by David Wilikofsky
In a world of information overload, how can you reliably discover great new music? For us, the answer is record labels. Great labels act as a stamp of quality; for the best, any album they put out is well worth your time. Labels need our support now more than ever, so if you like what you hear please head over to their site and order some music!
Maximum Rocknroll is an institution. Since the 80’s, the Bay Area based zine has been covering the global DIY underground with an independence and dedication that mainstream publications cannot claim. I would be lying if I said that it didn’t exert some influence on the ethos of this very site. When I lived in the Bay Area I would pick up hard copies from Thrillhouse Records or one of the other remaining independent record stores that hadn’t succumbed to tech gentrification. Grace Ambrose, the founder and head of Thrilling Living, was one of the people coordinating Maximum Rocknroll’s production and distribution during that time. Thrilling Living’s curatorial viewpoint feels like a natural extension of that publication: punk, loud and fast, with an “emphasis on wild feminist sounds”. Now based out of Kansas City, their slim but growing discography is a snapshot of the modern national and international DIY underground. Check out our picks below, and then head over to their site or Bandcamp to explore their entire catalog
(Note: I’ve opted not to feature their most recent release, Special Interest’s The Passion Of, because we’ve already written about it multiple times of the site; that album is one of the year’s best so far)
SHAME JOB | BB AND THE BLIPS Bryony Beynon was a member of Good Throb, a London based band that put out one of the best punk albums of the last decade before quietly disbanding. Following their demise, Beynon moved to Australia and started the equally great BB and the Blips. Where Good Throb was angular and knotty, BB and the Blips have a more straight ahead classic punk sound. On their debut LP, the group dissects shame in various forms and across different contexts. This sounds like heady material, but this album is a blast. The band sounds like a modern day X-Ray Spex with BB playing the part of Poly Styrene.
“12 | GSP gSp (the name stands for “girlSperm”) has impeccable punk credentials. Toby Vail was one of the founding members of Bikini Kill, while other members have played in Stillsuit, Mozart, and many more groups. In some places you get hints of Vail’s riot grrl roots. “I’m Supposed To Be Alone” could easily be a long lost Sleater-Kinney jam with its call and response vocal patterns and nervy energy. However, the album is much more than pastiche; gSp warp those familiar sounds into something much more dissonant and twitchy than classic riot grrl. Word is that they have a new LP on the way, which can’t come soon enough.
EP | CB RADIO GORGEOUS A Chicago supergroup of sorts (members have played in Coughs, Negative Scanner, Forced Into Femininity and more), CB Radio Gorgeous’ EP provides a short burst of punk energy. Although the four tracks stretch only eight minutes, that’s all the band needs to leave an impression. It’s the kind of music that would sound best in a cramped venue with a crazed mosh pit raging throughout the entire set. While it will be some time before we get that experience again, the careening hooks and impassioned vocals on EP will help tide you over.
MUSIC FOR DONUTS | JUDY AND THE JERKS While doing research for this piece I was surprised to learn that Hattiesberg, MS, home to Judy and the Jerks, is a hub of punk music in the American South. After listening to this brief EP, I want to find out more about the scene. Judy and the Jerks play hardcore with an irreverent streak. Opener “Butter” features the band chanting the titular word over and over, along with the lyrics “I can’t hold onto anything / That’s why I’m a butterhands”. “Lard” and “Gum”, two other songs named for food, both have similar structure and punchlines. The songs may be simple, but their brevity ensures the jokes never wear thin. Listening to Judy and the Jerks may be the most fun you have all week.
THE GREATEST NITS | SNIFFANY AND THE NITS Perhaps the most twisted release on this list, Sniffany and the Nits’ songs are bizarre concoctions. They kick things off with “Girl Factory”, in which women are trapped, milked and herded like cows. “Horse Girl” presents a masochistic relationship between a horse and its rider, while “Spider Husband” tells the story of a fly who longs to be eaten by a spider. Each track is more perverse and disturbed than the last; I can’t wait for a full length.