[engl] Debut LP from this Chicago band that is a new iteration of Broken Prayer. If you were a fan of Broken Prayer it’s hard to imagine how you wouldn’t be on board with Droid’s Blood, since they rely on a similar combination of noisy hardcore and whirring synth topped with Scott Plant’s trademark topical lyrics and distinctive vocals. Since 2016 Plant has been fronting Droids Blood, whose lineup also includes Broken Prayer drummer Nick Donahue. On their new self-titled tape, they vary the tempos more and even add some borderline poppy hooks, but there's also lots of grimy, slightly industrial synth gunk and bass murk—"Unreality" sounds deranged in the best possible way. "As a rush of drums introduces Droids Blood’s debut album Be Free, you might think you know what to expect. Maybe some snappily energetic powerpop in the vein of The Marked Men, or even some Uranium Club-styed post-garage oddball punk? As the guitars kick in, however, all your preconceptions are reduced to rubble; smashed to dust and debris by a singularly powerful wrecking ball of chaos and darkness. Something immediately goes very wrong – and it feels so fkn right. This album was initially self-released on cassette by the band, earlier this year in their hometown of Chicago. Featuring vocalist Scott Plant and drummer Nick Donahue – formerly of that city’s pleasingly gnarly synth-punx Broken Prayer, whose sole album was titled Misanthropocentric A.K.A. Droid's Blood, funnily enough – they make a whirling racket of post-punk noise, goth soundscape and beautifully bleak frustration illustrating the narrow line between aggression and desperation. If dystopia was a sound, it’d be this one. “Another world is possible / It’s possible, but how so?” growls Plant on the vitally urgent Capable, and it’ll make you wanna throw your Protomartyr records in the bin before hosting a ceremonial burning with a deathrock soundtrack. Familiar names will come up when you’re listening – Joy Division, Bauhaus, Iceage when they were good, Clan of Xymox in a brick fight, etc etc – and they out-pace and out-intense ‘em all. But ultimately Droids Blood uphold the fine traditions of all their city’s best punk by sounding like no one other than themselves. Just buy it, FFS." Will Fitzpatrick.

[engl] Formed in 2007 in Lisbon (Portugal), dSCi are a band with a curriculum as intense as their music, a unique blend of noise-rock, post-rock, post-punk and free-jazz that can be described as urgent, energetic and fierce or as once someone put it: “like a mix of Black Flag and Soft Machine”.?After having celebrated their 15th anniversary in May, dUASsEMIcOLCHEIASiNVERTIDAS – dSCi are preparing the release of their new record “?“, which will soon be out through Associação Terapêutica do Ruído – ATR (their siamese entity which is dedicated to promoting DIY concerts and to releasing and distributing records), together with the labels Bar Marfil Records, Experimentáculo Records, Gaffer Records, Lepers Produtcions, Neonparalleli, Red Wig, TECNOFOSSIL and Wallace Records.?The 5-track EP includes the vocal participations of G.W. Sok (the ex-singer of The Ex and many other bands and projects).

[engl] This is Dumspell, a post-punk band coming from Hattiesburg, Mississippi. I was pretty quickly swooned by the somber, fuzzy and reverb-heavy tunes, and oddly lethargic-yet-melodic songs. Tracks like "Cowboy" or "Spin" drone on with tantalizing monotony, drilling it's fantastic riffs, uninterested vocals, and refreshing bass n' drums into your earholes. I don't know what this Hattiesburg post-punk group has been up to since the release of their debut tape way back in 2015, but if the eleven songs they dropped on this 12" this year are any sort of clue, I'd say it's probably great, GREAT things. An LP full of songs that will make you feel instantly comfortable - you might have seen this movie, you've just never seen it acted quite this well, and the production this time around is sheer perfection. You are welcome to dismiss this as some more of that melodic punk that you are too cool to admit that you like, but you would be a fool. I can only hope that they've got more stuff coming down the pipeline, because they've only heightened my opinion of their work by releasing new songs that are just as memorable as their steller demo -- and that's saying a LOT. Cool punk for sad people, check it.

