Mundy's Bay - Goodbye

I know in times like this, the whole world looks to me to make sense of this topsy turvy situation and dish out some words of wisdom, hope and solace. But alas, gentile reader, these delicate fingers, for once, don't know what to type. Do not look to me for all the answers. We must find strength in ourselves, and each other. And drugs. Plenty of drugs.

So they can stop us from going outside, but like the Village People sang, nobody can stop the music.

Well, they could shut down the power grid and we'd be stuck with non electric shit like classical and folk music. A fate worse than Coronavirus!

So I just discovered Mundy's Bay via this song the other day. I've watched this video about 15 times already and sent it to a bunch of my friends, in lieu of asking if they're still alive. This is my kind of stuff. Hooky, dancey indie pop. And the chorus, with that slight keyboard flourish, is such an earworm.

The song is great, but it also makes me miss watching music videos. I guess they're going for a cable access/make-a-video-in-the-mall-machine kind of thing. And watching the drummer bounce along to the beat and the guitarist let loose around 1:59 makes me miss seeing live shows. I know it's only been a short while, but I go to a lot of shows. I had 6 shows lined up just until mid April that have been canceled.

But we can continue to bob our heads and dance in our houses to music like this for the time being. And when this is over, I expect you all to fill the music venues, dance clubs and karaoke nights of your cities and remember how music kept you sane during these ___ months. Years?

And keep taking drugs.

Check Out: Teledrome

Well this is fitting. I've been listening to pretty much nothing but new wave and 80's stuff the past week and these guys play a retro style of punky new wave. There are touches of Jay Reatard/Lost Sounds, but this is mostly throwback, keyboard heavy synth rock with some authentic guitar flair. I mean, look at that dollar bin 80's cover art?! Perfect!

Check Out: Martha

Martha - 1967, I Miss You, I'm Lonely

Catchy stuff. They have a few eps out so far, and their debut album should be out very soon. Looking forward to it.

Check Out: Control

Here's a cool new band from the UK that I just heard about. I was initially interested because I read a description of Sugar/Husker Du/Dag Nasty type guitars. There's that, but I also hear some 90's radio alternative in there. I'm reminded of the Goo Goo Dolls, the Gin Blossoms, that Sponge song, "Plowed" and the 3 Doors Down song, "Kryptonite" when listening to this ep. I apologize to the band if those are horrible comparisons and I hope that doesn't scare anyone off from giving this band a listen.

For a first ep, this is incredibly slick, professional and catchy. Apparently they have a demo as well that I'd love to hear. 

Check Out: Nervosas

It's hard to keep track of the hundreds of blog messages I receive each week. (Wait, I mean day. Yeah, day.) But when someone turns me on to their own awesome band, it stands out amidst the thousands of other messages I receive in a day.

I'm surprised I'd never heard Nervosas before. They seem to be part of the newer crop of Wipers influenced dark punk, and one of the better ones at that. Think bands like the Observers/Red Dons, the Estranged, Arctic Flowers or Night Birds mixed with old So Cal punk like the Adolescents and with a touch of old skate rock. And maybe due to their Ohio origins, I hear a little old Devo in their sound as well. The male singer (the female guitarist provides some vocals and backup) reminds me of a mix between Ian Curtis and Mark Mothersbaugh at times. Oddly enough, I'm listening to them as I write this and just after I typed that last sentence, there was a lyric that mentioned a "controllable urge" in the song "Poison Ivy." Spooky.

So far they have 3 releases available on their bandcamp page, and they just released a new 3xLP with even faster and more manic versions of some of their old songs apparently.

A nice discovery from the millions of messages I get each day hour.

Check Out: TV Eye

Do you like The Dickies, The Vindictives, The Zero Boys and Supernova? Well you should, moron.

