AFS v. 209 ~ Down With Hope!

Lock up the razor blades, kids! This week's AFS is soaked in overbearing blight and horror. Phil must still be haunting the studio, with Lux in tow. Death to Pigs set the course for this bummer trip with a faithful tribute to the Brainbombs' implacable downcast riff oppression, followed by the exquisitely punishing new pukefests by the strident Basque blastmaster of bleakness, Mattin, whose new 7" slab dishes three live tracks that are violent, nasty, noisy, and stark, yet also mining territory adjacent to hardcore. It immediately made Deep Jew and Dynasty spring to mind, but this is much more dynamic. The new 7" from Germany's Rock Is Hell label (pictured here) is limited to 150, so hurry! There's no quick relief afterward...behold the agonizing atmospherics of Prurient, and then back to the thorough riff-pummelling with FNU Ronnies (that surely belongs on vinyl eventually). About the only thing that could make you feel more hopeless is to watch Threads on GoogleVideo. Don't, dont' do it!

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DAN MELCHIOR UND DAS MENACE | Tourists | The Post Office Line 7" | Columbus Discount *new
BEYOND THE IMPLODE | This Atmosphere | This Atmosphere 7" | Siltbreeze (orig 1979) *new
COLD SUN | For Ever | Dark Shadows | World in Sound *new (orig 1970)
MEERCAZ | Defeated at Home | Meercaz | Gulcher *new
DEATH | Politicians in My Eyes | ...For the Whole World to See | Drag City *new (orig 1975)
BOULDER | Scream of the Iron Messiah [Black Death] | split 7" w/ Thin Lizzy | Flexovit 1997
DEATH TO PIGS | (It's a) Burning Hell [Brainbombs] | La Horse 10" | Down Boy/213/Bands Noire *new
MATTIN, DEAN ROBERTS & DD KERN | untitled #5/MMMMM | 7" | Rock Is Hell *new
PRURIENT | Historically, Women Use Poison to Kill | Cocaine Death | Hospital Productions 2008
FNU RONNIES | Golem Smoke | Golem CDR | Skrot Up *new
COUSINS OF REGGAE | You Can Do It to Me and I Can Do It to You | Methridge | Olde English Spelling Bee *new (orig 2005)
COUSINS OF REGGAE | The Edge of the Babysitter
ALARMIST | Ignition | demo CDR | no label 2003
ARGUMENTIX & BIRD COSTUMES | Nostalgia Escaped Unscathed | Armageddon...Maybe Later CDR | Below PDX 2006
ARGUMENTIX W/ TIK///TIK | Gentle Push | v/a: Dracula Safari: Post-Alarmist | Oms-B *new
GHOST TO FALCO | Home Smoke | Hold Back The Dark CDR | no label *new
BROMP TREB | Twins | Twins 7" | Breaking World Records *new
DANNY & THE DRESSMAKERS | Eggs on Legs | v/a: Messthetics Greatest Hiss | Hyped2Death *new (orig 1979)
HIGH MARKS | The Family Year | Closing Doors CDR | Persistent Midnight *new
NOSZTALGIA DIREKTIVA | Tegnapok | Tegnapok 7" | Enfant Terrible *new
ADOLF FILTER | 1982 | The Other Hand on the Knob 7" | Enfant Terrible *new
BLANK DOGS | Spinning | The Fields 12" EP | Woodsist 2008
RODENT PLAGUE | Abyssinia | Evacuations CS | Jerkwave Tapes 2008
YEAR OF THE LIPS | Vomitorium | Year of the Lips CDR | no label *new
CRO MAGNON | Apple Orchard | first 7" | Bruit Direct *new
RUTH WHITE | Owls | Flowers of Evil | Limelight 1969
THE SHADOW RING | The Iron Ark | Life Review (1993-2003) 2xCD | KYE *new
THE SHADOW RING | Veehay

Really, though....the cheeriest news of the day is that the new installment of the Columbus Discount Singles Club came in the mail today, and it's possibly the wildest 7" yet by Dan Melchior und das Menace. We lead off tonight with the schizoid B-side that alternately rambles with sweet guitar and cloys with jarring keys, but it's surely as tight and purposeful as any Melchior song, and Dan still makes his point with authority. I never expected him to veer so close to the "synthpunk" zeitgeist, but that's exactly what you'll hear on the A-side, and it's exemplary as a best-of in the genre. I can hear the alacrity and aggression of TV Ghost, but also the appreciable kinda maturity that helps such an assault hit its target perfectly. And there's another 7" by Melchior and his Menace coming any day now on Columbus Discount which is already available for order even for non-subscribers to the Singles Club. It's coming in a killer batch of new titles by such cool rulers as El Jesus de Magico (full length!)!!

And yet more consoling is available in the form of these great new reissues and retrospective releases...

Siltbreeze's new 7" featuring Beyond the Implode is just in time to take advantage of heightened curiosity in DIY pop and postpunk, like the kind chronicled by the Messthetics series, and rekindled interest in the sublime sounds of 80s kiwi pop and psyched-tinged adjacencies. This English band's 1979 home recordings definitely sounds like a perfect combination of the two, and it is surely already in short supply, so go cop it right now! Also check out the new LP by Detroit Afro-proto-punks Death, due out on February 17, plus a re-ish of early 70s Austin psych-trippers Cold Sun, a still-too-scarce vinyl edition of drastic neo-no-wave scuzz by Cousins of Reggae (surely one of the very best bands of this particular ilk!), and a double-CD by The Shadow Ring that shall surely send you scouring for their entire discography once you let it creep under your skin. Rumor has it, more Shadow Ring reissues are on the way.