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.

D.N.A - Discography

DISCOGRAPHY
D.N.A
1978 - 1982

Reviewed by Brayden Bagnall

Genre/s: No Wave, Experimental Rock, Post Punk
For Fans Of: The Contortionists, Mars, Teenage Jesus And The Jerks, Theoretical Girls

D.N.A were a three piece experimental rock band from New York, who were active between 1978 and 1982. Easily my favourite 'No Wave' band, D.N.A's atonal skronk is a jarring, unsettling aural document of alienation and apathy.
Beginning first as a keybaord/guitar/combo with Arto Lindsay's trademark guitar shrieks and shrill vocals accompanying sparse synth lines and lumbering drums, D.N.A attracted the attention of Brian Eno with their first single, eventually being chosen to appear on the now coveted No New York compilation. Shortly after, keyboardist Robin Crutchfield left the band and was replaced with bassist Tim Wright, which lead to noticeable shift in the band's music. The synth of previous releases was replaced with tight, rhythmic bass lines serving as an odd juxtaposition to the angular guitar noise and irregular drumming. The band released their one and only LP in 1980, continuing their tendency towards noisy, experimental music before calling it quits in 1982. Since then there have been a few posthumous releases including a live recording from on of their many CBGB shows.
Included here are all of D.N.A's releases (including compilation appearances) for your listening pleasure.


DISCOGRAPHY:
(Note: D.N.A tracks only from compilation releases)

You And You (1978)
1. Little Ants
2. You And You

No New York (1978)
1. Egomaniacs Kiss
2. Lionel
3. Not Moving
4. Size

A Taste Of D.N.A (1981)
1. New Fast
2. 5:30
3. Blonde Red Head
4. 32121
5. New New
6. Lying On The Sofa Of Life

The Fruit Of Original Sin Compilation (Recorded 1981, Released 1985)
1. Cop Buys A Dount
2. Delivering The Goods
3. Taking Kid To School

DNA (Last Live At CBGB's) (Recorded 1982, Released 1995)
1. Newest Fastest
2. 5:30
3. Detach
4. New New
5. 32123
6. Brand New
7. Horse
8. Forgery
9. New Fast
10. Blonde Red Head
11. Action
12. Marshall
13. Lying On The Sofa Of Life
14. New Low
15. Calling To Phone

Download

FUCKED BY NEWCASTLE: Whitney's Houston Crypt - Chair Page Dotcom

Whitney's Houston's Crypt

'Chair Page Dotcom'

2014

Review by Jerry Kahale

Genre/s: Post-punk, No Wave, Noise Rock

For fans of: Teenage Jesus and The Jerks, Tinsel Teeth, The Birthday Party, Arab On Radar

So anyone that read my way delayed and poorly edited list of bands to watch out for this year would know that despite already giving this band a shout out I felt it was necessary to give them their own submission regardless because they are easily one of my new favourite local acts to have come out from the city of the world's biggest KFC in the southern hemisphere (I'm not even kidding look it up). 

I get giddy for any bands that ride a fine balancing act between being aesthetically unbearable and remarkable with some younger bands either being not oddball enough to be fascinating or too much on the weird factor for its own good. In WHC's case they pretty much sound like pro's already in their first release. How they manage to capture on recording a vicious sound mixture of noisy no wave post-punk madness that tethers between abrasive and melodically contagious at the same time is a true testament to how talented they are. The best part of the band is that it seems that all the instruments are always begrudgingly trying to play along but at the drop of a hat they all quickly break ranks and attempt overdo one another in a glorious mess of mismatched riffs and beats and by god does it work like a treat and to top it all off the sole vocalist here is akin to the angsty teenager child of Lydia Lunch, Kim Gordon and Karen O running away from home to join a circus curated by psychopaths.

Anyone that sleeps on this band will be missing out on a bad time but in a good way, like walking to a dog park with wearing nothing but boxers made out of mince meat or maybe as I alluded to in the shorter review, walking to work in your birthday suit. Basically its an EP best served nude for reasons I cannot explain.

TRACKLISTING:

1. My Opinions On Mexican Day Of The Dead Makeup Tutorials

2. How To Get Their Skeletons Their Whitest

3. Mambo No. #666

4. Witch's Cyst

5. Foil

6. What Me Worry?

Bandcamp

!FUCKED BY NOISE'S NOT ANOTHER BEST OF 2014 BUT INSTEAD ITS SOMETHING DIFFERENT! - Jerry's 10 Bands To Watch Out For In 2015

Prologue: No one likes a backstory but basically during the month of December when I was suppose to finish off this article my life took a sharp detour and then in January I was on tour with my bands (including the one that me and fellow writer Brayden is in) so things went silly and though its probably obsolete to publish this now it's pretty much done so might as well. 

