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Shake Appeal is a column that highlights new garage and garage-adjacent releases. This week, Evan Minsker discusses the debut LP by Mac Blackout Band, two recently-released records by Ausmuteants, a tape by Rochester hardcore outfit Beastman, the fourth album from power pop outfit Steve Adamyk Band, and a 7" reissue of Swiss punks Glueams.
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Mac Blackout Band: MBB [Pelican Pow Wow]
Pelican Pow Wow's second-ever full-length (after that No Bails LP) is the debut LP from Mac Blackout Band, fronted by Chicago's Mac Blackout (of Mickey and Daily Void). It's 10 tracks of synth-riddled punk songs that, at their most vicious, should easily recall the Lost Sounds. And while "RIYL the Lost Sounds" is a pretty easy look to achieve, take heart: MBB is an album of stellar performances and well-executed hooks. This is a genuinely exciting record. "Black Knight", in particular, hits several nostalgia-based pleasure centers with its searing guitar solos and the cartoonish space cadet synths placed after Blackout sing-shouts, "Riding with the,/ BLACK! KNIGHT!" It's a promising ripper of a debut.
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Ausmuteants: Stale White Boys Playing Stale Black Music 7"/Split Personalities [Easter Bilby/Saturno]
In case you hadn't heard, it's already been an enormous year for Ausmuteants. The Amusements LP was released in North America by Goner, and they put out a killer single on Goodbye Boozy. Here's two more, because why not? First is a 7" on Easter Bilby, and if you check out "Who's the Narc?" below, you'll hear a song that's closer to slick, straightforward synthpop than anything on Amusements. Then, there's the first-ever vinyl pressing of Split Personalities, their 2012 debut album that was only released on cassette and CD. It's pretty primitive stuff, but the synth sound and sense of absurdity are very much there.
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Beastman: Beastman [Jelly Music]
At the end of the opening track "Whiteblood", Rochester hardcore bashers Beastman just start screaming. This is not unexpected from a hardcore tape, but taken with the unintelligible demonic garblings made just prior to their final shrieks, this is a record that feels as primal and elemental as their band name and (awesome) tape artwork suggest. They're not reinventing the wheel here, but this is fast, thrilling, somewhat chaotic punk music, and although the vocal performance never varies, there's a diversity to their riffs and rhythms that keeps things interesting. And, naturally, nothing stretches too far past 90 seconds. This is a very good tape.
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Steve Adamyk Band: Dial Tone [Dirtnap]
Following that Sonic Avenues record from earlier this year, Dirtnap continues its run of very solid power pop releases with the fourth album from Ottawa's Steve Adamyk Band. Dial Tone comes packed with 13 songs, and faithful to their genre's conventions, each track threatens to get stuck in your head. "And I know somebody, too," they sing in the chorus of "Suicide", stretching that final three-letter word into two syllables and two prolonged notes. They swoon to over some loud guitars and belligerent, unrelenting snare hits on "You're the Antidote". All the power pop ingredients are there, and sure enough, Adamyk and company utilize them well.
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Glueams: "Strassen" / "SS" 7" [Bachelor Archives]
Glueams were one of Switzerland's earliest punk bands, and their first single, 1979's "Strassen", is a rarity that usually goes for a hefty pile of money whenever it surfaces on eBay or Discogs. Thankfully, the folks at Bachelor have given the single a fresh pressing on their Archives imprint (which, by the way, consistently churns out a lot of very good lost punk gems). The melody in "Strassen" is elegant, uncomplicated, and played at a leisurely pace. Put aside the language barrier and you'll find a record that endorses the "anyone can play" tenets of punk while staying catchy and refined.