Sometime around 1992/93, after the rise of alternative rock and before the death of Kurt Cobain, there was a sweet spot in the pop-culture landscape for DIY punk, noise rock and the many permutations of lo-fi pop. There was Shimmy Disc, the documentary “The Year Punk Broke”, and the movie slackers. Zines and indie labels celebrated… Continue reading Crayon at Dublab
Author: mike
The Primitives at Big Takeover
Triumphantly returning after their 1992 demise, Coventry, UK’s The Primitives deliver their first full-length of original songs in twenty-two years. Spin-O-Rama finds the band in top form, stripping down to the bare essentials that made the band so great in the first place. Taking a step away from the noisy Jesus and Mary Chain/Ramones attack of their earlier… Continue reading The Primitives at Big Takeover
Throwing Muses at Big Takeover
A whole year after its initial release as book and CD, Throwing Muses’ epic ninth studio album finally sees a proper vinyl release. While not as extensively packaged as the CD, this LP version of Purgatory/Paradiseserves as an exquisite companion to it for those who prefer their music on 12” plastic rather than compact discs. Musically,… Continue reading Throwing Muses at Big Takeover
Emotional Response at Linear Tracking Lives
If you’ve ever heard Sarah 076, “B Is For Boyracer,” then you know this 7″ was not the usual sound that made the label famous. Famous? Point is, Boyracer was anything but submissive, and the lads leaned a little more punk than pop. There were a couple of more Sarah singles and a wonderful full-length… Continue reading Emotional Response at Linear Tracking Lives
Hobbes Fanclub at The Tipping Point
‘Stay Gold’ is the second song from the long overdue debut LP from The Hobbes Fanclub ‘Up At Lagrange’, and it’s accompanying video is perhaps a perfect companion for this Bradford trio’s sound. The video is grainy, hand held holiday footage the band took in Paris, and has that perfect home movie sense of nostalgia, familiarity and a warm fuzzy… Continue reading Hobbes Fanclub at The Tipping Point
The Black Watch at Big Takeover (print)
One of Jack Rabid’s top picks in the latest print edition: John Andrew Fredrick intends this as the final tBW LP, which is understandable on a commercial, not artistic level. Perhaps the even dozen he’s eked out to negligible notice since 1988 with various LA lineups will become cult/collector crazes someday hence; whatever, let’s salute… Continue reading The Black Watch at Big Takeover (print)
Close Lobsters at Big Takeover (print)
Somewhat overlooked during their initial run during the late 80s, Glasgow’s Close Lobsters mined the same vein of jangly, frenetic C86 guitar pop as many of their fellow countrymen. They recorded just two albums, Foxheads Stalk This Land (1987) and Headache Rhetoric (1989), before calling it a day, but fortunately, they’ve regrouped and now issued their… Continue reading Close Lobsters at Big Takeover (print)
Joanna Gruesome at Big Takeover (print)
JG are a bunch of hardcore kids who grew up and decided to play indie pop. That might be an overly simplistic description, but sonically its pretty accurate. Their tracks on this split, the Gruesomes’ first post-Werid Sister release, finds them toning down their aggressive side and focusing more on the sugarysweetness with bubbly, hook-laden… Continue reading Joanna Gruesome at Big Takeover (print)
Tunabunny at Dynamite Hemorrhage
Previous Tunabunny albums have always been marked by the occasional detours away from their Pylon-accented noise-pop blueprint & into more experimental sound collage territory, but on Kingdom Technology, they’ve fully given themselves over to those once-brief shortcuts toward non-linearity & the off-kilter sound glitches resulting from their choice to record this latest LP on an… Continue reading Tunabunny at Dynamite Hemorrhage
Joanna Gruesome at Dynamite Hemorrhage
UK noise-pop battle royale of sorts with three songs each from Joanna Gruesome (Cardiff) & Trust Fund (Bristol). Joanna Gruesome continue to display more than a passing familiarity with the early 90s Slumberland Records catalog, mixing syrupy sweet female vocals with blasts of mega-fuzzed guitar much like Velocity Girl or Black Tambourine before them on “Coffee… Continue reading Joanna Gruesome at Dynamite Hemorrhage