[engl] The 1984 debut LP from The Landlords has long remained a cult favorite amongst punk+hardcore collectors and those local to the band's hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia. Formed in the Fall of 1983 through a chance encounter at WTJU, the University of Virginia's college radio station, The Landlords soon began practicing in the upper floor duplex apartment of bassist Eddie Jetlag, pissing off the landlord who lived downstairs, and thus earning their name. The Landlords' first show came only a couple of months later at the Plum's Lounge talent show, where the power was cut in the middle of their third song. Soon after, The Landlords became acquainted with the local punk scene in Charlottesville, playing frequently with Lackey Die and Beef People, and regional acts like Death Piggy and Scream. In March 1984, The Landlords headed up to Inner Ear Studios to record their debut LP with Don Zientara. Hey! It's A Teenage House Party! was released later that year on the band's own Catch Trout imprint. While the 21 song LP bears the same vibrant production as early DC hardcore releases, The Landlords' style and approach remains unique to this day. While a firmly-rooted hardcore punk record of the 1980's, tracks like "Nuns In Black Leather" (featuring guest vocals from Dave Smalley of D.Y.S. !), "Termination", and "Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God" hint at the dirgier, noise rock influenced direction the band would later move towards. Singer John Beers and guitarist Charlie Kramer would later go on to found the epic experimental duo, Happy Flowers. Hey! It's A Teenage House Party! has been remastered from the original reels for this reissue, limited to 400 copies. Packaged with a 12 page booklet featuring liner notes, never before seen photos of the band recording the album, and a spread of flyers + zine clippings, plus a digital download that includes 17 bonus tracks recorded just prior to the LP, a few of which never were re-recorded. A definitive edition of this highly underrated and essential document of early American hardcore punk.

[engl] 'Down the Street' is the latest EP from Seattle punks LYSOL, following 2021's 'Soup for My Family'. The four piece lineup of Anthony Gaviria, Xtine Lundberg, Chad Ringo Bucklew, and Noah Earl Fowler waste no time on this EP, with all four tracks clocking in at two minutes or less. Perfectly executed hardcore punk with a touch of Pacific Northwest guitar rock in the mix. LYSOL have yet again kicked down a steamroller of a record that matches their power as a live band.

[engl] As we break free from the days spent at home, and as the vapid live streams begin to dwindle, the desire for a loud, fast, and loose rock'n'roll sound has never been greater. Well look no further folks, LYSOL are more than just a flammable aerosol cleaner, they're the sonic catalyst for destruction. A frequent fixture on the Seattle and Olympia scenes, Lysol have steadily made a name for themselves - not only through a stack of previous singles and demos, but as an exceptional live band. "Soup for My Family", the debut Lysol album, is exactly the moment we've all been waiting for. There's nothing held back in these eleven tracks, not an ounce of bullshit. It's a furious flurry of punk, hardcore, and garage rock. You can practically feel the calloused fingers that created these abrasive guitar licks and powerful rhythm pocket running right up against the most psycho, in-the-red vocals this side of Iggy or Teengenerate. A wailing sax (compliments of former Milk Music-ian Dave Harvey) sends "Soup for My Family" off into the cosmos - and if you can put yourself back together after that, the turntable may as well stay set at 45 so you can flip this sucker over and remember why you fell in love with rock'n'roll in the first place. "Soup for My Family" is packaged in a full color gatefold jacket adorned with the original artwork of Lysol's own Xtine Lundberg, plus lyric insert, download code, and hype sticker.

[engl] "From the same Chicago freaks that brought you TARANTÜLA, CÜLO, and BLEEDING GUMS, comes the debut album from MAN-EATERS. ""Gentle Ballads for the Simple Soul"" sits at the perfect crossroads of ugly '81 LA punk/HC (think ""The Decline"" or ""Hell Comes to Your House"") and glammy mid-70's American hard rock. We're talking high quality stuff like the first albums from KISS or BANG! MAN-EATERS combine the precision and drive of golden era US hardcore/punk with the fluid riffing and driving rhythms of 70's hard rock, perhaps bordering on NWOBHM territory as well. Like a sonic shot of Malört, MAN-EATERS' rugged debut roars out of the gate and sits heavier with each spin. Packaged with heavyweight 24pt. jacket featuring incredible full color original artwork from MAN-EATERS' own Drügface and an 11""x17"" color poster."

