FUCKED BY NOISE'S BEST OF 2015 - Brayden's Picks (LPs)

It's that time of year where I feel comfortable organising the music I enjoyed in the previous twelve months into some kind of list and share my opinions on them with the general public. What follows are ten LPs I found to be rather enjoyable, and while it was pretty gosh darn difficult sorting through the multitude of excellent releases from 2015, I think I've got a pretty solid selection.
Stay tuned for a second post of my favourite demos and EPs of the year, and make sure to check out the links I've included for each release.


'As A Four Piece Band' Cured Pink
Cured Pink are a wickedly inventive and odd hybrid of post-punk, industrial, no wave and noise channeled into a jarring and unique collage of sound. Tracks like 'I'm Swimming' will see you bopping around like an idiot with it's infectiously catchy groove; whereas tracks like 'Live in Sydney' or 'Rosetta' will have you scratching your head and going back to understand what exactly it was you just listened to. I'm always hesitant to have an actual AOTY, but 'As A For Piece Band' is more than deserving of this title. Please, oh please, check it out if you haven't already.

Choice track: 'I'm Swimming'


'I Am A Problem: Mind In Pieces' Wolf Eyes
October saw everyone's favourite 'trip metal' band, Wolf Eyes, unleash this particularly desolate and hallucinogenic collection of sounds onto the general populace. Drones, clicks, squelching synths, sputters, guitar freakouts and saxophone all make a very welcome appearance on these 6 tracks culminating in what sounds like the soundtrack to a dying man crawling across a desert in search of peyote. Hopelessly bleak but with Wolf Eye's trademark catchiness running beneath the doom and gloom.

Choice track: 'Catching The Rich Train'



'Force The Zone' Cuntz
Once the tinny, distorted guitar kicks in on opening track 'Cooked', 'Force The Zone' bludgeons its way through a wonderfully sardonic assortment of punk jammers. Existing as both an ode to middle class Australiana and an outright piss take, Cuntz take the pummeling repetition and grunt from the likes of Cosmic Psychos, and turn it into a much more apathetic and uglier monster with the addition of noisier and slower instrumentation and gruff, yelped vocals.

Choice Track: 'Tanning'

'Excluded' Total Abuse
One of my most anticipated releases of this year was Total Abuse's 'Excluded', and boy oh boy the wait was worth it. A veritable ode to all things transgressive, this album packs its scummy subject matter into dirty, frenzied bursts of hardcore and leaves you to mop up the suspicious stains it left on the floor. As always Total Abuse aren't afraid to show off their more noisy, free-form tendencies (see 'Watching The Paint Dry' for your delirious, noise rock fix) and when combined with the pure grunt of their faster tracks it makes for a excellent time indeed.

Choice Track: 'DNA Evidence'

'The Body & Thou' You Whom I've Always Hated
I'm not gonna lie, I slept on this for aaaaaaaaages and was only roused into listening it upon finding out about the Nine Inch Nails cover on it.
I learned that, a) Terrible Lie works excellently as a sludge metal song, and b) this was in fact an amazing collaboration between two of heavy music's best bands right now.Absolutely earth shaking and soul destroying music with a very healthy amount of experimentation, noise and distortion cranked into the mix. I will not complain at all if these two bands collab again.

Choice Track: 'Terrible Lie'

'Circular Time'Ramleh
A fairly late entry into this year's list, but after thrashing the preview track released earlier this year (album closer 'Never Returner') and hyping myself up for this release and had to include it. 'Circular Time' is Ramleh in extremely heavy psychedelic rock mode, with plenty of noise rock, drone, prog and krautrock influences. Running at roughly two hours this a gargantuan collection of crushingly nihilistic, yet soaring music. If you can set aside a sizeable block of your time to devour this in its entirety, you will not be let down.

Choice Track: 'Never Returner'

'Self Titled' No Form
Good news! If you ever wanted a hardcore band that sounded like an actual descent into madness and/or oblivion, No Form exist to fulfill this niche desire. Sounding like a collision between Siege and a noisy free jazz ensemble (some marvelously skronky trumpet playing makes a very welcome appearance on 'Side B'), No Form are a band that can pull off frenzied hyper-speed hardcore as well as sludgy, atonal goop. Catch me waiting feverishly for more music from these guys.

Choice Track: 'Side B'

'Negative Feedback Resistor' Destruction Unit
The musical equivalent of the sunglasses emoji, aka Destruction Unit, are frighteningly adept at molding walls of fuzzed out guitar and psychedelic noise into ridiculously catchy music, and 'Negative Feedback Resistor' is affirmation of this.  If you like your riffs smothered in at least three layers of delay pedals and your amp stacks blown to smithereens I'd wager that you'd probably enjoy this album. Hey, I know I did.

