[engl] ETT is honored to bring another mindblowing debut LP on your turntable. All the way from Naarm (Melbourne, Australia) we have a unique debut album. Jordan from Pinch Points, Miranda from Dr Sure's Unusual Practice, Tom from Gonzo and Dragnet, Amada from Carpet Burn, Gutter Girls plus Chris and Erik from Hobsons Bay Coast Guard. What do you get when you put these people in one practice room? Yes - CHECKPOINT! This is a no-filler record; every song feels as though it’s been crafted carefully, and explored fully. There is so much to explore here and every listen will make you piece this puzzle even better. It’s pretty damn catchy, and old spiky punks might find themselves nodding along as they grumble. Front to back, DRIFT is like shotgunning a Red Bull. It never slows down, it has some solid punk grit and the speed and style works in the album’s favor. Each track has just enough variation to keep you hungry and the song topics at times will have you questioning if the world will make it! It’s always good to see this loose coalition of bands keep the spirit of 00's garage punk alive and supercharged into the now. I won’t throw around the usual references, but this is the type of attitude that first turned my ear to this style and it’s just getting better. It’s exhilarating, and already leaves me breathless for the next release. It’s music you can’t help but enjoy. I think you are under the impression that this is an album by the amazing band Checkpoint. After purchasing the record and enjoying it, you will be pleasantly surprised to learn that you were correct and you would do it again.

[engl] It's still out there, the spirit of the working class. Maybe not necessarily where Marx had placed him. Today, the saturated middle class with their own home, double garage and annual vacation in Thailand stands on the assembly lines of Ford or BMW. The new working class delivers food under precarious conditions in the service of turbo-capitalism, drives bus night shifts, does the dirty work of a professor on a temporary assistant contract or wipes the butts of dementia sufferers for a little applause from the balconies of the higher earners. So new times, which of course are still the same as they always were. There are “those up there”. And there are the people who keep the store running, who straighten their backs and grit their teeth. And who urgently need a beer in the evening. Because the best place is still at the bar. Somewhere between Birth, School, Work, Death there are blues, sweat and beer. Fits pub rock. Pubrock is the grassroots movement of rock'n'roll. Born in the late 1960s and early 1970s, it brought music back from the oversized stages to the basement clubs and pubs, especially in the English industrial districts, where “workers” were actually still crowding around. Where people drank, laughed and argued. Where the motto was “pub fights, pub gets along” and huge keyboard towers, Mussorgsky adaptations and delicately blown fairy hair were laughed at in never politically correct expressions. Against the then omnipresent mantra of higher!, more complex!, more delicate! Pub rockers used the simplicity of the blues, gut feeling rhythm rumbling, cleaver riffs, brutally fast hooklines and clenched fists raised in the air. If you want, you can interpret pub rock as the anti-thesis to capitalism. Because although essentially “apolitical”, the lack of ambition for “bigger things” alone means the refusal of permanent growth. And what was forced by the oil crisis in the 1970s - the practical end of the suddenly unaffordable touring throughout the country - also meant, conversely, a return to one's own strengths and resources. “Act local” also meant “in the local pub in your neighborhood”. (A rogue who draws parallels to the current crisis of rock musicians, who are losing their tours in droves and who can hardly call themselves professionals anymore, because that would mean that they could somehow make a living from their music.) Back then, pub rock triggered the reboot of rock music, was the necessary initial spark and the stepping stone for punk and everything that came after. Sometimes later eaten by one's own children or swept under the carpet of history and largely forgotten - Kursaal Flyers, Dr. Feelgood, Eddie & The Hotrods, Brinsley Schwarz - but sometimes also matured into a central actor or mentor - Nick Lowe, Joe Strummer, Ian Dury, Elvis Costello. And despite the limited resources, pub rock was anything but provincial, it unhesitatingly usurped and "appropriated" what works in every pub in the world, whether in Connewitz/Saxony or Bozeman/Montana: country casualness, heavy rock depth , tinkling honky-tonk pianos, the fearless musical freedom of a Wurlitzer speaker. Since then, the only thing that has been important is that it has to work. And the people there, on this mini stage with their mini equipment, have to fit. To dirty toilets full of stickers and stupid graffiti, to puddles of beer, unwashed hair, worn out clothes. Even with Schneckenkönich everything seems a bit dirty and greasy; Hair, denim jackets, and anyway the music, which revolves around a few blues patterns and would inevitably be denounced as "authentic", "honest" and "handmade" in the three-part announcements that might be left in the local press. A friend of the band once called it “the finest working-class hippie shit” and that pretty much says it all. The rest is available at the counter in the evening.

