THE CALL-UP

 

First thought when I popped in the only release from Oakland's THE CALL-UP was "Damn...I missed another one." Whatever I was doing in 2015, I wasn't seeing this trio in the flesh, and that was a mistake. Second thought I had when I popped in the only release from Oakland's THE CALL-UP was "Damn...this hits me like the first time I heard NEON PISS." THE CALL-UP were harnessing that energy and those hooks and mixing in UK indie/alt by-way-of AIRFIX KITS...a product of their environment perhaps, but also mayhaps a product of the same influences that led to those other (also great) bands. Eight songs here, more than worthy of a full LP release and packed with infectious, angular, laid back, deliberate punk. Whatever I was doing in 2015, I was clearly fucking up. 

THE CALL-UP

MUCH BAND

 

File Under: Things I'm Not Trying To Describe. MUCH BAND are equal parts free form jazz and jam band and hippie prog and indie/alt and....look, punk: MUCH BAND sound like whatthefuckever they want to sound like, and if you can't at least appreciate that then you are on the wrong fucking team. It's not as if you need to like it, but you must recognize it. 

LITERALLY TOO PLEASURABLE

ACAUSTIX

 

People and pundits have used the word blistering to describe hardcore punk recordings for as long as there have been people and pundits and hardcore punk recordings. One listen to ACAUSTIX and you will realize that all of those people and all of those pundits were premature....this is blistering. Relentless clenched fist punishment with a touch of Swede influence and infectious swing that the Texans seem to know how to inject better than just about anyone else. Howling '90s crust vocals remind you that you're listening to something different, especially on "Die Here Now," the catchiest (and slowest) number on the tape. This thing is just......it's literally swoon-worthy punk. It's what I want. It's what I need. Motherfukkrs at RoachLeg did us all a favor.

ASYLUM TEST NO.1

CAPITOL EGGS

 

Gonna pretend I leaned a lesson and use fewer words today. 

These sounds are what you make of them. 

THROWING UP THE FINANCIALS

PLUNGER

 

This music hasn't been acceptable in more than thirty years....which is exactly why this music is timeless. Rough, discordant almost indie almost grunge almost college alt - like BREEDERS and NOMEANSNO and '90s Midwest basement emo all high and riffing off of each other. It shouldn't work, but the execution is so damn good and when "Bitter Parts" drunkenly weaves into the mix you won't want anything more than more PLUNGER in your life. 

UPRIGHTSIDEDOWN

 

RIPPING THRASH

 

This is the shit, okay? Like...this is literally what it's all about. You have the people you love and the people you you hate and the choices you choose and the decisions you make...and you have collections of essential hardcore punk music made by people you don't know. Those collections somehow help you navigate all of the other shit - it doesn't make any sense, but that's literally what it's all about. Not sure who first came to this realization (hint: it wasn't me), but that shit resonates. I'm not going to blow a lot of words talking about this tape - it fukkn rules from start to finish and you should listen to this shit and study this shit. I will spend a few words mentioning the essential (QUOD MASSACRE, R.I.P., SUBTERRANEAN KIDS, WRETCHED) and the necessary (RADIKAL HC, TRANSGRESSOR, DEBAUCHERY, L'ODI SOCIAL and basically everything else on the damn tape), and I will once again mention how crucial mix tapes are. How crucial mix tapes have been. How crucial mix tapes will always be. The first version was probably from the late '80s, then the Social Napalm kids reissued it in the 2000s - which means the reissue is basically as old now as the original was when it was reissued. That shit is a trip...and this is the shit. Okay?

RIPPING THRASH: THE TAPE

ORAL HEX

 

The Wet Cassettes juggernaut is unstoppable. I diverted my eyes for what seems like just a few months and apparently I am more than thirty releases behind. Instead of beating myself up over missing out, I have been listening to the self titled ORAL HEX tape repeatedly over the last few days. Techno-tinged sex noise created by unknown animals, this release from 2021 is both a diversion from the noisy chaos the label used to grab my attention and a perfect addition to it....because there's nothing like something that doesn't sound like anything you've ever heard. Now...I have some catching up to do.

ORAL HEX