Filipina Bitch-A EP (2014)

On their debut EP, Chileans Filipina Bitch (I'm assuming they're from Santiago but dunno for sure) present three songs of long-form, somber rock easily mistaken for another derivative of mid-90s crap like, uh, Pearl Jam. But several listens in, FB has won me over, provisionally. Like, this is the sort of band you could lurch drunkenly in place to while they rock out on stage, that sort of band.

What does that mean? A sputtering rhythm section, tenderly aloof vocals, and the loud-soft dynamic pioneered by the Wipers but ridden to chart-busting success by one Kurt Cobain. "Hambre en el cemeterio" is a slow-burner ballad sure to be popular among kids making out and touching each others' genitals for the first time. "Silent Violence" is the best song here: it's a squalling, plodding piece of five-minutes-plus hard rock that not only holds your attention but makes you wanna headbang.

Don't take my word for it, though, because you can download the EP for free and then (maybe)buy it, care of Ciudad Bombardeada Records.

The Kremlings-s/t EP (2012)

The cover art features the five bandmembers as sperm. The genre which pops up when I play this EP on Itunes is "lazy punk." It's easy to tell what's going on with The Kremlings.

Opening with a hefty wash of guitar sludge and non-lingual moaning, "Abort Clusters of Sprawling Sapiens" is 1-2, 1-2-3-4 garage punk. "See in a Bedlam" could pass as a Ramones tune, with heavier guitar. In fact, the guitarist of the Kremlings may be a better guitarist than Johnny Ramone.I'm pretty sure it was tailormade to skateboard to. "Know Nothings" wallows in grunge-esque sludgy misery, with the singer mewling and whining over a ponderous beat.

You'll dig the Krelmings if you like guitarcentric, straightforward rock 'n' roll. Where's my skateboard?

Listen to the Kremlings here.

Guest mixtape: Kent State

So Nick from Kent State sent me this mix about two months ago and, industrious young man that I am, it took me that long to get around to spinning it.

If you're into fuzzy '90s grunge/shoegaze/blahblahblah, yer gunna dig this. I vaguely remember seeing a lot of these bands in my local record store's bins back in the late '90s. Highlights include My Vitriol's cover of the Wipers' "Wait a Minute," the GBV tracks, and Kent State's Nirvana cover (f you can't figure out which one that is, I can't help you).

Check it out here, and download it here.