{"id":2309,"date":"2019-01-14T02:04:55","date_gmt":"2019-01-14T07:04:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/2.dougkubert.com\/blog\/?p=2309"},"modified":"2019-01-16T01:11:29","modified_gmt":"2019-01-16T06:11:29","slug":"best-singlesepsdemos-of-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/2.dougkubert.com\/blog\/?p=2309","title":{"rendered":"Best Singles\/EPs\/Demos of 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n\"Brutal
\nBrutal Birthday<\/strong>\u00a0–\u00a0Commotion<\/em>\u00a07″ (Total Punk)
\nYou can always\u00a0rely on Total Punk to dredge up the ugliest punk from around the globe and spew it forth upon the world in bite-sized 7″ chunks. 2018 brought one of the gnarliest yet in the form of Italy’s Brutal Birthday, who pound out 3 simplistic, noise-addled hate ditties that are\u00a0more fun than Brainbombs,\u00a0livelier than Drunks With Guns, and nearly as hideous as Flipper.<\/p>\n

Listen to <\/em>Commotion on Bandcamp<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Des
\nDes Demonas<\/strong>\u00a0–\u00a0Bay of Pigs<\/em>\u00a07″\u00a0(Slovenly)
\nWashington DC’s Des Demonas debut LP slipped past me last year but I’ve been catching up with\u00a0this solid 45, their sole 2018 release. With two songs of churning punk soul accented\u00a0by a Farfisa organ and a righteous swagger, this will spend some serious time on the turntable.<\/p>\n

Listen to <\/em>Bay of Pigs on\u00a0Bandcamp<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Ecstacy
\nEcstasy<\/strong>\u00a0– 7″ EP (Digital Regress)
\nThe\u00a0proper vinyl release of this Oakland band’s\u00a02017 5-track\u00a0digital demo is one of the tightest and punchiest hardcore records I heard in 2018 and it earned a number of spins on the turntable and iPod. With a go-for-the-throat sound\u00a0that doesn’t let up, bleeding from track to track with propulsive riffs that have a Black Flag urgency played with the intensity of\u00a0more recent hardcore groups\u00a0like Kim Phuc. Hoping to hear more from this group in 2019.<\/p>\n

Listen to <\/em>Ecstasy on Bandcamp<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Erik
\nErik Nervous<\/strong>\u00a0–\u00a0Nervoloid<\/em>\u00a07″ EP (Digital Regress)
\nAnother gem in the growing oeuvre of Hoosier state’s greatest bedroom punk star,\u00a0Nervoloid<\/em>\u00a0pays proper homage to some of Devo’s\u00a0deep deep\u00a0deep cuts. The\u00a05 tracks on this EP sound fantastic and fresh and\u00a0hardly have a\u00a0whiff of\u00a0being over 40+ years of age. It’s a thing of beauty to see young blood\u00a0putting some new life into\u00a0proto\u00a0synthpunk delirium.<\/p>\n

Listen to <\/em>Nervoloid on Bandcamp<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Gumming
\nGumming<\/strong>\u00a0–\u00a0Human Values<\/em>\u00a0Cassette\u00a0(Not Normal)
\nVicious, knuckle dragging noise from Richmond, Virginia that has the relentlessness and mentally unstable frame of mind\u00a0necessary for making this plodding strain of hardcore punk essential.\u00a0Human Values<\/em>\u00a0features\u00a013 punishing tracks with painfully no-frills percussion, snaking buzzbomb bass and tense, warbling guitar that’s just a few clicks out of tune. Featuring many of the songs from their 2017 8-song debut recorded with fuller\u00a0production values, shifting some of the treble to their pounding rhythm section.<\/p>\n