[engl] If you think carefully about why Turbonegro, Guitar Wolf, The Dirtbombs, or even the entire Crypt Band catalog are of such authoritative relevance, it can all be traced back to two simple facts. Fact one. They understood their style of playing rock’n’roll. This realization sounds succinct at first, after all, any band would claim this. Only in reality most of them fail miserably. First copying others and then copying themselves is no innovation and just adds another copy to the meter records, no “most authentic” or original equipment helps, because it fails because of the songs. Fact two, and maybe this is the most underestimated factor, is the lack of humor. Without humor, you can’t play good rock’n’roll. Why am I writing this? I have seen the light, THE 50 KAITENZ from Osaka play 60s Punk as I wish it and that in a perfection that makes me dizzy. Alone the transitions from the chorus to the verse are so cleverly placed that you slap your thighs with joy, without being able to speak a single word of Japanese, you catch yourself intoning the songs loudly at an inappropriate room volume and even start to play the obligatory air guitar with pleasure. THE 50 KAITENZ, of course, don’t play pure 60s punk. Similar to Turbonegro, they have devoured 70 years of rock’n’roll history and, not to use the more appropriate word, use it shamelessly for their purposes. Punk, country, garage or beat – everything is scrutinized, distilled, stirred, shaken and stirred again to be unleashed on your auditory canals in irreverent perfection. I’m thrilled by all the tongue-in-cheek quotes, because what comes out of it is probably the most independent thing I’ve heard in the last few years in this hard-working field.

[engl] Spanning a recording career of way over a decade, RED DONS are finally ripe to be compiled. EAST / WEST collects choice cuts from out of print 7"s, compilation tracks and other curiosities. Popular favorite "Ausländer" from their Dirtnap released single of the same name is now finally available again on this LP to be spun into dust.

[engl] RED DONS return with their first record since their 2017 GENOCIDE 7". 4 new songs of their trademark moody PDX melodic punk greatness. Cuing a "The Cast Of Thousands“ era Adverts feel, they continue their path of more matured songwriting in our post pandemic, late stage capitalist nuthouse of a society.

[engl] The AddisababaBand is a 13 piece orchestra from Aarhus that has been rocking dance floors for over a decade with their mix of afrobeat, funk, jazz, a little psychedelic rock and fusion. Of course, they take inspiration from African masters like Ebo Taylor, Fela Kuti and Mulatu Astatke, but as improvisation is the driving force behind the band, they create a whole new world of Ethio jazz. Remastered version limited on 150 copies.

[engl] The AddisababaBand is a 13 piece orchestra from Aarhus that has been rocking dance floors for over a decade with their mix of afrobeat, funk, jazz, a little psychedelic rock and fusion. Of course, they take inspiration from African masters like Ebo Taylor, Fela Kuti and Mulatu Astatke, but as improvisation is the driving force behind the band, they create a whole new world of Ethio jazz. limited on 150 copies.

[engl] Ah, the joy of sadness. Who invented it? The power pop punk rockers from Umeå! This is where this unique combination of melancholy, joy, too much snow and danceable melodies was born after all. It first arrives unsuspiciously and disguised as a simple band from the garage from around the block, but then it's more fun than a buttery croissant in the morning and it is more substantial than a freshly grated cereal. But simple my ass. 6 new songs. I love them all. If you like your punk rock poppy and your sadness hidden behind too much melody, if you like to carry your beer and your heart in cans, Sekunderna's second release on Rockstar Records is more than a rich breakfast. I guess I was hungry when I wrote this.

