[engl] After doing a bunch of shows together and releasing two of 2022's best heavy noise records (CASH & God's Country) it was only a matter of time before these monsters of the midwest noise joined forces to pummel you with four new and exclusive tracks!!

[engl] Coward, a Kansas City-based post-hardcore band. The band recorded this 12? EP in Milwaukee, WI, with the help of Shane Hochstetler of Howl Street Recordings, and it was supposed to be the follow-up record to the Coward LP. However, these songs were almost lost forever due to the malfunctioned hard drive. Fortunately, with the help of Element Studios in Kansas City, the EP was discovered and brought back to life. The EP features five instrumental songs that showcase the band’s musical range and versatility. From the dual drumming experimentations, jaw-dropping keyboard leads, themes, harmonies, and melodies to the heavily distorted basslines and various shreds, virtuosities, and improvisations delivered on raging guitars, Coward cleverly blends intricate prog rock with catchy jazz, post-rock, math rock, and post-hardcore textures. Every note beat, and melody is delivered with mindblowing precision and intention, revealing Coward’s technical prowess and commitment to the craft. This exceptional extended play release commences with Annoying Is Half The Battle, a dynamic piece that starts with drum fills but immediately transits into a harmonious collision of powerful riffs, keyboard leads, and moderate beats. The band’s ability to seamlessly blend some of the finest properties of the beforementioned styles goes beyond comprehension so many times during this track, but it’s also vividly hearable on the remainder of this release. Compositions like Working In The Garden, The Thing About January Is, Simon’s Quest, and Heroin Trumpet include many sonic delicacies and rhythmic sequences often delivered in various time signatures, tempos, and other non-standard features. The band bursts with sheer power, dynamics, and mesmerizing ambiance achieved by blending all the abovementioned instruments. Every musician showcases a comprehensive collection of impressive ideas distilled into precise musicianship. The collisions between the keyboard, guitars, and bass are particularly noteworthy, and they flawlessly match everything these drummers have up their sleeves. Thankfully, the band managed to save these recordings because it would be such a shame if these tracks were lost forever. Their EP is a testament to the band’s skill, creativity, and dedication to their craft. Each song is a masterclass in musicianship, showcasing the band’s impressive range of influences and their ability to seamlessly blend different genres and styles. The dual-drummer lineup is a particular highlight, adding depth and complexity to each track while never overwhelming the other instruments. The band’s decision to keep the songs instrumental also allows them to showcase their technical abilities without sacrificing the emotional impact of the music. This self-titled EP comes on a limited one-sided 12 ” vinyl housed in a high-quality cardboard sleeve decorated with eye-peeling ornaments. The black inlay carries a band photo and information about this record. As usual, Expert Work Records have put tremendous effort into the packaging, so prepare yourself for a fantastic audio and visual experience.

[engl] Euphoric melodies and hard grooves clash with scorched tones and unhinged vocals in Cronies' fresh, young take on early '90s vibes. Cronies' bounce and vigor are likely to stoke the fires of old heads who grew up on Rage Against The Machine, Helmet, Butthole Surfers, and Beastie Boys, and will convert fans of current rippers like Turnstile and Show Me The Body. "Classic punked-up, grungy rock that sets aside the dreary attitude and embodies a mood worthy of a skateboard hill bomb in summer with friends. Guitar tones have crunchy textures, drums are positively locomotive in their movement and ceaselessness, and the emotive vocals smack of '90s Beastie Boys when they started using more effects." –Lambgoat "While, their sound may harken back to the noise-punk of the 90’s, their modern spin on these classic sounds puts them right up there with contemporaries in Show Me The Body and Venus Twins. This is a thick, grungy sound that has hints of psychedelia coupled with the use of electronics to further disorient and mess with your head. It packs quite the wallop. Whether the band is going full on raging, or mining the territory somewhere in between, they hit the sweet spot time and time again. This record proves that they are developing into quite the force." –New Noise "Cronies are an exciting new band hailing from New York City... Uplifting melodies, striking grooves, and manic vocals. With a nod to nineties noise rock and post hardcore... channels the spirit of Helmet and Rage Against The Machine among other past greats." –Destroy//Exist

