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Shake Appeal is Pitchfork deputy news editor Evan Minsker’s survey of loud, gnarly, garage-style rock‘n’roll. Back in the summer, he listed 20 favorites from the first half of the year. Here’s some more from the past six months, listed in alphabetical order. Put ‘em all together and you’ve got a list, if you’re into that sort of thing.
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Ausmuteants: Band of the Future (Aarght!)
On their third album, Ausmuteants remain indispensable, self-aware, and funny as hell. The Australian synth punks outline the questions they’re asked in interviews (“Music Writers”) and how their music is described on the internet (“Band of the Future”). As usual, the best moments occur when Ausmuteants operate at a rapid-fire, breakneck pace (“Spankwire” and “Mr. Right”).
Baus: Will Be Right Back (Not Normal Tapes)
At a glance, the Oakland trio write catchy, sing-along choruses (“Rutt”). Further prodding reveals music that’s more erratic than all that—songs where aggression and funk glom together (“Persona”), anthemic riffs emerge from chaos (“LTD”), and multiple voices throw the listener off the scent. In just six tracks, Baus offer a record that’s as fun as it is elusive.
BIB: POP (Deranged/Erste Theke Tonträger)
The bark and the howl draws you into POP, but it’s the Omaha hardcore band’s relentless pummel that keeps you along for the ride. Feedback bleeds from one vicious track to the next, where organ melodies shriek and guitars blare. One song is called “Anxiety”—an overwhelming feeling that stays in the body when you hear to this thing.
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Crown Court: Capital Offence (Katorga Works)
Oi! ain’t dead. For the past couple years, London’s Crown Court have kept the form plenty vital with their strong singles, continuing the momentum with Capital Offence. Their lyrics clap back at political and societal oppression, which makes a record like this one crucial in 2016.
Danny and the Darleans: Bug Out (In the Red)
The Gories’ Danny Kroha released an acoustic folk-blues album on Third Man a couple years back. This year, he returned to rock‘n’roll with his always great band, Danny and the Darleans. Their second album is full of blues-leaning, party-ready Detroit rock music, where Kroha soul-screams over fuzzy guitars.
DD Owen: DD Owen (12XU)
Drew Owen’s record as DD Owen is less unhinged and slightly more patient than his work as Sick Thoughts: He sings rather than shrieks, and his riffs and solos have a little space to breathe. This is Owen veering toward Jungle Rot-style scummy psychedelia. Of course his lyrics are trashy as ever (“Gimme Head,” “I Shoulda Been Aborted”), but when he offers mission statements like “Degenerate,” Owen ends up with some of his best material yet.
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Ex-Cult: Negative Growth (In the Red)
Memphis destroyers Ex-Cult got darker for their third album, perhaps in part because of Ty Segall’s work behind the boards. At times, the songwriting leans into the abyss—“Panic in Pig Park” (a great song title) features two long stretches of echoing, existential quiet. This is an Ex-Cult album, so of course the attack and fuzz are massive.
Exotica: Musique Exotique #01 (self-released)
From New York City comes Exotica, a band featuring members of La Misma and Tercer Mundo. As their five-song debut of wrecking pogo music proves, Exotica may be new but this is a powerhouse not to be fucked with. Tracks are screamed in both English and Spanish with urgency, and they pack in these enormous, frantic guitar solos. “Leech” is indicative of the entire record—all grunts and cymbals and bass (Lemmy-rivaling in its heft).
Heavy Lids: We Believe in the Night (Pelican Pow Wow/Backhaus)
The arrival of Heavy Lids’ debut is legitimately exciting. The New Orleans band’s sole prior release, a Quintron-recorded 2013 single, was a thing of beauty—feedback-addled punk with organ and huge guitar solos. We Believe in the Night is just as beefy and aggressive, with the guitar heroics intact. They’re surly on “Stab Your Face,” but there’s also speed (“Fight It”) and shout-along choruses (“Night & Day”).
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The Intended: Time Will Tell (In the Red)
Among the riches received by Tyvek fans this year was the debut album from Kevin Boyer’s other band, the Intended. Time Will Tell is 1960s garage rock shoved through a funhouse mirror—everything warped and off. Weird, abstract lyrics are catchy until melodies slip and harmonies warble into disarray. When songs soar like the hypnotic chant of “Huguenot,” it’s a pleasure to keep up with their psychedelic collage.
Low Culture: Places to Hide (Dirtnap)
There’s an instance early on the second album from Low Culture, the Portland via New Mexico power pop band featuring members of Marked Men, where they reveal they can’t stop crying before asking you to put their heads in a blender. It’s an upbeat, catchy moment, too—one that speaks to Low Culture’s ability to let the sunshine in to offset their darkness.
