TØRSÖ
Another blog is in the works (yes, very soon) but here's a long-overdue post of the Best of 2015. A few tweaks from the list I provided to Maximum Rocknroll because there's always some re-evaluation going on. Also, since Retox's "Beneath California" was on Epitaph Records, a label that's on MRR's "verboten" list for some reason, that was left off my list there. On with the show...
******
I’ll be blunt—a good chunk of this year completely sucked. I said the same thing about 2014 but this year was even worse. A close family member was seriously ill earlier this year but, thankfully, she’s recovered 100%. We lost a close friend to cancer in April and some other friends have had health battles, as well. And there were other obstacles, some of them quite serious, to overcome this year. I’m not going to go into any more detail because I prefer to keep a good amount of my private life just that--private. I will say that things have improved a lot the past few months.
As for music, there really
wasn’t any one record or release that stood out from the pack. Lots of very
good records but nothing completely transcendent. Many of the records in this
list could be considered the best but I’ve put everything more or less into
order. Today, anyway. These did all log a fair amount of time on my turntable
and various other listening devices.
1. LA MISMA-Kanizadi (Toxic State, LP)
La Misma draw from the musical well of the Toxic State and
Katorga Works bands--buzzing and pressing ahead at a steady but not-too-slow
clip, adding post-punk touches on some of the songs A pealing and stinging
guitar sound, underpinned by sturdy and versatile bass lines and drumming. High
pitched vocals from Nay Rosario (ex-Eunuch), who sings in Portuguese and
they’re a combination of abrasive and endearing. They do slow it down for each
side's closer, "Martiz e Vidro" and "Afirmacao," with
stick-in-head melodies emerging from each. Great packaging, as you’d expect
from Toxic State.
2. DAWN
OF HUMANS-Slurping At The Cosmos Spine (Toxic State, LP)
Although Dawn of Humans have been around for the better part
of ten years, this is their first full-length. It’s got that same noisy,
spazzed-out, fuzzed-out sound that’s also been utilized by Crazy Spirit (among
others), with the strangled/nasally
vocals. Shuffling, tinny drums and distorted guitar and bass, but varying in
tempo. They slow it down to a dirge for “Grapitudonce of Hinsenctor” (I have no
idea) and “Horse Blind,” the latter having the same feel as a song like Rudimentary Peni’s “Army of Jesus.” Weird and entrancing stuff.
3. CONEHEADS-L.P. 1 (Erste Theke Tonträger, LP)
I’m shortening the very long title, although it does make reference to ripping off DEVO for the sake of extorting money from impressionable midwest internet peoplepunks (that covers most of it). Anyway, the Coneheads play weird ‘n wonderful, minimalist new wave/punk that, indeed, has a pronounced DEVO inspiration, with even-more robotic vocals. It also features my favorite cover version of the year, their take on Talking Heads’ “Psycho Killer.”
4. USA NAILS-No Pleasure (Smalltown America, CD)
Not a US band but a London one. This is their second album and it has a sound that will nail your head to the floor (sorry). Loud and heavy, with huge, ominous riffing that creates a powerful swarm from the outset. There are spacier effects here and there and the occasional Jesus Lizard lurch. A dark and menacing concoction and something you'll want to play at a high volume. Could have come out on Amphetamine Reptile in ’93. That’s meant as a compliment.
5. MINNEAPOLIS URANIUM CLUB-Human Exploration (Fashionable Idiots, 12”)
Or just the Uranium Club—I’ve
seen them referred to by both names. Whatever the case, this band have an offbeat, jabbing sound that
occasionally brings Eddy Current Suppression Ring to mind i.e. a collision of
garage-inspired rock with '77 Wire-y impulses given a modern polish, along with
occasional bracing, hard-charging bursts of punk energy and some industrial
clatter. The lyrics are cheeky but in a dark way--a sinister undertow to what
might be a stalker tale for "The Collector" or the murder ballad of
"The Misadventures Of Prissy Chrissy." By the way, they pull a fast
one by putting fake labels on the record and claiming that it was a mix-up at a
pressing plant in the Czech Republic. They almost had me.