Choice Track: 'Chemical Reaction/Chemical Delight'

'High' Royal Headache
'High' is something of an anomaly on this list, in that I could use words like 'bright' and 'happy' to describe the music contained within. Uncharacteristically positive connotations aside, this album is absolutely brimming with energy and has excellently written garage rock tunes to boot. Tracks such as 'My Own Fantasy' and 'Another World' show of Royal Headache's punchy punk side perfectly, while 'Carolina' and 'Wouldn't You Know' slow things right down and provide some much welcome, soulful relief. Oh, and the organ. So good.

Choice Track: 'Another World'

'Behold. Total. Rejection' Revenge
I'll close this list on a much more nihilistic and brutal note with Revenge's latest LP. The Canadian band have never really been ones for subtlety or finesse, choosing the much more noble path of beating your ears senseless with their concoction of death metal, grindcore and black metal. 'Behold. Total. Rejection.' begins immediately with pummeling blast beats, inhuman grunts and growls and plenty of Kerry King-esque divebomb solos and does not let up. At all. I worry sometimes about the toll this kind of music must have on the musicians playing it - but at the same time I'm so glad there are people out their plumbing the depths of the musical abyss and producing this kind of filth.

Choice Track: 'Silent Enemy'


Honorable Mentions:
The Body & Krieg - Self Titled
Koufar - Lebanon For Lebanese
Lightning Bolt - Fantasy Empire
Ghastly Spats - Spinozism Excorcism
Helta Skelta - Beyond The Black Stump
Soma Coma - Dust
Blanck Mass - Dumb Flesh
Follakzoid - III
Oneohtrix Point Never - Garden of Delete
Broken Prayer - Misanthropocentric AKA Droid's Blood
L.O.T.I.O.N -  Digital Control And Man's Obsolescence
Kitchen's Floor - Battle Of Brisbane
Prurient - Frozen Niagra Falls
Sunn - Kannon
Health - Death Magic
Battles - La Di Da Di
Thee Oh Sees - Mutilator Defeated At Last
White Walls - Afterthoughts In Limbo
Pissgrave - Suicide Euphoria
Special mention also goes to No Zodiac's 'Eternal Misery' for being the guiltiest pleasure of 2015.

Acid Eater - Virulent Fuzz Punk A.C.I.D.

'Virulent Fuzz Punk A.C.I.D.'
Acid Eater
2007

Review by Brayden Bagnall

Genre/s: Garage Rock, Noise Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Punk, Noise
For Fans Of: Boris, The Sonics, The Mummies, Soupcans

You may recognize that spectacled figure on left as one Yamazaki Maso, aka Masonna, and yes indeed this is his psychedelic garage punk band, Acid Eater.
Acid Eater is the sound of delay pedals reaching event horizon, dangerous voltages surging through amplifiers and spitting forth walls of feedback and a deranged organ player hammering away at their keys in an orgiastic display of auditory vandalism. All the instruments on Virulent Fuzz Punk A.C.I.D.  have a gloriously warped and distorted quality to them, and the recording is just so ridiculously loud it conjures up images of smoldering amp stacks and speakers billowing smoke. It's as if every sound on this album has been pushed to its absolute limit.
Not unlike Masonna, Acid Eater is a sensory assault - albeit channeled into a much more linear and danceable format. An odd intersection of Japnoise, 60s garage rock/psych and frantic punk thrown into a go-go vortex that teeters on the brink of collapse but never fully succumbs.
I suggest you download this album, find yourself a cool pair of sunglasses and prepare to spend the entire duration of this album thrashing around like a loon. You're in for a treat.

TRACKLISTING:
1. Eye
2. Nothing Can Bring Me Down
3. A.C.I.D.
4. Question Of Temperature
5. Drive To C.P.
6. No Friend Of Mine
7. No! No! No!
8. LSD
9. Confessions Of A Psycho Cat
10. Never Alone
11. Top Of Spot
12. Free

Download

Francis Harold And The Holograms - The White Bulls Weeps From Valhalla

'The White Bulls Weeps From Valhalla'
Francis Harold And The Holograms
2012

Review by Brayden Bagnall

Genre/s: Hardcore, Noise Rock, Garage Rock
For Fans Of: Pigeon Religion, Lumpy And The Dumpers, Dry Rot, Avon Ladies, Drunkdriver

