REVIEWS: HELL CAN WAIT, VAMPIRE SLUMBER PARTY, [slab] feat. Cass SEWER CATS, AUTOGRAMM

Brighton, London, Manchester, Vancouver

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HELL CAN WAIT – 2023 EP (self-released)

Formed in 2021, Brighton’s HELL CAN WAIT’s emotional, hardcore pummelling comes fully formed. “(Hell Can Wait’s) lyrics tackle a wide range of themes, from personal struggles and resilience to societal injustices and the human condition. (Their songs are) a call to action, encouraging listeners to confront their inner demons, challenge the status quo, and find hope in the face of adversity.”

After slowly trickling out tracks, HELL CAN WAIT finally unveiled the full EP at the end of 2023. Yeah, I know we’re well into 2024, but words don’t write themselves and ChatGPT this ain’t. Five tracks of gravel-gargling, metallic, emocore with tilts toward delicacy, opener Abbey Gardens serves as a sturdy example. Judicious use of gang shouts and heavy, chugging guitars kick it, but this set is all about the build-ups. Disparity‘s gentle guitar strokes find their way to a fast hardcore romp, while Blossom showcases a brutal breakdown and some unexpected riffage. Shine ends on an emotional catharsis via a shimmering interlude, leaving the brighter riffs of Drowning In You to get stuck straight in for a more melodically hopeful feel.

It’s worth noting that these songs are not hardcore quickies, but some neat twists and an overall sense of weight should hold your interest. High-end production usually hampers hardcore with unnecessary sheen, but here, it only serves to enhance HELL CAN WAIT’s dense, bludgeoning roar. An exhausting yet curiously heartwarming experience. Striking sleeve art, too.

https://hellcanwaithc.bandcamp.com/music

VAMPIRE SLUMBER PARTY – McFly Family Photo EP (self-released)

”’McFly Family Photo’ is a song about not giving up. It’s about getting up, dusting yourself off and trying again and again and again. It’s about laughing in the face of self-doubt. No matter how many times you fail. No matter HOW much it feels like you’re disappearing. Writing and recording it was cathartic, for all of us. It was empowering. And I can’t wait to play it live and sing it from the bottom of my heart. And, hopefully, mean it.”

from promo

London’s VSP continue to hone their style, the vocal trade-offs from bassist Closey adding spice to McFly Family Photo‘s wistful, summery pop-punk. Akin to an introspective MEGA CITY 4, though still less glum than 2022’s patchy Funeral Pop album, frontman Yusuf continues to be invigorated by the full-band expansion. Best Buds is a sprightlier proposition and, despite coming from an early BLINK 182 kindergarten, still can’t shake that melancholy vibe. They really step up their game though, with the supremely catchy I Want An Alien This Christmas. The happiest the band has sounded, those old-school keyboards, power-pop chorus, and backing vocals, add a refreshingly breezy, radio-hit vibrancy. Way cool, and the best yet.

Released February 16th 2024, so go check it out

https://vampireslumberparty.bandcamp.com/album/mcfly-family-photo-single

SLAB feat. Cass (THE SEWER CATS) – Defibrillator single (self-released)

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[slab] is a Manchester based alternative rock band renowned for their expansive post-rock sound. Praised by Guy Garvey of Elbow as one of his ‘favourite power trios’, [slab] gained recognition with their debut EP ‘Ready for the Light’, which was featured on 6Music.

The Sewer Cats are a garage punk duo celebrated for their raw energy and passionate performances. With a dedicated fan base within the DIY punk scene and a reputation for pushing boundaries, The Sewer Cats continue to captivate audiences with their distinctive sound and uncompromising approach to music.

from promo

Manchester’s instrumental three-piece [slab] team up with THE SEWER CATS’ Cass, who applies her considerable vocal qualities and uncompromising lyrics to this choppy punk moment. More urgent than their previous indie-rock/post-punk soundscapes, a RUTS-like, razor-edged guitar stands tall, supported by a propulsive rhythm section, all brooding emotion and pent-up frustration. Cass’s expressive vocals simmer on the glowering verses, bursting forth with shrieks of despair on the chorus, contrasting with a more controlled musical backing than THE SEWER CATS looser, garage-punk forays. A keeper.

Released 5th April, so out now

https://slabis3.bandcamp.com/track/defibrillator

AUTOGRAMM – Diana/Licht Aus single (Beluga Records)

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AUTOGRAMM follow last year’s exemplary Music That Humans Can Play album with this tidy double A single, released to coincide with a recent European jaunt.

