

Thing - CS

Invisible Audio

 

 Thing plays really fast punk with female front vocals, yes it's really edging with hardcore punk and it's totally sick! It makes me think of a faster version of Sniffany Of The Nits (the way the singer sings probably) and of bands like JJ Doll, Tizzi or Freon. It's a super good demo and I hope more will come very soon!

 Listen here!

 

 

Ataque Zerø - Demo CS

Colilla Rds, Sorcerer and Static Shock

 

 Colombia has become in a few years synonymous of top notch raging raw punk and you can check the blog if you don't believe it. Ataque Zerø is quite different though: probably influenced by Guilhem (from Dernier Futur and guitarist of Ataque Zerø), these guys play a very melocholic kind of punk rock that recalls all the classics from the Portland scene... and they do it very well!

 Full review here!

 

 

Fumes - CS

Earth Girl Tapes

Hattiesburg doesn't stop delivering great punk bands... Fumes plays ripping fast hardcore punk reminiscent of the good old classics from the 80s US hardcore scene and it's a blast from start to finish! Sick!

Full review here!

Ex-Dom - Demo 2021

Fuerza Ingobernable

Open Palm Tapes

 

 A new punk band from Germany featuring two out of four members from Colombia? Sounds like it's going to blow my mind with a solid charge of raw hardcore punk! And fuck yes it does! Ex-Dom delivers some really straight forward hardcore punk that's just plain angry, plain in-your-face and purely enjoyable! Go pogo!

 Full review here!

 

Sex Work - Demo

Self-Released

 

 Despite their weird name, Sex Work are a great modern punk from Berlin, Germany, that have only, and for all, released five songs over the last two years. Yeah five only. But five great tunes I'm telling you, these guys manage to be modern, punk, relevant, catchy and silly all at the same time, mixing perfectly a slightly vintage (but great) sound and influences with an indescribable modern something... and it totally rips!

Full review here!

 

 

 

 

You can listen to a track of each of these releases in the special

 BEST OF 2021 RAF compilation RIGHT HERE!

 

 N,J'Oi!

 

 

Merry Christmas suckers!

 

 

 

 

 

   

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