[engl] Supercrush are back to administer another dose of impossibly infectious guitar pop with their new EP, Melody Maker. The Seattle-based group–led by guitarist/vocalist Mark Palm along with bassist Phil Jones and drummer Allen Trainer–named their latest batch of songs after a simple student model electric guitar and a weekly rock mag of yesteryear. It’s a winking tribute to the rock n roll continuum that the band so lovingly embraces, but also a fitting nod to the band members themselves and the amount of genuine songcraft that goes into making music that sounds so effortlessly catchy. Recorded during the same sessions as Supercrush’s 2020 debut album, SODO Pop, the five songs on Melody Maker are far from throwaway leftovers. Engineered by Jones and longtime collaborator Jackson Long and then mixed by Justin Pizzoferrato, the music on Melody Maker highlights Supercrush’s split personality: equal parts soft sentimentality and loud rock bravado. “When I started doing Supercrush it was a return to my earliest musical interests,” says Palm. “I got into catchy melodic stuff and grunge bands before I even got into punk and extreme music. There was a big alt rock thing happening in eastern Canada when I was growing up, with bands like Sloan and the Doughboys getting played on MuchMusic all the time, so I was exposed to all of that. In my mind any band that’s melodic and guitar-based is fair game to be an influence on Supercrush–from The Beatles, to My Bloody Valentine, to Boston. The closing track, 'Rewind’, especially demonstrates this different approach as it forgoes percussion altogether and utilizes mantra-like lyrical repetition and the juxtaposition of layers of chaotic noise, static, and feedback over a cyclical chord progression to bring this collection to it's cathartic conclusion. Although, upon reaching that conclusion it's likely that the listener will find themselves echoing the lyrical sentiment of the final song: "I just want to start again from the beginning.” Luckily, in this case starting again is as simple as flipping the record and dropping the needle. While not a carbon copy of any one band or scene, the sounds of Supercrush will likely appeal to those with a taste for much of the "alternative" music of the early 1990's, from both North America and the UK. From Brits Swervedriver and Teenage Fanclub, to American counterparts like Sugar and Smashing Pumpkins, and even often overlooked Canadians like The Doughboys and Sloan, the common denominator is meticulously crafted pop gems, something that Supercrush also strives to achieve. Ten blissful, hook-filled, syrupy-fuzz-pop anthems; so classically '90s, yet so now.

[engl] Jaqee's last album with the promising title "Fly High" leads the inclined listener into a sometimes idiosyncratic fermentation of street-ready R'n'B, pop aesthetics, jazz intellect, world music earthiness, chanting Afro soul and sensitivity and softness of classical music and orchestral warmth, which is defined by Jaqee's voice throughout all tracks, but never overridden. Thilo "Teka" Jacks, who produced "Fly High", is looking for musical salvation and the courage to change things up in order to illustrate unity, also in busy, heated, African sub-currents like High Life, but also in European dancefloor stereotypes and even traces of soca and merengue, all of course always only thought of, because the real main actor is and remains Jaqee's sustained singing, her unique intonation and her voice, which sometimes sounds clear and angry, other times fragile and sensitive - that's the way it should be. Despite or precisely because of this immensely expressive character of the album, it is advisable to listen to the work several times: Jaqee makes music with sophistication and expression and a look that also allows for sheer black music entertainment, "Fly High" proves this with lasting effect. "Fly High" is now available on vinyl for the first time. This is a limited advance art edition.Screenprinted by Philipp Janta.

[engl] Berlin City Riot Punk vs London based HC/Streetpunk. 10 Song 10", 300er Auflage.

[engl] The Love is the lovechild of Bob Belmans who after a lifetime in the dark finally takes his place in the spotlight. Like a Shaggy Roy Orbison he seduces you with his silky voice to take you then with him to the dark caverns of nasty garage-rock and deranged 60s soul. Bob Belmans was writing songs anonymously for years in his garden house, just keeping them to himself, until he felt like the time had come out and let the world hear about it. He gathered experienced forces of the Belgian underground around him with a history in bands like El Guapo Stuntteam, The Sha-la-lees, The Sore Losers and JFJ. They went to the mountains and came back two days later with ten songs about love and life, all recorded in one tumultuous weekend. No overdubs, no backing tracks, just catching the honesty and raw energy of the songs, as real as it gets. Being influenced by all things Motown, 70’s New York cool and that classic early rock and roll sound, it all comes together in a guitar driven, straightforward modern day garagerock record. Expect excitement, expect a mess, expect realness, but it won’t be boring and that’s a promise.