These Vancouver heroes continue to make late 70s & early 80s, synth-driven power-pop sound fresh and heart-warming. Diana is a fidgety, Euro-synth hit with a catchy, new-wave chorus; KRAFTWERK with a (human) heart. Injecting a little DEPECHE MODE warmth and some B-MOVIE atmospherics, they prove their loyalty to the six-string with some twangy, post-punk guitar action towards the end. Licht Aus is about as obscure as a cover version gets, being that of 80’s German new wave band NICHTS. The original’s new-wave core remains, but AUTOGRAMM give it an austere makeover, emerging as a neat slice of jerky, Euro-pop minimalism.

A band with all the tunes, it’s like listening to actual radio hits from back in the day. I fucking love ’em.

Released February 19th 2024 by Beluga Records on 7″ vinyl and streaming

https://autogramm.bandcamp.com/album/diana-licht-aus

header photo: HELL CAN WAIT

THE BABY SEALS – Chaos album (Trapped Animal Records)

irate interjections, angry exhortations

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Formed in September 2014, THE BABY SEALS “emerged from a pub chat in Cambridge among Amos, Kerry and founding member Jaz, sparked by the idea of creating a band that humorously explores the challenges of everyday female experience.” A pandemic and maternity leave conspired to pause their momentum but they’re back, with the follow-up to 2017’s self-titled EP.

We all know how it’s gonna end, he’s gonna come in our face

Yawn Porn

THE BABY SEALS set the blunt, feminist bar high on opening track Yawn Porn ‐ think THE SLITS if they’d wrote garage-pop nuggets –  which also serves to highlight the band’s knack for a memorable hook. I gotta say, it’s refreshing, if a little jarring, to hear catchy choruses with titles like My Labia Is Lopsided But I Don’t Mind (“my la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la labia…”). Either way, it’ll win you over with some coruscating guitar noise, a full-on rock ending, and this warning: “If you go downtown, don’t you dare close your eyes…“. Yikes. The equally unflinching Nipple Hair mixes power-pop verses, HIVES‘ garage revs, and riot grrrl ire, a dreamy, hippy bridge rendering it especially moreish. Subtle 60s vibes also pop up on Mild Misogynist‘s chorus harmonies and keyboards, a little psych slipped into the self-explanatory Vibrator. The latter oscillates between slow burn sinister and riot grrrl grunge, snazzy keyboards and a predictably orgasmic crescendo hoving into view to, well, finish you off. Who knew we had such a wonderland?” Quite. On an album laden with hooks, ID’d At Aldi is the smash hit; a fizzy, garage-punk delight destined for playlist supremacy. The snarling lip-curl of Invisible Woman, all dirty bass and tribal drums, bursts into a scuzzy, garage-rock dirge with atmospheric backing wails, spoken verses, and a repetitive chorus that really sticks.

I can still see you, you’re a motherfucking queen!

Invisible Woman

For all the defiant, garage-pop froth on offer, the two slower numbers should see Chaos endure, though I did meet the six-minute title track with an eye-roll. Still, given that I recently reviewed an album containing a seventeen-minute-long song, I figured the times they are-a changin’. From dark and dreamy beginnings, Chaos builds to a moody jam punctuated by angry exhortations and irate interjections, the guitar pivoting from draggy single notes to discordant noise, a la SONIC YOUTH. The album closer, It’s Not About The Money, Honey, simmers in its own juices, a deceptively simple seether with haunting vocals reaching their apotheosis on this banger among bangers.

While Chaos may possess some of the trappings of a garage punk album – loose drums, down ‘n dirty bass, song structures – the guitar has a habit of freaking out with some scratchy noise, versatile vocals pivot from snarl to politely spoken, brooding to pop-melodic, and they know when to poke a sharp stick in the eye. Armed with a mix of 60s sass, noise-rock excoriations, and gleeful, garage punk, THE BABY SEALS are here to splat custard pies in the face of patriarchally-enforced social niceties. Refreshing.

Released 19th April 2024 on Trapped Animal Records in multiple formats

https://thebabyseals.bandcamp.com/album/chaos

STRAIGHT ON VIEW – Gotta Step Up EP (Strange Mono Records)

Go!

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Driven by a desire to spread positivity and constructive ideals, Straight On View aims to leave a lasting impression on the punk landscape. Messages of unity and understanding through their music. “The most important things I took from youth crew were having a positive outlook and being constructive with your thoughts and actions.” – reflects Eliot. “If we want to change things, we have to bring people together and break down the divisions between us.”

butchered from band bio/promo

Philadelphia hardcore crew STRAIGHT ON VIEW – named, presumably, after either the LÄRM album or the UNITY song, or both – come out fighting for a positive mental attitude. With classic titles like Don’t Push Me (Push Yourself) they do, thankfully, have a little negativity for flippers:

Creep creep the price goes up. The fun never stops. Buy for a thousand sell for a thousand and one. I’ll make a disneyland of your favorite memories. Before you know it, Black Flag is playing Chuck E Cheese. Some advice if your life is in the shitter: Could be worse, you could be a flipper.