6. G.L.O.S.S.-Girls Living Outside Society’s Shit (demo)
I imagine this demo (which has since been released as a 7” on Nervous Nelly and should have been repressed by now) will be on many year-end lists, as it should be. An onslaught of in-your-face hardcore punk, with equally in-your-face lyrics. Screamed in your face, in fact, by Sadie Switchblade and the overall sentiment for this band is stated in resounding fashion on "Outcast Stomp.” It’s a call to arms for those who have been rejected due to sexual orientation, gender identity or any other "norm" that is forced on people and, frankly, they don't give a fuck about what anyone thinks. I am still kicking myself bigtime for missing their two shows here.
7. HALDOL-s/t (World Gone Mad, 12”)
Haldol started in Nashville, then
guitarist/vocalist Geoff Smith moved to Philly and retooled the lineup. Haldol
have shed the earlier hardcore elements and gone for a dark goth/post-punk
sound. Edgy and powerful songs driven by tribal rhythms, thick, fluid
bass-lines and nightmarish guitar, coming across like a combination of Killing Joke and Part 1, most of it done at a healthy pace.
8. CUNTZ-Force The Zone (Homeless, LP)
“Force The Zone” is this Australian
band’s third album (not counting a live radio broadcast 12”) in just a few
years and it’s the best I’ve heard from them so far. Not that the other ones
sucked or anything but this one seems more focused and has sharper production. Gnarled
‘n jabbing post-punk with a garage-tinged feel, taking some of its inspiration
from X (the Australian one, of course). The earlier releases conjured up
Feedtime and Pissed Jeans to an extent, but that’s largely absent on this disc.
They’re really found their sound here.
9. INSTITUTE-Catharsis (Sacred Bones, LP)
I imagine it’s a sign of a good
record when I can’t get certain melody lines out of my head. That happens with
some of the songs here (as it did with “Salt of the Earth” on their previous
12” and their best song “Giddy Boys”). Mose’s vocals have a slurry flatness and
detachment and it could be a deal-breaker for some but the musicianship is so
strong that it compensates for any reservations. A mainly self-analytical lyrical
bent, save the slowly-building 8 minute closer “Christian Right” (timely, sadly
enough). What they do is so simple—a deceptively-catchy minimalism, percolating
bass and steady drums mixing it up with guitar playing packing melodic nuance,
as well as straight-ahead power.
10. SLUGGA-Parasite/Shaved Heads (Total Punk, 7”)
Just two songs and goddamn I hope
they have more in the pipeline because “Parasite” is one of the best songs I
heard this year. Both songs are snarling and mean and “Parasite” even has a bit
of a hook. I can’t think of the last time I put a 7” with only two tracks in
the top ten. This deserves it.
SOME MORE STUFF I LIKED IN 2015
12”/LP:
CHAIN RANK-Up Against The Wall
(self-released)
L.O.T.I.O.N.- Digital Control And Man's Obsolescence (Toxic
State)
LONGINGS-s/t (Framework)
RETOX-Beneath California (Epitaph)
SUDOR-Ganas De Vomitar (Todo Destruido)
TØRSÖ- Sono Ponta A Morire (Agipunk/Sorry
State)
VAASKA-Todos Contra Todos (Beach Impediment)
VIOLENT REACTION-Marching
On (Revelation)
WOODBOOT-Crime Time (Erste Theke Tonträger)
7”:
BLANK SPELL-s/t (Cruel
Noise/World Gone Mad)
IVY-A Cat’s Cause, No Dog’s Problem (Katorga Works)
LATEX-s/t and Losing Game (Sensual World/World Gone Mad)
LEATHER DADDY-s/t
(Failure Recordings)
MYSTIC INANE-Ode To Joy (Negative Jazz)
NURSE-s/t (Negative Culture)
Q-Recqrd (Lumpy)
SNOB-2nd EP (self-released)
SPLAT-s/t
(Saucepan)
YOUTH BRIGADE-First Demo (Dischord)
DEMOS/TAPES:
ANCIENT FILTH-Eveything In The
Void
CRUDE HUMOR-Jeri’s Grill
FLYKILLS-Squirrel
GROTTO-Pink Sock
ISS-s/t
OAF-III
SUPER UNISON-s/t
KROMOSOM
LIVE:
2X4
ANCIENT FILTH
CHAIN RANK
LOS CRUDOS
INFEST
KROMOSOM
RETOX
SADIST
SAVAGEHEADS
SUDOR
TØRSÖ
TOTAL
FURY
... in loving memory of Chelle
LaBarge (1966 - 2015)
