R.I.P SOCIETY

Countering the truly embarrassing news cycle of the past year was the deluge of great new music released upon the world, so much so that I’m leaving a good chunk of more than deserving albums hanging. To simplify everything, this is a compendium of what was played most around here, along with a handful of new-to-me reissues/archival releases.

I skipped doing the rap recap this year because my list was so pathetically brief, and doing so seemed both short-sighted and irrelevant. That being said: Quelle Chris’ Being You Is Great, I Wish I Could Be You More Often was my favorite album, followed by Starlito’s Manifest Destiny and Playboi Carti’s vapid, relentlessly fun album. Goldlink’s “Crew” featuring Brent Faiyaz and Shy Glizzy was my favorite song, like everyone else.

Full list of 30 records below. We’ll do better next year.

LP

12. Mount Trout, Screwy (self-released)

This unassuming, digital-only gem crept up on me as the months turned cold. Scraps of paper with notes written on them are held afloat by spare guitar lines; elsewhere winds whip in and chaos overtakes clarity. Lots of the lyrics sound like half-thoughts that forced themselves out after extended periods of solitude, sometimes peaceful, sometimes anguished. Screwy rewards patient attention without dragging you through the mud - but it’s there, should you need to cool off.

11. Group Doueh & Cheveu, Dakhla Sahara Session (Born Bad)

The intriguing pairing on Dakhla Sahara Session turns out to be one of the best surprises of the year, and easily one of the most listenable. Cheveu’s robotic yet effervescent contributions are immediately recognizable, as are Group Doueh’s swirling guitar lines and sweeping vocals; the two fit in and around each other, explosion welded together into a foundation for a colored smoke tower.

10. Leda, Gitarrmusik III-X (Förlag För Fri Musik)

The two people behind Neutral put out a lot of music this year, most of it well worth hunting down despite its highly limited, premium price barrier. I can’t claim to have heard everything, but by my count the two best were Neutral’s När mini-LP and Leda’s limited-to-100 Gitarrmusik III-X LP. Most of this sounds like King Blood collaborating with Robert Turman, looping machinations mixing with heavily distorted shredding, all of it recorded in a metal-walled bunker. Doesn’t sound like much on paper, but when you arrive at “Gitarrmusik VIII” and “IX,” time just about stops. (If you missed out, “Gitarrmusik I” and “II” are available here.)

9. The Body & Full of Hell, Ascending a Mountain of Heavy Light (Thrill Jockey)

The first collaboration between these two heavyweights was a slow grower, both bands clearing the land by seeing how far out they could push their respective versions of extreme metal. Ascending, then, is the sound of the two bands communicating as one. The immediate standout is “Farewell, Man,” exactly what comes to mind when one imagines what kind of song the Body and Full of Hell could write together. But tracks like “Our Love Conducted With Shields Aloft,” all free drumming, violently humming noise and sandblasted vocals, hint at a broader, uglier horizon.

8. Bad Breeding, Divide (Iron Lung/La Vida Es Un Mus)

One of the year’s nastier hardcore records, and a reminder that the shitstorm at home extends across the Atlantic, too. The band’s got enough chops to rip through every track here - check out that stuttering riff on “Anamnesis,” and how it comes roaring back after a quick respite - but the best songs close each side. The screaming of “Now what?” that concludes “Leaving” is chilling, and serves as one of the best summations of this mess of a year.

7. The Terminals, Antiseptic (Ba Da Bing)

I’ve been hankerin’ for more Steven Cogle ever since that self-titled Dark Matter LP, and if that’s one of your favorite records of recent yore like it is mine, you oughta get your mitts on Antiseptic. The long-running band is absent Brian Crook, but he is ably replaced by Nicole Moffat, who also appeared on Dark Matter; her violin seeps into the empty pores, creating a dense, beautiful atmosphere ripe for Cogle’s powerful vocals. The deal’s done by the time “Edge of the Night” hits.