And since you do, these guys are right up your alley. This Swedish band plays short. snotty punk blasts (most songs around the 1 minute mark) with some of the goofiest lyrics I've ever read. Some examples:

Banana

Working on a plantation

picking bananas

Working for Fyffe

packing the banana

Ba-Ba-Ba-Ba-Ba-Banana

Fyffe times better

Ba-Ba-Ba-Ba-Ba-Banana

Fyffe times better

It's a yellow curved fruit they call...BANANA!

Cuckoo-clock
Last week I divorced my wife
Now she's no mrs but a miss
all the cooking and cleaning
is now my business

I've bought a table and a fucking chair
and a cuckoo-clock...the price was fair
I have to buy a new home 'cause I was thrown out

Yep, those are all the words. You might not be scribbling their lyrics in your trapper keeper anytime soon, but the songs are catchy and fun, and there's a lot of them. One of their albums is available for "name your price" and another 10 song 7" is just $3. Definitely worth it for a smile and some toe taps.

Check Out: Ningoonies

Spain, or Barcelona at least, hasn't proven to have much of a pop punk scene. From another pop punk fan I've talked to, I guess most foreign bands skip over Barcelona and the few shows that do take place aren't promoted well. San Francisco was getting the same way though, so maybe pop punk is better suited for smaller towns. City slickers just like house and jungle and dubstep and bleep blorp music now.

That said, Madrid seems to have produced a catchy band with a great name called Ningoonies. I've just heard about them today, but they've apparently been around for years, playing (mostly) female fronted poppy punk.

If you're a fan of the Fastbacks, the Muffs, Screeching Weasel, the Lillingtons or the Manges, this is right up your alley.

Check Out: Murmurs

Probably one of the most criminally unknown pop punk bands in recent years is the Seattle band, Snuggle! Their sole album Zero Real Hearts (on 1-2-3-4 Go! Records), blends speedy guitars, rapidfire drums and cool basslines with a singer who more than resembles Jason from Samiam. Probably the best East Bay (sounding) record since the glory days of Lookout.

Unfortunately, I don't think Snuggle! ventures out too far from Seattle and they have little to no web presence, so I'm not even sure if they're still around, although they did just release a song on a 7" compilation recently. And from looking for information on them yesterday, I came across Murmurs.

Murmurs features at least one member of Snuggle! (the singer, who also has an acoustic project called Pipsqueak). Their sound is a little beefier than Snuggle!, reminding me a little of The Fucking Cops. With the same familiar voice that I really enjoy.

They're set to release a limited CD and cassette called Fly With The Unkindness, which can only be streamed from their bandcamp page as of yet. Of course they're playing SF soon when I'm not there anymore. Hopefully I can get the album somehow soon.

Check Out: White Lung

If you haven't heard White Lung yet, their album Sorry is one of my favorites from this year. An awesome mix of garage rock, post punk and hardcore, with melodic female vocals and one of the more interesting guitar styles I can think of in a while. Breakneck jangle with plenty of cool intricate parts.

But if you need an introduction to the band, check out their new European tour 7" on bandcamp. The first song, "Two Of You," is my favorite by them so far. Fast and melodic with crazy, noodley guitars. I have a tiny toy guitar at my parents' house that makes a really similar sound to the guitar part in the song. The second song is no slouch either with discordant guitars and a slightly more aggressive approach, but just as catchy.

And you can't complain about 2 awesome songs for 2 dollars Canadian.

Check Out: Col.lapse

A good local hardcore band I just discovered recently. I see a lot of bands described as sounding like Dag Nasty, which mostly just means they end up sounding like melodic hardcore. These guys do a fairly accurate job with the Dag/DC sound, without being completely derivative. One song does remind me a lot of Egg Hunt. Nothing wrong with that. They fit in well with fellow modern revivalists Give and Remission if you dig later 80's hardcore that didn't involve finger pointing and sportswear. Oh, and getting stabbed in the back.

You can check out a few tracks from their album Última Esperança below. I debate posting the entire album because I'm not sure how many people outside of Spain are actually going to track down an LP only release, or download an album that's all sung in Catalan. But you can pick up the LP from B-Core Records or download it from Amazon, eMusic or iTunes.