[engl] The Sha-La-Lee’s are a belgian/dutch Proto punk/ Garage rock and roll band with former members of El Guapo Stuntteam, the Sore Losers, the Kik and Powervice. Way beyond their teens, close to being deaf, backpains and receding hairlines they are still too dumb to quit... A new album will be released end of May '23 containing 13 songs about the usual shit , love, frustation ,tragedy and lies. Link Wray, The Sonics, Oblivians, Roky Erickson, The Deadly Snakes,Chuck Berry MC5 and Reigning Sound are some of the bands the Sha-La-Lee’s have stolen from. Everything would be said in a nutshell if there wasn't more to it than that. The Sha- La-Lee’s is the logical step after 30 years of experience in the music business. Everyone knows these kitsch films, man/woman from the village goes out into the big world, does business, feels empty, comes back and finds happiness. Even if this image conveyed is wrong, there is an important narrative in it. Happiness needs direct contact. And that's how it is in rock 'n' roll. Big stages help the ego, but they never convey the real idea of rock 'n' roll. Perhaps this thought was the inspiration behind the founding of the Sha-La-Lee’s. The smell of cigarette smoke at the concert, a beer bottle to your lips instead of a half-crushed plastic cup. Conversations after the show with like-minded people instead of the same small business talks in the locked backstage area. It's a guess, but one that's suggested by the sound of the album. This rough form of writing songs, paired with 30 years of band, stage and whatever experience, makes old garage punk hearts swarm. "Garbage Dreams" has something timeless about it, a sound that doesn't pander to anyone, that's what it is - garage punk the way I love it.

[engl] Cancer’ is a rough, melodic rock album emanating the member’s background in hardcore and metal while the band treads new paths towards a more vulnerable expression. An approach that is a natural consequence of the dissolvement, illness and struggle that have marked the band these last years - a struggle which has now resulted in a strong and honest record about survival ‘Cancer’ is produced by Jacob Bredahl and Riverhead, recorded by Tommy Hansen, Tue Madsen and Jacob Bredahl, mastered by Brad Boatright with artwork by Liz Curso. ‘Cancer’ is released on LP/CS/Digital via Sounds of Subterrania April 28th 2023.

[engl] Special Version handmade limited on 50 copies!

[engl] Johnny Notebook is back. In tow the 28th Century Mates. Having emerged from the remnants of the bands Dean Dirg, Toyotas, Metric Eyes and Tetallica, the synth-punk duo Johnny Notebook, rooted in Düsseldorf, Wuppertal and Madrid, releases all their pent-up energy onto society after almost three years. The result is the energetic, driving sound of the new long player Johnny Notebook and the 28th Century Mates. It is played with the proven mixture of the danceable beats of the Roland TR505 drum composer, the catchy cadences of the PolyKorg800 synthesizer, recurring hooklines and a ruthlessly nasal, but no less melodious voice. Influences from genre gods like Devo, Screamers and Aviador Dro are still the unmistakable foundation of Johnny Notebook. 28th Century Mates is also enriched by repeated Italo-Disco elements, for example in the form of overlaying synthesizer melodies through to shorter keyboard solos, which makes the sound a bit more positive and light-lived than on previous Johnny Notebook releases. Lyrically, many of the songs address the sometimes absurd interactions between digital and analog reality and oscillate between nostalgia, sarcasm and fatalism, without sounding even remotely melancholy

[engl] Have you ever wondered what would happen if you start mixing the catchy melodies of ABBA and the sex appeal of Roxette with the heavenly guitar playing of the Marked Men and the attitude of Pippi Longstocking? Well, you should have done that once. Because now Sekunderna's debut album comes as a complete surprise and hits you unprepared in the pit of your stomach and in your heart. This can be dangerous, you are not that young anymore! 12 Power Pop Punk Rock songs with the very best sing-along recipe from Umeå.

