Banishing Spell
Punk Rock, Power Pop, Abstract Hip Hop, Indie Rock and more.
Happy Thursday, y’all. Hope you’ve been doing well. I’ve got another fairly sizable chunk of thoughts on music here for ya. Had a very good long weekend full of family and friends, swimming, chip trucks and more.
For those of you who aren’t inclined to obsess over thrash metal like I have known to do, this week’s post should please you as it is mostly releases of the indie / punk / pop / rap variety… with a few exceptions of course.
And now, music. As always, I hope you find something to enjoy!
Icon legend:
⛏️ denotes picks of the week.
🌱 seedling denotes albums I liked, but may grow on me.
✨ means worth a look, if you like the genres listed in particular.
✂ on a review denotes choice cuts from an album
As always, please reach out on the hellsite if you’d like or better yet join the Rosy Overdrive Discord server where I can be found now and again. You can also find me in the corners of Rate Your Music scrounging for obscure emo, hardcore, indie-rock and pop-punk.
Don’t forget: if you’re reading this in your email it will be cut off. Read on the web for the full list of reviews!
🌱 Distants - LP (2024)
Genre: Punk Rock
Gruff, emotional, melodic punk rock from the Midwest. This is the band's first full length but they've put out some EPs and singles previously through Salinas Records, so I've had my eyes on them for a while now. This is very solid, and you probably already know what to expect based on the first sentence of this review. Strikes a good balance of the beer-soaked bearded dude orgcore vibe and just straight ahead melodic guitar rock.
Not super hooky, but strong enough overall that I didn't mind. Vocals might be the weakest link but there's a charm in this kind of music when the singer can only kind of sing so I also didn't mind that, haha.
✂ Mirror Years, Belly Up
⛏️ Virginity - Bad Jazz (2024)
Genre: Power Pop
Listening to this, you wouldn't be surprised to learn that the band uses a pseudo-Weezer "V" logo on their merch. I noticed this was released on Smartpunk Records, which has been good to me in the past for above average punk (see: American Television, Reconciler, etc.)
This has that subdued pop punk thing going on, with a hefty dose of big-W power pop. Very reminiscent of stuff like Rozwell Kid. Might not be the most memorable thing in the world, or the most original, but generally have a lot of time for this sound so I had a good time listening to this and imagine that I will reach for it again when I'm driving around and want something in that vein.
✨ Scrapped Plans - Buddy Buddy Belgium (2024)
Genre: Pop Punk
Pop punk supergroup featuring members of House Boat, The Ergs!, The Steinways, The Murderburgers, Robot Bachelor and Don Blake.
If you've heard anything that Grath Madden has been involved with in the past, you know the jist of what this sounds like. I have a lot of time for those House Boat albums so I was hoping for something as catchy as that (maybe less immature since it's not 2009 any more) and while this isn't as immature as those albums it also isn't quiiiiite as catchy.
But it is hooky and flies by at 15 minutes with everyone from all the aforementioned bands jumping in on vocals (together and separately) so it's a real charming effort.
🌱 ShrapKnel & Controller 7 - Nobody Planning to Leave (2024)
Genre: Abstract Hip Hop, East Coast Hip Hop, Conscious Hip Hop, Hardcore Hip Hop, Experimental Hip Hop
Trying to catch up on some hip-hop from this year that I've missed out on thanks to my thrash / death obsessions. This is very solid abstract / conscious / backpack / experimental / etc. hip hop but maybe didn't hold my interest completely throughout.
I did really like the production from Controller 7 which keeps things texturally varied. Not incredibly well versed with Curly Castro and PremRock's output but I liked what is going on. Not sure I'll run back to this again and again but it was very strong overall.
🌱 CupcakKe - Dauntless Manifesto (2024)
Genre: Pop Rap, Hardcore Hip Hop, Jersey Club Rap, Funk brasileiro, Trap, Experimental Hip Hop
It has been 6 years since cupcakKe released their last album, so I’m excited to say that there's a lot of really strong material on Dauntless Manifesto. Ephorize was a bit overstuffed and overlong, while Eden had consistency and a tighter track list on its side. This record continues the alternating trend those two albums established, for sure.
cupcakKe is mostly known for how explicit their songs are, but I feel like sometimes that element of their music overshadows just how incredibly clever and amazingly performed their bars can be. Obviously that's the point, and half the fun to hear expertly crafted punchlines alongside the more blunt material, so it's less a complaint and more just a thought about the public perception of them as an artist I'd say. They also have a nice-streak that I really appreciate, like on the pro-body image “Aura” (see also: "A.U.T.I.S.M" off Eden). I think cupcakKe in this mode is super underrated and again, these songs soar in part because they sit beside the more explicit songs.
The lead-off track of the new record is a massive banger, but I’m not sure about some of the songs like the acoustic-pop of “Water Balloon”. I’m pro-artists working outside the confines of their assumed genre though, so I’m going to give it some time. There's a good amount of variety from Brazilian influences on some songs to Jersey club-rap.