[engl] 10 inch Vinyl Limited 300 copies. Black Vinyl, Lyric sheet. The Eastie Ro!s strike back with the dead John Peel in their luggage. Six new tracks, ripe for harvest in March 2019, were recorded in the best prefabricated concrete slab building in Berlin on the best tape material on 8 best tracks. After 3 days everything was in the box. So the songs come out of one piece, one session. Mood and lyrics fit together and this time they don't give any reason for joy, but are a merciless slap in the face. The absurd reality meets cold riffs and for the first time also minor tones can be heard. Drums and bass set the tempo powerfully, with the bass being played for the first time by the new bassist Jacke. The songs are powerful, authentic and perhaps for some people they manage to reflect the mood of the times. Recorded by Zomber, mixed by Eastie Ro!s with Thomas Götz, mastered by Daniel Husayn.

[engl] Helsinki based indie rockers Echo Is Your Love have reached the respectable age of 12 years and shifted from its early dreamy drone noise to tight post-punkish pop. While the guitars still echo the band’s early influences, the 80´s and 90´s American indie and punk, the songs are now actually carried by the perfect pop melodies and vocals that could be off any classic pop record. This makes the band so unique - live it thrashes as loud as any indie-punk band that has its roots deep in the arty side of punk but the songs have so many sides that when put on record they are the perfect pop music for today’s angsty youth. Heart Fake, the band’s 5th longplay, has gained only praising reviews in the Finnish media. Echo Is Your Love might remain as the best kept secret of the Finnish music scene but as long as Heart Fake and its golden songs of hearts, music and love is out there for everyone’s enjoyment the world is a better plac

[engl] On this third album, named III to avoid any confusion, Electric Electric pushes radically further what they started on Discipline. They go straight to what really interests them: repetition, Sound with capital S, ambient, opression. It's cold and terrifying, but you can somehow believe that the voice is there to guide you through the journey. You better dance all the way, it's the last chance you got before the totalitarian night.

[engl] ENDLESS COLUMN started in 2010 when Doug Burns (OBSERVERS,RED DONS) moved to Chicago and started writing music with David Wolf (DAYLIGHT ROBBERY). The project quickly evolved into a band with the additions of Eric Watts, Jimmy Hollywood (TYRADES) and later Kevin Goggin (BUSY SIGNALS) who replaced Hollywood in the line-up. They deliver rocking lo-fi garagerock with surfy undertones. These ten songs are like all songs Doug Burns is involved in, unique catchy and memorable as possible. There are bands that are content to sit within a pigeonhole and there are bands that diligently push against the edges, rebelling against expectations to find a sound all their own. The tune, at its core a smart bit of minor chord pop, is rife with echoes of time past and present—a bit of lofi garage punk here, some surf there, darkness, and the ubiquitous, insistent thud in the drums—rearranged and repurposed so that all are present but none overwhelms another. The remaining tunes follow along the same lines, each familiar yet retaining its own sound. The whole? A gritty-yet-tasty selection from a band that continues to wow with each successive release. Endless Column deliver ten songs of surfy, dark, crude and moody lofi garage punk on their debut LP. And if you have any sense about great music, you will not drop this LP from your turntable until you can sing every word along!

[engl] Newest release by Portland, OR post punk 3 piece The Estranged. Two “new” tracks recorded back in 2013 before their recent hiatus. This ep was scheduled to be released to coincide with their Australia/New Zealand tour in 2014 but for various reasons never came out. The first song, “Frozen Fingers” is a textured post-punk track with a constant ebb and flow like an upbeat version of something off a Nick Cave and the bad seeds or Echo and the Bunnymen album. With the climax coming via a farfisa lead that brings to mind some of the classic 60’s garage bands. The heavy 60’s rock influence continuing on the flip side with their cover of “World of Birds” by Dutch legends Q65. Their own take on this somber and depressing classic coming with some added distortion among other things that is guaranteed to give you chills. Finally back from their 3 year “break”. This ep is set to be released for their upcoming European tour (spring ’18) released in Europe by Sabotage and in the US by Black Water.

