Dirtnap Rock & Indie 18 Artikel

Texas trio Bad Sports release their fourth full-length to Dirtnap and with it, push their sound into a more modern sphere of punk. Orville Neeley (guitars / vocals), Daniel Fried (bass / vocals) and Gregory Rutherford (drums) have spent over ten years together and this progression is justified. This time, the production quality is more lean and tense, giving an air that is decidedly frustrated, and more world-weary, but is still the great stripped-down classic-leaning punk band with deep power-pop vs. proto-punk undercurrents. They are not a “retro” band, however—Constant Stimulation is simply a timeless-yet-modern masterpiece.

“The ‘Furies’ are the ancient Greek Gods of vengeance and violence,” says Mark Ryan of the title of his latest album. “The Furies were tamed,” he continues, “but in my story, they are waking up and the ancient chaotic ways are resurfacing.” Ryan (The Marked Men, High Tension Wires, Radioactivity), alongside Peter Salisbury (Baptist Generals) on synth and Mike Throneberry (The Marked Men) on drums, lead this modernistic, machine-like and cinematic version of the story of the Furies and have churned out something furious in return; this is their most electronic album yet. Gone are any notions of Ryan’s former project the Marked Men and its style of winningly bombastic garage-pop. Since 2012’s Meltdown, Mind Spiders have been perfecting an aggressive, relentless, frenetic and melodic style of punk that is a long, dark shadow of DEVO but carries something much more sinister in its jaws as it slinks its way through the ears, illustrated by their lone, intensified cover of Grauzone’s 1980 hit, “Eisbaer.” It’s a sound for the new dark ages, emboldened by urgency and sped along by some good old fashioned panic.

Dusk was formed in 2014 by Amos Pitsch (bass guitar, vocals) and Colin Wilde (drums) as an informal recording project—mostly of obscure soul covers and country-rock indulgences—and later gained traction as members Julia Blair (described by Pitchfork Media as a “smooth country-soul alto”), Ryley Crowe (electric guitar, vocals) and Tyler Ditter (electric guitar, vocals) joined the fold at the onset of serious songwriting and recording. They recorded a series of demo recordings and later a two song single for Forward Records. They’ve toured America twice thus far: once doubling as the backing band for Tim Buchanan in Oklahoma City-based cosmic-cowboy punk band Cherry Death, and the other time doubling as an extended lineup of Pitsch’s other group, Wisconsin punk band Tenement

The second album (first for Dirtnap) of sexy, sleazy, reverb'd out slime from Guantanamo Baywatch. Guantanamo Baywatch was started by Jason Powell and Chevelle Wiseman in Portland about 4 years ago to an immediately enthusiastic reception, released a very well received and now out-of-print LP on Portland's awesome Hovercraft Records, as well as a couple of EP's/tapes. The band really came into it's own, though, in late 2010, with the addition of Chris Michael (also in BOOM!) on drums. Technically they joined the Dirtnap roster in June 2011, but they took their time recording their debut for the label, done mostly at home by the band themselves. Chest Crawl sees the band working more vocal numbers into the mix, incorporating the usual surf/garage suspects (Cramps, Trashmen), more obscure '50s rock n' roll/RNB wildmen, as well as slightly heavier nods toward the young-oldies sound being popularized today by bands such as Hunx, Shannon And The Clams, Nobunny, etc. Wildly popular in Portland, and not afraid to tour, Guantanamo Baywatch are gonna be all over the place in 2012, starting with a two week tour with frequent bill-mates The Mean Jeans in March, followed by a solid summer of touring following the release of Chest Crawl.