[engl] From the great city of Chicago, returning to the limelight after their widely acclaimed debut LP, are none other than the almighty MAN-EATERS. Twelve More Observations on Healthy Living kicks right back into the 70's-inspired hard rock and proto-punk/metal hooks delivered on their debut. Much like the great Annihilation Time, our friends in Man-Eaters have really come into their own on this second album - applying the energy and chops built up from their hardcore days in Cülo into a heavier, louder, and pummeling hard rock equivalent. This is one for the beer drinkers and hell raisers, for the punks and metalheads - a damn fine rock'n'roll album that's fast, loose, and ready to be cranked LOUD!

[engl] What is going on with this German band? There are five members, but Maradudeur plays paper-thin post-punk as if it were a short-scale power trio. Some songs are en français, others auf Deutsch, some English. Mostly, Puissance 4's lack of standard post-punk signifiers just takes me to post-punk's raison d'être: to reconfigure, mutate and spark. Much like Palberta's excellent Palberta 5000, this is very much its own thing. -Lars Gotrich (NPR/Bandcamp) Truly a cool DIY package! Housed in a printed, die-cut DJ sleeve with A3 riso printed outer wrap, insert, and download code.

[engl] 'Svitaye, Palaye' is the third album from the Kyiv, Ukraine post-punk project, Morwan. The album was supposed to be the logical continuation of the previous album 'Zola-Zemlya', which was released in 2020. Initially, when conceiving the album in 2021, it was intended to be lighter, melancholic and somewhat danceable while maintaining the basic sonic style and aesthetics of the previous albums. However, the Russian invasion in Ukraine slowed down the work and made serious changes to the general idea of the album. The main theme of the album is the war. There are no specific stories or descriptions of the events of the war. It's more of an abstract and emotional thing. First impressions, moods or emotions experienced during certain events. Pain of loss, sadness, fear, hatred, anger, and aggression are all part of 'Svitaye, Palaye'.

[engl] The flourishing Eastern European post-punk scene has given way to a boom of dark, rhythmic, and powerful new activity. One of the most original and captivating artists to recently emerge from this scene is Kiev, Ukraine's Morwan. The solo project of Alex Ashtaui, Morwan evolved from an earlier post-punk project, 563 (Pyat'shest'tri). Searching for a new direction, Ashtaui circled back to his half-Ukrainian, half-Arab roots, arriving at the perfect crossroads - a sonic aesthetic informed by both ethic tradition and the familiar territory of dark, driving post-punk. Ashtaui cites additional influence from contemporary Russian groups Utro and Shortparis, as well as the industrial/experimental sounds of Swans. Zola-Zemlya, Morwan's second release, is an exceptionally original piece of work. It is an album that reaches to the furthest corners of post-punk, further revealing a deep connection to the ethnic sounds of both Arabic and Slavic tradition. There is a profound reverence for nature in Morwan's lyrics - as Ashtaui best explains, "The nature in songs acts as a fundamental force, a given from which you cannot escape. With the help of metaphors associated specifically with nature I tell about some of my personal experiences and stories." Zola-Zemlya is equal parts primitive and contemporary, as traditional Middle Eastern instrumentation and structures are woven through driving, modern post-punk rhythms. Morwan's genius shines across all five tracks, a sound both genre-expansive and futuristic.