Francis Harold and the Holograms (FHatH from here on in) were a band from Arizona - who much like many other punk bands from Arizona of late played viciously noisy, sloppy hardcore.
The White Bull Weeps... was FHatH's final release before their dissolution, but it's also their most focused and ferocious effort. Gone is the blown out, derivative garage rock of their previous releases, leaving a much more sinister and noisy monster, that feels more like a hardcore or noise rock band playing loose three chord songs. FHatH play strung out, plodding sludge rock and fast paced ragers through their filter of fucked up guitar noise, howling cavernous vocals and blistering arcs of feedback that course through each track like electricity. It's simultaneously invigorating and terrifying.
If ever there was a band to call it quits just short of reaching their peak, it's this one - and while FHatH do have a reasonably extensive discography (one LP and numerous 7"s), none of it comes close to the unhinged rock and roll on this beast.

TRACKLISTING:
1. The White Bull
2. My Hell
3. Chinese Head

Download

Degreaser - Bottom Feeder

'Bottom Feeder'
Degreaser
2012

Review by Brayden Bagnall

Genre/s: Noise Rock, Garage Rock, No Wave
For Fans Of: Bird Blobs, Gravel Samwidge, Kitchen's Floor, Cured Pink, Slug Guts

See that album art there? That hideously off putting, slapdash drawing that looks like it was created by someone who lives in a house full of discarded hypodermic syringes? It might surprise you to know that it's extremely indicative of the music contained within.
Degreaser definitely embody the 1970s, East Village scum fuck aesthetic, choosing to play the most downtrodden, dissolute version of punk in the most sloppiest, effortless way possible. The Brooklyn band feature an Australian ex pat, and do sound a heckuva a lot like some of the least accessible Australian post punk/noise rock acts of yore - especially with the treble-y, delay heavy angular guitar lines, shambling rhythm section and forced out vocal delivery.
Desperation and depression are things you seldom go looking for, but when it's channeled into noisy, nihilistic punk dirges it's always welcome. Please abandon your current tasks, listen to this and prepare to sink down a few levels. It's not that bad here in the gutter.

TRACKLISTING:
1. Teeth in Mouth
2. Like A Ball
3. On the Throne
4. Snake Dick Blues
5. Caveman's Lament
6. Human Postcard
7. Treat You Right
8. These are the Blues

Bandcamp
Download

Spokenest - We M●ve

'We M●ve'
Spokenest
2013

(Band Submission)

Review by Brayden Bagnall

Genre/s: Punk, Noise Rock, Garage Rock
For Fans Of: Eddy Current Suppression Ring, Wavves, Helta Skelta, God Equals Genocide

Spokenest are a two piece 'off-kilter punk'. They also happen to be a husband and wife. Aw cute.
'We M●ve' is the duo's debut EP, and while it is off-kilter, it has plenty of roguish charm and pop sensibility to go around. The twangy, angular guitar lines on We M●ve owe a lot to the likes of noise rock and surf rock, but also retain a catchy, three chord punk quality that drive the songs forward. Similarly, the drums have a steady energetic drive that are just as unpredictable as the guitar. It's the vocal dynamic between both members that really makes Spokenest though, with both members sporting raw, honest delivery - whether they're shouting, speaking or singing their lyrics.
If you fancy listening to something a bit more lighthearted than the usual stuff I post on here, I'd definitely recommend We M●ve - it's definitely a noisy album, but it's a much loftier and friendly affair than your average noise rock/punk album.

TRACKLISTING:
1. Where?
2. Dinner
3. Sunshine
4. Couple Hours
5. We Move
6. Leave Me
7. Wrong
8. See
9. People

Bandcamp

Rizoma - Self Titled

'Rizoma'
Rizoma
2013

(Band Submission)

Review by Brayden Bagnall

Genre: Noise Rock, Garage Rock, Stoner Rock
For Fans Of: Melvins, The Stooges, Mudhoney, Satan's Satyrs, Brainbombs

Holy mother of RIFFS Batman!
Rizoma are a three piece outfit from Madrid, Spain and this here is their debut, self titled EP.
Rizoma's influences range far and wide, but ultimately they center on the nasty and untamed side of rock, with garage punk and noise rock being the ones that stick out.
On this 6 track EP, the Spaniards prove they're quite adept at coaxing delicious, fuzzy tones out their guitar with plentiful smatterings of psychedelic tinged guitar solos that are just soaked in wah. Just as wild and woolly as the guitar are the vocals, which have this raw, almost desperate quality to them. On this EP, Rizoma flow from grunge to stoner rock (closing track ¡Oh, Son Muñecos De Nieve Que Profetizan El Apocalipsis!), to straight-forward, three chord punk (Cows, Sheeps, Pigs And Tractors) to aggressive noise rock (Wipers Shirt) while maintaining its hazy, garage rock persona.
Not quite Stooges worship, just shy of something Sub Pop might've picked up back in the day and definitely something you wouldn't want to take back to meet your parents - check it out.

