Noise for Zeros

The Dreams – Negativ Streets Digital Single (Beko Box Volume 2)
Although A.H. Kraken and The Anals are great bands for gnarly, ugly grunt rock ala Brainbombs and Drunks With Guns, both tend to be hard to listen to on account of their noisy, repetitive, tension-filled aural endurance sessions. I know that’s antithetical to this blog, which happily embraces noise, but The Dreams are the best band yet from the French duo who are the common thread among these groups. The Dreams remove some of the clashing guitar tones and replace it with chilly keyboards and minimalistic songs that give their sound enough air to really keep things interesting.

Ex-Fag Cop – Gimme Fag Agenda 7″ EP (Batshit Records)
After an appearance on The World’s Lousy With Ideas Vol. 4 comp and a couple raging shit-fi 7″ hate bombs, this Lawrence outfit changes their name to from Fag Cop to Ex-Fag Cop, seemingly just to fuck with everyone. While not quite as blown out as their other recordings, Gimme Fag Agenda does add some sinister tones to the mix, bringing to mind the warble of The Necessary Evils. Another notable difference is female vocals on ‘Remembered Future of A Dark Psychic History’, adding even more dimension to the mega-fucked Fag Cop/Ex-Fag Cop sound.

Lamps – The Role Of The Dogcatcher In African-American Urban Folklore 7″ (Fan Death Records)
Finally had a chance to see this band live and my understanding of their blunt-force caveman stomp upped my fandom a couple notches. This song in particular is one of the best in their catalog with a killer loud-to-quiet maneuver that contrasts their trademark abrasive squall with clean and snappy verses supported by a burly, bouncing bass line. It’s good enough to completely make up for the weak B-side.

Moon Duo – Escape 12″ EP (Woodsist)
This might be a cheat since it’s considered an LP-length release by some, but 4 songs, even if they sprawl to the 6-8 minute mark, equal an EP in my book. Regardless, this release definitely earns “best of” status as it’s the ultimate culmination of everything Wooden Shjips and Moon Duo have done thus far, that being blissfully tranced out krautrock with atmosphere so thick and enveloping that you simply can’t turn it off. From the the second ‘Motorcycle, I Love You’ starts until the last title track, this extended EP has established itself as a high water mark of the genre.

Rot Shit – You’re Welcome 7″ (Columbus Discount)
Ugly, plodding heavy punk rock that skewers the state of punk rock with bursts of saxophone skronk and giant Stooges riffs. Songs like ‘Hipster Grandma’ aim to offend and distance this band from growing a fanbase, which I reckon they’d be fine with anyway. Pure vitriolic fun! Maybe punk isn’t dead after all…

Sex Church – 6 Songs by Sex Church 12″ EP (Compulsive)
Snotty but subdued Velvet Underground-style psych with the repetition and volume of Spacemen 3 and just enough punk edge to distinguish it from bands travelling similar avenues like The Black Angels or Royal Baths, or even Echo and the Bunnymen. There may be a lot of bands doing this sort of thing, but this band’s guitar tone and layers of echoey haze make them one of the most interesting of the bunch.

The Soft Moon – Parallels 7″ (Captured Tracks)
This is what I’d always imagined Blank Dogs should sound like. Atmospheric, cool, synth-driven darkwave that completely envelops you without getting into cheesy goth gimmicks. The title track is one of the coolest downbeat tracks ever, with pitchshifting bass rumbling underneath a hypnotic, motorik beat — the epitome of cool. There are a number of artists mining 1980s darkwave for inspiration, but The Soft Moon have actually brought something new into the mix.

The U.V. Race – I Hate You 7″ EP (Fashionable Idiots)
There’s a quality to this band’s sound that’s simultaneously tense and loose, resulting in a warped catchiness that’s reminiscent of feral postpunk from the early ’80s or maybe Flipper pushing out some pop tunes. The four songs on this record get out-of-tune and ugly, but ultimately they’re fun in a demented way. The final track ‘Garbage in My Heart’ is a grade-A warbling dirge in the vein of The Butthole Surfers in a heavy quaaludes fog.

Charles Albright – I’m Happy, I’m a Genius 7″ EP (Permanent Records)
Like fellow Californian Ty Segall, Charles Albright has a knack for overamped, blown out garage punk. And where Ty Segall’s sound veers into ’60 psych territory, Albright’s focuses more on the ass-stomping guitar crunch. The guitar sound on this 7-song buzz saw is so ridiculously loud that only a true songsmith could craft catchy hooks within the din of this in-the-red recording space.