[engl] The Tacks‘ self-titled album immediately shines with the band‘s inherent wonderful sound of melancholic joy in darkness in general. The mix of goth, dark wave, post punk and the best of 80s college radio can confidently be subsumed under Dark Punk - if you need something like pigeonholes for it. Glassy guitars, an enchanting voice, bubbling basses and driving melodies to a catchy beat - that‘s The Tacks from Christchurch, NZ.

[engl] Two new garage punk killers from your favorite Danish punk band. In the old fashioned way, two monsters of songs smash everything that gets in their way.

[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] In Germany, there is a word called Gram, which is not so common anymore and describes a persistent, gnawing sorrow. In my quest to put into words the music of "Undreams," the second album from the Stockholm-based three-piece band, this word kept coming to mind. Fascinatingly frozen by the fragile beauty in which the songs are written, the minimalist, unfiltered rawness captivates me and yet always reflects the sound of this brokenness on one's own being like a mirror. "Undreams" comes seven years after the debut album "Cradle of Snake". These seven years have done the band more than good. The dark sound of their songs has nothing in common with the adolescent melancholy of some contemporaries. It is not egocentric or even narcissistic, but and forgive me this word, because it is equally uncommon in this context, caring. He wraps you gently like your favorite blanket on a gray autumn day, gives you soft, flickering light on a nightly walk, he comforts quietly, knowing full well that danger is not banished by a hum, he says the world is not a good place, but we have it in our hands, as long as we stick together, to change that. It may sound presumptuous, but "Undreams" showcases all the skills Mia, Tess and Frankie have acquired over the years in their bands and solo projects. It is an album drawn by life experience, dark, but also powerful, thunderous, energetic. "Undreams" is an album of three women who face life in all its facets. It was recorded, like the previous one, by Stefan Brändström at The Dustward Studio in Stockholm. Snake wanted to get as close as possible to the atmosphere of the rehearsal room and make the album a reflection of what the band heard and felt during rehearsals. "With the power of 'Me Too' in our hearts, we've been working through the album process since the wave in 2017. We think it's a darker album, but also with a glimmer of hope. We've found that we can be strong together, share difficult experiences and use them to make ourselves heard. We address teenage angst, the fear of getting older, love, grief, and the struggle to put the shame and guilt where it belongs."

[engl] SAVAK is a Brooklyn-based post-punk band formed in 2015 by singers/guitarists/songwriters Sohrab Habibion and Michael Jaworski. Drummer Matt Schulz has been the other constant member over the course of 5 LPs, an EP, and multiple 7” singles. To round out their recordings and live performances, SAVAK has welcomed a variety of bass players and other musician-friends on horns, strings and keyboards. From the onset, Habibion and Jaworski's intent has been to give each other space to bring in ideas and to support the other songwriter in the process. Setting aside any notion or formality of there being one “lead singer,” they’ve taken a shared approach, setting aside their egos for the benefit of the song. The band extends this ethos to everything it does, typically taking turns singing songs at shows and sharing an equal number of contributions to each recording. SAVAK’s 5th full-length album, Human Error / Human Delight, will be out April 15th, 2022 on the band’s newly-minted record label, Peculiar Works Music. Like more than a few albums coming out these days, this is the band’s “pandemic record,” which happened to suit the dual-songwriter approach quite well, as Habibion and Jaworski wrote and recorded separately, isolated in quarantine, sharing files back and forth. Whenever the coast seemed clear, they met up with Schulz to add drums and various overdubs. The completed tracks were then handed off to long-time SAVAK producer, and occasional bass player, Geoff Sanoff, for mixing. The album was initially conceived as two separate EP releases, with songs falling under one thematic umbrella or another. Human Error tracks deal with frailty, shared struggles, humility, and self improvement. Human Delight celebrates togetherness, understanding, joy and even hints at transcendence.

[engl] Antigen: Fast anarcho/crust punk from Prague (Czech Republic). This is their follow up to the critically acclaimed debut album Dust and ashes (2020). Think La Fraction and Burning kitchen! Socialstyrelsen: The most promising band from Sweden right now. The harsh vocals, the piercing guitars and the thundering d-beat drumming combined makes this release stand out from the rest. Think Protestera and Massmord and you have sort of an idea on what to expect.