6. Taiwan Housing Project, Veblen Death Mask (Kill Rock Stars)

Wrecking crew led by Kilynn Lunsford and Mark Feehan brings the heat, here as two parts of a six-piece ensemble. The ten tracks on here range from caustic to catchy (”Eat or Be Eat” into “Luminous Oblong Blur” for the former, “Multidimensional Spectrum” for the latter), accentuated by sax blurts and ever-present static grime. If that ain’t enough, lyrics acidic enough to melt bone make Veblen Death Mask a complete meal worth droolin’ over.

5. Sida, s/t (Population)

The Theoreme LP that came out last year turned into one of my favorites this year, syrupy-thick industrial body music from one Maissa D. She fronts Sida, and she turns in the vocal performance of the year on their first LP. She seemed more restrained as Theoreme but that’s all out the window here; “Qu'Est-Ce Qui T'As Pris?” ups the ante and things don’t slow down from there. The band, for their part, turn in a burly and caustic punk/no wave hybrid that does all it can to keep up. An aural steamroller.

4. Omni, Multi-task (Trouble In Mind)

It was a real mistake to not include Omni’s deceptively catchy debut Deluxe on my year-end list last year, so when they came back and made an even better record, credit is due. Not sure how Frankie Broyles doesn’t sprain his wrist or let melodies go off the rails, but his snappy drumming and spindly guitar work are the stars of the show. The lyrics slyly present a general malaise with modern romance, and when it all clicks, like on “Supermoon” into “Date Night,” strap in.

3. Bed Wettin’ Bad Boys, Rot (R.I.P. Society/What’s Your Rupture?)

Ready for Boredom was a great album full of weary-headed anthems, and it looks like growin’ up hasn’t come any easier for these bedwetters on Rot. The Boys left their glam rock tendencies (i.e., “Sally”) behind this time, and they stick to making gruff pop songs for people whose weeks slip by uneventfully more and more frequently. Songs like “Plastic Tears” and “Device” are urgent and unbelievably catchy, and whoever did the vocals on “Work Again” needs more time at the mic. The Replacements are still a good reference point for these guys, but after two rock-solid albums, it’s time they get to shed that flattering-yet-overbearing label and lay claim to this sound that they’ve perfected.

2. Dreamdecay, YÚ (Iron Lung)

Man, Dreamdecay are so good. They’ve softened the edges from N V N V N V but they’re even more potent this time around, figuring out how to include big slow-moving guitar riffs in a nominally punk framework. Songs like “Mirror” just about leave you on the floor with the guitar theatrics, while “IAN” is a one-way ticket to the stratosphere. All of it sounds incredible, and I think Andrew Earles said it best, so I’ll let him do the honors: “YÚ could easily rearrange how someone thinks about music… in that unforgettable way that stays with the experiencer forever.”

1. Aaron Dilloway, The Gag File (Dais)

What more can I say about The Gag File? I have gushed. Not only a complete statement of an album, but one of the only records to force a localized shutdown when it’s on, keeping everything else at arm’s length. A world unto its own. Clear the cobwebs out.

7″/12″

Anxiety, Wild Life 7″ (La Vida Es Un Mus)

There’s a good bit of cornball humor present in Anxiety’s lyrics and credited band member names, the sort of thing that has persisted/pervaded a lot of modern punk and hardcore. But these guys sell it, and more: with better (read: less juvenile) lyrics, sly and self-deprecating; a monster vocal performance (”Dumped” especially); and a blistering intensity that oughta put their peers on notice.

Bent, Mattress Springs 7″ (Emotional Response)

Bent’s been on my radar since their Non Soon tape, and this year they dropped the Snakes & Shapes LP, every bit the shifting, shambling and at times annoyingly silly experience Non Soon prepped me for. The Mattress Springs 7″ came soon after, and compressed all the best parts of the LP (including “Mattress Springs”) into several minutes of leaky roof drums, hypnotic bass lines and smothered, frantic guitar parts.

Crack Cloud, Anchoring Point 7″ (Good Person)

Whereas Bent are happy to let their songs droop and flow, Crack Cloud come across as almost militaristic in their approach. Perfectly rehearsed, not a hair out of place, and yet as urgent as anything released under the banner of post-punk in the past however-many-years. The first three jagged and dense tracks whip in and cut out, just in time but somehow just too soon; “Philosopher’s Calling” is the payoff.