TRACKLISTING:
1. Satanic Psychedelic Punks On The Run
2. It Feels So Good To Kill My Neighbors While Listening To The Stooges
3. Wipers Shirt
4. Cows, Sheeps, Pigs And Tractors
5. The Invasion Of The Fascist Scarecrows (Horticultural Reich)
6. ¡Oh, Son Muñecos De Nieve Que Profetizan El Apocalipsis!

Bandcamp

Kiddo - I Could Hear the Earth Turn/The Ground Would Shift and Shake/Oh How I Spent My Days/Happy to Be Anything

"I Could Hear the Earth Turn/The Ground Would Shift and Shake/Oh How I Spent My Days/Happy to Be Anything"
Kiddo 
2013

(Band submission)


Review by Jerry Kahale

Genre/s: Emo, Post Punk, Alternative, Garage Rock
For Fans Of: Touche Amore, Piano Becomes The Teeth, The Smith Street Band, Shellac, The Jesus Lizard

Kiddo, who hail from California, are an emo/post/alt/whathaveyou punk band that in an almost oxymoronic manner dishes out a half hour slab of playful and vibrant tunes full of youth and vigor that is certain to ignite a live setting and get a bunch of miserable punks yelping the words out loud. There is a good flow of emotions swinging from joyous to brooding and of course some angry there too for good measure. Kiddo seems to have also found an interesting foothold in between emo punk and alternative rock and gradually going from one end to the other as the album progresses. It may be alot more obvious if you were to play the first and last track together but listen to the whole album and the transition is quite discreet which shows a well written album.

Overall its a jubilant and well crafted release that I can imagine would come to life if you saw Kiddo at a gig after a few beers (or apple juice if you're edge). Head to their bandcamp and grab it for a price at your own discretion and start reciting their lyrics by heart.

TRACKLISTING:
1. Cancer Kids
2. It's Always Snowing In Philadelphia
3. Summertime
4. 1998
5. Sad Song
6. Kittylitter Catfight
7. Young Neil
8. Bill Fucking Murray
9. Suicide Bat
10. I Am All That Is Rat

Bandcamp

The Mummies - Play Their Own Records

'...Play Their Own Records'
The Mummies
1992

Review by Brayden Bagnall

Genre/s: Garage Rock, Punk
For Fans Of: The Trashmen, The Troggs, The Reatards, Urinals

The Mummies were champions of the modern garage rock revival, and also one of the most literally named rock groups in musical history (as in they dressed as mummies when they played live). Influenced almost exclusively by the sounds of the 1950s, especially rock and roll and surf music, The Mummies played what can only be described as B-Grade Garage Punk. Adding their own sloppy, devil may care touch to garage rock, The Mummies played loud (and sometimes fast), with deranged vocals, tinny guitars and some pretty groovy organ lines to boot.  This here is a collection of the band's earlier singles, compiled for your listening pleasure - and it shows The Mummies at their finest - a bunch of young punks playing rock and roll horrendously.

TRACKLISTING:
1. That Girl
2. Test Drive
3. I'm Bigger Than You
4. Dirty Robber
5. Food, Sickles And Girls
6. One By One
7. Out Of Our Tree
8. Tall Cool One
9. A Girl Like You
10. That's Mighty Childish
11. (Doin') The Kirk
12. Die!
13. Mashi
14. The Fly
15. The House On The Hill

Downloads

Raspberry Bulbs - Deformed Worship

'Deformed Worship'
Raspberry Bulbs
2013

Review By Brayden Bagnall

Genre/s: Blackened Punk, Post Punk, Garage Rock
For Fans Of: Sump, A Pregnant Light, Church Whip, The Stooges, Wire

For most of you, Raspberry Bulbs need no introduction. The band has been cutting swathes through alternative musical enthusiasts with their unique take on blackened punk. Essentially putting as much distance between usual black metal conventions as possible, both musically and aesthetically, Rasberry Bulbs add a certain menace and darkness to typically un-menacing genres (garage rock, post punk), creating an interesting juxtaposition of styles. Vocalist Marco Del Rio (formerly a member of Bone Awl) is a pivotal part of the Raspberry Bulbs, his surprisingly versatile voice cracks and strains, often dipping into gruff black metal territory before coming back to a more yearning, post punk drawl, all whilst coated in a healthy layer of reverb. The music itself is sporadic and indiscriminate, usually keeping a steady mid-tempo and throwing out nods to proto-punk, angular noise rock and even classic garage-y grunge. It's such a mixed bag of styles, and somehow it all works as an ugly re-interpretation of well traversed genre.