Vermillion Sands – 20 Hours / The Last Day 7″ (Trouble In Mind)
Their Mary 7″ made the list in 2008 and since then I’d kinda written them off after some of their more countryfied releases. But this single could not be any better — both tracks are absolute gold A-sides with a slight country twang played with the songsmithing on par with the greatest of The Minutemen catalog. Totally fun Italian party punk with thickly-accented vocals.

Black Bug – Black Bug LP (FDH Records)
My favorite release of 2010. It’s a fiery burst of electro-buzz synth punk that absolutely kills. Blown out production and crackling femme vocals give this slab a brutally dark, fierce sound that pretty much mows down anything else heard in the last year. And it’s not one of those records that loses it’s charm after a few listens. Its pounding industrial-strength synthpunk anthems stick in your noggin and your gut with the force of electrocution.

Disappears – Lux LP (kranky)
Their 2008 singles were solid (two of the tracks appear on this album) and created a sense of anticipation for an LP, since their songs have a laid back Velvet Underground vibe that seems natural for a long format release. Lux smartly mixes up their core sound with a couple speedier tracks and some unexpected grit and effects that subtly textures their otherworldly, chiming tone.

Double Negative – Daydreamnation LP (Sorry State)
Years in the making and overcoming a series of setbacks including the theft of some recording gear, Double Negative’s second LP finally became a reality and it was worth the wait. The snazzy embossed and foil-stamped cover and retina-searing navy on hot pink lyric sheet make it a bold visual statement, but the sounds are decidedly emboldened as well, adding a twisted complexity to their speedy hardcore attack.

Guinea Worms – Sorcererers of Madness (4rd Year in a Row!) 2xLP (Columbus Discount)
It’s impressive that the Worms were able to save up two records worth of scrappy material and make a double LP that keeps interesting over 4 sides of vinyl. I loved their Box of Records 7″ but the flipside sorta goes on too long, so I was a little skeptical that this release might get a bit gratuitous. But thankfully, they’ve got plenty of unexpected and weirdly incongruent songs that’ll keep your foot tapping and head scratching. Was that a sax bleat? Is this a reggae song? Does that guitar twang make this a country song? Everything is skewed in a Country Teasers or Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 way, where things are almost recognizable but far from normal. The album title alone describes what kinda of insanity you can expect from this double slab of crazy.

Naked on the Vague – Heaps of Nothing LP (Siltbreeze)
I casually followed this Aussie group but never really felt they were worth my time until this heap of downer wave slipped into my consciousness early last summer. Their previous releases were intriguing, but they seemed like cerebral exercises in tuneless, droning postpunk endurance. Heaps of Nothing does drone, and the vocals do get deliberately off-key, but this time it really works to create an atmosphere that slowly pulls you in. It’s my new go-to record for when I need a hit of dark, dreamy drone.

Nothing People – Soft Crash LP (S.S.)
After becoming a bigger fan of this Sacto band in 2009, and after their excellent 7″ on Permanent Records early this year, this LP was one of the most anticipated releases for me in 2010. And wow, did it ever deliver. While 2009’s Late Night was a slo-mo lithium version of their glam punk churn, Soft Crash goes straight into space with wild Chrome-like tangents and an assortment of synthetically-altered art rock that continues to satisfy after countless spins. Absolutely essential listening for the 2010s.

Pollution – ®SMUT (C6 Recordings)
Along with Double Negative, this NYC band has raised the bar for hardcore in 2010 with an intensely volatile mix of thrash, math and noise. The rhythm section alone slays 99% of the band’s peers, starting and stopping on a dime, jolting tempos from oppressive dirges to ripping blast beats. Add to that massively chunky guitar and vicious vocals buried in the din and you’ve got a record that will be talked about and referenced for years to come.

Slices – Cruising (Iron Lung)
Pittsburgh has been producing some raging mid-paced hardcore with bands like Kim Phuc and this quartet of pressurized aggression, fitting somewhere alongside hardcore bands like Condominium and Cult Ritual, with creepy experimental tracks sandwiched between tense bursts of powerful hardcore. It’s noisy, jabbing, anxiety-ridden pummeling of the highest order.

Subtle Turnhips – Terd LP (Hozac)
Every year there’s a French band on this list and this year it’s a band who’s been around for a while but under the radar. Their loose and wild take on Swell Maps-style noisepunk always sounds good and remains fresh after many spins.

Tyvek – Nothing Fits LP (In The Red)
Like Siltbreeze label mates Naked on the Vague, Tyvek’s singles and 2009 LP were interesting, but a little too unfocused to demand much time on the turntable. This record, however, plays to all their strengths: spartan songs played with punked-out abandon, sorta like early SoCal punks (TSOL, Black Flag, Bad Religion, etc) covering Wire as amped-up teenagers.