Hothead, Richie Records Summer Singles Series 7″ (Richie)

The Richie Records Summer Singles Series once again distinguished itself in a household where 7″s aren’t really given the time of day. Sure, Writhing Squares Too breathed life into krautrock in 2017, and David Nance’s "Amethyst” is kingdom come on the right day, but Hothead? Their shambling take on two covers (and a quick sketch) netted them the gold.

Mordecai, What Is Art? 7″ (Sophomore Lounge)

Mordecai is one of America’s great treasures, ain’t no way around it. Their Abstract Recipe LP on Richie from this year is great, reclaiming the highs of Neil’s Generator while pushing further from their influences - but the two disparate sides of this 7″ compress everything great about the band into a tidy package. The A-side rambles out of the gate in the same way Abstract Recipe does, whereas the B-side goes all Don Howland: low fidelity, downtrodden but toe-tapping. Buy everything they’ve recorded.

Mutual Jerk, s/t 7″ (State Laughter)

“He’s really a nice guyyy” begins the A-side track “He’s Harmless,” and hoo boy you better sit down for this one, because that bass line is not quitting anytime soon. Feeble excuses pile up, a disinterested defense of a friend presented with a mocking snarl until the constant pummel causes the dam to burst. The flip cynically covers comfortable suburban lifestyles and macho hardcore, two new takes on No Trend’s vast influence, but not quite reaching the impossible heights of song-of-the-year “He’s Harmless.”

Neutral, När 12″ (Omlott)

Neutral’s self-titled LP quickly turned into a favorite here in the early months of 2017. The duo kept busy all year, eventually releasing this mini-LP that favors electronics over guitars. The brittle backbone is the perfect support for Sofie Herner’s fragile yet mechanical vocals, a fitting soundtrack for a walk home so cold your eyelashes freeze. Shadow music that lacks a distinct time or place but leaves a flood of sensory overload in its wake.

Scorpion Violente, The Stalker 12″ (Bruit Direct Disques)

“The Wound”’s slow ooze remains one of my favorite musical moments of the year; there’s a reason it’s the only one you can’t stream via Bandcamp. Pay up, because if any modern label deserves your money, it’s Bruit Direct Disques.

The Shifters, “A Believer” b/w “Contrast of Form” (Market Square)

Brilliant little single of downer pop from the Shifters, whose self-titled cassette gained them a lot of Fall comparisons and was previously mined for a 7″ by It Takes Two. But it looks like they’ve got ambitions beyond the record nerd cadre: both songs are immediately satisfying without imparting a sticky sweetness - who can find fault with that?

Straightjacket Nation, s/t 12″ (La Vida Es Un Mus)

This is the punk record of the year for me, one that maybe got lost in the deluge of releases from La Vida Es Un Mus. If you wanna learn about effective vocal delivery in hardcore, please see “2021.” Eight tracks, all meat. Please tour the US.

Reissue/Archival

I don’t really feel too qualified to comment on music largely made before I was born, especially since I am the owner of several 2017 reissues with flowery press kits that I will probably never listen to again. But if you’re gonna be a sucker, let a sucker clue you in to these tried-and-true slabs deserving of any and all accolades. Unrepresented here, somewhat criminally, is the Black Editions, a label doing really amazing work reviving the P.S.F. catalog.

The And Band / Perfect Strangers, Noli Me Tangere split 7″ (Look Plastic/Noisyland)

Noli Me Tangere is two sides of barely-music from early ‘80s Christchurch, with this new edition featuring extensive liner notes from George Henderson, he of the And Band (and perhaps more recognizably, the Spies and the Puddle). Both sides showcase a coupla outcasted NZ bands supporting each others’ avant-scrawl, as inspirational as it is baffling.

Byron Morris & Gerald Wise, Unity LP (Eremite)

Freedom music, full of raw intensity (”Byard Lancaster did push-ups when not playing”) and fiery exchanges. The two sidelong pieces are demanding of your full attention, repaid in kind with chills so deep you’ll swear a spirit passed through ya.

