Category: Reviews

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The Neanderverbs – S/T

The front cover of this new EP from Virginia’s Neanderverbs has a hot rodding caveman on it. Without even listening to it, you might already have some assumptions as to what it sounds like. Anytime an angry cartoon is driving a vehicle on an album cover, it’s going to sound a little bit like Electric Frankenstein. Although that does reflect the general tone of this record, there are also several other components about this band that make them unique and worth your time. 

First of all, there’s a cover of an L7 song from their 1997 album The Beauty Process. I wouldn’t have necessarily drawn the comparison had they not covered this song, but Neanderverbs definitely have an L7 attitude and style to them. Which is to say, they play angry rock and roll and have very sick riffs. The kind of riffs that get stuck in your head all by themselves. I’ve found myself humming a couple of them around the house today. 

Musically overall they remind me of the surprisingly excellent Sonics reunion album that came out several years ago, along with some Deadbolt thrown in there too. Reverb-y huge riffs all day here. Actually, just for 16 and a half minutes. There are only six songs, including the L7 cover, and an instrumental song that has more than enough to it to hold your attention.

The vocal delivery and style are what I think make Neanderverbs a bit of a unique mutant. The singer sounds straight out of early 80s SoCal hardcore, which isn’t typical for the genre. He’s probably most similar to Henry Rollins, but I also hear some early Milo in there, or maybe the dude from Reagan Youth. Lyrical content reflects this as well. Here’s an example from the opening track:

“marketers are a bunch of liars
while the suckers are all us buyers
we’re the victims of subterfuge
in the end you know we’re gonna lose”.

Also, from the song “T. Wrecks”:

“I’m user friendly and vain
a slave to the mundane 
feel like I’m living my life on a leash
there’s no way to appease”.  

If you consider how effectively Neanderverbs transcend geography and time to bring together these disparate genres of punk, while distilling them down into 16.5 minutes for your listening pleasure, you’re actually saving time by checking them out. Recommended.

–Zack Akenson

The Melders – S/T

The debut self-titled EP from Portland’s The Melders throws down five tracks (17 minutes) of guitar-driven, punk informed, heavy rock and roll. The tunes are uptempo with a lot of snarl and attitude. The rhythm section is solid, and the guitar work is rife with hooks and changes.

According to the band bio, The Melders is a punk rock-n-roll band from Portland, OR. The band formed in June of 2021 with Luke Valley on vocals and guitar, Guil Halstead on guitar, Marcus Irland on bass and Matt Danger on drums.

When COVID hit, it led to the demise of Luke and Guil’s 16 year project My New Vice but they weren’t ready to hang it up. They contacted long time friends and fellow musicians Marc and Matt. They knew it’d be a great fit; you know who you’re working with, what you’re going to get and that everyone can get along.

I struggle to offer comparisons sometimes, and sometimes comparisons aren’t really fair. They can, however, provide a loose relatability for an unfamiliar artist. With that in mind, The Melders make me think if Stone Temple Pilots would have been a punk band, or perhaps a more melodic Welch Boys. Do with that what you will.

Aptness of comparisons notwithstanding, I dig it and am looking forward to hearing more from The Melders. The debut EP is available now on all your favorite streaming services, and probably some streaming services you’ve never even heard of. Go on, give The Melders a whirl. You’ll dig it.

Cheers!
Jerry Actually

Tracks:
1. Oil The Snake
2. Codswalloped
3. Stitched Apart
4. The Empty
5. Moons Die Here

Members:
Luke Valley – vocals, guitar
Guil Halstead – guitar
Marcus Irland- bass
Matt Danger – drums

Toronto’s Debt Cemetary Unveil New Single ‘Let’s Murderlize ‘Em!’

Debt Cemetary strikes again with the aggressive new single “Let’s Murderlize ‘Em!”. This hard-hitting release explodes with huge vocal harmonies and ripping guitar riffs that soar throughout the track.
Inspired by the height of the civil rights movements that spanned across the globe in 2020, the song reflects the thoughts and feelings of guitarist/vocalist Eddie Knowlton. Mixed and mastered by Matt Gauthier, this latest release from Debt Cemetary shows a new side to the band while keeping true to their original and unique brand of fast punk.

