Tag Archives: punk

Album Review: Empty Markets, Stainless Steel

Posted on 2016/05/10 | Leave a comment

Empty Markets, Stainless Steel (12XU Austin, 4/8/2016)

Churning, relentless, fantastic new hardcore/punk from Austin, TX three piece, Empty Markets.

Stainless Steel marks the group’s debut, lead singer/guitarist Drew Schmitz having previously been involved in bands like Cruddy and Hex Dispensers.  While there’s definitely a whiff of the old school – “Pink and Barren World” sounds like an interpolation of “Teenagers from Mars”, and the sonic energy recalls past masters like Black Flag, The Offenders and Die Kreuzen – Empty Markets, like other newer bands like Ex-Cult and fellow Texans, Institute, incorporate noise, post-punk and post-hardcore (think Drive Like Jehu) ambience into the punk template, elevating it past d-beat rehash or mid-tempo, street punk boredom.

Front to back, this is one of the best new punk records I’ve heard in years (coming from a somewhat jaded, ‘old school’ – like, early 80s – h/c guy).  The arrangements, as well as the playing, are both muscular and extremely tight throughout.  Schmitz’s guitar playing is inspired.  The rhythm section of drummer Jordan Rivell and now former bassist Wendy Wright create crisp, sharp rhythmic blasts.  Wright (replaced, since the album’s recording, by Stephen Svacina) has a driving, out front bass style that recalls folks like Mikey Offender, and her vocal interplay with Schmitz is a consistent highlight.  Loud.  Sweaty.  Cathartic.  Recommended.

Stainless Steel is out now, on 12XU, and can be purchased via Empty Market’s bandcamp page or the label’s site. Find out more about the band on their fbook page.

Highlights include: “New Religion”, “Pink and Barren World”, “Rash Decision”, “Bulging Affidavits”.

Leave a comment

Posted in Reviews

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Review: The Monsieurs, “High School Star” 7″

Posted on 2016/05/05 | Leave a comment

The Monsieurs, “High School Star” (Goodbye Boozy Records)

https://soundcloud.com/goodbye-boozy-records/the-monsieurs-high-school-star

Following their crazy good (and, in parts, just plain ol’ crazy) 2014 self-tltled album, Boston scuzz-punk rockers The Monsieurs are back with a new double-a side single, “High School Star/Jack of Hearts”.

We here at thegrindinghalt wanted to give a glowing review of The Monsieurs (the album) but were, frankly, to busy listening to it and breaking shit to actually get around to writing one, so…if you haven’t yet experienced that aural Misfits/Ramones/Monks/Sha Na Na knife fight (actual knife fight, mind, none of that West Side Story or “Beat It” nonsense) do so, ok?  Great, thanks.

Anywho, “High School Star” continues the three chords and a cloud of dust assault of the full-length.  The band is at full strength here, piledriving their way through roughly two and one-half minutes of relentless rock.  Singer Andy California still sounds like he’s sing/screaming through a swarm of bees over a Hilken Mancini guitar slash reminiscent of “Wild Thing”, while Erin King provides the rhythmic stomp.  While I’m missing, a bit, the backup ‘sha la las’ so prevalent on the album, this still rages.

“High School Star” is out now on Goodbye Boozy Records, a label out of Teramo, Italy that is also home to other great bands like Sick Thoughts and The Husbands.

Check out The Monsieurs on fbook or the twit.

Leave a comment

Posted in Reviews

Tagged , , , , , , ,

Album Review: City Yelps, Half Hour

Posted on 2016/05/03 | Leave a comment

City Yelps, Half Hour (Odd Box Records, 4/22/2016)

After a few blistering singles and 2014’s Cheap Psych cassette, Leeds, UK-based City Yelps are back to delight us all with a brand new long-player, Half Hour.

