Split System

 

Split System (at last, a band that fully assumes its admiration for cooling technologies) hail from the great city of Melbourne, Australia, and sorry bu yes, if you're into catchy rock'n roll, here's another Aussie band you won't be able to resist!

This new five-piece is made of some of the usual suspects from the super active Melbourne/Geelong scene, they've been seen in various rock'n roll acts bearing names like Stiff Richards, Jackson Reid Briggs & The Heaters, Speed Week, The Black Heart Death Cult, No Zu and The Grand Rapids. According to the legend (and their bandcamp page) they "had only one jam together before lockdowns kicked in again in Melbourne in 2021. Five songs were written and with rehearsals and gigs on the back foot, once again, the only option was to record remotely via email. Everyone recorded their parts at home and Split System's self titled EP was recorded." 

Yes the music is still not done with lockdown stories!

 

 

 Released earlier this year on Legless Records, this four-track EP was made with one simple purpose only: give birth to catchy tunes and make your fat ass boogie boogie on the beach, honey!

Described as garage punk or punk'n roll, this EP is a perfect combination of the old school sound of the catchiest late 70s punk / KBD / power pop bands (The Buzzcocks?, The Heartbreakers?, The Lurkers?) and the sunny vibes of that good ol' australian rock'n roll/punk (shall I mention the almighty Psycho Surgeons?). Ok let's make it simple, take the Anxious Pleasers, Amyl And The Sniffers, Priors, Trash Ferraris and, of course, Stiff Richards, just blend the whole thing together, add a couple of Hawaiians shirts, a tablespoon of nostalgia for the 70s and a fat slice of Aussie laid-back attitude: that's it, bottoms up!

Mixed and mastered by Mikey Young from Total Control and Eddy Current Suppression Ring (like almost every rock'n roll record coming out the state of Victoria right?), this EP is going to hook you right away, don't fight it! Just enjoy that silly and easy rock'n roll fun, this is exactly what you need right now! Yes it does sound a lot like Stiff Richards and hundreds of "rock'n punk'n roll" bands you've heard before but who's complaining?

Frankly for a guy like me who tends to dive heart and soul into increasingly fast and aggressive types of music, coming back from time to time to a band like Split System is a real delight, and I can't encourage you enough to do the same.

 

 

N,J'Oi!

 

 

 

 

You can listen to Split System on Rien à Faire #33.

 

  

 

 

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Rifle

 

Rifle is a new band from London, UK, you're probably going to hear a lot about in the coming months as this short demo seems to be only a teaser for what's gonna come next. I don't who these guys are exactly but I would not be surprised if they're connected in one way or another with the Chubby And The Gang / The Chisel gang.

All I know is that one of them plays in Fur from Brighton.

 

 

  Four tracks, 7 minutes of music, is not that much but it's more than enough to understand that Rifle's already found their own style. Embracing a kind of vintage / demo tape sound which takes us back to the end of the 70s / early 80s, these guys manage to mix the raw side of late 70s British punk (Chelsea, Menace, The Users) with some rock'n roll guitar riffs and a "street attitude" leaving no doubt about the "oi! background" some of these guys have.

Yes there's something of the very obscure (and sometimes very politically dodgy) oi! demos/tapes from the early 80s that all the "real oi! lovers" cherish in secret (I won't mention any names for obvious reasons). Obvious on The Flag, these influences meet a few melodic guitar lines at the end of Feet First that don't fit in the limits of the genre but add a very enjoyable little something that makes the difference between new bands with the right influences and uninspired worship bands.

The vocals are definitely one of the strongest, and catchy, points of Rifle's songs. The singer masterfully delivers a catchy and powerful, but not really aggressive, vocal that sounds, above all, extremely British, and you guys know that this is a big part of the charm that many bands from the perfidious Albion exude. I would like to emphasize my particular fondness for the very good anti-war song Feet First, particularly and sadly relevant these days.

 

So yes that's a great demo that makes me think of what some Aussie bands delivered a couple of years ago, Gaffer for example (even if they're obviously more influenced by Crisis) and most of all Punter, probably the closest sound to Rifle I can think of at the moment even if they tend to add a lot of woo-hoo here and there and have a stronger "hardcore punk" vibe. 

 

Just go for it, listen to that shit, I'm telling you it's just the beginning of the Rifle era!

 

 

PS: No Solution Ltd / Urban Decline Archive made a very limited tape release of the demo in the US if you're interested...

 

N,J'Oi!

 

 

 

 

 

You can listen to Rifle on Rien à Faire #32.

 

  

 

 

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Insane Urge

 

Just a quick one today about Insane Urge demo tape, the latest release on Stucco Label, an Olympia-based punk label which released the first Electric Chair 7" and the first Suck Lords 7" (just to name a few extremely good records in my opinion) and that I've already mentioned a few times here in my last year's posts about Fugitive Bubble and Youth Regiment. Stucco has a tendency to breed like rabbits on cocaine and to give birth to lots of sub-labels, after Impotent Foetus (which is in fact Stucco's low-fi tape division and is responsible for the two previously reviewed bands) here is Down South Tapes (Insane Urge tape is DOWNTHERE001), a sub-label dedicated to the south punk scene? Probably!