This latest single is further proof that Debt Cemetary is on the rise to bigger and better things.

Straightline – “Keep Your Cool”

“Oh no, is this a straight edge band?” I thought to myself like an asshole after receiving this link for the new album by Straightline. A quick google image search revealed a guy in Suicidal Tendencies hat and RKL shirt. Phew. No way that dude’s sober, unless temporarily ordered by the court. Sobriety, by the way, is cool as hell (I mean, not for me, but for lots of other people). The straight edge trope of hardcore just has too much baggage and endless unintentional buffoonery for me to get into a new band with that schtick. Which Straightline DO NOT have, to be clear. Lots of great classic straight edge hardcore out there that I’m glad exists, some of which is ironically great drinking music. Try putting on Turning Point or Chain of Strength next time you knock a few back and you can thank me later, if you remember. It’s for the best that culture didn’t mix those two things though, punch dancing would be absolute mayhem if everyone was hammered. 

Straightline are from Munich, Germany and have been together in one iteration or another since the late 90s. They definitely borrow their sound from metallic skate punk of that decade, but also bring in elements of crossover thrash and screamo. The album starts out very strong with massive pounding drums (the entire production on this record is HUGE) and chugga-chugga guitars on “Global Frustration”, which is perhaps called that because of how hard it is to remember how to play. Straightline songs have LOTS of parts. The second song “Virus” is even better, and reminds me of when metal guys on YouTube cover old Nintendo songs. If you’re a nerd of a certain age, you know these are some of the greatest songs ever created, so I mean it as a compliment. Seriously, maybe no song in the history of music has consistently delivered me goosebumps on each listen more than the moon theme from Duck Tales for the NES. Late 80s Japanese video game music composition is the fourth genre of music that Straightline master here. 

The album takes an interesting turn on the third track with “Undone”, which is a massively catchy tune that could hang with the best stuff on Leche Con Carne by NUFAN. It’s my favorite song on the album, and the one I go back to the most. Straightline just absolutely crush each of these genres so well that these poppier songs really help to break up the record effectively, rather than sound as if they were awkwardly tacked on. A couple other album highlights are “Shame on You”, and the straight up thrash of “Stood for Something Else”. It’s pretty impressive to have both “Undone” and “Stood for Something Else” on the same record, because they’re both such great and incredibly different songs. 

Straightline have toured as an opening act for Ten Foot Pole, Big Wig, and Satanic Surfers, which makes sense stylistically. Honestly though, they’re better than all of those bands. They also remind me a little bit of label mates One Hidden Frame, especially in song structure and technical ability. Even though I’m not personally a fan of screamo or metal solos, Straightline use and master them well here. I saw some live footage, and they were all wearing shorts on stage (which I am definitely PRO) and jumping in unison. My rule of thumb with bands that scream is that they must be wearing shorts, otherwise it’s lame. Black pants with loops and extra belts and shit? Forget about it, no screaming for you. They also appear to be politically sound, from at least an environmental standpoint, with song titles like “Global Citizens” and “Earth Defenders”, which is cool. Protecting the Earth rules. The other planets fucking suck, from what we know of them. 

If any of this has piqued your musical interest, I should mention that Straightline offer their LP on its own, or as a merch bundle with a skateboard deck. 

–Zack Akenson

Dead End Drive In – A Worthwhile Endeavor

2022 has been, in my opinion, one of the best years for new music since the turn of the century. Especially the last few months, I feel like I keep coming across a new album that just blows me away and I put it on every chance I get. No more NPR and podcasts on the drive across town, too much excellent new music. I’m overwhelmed by it at the moment. I’m a busy man, I have a family. I don’t have time for it. You can imagine my annoyance when I was tasked with reviewing this new Dead End Drive In, put it on, and it just absolutely fucking rips end to end. Goddamn it.