[engl] "Jerri fell off his moped so we started a band." -Motorbike. From that wreckage, a five piece rock'n'roll group was born. The cast: a familiar gang of Cincinnati players fronted by Welsh expat Jamie Morrison. Motorbike began writing and recording their self-titled full length in 2022 at Jerri's Checkered Flag Studios. The resulting twenty-six minutes make up one of the best r'n'r records to ever come out of the Queen City. Motorbike sound discernably rugged and Midwestern. Loud, guitar-driven punk rock. Yet they can actually play more than three chords! From the hard-driving, rhythmic rush of "Throttle" - to the tuneful power-Brit-pop anthem, "Spring Grove", Motorbike are living life in the fast lane and ruling every last second of it. A perfect ratio of beer drinking to hell raising. The boys execute these nine tracks like a band that's been around for closer to ten years than just ONE! Words can only do so much justice to the sonic caliber of Motorbike and the mileage that their debut full length is going to track well into the future.

[engl] Santa Ana, CA's NASA Space Universe have spent the last decade or so careening wildly through space, both inner and outer, to bring us undeserving scumfucks the most intense, unorthodox hardcore this side of the solar system. Alas, the mighty starship NSU has gone the way of the Challenger Space Shuttle, exploding gloriously upon this, their final launch. What remains, culled from the wreckage, are the ten songs that make up 70 AD, their final EP. Ten scorched, sweat-drenched paeans to paranoia, bad trips, and brute force, an unholy amalgamation of all the disparate strands of punk/hardcore that you dig (be it Japanese/Swedish hardcore, early SST, later SST when everyone was smoking dope and listening to Deep Purple, fringe shit like No Trend, you name it) filtered through the manic mindsets of four literate, completely reprehensible dudes who could give a fuck what you dig. 70 AD eschews the studio sheen of some of their past releases for what could serve as a perfect encapsulation of the NSU live experience, minus the potential for missing teeth and bloodied beaks. Essential listening that serves as both a fitting send off and a stern rebuke to those who slept on this mighty, mighty band of reprobates.

[engl] Expanding on the magnetic, minimalist post-punk frontier first chartered on their 2020 Goner debut, Optic Sink return with their second album, 'Glass Blocks'. Hot on the heels of their recent EP on Spacecase Records, the Memphis trio of Natalie Hoffmann, Ben Bauermeister, and Keith Cooper ventured out to Lawrence, Kansas to record at the home studio of Caufield Schnug (Sweeping Promises). The resulting seven originals and a rendition of LiLiPUT's "A Silver Key Can Open An Iron Lock, Somewhere" define Optic Sink and their remarkable style with a clarity and power seldom realized in a studio setting. Hoffmann and Bauermeister command the high end of the mix with a gamut of perfectly dialed synth and percussive tones while Cooper's bass serves as rhythmic anchor. There's far more to dive into, whether it's the cold, driving beat of "Modelesque" or the minimal, percussive brilliance heard on "Glass Blocks". Perhaps the best part of the formula is the sheer amount of natural energy that gleams through the mix. Like a warm refraction of musical chemistry and originality, Optic Sink have struck gold with 'Glass Blocks'.

[engl] Pleasant Mob are a new Chicago project from the mind of Raidy Hodges (Spread Joy) backed by members of Tobacco City, Glyders, and Fran on this session. The lead cut, 'Irene', is a swirling psychedelic original that rides a familiar path to where Barrett, Ayers, and co. were stretching their minds at the beginning of the 70's. On the flip, Pleasant Mob treat us to a beautiful take on the Strawberry Switchblade classic, 'Trees & Flowers'.

