Lotsa thrashy, trashy bursts of hardcore punk. 5 songs worth on a 7" 45. No, they're not speaking english. Can you really tell? Does it really matter?
Combine the Feelies and the Clash and throw in a female singer and Dunebuggy is one of the possible results. There are similarities to the Feelies brethren Speed The Plough. Purple vinyl. spinART Records, P.O. Box 1798, New York, NY 10156-1798, spnartrec@aol.com.
Blue Angstrom start out like a Feelies/Minutemen mixture on each of these tracks, but soon venture towards heavier sounds. Quite a few tempo changes on each track. The laid-back portions have a psychedelic feel while the noisier portions have some of the drive of Red Hot Chili Peppers punk side. Atomicon, 40 Eastlake Avenue, Pacifica, CA 94044, Phone: 415-355-4426.
Lauren Agnelli (ex-Washington Squares) and Dave "Rave" Des Roches are Agnelli & Rave. While they lean a little towards psychedelic pop, the sound is not completely removed from the aggressive folk of Washington Squares. There are some Beatle-esque pop touches, which isn't surprising considering John Wesley Harding lent a hand in the production (Harding can sound an awful lot like Elvis Costello who, himself, was definitely heavily influenced by the whole Lennon/McCartney thang). Blue marble vinyl. Poteet Music, 625 Washington Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, Phone/Fax: 201-656-1214.
Spaghetti Western style music with wispy, waifish female vocals make for an interesting A-side. The B-side is similar, but leans more towards beat poetry set to music. Especially on the B-side, singer Shannah Ehrhart recalls Cindy Lee Berryhill. Dark Purple vinyl. Address above.
Alterna-pop stuff with some interesting, fuzzed guitar work. Maybe sounds like a bed of Sonic Youth & Primus crossed with either Liz Fraser (Cocteau Twins) or Shonen Knife as vocalists. A more hardcore version of Shonen Knife without the Japanese accents might also be an apt description.
Dana Colley (Morphine) plays baritone sax on this 7". The music is from the same off-jazz world as Morphine, but definitely not as bottom-heavy. BHS Records, P.O. Box 8494, Boston, MA, 02114.
Sissybar remind me of the Guttersluts (See the review of their demo cassette in Issue Number 18 (1990) - ed.), though their sound is more laid back. If that means nothing to you, then think of jangly punk guitars with a minimalist touch and female vocals that are on the high-pitched side. This is an extremely cool record. Note the 2 versions of Snoop Doggy Dogg's "Gin & Juice". The O.G. version has naughty words...