Cosey Fanni Tutti, Time to Tell LP (Conspiracy International)

Gorgeous reissue with a foil-stamped gatefold and a huge booklet full of ephemera from the recording period. Less Throbbing Gristle menace than new age shimmer, especially on the B-side; the gentle ascent is the natural conclusion once you’ve lived through the stunning title track. Cosey, take me away.

Die Tödliche Doris, “ “ LP (États-Unis)

Brutally minimalistic post-punk from early ‘80s Germany, painstakingly restored by the Superior Viaduct sub-label États-Unis. The A-side is full of blistering, manic bursts; the flip smoothes things out, allowing ideas to stick around, proving this approach works in both short- and long-form. Call it ZNR meets DNA.

Harry Pussy, A Real New England Fuck Up LP (Palilalia)

Two live sets, one on each side, both monstrous and in shockingly high fidelity, especially given the circumstances detailed by Tom Lax and Tom Carter on the sleeve. The show from T.T. the Bear’s is the performance I always want (”Harry Pussy took the stage and sandblasted the night into oblivion”) and rarely get.

Khan Jamal Creative Art Ensemble, Drum Dance to the Motherland LP (Eremite)

Capping off a brilliant year for Eremite was a beautiful reissue of Drum Dance to the Motherland’s cosmic transmission. All of the hyperbolic reviews ring true when “Inner Peace” stumbles into a groove, but my favorite part is the almost painfully shrill horns on the title track.

Meat Thump, “Metal Gun” b/w “Left to Rust” 7″ (Coward Punch)

Coward Punch Records kept the memory of Brendon Annesley alive with a couple of archival Meat Thump 7″ers this year. The earlier one was good, but didn’t quite hit home; here, “Metal Gun” could be twice its length, and “Left to Rust” rambles down my spine in the same way that still-great “Box of Wine” 7″ does.

V/A, Oz Waves LP (Efficient Space)

On “tour” in the new year

Jan 19 Melbourne

Jan 20 Geelong

Jan 27 Sydney

Feb 9 Thirroul (AA)

Feb 10 Canberra

Feb 17 Brisbane

From the new album “Rot”

A monthly list of gigs, screenings and talks in Sydney and surrounds. Support the friends of meatspin.

Week 1: May 30 - June 3rd Repressed’s VIVID Live show at the Sydney Opera House brings to Sydney some big-name visitors and their side-projects (when Kitchen’s Floor, Miss Destiny and Lucy Cliche aren’t even headliners you know it’s a doozy). One of the few major exports of Australia’s underground in Total Control headline the biggest show of the year. They share members with Terry, who play with Sydney’s best/worst band Bed Wettin Bad Boys which answers the question of where guitar pop went. Horse MacGyver comes up from Canberra to do live visuals at the Opera House, and plays audio at two key shows alongside a few of the more creative members of Australia’s stacked electronic scene in Club Sound Witches, LA Suffocated and Jannah Quill (one half of W.D.K.) Big week! 

Tues May 30th - Horse MacGyver & Club Sound Witches (w/ screening of Zonk Vision A - Z) @ Freda’s, Chippendale

Thur June 1st - Repressed 15th Birthday @ The Sydney Opera House w/ Total Control, Severed Heads, Kitchen’s Floor, Miss Destiny, Lucy Cliche, Fake, Angie, Francis Plagne and Skyline (w/ visuals by Horse MacGyver)

Fri June 2nd - Horse MacGyver, LA Suffocated, Ill Winds, Jannah Q, Place Holder, Chris @ Petersham Bowling Club, Petersham

Sat June 3rd - Terry & Bed Wettin’ Bad Boys @ The Vic On the Park, Marrickville

Week 2: June 8th - June 12th Quiet week, calm after the storm. Would be worth a trip to Newcastle for a DIY fest at the Croatian Club that features a host of Newcastle bands, Sydney’s best new wave band (I kid, I kid) Orion and Oily Boys (skirt the edges of hardcore with one of our best). In Sydney, Del Lumanta’s afternoon gig series Double Vision kicks off at the Verge Gallery, her eye for odd music is always worht following. The weekly No Refunds show at the Bald Faced Stag will be back on Thursday June 8th, but usually gets announced the week of - a good excuse to sit in one of the few sad dives left in Sydney that hasn’t been renovated into the architectural equivalent of a fake smile.