[engl] Second pressing 100 copies on GOLD vinyl. Cleveland's PLEASURE LEFTISTS return with "The Gate", a new ten song album of cathartic, riveting post-punk excellence. The long-running group, comprised of veteran players in the Clevo scene, have turned in what is arguably their best recorded output - and the first since 2015's "The Woods of Heaven". For "The Gate", PL ventured out to Portland, OR in March 2019 to record on tape with Stan Wright (Arctic Flowers) - and the results are massive. Those familiar with previous PL material will immediately feel reacquainted with the group's masterful arrangements and cool, confident execution - a style that draws from the early British post-punk classics on labels like 4AD and Factory Records, but retains an organic, original sound that few contemporary acts harness. While "The Gate" undoubtedly benefits from the best studio sound of any PL release to date, the musicianship is what makes this album feel like an absolutely classic piece of work. The tones are perfect - almost as though Greg Sage dialed them in for a Wipers record. You'll immediately be taken by Haley Morris's vocal range and projection, which shines across the entire album and is absolute next level work. The sheer artistic quality of the songwriting is propelled along in perfect rhythm, as the guitar and bass play off of each other wonderfully, beginning the album with "In Dreams", which sets the tense and urgent nature of the tracks that follow. "The Return" dials the pace back slightly, allowing room for one of Morris's most memorable vocal patterns. As "Phenomenon" emerges from cold drone to begin the second half of the album, it quickly becomes apparent that PL have crafted a master work here. "Dancing in the Dark" could be a lost Homostupids track adapted to PL's sensibilities, followed along by the charging title track, and the gripping closer, "The Sign". Pleasure Leftists leave us with a phenomenal batch of tracks on "The Gate" - a gleaming, timeless piece of work.

[engl] "POWER is - and has been the real deal for quite some time. This single serves not only as a testament to that fact, but showcases two of POWER's best creations yet. Like thunder rips across the sky, the pounding drums on ‘The Fool’ signal the oncoming storm of slashing rock and roll. The single sees POWER explore a side of band which has always been simmering beneath the surface - and it seems the time was right for them to unleash these raw new tunes without holding back. Pure electric guitar damage from this most formidable three-piece. With the ‘The Fool’ cutting a figure which could’ve been found backstage at a show headlined by Venom and The Stooges, the flip, 'Give It All To Me’ displays a range of heavier melodies intoned by 80’s cult groups such as Wicked Lady and Iron Claw. POWER have stayed true to themselves and continued to ride towards to the storm."

[engl] The debut album from Private Lives is a bold proclamation - 'HIT RECORD'. From their humble beginnings as a quarantine bedroom project to the full-fledged rock'n'roll unit they've become, Private Lives set up ten tracks and strike 'em down in one smooth release. Part of the current wave of Montréal underground talent alongside Tha Retail Simps, Hélène Barbier, and Liquid Assets (to name a few) - Private Lives debuted in 2022 with their scorching self-titled EP on Feel It. Those five cuts are stitched into PL's vinyl debut, re-sequenced with new material that finds the four piece at the height of their collective powers. With Jackie Blenkarn's cool and confident vocals riding high in the mix, the group hammer out an impressive debut full length anchored by the strength of "Trust In Me", "Misfortune", and the title track, "Hit Record". There's not a moment of hesitation across these twenty-seven minutes. Whether it's the overarching simplicity of the r'n'r/garage-mined guitars, underlying pop charm, or deeper post-punk melodies - 'HIT RECORD' is both cathartic and familiar - a truly impressive combination of heart-meets-cool. As Private Lives wind the album away in the psychotic build of "Dark Spots", the Quebec quartet leave us with a captivating debut that begs to be spun again and again.

[engl] Five tracks of incredibly vital and hard hitting punk from Montréal! Private Lives morphed from the pandemic bedroom project of husband and wife Chance (guitar) and Jackie (vocals) into a full-fledged band with the addition of Frank (drums) and Josh (bass). Previous projects include Priors, Pale Lips and Lonely Parade. Private Lives stretch their sound from tuneful, straightforward punk to atmospheric post-punk with surfy guitar leads and vibrant vocals right up front in the mix

