On their previous two tapes plus a 7", this Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania group exhibited a surprising bit of range and an unpredictable, adventurous energy to their sound alternating between a variety of proto punk-inspired, fuzzed-out garage punk / pub rock stylings and a couple of sprawling space rock jams, the latter kinda reminding me of the explosive early years of The Men. For their first LP now, consolidation and tightening-up appears to be the name of the game. Any remaining slack got excised here, the tunes boiled down into uncompromising detonations of heavily Stooges-, Saints- and Radio Birdman-informed punk purism. As much as i admired the slightly more varied, indulgent, out-there side of this group's previous output, this newest incarnation of their sound, a good bit rougher and tighter, weirdly more polished and rabid at the same time, is the most intense thing we've heard of them so far and in case you've been missing their sprawling zoned-out qualities thus far, the eight minute instrumental closing tune _Glaciers_ has you covered there too! <a href=https://drunkensailorrecords.bandcamp.com/album/mental-illness-children-lp>Mental Illness Children LP by United Stare</a> <a href=https://drunkensailorrecords.bandcamp.com/album/mental-illness-children-lp>Mental Illness Children LP by United Stare</a> <a href=https://drunkensailorrecords.bandcamp.com/album/mental-illness-children-lp>Mental Illness Children LP by United Stare</a> <a href=https://drunkensailorrecords.bandcamp.com/album/mental-illness-children-lp>Mental Illness Children LP by United Stare</a>

Now here's a true mystery band for ya that may well originate from earth's inner core or from Saturn's rings or Bavaria or the _n_ th circle of hell, or maybe i'm just imagining the whole thing i don't know what the fuck is going on here. But in case that shit's actually real, i'll try to describe it as the sort of at best tangentially egg-infused, spaced-out psych punk of the most out-there and deraged breed, the kind you'd imagine being blown through the raptured speaker cone of some ancient haunted AM radio coming alive and blaring away each night in an abandoned shopping mall or hospital building or whatever. Quite appropriately, these broadcasts themselves are about as impenetrable as any old numbers station dispach, probably unrivaled in the 12XU class of '26 in terms of sheer unsettling disorientation as these tunes appear intentionally set-up to catastrophically fail at any moment in unpredictable ways but rather miraculously, the fragile structures holding things in place here, as much as they keep swaying and creaking incessantly, never quite collapse, but rather even expose a good deal of quite catchy garage hooks under their deep layers of grime and fuzz. Though not completely unheard of in our spheres - i'll say Psychal have a number of spiritual peers in the likes of Zoids, Silicon Heartbeat, Corpus Earthling, Mateo Manic or Thee Hearses for example - you've rarely encountered a specimen of this kind going quite as far in its boundless excess of acid rock depravity. <a href=https://psychal.bandcamp.com/album/transmissions>Transmissions by Psychal</a> <a href=https://psychal.bandcamp.com/album/transmissions>Transmissions by Psychal</a> <a href=https://psychal.bandcamp.com/album/transmissions>Transmissions by Psychal</a>

Vague Fugue already had a neat EP out last year even though that one still suffered a bit from a kinda plain production aesthetic which brought out a bit too much of a middle-of-the-road garage dadpunk vibe to fully vibe with me. I dunno, it just didn't feel quite appropriate or flattering to their sound, a stark difference to the muddy LoFi fog of this new tape, which frames their anachronistic mayhem as just the kind of drugged- and fuzzed-out satan worshipping acid rock the first EP already strongly hinted at, but couldn't quite sell. This shit sounds perfect right here and it definitely helps that the underlying song material, while still simple raw and primitive, never drops the ball once and omits any unnecessary noodling around and jam band wankery this time. <a href=https://vaguefugue.bandcamp.com/album/the-annihilation-ritual>The Annihilation Ritual by Vague Fugue</a> <a href=https://vaguefugue.bandcamp.com/album/the-annihilation-ritual>The Annihilation Ritual by Vague Fugue</a> <a href=https://vaguefugue.bandcamp.com/album/the-annihilation-ritual>The Annihilation Ritual by Vague Fugue</a>

This Boston group has six unresistably smelly puddles of oldschool-ish garage punk action for us that fit roughly inbetween the basic parameters of classic Reatard(s), golden-era Liquids and more KBD-inspired shit we've heard from the likes of Freakees and Launcher, with a couple pop-nuggets thrown in that remind me of stuff á la Dark Thoughts or early Vaguess. There's nothing terribly smart or original about it really but the tunes, performances and attitude are just spot-on and whenever i'm craving some basic no-frills catchy garage mayhem, this shit's just gonna fit the bill. <a href=https://lithophones.bandcamp.com/album/lithophones>Lithophones by LITHOPHONES</a> <a href=https://lithophones.bandcamp.com/album/lithophones>Lithophones by LITHOPHONES</a> <a href=https://lithophones.bandcamp.com/album/lithophones>Lithophones by LITHOPHONES</a>

Normally i tend to just skip this kind of a teaser release but it's been a slow summer anyway and this shit coming from a Glasgow, UK group is simply too freaking brilliant to not post here, a massive step up after their already really neat demo from last fall and i simply can't wait till the full 7" containing these two songs drops sometime later this year hopefully, for more of that cleverly conceived and infectiously catchy-and-noisy-as-fuck oldschool hardcore mayhem. <a href=https://attestattest.bandcamp.com/album/2-track-promo>2 TRACK PROMO by ATTEST</a>