Witchy, twitchy and full of attitude, Fox Face is a fog-swirling, moonlit night where nothing is as it seems. Realized and reckless, this eerie musical force would be as much at ease holding a seance on a stormy, nighttime beach as throwing a rager in a dark, beer-soaked basement bar. On the tongue-in-cheek Spoil + Destroy, the band’s first record for Dirtnap, the band alternates between Sabbath-y searing guitars, surf-rock and creeped-out, organ-laced sonic seances. Recorded by Kyle “Motor” Urban at MotorCo Studio in Madison, WI, using an all-analog 16-track recorder, the attitude hangs hard on the vocals of everyone throughout, echoing the spirit of Kathleen Hanna and Neighborhood Brats’ Jenny Angelillo. Lindsay Degroot (lead guitarist and vocalist) leads this storm of sound, with bandmates Lydia Washechek (guitar, vocals), Mary Joy (bass, vocals) and Christopher Capelle (drums). DeGroot’s explicitly feminist lyrics are undeniably bolstered by no-bullshit politics and inspired by The Book Of The Dead and The Craft. Spaghetti Western styles intermingle with punk & roll and goth, making for a bubbling pot of riled-up, creeptastic tales, where the environs are trepidatious, dark and frustrating. Includes a download.

Texas and Japan team up for a trans-pacific, two-man summertime pop explosion! Lost Balloons are Jeff Burke (Radioactivity, Marked Men, etc.) and Yusuke Okada of Japan’s incredible Suspicious Beasts. Hey Summer is their second album, following 2015’s self titled debut on Germany’s Alien Snatch Records. The two play all the instruments (although there is a live lineup as well) and split singing / songwriting duties. It works fantastically well as an album, meant to be listened to from start-to-finish. Wistful, sun-shiny ’60s-inspired pop with a bit of ’80s college rock jangle and even a little modern garage / Americana twang, this album represents a pretty big departure from a normal Jeff Burke project (and although it’s sonically a little closer to Okada’s Suspicious Beasts, it veers farther afield of his normal songwriting comfort zone as well). Burke says that this album is probably the least “punk” record he’s ever done. It confirms what everyone has long suspected: these two can master any genre they tackle, and make it fully their own.

Drakulas present Raw Wave, a collection of songs told from the different points of view of various characters in a fictional metropolis in the not-too-distant past. A bustling city center not unlike Times Square in the ’70s filled with sin and sex is the backdrop where gangs, street preachers, sex addicts, pimps, prostitutes and pornographers live and work. People of this world describe the time period of these songs as the Raw Wave—a wave of new analog technology that hit the city, wiping away many of the mores and pretense of the past. Drakulas are from Austin, TX, and feature members of Riverboat Gamblers and Rise Against, amongst others. This is their debut LP, following a 7-inch on Red Scare. They pretty much nail the sound for which the Texas branch of the extended Dirtnap family is infamous—vibrant, high energy, and dangerously catchy. Raw Wave is tailor-made for fans of The Marked Men, The Dickies, and vintage-era Riverboat Gamblers / High Tension Wires. And then there are the lyrics: high-concept / low-brow weirdness that could only have come from the twisted mind of Gamblers frontman MIKE WIEBE. Call it a super-group if you must, but don’t call it a side-project. Comes with digital download.

Bad Sports return with a jaw-dropping new 12-inch! While the band hasn’t released anything in a couple of years, the individual members have been anything but idle during that time. Orville Neely continues his slow takeover of the world with rock juggernauts Obn IIIs, while Daniel Fried and Gregory Rutherford’S band Video got signed to Jack White’s label Third Man Records, and has been touring ever since. The pair have also been touring a ton as one half of Radioactivity, who released the stunning Silent Kill on Dirtnap last year. Originally conceived as a series of three singles, the band and label realized that the individual seven songs worked as one piece. Living With Secrets is another step forward for Bad Sports—moving away from both the ebullient punk/power pop of 2011’s Kings Of The Weekend and the anything-goes grimy punk of 2014’s Bras, this EP is their darkest, most powerful, and weirdest. The lyrics are bleak and desperate, but the music is more dangerously catchy than ever.

5th album from these uber-prolific Dirtnap mainstays, featuring guest appearances from Colleen Green & Mike Krol.

20 song collection that comps singles, compillation appearances, a few covers, & one track from deep in the vaults making its vinyl debut.