I came to the conclusion that doing a Top 10 album list here would be pointless for a number of reasons, including my inability to keep up with new music (besides locally) for 3/4 of the year because I was stuck without a working computer and the fact that other writers here are already doing the same thing and my tastes in music wouldn't be that radically different so I'm going to do something different, and by that I mean rip off Blunt Magazine and do my own list of Bands To Watch Out For In 2015. Keep in mind that all these bands are local and interstate bands in Australia and most of them are not exactly new bands but are only just starting to gain traction with only one or two or maybe even zero releases and are, in my opinion, worthy of all their hype. So without further ado....

Canine
'Demo 2013'

Genre/s: Hardcore, Crust, Sludge, Stoner Rock
For fans of: No Statik, Dotfuckingcom, Witch Hunt, Melvins, Thorax

It's not everyday I come across a band that mixes so many different styles of angry music together in a seamless and non-gimmicky fashion but today is no everyday, its an early sunday morning drinking spiced rum and i'm not sure where I was going with this but Canine are one of the handful of Sydney hardcore bands that aren't shit or even ho-hum, they are kicking it. It took a while to figure out their hype but it dawned on me eventually why they are worthy of any praise they get. Canine mixes ferocious d-beat infused hardcore punk with powerviolence and fuzzy sludge and stoner rock segments complete with flangers and wailing wahs and it all works superbly like a perfect slice of layered cake. They got the energy pact down, all the songs are menacing but it goes above and beyond four chord punk with almost every moment is chock full of catchy licks which makes listening to their demo and their 7" split with Diploid (their side is only available on the record for the time being) all the more memorable.

Bandcamp

Gentlemen
'S/T'

Genre/s: Noise Rock, Hardcore, 
For fans of:  Brainbombs, Raspberry Bulbs, Cuntz, Homostupids, Thee Nodes 

This band really needs to get an LP going and maybe play some more gigs because it wasn't enough to just catch them during the Thee Nodes national tour here. Where do they get off releasing two 7" EPs in a space of two years and not getting every online hipster music publication to ride them like they are the next big garage punk band or whatever froth those sites manage to spit onto a web browser (not unlike our more "refined" and "trve" music blog here). Okay maybe its a good thing that this band is relatively unknown so you can still claim cool scene points but this is a plea Gentlemen, we are fucking jonesin', please, do it for the kids.

Bandcamp



H A N N A H B A N D
'Retirement'

Genre/s: Emo, Garage Punk, Post Punk
For fans of: Mineral, Against Me!, Indian Summer, Cloud Nothings, Drive Like Jehu

Hannahband are a real loud two piece garage emo post-punk band from Sydney. Forgive the overuse of genre terms but there are truly a unique beast that cannot be pinned down by mere descriptions. They can go through so many motions flawlessly and maintain a perfected niche of quaint melodies and encroaching aggression all of which bleeds through a pleasant lo-fi aesthetic. The "less is more" ideals thrive here, armed with nothing more than a ragged baritone guitar, snappy drums and the classic guy/girl tag team vocal attack they managed to belt out some infectious tunes that ride across vast roads that go rocky and then smooth over the horizon. Most tracks can out angst any hardcore band without breaking a sweat (or a tear) but when moments of somber and downbeats come by then not even [your favorite emo band]  could be nearly as heart wrenching. This is sad music for angry people and angry music for sad people and yes I know that emo is a dirty word here at Fucked By Noise but as their fourth song goes on their sophomore album "Retirement", I will let you down. BRB rearranging my album of the year list. 

Bandcamp

Hurricane Death
'Demo 2015'

Genre/s: Death Metal, Hardcore, Crust
For fans of: Mammoth Grinder, Homewrecker, Innumerable Forms, Black Jesus, Nails

This demo was recorded in October but only a teaser was released a few days after a new year....ah well fuck it. Most of you may have heard of a band called Puke, a powerviolence band from Brisbane that was mostly made up of youngsters making some really tight and crushing music but sadly broke up as soon as they blew up. Out of the remains of Puke was a couple of different bands, one of them being Hurricane Death who are more death metal orientated than their previous endeavor. For now we only have two songs up on bandcamp for an upcoming tape release to hear them but from witnessing them live as well I do believe that their punishing display of anger and vitriol that they spew (pun intended) upon anyone that listens to their style of hardcore driven death metal will make them an act to watch out for. 