I’m embarrassed to write this review because I like this album so much. It will require some restraint on my part to not make it read like a bad puff piece. I swear I don’t know anyone in this band, nor do I owe them any favors. I keep listening to it trying to find something critical to say that doesn’t make me sound like an idiot, but whatever, I can’t. It’s great. Let me get this over with and tell you why I think so. 

The only thing I know about Dead End Drive In lies within the descriptor on their Bandcamp page, which reads as follows: “Punk band from Vancouver, BC. You know. That one with three guitar players. Gotta shred with existential dread.” This last line describes their sound appropriately. It appears to be their second full length, having also released a CD/digital album in 2018, and an EP in 2016. They don’t seem to have a presence on Discogs, which suggests they’re still a fairly humble outfit. However, their name is also comprised of a bunch of words from other band names, so it’s possible I just overlooked it. Their level of notoriety will change drastically if this record gets into enough ears out there.

The opening track has a sort of Frontier Trust sounding cowpunk vibe to it, and clocks in at 6:23. Pretty fucking bold for a punk band you’ve never heard of. It didn’t catch me first time around, but as I became more familiar with the rest of the album, I’ve really come around to liking it.  Just don’t give up on these guys if you aren’t blown away halfway through track one. It isn’t called “A Worthwhile Endeavor” because it’s a waste of your time. All these songs, many of which double or triple in length from your standard punk fare, are all part of a larger thing. I hate to use the term “concept album”, but this product is best consumed whole. Fast forwarding through the seemingly unremarkable parts would detract from your overall appreciation of the whole thing. Stick with it and you will be rewarded.

By track two things start to open up a little into more of a straightforward punk sound, but there are just so many cool parts, leads, and instrumentation to each song that it’s somewhat misleading to suggest it’s anything less than pleasantly surprising. Overall, I would say they sound like if Jon Kastner (Doughboys) and Tad Kuebler (The Hold Steady) were in Teenage Halloween. I also hear some Darius Koski Swingin Utters. I even have D. Boon written down in my notes here. I can’t quite put my finger on why, but I stand by this reference. This band can really play their instruments, and the more complicated parts positively contribute to the composition rather than coming across as cumbersome and indulgent. The quality of songwriting is just stellar. 

It’s hard to pick favorite songs on complete records like this one, but if pressed I’d say I prefer the back half of the album. Namely, “Dying Breed”,  “Before I Start Noticing”, and “God Forbid You Go off Script”. Nothing on here sounds redundant, and even at 10 tracks in 45 minutes it doesn’t feel overly long. On a couple of occasions I’ve even restarted it from the beginning and listened to it twice all the way through. 

I know people can get lazy buying new music for themselves around the holidays, but don’t sleep on this one. Who cares if it disrupts your album of the year rankings that only 12 people will read? It’s going to disrupt mine, and I’m grateful for it. I need a physical copy of this one, in case any of you haven’t got me a Christmas present yet. 

–Zack Akenson

Photo by Alice Hong

Bar Tape – S/T

If forced to make a wild guess about where and when this album was recorded after a blind listen, you might say somewhere in the Twin Cities around 1995. As it turns out, Bar Tape are currently a band from Dublin, Ireland, but consist entirely of ex-pats from the US. Perhaps because they don’t sound Irish at all, or because my raging ADHD didn’t allow me to digest the final 25% of their Bandcamp header “Bar Tape: Dublin, Ireland”, I assumed they were from Dublin, Ohio. I like to treat every review as a geographical learning opportunity, so I started reading up on the Columbus suburb while listening to these songs. It’s no longer relevant, but that’s where Wendy’s has its headquarters. The depths of Dublin, Ireland’s history is far too heavy to be trivialized by the opening paragraph in an online punk review, so we’ll leave that one alone too. 

