PSUDOKU

Simply put, this is one of the most insane things I've ever heard. If I tell you that Norway's PSUDOKU is a one man grind band then you will probably turn tail and miss out out on 28 incredibly bizarre minutes, so I will not mention that until later. Space Grind is absolutely faster and weirder than any other music you have listened to today, but it is played with manic precision and is loaded with hooks and stops and catchy riffs and bizarre time signatures and guitar breaks that are as good as anything this side of TOTAL FURY (or EYESORE). After my initial listen is was left more in a state of confusion than the blissed out euphoria I feel after being crushed by a killer tape. It was more of a "what just happened, and why does this exist?" feeling, followed quickly by a flip of the tape a further (and louder) research. What if GOBLIN started a grindcore band? These dudes:

Yeah, what if those dudes wanted to play technical grindcore? It would sound like PSUDOKU. I'm telling you, the shit is from space.

PLANETARY SPACE UNIT DIRECTORATE OF KOSMIK UNIVERSES

I promised not to mention it until later, but this is the end so I'll mention that PSUDOKU is the work of one Norwegian savant, the same one behind PARLAMENTARISK SODOMI, for anyone keeping track. This tape is available from Revulsion, and the whole thing was put to wax by 625...a wise decision made by a wise man.

PUNK, KÉ PUNK?

The second installation from the stack of tapes that came from Langford's mom, Punk, Ké Punk? Ya Horaque? is packed with killer '80s Spanish punk just like the first. From CARME DE PSIQUIATRICO's scorching opener right through tracks from URGENTE and ESPASMODICOS, it is very clear that this is going to be the finest hour of your day, and you are also overcome by a need to turn the volume up...a lot. K.G.B., CODIGO NEUROTICO, ANTI-MAGNUS, SEGURIGAD SOCIAL and others team up to round out the tape, a raw attack filled with smart hooks and pure innocent intensity. If this doesn't start a dance party, then you might want to have your pulse checked.

PUNK, KÉ PUNK?

FRKSE

These sounds draw you in as the tape rolls, and become indispensable with subsequent listens. Huge droning scapes woven together from long forgotten leftover strands of sound - creating brilliantly simple and emotionally pummeling music. FRKSE are warm and inviting, but sow the emotional seeds of loss on this bleak, layered soundtrack...shoegazing goth for the genuinely damaged. FRKSE have cranked out several releases since their inception in 2009, and I feel like I have let you down by waiting this long to share one of them with you - do not sleep.

FRKSE

VILE GASH

Released for last summer's West Coast tour, this tape compiles all the jams from these Midwestern sweethearts you might have missed out on. Seasoned veterans, the members of VILE GASH have taken their experience and put it to good use over a slew of demos and vinyl releases, many of which were immediately relegated to collector scum status. Far from mysterious and pretentious bullshit that is frequently (though inexplicably) mentioned in the same breath, VILE GASH are streamlined and furious - exactly the way hardcore bands should be. "Unfit" from the second demo seems as if it's half an hour long (it takes up over a quarter of the entire cassette) but its simplicity is brilliant, and rarely have three descending chords sounded so punishing. 20 songs in 23 minutes, including a few live covers.  

VILE GASH

SYNTHETIC ID

There's a new best band in San Francisco. I know I say that a lot, but I mean it every time. SYNTHETIC ID play jerky and genuine jams for fans of WIPERS, THE FALL, PERE UBU and OBSERVERS. "Throwaway" is among the greatest songs I've heard in years - this three song banger is angular and deliberate, and the guitars are brilliant. Speaking of guitars, they are handled by the most understated and prolific musicians I've ever come across, who is also a contributing member of FACE THE RAIL, ECOLI, YADOKAI, and HUNTING PARTY. This demo is short, to be sure, but so very sweet.

SYNTHETIC ID

RABIA

Taking the Noise Not Music mantra to the absolute limits of reason, RABIA unleashed this 24 song demo back in 1992. Lo-fi madness delivered with the fury of the live LÄRM tape I ripped last night and drunken insanity in spades, these tracks average less than a half minute each and tend adhere to the basic FUKKN GO!!! formula. Far from a blur of mincing mayhem, RABIA are a hyper charged hardcore band with occasional grind tendencies...raw and noisy as fukk with plenty of chaos. Just what you wanted.

¿Por Que?

SWAMP WITCH

SWAMP WITCH meander through 20 minutes of hazy doom with the physical dexterity of molasses. I cannot think of a more appropriate name for the band...painful southern sludge is met with mystical howls and dark world growls, all while guitars lay serious tonnage at the feet of the gods. An agonizingly slow delivery of relentless punishment. The challenge when creating sounds that are so easily categorized (and thus, dismissed as "just another '---' band") is simplynstanding apart from the crowd, but if SWAMP WITCH haven't met that challenge with their sounds (and I think they have), then the flip side of the tape seals the deal. The entire recording was sent to DJ DREEMZ from Houston and given the treatment. I can only imagine one of Texas' premier Chopped & Screwed DJs trying to find the beat in these songs, and giving something this slow to a DJ renowned for making things slower was a genius move. The result is an atmospheric trip - a complete different vibe is made with the same sounds. Low lights and a bottle of purple drank only serve to heighten the experience...

SWAMP WITCH

Available from Gay Scientist Recordings, friendly purveyors of many fine aural excursions.