Bandcamp

Hygiene
'Void'

Genre/s: Powerviolence, Hardcore
For fans of: Vaccine, Human Junk, Vile Intent, Life Of Refusal, Chetwrecker

I assume Canberra is one of those places where its more quality over quantity in regards to bands that come out of there because even though I am only familiar with a few bands, its those few that are making quite a name for themselves and perhaps the best band to have come out of there now is none other than the menacing  trio Hygiene. They may have been around for a couple of years riding on a demo and a CD EP but now after dropping their smashing slab of fast and heavy powerviolence through 9 tracks that clocks in around roughly 8 minutes right on a 7" EP  called "Void",  they have firmly reinstated their status as a force to be reckoned with.

Bandcamp


Masses
'Horde Mentality'

Genre/s: Post-punk, Darkwave, Anarcho Punk
For fans of: The Mob,  Arctic Flowers, Spectres, Moral Hex, Rule Of Thirds

Masses hail from (probably not too surprising) Melbourne and with only one single 7" EP release they have prickled alot of ears and now have the potential to be quite well known. Cherry picking the best of jangly post punk with classic anarcho punk and then throwing in some chorus pedals, synths and lots of reverb into the proverbial cherry pie they have cooked up a fresh take on the darkwave/post-punk style that is destined to not only taste great to anyone that is a veteran or a newcomer to the genre but will also set a standard that goes well above their contemporaries.

Bandcamp





Roland Major

Genre/s: Shoegaze, Alternative
For fans of: Whirr, Nothing, Slowdive, White Walls, Pity Sex, Roku Music

I've actually known these fellas back way when they were known as Rara Avis and were more of the classic persuasion of a shoegaze band with only one release which was a split CD with Crouching 80's Hidden Acronym whom are now better known as Ted Danson With Wolves (the guitarist of said band plays drums here so it was an incestuous split). Even after the name change they still performed the same songs with a rotating lineup with the frontman and drummer being the only consistent members and then this year they decided to start fresh. Gone are the keyboards and bass, bring in one lone guitarist from emo punk outfit Oslow and what we got is some of the most exciting music to come across this side of Western Sydney. Beautiful and crushing at the same time with monstrous guitars howling out some sublime melodies which weave with the voices, rhythms and an ocean of feedback. Roland Major are really making some big waves, not just in the live setting with huge sound waves caressing and smashing every ear it flows through, but also around the music community for simply being nothing less than amazing. 

Roland Major does have an EP in the works so for now there is a live video available to watch below at my home away from home, otherwise known as Beatdisc Records. You can see me bobbing my head in approval at the back counter to the right while i also scope what new records they have up on the wall and also no I wasn't paid for that incidental advertisment so shutup.

Soma Coma
'Demo '13'

Genre/s: Hardcore, Garage Punk
For fans of: Lotus Fucker, Straightjacket Nation, Crazy Spirit, Cult Ritual

Sydney certainly has some of the most creative hardcore bands running around but its Melbourne that wins in being home to some of the most noisy, abrasive and down and out hardcore punk music that can only appeases the appetite of unhinged madmen. There is little to fault here, all the short bursts of punishment here are all smashers, guaranteed to make you throw your bed lamp out the window and we wouldn't have it any other way here.

Bandcamp

Whitney Houston's Crypt
'Chair Page Dotcom'

Genre/s: Post-Punk, No Wave, Noise Rock
For fans of: Teenage Jesus and The Jerks, Tinsel Teeth, The Birthday Party, Arab On Radar

I'm  going to go more in depth for the Fucked By Newcastle series i'm still doing but I couldn't in good faith pass on this so just really quickly I'm going to tell you that this is some of the best weird out post punk to come out in a while. Its raw, its maddening, the riffs are wholly intent on making you uncomfortable and the vocals go from wild to vicious at any given turn (Witch's Cyst is a prime example). This is the musical equivalent of wearing your birthday suit to your job and not giving a fuck.

Bandcamp

Wounded Pig
'MT4X'

Genre/s: Grindcore, Crust, Metal
For fans of: Captain Cleanoff, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Fuck I'm Dead, Human Error, Apartment 213

Up until now there are only two good thing to come out of Mt. Gambier in South Australia, the big lobster and Captain Cleanoff. Now we can add a third thing -  Wounded Pig. What more could you want out of a crusty grind band? Brutal and furious guitarwork right through the collection of devastating songs that come and go leaving not a single moment of rest to pass, vocals with enough vitriol to blow up a police station and the programmed drums are some of the most well crafted and human I have certainly heard in a while. To call these guys a "cybergrind" band would entangle a lot of wrong assumptions because this isn't your dudebro's bedroom warrior project that was made with Fruity Loop samples one afternoon in a bout of procrastination. No sir this is the real deal. Catch them while you can because I wouldn't be surprised if they end up becoming quite big.

