Eat Skull, “Where’d You Go,” 7” (Volar, 20130)Psych-inflected garage-punk with a smoke-shrouded, spatially scrambled sensibility that should mess up your depth perception quite nicely.Try A/21/23/14
Ebn-Ozn, “AEIOU sometimes Y” (Elektra, 1983)12” single featuring the catchy-as-herpes title track, a frenetically be-bopping pioneer attempt at fusing early-80s electro-pop and hip-hop strains. Try 1/18/16/15
The Chipmunks, “Chipmunk Punk” (Excelsior, 1980)No Crucifucks covers here, and indeed “Chipmunk Skinny-Tie Power Pop And AOR” would have been a more descriptive title, but this is still a genuinely strange and fascinating artifact. For some reason their voices sound creepier than ever on this material.Try A/1, A/ 2, A/4; B/2.4/19/13
Chorusgirl, “Chorusgirl” (Fortuna Pop, 2015)Sparkling, machine-tooled distort-guitar-pop. The general feel is female-fronted Jesus And Mary Chain going melancholy into the Scandinavian night, but what sets this band apart is eerily beautiful songs that have a thrilling tendency to swerve in the opposite direction from what you’re epecting.Try 2, 84/17/16
Christmas, “In Excelsior Dayglo” (Big Time, 1986).This group had connections with Yo La Tengo and Mission of Burma, and this debut recalls the former’s shambling melodic husband/wife Indic Rock filtered through the latter’s angular, percussive attack. An exciting work by a band bursting with ideas.Start with 1/1, ½.11/12/12
The C.I.A. “The C.I.A.” (In The Red, 2018)Not a covert government venture into the cloak-and-dagger world of garage-punk, but rather another Ty Segall side project, and one of the best. As with GØGGS, the key is recruiting a more aggressive singer than him, and here it’s his wife, who wails with exquisite blank alien fury […]
Circle One, “Circle One” (Mass Media, 2010; original release 1983)Absolutely classic L.A. hardcore from the twilight of that scene’s glory years. These guys had a fast, clean, ominously swooping sound, over which great, doomed vocalist John Macias moaned his visions of apocalyptic religion and street violence.Try A/1, B/1, B/2, B/4, B/77/29/14
The Clash, “Give ‘Em Enough Rope” (CBS, 1978)Second LP by U.K. punk’s frontline commandos, this one produced by Blue Oyster Cult impresario Sandy Pearlman, and it does add a concomitant heavy-metal edge, fleshing out the debut’s newsreel style into an action-film panorama of menace.Try 1/ 3, 2/16/18/18
The Clash, “The Clash” (CBS, 1977)Original U.K. version, and an essential punk document. Built-for-speed storming attack, guitars hissing and roaring against one another, shouted vocals like hastily spray-painted slogans.Try 1/3, 1/ 6, 2/2, 2/ 56/18/18
Cloud Nothings, “Turning On” (Carpark, 2010)The Cloud Nothings make music with the sound and feel of garage-punk, but with more complex melodies and structures, vaguely akin to mid-‘60s Beach Boys or Beatles. What sets them apart from and above most other such bands is that the hazy, disorienting aura of their music isn’t just a […]