Manipulation - S/t 7" (Fashionable Idiots records)

This 7" is one of the absolute best I've heard this year. Manipulation hails from Chicago and includes current and ex-members of bands like This is my Fist, Chronic Seizure and Civic Progress. I wouldn't have guessed from just listening to this, but apparently the band's singer is the same guy who used to sing for Pedestrians (also a great band by the way). Both vocal-wise and musically however, the stuff on this 7" is way more brutal and a lot less melodic than any of the stuff Pedestrians ever did.

The comparrison that's most acurate to describe the band's sound would be Talk is Poison. Manipulation has a similar approach to their music, in that they mix elements of a more crusty sound with straight up hardcore. The result is a sound that is punk as fuck without sounding retro (as so many bands do these days). Some of the stuff on Partners in Crime a few years back, like the No Parade 7" and Balance of Terror stuff also serve as good reference points. Considering how much I like those bands, it's no surprise I love this 7" as well.

The lyrics are bleak and have strong socio-political connotations, although in most songs, they remain somewhat vague in their exact meaning. There's definitely no sloganeering going on here, although the general sense of despair and anger certainly comes across well.

As said, this is one of my favourite 7"-es of 2010 and I can't wait to hear more from this promising band. Also check out their demo which features different versions of three of the five songs on the 7" (i.e. 'Secrets', 'End this Night' and 'Choking Man').

Glam - S/t 7" (La Vida es un Mus records) + shows in the Netherlands this week!!!

Spain has been treating us to some killer bands these past couple of years and Barcelona's Glam are no exception. Hailing from the same city as the popular and well-known Destino Final (and predecessor Invasión) there are definitely some similarities here sound-wise and fans of the aformentioned bands should definitely buy this. Hell, everyone should buy this, because it's really, really good.

Overall I would say that Glam is a little faster, the songs are shorter and their songwriting betrays more of an 80ies hardcore-influence in comparison to D.F.'s sound. Maybe it's the fact that members of the band used to play in (the also excellent) Über that shines through in the songwriting. Still, this 7" is a lot closer in sound to Invasión than it is to Über (which had more of a garagy-sound especially due to the less distorted and less heavy guitar-sound). No matter what the cause, the end result is sound that is a perfect mix of dark, D-beat-esque punk and raging straight-forward hardcore.

Having listened to it now a bunch, this is one of the best hardcore 7"-es I've come across this year. You can download the entire thing here or buy it from La Vida es un Mus records.

Most importantly: Glam are on tour at this very moment and will be playing three shows in the Netherlands in the next couple of days. They will be playing Heerlen tonight, Den Haag on Monday and the excellent SUB071 venue in Leiden on Tuesday. I'll definitely be attending the Leiden show myself, as there's no way I want to miss out on seeing these guys play live in a room that can barely hold 30 people. On top of that, Tense Reaction from Utrecht are also playing and I always love seeing them play live. Super excited about this show, and you should be too. Check out Glam's entire tour schedule on the band's myspace page.

Nerveskade - Insanity b/w Forced to Live 7" (Iron Lung records)

I don't think this Portland, OR band shares members with Lebenden Toten, but it wouldn't surprise me if they did. They definitely play a similar fuzzed-out style of punk. Or should I say: noise. Fans of bands like Atrocious Madness, Besthöven, Confuse and Kriegshog can eat their hearts out. This is completely over the top punk with an extremely distorted and screaky guitar-sound that definitely verges on totally going over into the 'noise not music'-realm. Had it not been for the driving bass, the band would probably be spinning out of control. Also, the vocal delivery is not as distorted or over the top as one might expect, which is nice.

I'm definitely no expert of the genre, but I've been enjoying this record a lot. Only drawback is that two songs on a 7" is fucking short for this kind of music. They definitely left me wanting more. Of the two tunes, the B-side is my favourite. Especialy the drums in the intro to 'Forced to Live' are powerfull as hell. No lyrics are in included in the very sparse packaging that we've come to expect from Iron Lung releases (in this case just a brown paper sleeve with the band's name stamped on it) so I can't comment on what the songs are about.

This record is released in a one-time pressing of 800 on Iron Lung records. It's the second vinyl release for Nerveskade after their excellent debut 7" on Whisper in Darkness records that is already sold out. A new Lp is scheduled to be released in a couple of months. Keep your eyes open for that one and track this 7" down in the meantime.