Bandcamp

Honorable Mentions
Kiri
Meter Men
Cum
Dispolar
Oslow
Hacked To Chunks
Nervous Habit
Grey Places
Shitgrinder
MSV BCP (Massive Bicep)
Alf Stewart
Burlap
Putkah
Shirtlifters
Jxckxlz
Fat Guy Wears Mystic Wolf Shirt
Blight Worms
Terminator 2
Coffin Birth

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

Girls Pissing On Girls Pissing - Eeling

'Eeling'
Girls Pissing On Girls Pissing
2013

Review by Brayden Bagnall

Genre/s: No Wave, Post Punk, Experimental
For Fans Of: Kitchen's Floor, Einsturzende Neubauten, Cured Pink, Mars, Rowland S Howard, Throbbing Gristle

Girls Pissing On Girls Pissing (GPOGP from here on in) could very well be the epitome of an unclassifiable band - that is to say genre wise. In terms of 'sound' and 'theme', GPOGP deal in a fairly consistent concoction of unsettling, post-industrial soundscapes mingled with the dying gasps of the No Wave, post punk and something more sinister and erotic. In short, you're looking at nightmarish dirges that certainly recall the hazier areas of the human psyche.
The New Zealand group, operating under something resembling a collective or collaboration piece together 10 haunting tracks comprised of scraping guitars, plodding bass lines and atmospheric synth. At times it's a more introspective listen - offering a calmer, but nonetheless disquieting descent into madness - and at other times it's in your face, with cathartic bursts of pained howls and crashing instruments.
Eeling is certainly an ambiguous listen, especially coming off more clear cut, genre aware post punk/experimental bands - but it's ambiguity goes hand in hand with its disturbing, intriguing songwriting.

TRACKLISTING:
1. Eeling
2. Feast of Trumpets
3. 15th Century
4. Fingers Down The Throat of Love
5. Eight of Cups
6. The Dance of Salome
7. The Dowser
8. Migraine Victims and the Cicadas
9. Nine of Swords
10. Garden of Pomegranates

Download
Bandcamp

Billy Bao - Accumulation

'Accumulation'
Billy Bao
2008

Review by Brayden Bagnall

Genre/s: Noise Rock, No Wave
For Fans Of: Coughs, White Suns, DNA, Swans, Boredoms

Billy Bao are a noise rock band who hail from San Francisco, and are named after their singer, who is apperently from Lagos, Nigeria. Cool.
Also the band have stated that they don't care about copyright, and ecourage bloggers (such as myself) to share their music. Cool x2.
Accumulation is a surprisingly accurate description for such an abrupt title. The structure for this EP is literally laid out before you on the cover - lyrics and all - with ten songs that begin and mono and converge into stereo at the middle. What isn't explained is that each song is only one minute long, and are practically identical - except each new track adds a new layer, tying in the theme of Accumulation. Neat, huh?
While hearing the same song 10 times may sound boring and a little futile, it really isn't - at least in the case of this EP. Building off the thumping bass and drum lines on the first track, each addition brings a new element of chaos to the mix - more guitars, more vocals, more drums and more noise just grinding against each other for sonic superiority. You're basically listening to this band become progressively more unhinged and manic as Accumulation progresses, and it begs the question - are they evolving or devolving with each passing track?

TRACKLISTING:
1. Accumulation
2. Of Frustration
3. Accumulation Of Capital
4. Their Bank Accounts Increase
5. A Revolution Detonates In Your Head
6. Bring Them Crisis, Fuck Their Future
7. Nothing To Lose, Your Future Is Fucked
8. There Is No Rewind Button, Your Future Is Fucked
9. Burning Your Skin In Front Of The Police Station
10. While Watching Their Stock Rise, Your Miserable Fucking Life Dies

Download

Sister Fucker - A Commitment To Excellence

'A Commitment To Excellence'
Sister Fucker
2012

Review by Brayden Bagnall

Genre/s: Noise Rock, No Wave
For Fans Of: Coughs, Arab On Radar, White Suns, Happy Flowers, AIDS Wolf

Noise rock is pretty much one of my favourite genres, and I am of the opinion it only gets better when it's as incoherent, dissonant and anti-music as possible. I'm talking guitars that sounds like rusty nails being scraped against rustier guitar strings, non-existent song structures and weird ass-vocals to boot. Anyway, I digress. Point is Sister Fucker is one such band that pisses all over musical convention, and instead presents their own warped take on this newfangled 'being a band' thing. The duo are as minimal as it gets, guitar and drum, yet they coax so much out of their respective instruments it doesn't matter. The warbled vocals and highly unconventional guitar style (think Lydia Lunch levels of six string abuse, and you're about 1/4 of the way there) only add to the glorious confusion. Put simply, A Commitment To Excellence is probably the best headache you'll ever have, and a shining example of how good noise rock can be when it loses the 'rock'.

