SEITANS – Vegan Nights

Featuring members of The Furies, Seitans are an Italian punk band with a pre-occupation with Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee, Tommy…and vegan food that gave them “the shits”. On this album, they take a classic Ramonescore sound and push it into overdrive, whilst aiming to entertain genre fans with a bunch of tales that involve a lack of animal products, perilous dates, Alice Cooper name checks, purse snatching and picking up a girl in a bar who might or might not be a famous actress.

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MALADROIT – Real Life Super Weirdos

Back in February 2020, just before the world went utterly tits up and various things became far more important than punk rock, French band Maladroit released a great EP entitled ‘Steven Island’. Its four songs blended simple punk hooks with Spielberg obsessed lyrical themes, and although it was all rather silly, it showed off a band that could knock together a catchy tune or three. Obviously, that EP subsequently got lost in the noise, but as with all good music, it’s never too late to check it out retrospectively. You’ll be glad you did.

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PROTON PACKS – The Concept Of Infinity / Psychokenesis

In 2018, Italian punks Proton Packs contributed a couple of tracks to an excellent split EP with fellow Italians The Livermores which acted as a superb primer for both bands. The Livermores had already started to gain traction with their Ramones obsessed sound, but for a lot of people in the UK and the US, that split provided a superb introduction to their space-obsessed friends.

Throughout the tricky years that followed, Proton Packs weren’t especially prolific by “usual” punk band standards, but they trucked on, and their subsequent full length release ‘Paradox’ cemented their obsessions with old Ramones riffs, b movies and cheap sci-fi. It was a great record; however, it still wasn’t enough for them to get the regular name checks alongside The Apers, The Manges and Mega they so deserved.

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DEECRACKS / THE MANGES – Split EP

DeeCRACKS’ 2021 LP ‘Serious Issues’ was by far the best of their career. On that LP, the vocals were still a little too aggressive for their often melodic punk sounds, but the Austrian band’s command of a riff and a catchy hook was still a cut above their earlier work, and a lot of other European punk acts. It was the kind of record that was capable of reminding people that Euro punk was far from dead, and even with DeeCRACKS dropping into some very familiar riffs on occasion, the speed and energy within the material suggested the band had a huge belief in the material.

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THE PIGEON BOYS – Detox/Retox

Following a string of digital singles and an EP, this album by Austrian punks felt a long time coming. Not only because the gradual release of singles built up interest slowly, but also because the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic delayed the planned recording of the bulk of the material. Better late than never, The Pigeon Boys finally released their first full length in the summer of 2022.

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