I’d be doing Bar Tape a disservice if I didn’t first talk about how excellent the band members’ punk names are. On vocals/guitar we have Cory Hotline, which is a reference to a golden age Simpsons episode that they also sample before one of the songs. On guitar we have Barry Tape. Classic. On drums/vocals we have Colin Sick, which has to be one of the greatest punk names of all time. Lastly, on bass/vocals we have Juvenile Delinquent, which strikes me as funny because there’s no effort in word play whatsoever. 

I’d like to think there’s a fun story here as to why an American punk band moved to Ireland, but the only thing I could find about them aside from the music was a one question interview from Scene Point Blank. In it Cory Hotline says, “I figure if we were around 20 years ago, we’d be more popular. We’re still delighted with the reaction we’ve received from Irish punks/hardcore kids and rockers, despite the lack of local press.” It’s funny to think of this sound as retro now, but I guess it is, and I guess we’re all old. I read somewhere (there will be no footnotes, so please don’t look for them) once where Paddy from D4 talked about how his Ramones were Naked Raygun. That’s the type of pop punk we’re talking about here.  

Any one of Sara Kirsch’s early 90s projects mixed together with Dillinger Four seems like a fair comparison, or maybe Sludgeworth meets Shang-A-Lang. Another old Minneapolis band Man Afraid also comes to mind. Like all those bands, Bar Tape makes sing along punk songs full of hooks that also manage to sound hard. The production is raw, but in a special way an old Ebullition 7″ with a photocopied sleeve is. I wouldn’t say anyone in the band knows how to sing, but nobody is over-fabricating a contrived punk voice to make up for it. The vocalists sound like Sarah Kirsch on those early Pinhead Gunpowder and Fuel records, which I love. Mix that together with the awesome rawness of Shang-A-Lang, the leads of Sludgeworth, and the power of Man Afraid, and you have yourself a record you should probably get your hands on.

–Zack Akenson

Pre-order here: https://distrotable.com/products/bar-tape-s-t-lp

The Amalgamated – True Tone

True Tone is the brand new album from San Diego, CA’s smooth Ska stars, The Amalgamated. Recorded at The After Hours Studio in Ramona, CA by Dub Robot (Brian Wallace). The band says, “We are very proud of the original songs we have written and it is mostly Ska with a few Sweet Rocksteady and Boss Reggae tunes.”

This release provides 12 tracks of, as mentioned, Ska performed by the 10-member ensemble. The sound is heavily influenced by 60s Ska and Jazz with Rocksteady and Reggae influences as well. Musicianship is top notch, as it really has to be to coordinate with that many band members. Vocal delivery is reminiscent of Dr. Ringding, or at times Ansis Purins of Skavoovie and the Epitones, and always smooth. 

Standout tracks include “Is It Wrong” with its Dub style winding out the song, and the amazing horn lines on “Deal With It.” 

I won’t belabor the point here. Do you like Traditional Ska? If you do, please do yourself a favor and check out True Tone, the latest release for The Amalgamated. You won’t be disappointed.

Cheers!
Jerry Actually

Bio:
Formed in 2007 in San Diego, CA, The Amalgamated are an incredible live band that makes everyone dance to up-tempo beats and also get the audience into a groove with light reggae textures. 

Conditions Apply – Rage & Ignorance

I’m listening to Rage & Ignorance, the debut full-length by Montreal punk rockers Conditions Apply. 14 tracks of angry, snotty, riff heavy rock and roll. The band blends a lot of sub-genres into the mix: punk, hardcore, bits of metal. It’s worth your time to check this out.

It’s all you can really ask for in a punk rock record, short catchy songs, great guitar chug, driving rhythm, and vocal snarl that remains articulate. I am a fan, as always, of the trio format. I think it delivers the stripped down, concise nature that drives punk rock, at least the punk that I’m into.

I’ll keep this brief, but seriously check this band out, because Rage & Ignorance is a kick ass album. 

