Toxic Parents-s/t CS (2012)

Toxic Parents' debut tape is further evidence, following on the heels of last year's Sarongs tape, that Upstate New York is the unlikely locus of a vibrant no wave/artpunk scene.

I wanna substitute an account of the last time I took 'shrooms for a real review of this tape: it sounds like the soundtrack to a long, convoluted  trip.  Toxic Parents songs plod along at a glacial pace, letting you soak in all the shrieks, howls, and found sounds you could ever want while nodding out in a pile of your own puke.

"Inherit" is a vicious stew of rumbling drums, dual, fighting vocals, and guitar that sounds like steam engines hissing. Underneath that there's something that sounds like a trumpet; oddly, the song is funky in a very whitepeople sorta way. "Cavity" sustains the mood: one could call this noise dub. The song drifts along in a trashy haze, with a heavy beat, yet atop that beat is a wave of pure negation: squalling guitar and incoherent, muttered slander and imprecations. "Growing" breaks this mood a bit, and might as well be an outtake from the "No New York" compilation. "Provide" slides back into the groove: more undulating bass, and that insistent, tribal beat once again do heroic battle with twisting, hissing guitar noise.

This, along with Ferns' Dreamdecay EP, is the best noise album I've heard in 2012. Toxic Parents draws on the misanthropic sounds of Detroit's Blight, while developing a rhythm section that almost makes you want to dance. In a very erratic, seizure-induced sorta way.

Listen to the tape, then buy it, here.

Teen Suicide-Goblin Problems EP (2012)

From its crudely-drawn cover to the Ramonesesque ramalama bambam of the music, Teen Suicide's three-song EP is probably the funnest thing I've heard all June.

"Goblins cry too" is sunny blitzkrieg bop that tears by in a flash: guitar and drums are sync'd up perfectly, and the beat reminds me of the Go-Gos, for some reason. The vocal harmonies don't hurt the sunny feel, either. "Hayden's getting a ddr pad" is punk-by-numbers: fast, blurry, bratty 3-chord schlock. "I wanna be a witch" is the unexpected gem here: gently-strummed acoustic guitar, tambourine, and muffled, sad bastard vocals give this EP a depth it would otherwise lack, and moves this duo beyond the wound up garage punk they excel at. It really reminds me of the last track on Sonic Death's most recent EP.

You can download the EP for free on bandcamp. Check out the previous two Teen Suicide releases, too, while yr at it. Rock on!

Weird TV-demo CS (2010)

Boyhowdy, readers, it's been a helluva week here at Drug Punk headquarters, which temporarily resided at a decaying 17th-century convent.
 So to celebrate our return to the modern world, I present you with Weird TV's demo. The last time I was in Olympia, we spent most of the time sitting around on my friend's couch doing whatever shitty drugs a steady trickle of visitors brought over, complaining about the rain. There were vague plans to go to a party at some place called the Funny Farm, but the cops busted it up right quick. By the time the sun came out, we were such paralyzed putzes that all we could do was drink more Rolling Rock and watch "Class of '84" until we passed out.

  It's too bad I didn't have this demo with me, as it's the perfect accompaniment to doing bad drugs on a rainy Olympia day. The singer's petulant, bograt bawl barely rises above the muddy, mucky mix but it has a snidely endearing quality to it when audible. The music ambles along at a drudgy tempo, with sweet guitar leads that never really go anywhere, and 1-2 1-2-3-4 bass lines worthy of Dee Dee. These are excellent jams for numbly nodding along in a seasonal affective disorder- and bad whiskey-induced haze...and in that state, you won't even realize that they covered a Them song!
   Get into it. I'm guessing this thing's long gone, but they have a 7" EP on M'Lady Records. Hype 'em before Vice Magazine does!