TRACKLISTING:
1. Contention's Best
2. Mindbinding
3. Torres Gemelas
4. Casual Corner
5. A Dog's Life
6. Is That Your Face
7. Killer Incense
8. I Really Care (About You)
9. Because The Night
10. Wet With Hate
11. Women And Children

Download

Flipper - Generic

'Generic'
Flipper
1982

Review by Brayden Bagnall

Genre/s: Noise Rock, Punk, Sludge, No Wave
For Fans Of: Melvins, Nirvana, Black Flag, Saccharine Trust, Brainbombs

I honestly don't need to say anything about this album other than the fact that it's an absolute fucking classic and half the bands on this blog wouldn't be around if it wasn't for these guys. For those of you who only know of Flipper from Kurt Cobain's shirt, they were (and still are, sporadically) a punk band from San Francisco. While Flipper's peers were channeling their anger and frustration into short, snappy three chord zingers, they were pouring all their boredom, depression and disillusionment into sloppy, noisy dirges. Never ones to really care about actually playing their instruments properly, Flipper's songs are raw, honest and deliberately annoying insights into misanthropy, sexual frustration and life as an outsider. Their wonky, feedback ridden sludge-punk was vital in starting numerous musical movements across America in the 1980s (most notably the Grunge scene in Seattle) and has remained some of the most ugly and unique  stuff to ever come out of the Bay Area (or any area for that matter).

TRACKLISTING:
1. Ever
2. Life Is Cheap
3. Shed No Tears
4. (I Saw You) Shine
5. Way Of The World
6. Life
7. Nothing
8. Living For The Depression
9. Sex Bomb

Download

Swans - Public Castration Is A Good Idea

'Public Castration Is A Good Idea'
Swans
1986

Genre/s: Industrial, No Wave, Noise Rock
For Fans Of: Godflesh, Jesu, Sunn, Mars,

Swans are the heaviest band on the planet, fact. Their new stuff may be post-rock/folk tinged, but one cannot simply deny the ground shaking fury that was 1980s era Swans. Case in point, Public Castration Is A Good Idea. This live album sounds like the apocalypse - you can basically hear the venue this was recorded shaking. The percussion heavy, rhythmically driven monster that is Swans lurches through the 8 tracks on this album, with Michael Gira's intense drawling/moaning and shouting the driving force behind their repetitous barrage of sound and texture. Swan' stripped back, less-is-more approach to music is a brutal and primal force to behold, and this album is a perfect example of their darkest, most cathartic era.

TRACKLISTING:
1. Money Is Flesh
2. Fool
3. A Screw
4. Anything for You
5. Coward
6. A Hanging
7. Stupid Child
8. Another You

Download

No Trend - Too Many Humans

'Too Many Humans'
No Trend
1984

Genre/s: Noise Rock, No Wave, Hardcore, Noise Punk
For Fans Of: Brainbombs, Mars, DNA, Flipper, Sonic Youth

No Trend are one of the few bands I consider to be a 'legitimate' punk band. They really didn't give a shit. Their music's the manifestation of their disillusionment with the then current punk/hardcore scene and it's contrived, pigeonholed sound, and I think that's great. Taking cues from the more dissonant no wave bands of the New York scene, throwing in the aggression of punk and hardcore and the dense and glueing it together with the weirdness and experimental edge that made Sonic Youth so popular - No Trend's unique style made them one of the more interesting acts to appear in the 1980s punk scene. The lyrics and vocal delivery are incredibly scathing and cynical,  the guitars scrape and grind and fuzz in a horrendous display of atonality all while strong, repetitive and unusually cohesive bass lines keep everything from collapsing in on itself. No Trend went on to evolve into a jazz/funk/punk fusion band, and while their sound had lost it's abrasive ege they still managed to be 1000x more 'punk' than half the bands around today, purely because of their uncompromising dedication to churning out weird, challenging music.

TRACKLISTING
1. Family Style
2. Blow Dry
3. Reality Breakdown
4. Kiss Ass To Your Peer Group
5. Fashion Tips For The 80s
6. Too Many Humans
7. For The Fun Of It All
8. Mindless Little Insects
9. Happiness Is...

Download