Tracklist **Power Pants** We're Only Human **Miniskirt** Liar's Club **Constant Insult** City's Girls **United Stare** I've Been Wronged **Yeps** Bad Luck No Luck **Snarewaves** On The Up **AUT!** DEVO-lution Of An Egg **Pitsss** Exercise **OBI Strip** New A.I O.S **Public Domain** D.S.L. **The UTI’s** Family First **Scaphism** Orange overalls **Cry Cyclops** Fishes and Bread **The Sniffles** Lightning Rod **Sentence** Pest **Jug** Bug Frog **Youth Liberation Front** At Any Cost **God Plutonium** Plug Me In **Funeral Service** Pleas of the Mouth Tracklist **Sweet Cream Ladies** To Be You **Cuticles** Geoffery Palmer **Mesh** Atrophy **Society** No Society **Mop** Mj2x **Leche** I’m Gonna Try Crack **Cel Ray** Chitty Chitty Bang Bang **Sniffany & The Nits** Best of Luck **Haro** Vertiges **Dog Date** And Then What **Temporary Curse** Monochrome **Fifa Kid** Son Bombas **Baby Muffler** I Hate You **Apéro** Tribute To Eels **Kobe Thomas** Crying and Dyin'

South Carolina group The UTI's appear to move ahead blazingly fast recently, already leaving behind the spaced-out psychedelia of their _This Has To Be Hell_ EP and the more quirky, synth-enhanced egg-isms of _Migraine Music_ - both released earlier this year - and make room instead for a much rougher full-band incarnation of their sound in the realm of pleasantly brainless, noisy fuzz punk that doesn't try anything smart or new yet punches way above its weight through the sheer force of ther performance as much as as solid, functional song foundations to their simple but catchy-ass little tunes. <a href=https://theutis.bandcamp.com/album/demo>Demo by The UTI’s</a> <a href=https://theutis.bandcamp.com/album/demo>Demo by The UTI’s</a> <a href=https://theutis.bandcamp.com/album/demo>Demo by The UTI’s</a>

A number of recent releases heavy on re-recorded tunes already hinted that Lansing, Michigan's prolific creators of fuzzed-out noise pop, fuzz- and garage punk miniatures were due for a bit of a sonic overhaul and in keeping with that direction, their newest EP starts out with yet another reimagining - maybe their most drastic one so far - of their old staple _ABV_ , stretching things out and slowing 'em down a bit to better bring out the catchy melodic qualities of the tune without losing any their special magic. This shit still sounds unmistakably like a Snarewaves record, just a gently uncluttered and less hurried one with more breathing room granted by both its performances and production aesthetics. Love it, looking forward to more of it as always! <a href=https://snarewaves.bandcamp.com/album/abv-withdrawals>ABV / WITHDRAWALS by snarewaves</a>

Last Year's _Epoxy River and Super Pool_ LP by this Evesham, New Jersey (presumably one-man-) group was already such a massive leap in quality for them and yet again, they manage to considerably refine their sound on this newest LP, on which they kinda leave behind the late-2000s fuzz punk and noise pop ingredients that dominated that record and lean even more into the oldschool '80s and '90s college- and indie rock-informed sounds ranging from classic Dinosaur Jr. and Sebadoh, Bitch Magnet and early Seam to the likes of Superchunk and Polvo, with just a subtle hint of first and second wave emo thrown in for good measure but also increasing amounts of '80s hardcore-based proto-noise rockers like Flipper, Big Black, Drunks With Guns and No Trend, especially in the final stretch of the record. There's an unpredictable quality and an explosive, uncontainable energy to these tunes, radiating the pure untamed joy of blasting a euphoric and abrasive, larger-than-life and kinda anachronistic type of melodic noise out of your gear that feels pleasantly out-of-place in this era, all of it further thrown deliciously off-balance by the ear-piercing screams that prove this dude still ain't ready to half-ass anything here. <a href=https://windowphase.bandcamp.com/album/rock-and-roll-revolution>Rock and Roll Revolution by Window Phase</a> <a href=https://windowphase.bandcamp.com/album/rock-and-roll-revolution>Rock and Roll Revolution by Window Phase</a> <a href=https://windowphase.bandcamp.com/album/rock-and-roll-revolution>Rock and Roll Revolution by Window Phase</a> <a href=https://windowphase.bandcamp.com/album/rock-and-roll-revolution>Rock and Roll Revolution by Window Phase</a>

Holy fuck, what this Wakefield, UK group is pulling off on their debut EP is pushing so many of the right buttons for me. Rooted in timeless buzzsaw-guitar post punk with more than just a bit of a Big Black edge, this shit also incorporates much of a catchy garage punk immediacy, noise rock sonic assault and relentless hardcore propulsion with plenty of melodic scraps and fragments peppered all throughout. This is so fucking up my alley and reminds me of another crop of UK post punk acts that either predate or avoid the more gentrified nature of the current UK landscape, the closest comparisons i can come up with from the top of my head would be Leeds-based groups Cool Jerks and Coded Marking, but that doesn't tell the whole story either. <a href=https://deathfakers.bandcamp.com/album/2026-demo>2026 Demo by Deathfakers</a> <a href=https://deathfakers.bandcamp.com/album/2026-demo>2026 Demo by Deathfakers</a> <a href=https://deathfakers.bandcamp.com/album/2026-demo>2026 Demo by Deathfakers</a>