As usual with Stucco there isn't much information about the band, the only thing I know is that they're from Austin, Texas, which would be in line with my theory about Down There.

 

 

  But let's focus on the music if you don't mind.

The very first track, yes that's the one bearing the band's name, opens up the tape with a mid-tempo instrumental that wanders between 77-infused punk rock and modern indie post-punk, a good start before There's A World kicks into high gear with a very nice and fast rock'n roll infused punk track. You know what I'm talking about, the kind of punk rock that feels like kicking Chuck Berry in the nuts for a whole minute. Yeah that kind!

And once these guys are started they're not easy to stop, just listen to Job and Sick Disease! So much nut kicking that I can already picture Chuck singing like Whitney Houston between two Duck Walks! Yeah so much low-fi rock'n roll in this punk rock that's incredible!

 

At some point these good ol' worn-out rock'n roll riffs made me think for a sec of the absolute master of rock'n roll infused punk/oi! songs, the infamous band-which-can't-be-named of course. But Insane Urge's actually too fast to make the comparison really relevant. I could also think of the French skinhead rockers of The Janitors but Insane Urge's way too low-fi to play in the same league.

 

Anyway Insane Urge delivers a very enjoyable, and way too short, cool tape of punk rock under fast rock'n roll influence, keeping it super low-fi as Impotent Foetus got us used to.

So treat your self man! Put on your blue suede shoes and studded belts and aim for that crotch!

 

N,J'Oi! 

 

 

 

 

You can listen to Insane Urge on Rien à Faire #31.

 

  

 

 

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Optic Nerve

 

picture by TheUndergroundStage

 

Let's go back for a sec to the land of vegemite and never-ending lockdowns : Optic Nerve (to not be mistaken with the pre-Fuzztones american band) are hailing from Sydney, Australia, have been around since 2019 or late 2018 and have delivered since then two great tapes I have to tell you about!

 

 

 

 

It all started with this 4-track demo recorded live in the suburb of Sydney in 2019. From the first seconds of Sniper it's clear that Optic Nerve got all the right influences in the right order to win my eternal love and lust, a lot of cool 80s USHC yes of course but also, and that's when it gets really interesting, an unusual touch of "clear/clean" guitar sound which gives  a little something of classic rock / country music meets early hardcore...

Ok, said this way it probably sounds pretty bad but that's not what you think. Imagine Rites Of Spring jamming with some guys from the first wave of DC hardcore bands (that's actually exactly what Rites Of Spring was doing by the way) but the guitar players had forgotten their distortion/overdrive pedals in their schoolbags... Something like that...

Optic Nerve manage to deliver four tracks which are simultaneously fast, catchy, well-written and enjoyable, they're definitely punk songs but they're also songs written and played by guys who know what they're doing and have a really smart approach to punk music. 

A lot has been said about the Australian music scene (and the indie, punk and hardcore scenes in particular) and Optic Nerve stand at the crossroads of these different scenes, mixing the "thoughtful" and "sensitive" side of indie, the energy of hardcore and the emotional slap in the face of city punk. Brilliant! 

 

I'm going to stay courteous, not spend any time on the cover artwork and jump straight to the point, which is the music for those who thought they were on a custom low riders fan blog.

 Two years later after their impressive demo, Optic Nerve are back with another tape, a 5-track one released on Urge Records this time. I've mentioned the Sydney-based label a couple of times here before as it's released some of the most interesting recent Australian bands, I'm thinking of Concrete Lawn and Utopian.

 

 

 

The demo sounded quite good but it was a demo, with this EP we can finally here all "the layers of texture": the galloping riffs recall more than ever some kind of "rural rock" music whereas the vocals do not abandon its punk and hardcore influences.

Doing the "musical splits" is always a perilous exercise (many have tried...) but what Optic Nerve are doing is not exactly that, these guys are just playing some first-class fast punk and, thanks to subtle ways of simply playing with the way the guitar sounds and a handful of countryish riffs, manage to turn it into "this good old cake with a new brand of topping" if you know what I mean.

These five tracks sound good, are good and I don't get bored listening to them over and over again... so once gain it's...BRILLIANT!

Optic Nerve just made it into my year's top!

N,J'Oi!

picture by TheUndergroundStage

 

 

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You can listen to Optic Nerve on RAF#25

 

 

 

 

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Brandy

 

 

picture by Taylor Sesselman

 

Brandy is from New York City and has probably been around since 2017, so not so long.

But don't think these guys are newbies, in fact the three wannabe Lady Liberty already had quite a long list of loud and noisy acts on their criminal records before forming this new gang. Coming from the NYC low-fi garage punk (Pampers) and Chicago punkish noise-rock (Heavy Times, Running) scenes these guys' ears are not ringing for the first time.

 

 Laugh Track opens the band discography as a 11-track full length released by Monofonus Press in September 2018.

What immediately struck me with this album is the way the two musical sides of the trio's background are easily perceptible. You're A Dentist is a pure noise rock track, ok it starts a bit dirty and noisy and the lot sounds quite low-fi but these heavy bass lines, the stomping and repetitive drum patterns, the heavy guitar riffs... there is some Jesus Lizard nearby!

