Pye Corner Audio, “Sleep Games” (Ghost Box, 2012)British electronic act updating the bleak, spare minimalism of early sunth-industrial postpunk to reflect the subsequent decades’ developments in electronica, and the shifting topography of the U. K.’s urban wasteland. Riveting stuff.Try 1, 22/14/13
Queers, “A Day Late And A Dollar Short” (Lookout, 1996; original release 1982-94)Raw, scrabbly punk rock from the sticks of small-town New Hampshire, so fast and ferocious in its offend-everyone snot-attack that verges on early HC (with which it was contemporary). Catchy as hell, too. Try A/4, A/6 (sung by a drunk old man who […]
Quilt, “Plaza” (Mexican Summer, 2016)At first, I didn’t think this measured up to the purity/beauty gush of its predecessor, but now it just sounds subtler and deeper. Melodic acid-folksters with a precise, crystalline touch and moments of real otherworldly wonder.Try 4, 7, 104/17/16
Ramatam, “In April Come the Dawning Of The Red Suns” (Atlantic, 1973)From Led Zep’s label, this showcases a similar blend of bloozed out hard rock and faerie-folk elements, as well as one of the best LP titles of all time – a play on the name of virtuoso guitarist April Lawton, a pioneering female axe-hero […]
Joey Ramone, “ .. . ya know?” (BMG, 2012)Second posthumous LP. Considering the guy died ten years ago, this is a surprisingly strong, coherent collection of recordings, the tempos slower than the Ramones but the guitars still gritty, and the singing and songwriting deepening into an odd kind of urban, punk soul music.Try 1, 4, […]
Rayon Face, “This Looks Serious” (Hozac, 2012)Psych-garage-punk from Texas, good, hard, rollicking stuff with a nice drug-party haze enveloping the proceedings.Try 3, 124/30/12
Real Estate, “Days” (Domino, 2011)This is a tricky one for me. I thought their first one was brilliant – raw, bleary, visionary, hypnotic, like the later Velvets disappearing into the woods or the dunes—and eagerly awaited this follow-up. This is more subtle, but less arresting. Unlike the first, the pulse never lets up, but the […]
Real Estate, “Real Estate” (Woodsist, 2009)This really grew on me. These guys play fuzzy/drony/Velvetsoid strum-pop, like the Feelies going berserk at a Kegger, or the Strokes, if you marinated them in battery acid. The thing is, they raise up a genuinely ominous, dynamic rhythm and some seriously imposing sheets of unwashed guitar hiss.Try 1, 2, […]
The Rebel, “The Race Against Time Hots Up” (Junior Aspirin, 2010)Wildly eclectic set that runs through acid-punk, fractured folk-pop, weird narratives set to found-sound cut-ups, and more, but somehow maintains a loping pulse throughout.Try A/2, A/4, A/6, B/3, B/41/29/12
Reptile House, “I Stumble As The Crow Flies” 7”EP (Dischord/Druid Hill, 1985)Mid-‘80s DC band, post-punk/post-harDCore, with a coiled, skittering sound and a chaotic, foreboding mood, like a younger, twitchier Mission of Burma, or Fugazi if they were possessed by the devil. All tracks excellent; best are A/2, B/21/11/11