VIRUS TROPICAL

Mateus brought a handful of these comps up on his last visit, and I owe him big for slipping one into my grubby paws. You should get real familiar with RAKTA if you aren't already, their recent 12" is an absolute stunner and these tracks are in the same department: demented and dreamy ethereal post punk drenched in fuzz and confusion. LIKZO take the bombastic bellowing hardcore approach - teetering on the edge of too distorted creates the right kind of tension throughout, and "Cornered Rat" is pure power. CADAVER EM TRANSE pleased me with last year's flexi, and I continue to be pleased with these goth/post punk tracks. The vocals are the hardest thing to pull off in bands like this, and the vocals are the strongest element here...I look forward to more. GATTOPARDO are by far the mellowest of the bunch, 17 Seconds-era CURE styled guitars lazily lead the band through subtly plodding tunes as suited for an introspective afternoon as for a drunken rager. All four bands are from São Paulo, and I would be quite happy if I get to see any one of them when I'm there in May....hint hint.

VIRUS TROPICAL

RAKTA tracks are from a yet-to-be-released EP, though with an alternate mix. LIKZO recorded their songs at their first rehearsal, which is very very punk. Two CADAVER EM TRANSE songs are from their demo and two are from the flexi session (though only one made it onto the flexi). GATTOPARDO tracks were originally released on their 2013 demo, and Mateus is pretty good at taking pictures.

VILE BODIES

The hardcore is off the rails. The riffs are killer. The tension is palpable when they slow it down (I'm talking the start of "Monotongue" here, or the flawless execution of the middle of "Host Becomes Parasite"). The vocals have an almost McPheeters quality. Vile Bodies are clearly on their own path, which is refreshing. And the tape is really really fukkn good.

VILE BODIES

VADER'S

It's bands like this that will keep me from ever saying that I don't like "melodic punk," even though most bands saddled with that moniker are indeed complete garbage. VADER'S command singing along from the very first tune, and even though my Spanish falls somewhere between horrible and non-existent I find myself repeating these hooks over and over in my head. A blast from a lost generation, when singers could croon away and the punks fukkn loved it. This tape will inspire bouncing, joyful dancing and perhaps even a few smiles - and you won't care how many cool points you lose for loving it. For fans of GOMEZ and LA FRACTION, and all bands both in between and parallel.

VADER'S

(and I have no idea what's up with the apostrophe)

STARK RAVING MAD

The (cassette version of the) first 12" from New York City's STARK RAVING MAD is an absolute ripper. You should be familiar with this already, but for the less fortunate: I am here to help. Screaming political start/stop spastic thrash from 1984 - there are connections to (fellow former Texans) DRI and MDC and in a different world perhaps this band would be just as renown....but the second record from these freaks dropped off a bit and that was the end of the road. But these 15 songs, clocking in at a whopping 10 minutes, are pointed and chaotic in all the right ways. 

STARK RAVING MAD

Interview with the band from March '85 here. I'm guessing these are my kind of people, and I sincerely hope they stayed that way...

HOT LEAD

I honestly do not think that most of you are ready for this. Even you punks who stop by every Monday for the noisiest, most fukkd sounding shits you can sink your teeth into...even you are about to have your brains oozing our of your ears. Maximum volume is mandatory.

HOT LEAD

NERVOUS TREND

It's hard to tell if the forceful guitar melodies or the powerfully determined vocals are the focal point of this demo, but they work together from start to finish. And while those might be the first things you notice, it could be the rhythm section that makes NERVOUS TREND so completely indispensable. Rarely does a band work so well as a unit, and this one kinda demands to be listened to over and over. This is easily one of my favorite demos from 2013, and I will listen to it more than most demos that come out in 2014...the internet seems to already think they are awesome, and this time I'd say the internet is right, but if you're late to the party then do yourself a favor. 

NERVOUS TREND

GORGONIZED DORKS // DAN GARNELLI

Did you know the GORGONIZED DORKS have well over 100 releases? That's an average of more than one release per month for their almost ten year existence. Impressive, no? Barely controlled and meticulously restrained power electronics make up their side of this split - it makes me a bit anxious when I listen to it, which is almost certainly the point. DAN GARNELLI (for what it's worth, the To Live A Lie dude is responsible for this alter-ego) on the flip are a more focused and singular animal. Instead of a wall of sound, we get one layer of madness that flirts with sparse and primitive electronic noise. I keep coming back to this side, the last five minutes are particularly engaging...good night.

GORGONIZED DORKS // DAN GARNELLI