City Yelps channel a whole host of bands in crafting their own take on skewed indie pop:  the woozy, lo fi psych-pop charm of Flying Nun and C86 bands; the wiry, spiky tones of Swell Maps, The Fall, even Half Man, Half Biscuit.  Singer/guitarist Shaun Alcock delivers wry lyrics with a withering sneer – amidst a maelstrom of detuned guitars, layers of reverb and snare shots that sound like a slap – sounding like the acerbic uncle who you not so secretly love to hang out with at the holidays.

What counts most, though, are the songs – and these are effing fantastic.  Tracks like “We Like the Hours”, and the raucous one-two punch of “Light and Classical” and “Making Noise”, twist, swing and sway like a punch drunk fighter who might be going down, but is taking folks with him.  Unwind the gauzy bandages of tape hiss and distortion and what you discover are strong, tightly arranged melodies, played with the righteous indignation of a group with courage in their convictions.  After spending a Half Hour with them (see what we did there?  Get on with it?  Ah, yes, ok…), you’ll be convinced, too; hell, you may even tell two friends, and so on.

Half Hour is out now, courtesy of Odd Box Records.  Order it now on the label’s bandcamp page, and check out the band’s newsletter page on fbook.  While you’re at it, hop on over to the band’s own bandcamp page and pick up a copy of Cheap Psych.  You know you want to.

Highlights include:  “We Like the Hours”, “Now”, “Light and Classical”, “Music for Adverts”.

Leave a comment

Posted in Reviews

Tagged , , , , , ,

New Music: Trust Punks

Posted on 2016/04/14 | Leave a comment

Trust Punks, “Mother’s Veil”, “Leaving Room for the Lord”

Two new(ish) tracks from Auckland, New Zealand’s Trust Punks, each showcasing a different side of the band’s sound.

“Mother’s Veil”, released in November, shows a softer, wistful touch.  Narcotic, dreamy jangle psych-pop, reminiscent of the band’s Flying Nun countrymen, up through the quieter moments of Brian Jonestown Massacre and maybe even first album Shins.  Strummed guitars, an airy bassline and what sounds like tape hiss weave a lucid dream, sadly interrupted by the feedback alarm clock ending.  Heavenly.

Newer track, “Leaving Room for the Lord”, exudes a brasher, more dissonant and, er, “punker” sound.  Shades of early Killing Joke and PiL, plus some Jesus Lizard noise finds the band in a similar lane to Ireland’s Girl Band on this one.  Jagged, clamoring guitars, roiling drums and shouty vocals stagger and crash into each other drunkenly, setting a combative tone.  Satisfyingly brutish.

According to a post on the band’s fbook page, “Leaving Room” will feature on the band’s upcoming album, entitled “Double Blind”.  No further details at this time but, in the meantime, explore their earlier releases, including great 2014 release “Discipline”, on bandcamp.  Sadly, we missed that one first time ‘round, but are having fun playing catch up.

Leave a comment

Posted in Reviews

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

New Music: Synthetic ID, Ciphers

Posted on 2016/03/25 | Leave a comment

Synthetic ID, “Ciphers” (Castle Face Records)

Synthetic ID are a band out of San Francisco, who have been releasing music since 2012, but are new to us.  Don’t know how we’ve missed them up ’til now.

“Ciphers” is a brilliant piece of spiky, funky post-punk, in the vein of Gang of Four and 154-era Wire, with a soupçon of Crass.  The track features a lurching, hypnotic bassline and angst-inducing guitar stabs; shouted vocals talk of searches and receipt of ciphers with “missing words”, incapable of translation and decoding – messages received but not trusted.  The peculiarly modern sensation of interconnectedness increasing isolation on our Big (Brother) Blue Marble – who’s real and what isn’t?  Fever dreams of electric sheep.

Synthetic ID’s debut, Impulses, is out April 22 on the consistently bodacious Castle Face Records. Check out the band’s earlier releases on their bandcamp page.