[engl] After four self-released cassettes, Montréal's premier art-punk/neo-proto-punk band Protruders makes its vinyl debut with a 25-minute 12-inch of very groovy sounds. The sound is a bit clearer and maybe a little beefier—some of the noise gives way to a more relaxed and expansive approach. The psych quotient is higher. But the heart of the band is still beating for the sort of raw open-minded non-generic punk that once came from the likes of Rocket From The Tombs, Swell Maps, Dead Moon, Dancing Cigarettes, etc. “Fruit Hang” has a perfect mid-70s style garage feel—like a Boston pre-punk band tearin’ it up at the Rat! This could be the hit, kidz! Skronky sax gives “Hydrophytol” a kinda Hawkwind/no-wave feel. And dig “No Stone”—a slower one, catchy as hell—I swear it could pass for an outtake from the Saints circa 1978. Solid—another hit! At five minutes, the title track stretches things out a bit. This one has a definite Ubu/Voidoids vibe—nasty angular spazz-punk with a little more sax blat added. Very nice guitar stuff happening here. We get some weirdo HC action on “Stabilizer” and more hot guitar squiggles. “Tax 101” is maybe a “typical” Protruders song—that means good! “Wrong Way Sign,” pushes things over the six-minute mark, with a strong psych-punk feel (Wipers?) and some totally swell rock-jam stuff at the end. Wow. This record is a significant step for the band and an impressive way to start their vinyl career as they gain the higher visibility they deserve. Most excellent! -Eddie Flowers (Vulcher Magazine/The Gizmos)

[engl] Rik and his Pigs return! Three tracks recorded this past summer in Portland at the tail end of the Pigs' West coast tour finds the current six piece lineup tight and ruling as ever. "Blue Jean Queen" kicks thing off in fine fashion with a rocking, Dictators-esque stomp brimming with snarled vocals and crunchy guitar hooks. The Pigs work up a new sax-washed version of "TV Bloopers" to finish off side A, which is backed with the brooding, bass-driven "Off/On". Yet another excellent batch of tracks from your favorite gang of Olympia punks, and a fine companion piece to the upcoming LP on Total Punk. 500 copies housed in a full color textured pocket sleeve with lyric insert.

[engl] The second 7” from RIK AND THE PIGS is finally here, a smoking follow-up to 2015's "Pig Sweat" single on Total Punk. “Life's A Bust” features three new tracks recorded between Rik's time in Portland and his new home base of Olympia, WA. Side A boasts two cuts of completely savage and hook-filled punk – exactly the kind of snot and filth that you'd expect from Rik & Co. On the flip, “Life's A Bust” is a completely different animal, a loose and driving five minute tune featuring incredible guitar work and drumming from Michael Liebman and Corey Rose of Olympia's VEXX. Cut loud at 45RPM by Josh Bonati and housed in a full color glue pocket sleeve, this just might be the ultimate Pigs release to date.

[engl] The debut full length from Melbourne, Australia’s ROMERO is a burst of hard hitting, punk-laced powerpop. Well informed by the classics and every bit as relevant-as-it-is timeless, Turn It On! is a memorable party. An album that captures the vitality of a young band hitting their stride and doing it on their own terms without a single note of indecision. Much in the way that The Undertones, Blondie, and even Big Star debuted with a sense of purpose, ROMERO invite us to eleven tracks of soulful powerpop gold. Sharp production across Turn It On! catapults the impressive guitar work of both Adam Johnstone and Fergus Sinclair to the front of the mix alongside Alanna Oliver’s heart-pounding energy and show-stealing vocal prowess. Anchored by the smooth rhythm pocket of Justin “Murry” Tawil and Dave Johnstone, ROMERO waste no time in showing their hand on the quick-paced album opener ‘Talk About It’ - recalling 80’s powerpop rhapsodies. The title track beckons bodies to the dancefloor with a rich Runaways-like temper that naturally explodes into a fiery guitar solo. Meanwhile ‘Halfway Out The Door’ and ’White Dress’ show off the band’s adept ballad-writing, boasting truly emotional highs, lows and soaring choruses. Those hip to the incredible debut ROMERO single - ‘Honey’ b/w ‘Neapolitan’ (Cool Death, 2020) will be overjoyed to see these relatable anthems recast in the album’s tracklisting. Turn It On! reveals stories of personal striving, restarting, mulling-over the unsaid, resisting control, deteriorating relationships, the emotional throes of uncertainty and celebrating growth through all such experiences. The rollercoaster of life is mirrored by the sonic and lyrical turns ROMERO have crafted into their debut album - a hopeful tonic for whatever you’re going through, and a dose of excitement for what’s to come.