Sat June 10th - Double Vision: Jessica Ekomane, Silje Nes, Jasmine Guffond @ Verge Gallery, Camperdown

Sat June 10th - NEWCASTLE: Passenger of Shit, Drillbit, Place Holder, Party of One, Mermaids, Defeatist Sprawl, Agrocalm, Spiritual Sleazebags  @ The Croation Club, Wickham

Sun June 11th - NEWCASTLE: Orion, Oily Boys, Marlon Bando, Bura Bura, L.H.I., John Howard @ The Croatian Club, Wickham

Week 3: June 15th - June 18th A rare appearance from Multiple Man due to one of the multiple men forsaking his homeland to live in New York. There may be no shortage of chances to see LA Suffocated play, but I’d take any chance to hear ‘Hemlock’ again (alongside Melbourne hype act Various Asses). Multiple Man play in Canberra on the Thursday in case you’ve got a ticket to the nearly sold out Ears Have Ears showcase, which you should. Ears Have Ears is one of a handful (R.I.P. Makeshift) of great specialist radio shows left in Australia. Their showcase features new performances prepared especially for the night, highlighted by Andrew McLennan (Cured Pink, Enderie Nuatal) and Monica Brooks (who, and few talked about it at the time, played the hardest set at the Opera House the night Royal Headache shut the place down in 2015). 

Another answer for ‘what happened to guitar pop’ is given with Sydney mainstays Unity Floors, joined by new band Clean Shirt and the only satirists left in Sydney Tim & The Boys (watch this space wink wink wink). On the same night, just down the road if you wanna bounce back between a free show and a cheap one, some synth-based acts in Hextape, Bradbury, et al at DIY space Beaconsfield (support spaces that don’t have liquor licenses, over-charge for booze, contribute to the death-spiral of capitalism…I kid, I kid). 

Please also consider going to the MCA panel ‘Contemporary Art, Feminism and the Internet’ the afternoon of the Saturday - if you’re not thinking about your role in the world of DIY/underground music, you’re not doing it right!

Thur June 15th - CANBERRA: Multiple Man, Horse MacGyver, Karli White & California Girls @ Polish White Eagle Club, Canberra

Thur June 15th - SCREENING: The Go-Betweens: Right Here @ Sydney Film Festival Hub

Fri June 16th - Ears Have Ears: Andrew McLennan & Angela Goh, Monica Brooks Ensemble, Austin Buckett @ 107 Projects, Redfern (CLOSE TO SELL OUT)

Fri June 16th - Angels #001: Various Asses, Multiple Man, L.A. Suffocated, Tru @ Portugal Madeira Club, Marrickville

Sat June 17th - TALK: ‘Contemporary Art, Feminism and the Internet’ @ MCA, Circular Quay (Afternoon)

Sat June 17th - Unity Floors, Tim & The Boys, Clean Shirt @ The Union Hotel, St Peters

Sat June 17th - Hextape, Bradbury, L.A. Suffocated, Jannah Quill, Jasmine Guffond @ Beaconsfield (near Sydney Park)

Week 4 - July 28th - August 2nd Another weekend of heavy-hitters old and new. One of Australia’s DIY pioneers in Feedtime released a new record this year, and so did their support Red Red Krovvy who’s self-titled LP (almost titled Technical Ecstasy, the dropping of which is almost as much of a tragedy as Bed Wettin Bed Boys’ deciding against naming their last record Success Rock) is one of the best local punk records I’ve head in years (I very almost tried to start the label early to try to convince them to release the record through meatspin is how much the thing moved me.) A rare appearance from Dead Farmers on that show too, the rock band that cannot be killed by your love of the synthesiser! But to satisfy your love of the synth, TekMinimal hosts Lucy Cliche (straight from the Opera House steps!) and M.O.B., who have been one of my favourite Sydney bands for almost five years.

July 28th - Feedtime, Red Red Krovvy, Dead Farmers @ The Factory Floor, Marrickville

July 29th - TeknoMinimal: Lucy Cliche, M.O.B., WRX, Tru @TekMinimal, Leichardt