[engl] Crawling out of the deep, dark hole they dug for themselves on Bottom Feeder (2011) and Sweaty Hands (2012), New York City?s premier psychedelic swamp rock unit DeGreaser are set to take an unsuspecting and tepid rock scene by storm. Courtesy of NYC?s Ever/Never Records, Rougher Squalor is DeGreaser 2.0. The band has evolved from their previous caveman dirges into a true power trio, heavy on the muscle and out for blood. Drawing inspiration from classic bands like Blue Cheer, The Groundhogs and Coloured Balls, to outer-limits rock deconstruction reminiscent of the finest Japanese ensembles such as Mainliner and High Rise, DeGreaser are able to satisfy the need to bang your head, and also the desire to immerse said head in glorious waves of wah-wah pedal abuse. The ?squalor? part of the title is no joke, as main ?Greaser Tim Evans ? formerly of noted Aussie band Bird Blobs ? drenches the proceedings in a sheen of speaker-shredding noise that would make the likes of James Williamson sit up and take notice. Anchored by the granite-solid rhythm section of drummer John Coates and bassist Kristian Brenchley (Woman/Ballroom), Evans is free to blast his surroundings with all manner of ear-piercing and ?tickling tones. But let?s not make the mistake of filing Rougher Squalor under the section labeled ?Headcleaners.? There are great songs waiting here for you. Opener ?Words in Your Mouth? establishes the band?s ability to harness melody and write memorable tunes. Straightforward rocker ?Follow Me Down? is a hook-y request to join Evans in the downtown shadows. Tracks like ?Got No Need? and ?Do Me In? come off like Screaming Trees after an acid bath, while fleet-footed rockers like ?You Said? and ?Doorway? get in n? out before you know what hit you. With Rougher Squalor, DeGreaser has staked out their territory and are defending it with the considerable rock power that they can muster.

[engl] Noise rock grime and punk rock exuberance unite on Desperate Living's new EP, SHAME. Wild-eyed vocals and sludgy tones bring to mind the likes of Unsane or Uniform, but a driving beat assures that this is a party, not a funeral. Desperate Living's intensity is more hip-shaking and fist-pumping than it is wrist-slitting; the band's bursts of vitriol and swagger could enrapture a theater full of The Bronx fans and a basement full of AmRep nihilists on the same night. From Philadelphia, PA, Desperate Living consists of four lifelong friends and veterans of such outfits as The Minor Times, Ladder Devils, and Legendary Divorce. Traces of those stellar bands' sounds haunt the mix, but in Desperate Living, vocalist/guitarist Brian Medlin, guitarist Timothy Leo, bassist Scott Signorino, and drummer Jonathan Van Dine have chosen to burn the complexity of past projects and go for a stripped-down, runaway-steamroller approach. Vocalist/guitarist Brian Medlin says the EP's six pummeling songs are connected, with the lyrics exploring "the relationship between shame and truth." Recorded by Mark Watter at Headroom Studios in Philadelphia, SHAME is the band's first release for Reptilian Records. It follows two EPs, New Concrete (2019) and City Sadness (2020), both released digitally on Brutal Panda Records. The cover art was created by Jake Vanderlinde of the band The Cloth (also Reptilian). With a name lifted from a John Waters film, Desperate Living are here to do what they please. "I like that film because it feels like there are absolutely no rules," states guitarist Timothy Leo. "Anything can happen." Reptilian Records will be releasing the new 6-song BLUE VINYL ONE-SIDED 12" EP "SHAME" on Dec.9th so you can take about 20 minutes out of your own complex, adult life to welch on some responsibilities and turn this up VERY fucking loud!

[engl] Destroy All Monsters were a very influential band from Detroit, USA. From 1973 to 1985 they played anti-conformist music with a noisy and arty mix of psychedilic rock & proto punk. The band is known due to involvement of members of MC5 and The Stooges. This vinyl compile the Ron Asheton era of the band, three singles from 1978 & 1979, the catchiest, the rockiest tunes they did!

[engl]  Notes on the theme of YÚ: Combining the English you and Spanish tú, YÚ symbolizes the experience of being stuck between two cultures, struggling to find a sense of legitimacy. It navigates this space and the tension of being pulled in opposite directions – the binary of life: past/future, optimism/pessimism, acceptance/denial, confusion/clarity.

[engl] What do the new Dun Field Three record and a trip to the open sea have in common? You never know what’s coming next. And that’s exactly how you want it. “His Royal Fishness” drives you into post-punky-rocky waters, whips you through, only to glide along again clearly and gently, almost melancholically. Always with a wise feeling that the next abyss is already opening up beneath you. So “Supersurprise” is not only the name of the first song, with this EP you are surprised throughout. And that’s great!