[engl] Direct from Kansas City and encased in a layer of four-track analog glory comes the debut album from Silicone Prairie. You may have enjoyed Ian Teeple in action with Warm Bodies or The Natural Man Band, though Silicone Prairie is where Teeple has been focusing his solo creative energies over the past couple years, culminating in these 13 tracks. A trebly & jittery, landlocked Midwestern punk sound comes into effect straight out of the gate, much in the lineage of Gulcher's 'Red Snerts' comp or the Dow Jones side of 'Hoosier Hysteria' - with a dash of hardcore DEVO or even D.L.I.M.C. thrown in for contemporary spuds. But there's far more to Silicone Prairie - with quantitatively great songwriting and instrumentation bursting any preconceived sub-subgenre bubbles and occupying a kindred creative plain that made just about any Mould, Kirkwood, or Sage composition of the mid-80's oh so delightful & memorable. Heck, there's even a synth-heavy instrumental dedicated to electronic pioneer Patrick Cowley. 'My Life on the Silicone Prairie' dances across the sonic spectrum, from bedroom jangle to basement devolution, carrying big guitars, sharp synthesizers, and a hopeful grin into 2021 and beyond. A carefully crafted debut alive with the kind of creative rock'n'roll energy that simply cannot be quarantined, now or ever.

[engl] Ever since releasing 'My Life on the Silicone Prairie Vol. I' in 2021, Ian Teeple has been riding a creative high. Whether you've noticed his incredible visual art, witnessed the cathartic Silicone Prairie live band, or know Ian as the newest member of Snõõper - his driving, free-spirited energy abounds. Silicone Prairie have transcended landlocked guitar punk/jangle into new realms on Vol. II. The album manages to color outside the lines of genre, blurring worlds of sound together beautifully. Cloudy bedroom pop tangles with fields of flute, warbled tape editing, thick fuzzed guitars, and a sage sense of introversion. 'My Life on the Silicone Prairie Vol. II' is a deeply personal, ethereal ride through the mind of Ian Teeple, joined by friends from Kansas City and abroad. "You can't really listen to Silicone Prairie on record without noticing the laborious production and limber musicianship. Take for one, the way organized horns and muffled jungle beast roars harmoniously make themselves adjacent. Or the polarity of the bass and guitar, the grace of every instrument when it peeps. It has a raw edge though, the idiom and architecture does not impede the visceral, emotional content. It's about form AND heart AND realness, the more rigorous AND open AND boiled down, the more wrenching. It communicates in introspections and outbursts. The vocal can lilt with melancholy only to turn with smug angst within a phrase. For all its forethought, the end result pends until the application of the last stroke. There is nuance and humanity in this, there is aim and aimlessness, side by side and both fully present. Like Ayers or Newell or Stamey. Like Carole King or Abba or Don Mclean in the power pop Olympics, and then closed off and difficult and foaming at the mouth. See: bittersweet folk unknowns, reprobate bedroom glammists, serpentine flight simulators, or synchronized swimmers." - Joe Chamandy (Celluloid Lunch)