Leave a comment

Posted in Reviews

Tagged , , , , , , ,

Album Review: Running, Wake Up Applauding

Posted on 2016/03/21 | Leave a comment

Running, Wake Up Applauding (Castle Face Records, 1/15/2016)

Blistering, relentless new long player from Chicago’s Running.

Building on 2013’s excellent Vaguely Ethnic and subsequent singles, Running return with another set of vertigo-inducing punk/psych/noise/drone/whateverit’sgoodsojustlisten.  Wake Up is a loud record that begs to be played loud:  layers upon layers of reverb and drone textures mix with the jagged shards of feedback; largely indecipherable, muzzled vocals at the center of the sonic maelstrom.  This is the soundtrack to a paranoid schizophrenic’s psychotic break,  careening blindly through dark alleys in search of respite from the voices, the shadowy figures emerging from formless shadows.  Tension, tension, tension.

The lightning ride manipulation of guitar feedback is even more up front than on past releases, like 2014’s Totally Fired.  The band’s sound still includes a fair bit of the scorched earth hardcore of early Black Flag and of more experimental bands like Flipper, as well as early doom metal (lots of circle pit bridges).  There’s also room for aggressive, PiL post-punk, spazzy noise a la bands like Scratch Acid, and even a bit of a ROIR tape Bad Brains vibe (particularly on “Fucktown Reality”).

The album art appears to be a cross-section of skin, with an arrow indicating “running” just beneath the surface of the derma.  Appropriate, somehow, for a record that burrows deep.

Wake Up Applauding is out now, on Castle Face Records.  Since it’s basically impossible to find much of anything about this band – they have a Soundcloud page, in addition to the bio page on the Castle Face website – here’s hoping for some advance notice when next they emerge from the lab and tour.

Highlights include:  “We Never Close”, “Fucktown Reality”, “Wake Up Applauding”, “Art Seen”, “No Wave Jose”.

Leave a comment

Posted in Reviews

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Album Review: Choke Chains, S/T

Posted on 2016/03/16 | Leave a comment

Choke Chains, S/T (Slovenly Recordings/Black Gladiator, 1/29/16)

Full throttle, stridently miscreant rock and/or roll from Michigan’s Choke Chains.  Hints of proto-punk standard bearers The Stooges and Electric Eels, garage idols The Sonics and newer bands like Rocket From the Crypt can be heard throughout (perhaps unsurprising, given the band features alumni of bands like The Dirtbombs and Bantam Rooster), but the band makes room for their own, individual spin.

The groove-centered, r&b swagger on display is infectious, though the music feels more in the ‘punk’ vein than straight garage.  There are some cool production touches, too – the heavy, loose-stringed bass sound is great (particularly on “Let’s Try Suicide”), and the sax stylings on the understated “Rock, Paper, Rapist” are a welcome addition to the sound.  In case you hadn’t already surmised, the band like to play with tongues firmly implanted in cheek – other titles include “Cracked Dracula”, “Moisture Detective” and “Safe Word”.

Eruditely-monikered lead singer Thomas Jackson Potter’s vocals are heavily muffled on many tracks, painting an image of the band bashing away in a supposedly “abandoned”, makeshift practice space, while Potter screams for recognition (vengeance?) from an underground bunker – or maybe that’s just me…  Other tracks lift the veil a bit, with “Random Number Generator” even featuring a hint of – !!!- falsetto.  Throughout, Potter displays charisma to match the band’s assured playing.

The album is out now through the excellent Slovenly Recordings (via their Black Gladiator imprint).  Get to know the band on fbook and on their bandcamp page. While you’re at it, check out the meaty (sorry) vid for “Safe Word”, below, and catch them at their upcoming March 26 gig at the UFO Factory in Detroit, if you’re able – here’s hoping for a tour!

Highlights include: “She Collects Calendars”; “Safe Word”, “Rock Paper Rapist”.

