Paintbox-Earth Sports Ball Tournament

Here is a band that gets better and better. Starting with their self-titled 7" to their CD titled "Singing Shouting Crying" to the earth-shattering "The Door" / "Provided Railroad" 7". The progression from the first to the current amazes me on how much a band can improve and continue to grow while not staying within their formula. The last 7", including the current release, has moments of a spaghetti western mixed with a blend of old school Japancore with some metal overtones. An absolute enjoyable listen. The songs have melody and rage while they continue to search to find new elements to introduce. They bring in horns, acoustic guitar and harmonica at moments to add more texture to their music. If you have been following the Japanese music scene, you know that these guys are heavy hitters. (Razorcake)

Click

Lycanthropy / Say why split

Two Super fast powerviolence-grind-fastcore whatever bands from the Czech Replublic

Lycanthropy myspace

Say Why myspace

Click

The Suspicions-Self Titled Lp

Influenced equally by 70's garage punks like DMZ and the Scientists and unlikely pop heroes such as Rick Springfield and Joe Jackson, Seattle's the Suspicions strip both genres down to raw jangly riffs and catchy, sing-along choruses. Formed in early 2004, the group consists of Karen Mitchell on guitar and vocals, Bryan Standridge on bass, both formerly of the Knock-Ups from San Francisco, and Boom Boom Records alum (and current Fe Fi Fo Fum) Nick Larson on drums.

Myspace

Click

Instangd-Mitt svar på ingenting

Sweden's Instängd are a new band featuring members of Regulations and Tristess, but they don't sound anything like the melodic punk of those bands. On Mitt Svar På Ingenting, Instängd take as their main influence old, barbaric Scandinavian punk like Headcleaners / Huvudtvätt, Missbrukarna, or S.O.D. (the Swedish one, not the one from New York). If you need a less obscure comparison, Urban Waste would make a good reference point since this has a completely blown-out, blistering guitar sound and catchy, punk-as-shit vocals. Needless to say, this six-song rager destroys everything in its path. (Sorry State Records)

Click

NK6-Keep on keeping on

Hailing from Japan, NK 6 dish out nine blasts of hard hitting hardcore. The style is pretty classic Japanese thrash with a bit of melody and a crazed approach (would you expect anything less?!). Complete GAUZE worship at work and just so happens that Fugu from Gauze produced this little gem.

Click

Look at that drooling bastard!

it sounded really loud they said it really loud

Epicycle-Teenage Suicide

A bunch of young kids (15 to 18 years old) from Chicago released an album and three great singles on their own label Cirkle records between 1979-81.

This is what the terminal boredom nerds had to say about it:
Probably the first essential Rave-Up reish since the Penetrators' "Kings of Basement Rock" LP. Late '70s Chicago masters of hard pop/punk/r'n'r come out blazing with the comped "You're Not Gonna Get It" and parlay it into a number of even better tunes, most notably the Damned-soaked "Underground" and the epic/anthemic "Hardcore Punk." "Radical Attitude," aside from boasting one of the greatest song titles ever, mines Boys-ish balladry and features Andew Ellis Clark's proclamation that he is, ahem, a "niggerwhitehonkeyjew, all wrapped in one." Retarded.
For fans of KBD/Bloodstains type shit.

Click (Vinyl Rip)

The Observers-So whats left now

Melancholy singalong punk. Combines the darker and more experimental aspects of bands like the Dead Kennedys and WARSAW & other late 70’s UK art punk with the anthemic choruses of LA’s Youth Brigade yet sounding nothing like any of those bands. Put these guys on a bill with the Stitches, Geisha Girls, Manikin and the Distraction and the art punks will go nuts!

Myspace

Click

also check out:

The Speds

Pre-Observers, some of these songs ended up being on Observers records.

Red Dons

Born from the ashes of the Observers. Same songs, new name.

"New band featuring Doug from the Observers and Justin from the Clorox Girls doing anthemic punk similar to where the Observers left off. Expect a 7” in late February and some touring in 2007.

Here's a shitty photo I took of Red Dons playing at a bar last year:



Clorox Girls played too:



The Revisions

In 2006, Justin Maurer of the Clorox Girls asked Douglas Burns of the Observers and Red Dons to perform an acoustic set at one of Maurer’s book readings for, Don’t You Take Your Life. Burns, along with fellow Red Dons members Hajji Husayn and Derek Skokan, adapted songs he wrote while in the Observers and Speds into an acoustic format for the set. These adaptations proved to be popular amongst the group’s friends and they were encouraged to continue performing. That is how the Revisions formed.

Any you jerks have any request?

Maybe some Pearl jam or something.
Speak up