I don’t know about you, but I like my numbers little and snappy. Big numbers just confuse and frustrate me. Don’t even show me a number if it isn’t snappy. That would be a total waste of my time, and obviously time is at a premium. That’s why the longest song on this compilation is… oh wait… Five minutes? Jeezis! I guess nevermind everything I just said. Look pal, if I were you, first of all I’d send five hundred American dollars to Steve Doesnt. THEN, immediately after that, I would sign up for bandcamp and follow every band on this comp. If you’re already on bandcamp, I beg your pardon, but the important thing is that you give me money, and I’ll thank you in advance for being snappy about it. If you work at Snappy Little Numbers, thank you for these cool tunes, and thank you in advance for the $500 you’ll be sending me for Christmas this year. In conclusion, I’m poor.
Shout out to Ysabel, the quiet Peruvian lady I work with and whom I torment with aggressive punk rock on a daily basis. Oddly enough, even after I mentioned to her that this band is from her homeland, she still didn’t find it very appealing. Did you guys know there are Japanese people in Peru? Ysabel is Japanese and Peruvian and she speaks both languages. She’s been teaching me Spanish, but you don’t need to know any Spanish at all to enjoy this here album. You don’t need to understand lyrics in order to appreciate the delivery. Sometimes it’s probably better if you don’t understand them. *Ever hear a really incredible English-speaking band and slowly realize the lyrics are contrived as all hell and you can’t bare to listen to it even though it rocks? Well you won’t have that problem if you can’t understand the lyrics will you? I know there’s just way too much music out there to keep up with nowadays, but you HAVE TO make your ears available to non-English bands. There are just too many good ones to pass up. Hostil, for example. I wish Ysabel would take me to Lima and go to one of their shows with me. She’s the perfect size for crowd surfing.
*If you’ve never had this problem, you suck at listening to music.
Apsurd – Derealizacija
I’m so stoked on this band, this is the second time in a month they’ve been featured on The Doesn’t Suck. Chances are you’ve been sleepin’ pretty heavily on Serbia. I’ll admit, I have been too, so let this be an alarm clock to us all. Serbia has more than just vampires and paprika goddammit. Serbia has vampires? I thought that was Romania.. No! It’s Serbia too ok. Educate yourself for Jesus Christs sake. This is possibly my favourite hardcore album of 2018, so far, and there is some stiff competition out there. I read on their bandcamp page that this is influenced by the former Yugoslavia hardcore scene.. Cool! No wonder it sounds so vital. To me it seems stripped right down. Just straight up hardcore. No bells and/or whistles, maybe a couple interesting guitar solos. Nice and fast and relentless. If you’re a hardcore purist, maybe this is exactly what you’re craving. Maybe you’re also craving tacos. I know I am. Listen on Bandcamp
Strange Ranger – How It All Went By[Buy it on Amazon!]
Well it’s no secret, I’m basically perma-boned on Strange Ranger and have been since they had a cooler name and made better music. It’s ok though, because even the watered down version of Sioux Falls is better than almost any current band out there. And let’s be clear, when I say “current” I’m not including those on-again off-again bands that are still touring 25 years after they peaked. Wow! Why am I being so mean? I’m sorry. I just got myself into a bad mood somehow. Look, I like this EP a lot. It’s a little more Rot Forever and a little less Daymoon. Loved Daymoon, but I hope they stay on this trajectory cuz let’s face it, Rot Forever was one of the best albums of the decade. And if you don’t agree with that then you need to brush up your music listening skills pal! Wow! This rage inside of me.. Where is this coming from? Get off my back! Get me a Pepsi! YOU’RE THE ONE THAT’S CRAZY! *runs into the streets and starts howling at the moon* Oh wait that’s a street light. *goes back inside and continues watching Jeopardy* Listen on Bandcamp or Spotify
The Mustard Tigers – Thanks For The Toast
Erf! It’s so promising to hear young bands out now doing punk that captures the spirit so perfectly of the stuff I grew up listening to in the 90’s. I guess these Mustard Tigers guys actually broke up last year, so not as promising as I thought maybe, but comforting nonetheless. What’s equally awesome is the way they recorded this album; Live in the studio in 4 hours, just like every great punk album should be. Snotty as hell too. The whole album reeks of an unkept teenage bedroom. You know that Febreeze commercial (shout out to Febreeze), where the mom is like “You need to clean this room” and the kid’s like “CLEAN IT?” … (uh yeah,fuckin’ clean it kid. What don’t you understand?) Then at the end some girls come over and they’re all “Damn boi! This room smells clean as hell! Time for you to lose your virginity!” It’s a pretty scientific commercial. What were we talking about? Listen on Bandcamp
Neds – Total Disaster
Neds is the name of the band, which means (as any logical person would assume) that all the members of this band are named Ned, which (as any educated person knows) is short for Alfned. Wow, hey, what are you doing? You don’t need to google this. I already did the research pal. Moving on.. These Alfneds, are really dishing out some solid sing-along-able indie punk; Right off the medieval streets of Rennes France. All the songs are in English but with noticeable accents that make it sound twice as rad. Look, for all I know, ‘Neds’ means something totally different in France. Maybe it’s not even a name. Is that really any of my business though? Maybe it is. I don’t know. What’s with all the questions? Listen on Bandcamp
Basement Benders – Shrapnel Songs[Buy it on Amazon!]
