Featured Stock: The Chosen Few: The Joke’s on Us

If there were some sort of last.fm-type service that catalogued the number of plays on your vinyl, you would no doubt find that the Saints’ Eternally Yours LP is one of my most well-worn and well-loved LPs. I just sort of happened upon that record when I was but a young n00b, and it immediately sparked a love affair with Australian punk that continues to this day. From the Radio Birdman collection LP on Sub Pop to the Murder Punk CDs to Bloodstains Across Australia to shitty bootlegs of the Victims’ “Television Addict,” I’ve roved far and wide to get my fix of punk from down under.

Naturally, then, I was excited to see that California’s Going Underground was reissuing the debut EP by the Chosen Few, expanding the original 7″ to a nice, loud 45RPM 12″. This thing absolutely smokes, and is pretty much exactly what you want from an early Australian punk record. The Stooges influence is extremely prominent, meaning this bears more than a passing resemblance to Radio Birdman (there’s even a song here that makes a jab at Deniz Tek), but there’s also the grit, energy, and sloppiness of the other Murder Punk bands. Raw guitars, simple but blistering riffs… raging, off-key vocals… this little beauty has it all. Just listen to the track above.

There have been a ton of great Australian reissues coming out lately, including material by X, Just Urbain, and Young Identities, but for my money this record is some of the very best. If you dig both Radio Birdman and raw 70s punk of the KBD variety, this is one that absolutely must be in your collection.

Buy this record from Sorry State here.

Demo from new Raleigh band: Lung Matter

So, currently my hometown scene of Raleigh is in one of those inevitable states of flux… longtime bands are either breaking up or changing, but as is always the case there are a bunch of new bands coming up to take their places. The latest of these is Lung Matter, who just recorded their first demo tape. I caught these guys live once and they were ripping, and this tape perfectly captures their raw, straightforward sound.

You can download the demo here. Lung Matter features current and former members of Sic Sensation, Feeble Minded, and Stripmines, and I’m pretty sure we’re going to be hearing more good things from them. Check it out.

Featured Stock: Avon Ladies: Guns and Gold 7″

There are no shortage of bands playing noisy, Void-inspired hardcore right now, but as always there are a few bands that stick out from the pack, and Phoenix’s Avon Ladies are one of them. This band got a lot of hype right out of the gate because they feature Chris Erba from the H100s and Upstab on vocals, but honestly I could care less about that… while I like a lot of bands from that city, I’m not one of those Clevo fanatics that worships everything that comes out of that city. Avon Ladies, for me, stand on their own merits.

The reason I keep coming back to this 7″ and Avon Ladies demo tape (now sold out, unfortunately), is because Avon Ladies have this phenomenal ability to craft riffs out of noise. Most noise bands use noisy feedback parts as a sort of dramatic counterpoint to your usual riffy hardcore… while a tough-guy band might alternate the ripping fast parts with a breakdown or another band might go into a more melodic contrasting part, Avon Ladies actually build riffs out of noise. More often than not, the bass guitar propels these songs forward, building a driving, stomping rhythm while the two guitarists just freak out… however, the feedback and noise always sounds not only discernable but downright catchy. How the band manages this, I have no idea… but I can’t stop listening to it.

This 7″ also features some pretty great packaging that isn’t accurately conveyed by the image above. The cover artwork is stamped in REAL gold foil. This is why the 7″ is so expensive… have you heard all of the stories on the news about rising gold prices? Well, that’s reflected in the price of this 7″. Good thing there isn’t speculator interest in killer fucking riffs, or no one would be able to afford this ripper.

Katorga Works, the label that released this 7″, has the whole EP available for download here. Give it a listen, get hooked, then buy it from Sorry State here.

Preview of the Upcoming Stripmines LP

Interview with the band plus a live performance… check it out!