GREEN AYGS & HAMM

 

There was a DIY punk explosion in 1990s Oklahoma. I was around for a piece of it but I admittedly only caught a glimpse of what was coming and was gone before the effects were really recognized. The '80s stuff is well documented (like most micro and/or region specific '80s scenes) but people still think the '90s are a forgotten punk decade. Which people think that...? Dummies, obviously. I don't think this GREEN AYGS & HAMM recording every actually dropped, but Ross was kind enough to resurrect it a few years back and share with the real heads. Ross isn't a dummy, see....? And these five songs are brilliantly adolescent hyper snotty middle America DIY punk. Does "Fart" ages very well? No, it doesn't. Is the vocal creak in "Aliterate" endearing beyond words? Absolutely. Never will I argue that these recordings are essential, but I am so happy that they exist in this present, and I'm more than happy to keep scooping this shit up as long as people keep feeding it to me.  Now, listen to "I Want A Girl" and enjoy your day. 

ANIMAL FUN GANG

JANGAN BIARKAN NYALA PADAM OLEH HEMPASAN MODAL

 

Fastcore, punk, thrash, Oi!, hardcore....from fourteen Indonesian bands who were completely new to me (plus a track from SATELLITE). ILUSI, AKAL BANGSAT, STRESSSICK, BRETEL, BOMBARDIR, MURDERAT, SCEPTIC OFF and others...it's really damn good. 

JANGAN BIARKAN NYALA PADAM OLEH HEMPASAN MODAL

PUNK ROCK INDONESIA KOMPILASI VOLUME: 1

NARB

 

Fidelity be damned, this punk is fast, fierce and raw as fukk. Three songs that make up half of the band's recorded output - like stripped down skinhead shitpunk on pharmaceutical speed. I guess they just did shit different in the South Valley.  You want to hear adolescent angst captured on 1/4" magnetic tape and dumped into the digital aether? Welcome to NARB.

NARB

KMET

 

The patience required to make dungeon synth actually work is impressive, and the artists who can properly pull it off are few and far between. To create sounds that are equal parts sinister black metal, Stranger Things soundtrack and FLOCK OF SEAGULLS is one thing - to do it with a straight face is something else entirely. Croatia's KMET will have you suspend belief....anxiously waiting for a crescendo and/or a conclusion knowing that they're only inviting you along for the journey, not the destination. Smrt Feudalizmu compiles five painfully deliberate tracks all released digitally over the last few years - final cut is the magnificent "Kuga" but don't think you'll be free when it's finished. 

SMRT FEUDALIZMU

AFERDEATH

 

If you're thinking about starting the week by spending some time with a dis-crust trio from Singapore....? AFTERDEATH has got you covered. What More Must They Suffer checks every box, a ruthless pummeling that channels Soul Scars-era DISFEAR and pushes the guitar to the very edge of the sonic cliff and lets it teeter precariously for seventeen tense minutes of DBeat. Choice cut? "Greed." Seems appropriate. 

WHAT MORE MUST THEY SUFFER

THE GLASNOST

 

I woke up this morning around 7am with a cat purring in the crook of my knee and the sun washing over my face. Clicked the space heater on to take the bite out of the chill, hung out with the cat for a few minutes and then got out of bed to feed the cat and make some coffee. Took mental stock of shit I need to take care of before I head to Oakland for REALISTIC practice in a couple of hours (yeah, old people schedule rehearsal on weekend mornings) and I thought about Indonesian communist Oi!. "Wow, I really want to blast some clenched fist communist Oi! from Indonesia while I drink my coffee this morning,' i thought. So I did. And now you can too. 

WE STILL FIGHT AND AGAINST

DEAD BHUTTOS

 

Rarely have I wished for more than three songs harder than I am wishing there were more than three songs at this moment. Raw and desperate hardcore is supposed to sound this raw and desperate, and Lahore's DEAD BHUTTOS just fukkn nail it. I wasn't sure what I wanted today...until I heard this. 

DEMOCRACY IS THE BEST REVENGE