Limited edition of 300 copies 4-track EP from Blank Dogs on Mike Blank Dogs’ private imprint. This is some of Blank Dogs’ most punked-up fuzz blasters, combing glazed waves of distortion with punchy melodies and that all-important teenage bedsit fidelity. Something about the way Mike channels UK DIY styles via a liberated trans-Atlantic mindset makes em sound like the missing link between 1960s loser-core psych and post-Industrial garage rock and come to think of it, they fucking are...an inspired alchemical re-think, highly recommended.

First edition silkscreen limited edition of 300 copies EP on Blank Dogs’ private imprint, culling two songs from Dee Dee’s Zoom Music CD-R and throwing in two new tracks. Solo female garage/pop with a post-Vivian Girls take on primitive psych that combines overt Shop Assistants worship with aspects of The Ramones, the Girls In The Garage cultus and a fucked up basement pop appeal that is pure Flying Nun. Excellent.

This great 12” EP from The Bitters reminds me of alla the great early Flying Nun and NZ sounds that were a beacon of hope for so many people who were otherwise disillusioned by what happened to rock music across the 70s/80s. There are dual female/male vocals that cross pneumatic pop stylings with spacey garage atmospherics and the bulk of this great record would have sat perfectly on Getting Older or one of the classic Flying Nun comps. It has aspects of The Verlaines and The Clean while still coming out of the whole USA garage thing. The opening track, “Warrior”, is instantly memorable and is one of those repeat-spin tracks that get completely under your skin.

Already love this group based on their Night People cassette and this five track EP raises the game still further. They still have that classic UK DIY/post Factory goth/new wave atmosphere but here it is cut up with some far-out underground moves. The emotive vocal style sounds a little bit like Wickham-Smith/Youngs circa Ceacescu and the whole post-noise underground connection is further bolstered by a mesmeric cover version of The Shadow Ring’s “City Lights”. Guitar and bass intertwine in simple, melodic lines but always just out of synch with each other, making for some nice tonal confusion. But it’s the overall atmosphere that makes it, an apocalyptic teenage mood that is so studiously ‘alien’ it makes you wanna grow up all over again. Fantastic. Highly recommended.

The Mayfair Set is a collaborative group project between Mike Sniper from Blank Dogs and Dum Dum Girls and right from the sleeve shot (printed on an oversized envelope sleeve) the feel is very UK, specifically the kinda psychedelic pop/punk feel of Dan Treacy’s Whaam Records label. Indeed, the combination of deep muffled male vocals and girl group choruses brings to mind fellow Television Personality and Swell Map Jowe Head’s Househunters project. A classic art/pop move.

Debut cassette for this new group who mainline German electro-punk styles (DAF/Cluster/Kraftwerk) and melt them down with subterranean Americana that draws on the nightmare sound of early Suicide, the eschatological tapes and drum machine style of the first incarnation of Destroy All Monsters et al. Captured Tracks calls it “’74 Germany + ’79 Sheffield + ’09 Australia”. Edition of 250 copies. Sold out at source

Great new single from this Brooklyn group whose previous 12” on Captured Tracks wooed a ton of people. Two raggedy pop songs in the VU-beamed-from-the-edge-of-the-world style of the early Clean. With full colour insert.

Full-length compilation from this all-girl group that bundles their out-of-print Make A Mess 7” with their Captured Tracks single  and one new track, “I Start With Your Name”. Alla the romance of The Shop Assistants with a totally endearing punk primitive garage edge that spills over into some great fuzz guitar jams that could almost be Flying Nun vintage. 

Co-released with Woodsist, this is the debut full-length from this collaborative project between Blank Dogs and Dum Dum Girls. Six new tracks that combine a haze of beautiful girl-pop vocals with out-of-focus psychedelia, hallucinatory arrangements and an atmosphere somewhere between 1980s psychedelic DIY, weirdo 70s private press and the early Rough Trade singles.

Debut single from this new collaborative project between Gary War and Blank Dogs that perfectly balances the underwater moonlight sound of Gary War with Blank Dog’s UK new wave worship. Fantastic. Comes with full colour insert.

Excellent EP from this all-girl trio from San Francisco. Not as punk-primitive as Vivian Girls, Grass Widow play a form of dreamy lo-fi pop/rock that owes a buncha moves to The Raincoats, specifically their feel for combining odd arrangements, enthusiastic harmonies and scramble-punk guitar, and the faraway sound of the Flying Nun roster of the 1980s, with new wave/post-punk guitar tones that combine motorik fluidity with a cool garage band feel. This new wave of girl-punk groups routinely get compared to The Shop Assistants but none of them really display the kind of emotional depth that that group could channel on tracks like “Somewhere In China” and “All Of The Time”. But Grass Widow, while sounding less specifically like The Shop Assistants, write songs that are every bit as emotionally engaging.

Another good one from this group whose LP on Captured Tracks spearheaded the whole post-Flying Nun garage pop renaissance. Both tracks have a pair of sneakers planted in a garage on the edge of the world, with snappy/moody 60s art/punk moves, primitive Mo Tucker drumming and zoned fuzz guitar. Love this group. 

More great smalltown/suburban folk punk bliss from Christmas Island, who combine the kinda breezy basement forms of K’s International Pop Underground series with infectious bubblegum punk stylings. The A side is the perfect paean to dead end teendom and summer passing and watching TV and how you just wanna escape it all and how it all just happens again no matter where you go and that maybe that’s the point. A very bittersweet single with an easy poignancy that’s pretty impressive. Recommended.

“Led Er Est add an organic and warm element to synth/drum machine-based music, all with good songwriting at its heart. The a-side is manic and the b-side melodic. These two songs are not on their current LP, and they're two of their best.” – CT. 

New four track EP from Mike Sniper with a heavy UK new wave/Joy Division vibe and a hazy dreamtone production style.