Mongoloid: Plays Rock and Roll (Deranged)
There’s something hilariously reserved about the title of Mongoloid’s album—this isn’t some classic rock record. The Portland hardcore band delivers songs like “Piece of Shit,” where singer Sam Zimmer spits largely unintelligible lyrics over chainsaw guitars. The first time you can unquestionably understand him is when he proudly declares, “I’m a piece of SHIT.” It’s fun-as-hell speed punk where they liberally scream phrases like “fucking asshole” mid-song.
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Mommy: Songs About Children (Toxic State)
Don’t mistake Mommy’s inclusion in this list alongside more lighthearted fare to suggest it’s “fun” music. The noise and clamor of the New York punks’ debut is intense, and its subject matter is outright dire. Mike Caiazzo surveys the deaths of people he knew while staying in mental health clinics on “How to Act at Funerals,” and throughout, drudges up memories of kids he knew who died young in these facilities. These are stories that must be told and reckoned with. It makes sense that this is the medium for Caiazzo’s stories—a chaotic avalanche of thick bass and unrelenting drums.
MOSQUITO: DEMO (self-released)
The demo from Chicago’s MOSQUITO is recorded in such a way that the vocals get buried beneath the weight of the instruments. There are songs called “Hell” and “Vomit.” So yes, on the surface, it looks like every other punk demo. What sets it apart is the strength of the hooks, and the unsettling breathiness of the “Intro” vocals (which you can actually hear). Also, it ends with a buzzing mosquito and its subsequent splat. Who else has that on their demo?
Nopes: Never Heard of It (Magnetic Eye)
Nope, they're not Nots. (See below.) Nopes are four dudes from Oakland, and Never Heard of It is their impressive debut. They’re talented musicians, and in their songs, they congeal disparate corners of rock‘n’roll—the screams of punk, the hooks of power pop, the melodic patience of indie rock, and impressive guitar solos that dart all over the place. It’s an uneasy record that packs fury, frustration, and constant motion.
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Nots: Cosmetic (Goner)
On Nots’ cathartic second album, Memphis’ most ferocious band takes time to stretch out and explore its sound. The title track is gradual, exploring texture before ramping up to full power shouting and shredding. It’s an album written under the influence of Trump’s rise, with “Entertain Me” crucially taking on America’s obsession with entertainment and distraction in the era of our first reality-TV president.
Oh Boland: Spilt Milk (Volar)
Oh Boland hail from Tuam, Ireland—the hometown of their recording mentor, So Cow’s Brian Kelly. The case for Spilt Milk is an easy one to make: This is, as they call it, “poppy but sloppy” rock‘n’roll defined by their buzzsaw guitar tone. These melodies are memorable and sweet, their vocal delivery drunken and approximate.
Personal and the Pizzas: Personal and the Pizzas (Slovenly)
Maybe the dumbest record on this list and almost definitely the most fun, Slovenly have rounded up Personal and the Pizzas’ singles and rarities. The San Francisco band (who ape the Ramones and pretend to rep New Jersey) unload their Pizza Underground-targeting track “Death Threat,” their cover of the Nerves’ “Any Day Now,” and more sneering rock‘n’roll from their “start smokin’, start drinkin’, start fightin’, & keep on eatin’ pizza” oeuvre.
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The Sueves: Change Your Life (HoZac)
On their debut, Sueves establish themselves as the best of Chicago’s new rock‘n’roll guard. The album’s full of fried and frantic garage rock fronted by Joe Schorgl’s acrid bark and wiry guitar solos. These earworms consistently threaten to whip off the rails, moving fast and unsteady.
Tyvek: Origin of What (In the Red)
Tyvek’s four-year absence felt like an eternity—you can only jam “Say Yeah” so many times—before they returned with a killer survey of their strengths. Origin of What features assorted members across the band’s decade-plus history, weaving together fast & loud bashers, spacey meditations, and quick and dirty screamers like “Tyvek Chant.” Tyvek have always been a totem of punk’s endless possibilities, and Origin of What continues their track record of consistently engaging explorations.
Vanity: Don’t Be Shy (Katorga Works)
Grit, drive, and glammy rock‘n’roll swagger define Vanity’s new one. “Pounding boogie” is a phrase I almost used to describe this music before remembering that it’s literally the name of a song on this record. They oscillate between different modes: punk barking, classic rock riffage, acoustic balladry, and more. Not many bands who excel at the heavy stuff attempt to go softer. Vanity do, and they do it all well.
Various Artists: 7" tracks
Finally, here’s a playlist featuring some assorted 7” tracks that came out later in the year. If it looks like there are a lot of Total Punk records in that playlist, you’re right, there are. Good eye.