Listen to <\/em>Human Values on Bandcamp<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Hologram
\nHologram<\/strong>\u00a0–\u00a0Build Yourself Up So Many Times Only To Be Brought Down Again And Again<\/em>\u00a07″ EP (La Vida Es Un Mus)
\nThe psychotic strain of hardcore that bubbled up\u00a0in the 1980s midwest with\u00a0Die Kreuzen and Spike in Vain has few contemporary equivalents in 2018, even though those bands get\u00a0cross referenced to\u00a0many current groups. Truth is, many of them don’t have the\u00a0creative\u00a0what-the-fuck<\/em>\u00a0fire that Hologram has demonstrated on this\u00a05-song ripper. It’s creative, confusing\u00a0and\u00a0full of unexpected contortions, but doesn’t trade in any of those qualities\u00a0at the sacrifice of velocity and fury.<\/p>\n

Listen to<\/em> Build Yourself Up So Many Times Only To Be Brought Down Again And Again on Bandcamp<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Lithics
\nLithics<\/strong>\u00a0–\u00a0Of You, Photograph<\/em>\u00a07″ (Thrilling Living)
\nIn addition to their\u00a0cruicial sophomore LP,\u00a0Mating Surfaces<\/em>, Portland’s Lithics bestowed 2 more essential tracks of their austere angular postpunk on this 45. They continue to fine tune their distinct style with a\u00a0detached yet catchy sound that proves the strength in a “less is more” approach that\u00a0makes the most of\u00a0perfectly executed, cleverly sparse songs. Mandatory listening along with their other releases.<\/p>\n

Listen to<\/em> Of, Photograph on Bandcamp<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Natural
\nNatural Man & The Flamin’ Hot Band<\/strong>\u00a0– 7″ EP (Neck Chop)
\nChanneling the spastic energy of early punk skronk from The Deadbeats’ Dangerhouse 7″ through the modern rolling punk lens of Oakland’s The World, KC’s Natural Man polish up four tracks from their demo for your listening pleasure. And what a pleasure it is, full of hooky choruses and sax blurts wrapped around\u00a0jerky rhythms\u00a0that would make James Chance and The Contortions slip a disc.<\/p>\n

Listen to Natural Man & The Flamin’ Hot Band on Bandcamp<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"The
\nThe Shifters<\/strong>\u00a0–\u00a0Just Sat Down<\/em>\u00a07″ EP (Digital Regress)
\nThe\u00a0four\u00a0tracks on\u00a0Just Sat Down<\/em>\u00a0have a\u00a0scrappier feel than the tracks on their\u00a0Have a Cunning Plan<\/em>\u00a0LP,\u00a0charming with instantly catchy\u00a0Fall-esque tunes that lodge themselves into your brain as head bobbers and minor key earworms of the highest caliber.<\/p>\n

Listen to<\/a> Just Sat Down<\/a><\/em> on Bandcamp<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Witch
\nWitch Jail<\/strong>\u00a0–\u00a0Music for Magic Moments<\/em>\u00a0demo\u00a0(Self Released)
\nAfter a handful of digital singles, a single vinyl single, and a digital album, this KC band signs off with a demo tape\u00a0capturing their best tracks yet. Always one of the more interesting groups around the garage punk scene, this 7-track swan song haunts their mutant rockabilly with a detached cool that grabs hold with the first track “Saucer Season Revisited” and never lets go.\u00a0The non-digital cassette version also\u00a0includes their first album Spellcasters Anonymous as a bonus. Snag one today and\u00a0hope that Guy Slimey (aka Scary Manilow) has something else brewing for 2019 and beyond.<\/p>\n

Listen to<\/em> Music for Magic Moments on Bandcamp<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brutal Birthday\u00a0–\u00a0Commotion\u00a07″ (Total Punk) You can always\u00a0rely on Total Punk to dredge up the ugliest punk from around the globe and spew it forth upon the world in bite-sized 7″ chunks. 2018 brought one of the gnarliest yet in the form of Italy’s Brutal Birthday, who pound out 3 simplistic, noise-addled hate ditties that are\u00a0more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[122,7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/2.dougkubert.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2309"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/2.dougkubert.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/2.dougkubert.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/2.dougkubert.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/2.dougkubert.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2309"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/2.dougkubert.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2309\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2314,"href":"http:\/\/2.dougkubert.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2309\/revisions\/2314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/2.dougkubert.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/2.dougkubert.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/2.dougkubert.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}