I think my main complaints would be the pacing ("Connect 4", "Water Balloon" and "Rock Paper Scissors" suffer being placed directly after such an enormous banger) and length. This feels a bit like it is trying to make good on the long wait by being 16 tracks and 45 minutes. The back-half of the album keeps the energy pretty high and so it feels more engaging as a result. "Dementia" and its skittering beats is a late-album highlight for sure. Closer "Cruella" is probably their most overtly political song as well and it ends the album on a high note.
✂ Grilling N****s II, Aura, Dui, Dementia, Nun Nun, Yawn, Cruella
🌱 Tuff Bluff - Tuff Bluff (2024)
Genre: Indie Rock
Very scrappy lo-fi sounding power poppy garage punk kind of deal. Released via Snappy Little Numbers (see also: Night Court, The Drolls). Fun stuff, simple songs, mostly under or around 2 minutes, decent melodies. Nothing ground shaking but a few of these tracks hit the spot.
✂ Numb, Shadow, Banishing Spell
✨ Bloody Keep - Rats of Black Death (2024)
Genre: Melodic Black Metal, Symphonic Black Metal, Dungeon Synth
Have to give it up to Abysmal Specter for consistently doing fun projects in the world of various black metal genres and sub-genres.
I can understand why this stuff won't work for some people, it's basically a gimmick and I bet you could level a criticism that this is some kind of meme-metal but... it's fuckin' fun? I'm sure it pisses off the trve black metal heads but that's fine by me.
And yeah I know that "actual" melodic/symphonic black metal is a thing but something about the Grime Stone Records mix of synthy carnival ass melodies and black metal vocals works for me more than something that takes itself more seriously?
✂ Rats of Black Death, The Werewolf's Tale, Wampyric Depression
✨ Witch Vomit - Funeral Sanctum (2024)
Genre: Death Metal, Melodic Death Metal
Cool and pretty varied death / blackened stuff. I enjoyed the thick atmosphere and riffing that doesn't make the mistake of "faster/louder/more chaotic always equals more intense" and has a lot of mid-tempo to slow passages that just haul in a doomy way. Would have to echo dewtaylo on the pacing criticism though. They keep the album short but in some ways it felt a bit longer with the 1 min song before an interlude and the intro etc. Just felt like a bit of cruft to me on an otherwise to the point album.
Unicorn Dogs - Age Typical Junk Behavior (2024)
Genre: Indie Rock
This band's bio on bandcamp caught my eye: "What if Dillinger Four had stayed on Mutant Pop Records? What if The Copyrights and Dear Landlord had a secret love baby with The Hospital Job and House Boat?". Needless to say, these are some keywords that unlock a high bar for me and the band doesn't quite get there.
They certainly sound like a band that should appeal to fans of the bands they mention, though. In short bursts like "They Hate Change", "Return Policy" or "Screwed Together" they satisfy well enough but even at the short length of 22 minutes this felt repetitive and without strong enough melodies to sustain 14 songs.
Absolutely a band that I will keep an eye on because I imagine they'll only get better and they've got the sound nailed down solid. I can't hate anything that sounds like this but they just haven't got the songs all the way there yet for me.
Features two-thirds of the band Charlie Brown Gets a Valentine, who are one of those bands that I’ve heard the name around but have not investigated closely.
Totally Slow - The Darkness Intercepts (2024)
Really melodic punk rock that skirts close to pop punk but is probably more the former than it is the latter. Has elements of surf rock ("Corrupted") and garage punk rock ("Future Burns"). This is perfectly cromulent but for some reason it really didn't hit hard enough. Maybe it's the lack of bigger hooks, maybe it's just my mood today. Not a bad album by any stretch and I'm always happy to hear bands doing this kind of 90s punk with this 'n' that genre elements tossed in but maybe just not my day for it.
⛏️ Kamakazee - Head On (1995)
Genre: East Coast Hip Hop, Hardcore Hip Hop, Boom Bap
Pre-Screwball release from members KL and Solo. I guess a promo tape came out from Reprise Records but no full release followed. Pretty dope east coast stuff. Saved from obscurity by 90's Tapes and released on vinyl too.
This is cool though, probably would have a higher "underrated gem" following had it been fully released and at least made it into the hands of some people instead of being relegated to obscurity until 2023. Has a nice mix of beat styles, but nothing that is too mind blowing. Definitely a focus on the crate-dug jazz rap beats as the album goes on.
I don't know a lot about Screwball releases so I'm not sure how this stacks up against what the two members would do later, but I did have some time for Blaq Poet Society when that dropped in 2011.
✨ Dead Mechanical - Addict Rhythms (2010)
When this dropped in 2010, I found it back in my early days of streaming music on Rdio (which, if you never experienced it, was like Spotify if they had actual social features that were useful for music discovery.) Anyway, I had a lot of time for this album that year and had totally forgotten about it until I saw the cover art somewhere today.