TRACKLISTING:
1. Cracked Flesh
2. Lusty Climbing
3. When a Lie Becomes the Truth
4. Before Man
5. Standing in Line
6. By the Root
7. Groping the Angel's Face
8. Wild Inside
9. I Was Wrong

Download

Bird Blobs - Self Titled

'Self Titled'
Bird Blobs
2004

Genre/s: Garage Rock, Post Punk, Noise Rock
For Fans Of: Lubricated Goat, The Birthday Party, The Scientists, The Mummies, The Stooges

Bird Blobs were a garage rock band from Melboure, Australia who were active between 2000 - 2005. Throughout their career they released three LPs, this being the last. The four piece played a scuzzy, raucous blend of punk, noise rock and rock and roll, taking inspiration from classic American garage rock bands and the post-punk scene in 1980s Australia. You're in for some of the most deranged vocal work since Nick Cave in the Birthday party, some clever, sloppy guitar work and strong, catchy bass lines all with a distinctly Australian sound. Snag it below.

TRACKLISTING:
1. Billy
2. Head That Talks
3. Stealing Again
4. If I Could Kill
5. Settle Down N Breed
6. Nothing At All
7. Back On The Beast
8. Straight & Narrow
9. My Last Gold Dollar
10. Drunk At The Mill

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Eddy Current Suppression Ring - Rush To Relax

'Rush To Relax'
Eddy Current Suppression Ring
2010

Genre/s: Garage Rock, Surf Rock, Punk, Indie
For Fans Of: The Wipers, Wavves, Hot Snakes, The Gories

If you happen to like beaches, Australian accents and single coil guitars, boy have I got the album for you. Eddy Current Suppression Ring are a garage rock foursome from Melbourne, Australia who take minimalism to whole new levels. Recorded in just six hours, this album is raw, genuine and very rough around the edges. Rush To Relax ducks and weaves between frantic punk energy, laid back surf-rock vibes and raucous garage rock jams, while singer Brendan Suppression rants and raves his way over 10 tracks - yet somehow it's still one of the most mellow, laid back albums I've ever listened to. Give it a listen, zone out and just chill.

TRACKLISTING
1. Anxiety
2. I Got A Feeling
3. Tuning Out
4. Gentleman
5. Walking Into A Corner
6. Second Guessing
7. I Can Be A Jerk
8. Burn
9. Isn't It Nice
10. Rush To Relax

Download

Gay Witch Abortion - Maverick

'Maverick'
Gay Witch Abortion
2009

Genre/s: Stoner Rock, Psychadelic, Noise Rock, Garage Rock
For Fans Of: Hex Machine, Blue Cheer, Boris, Black Sabbath

Aside from having one of the best names in modern music, Gay Witch Abortion churn out some dangerously fuzzed out, rhythmic, pulsating noise. For a two man group (guitar and drums) the band's output is massive - writhing textures that pound your skull with repetition, psychedelic textures and moments of surprising aggression. 'Maverick' is primarily instrumental - with more structured, riff oriented songs and some full-blown, noise freak-outs.  Bolstered by Jesse Bottemly's weird, floating and powerful vocals and Shawn Walker's tribal drumming, this album comes together superbly. Plug this in, listen to it loudly and zone out.

TRACKLISTING:

1. Down with Giants
2. Stain on the Floor
3. Action Cop
4. Unblinking Sun
5. Third World Limo
6. Your Own Militia
7. Church Buffet
8. Group Think
9. Girl Pop Soda
10. Wavey Graves
11. Curses
12. Scythian Sculls
13. Asleep In The Dirt

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Satan's Satyrs - Wild Beyond Belief!

'Wild Beyond Belief'

Satan's Satyrs

2012

Genre: Too many to list

For Fans Of: Electric Wizard, Inepsy, G.G Allin, Brainbombs

Holy shit, this band is basically a chimera made entirely of various music genres. I could simplify things and call it metal punk (the band lists Electric Wizard and Black Flag as their main influences) but it goes a whole lot deeper than that. Take the sleazyness of garage rock, add the abrasiveness of noise rock mix in some stoner riffs and sprinkle a bit of first wave black metal rawness on it, and you've got Satan's Satyrs. The guitars are fuzzy the vocals are scuzzy and the recording lo-fi. Basically this sounds like a cooler version of the 70s.

Sadist 69