2022 Record Reviews
Here are reviews of 10 punk and adjacent releases of 2022.
SLOGAN BOY — 6 TRACK CS Cassette
These drum fills fucking rule. Nothing new though. They did the LEAKING HEAD thing and put an obligatory REAGAN YOUTH cover that outshines any of their originals for some reason, and it’s pretty funny hearing it with those goofy MOTORHEAD/86 MENTALITY vocals.
WARTHOG — Warthog 7”
It’s probably the corniest thing I could do to reference a fucking tweet during a record review but it wasn’t my idea so I have no idea how to credit it in any other form but I saw a tweet by @trustablegenius
I think she’s got the point. Capital H ‘non-punk Hardcore’ and hardcore punk are starting to sound identical. Listen to a SPY record and then listen to a SUBURBAN SCUM record. I guess you could say it’s because breakdowns or heavy mosh tempo changing parts are too fun not to use, and more ‘exciting’ but I think it’s more than that probably. Maybe it’s got something to do with the fact TURNSTILE was on Jimmy Kimmel. I don’t wanna intellectualise it but the billboard graffiti was done by an anarchist named ‘Wombat’, which rules. Remember to donate to the billboard GoFundMe.
Cool record.
SKID CITY — Greetings from Skid City LP
Instantly hated this purely because of the ‘Neil Bramley (Adult Dreams zine)’ liner notes blurb review thing. I don’t believe anyone from Melbourne has the capacity for either “gritty tones” or “remorse of the terminal rager like a partied-out Lemmy meets a lucid Darby Crash.” Good g-d. I think we need to bring back the term ‘try-hard’. The guitarist needs to play for a wedding band. Sometimes it sounds like if ZERO BOYS sucked.
ROSE MERCIE — ¿Kieres Agua? LP
This shit is cool. It really achieves that whole witch thing it’s going for especially in “Regresar”. I don’t particularly care about polyrhythmic trances but it’s fun in this way for the most part, which tends to outshine the less interesting tracks like “Sweet Place” and “Cats and Dogs”. I always want bands like this to just be like MARINE GIRLS and they never are but “La Douceur” kind of reminds me of the production style with the guitar tone and strumming.
CHEWING GUM FOR THE EARS — The Flex LP
One of those hardcore punk records that sounds identical to capital H (this time Boston) hardcore, like I guess that WARTHOG 7”. Very ‘tough guy Hardcore’ or whatever. Apparently it’s meant to sound like the SIEKIERA record Na Wszystkich Frontach Świata, but I don’t hear it. The cover art looks like something Julie Doucet would draw. Great music to get arrested for robbing a liquor store to.
SAVE OUR CHILDREN — Demo Cassette
Straight out of 2006 and there’s a lot of clear JERRY’S KIDS shit going on here which makes sense because every MRR band then was straight out of the 80’s. Also apparently an NFL theme reference in “Bleeding Ground”? (which I don’t know anything about because I’m gay and Jewish). I’ve gotten every opinion I have for this review from a YouTube comments section. The vocals in “Faithful Revenge” make zero sense over the riff.
HEAVEN — Starless Midnight 7”
My favorite Indie Folk band/record name combo. I saw someone say it sounds like the MECHT MENSCH Acceptance EP but again, I don’t hear it and that record is far better. I saw this completely spectacular YouTube comment however.
I dig the dumb nihilism, and also the FLIPPER bass riff on “New Styles Of Pain / Not Homecoming”.
Gripe — Déjame Solo Cassette
A band from Santiago. My favourite track is “What We Do (Middle Class)”. The cover art rocks. The chorus of “(Estás) Bajo Control” sounds exactly like REAGEN YOUTH. Bands love sounding like REAGEN YOUTH in 2022 huh.
ATAQUE SUBLIMINAL — Demo Cassette
Favourite track “Organos Sin Querpo”. Very ‘garage’ with the flange. Members of CHURCH CLOTHES, ABISM, and G.L.O.S.S, the latter of which I have a grudge against because you couldn’t be trans in 2015–2017 without some well-meaning cis girl hitting you with a ‘Do yo like G.LO.S.S.?’. Whatever. It’s cool. The first track “Máquinas Deseantes” is the most interesting with the early 2000s teen comedy opener riff.
Blind Girls — The Weight of Everything LP
Zegema Beach Records? More like Smegma Beach Records. I’ve probably listened to this record more than anything else on the list. Makes me wanna tear my hair out. I like screamo that isn’t up its own ass and incredibly pretentiously Middle Class and Oh So Self-Awarely references Adorno. This is a perfect example of Screamo that doesn’t have all the elements that make it so often insufferable. Definitely one of the best releases this year I think.
