Music

Top 5 Punk Releases: March

by Sam Sutherland

Each month, tons of new music from many taste-spanning genres is released into a fast-consuming, unforgiving market; it can be tough to get a handle on what’s new before it’s on to the next. In an attempt to highlight the standout releases, at the end of each month, AUX staff re-cap the month in Punk, Metal, Indie/Pop/Rock, Hip Hop, and Pop with the top five releases in each. Consider it your cheat sheet for year-end lists.

Top 5 Punk Releases:
March

 

Ceremony – Zoo
	Well, I guess they’re really serious about not being a powerviolence band anymore. Zoo is far from perfect, but its scope and ambition make it a worthwhile listen. Without ditching the energy of their earlier work, Ceremony have brought the (always sneakily present) influence of bands like the Pixies and Wire to forefront, and come out a much more interesting band in the process.

The Melvins – The Bull and the Bees
	First of all, it’s a free download. From the Melvins. Courtesy of Toyota, which is weird, wonderful, etc. This five-song EP is set to tease the band’s next full-length, due in June, Freak Puke. It succeeds by making you just want more new Melvins material. There are no big surprises here — just raw, strange, heavy shit.

Brendan Kelly and the Wandering Birds – I’d Rather Die Than Live Forever

Most punk guy solo records follow the same formula. It is so boring and predictable that every time it happens, I die a little inside. Mercifully, Brendan Kelly from the Lawrence Arms has seen fit to not cut short my life by releasing this awesomely strange and nihilistic collection of songs that are a lot more John Darnielle than Chuck Ragan. The narrative care that’s gone into creating each of these songs is matched only by the distinct sonic realm each one inhabits, and man, is there some creepy business floating around here.

Xerxes – Our Home is a Deathbed

When the nostalgia cycles churns so quickly that kids only a few years younger than you are already paying homage to stuff you really liked inside of the last six or seven years, it’s great. Along with spiritual peers like Touche Amore, La Dispute, and Pianos Become the Teeth, Xerxes play actual screamo, not bogus horrible screamo. All signs point to this just becoming some worn-out trend, but let’s be honest — that would be great, because most underage punk trends involve playing guitar like you’re a crabman, or adding Eurotrash dance beats to your punishing breakdowns.

Cheap Girls – Giant Orange
	This came out February 21, but winter is slow and I hadn’t heard it yet. Guess what? It’s great! Like all their past material but a little more dynamic and a little sharper. Sweet midwestern Lemonheads worship all day, every day.

Surprises, disappointments and albums to watch for next month

Surprise of the month: Scion A/V, a label designed to sell cars to punks, I guess, released this month’s Melvins EP, on the heels of free releases from Magrudergrind, Enslaved, Wormrot and Immolation. What? Who are these Magrudergrind fans buying new, fuel-efficient cars? I think this is great.

Disappointments: Lucero’s Women & Work is such a wild left turn my brain can’t really handle it. They’ve always ridden the line between punk sincerity and old country cheese; now they’ve purposefully ditched any punk pretense and made a full-on honky tonk bar rock record. I respect it. But that doesn’t mean I like it.

Out in April: Screaming Females’ Ugly, Tigers Jaw / Black Clouds split, Joyce Manor’s Of All Things I Will Soon Grow Tired , and more.