Pens

Pens is a three piece punk band from England. They have released a split cassette (sold out) and a split 7" (buy it at Rough Trade if you're in the UK or can stomach paying $8 + shipping for a single). Pete did the best job of describing the trio on the Slumberland records blog.

The above band are called Pens. They’re three girls from London, making what can only be described as Shambolic Pop.
They used to be in the (better named, but worse musically) Look Look Dancing Boys. I haven’t seen Pens yet, but i have seen LLDB. they were, without a doubt, the most untogether band i had seen in years.

There was something refreshing about that. The lack of ego in their playing, the thrill of discovery, the getting to the end of a song as a major accomplishment. This is even more evident in Pens.

Freddie (yes, their myspace picture page confirms it’s about mr Kruger) is everything that a shambling band should be; constantly on the verge of falling apart, it’s held together by the sheer ‘i can’t believe we’re doing this’ forward motion of the song. The vocals are distorted. Everything’s distorted. They obviously just plugged everything into a pedal, thought it sounded punk, and went for it. Fantastic. There’s crosstalk, and stick clicks; it was obviously recorded live on some antiquated four track- not in a Toerag/Daptone posing way, but it’s genuinely all they had to work with.

Pens have an LP coming in February on De Stijl. Here is a zip file with the mp3s Slumberland posted along with the songs on Pens' MySpace.

Freddie mp3
High in the Cinema mp3
Download

Culturcide - Tacky Souvenirs of a Pre-Revolutionary America

Culturcide is an experimental punk band started in the early 80s by Perry Webb and Jim Craine. The band takes popular songs and dubs over them with their own vocals and instruments. It's very poor; you can hear the original lyrics behind what Webb is shouting unless its covered up with a loud guitar riff. But I think this has a positive effect overall.

Tacky Souvenirs is Culturcide's most well-known album and it earned them a few legal threats (though they didn't catch it as bad as Negativland). My favorite songs are Bruce, a comedic critique of "The Boss," and Industrial Band which mocks the industrial genre.

Check out this site for a complete discography and more info on Culturcide. The CD rereleases of the band's catalogue can be found on eBay, Amazon, etc.

Bruce mp3
Industrial Band mp3
Download

Government Warning - Arrested 7"

There are maybe eight good bands from Richmond and this is one of them. Government Warning plays fast, 80s influenced hardcore. I don't like a lot of hardcore but I love Arrested off this 7". The band is still active and has released an LP called No Moderation along with another 7" EP. Check them out if you like Black Flag, Zero Boys, and etc.

You can buy this 7" from Grave Mistake.

Arrested mp3
Download 7"

Nodzzz - I Don't Wanna Smoke Marijuana 7"

I don't wanna smoke marijuana
I just wanna get.... high
On another drug

I am very sad that both presses of this single sold out before I heard about Nodzzz because I love both tracks and neither appears on the LP. Nodzzz is three guys churning out short, lo-fi punk songs. They remind me of a sparser, punker Boyracer.

I think the title track on this 7" is their hit, but the LP is worth checking out. You can buy it at Goner. If anyone knows of a distro that still has copies of the single please tell me!

I Don't Wanna (Smoke Marijuana) mp3
We Are the Only Animals mp3
Download the 7"

The Muslims - S/T LP

I don't remember how I came across these guys but I love this album. Classic garage punk that sounds a whole lot like The Stooges. Download and see for yourself. The Muslims also have a 7" coming out soon. You can sample the tracks and preorder it at I Hate Rock N' Roll.

Look for more releases by The Muslims under the decidedly less cool name The Soft Pack. I don't know why they changed it. Surely they don't expect to become big. Maybe they want to tour the Middle East?

Beside Myself mp3
Download the album
Buy LP+CD from Insound

Sourpatch - Demo

I read about Sourpatch over at Skatterbrain and listened to the tracks they had on MySpace after seeing that there was a show in Richmond. Sadly their DC show was last night and I'll be back in DC tonight when they play in Richmond. Shame because I really like the songs I heard. I assume they are off Sourpatch's demo, which is the only thing they have out (you can buy it for $4 if you mail them). You and Fun are fast, poppy, punky songs that make you want to sing along. These two are my favorites by far. The others aren't quite as good (and I kind of hate the part of Toothache where the girl starts talking. If that were cut out the song would be so much better) and are a bit slower.

Sourpatch sound like the Vivian Girls with more pop, less feedback, and clearer vocals. So if you like the Vivian Girls try out the songs below. I found some program that lets you download mp3s from MySpace so that's where these come from. They aren't from the demo (which has 7 tracks). Once I get the CD I'll post if the seventh song is any good.

You
Fun
6 songs from Sourpatch's MySpace

The Homosexuals post

This post is in honor of me not being able to go see one of my favorite bands play their first ever show in DC (god dammit). That band is The Homosexuals, a '70s punk band from Britain. But it's a bit unfair to label them punk since many of their songs sound less like Anarchy in the UK and more like something Gang of Four would put out. Post-punk sounding guitars and DIY production in punk fashion. The Homosexuals were around for 7 or 8 years but didn't release many records. What they did release didn't garner much attention mainly due to being on obscure labels. Their last output was an LP in 1984.

But now the reissue front is going strong and weird bands like this are being compiled on CD. Shortly after The Homosexuals' Record was reissued in 2004, Chuck Warner's awesome Hyped to Death label put out a three disc compilation that basically amounts to everything the band ever did. Stylistically it's all over the place. There are fast punk tunes like Neutron Lover, slower songs like Hearts In Exile, and numerous instrumentals. Go buy Astral Glamour at the Hyped to Death webstore. I promise it is worth the $21.

Now that the band has reformed (well, sort of. Bruno Wizard, the singer, is the only original member) there is a new 10" record titled Love Guns coming out next week on Serious Business Records. It is fully streamable on Last.fm and what I listened to sounded decent. The cool part is Bruno Wizard will be putting a slip of paper with lines from a story in each sleeve. It's limited to 300 pressings so if you want it go and preorder. And if you hate the record hold on to it for 10 years then put it on eBay!

You're Not Moving the Way You're Supposed To (Pt. 2)
Neutron Lover
Astral Glamour
Technique Street
Hearts In Exile
Snapshots of Nairobi

Mix #1 - We're Not In It To Lose (Texas Punk)

Time to break away from the stuff I've been posting recently and put up some punk music. Forget indie pop ever happened and pogo to this little mixtape I whipped up. Special thanks to KBDrecords and Good Bad Music for some of these tracks. I'll definitely do more of these "small scope" mixes in the future (mostly out of necessity as the website I found only supports eight tracks).



1. My Girlfriend Is A Rock - Nervebreakers
2. Narrow View - Big Boys
3. Nova Lust (Dick Lazer Meets Midge Meteoritz) - The Shades
4. Ultimate Orgasm - Non Compos Mentis
5. Zyklon B - Hugh Beaumont Experience
6. Monotony - The next
7. Crowd Control - Really Red
8. The Badge Means You Suck - AK 47