[engl] "My first image of Single Bullet Theory was a little oasis of attitude on a flatbed truck in an empty lot in conservative downtown Richmond, Virginia, during a music festival in 1977. I’d had enough of drunken preppies and good ole boys. I wanted a sound to match my mood. Single Bullet Theory was the right band for the moment. They didn’t sound like any band in town. They didn’t look like one either. The lead singer, alternating between guitar and sax, wore his dark hair Prince Valiant style, with a tailored white jacket and a large shiny saxophone pin on his lapel. They absolutely tore it up, and afterwards my ears rang for three days. The band had formed in 1976 from the ashes of Big Naptar, Crossbreed, and X-Breed, bands which had mixed cover songs and originals with a garage, punk feel. Their edgy style matched their origins in the bohemian art school culture of Richmond’s Fan District neighborhood in the 1970s, as a fresh wave of music flowed from New York and England brandishing an aggressive sound with a clever attitude to match. SBT took that sound further – loose, high energy and, with three guitars, loud. They made their name playing free warehouse parties and half-dollar cover shows at local bars. In early 1978 the band played at an art opening party for Andy Warhol at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in the staid heart of Richmond. More than 6,500 people mobbed the place. This was a band that opened for The Patti Smith Group, Talking Heads, and The Stranglers. And toured with The Ramones and The Pretenders. They knew VU’s John Cale and courted him to produce their first record. He couldn’t, one of the near misses that marked the history of a band that could never quite get the right producer or record deal to capture their live sound and place them in the middle of a rock ‘n roll revolution. They recorded the songs on this EP during the late 1970s, about midway through their glorious run, and it captures the band’s energy. These are the first tracks SBT has released since their eponymous LP, issued on Nemperor Records, more than 40 years ago. Single Bullet Theory broke up in 1984. In 1991 they staged one last concert, a reunion show at The Flood Zone in Richmond’s Shockoe Bottom. They ended a giddy, rocking night with “Les Bonnes Chanson,” the good song. These songs, this band, those heady days." - Michael Martz

[engl] Too much so-called psych-punk or acid-punk or whatever boils down sonically to some efx added to a familiar punk/rock format. I’m sorry, but that doesn’t qualify to my ears. On the other hand, this Slump band from Richmond, Virginia, ranks high. Very high. (And so am I.) They’ve been around for about four years now, with the current lineup of Will Fennessey (bass), Tony Nowotarski (Moog/guitar), Nick Yetka (drums), and Suspicious Sonny (vocals/guitar). They self-released a single in 2016 that kinda reminds me of the NYC HC band Kaleidoscope, except there are prominent electronics. They also released an excellent split EP (with True Body) that found them expanding the songs into longer chunks that allow for more freedom to move. And that brings us to their debut LP. Slump has retained the hardcore and sludge, but it would be hard to convince some people that this is punk-rock at all. (It is! And it isn’t!) Let’s mention Hawkwind. The UK space-rock group has become a template for riff-heavy acid-eaters over the past 40 years, and Slump is certainly in that line. It all opens with a riff that resembles the MC5’s “Black to Comm” and quickly descends/ascends into the dirty sky above beneath inside outside us all. Don’t expect an easy ride—this is gonna be a bumpy but very worthwhile trip. “No Utopia”? There’s a sane slogan for modern America. Whatever explicit message (?) may lie here is buried in volume and psychedelic mud. The hardcore urge beats the messenger to death again. I think that’s a good thing myself. Evolve, baby—evolve! Things ROCK on “(Do the) Sonic Sprawl”—conjures up visions of Philip K. Dick and 1980s Sonic Youth and some sorta (r)evolution (no Utopia!). “Throbbing Reverberation” is the shortest track and another rockin’ jam. The title gives a strong clue. Forward-thinking metal fans should dig this. Imagine Voivod with a LOT of noise in the mix. Then things seem to get even darker. “Desire Death Drifter” comes on like 90s Japanese psych rockers White Heaven. And dig that space gurgle. Killer. I think this might be the “hit”! “Electric Dissent” is a militant acid stomp that sounds like a more condensed version of Hawkwind’s “Brainstorm.” At six minutes, “Sensory Cocoon” still manages to be one of the more rippin’ things here—a DMT cannonball hurled through punkspace. “Tension Trance” is another long-ish rocker—great heavy riffs pushing harder and harder into the cosmic slop. It all closes in heavy fashion with “Trip Sitter,” a slow-burnin’ churner that splits apart about halfway through to reveal pure electronic swirl—before the rock rudely interrupts again. Hope ya dig a little bitter in yer sweet. That’s life, man. Killer diller—no filler! Gimme that heavy stoned slouch—gimme some Slump!" —Eddie Flowers, Vulcher/Gizmos/WLSD