[engl] Gliding in on the twin engine discordant tones we’ve come to love from EXEK comes their new transmission “Advertise Here” Beats bumping up thru a flapping spring reverb Gilded production choices Stripped bass bubbling in the cauldron With each pass of the witch’s ladle, words float in the steam over the cacophonous concoction The coven that croons together slays together With every layer peeling back on our ear’s tongue we will exclaim “wicked” Perhaps their strongest effort yet The twin engines reappear now, tardy Guitar and synthesis, rounded edges, worn and ever so slightly fuzzed out Perfection This LP strives for new lyrical highs in my opinion Pop at an arm’s length Thru a greasy lens A conversation A conversation on drugs A passing comment that sticks an utterance from the death bed Reminiscent of Brian Eno, White Fence, PiL, Full Circle, ESG, all things Geoff Barrows, Eroc, Lard Free, and music of free weirdos everywhere This one is the mossy titled deck of a half submerged shipwreck A green light in a red room A lump of clay The end of the night when you think “perhaps I should have left ages ago” But it’s too late now…you’re in too deep…might as well have one more dance This LP is leaping even further out into the unknown for EXEK A trip indeed Full of hits with zero diss and lots of hiss on no near miss” - John Dwyer

[engl] The Flying Luttenbachers return with yet another aggressive, dissonant, relentless headscratcher. Seven long tracks of rhythm and insanity.

[engl] Roaring out of the gates is the 15th full-length album by no wave/punk jazz/brutal prog iconoclasts The Flying Luttenbachers, led by founding member and main composer Weasel Walter. There's a few special twists this time, friends. The last two albums, "Shattered Dimension" and "Imminent Death", both epic double-length affairs released in 2019, focused on open ended, improvisational approaches more so than heavily structured ones. "Negative Infinity" is a sort of return-to-form in a regard, featuring 6 tightly scripted doses of what they call "Brutal Prog" - the tag Weasel coined in the early 2000s to describe an elite breed of intense, complex bands who emphasised harshness and intensity over the typical prog-rock flutes and fairies positivity. This is prog for THE APOCALYPSE, not your uncle. The merciless opening track sets the tone for the album - "Fury of the Delusion" is a through-composed, neck-snapping whirlwind of a number where an unrelenting, hair-raisingly harmonized line spat forth in unison by saxophone and duel guitars is investigated, turned upside down and transformed into a deadly musical cyborg. Oh yes - the other big surprise is that Weasel doesn't provide his usual hyperactive drumming on this release. The chap has switched to guitar. He feels that it will be easier to drip sweat on the punters that way.That's right. Close your eyes. That's Sam Ospovat on the drums. Doesn't he sound great? We bet you won't even miss the Weez! Dark overlords Tim Dahl (bass) and Matt Nelson (saxophone) return once again and newest member Katie Battistoni plays the other guitar parts. The closing number, "On The Verge Of Destruction" is a monolithic side-long extrapolation off of Albert Ayler's bizarre '66/'67 "marching band on acid" musical suites. The group is shuttled through an exacting sequence of berserk rollercoaster melodies and the whole front line takes turns spewing outrageous solos. The structure coils up the band to release a climactic orgy of noise before the piece goes back to the beginning and winds down. The rest of the tunes may invoke fragant whiffs of old Mayhem sturm und drang, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks sonic terrorism, the jigsaw puzzle logic of the Rock In Opposition bands and, ahem, even '90s Flying Luttenbachers style varsity team punk-jazz ("Demonic Velocities II" appears here as a meta-sequel to the old chestnut first performed by the group as early as 1993). The core tenets of The Flying Luttenbachers remain: Dissonance, Speed, Aggression, Weirdness, Singularity.

[engl] The Flying Luttenbachers’ “Shattered Dimension” is the first offering by the seminal cult band since 2007. The current New York City based version of the group on this recording features stalwart leader and primary composer Weasel Walter on drums, saxophonist Matt Nelson (GRID, Elder Ones), bass guitarist Tim Dahl (Child Abuse, Lydia Lunch) and guitarist Brandon Seabrook.