Eight short songs of fast and ultra-fast, youth crew sublimity that picks you up, dusts you down, and barks: “You got this!” Classic hardcore drums, stomping bridges, lightening fast riffs, solos, and semi-tough vocals. A CHAIN OF STRENGTH/MINOR THREAT motivational speaker to get you through hard times, with a little chunky COKE BUST despair for balance. The only thing missing is an occasional ‘Go!‘. Absolutely ripping.

Released on limited edition cassette on April 5th 2024 by Strange Mono Records. All proceeds to benefit PAWS.

https://strangemono.bandcamp.com/album/gotta-step-up

EUNUCHS – Harbour Century LP (self-released)

salty sonic tributaries

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Sydney, Australia’s post-avant-art-rock-baroque experimentalists (I made that up) follow up 2021’s ambitious The Castration Of Gods album with…

‘Harbour Century’ is a manifestation of the odd personalities Eunuchs encountered in Sydney and the truthfully ambiguous stories they’ve embraced. Lead singer Linus Hilton recounts: “I went to a fortune teller who urged me to release 55 minutes and 55 seconds of impressive music within the next year for great luck over the next 55 years.” Motivated by this revelation, the band embarked on 55 days of intense music writing, capturing the essence of Sydney. In a way, it reflected with lush arrangements, incorporating dozens of instruments like harp, vibraphone, and horns.
In a unique twist, the band drew inspiration not only from musical sources but also from the built environment around Sydney Harbour, local businesses, and memorable characters. As Kristo Langker elaborates, “We recorded some parts of the record underwater in Sydney Harbour, using a hydrophone.”

Taken from album promo

Harbour Century is not what you might call your typical Personal Punk fare, but how could I resist a nautically-themed concept album of unsettling atmospherics and orchestral shenanigans, utilising copious amounts of instruments? I’m only human. Magic Death Sea Nemesis opens proceedings, dragging you under choppy waves with off-beats, mangled guitars, stark brass, and wind-swept beach sounds. MR BUNGLE-esque carnival madness completes the turbulent picture and, frankly, hearing those vocals go from frustrated rage to gentle croon in their Sunday-best Mike Patton is a real thrill. The theatrical Pat A Dragon sweeps and swoops like a dead-eyed seagull, one moment dreamily unhinged, the next a frenzied prog-fest, agitated vocals suffering a Nick Blinko breakdown. Tempting, right? A haze of unease threads its way through the more traditional Estuary Of Dreams, a lullaby of crooning and delicate horns, conjuring up a savant BAND OF HOLY JOY through a BEIRUT gauze. The drunken, smoke-filled barroom of Siren can’t help its awkward, off-beat moments, or another opportunity for a demented finale, while Magnificent Stallion veers through a playground of boozy croon and eccentric jaunt, bolstered by burnished, sea-glass brass.

I am the heroin king of the piazza… the heroin king of the harbour…

Heroin King

Gnome And Fortune‘s elegiac evocation of a warts ‘n all sea-faring life (“leave shame at the door”), told through expressive theatrics and vocal acrobatics, may be relatively restrained, but the images invoked are no less vivid. Roiling like a ship on rough seas, the propulsive Bird Angel Dynasty‘s frantic, distorted sounds around Patton-esque vocals explore shades of a crazed RUDIMENTARY PENI, or CRASS in full avant-garde, performance poetry delight. Hierophant‘s deep harpsichord noise conjures images of a colossal whale emerging from the depths to threaten a lone boat, the short-lived calm arriving before a storm of frustrated anger ‘n brass. Which leaves the seventeen-minute (you read that right) Heroin King to see out this tumultuous journey in an algae bloom of dark delights. With a gentle piano intro, harpsichord, and deep, vocal intonations – you can hear the narrator taking a drink between lines – atmospheres of squalid sex and dirty drug use abound. At times, darkly mellow, other times irate, PENI-esque mumblings build to a screaming finale before fading out with the sound of the inky black sea gurgling and swirling around midnight rock pools.

I made a snuff film at the beach…

Heroin King

More BLACK COUNTRY NEW ROAD and BLACK MIDI than BLACK FLAG – think avant-garde sea shanty, experimental film soundtrack, and Lynchian musical theatre all mushed together – you will, however, stumble across the ghastly apparitions of Nick Blinko and Mike Patton. Harbour Century is a wildly imaginative vision – oftentimes unhinged, other times beautiful – filled with eccentric characters brought to life by a wealth of unorthodox arrangements. So, set aside the twenty-minute hardcore albums, an hour of your time and immerse yourself in these salty, sonic tributaries. A masterpiece.

header photo credit Darwin Schulze

Released digitally and on vinyl 5th April 2024

https://eunuchs.bandcamp.com/album/harbour-century