Leave a comment

Posted in Reviews

Tagged , , , , , ,

Review: Wall, Wall EP

Posted on 2016/01/29 | Leave a comment

Wall, Wall EP (Wharf Cat Records, 1/15/16)

Wall are a 4-piece hailing from New York City, not that you’d need me to tell you that upon listening to their new, eponymous EP.  Each track feels like a glaze of detached, old school downtown cool stretched over the twitchy, black/white UK version of early “post-punk” (used in quotation marks, ‘cuz I’m not really sure what that means anymore) and new wave.  A no wave new wave, then?  Right.  I’ll just get my coat…

Who can be bothered over categories, really, when the songs are this good.  Upon first listen, several familiar sounds come through:  Slits, Bush Tetras, Gang of Four, Crass, Basement 5 (lead track, “Cuban Cigars” reminds of “Mind Your Own Business”), on through riot grrrl, and newer bands like Savages and Vexx.  Over tightly coiled arrangements, vocalist Sam York (duties shared with bandmates Vince McClelland and Elizabeth Skadden) careens between the raised fist delivery of lines like “fresh baked bread/keeps the pigs well fed” (“Cuban Cigars”) and the detached, shrug of the shoulders and flick of the cigarette towards the gutter malevolence of “those mistresses/they don’t just lay there/at night/they prowl.…” (“Milk”).  Closer “Milk” is a highlight, swirling all of the band’s various elements in a compelling symmetry.

The Wall EP is out now, on the great Wharf Cat Records label. Check the band – and their current tour dates – on their website.

Leave a comment

Posted in Reviews

Tagged , , , , , , ,

Track Review: Feels, Bitched

Posted on 2015/12/01 | Leave a comment

Feels, “Bitched” (Lolipop Records)

Joyously rough-edged rock from new (to us, at least) LA-based band, Feels. “Bitched” is a compact, three minute burr of surf rock, ‘70s punk, garage and ‘90s groups like Sleater-Kinney or even Elastica.  The buzzy guitar and sweet ‘la la la’ and ‘whoa, oh h’ backing vocals stick in your brain and won’t let go – kinda like those weird worm thingys in that Star Trek movie (google it, kids), but in a good way.

“Bitched” is taken from a live lp, recorded last summer at LA studio, Gauchos Electronics, out now on the ever-fantastic Lolipop label – it’s been out since January, but only recently burbled to the surface of our Soundcloud stream (we’ll hit “refresh” faster next time; promise).

The band’s debut long-player will be released in spring, 2016 on the equally loveable Castle Face, with production by neu-garage (is that a thing?) hero, Ty Segall. Go forth and like them on the Facebook.

Leave a comment

Posted in Reviews

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

New Music: Savages, The Answer

Posted on 2015/10/21 | Leave a comment

Savages, “The Answer” (Matador, 10/21/2015)

A new Savages track appeared today, together with a release date for the band’s new album – huzzah!

Savages’ debut, Silence Yourself, played with tension and barely contained fury through a dark, post-punk glaze; cathartic spikes poking through in patches.  The songs caromed between slow burning intensity and raucous indignation.

With ‘The Answer’, the raucous is turned up to ten (eleven?).  Vocalist Jhenny Beth howls like Siouxsie at the center of a druggy, hypnotic maelstrom with hornet’s nest guitars and a driving rhythm that brings to mind psych/space rock, punk, metal, even early industrial.  This dizzy intensity matches the lyrics, wherein the ‘answer’ (in case you were curious) is love – a possessive, desperate love that leaves you panicky, insecure (“If you don’t love me, don’t love anybody/And you’re glad it’s you/…Love is the answer/I’ll go insane”).  Healthy?  Perhaps not, but many of us have had moments where the thought of getting to be with, or hanging on to, someone we desire is the only thing; alternatives too dire.  There lies madness…

“The Answer” will appear on Savages’ forthcoming album, Adore Life, due January, 2016, on Matador – and on this evidence, not a moment too soon.  It’s available for preorder now, through the band’s website.

Leave a comment

Posted in Reviews

Tagged , , , , , , ,