[engl] “Terror Iridescence” is the 4th full length release by the latter-day, New York City based reincarnation of the seminal Punk Jazz/No Wave/Brutal Prog unit The Flying Luttenbachers, and the 17th album since 1992. After all of this, longtime fans tend to expect notable creative twists to be pulled by the band with each release, and this one will not disappoint. This time around, our heroes have issued forth a boldly abstract haunted-house salvo of dizzying surrealism, loaded with exceptionally bizarre sonic tangents. After 2021’s blistering and compositionally dense “Negative Infinity”, FLs leader Weasel Walter decided to take another tack altogether: Instead of making another rehearsal intensive album of tightly scripted action, “Terror Iridescence” was improvised completely on the spot at Colin Marston’s Menegroth studio in Queens, New York on one day in October 2021. The individual instruments were mic’d up and then, with very little discussion, the ominous 20 –minute long “Meredyth Herold” (named after the obscure actress whose utterly jawdropping and singular performance in the 1990 perverto-noir flick “Singapore Sling” mirrors the morbid chaos of the piece) began to unfold. The main concept was to perform in reference to a click track heard only in the headphones, while Mr. Walter molded the structure in real time, cuing each player in or out and giving pointed suggestions. Once it came down to the mixing phase, it was apparent that this click track was actually an integral part of the composition and had to be included in the final mix, whereas the original idea was to mute it completely. As such, this water torture presence is a major element of continuity -an infinitely rising and falling pulse which sometimes dominates, sometimes recedes, but always reminds us of the inevitable. Beginning with a fuzz-laden bass guitar drone by Tim Dahl, the orchestration strategically morphs and deliberately ebbs and flows in a series of dramatic peaks as various elements are cued in and out. It should be noted that the drum kit and saxophone (played by Sam Ospovat and Matt Nelson, respectively) were both processed live with electronic effects in real-time by the players. What you hear on the record is often a blend of their acoustic sounds and electronic manglings, resulting in a wider, more layered density and tonal palette. It definitely sounds like there’s more than five people playing on this thing, as a result. We assure there isn’t. The guitars on the album were performed by both Weasel Walter and Katie Battistoni, reprising the caustic double-headed skronk assault heard previously on “Negative Infinity”. Is this the Luttenbachers’ DOOM album? Maybe. “Terror Iridescence” is shocking, spacious, linear, dark, sensual and unhurried, all the while maintaining the band’s signature intensity and devotion to stark modernism. Come to think of it, this thing just might evoke the overt deconstruction of 1997’s “Gods of Chaos” (released on Skin Graft) to some fans – this sure ain’t no “rock” record--It’s a cryptic transmission from another dimension. Track two of two, another 20 minute whopper named in tribute to the recently and tragically departed iconoclast, peer, supporter, and close friend of the band, “Tom Smith” begins in a ritualistic, percolating, insectoid sonic jungle landscape punctuated by varied sonic events and aural wraiths. At one point, an onslaught of shattering glass disturbs any possible hypnosis achieved during the introduction. The entire piece is more episodic overall than the preceding track and contains many sections that contrast distinctively with each other. ‘Round about 6 minutes in, a rowdy tutti fanfare of held asymmetrical tone row blasts (alluded to at the very end of “Meredyth Herold”, but blown fully wide open on “Tom Smith”) kicks everything up into a noxious assault cloud, bolstered by volcanic free drumming by Weasel Walter. After several repetitions of this dramatic series of ordered pitches (the closest this record ever gets to a traditional chord progression), a long series of jump cut sequences takes place, allowing the musicians to show off their distinctive and diverse skill sets in various groupings. There are fright-inducing guitar and saxophone solos, pounding drums, macabre electronics, and more. A very deliberate and extreme tension is maintained, but not in a clichéd “free jazz” idiom. The angular, disruptive forms created spontaneously here are brand new, yet obviously belched forth from the good ship Flying Luttenbacher. By the end, the “Terror Iridescence” tone row reappears in different forms and orders, reiterating the material for the sake of subliminal coherence. Often in The Flying Luttenbachers music, the listener may not see the exact logic in what happens, but trust us – it’s there. One might feel it more than comprehend it, and that’s okay. It is guaranteed that the next phase of the band will be something altogether different, but for now, let this bloodcurdling puzzle piece raise the hairs on your neck and make you want to pull the covers over your head. This here record is a good, old-fashioned horror movie in sound. They’re coming to get you, Baaaa-barahhhhhh!!!!