Words by Jim Testa
Jim Testa founded the highly influential zine, Jersey Beat in 1982 which he continues to edit to this day. Through writing for his own publication and a number of other outlets, including as a staff writer for Hudson County’s Jersey Journal, he has championed local, regional and national up-and-coming bands. Punk has always shunned credentials, but rest assured that Jim won’t lead you astray.
HOME RUNS
SHELLAC – To All Trains (Touch & Go)
The shocking death of Steve Albini at 61 in early May overshadowed the release – just 11 days later – of the latest and presumably last album from Albini’s post-punk power trio, Shellac. It’s almost impossible to consider “To All Trains” without reflecting on Albini’s historic career as a musician, recording engineer, championship poker player, and outspoken critic of the music industry. Albini never liked the term “noise rock,” preferring “minimalist rock,” and that philosophy informs every lean, mean minute of “To All Trains,” as Albini, bassist Bob Weston, and drummer Todd Trainer knock out 10 near-perfect tracks in a fleeting 28 minutes. No prog-rock noodling, no noisy experimentation, no digressions or filigree. Just Albini’s infamously sardonic spoken/sung yowl over ear-blistering electric guitar, Weston’s gutpunch bass, and Trainer’s cymbal-crashing percussion. “I’m over music by dudes,” Albini proclaims on “Chick New Wave,” but he’s fine with music not made by musicians, as on “Girl From Outside:” “Mailman delivers/ you’re not a mailman/ you’re singing.” Much has been made of the closing track, “I Don’t Fear Hell,” eerily prophetic with the killer line, “If there’s a heaven, I hope they’re having fun / ‘Cause if there’s a hell, I’m gonna know everyone.” But I’d rather end quoting one of Albini’s more inscrutable haiku-like lyrics: “It’s all too complex to be captured here. But I digress. Begin again.”
BED MAKER – self-titled (Dischord)
Over 30 years ago, I happened across a remarkable D.C. band called Desiderata. They looked like high schoolers but played like titans, enrapturing me with their fiercely syncopated post-punk sound and the unnerving charisma of frontperson, Amanda MacKaye. Now MacKaye has resurfaced with a crew of veteran D.C. players in Bed Maker, another notch in the Dischord championship belt. MacKaye’s spoke/sung vocals grab you first but listen closely to the way Arthur Noll’s bass locks in with Vin Novara’s drumming; like Fugazi (which featured another member of the distinguished MacKaye clan) it’s all in the groove. The 11 tracks on this self-titled LP encompass clangorous post-punk, motorik drones, bluesy wails, punk rock screech, and poetic reverie, every song an adventure. RIYL: Patti Smith, Screaming Females, X-Ray Spex
SLUDGEWORTH – “Together Not Together” EP (Red Scare Industries)
Before Dan “Vapid” Schafer joined Screeching Weasel, he fronted Sludgeworth, and while the group only left behind one album, it enjoyed a sizable live following in its day. Sludgeworth reunited in 2008 for Insubordination Fest and then again in 2023 for a Riot Fest main stage slot and a sold-out concert with Smoking Popes. “They went from M.I.A. to BTS overnight,” joked Red Scare labelhead, Toby Jeg. Rehearsals for those shows went so well that Sludgeworth unexpectedly wound up writing and recording two new songs. “Together Not Together” muses on the current state of the band: lifelong friends, separated by careers and geography, back together for this moment in time. It’s anthemic, nostalgic, and touching, not a bad combination. The b-side “Foundation,” might not be as catchy, but it boasts outstanding backing vocals as well as music and lyrics that will touch your heart and raise your spirits. Not bad for a band that hasn’t recorded in 32 years!
LOCAL DRAGS – City In A Room (Stardumb Records)
Like the Simpsons, the Local Drags hail from Springfield (IL, in this case, ) but a better comparison might be Shoes, the ageless power-pop combo from nearby Zion. While last year’s “Mess of Everything” introduced elements like pedal steel and alt-country twang, “City In A Room” embraces Eighties New Wave, with electric guitars soaked in reverb and distortion and layers of synths filling up the sound. There’s even a song called “Mess of Everything” whose mix mostly buries the lyrics but whose mood suggests moving forward. Durbin once released an EP of bedroom Tom Petty covers, and Petty’s sonic thumbprint makes itself felt, but there’s also a whiff of Modern English on “Yer Anchor” and, as with every power-pop record ever, St. Brian of Wilson blesses the proceedings. The punk edge comes from the solid four/four drumming, the fun from the roller rink organ, and the sweetness from Durbin’s ingratiating vocals, which radiate positivity even when the music’s a bit downbeat and glum.
THE PICKUPS – “Saved By Distraction” EP (self-released)
Tim Reedy has been in a bunch of excellent bands, none of which you’ll find by Googling him, sadly, so take my word for it. For the past four or five years, he’s been teaming up with American Ambulance drummer Joe Desserau, steadily releasing first-rate EP’s (check out 2022’s “Mail Without a Stamp”). On “Saved By Distraction,” the faster tracks suggest Paul Westerberg fronting R.E.M., punkish and puckish indie-rock with lyrics that never quite go where you’re expecting. The Pickups (as one meaning of their name might suggest) also delve into alt-folk and country, with Tim’s acoustic guitar accompanying sagas of melancholy and regret.
NIHILOCEROS – Dark Ice Balloons (Totally Real Records)
I’m glad there are still bands like Nihiloceros, a Brooklyn power-trio with two vocalists who ignore genre-labels and gleefully rampage through elements of pop-punk, grunge, and indie rock with energy and passion. Guitarist Mike Borchardt and bassist Alex Hoffman take turns singing lead but often come together in harmony, armed with an inexhaustible supply of crisscrossing riffs and rollercoaster melodies. The band recalls Husker Du and Superchunk and Jawbreaker without sounding like any of them; it’s the spirit and the energy and the sense of fun you recognize.
SINGLES
BORIS THE SPRINKLER – “I Wanna Dance Like Professor Plum” (Rum Bar Records)
Rev. Norb and those Wisconsin wildmen Boris The Sprinkler deliver a pop-punk raver that should have you spinning around the room like a dizzy tween. Formed a few years before the 90s pop-punk explosion in 1992, the band ran its course but reunited for Insubordination Fest in 2017 and have been back on the scene ever since. Rev. Norb’s Clue-inspired lyrics and Paul #1’s raging electric guitar – part Chuck Berry, part Joe Strummer – fuel this trashy but rockin’ gem. Recorded in 2019, this track will appear on the LP “Boris The Sprinkler Gets A Clue,” due in July.