Straight outta Chattanooga Tennessee (Home of.. umm.. choo choo trains?) The Basement Benders are back, so get ready to rock! Seriously, if you’re not ready to rock, this album is going to be a very strenuous experience for you. How does one prepare oneself for a’rockin’ though? Good question friend. It’s a three step process: Step 1. Stretch your back and groin. Step 2. Apply deodorant liberally. Step 3. Do a little practice rocking before the real thing. Now you’re ready to flat-out rock. Proceed with complete abandon. Supposedly this band has members of This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb, which explains the awesomeness. Also I’m hoping if they’re reading this, maybe they can offer some insight into a post I did a while ago (see previous link) about a Pipe Bomb show in Asheville NC. That would be great. Or not, that’s cool too. Whatever. I don’t even care. Fine then! YOU’RE THE ONE THAT’S CRAZY! Listen on Bandcamp
ENDNOTES: Welp, October is over which means I’m another year older and still living under the same ethos as always: Don’t resist change, don’t lose touch, don’t get left behind. That goes for the music I listen to, and also everything else in life. I was reading The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells last night and in one passage he used the N-word, just totally nonchalantly like it was the most normal thing ever. It got me thinking: Thank god the world has changed since 1897, and people don’t just openly talk like that anymore (well at least most of us know that it’s wrong now). What I’m trying to get at is, things have to change. Words and schools of thought are going to be taken away from us, and we can’t be defensive about it. We can’t be protective of it. We have to let it go. Someday, in the not too distant future, we’re going to look back at a lot of the things we said and did in the 90’s and 2000’s and we’re going to see it the same way I saw the N-word in The Invisible Man: We didn’t realize how ignorant we were at the time, but it’s a good thing we changed our ways.
As always, I hope you enjoy the albums I’m finding. I hope this is the new music resource of your dreams, and I hope you continue to seek out weird music and find new bands. Do not forget to check the Scrap Heap for all the other killer releases I found along the way. This month I’m leaving you with a music video for one of my favourite songs of 2018, including lyrics. Amazing lyrics! And the IDLES Joy As An Act Of Resistance LP has one of my all-time favourite album covers. Hope you enjoy!
My blood brother is an immigrant – A beautiful immigrant My blood brother’s Freddie Mercury – A Nigerian mother of three He’s made of bones, he’s made of blood He’s made of flesh, he’s made of love, He’s made of you, he’s made of me, Unity Fear leads to panic, panic leads to pain – Pain leads to anger, anger leads to hate Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, ah, ah, ah, ah, Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, ah, ah, ah, ah, Danny Nedelko! My best friend is an alien (I know him, and he is) – My best friend is a citizen He’s strong, he’s earnest, he’s innocent My blood brother is Malala – A Polish butcher, he’s Mo Farah He’s made of bones, he’s made of blood, He’s made of flesh, he’s made of love, he’s made of you, he’s made of me, Unity Fear leads to panic, panic leads to pain – Pain leads to anger, anger leads to hate Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, ah, ah, ah, ah, Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, ah, ah, ah, ah, Danny Nedelko!
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