What's up with February? All of a sudden literally everything starts happening. Like, 50,000 records just came out or were announced, and I've bought tickets to like 20 different shows all of a sudden and now I'm checking my calendar for what's happening in like October? How the heck am I supposed to know that? I have to check my work calendar probably three times a day just to remember what I'm supposed to be doing that day. Cut me some slack. Any way, here's a bunch of cool stuff that caught my interest this last month.
This month I want to lead off with a few bands that I clearly have a conflict of interest in discussing so I’m going to be biased. But then again, I’m generally talking about stuff that I like anyway, so believe it or not the payolas are not being raked in over here.
First off, the homies in Brain Cave have just released their second full length, "Foot Off the Gas". I’ve been championing these Cleveland fellas for a few years now and even went on to release a split for them. They’re a prolific lot, releasing numerous EPs and singles over the years so it’s good to see another full length from them. This time around they opt for a heavier, chunkier, noisier production and the songs err on a bit of the slower side as opposed to a couple of the 7”s they did recently with the exceptions being the fast opener “Neologism” and mid-point “Displaced”. They give a try with clean vocals and an almost slacker vibe on “Death Weapons”, which is a change for them. But for the most part you’re getting what you are accustomed to with this band- gruff vocals and driving, chunky post-hardcore that gives equal love to noise rock as it does melodic heavy punk.
Next is Cower. Gareth from USA Nails lends his talents to this project, though if I understand it correctly Wayne Adams is the main player here. Wayne is a well known studio engineer in the UK and has recorded all the USA Nails material, as well as a million other bands and plays in a myriad of other projects (maybe most notably Petbrick). But Cower isn’t some post-punk/noise rock thing, nor is it some technical death metal band despite the cover art here likely leading one to assume such. Cower is goth-y industrial music that does find itself dipping it’s toes into post-punk occasionally. I was really surprised how much their last LP “Boys” stuck with me, as I don’t typically get into this sort of music. But it’s engaging, strangely catchy, and brooding. “Celestial Devastation” follows a similar course.
OK, so I can’t get through this without giving a heavy nod to the Texans in Porcelain. Steve has been a trusted pal for several years now and post-Exhalants (yeah, I did a record for them, you see a trend developing here?) he really wanted to go all-in on Unwound worship, and how can you blame the guy? They’re one of the best to do it. So along with members of Superthief (who were also pretty stellar) and more I don’t know about Porcelain came to be. They’ve been sitting on this full length for a hot minute and now it’s out there for all to absorb into their brains. Despite wearing influences proudly upon the sleeve I’ve always noticed Steve to have a particular way of playing. riffing, and laying out songs and I’ve always found it to be engaging and exciting. Even though Exhalants often pushed heaviness to the apex you could hear those strange melodies and that exists in Porcelain as well, just minus the overwhelming blast of volume and distortion. So whether they’re ripping through the quick and abrasive assault in “Vanity” or the huge, gargantuan chorus in “Plastic” Porcelain has offered a solid debut of a record.
Next, Chimes Of Bayonets arrive with their first full length after a couple of 7”s. The trio have been playing together, some in other bands with each other, for many years and that familiar playing style is represented in full here with a sort of rough and tumble math rock that if you’re old and obscure like me you’ll hear hints of stuff as wide-ranging (yet very cool) as Forstella Ford, Atombombpocketknife, and Kerosene 454. Oh yeah, and it also comes in this fancy package with a screened clear slipcase thing so it looks extra cool.
OK, so here’s a few things new on my radar and not just bands/musicians I’m already familiar with dropping some stuff that’s spinning my wheels. First off, Suntouch House went and dropped a new EP out of nowhere so that came as a surprise to me. Their debut EP last year kicked my ass and why wouldn’t it? Colonial Wound dudes doing another one of their 5,000 other bands and it all rules. This time around Suntouch House feels a little more reigned in in a way that sounds like they’re a bit more comfortable with who they are. It just sounds a bit tighter and this whole thing comes off like an unreleased Deadguy record with a more grooving rhythm section.
Going down some kind of noise rock wormhole I came across the Toronto-based Sundowner and their debut EP “Asbestos Tiles”. Let me tell ya, it’s pretty wild. There’s a lot of spit and vitriol going on with these furious punk/noisy jams but they got the good sense to introduce some shimmering leads here and there, like on the almost space-y “Petty Tyrant” and a reprieve of rhythmically chunky and melodic hardcore on “Glazed Eyes”. I see a lot of promise of what lay ahead for this new band. Cool stuff.
Edging may have released this record back in the late Summer but it’s just getting to my ears and holy shit, this is some great hot-shit badass punk. I’m going to make this as simple as I can for you: when you play ripping punk rock and you add a saxophone to it your band automatically becomes 100 times better. So congratulations to Edging for discovering that secret recipe, and writing short songs that fall somewhere between the blown-out freak rock of Big Clown and wiry ensemble punk of Mallwalkers. Bonus points for naming your record “Good Sex Music”.
So, Baratro is a band that Dave Curren, most known for his long time two-ton bass duties in Unsane, started after moving to Italy and joined up with a couple other pisans to continue sonically crushing skulls. In all honesty, I thought maybe this was just a project because they did one great EP a few years back and then silence. It’s like there was a pandemic or something that got in the way of being an active band. So anyways, I wasn’t expecting them to return. But it’s 2024 and here we are and there’s a Baratro full length. So not to bring up old shit, but you listen to this and it becomes very clear just how significant Curran’s songwriting was to his time in Unsane. You hear it all over this. Not only does the man have one of the heaviest bass tones in all of recorded music history but his dense and ham-fisted riffs are unquestionably the sort of thing to give you a migraine, or make you, as the opening song title implies, “Fight the Parking Meter”. This is a very easy sort of record for me to get into as it totally speaks my language and if you like aggressive music that will blow your wig off with it’s sheer heaviness than pal, Baratros got you covered.
Finally, J Robbins makes his return with a new solo record after some sporadic singles over the last couple years. And by ‘solo’ I mean he wrote all these songs, but has some exceptionally wonderful people along to play on the record with him, including his Report Suspicious Activity and Channels bandmate (and one one of my all-time favorite drummers) Darren Zentek. J Robbins is up there in that same general age range of people like Ted Leo, Walter Schriffels, and John Reiss whom I all consider to be some of the great American songwriters to emerge from the punk scene of the late 80s and early 90s who are still writing, recording, and playing out incredible music. J is certainly in that group. He has a sense of melody like no other and his intricate playing, particular cadence with his vocals, and sense of songcraft (not to mention a wildly talented recording engineer) is completely unique to him. He’s said in a recent interview that on this record he’s made an attempt to be less obtuse in his lyrics and more straightforward about what’s he conveying, though I’ve always thought he’s had a great way with lyrics and wordplay, and that remains here as well. Most poignant is how open he is in using songs on “Basilisk” as a means for getting through, and celebrating, the life of his son who sadly passed away a couple years ago after life-long medical complications. That’s a tough thing to do. The effort, as a whole, is a great listen. If you’ve somehow lived under a rock for the last 30 years and don’t know who J Robbins is think maybe stuff like Bob Mould, the aforementioned Ted Leo, or literately any of J’s older bands like Jawbox or Burning Airlines.