Cheers!
Jerry Actually 

Tracks:
1. Bulletproof Boots 02:09
2. Watching It All Crumble 01:26
3. Consolation Prize 02:41
4. Who’s The Victim 01:34
5. Carrot Meets Sticks 01:49
6. Sketchy Oi! 01:11
7. The Mad Dog 02:04
8. Time To Get Loose 02:36
9. Destroy My Quiet 01:29
10. Of Things 02:00
11. Small Print 01:33
12. Sentimental Fiction 01:52
13. 2 Words 1 Finger 02:00
14. Angry All The Time 01:49

Bio:
Conditions Apply began in 2019. Playing a few shows before the world shut down, the three-piece have been making up for lost time by recording a debut full-length album, shooting a video and making a name for themselves as one of Montreal’s most exciting live punk bands.

Melding hardcore-punk with aspects of oi! and street-punk, adding melody and blistering guitar leads, Conditions Apply have taken different genres and created a sound all their own.

The members started playing and touring in the early 90’s in punk bands Lumpin Proletariat and All The Answers. They’ve continued making music throughout the 2000’s in such bands as Ballast, …And The Saga Continues, Mental Fix and Hard Charger.

After putting out their video single, Bulletproof Boots, Conditions Apply are set to release their debut album Rage & Ignorance on November 22, 2022.

Conditions Apply are raw, angry and passionate.

CF98 – This is Fine

I’m always a little more interested in music when it’s happening in seasonally cold and unfashionable places, so I was pretty excited to receive the link for “This is Fine” and see that CF98 hail from Poland. Proto-punk legend Ian Hunter often spoke of the magic of these parts of the world after touring with Mott the Hoople in the 70s. He noticed that their weekday shows in central parts of Western continents were always packed out with people having a blast, whereas fans often appeared too cool to outwardly enjoy themselves during their more high profile gigs in London, New York, and LA. This was the inspiration for the song “Cleveland Rocks”, which was later covered by Presidents of the United States of America, and became the well known theme song for The Drew Carey Show. Ian referred to Ohio affectionately as “The Poland of America”, making the point that both places were relatively flat and knew how to party. I think what he was getting at was that rock and roll is better when it’s unpretentious and fun, which is something people from these locales are particularly adept at. 

A little Discogs research shows that this is the band’s sixth full length, and that they’ve already been at it nearly 20 years. In every photo of them I’ve come across they appear to be making each other laugh, and genuinely look like old friends. They haven’t run out of ideas for great songs, however, and man are they tight! They have that flawless poppy technical precision that avoids sounding metallic, much like Chad Price era ALL. Albeit with an excellent female vocalist, CF98 sound like a cross between Rad Owl and Vanilla Pod, but comparisons could also be drawn to No Use For a Name in regards to how catchy these songs are. They wouldn’t be out of place stateside on Fat’s roster, or in the UK on Brassneck or Boss Tuneage, both in style and quality of the product. 

The lead off track “Double Sunrise” is one of those songs that not only rips, but also self-references the band, touring, and how much they appreciate what they get to do together. I love songs that do this, much in the same way I enjoy reading autobiographies or watching documentaries about bands I’m interested in. Although on a smaller scale in a song, it gives the listener some buy-in with the characters involved, and ultimately makes you care more about what you’re hearing. Thematically it brings to mind “An Indie Rock Daydream” by Sicko, “Victory Lap” by Riverboat Gamblers, and probably like 50% of all the songs by Bouncing Souls. It’s a great song, and one that’s hard not to put on repeat. 

Thankfully, the album doesn’t let up from there and gives us another 13 rippers over the course of the next half an hour. There really isn’t a skippable track on here, but some other favorites include “Catastrophist”, “Love Is Never Wrong”, and the album closer, “One Day At A Time”. I’d love to get my hands on a physical copy of this one, so here’s to hoping there’s some US distribution. 

–Zack Akenson

Track Listing:
01 – Intro
02 – Double Sunrise
03 – She Doesn’t Like
04 – Catastrophist
05 – Plot Twist
06 – Clever
07 – Better Than Cocaine
08 – Love Is Never Wrong
09 – Sad But True
10 – I’m So Tired
11 – Fuck You
12 – Infinity Stones
13 – Get Old Nicely
14 – One Day At A Time

CF98