JOE 4 – Enola Gay EP

JOE 4 EPWith a band name taken from the US nickname for Russian nuclear tests and an EP named after a famous bomber (as opposed to the poncy and rather smug Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark single from 1980), you could say that Croatian noise rock quartet Joe 4 are a rather angry lot. This, their first English language release – from 2011 – is somewhat of a hidden gem.

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RAY GUN – May The Bridges I Burn Light Your Way EP

Ray Gun cassetteSometimes a release appears and instantly achieves the status of cult classic. Such is the case with the UK’s Ray Gun, whose debut cassette is so brilliantly DIY. In fact, had this band been spawned from Brooklyn, this release would surely have been snapped up by the King Pizza label and Ray Gun would be going head to head with The Rizzos and The Fucktons, such is their retro charm and wanton lo-fi discord.

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THE QUARANTINED – Antiquate Hate EP

quarantined epThree former students from the Musicians Institute of Hollywood, The Quarantined bill themselves as a grunge punk band and on their second EP, the tight musical trio take the listener on a voyage through various sounds dragged back from the nineties into the second half of 2015. Their retro grooves also come with a socio-political eye, though there are times when this comes across as somewhat vague, sometimes more soundbites than truly focused anger. Concentrating purely on their musical talents, however, this EP has a fair amount of enjoyable tunage – especially for those perhaps too young to have appreciated some of the sledgehammer influences the first time around.

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