[engl] "The Most Brilliant Man Alive" EP is the debut release from Vincent Buchanan Simpson who usually is in bands like Kitchen People, Hideous Sun Demon and more. Eugh started as a one-man recording project beacuse of the pandemic and the idea he got from one of his bands doing an all Devo cover set where he realised he loved that kind of music.

[engl] On the tail of their excellent breakout 2nd LP "Midnight Passenger" on Goner Records, we have a brand new batch of bruisers from Ex-Cult, the Memphis-based punk cyclone that no doubt has laid waste to a town near you recently. Chris Shaw lends a sneering, spitting toughness to the proceedings while the band flays riffs in loose, hairy mosh inducing menace behind him, touching on post-punk, psych sprawl, and early 80s hardcore while remaining beholden to none. They have the power to convert even the most jaded and bored concertgoer into a sweaty mess in the pit, I’ve seen it first hand… punks, scene rats, skaters, skinheads, hardcore kids, druggies - so many disparate groups dig this band it’s like an MRR cartoon waiting to happen. This too-short collection of adrenal-enhancers are road warriors already - the title track’s chants of “trou-ble-finds-me” immediately transports me back to their packed and stanky show at The Smell every time I put the record on - the only problem with this sterling batch of sluggers is that it’s over too quick.

[engl] "A weird trip of a band…the second this was playing I was immediately hooked. I initially dove in because their name was attached to Mikey Young for mastering (I have a rule with Mikey…if he had his hands on it, it’s probably worth a listen) This band exceeds in all my trials. Esoteric nature, but oddly poppy and ready to prick up any ears out there. Deconstructed, but full of hooks. If I were a lazy man, and I am, I would say its for fans of PiL, but they transcend that pigeon-hole. Wonderful production lends its self to this unique LP. It seems as if the room expands and contracts throughout songs. Pulling away, then blocking your field of vision entirely. Wasteland Funk. Dub from the depths. Punk from the pit. Even the instrumentation is worth mentioning: Saxophone, Drums (and cut up drums), Guitar, Synthesizer, Vocals (poetry) and general fuckery all combine to make this a very interesting and worthwhile escape from the average. And thank the Gods for that right now. Inspired and desired by the active mind. A job well done by EXEK, and there’s new stuff brewing too... For fans of BEAK>, Phantom Band, PIL & general Jah Wobbleness, Magazine, Short wave radio, ESG and underground Kraut” - John Dwyer

[engl] From Melbourne Australia, EXEK are proud to unveil their third album, “Some Beautiful Species Left”. It has been released on SDZ (Europe), Digital Regress (USA), and Anti-Fade (Aus). Like their previous releases, SBSL is the cultivation of numerous edits and overdubs, where once again EXEK subscribe to Brian Eno’s philosophy of the studio as an instrument. This MO allows the songwriting process to develop simultaneously alongside the recording process, whilst privileging greater sonic control. Post punk is perhaps the easiest way to categorise the music. Firstly, because they’re post modern, and secondly because their music contains the defiance inherent within punk. But EXEK's music also contain elements of dub production, Classical arrangements, hip hop and krautrock rhythms, and the use of kitchen appliances as instruments. The result is a record that is difficult to pigeon hole...somewhere between Swell Maps, This Heat and ESG.

[engl] From the dank warehouse recesses that brought us Useless Eaters and Dry Erase, may we introduce Exit Group - sharply futuristic post-punk with a pissed-off lean, antisocial lyrics spit over an abnormally locked-in guitar bass drums triangle, wound up tighter than a Swiss watch. Post-everything sample tweakery and chrome-dipped guitar tonality lend a darkly robotic sheen, abraded riffs pop up everywhere but where you think they should be, clanging and clanking inhumanly around elaborate Rube Goldberg patterns, tessellating under flickering municipal neon. Bone-dry furious, turning on a dime just to slap the drink out of your hand. “A thrilling disaster I can’t wait to witness first hand” - Marc Riley “A great record from start to finish! Smart and perfectly abrasive” -Henry Rollins