MEMORY IN PLANT – An Epic Triumph EP

epic triumph epRarely content to settle, the sounds on this debut EP from Tel Aviv based avant-garde collective Memory In Plant are almost as surreal as their choice of sleeve art.  Their music is spasmodic, electric and occasionally just wilfully difficult.  That’s not to say for those of a certain disposition it won’t have entertainment value – in between the jump cuts and experimentation, pieces of great music creep through the cracks – but ‘An Epic Triumph’ is not always the easiest listen.

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CAFFIENDS – Heebee GBs EP

caffiendsOrlando’s Caffiends play good, raucous punk that’s strongly influenced by early Screeching Weasel, The Vindictives and NOFX.  Since their formation, they’ve issued several EPs and shared stages with The Ataris, The Queers, Swingin’ Utters, Teenage Bottlerocket and numerous other top bands.  2014 saw the release of a sixteen track full-length release reissuing a bunch of out of print tunes, so for those who’ve yet to experience the band that record is an excellent way to catch up.

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THROUGH THORN AND BRIER – Good Grief EP

TTaBThrough Thorn and Brier is a band made up of four musicians from New Jersey who claim their key influences and interests are “pizza” and “filth”. Although billed as crust/hardcore punk, their music rarely takes the speedy grindcore or powerviolence route of their closer contemporaries.  Where most are content with thrashing out minute long bursts of noise paying homage to the likes of Discharge and F-Minus, Through Thorn and Brier take far longer to get their point across, preferring instead to throw down long, grinding metallic riffs, served up with a slightly raw garage punk production value.  On this EP, the mix of styles serves them well.

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¡VAMANOS! – EP

vamanosAs blusterous as Jon Spencer’s Blues Explosion yet accessible in their slide guitar fixated approach, The Dead Exs were just one of many blues duos to take the stage in the wake of The White Stripes’ popularity. Their debut release ‘Ressurection’ was raw yet focused…possessing power and groove, in short, everything garage blues should be.   If The Dead Exs channelled the power and charm of the Blues Explosion’s classic work, then King Pizza signings ¡Vamanos! are almost the ugly Pussy Galore by default – their brand of garage blues making all but the very rawest noisemakers sound like major label puppets.

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