More noisy garage punk amazingness, this time from Australian's own The UV Race. We're talking a COMPLETE mess here, as in glorious. Atonal, shuddering squalls of bratty, sneering pop disgust. Huggy Bear on quaaludes. Art rock that sounds like it's being made with (or by) Actual Rocks. This is pop music that makes a point of Not Giving A Fuck about pop music... or Punk Rock so giddy and youthful it simply cannot manage to look/act cool for even a second (except for smirking dude on the right side of the photo, but, y'know... guitar players. What can you do?).
Still not sold (what's WRONG with you)? Okay, here's a fast one and a slow one off the Knife Fight EP. "Frustration" (the slow one) does the same trick as "Boredom" by the Buzzcocks, both embodying and transcending its subject matter, albeit in a much more fuzzed-out, detuned Baby Sonic Youth way. "I Hate You" (the fast one, duh) clatters along on pantomime contempt, until all the noise drops away at the one minute mark to reveal the sax bleats that have been subliminally giving the song its hook. FUCK, I wish I'd thought of doing that.
Knife Fight has two more amazing songs on it, and is still probably available at yr local Punk Rock Emporium. The real news, however, is that th' Race have just put out a full-length called Homo which is SUBSTANTIALLY BETTER than the EP. Which you'd better believe took some goddamn doing. Go grab it so's it can dominate any top ten lists you plan on making this year.
Here are Tyvek. They represent that elusive "Hope For The Future" thing that us Jaded Rock Creeps are all the time chasing. They are that rarest of all creatures, a Garage Punk band that actually has two ideas to rub together (did I seriously just write that? Christ, what a prick. We're in a goddamn Garage Golden Age, there's so much rad shit going on! There's amazing stuff coming out by Black Time and The UV Race and Human Eye and Hygiene and TV Ghost and).
So what's the deal? Well, Tyvek have done two albums so far, both great. The first (self-titled) one is "shambolic" in that it sounds like the Velvets and Swell Maps but tougher, and catchier, and very noisy and wasted. There's lots of meandering atonal interludes between songs, which would be kind of a pain in the ass if the catchy "proper song" parts weren't SUPER compelling. Which they are, obvs. The second album is called Nothing Fits and it's on In The Red Records, who seem determined to sign at least seventy-five percent of the Bands That I Like, so that's an early Christmas Tip for you goofs. Nothing Fits is a goddamn BEAST of an album. It's like the first album, but boiled down into a thick paste. All the noisy bits have been stuffed INTO the songs, and all the tunes and energy and wit are ultra-concentrated. Are Tyvek still "experimental"? Yes, but only if said experiment can be completed within the confines of a minute-and-a-half punk barnstormer. Fucking amazing.
This is how you do it, kids. Smart, but not pretentious. Tough, but not neanderthal. And changing styles from album to album without losing yr identity is one HELL of a good look. I'm super excited for the next album.
Here's four Tyvek songs for you: "Burning Building" (the hands down best song on the first album), "Frustration Rock" (one of a gang of contenders for second place on the debut, beating out its pals because of some sharp lyrics and some mid-song counting, which I am a sucker for), "Underwater 1" (my favorite off Nothing Fits), and "Potato" (also off Nothing, and yes it really is about cooking potatoes. Mostly.). All four are total rockers. What kind of joint do you think I'm running here?