And Two Titles With a Slash (which are actually two tracks which could be one) is super noise rock too man! And don't get me wrong, I love it! It's heavy, full of screeching noises and stomping riffs while the vocals sound like a kid drowning in a toilet bowl.

 

 

  And in the end the comparison with Mayyors actually makes sense here (less crazy vocals I would say).

The arrival of a tambourine on Horse Chorus starts switching the atmosphere to something more rock'n roll, closer to some low-fi heavy garage punk or something like that... And that's the feeling I now get on Life Jail, Throw Out My Kitchen... but it kinda changes again on the super heavy but efficient Urgent Blowout which is a real ode to destructive urges... All this chaos is finally concluded by Blandy, a pure rock'n roll song, turning into a beast the nice and cool 70s American rock...

Yes Brandy manages beautifully to edge between these two worlds, leaving me a bit confused but happy and... that's great!

Brandy delivers a heavy and intense LP full of low-fi noise-rockish punk garage (or the other way??) that will not leave you unmoved... 

(And I love the cover artwork by the way) 

April 2019, Brandy releases Clown Pain, a new 7" on Total Punk.

After Laugh Track the band from NYC could sound like a surprising choice for the label from Florida.

But not at all actually! Brandy has evolved and is now a pure punk'n roll garage band, one of those that Total punk loves so much.

 

   Quite low-fi but catchy, Brandy has left on the side its noise rock roots and totally embraced the sound of the label. Urochromes, Golden Pelicans and Foster Care (which first LP on Total Punk is as fantastic as the second one is disappointing by the way) opening for them at their 7" release show could not be a clearer confirmation of their new "artistic direction".

And it is not a bad news at all! I mean they do it very well, these two songs are great!

But ok I regret a little bit the heaviness of the early days... 

 

September 2020: another cool artwork for the cover of The Gift Of Repetition, the band second full length and first LP on Total Punk Records. 

Damn I love to be surprised and this release is pleasing me a lot! I was expecting a longer version of Clown Pain and what we got here is just so much more than that, it's amazing!

Within 8 tracks (only...) Brandy is giving us a great lesson of rock'n roll... exploring the best components of the genre, the NYC band takes us back to the early days of punk (Dangle with its great late-70s-in-england vibe), the post-punk / new-wave times (Christmas Colors) but most of all delivers great rock/punk songs like I'm Shipping Up To Boston (which does not seem to have any link with the Woody Guthrie / Dropkick Murphys song, Text Home or Insane Screensaver!

 

Listen to the super catchy (Wish You Was) Madball Baby or UFO's To Heaven and dare telling me you don't see yourself spilling your beer all over your boots while shaking your butts like crazy in front of the stage!

This catchiness reminds me of Giuda (in a less glam and kitchy way of course) or some early Hives songs for some parts. 

 

   And Clown Pain got recorded again and sounds catchy as ever as well!

 

In a nutshell Brandy is delivering a very surprising and extremely good rock-punk album which will most likely be on my 2020 top in a few months!

 

 

 

N,J'Oi!  

 

 

You can listen to Brandy on Rien à Faire #8 and #14. 

 

 

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Meadow Burials

If you are familiar with this blog you may have had a glimpse of the punk-noise of Ghost Of The Avalanche, a duo from Bath, UK, in Rien à Faire #7 (if not it's not too late to catch up!).

Well it happens that Nick Tone, the man behind the bass and the mic in GOTA, is also playing/singing in (after being a solo project) the punk rock trio Meadow Burials, and that's what I am going to write about today. 

 

art by Gwion

As any good book it starts with a Preface, a preface before the real deal ok but I would also describe the band first tape (in 2019 on DIE DAS DER) as an Exercice de style (Exercise in Style).

All by himself Nick is having fun trying to catch the core of a few styles of punk rock, delivering 5 short songs full of references and love for rock'n roll. 

Addiction got a strong early Hives vibe, Let The Right One In is a love letter to the melodic garagish punk side and I immediately thought "I know a band which sounds exactly like that" but no name has reached my brain yet; in the lot I hear some Misfits, some Pisse without synth, and maybe even some early Black Flag...
In a nutshell it's a nice start but it lacks a bit of personnality to really trigger my attention. 

 art by Gwion

Almost one year later Nick is back with two mates and a 7" on DIE DAS DER.
The Modern Age was recorded "with a ‘real’ band in a ‘real’ studio" this time and delivers 3 tracks in 2 and half minutes, these guys don't waste any time!


A lot more punk hardcore than Preface, Meadow Burials keeps the fuzztone guitar sound and low-fi-but-not-too-much vibe of the 2019 tape but with a more urgent feeling... things are not going well, time is running out, the modern age is a disaster, there is no time for compromise, the trio from Bath is in a hurry.
With the speed and maestro of Circle Jerks, Off! or early Black Flag, the band doesn't neglect the melodic side of hardcore and delivers a really enjoyable but way too short 7". 

N,J'Oi!


 You can listen to Meadow Burials and a lot of other great punk rock tunes on Rien à Faire #11.


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