This is orgcore-y punk-pop, which is always something I will baseline like. There's some key tracks that unlocked my memory for sure - "Addict Rhythm", "Sidewalks," "Film at Forever" - but it does feel a bit top-heavy. I appreciate that even as this bounces around sub-sub-genres in punk it retains a spittle-caked attitude.
Very torn on the rating, but leaning into the three-star rating as I feel like there's a noticeable gap in quality between the stuff that is great and the rest which is only... good.
✂ Film at Forever, Sidewalks, Addict Rhythms, A World of Mistakes
⛏️ Bolt Thrower - Realm of Chaos (1989)
Genre: Death Metal, Grindcore
Two things that I used to have no time for as a youngster that in my older age now have all the time in the world for: death metal and Games Workshop ass aesthetic baloney.
As a kid, I did not like role playing video games or fantasy bullshit and I exclusively listened to punk rock or pop punk. As an adult I find I have a lot more time for various types of role playing games (video or other) and though the death metal part of the equation has landed later to the game, I eventually followed the punk rock rabbit hole into hardcore, grindcore, metalcore, thrash metal of all kinds and eventually some death metal.
All this to say, the fact that the equation here is: death metal + grindcore + warhammer ass album art and lyrics = Realm of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness just rules to me and I'm in part glad I waited so long to be able to listen at a time where it'd all click for me.
There's a lot of variety in terms of how it mixes death metal, thrash elements and grindcore aggression and I'm always game for that when it comes to death. I like an album that is a bit restless; I like that "All That Remains" slows to a heavy churn but then blasts into death gear after a minute or two.
Will be interested to see what else in their discography hits for me (or doesn't.) From what I gather, they get less punk influenced and heavier/slower from here on out, which I can also get down with. We'll see!
Strike Anywhere - Nightmares of the West (2020)
Genre: Punk Rock, Melodic Hardcore, Hardcore Punk
I keep returning to this one when I reach for something by Strike Anywhere, which I think is a pretty good sign for a late-career release like this (19 years after their first album!) It's still what you expect from the band, but at 20 minutes it makes for a good dive in, jump out experience of the band's sound.
I never really kept up with them after Exit English, which signaled to me that they were going to have a similar trajectory as Rise Against (strong first album that lands in my hands at just the right time, weaker albums to follow that get further away from punk and become more poppy/alt-rock.)
Since then, I've dabbled in their albums and that doesn't entirely seem to be the case, but this EP does continue the sound they had on their debut - gang chants, high energy, and maintains at least some ties to melodic hardcore. Sometimes an EP is all you need, you know?
No Friends - No Friends (2009)
Genre: Hardcore Punk, Melodic Hardcore
Melodic hardcore from 2008 very much in the vein of other Kid Dynamite or Lifetime worshiping bands. Some of "Have You Ever Heard of Aspirations?" even gets a pinch closer to something like the less screamy Paint It Black material, but that might just be because of the band member overlap in all those bands that have clearly influenced this band. Not bad, but you've heard this before many times.
The Connie Dungs - Eternal Bad Luck Charm (2000)
I mostly avoided this band until today, one because they have a bad name and two because the songs I have heard by them were more in the vein of Screeching Weasel-esque three chord stuff. I often enjoy that brand of pop punk, but need a certain level of patience and need to be in the right mood to enjoy it. That said, I wanted to do a deeper look into the Mutant Pop Records releases because I do really love the seven inches by Dillinger Four they put out.
Anyway, this is less the former description of their sound and a lot more like "what if The Lawrence Arms but even more Jawbreaker worship?" Which is funny because the latter is a obscenely obvious influence on the former.
The whole album sounds a LOT like a certain type of The Lawrence Arms song. "Wide Open (The Joke's on Me)" sounds a bit like a mid-tempo Alkaline Trio kind of song but with the Lawrence Arms guy singing.
This is definitely too long, with a few too many of the mid-tempo emo-adjacent pop-punk churners. It did make me wonder if any of their other albums are a better middle ground of the snotty pop-punk and the emo elements. Not too bad though, and I'd consider investigating further.
✨ Darc Mind - Symptomatic of a Greater Ill (2006)
Genre: East Coast Hip Hop, Boom Bap, Abstract Hip Hop
Another pretty cool record recorded in the 90s but that got lost in the shuffle after the record label closed up shop. Some of this sounds like pretty standard mid-90s stuff (non-derogatory) but other tracks are a bit ahead of their time. Kev-Roc's flow on Covert Op really reminds me of the stuff that would come later like some of Buck 65's earlier work.
In that sense, it is obvious why a label like Anticon Records would save this from obscurity. You can definitely hear the blueprint for some of the more off-beat backpack stuff that would rise to popularity thanks to that label a handful of years after this was supposed to come out.
That’s it, that’s all. Be excellent to one other.
War Master & The IVth Crusade are the Bolt Thrower records I listen to most. I love the gnarly grind of In Battle There Is No Law, but they became unmistakeable on those two albums. Also, I need to give that Witch Vomit another round of play. I was really excited about it coming out, because I love them, but I wasn't as compelled by the direction the first few songs I heard went.