Sudakistan - El movimiento (Teenhäze edit)

Latino garage punk from Sweden? Sure, why not? Actually quite a bit heavier than you might expect.

Combat Rock signs Ydinperhe, Kuudes Silmä

Combat Rock Industry has announced that they'll be doing a reissue of Ydinperhe's self-titled/self-released LP in the near future. Preview said LP at Bandcamp. CRI will also be putting out the debut EP from Helsinki-based act Kuudes Silmä, a Finnish band trafficking in the currently-popular dark/gothic punk style. Hear samples from them here.

Wasted - Armed with a voice (documentary)

"Armed with a voice", a 18-minute documentary on 15 years of Finnish punkrockers Wasted.

Rättens Krater - Der totenfluss styx (video)

Excellent downer-punk from the upcoming EP "Stora stöten", due out September 12 via Rättens Krater's own label Republiken Bergslagen Grammofon. Hear more tracks at SoundCloud.

Uppgång & Fall EP coming in September

Instigate Records, Smuts Records and Rundgång are teaming up to release the proper debut EP from Malmö punkrockers Uppgång & Fall in late September.

Chikan - Punk, hip-hop and indie music

"punk, hip-hop and indie music is what I live on," so says Chikan on his new EP which includes a remix version by Barmhjärta and a vegan-themed hip-hop version from Follow Him to the End of the Desert.

The High Hats confirm new album

Swedish poppy punks The High Hats have announced that their new album "And then came cancer" is finished and being sent off for pressing. No official release date yet, but it will contain 12 tracks with an additional 4 set to appear as digital b-sides. Look for September tourdates to be announced soon.

Phoebus Beat Clan to De:Nihil

De:Nihil Records has signed Swedish powerpop punkrockers Phoebus Beat Clan and will be releasing the band's new EP "Reincarnation of the circle melts the wheel" in October.

Slangbella - Du och jag ska leva tills vi dör

Quality punky new-wave rock'n'roll from Slangbella, a new project created by drummer/producer Anders Alexander (Alice in Videoland, Melody Club). Def worth a listen!

Beastmilk
Use your deluge
Svart Records

Now this is where it's at! This four-tracker kicks off like the ugly cousin of something that The Cult would have put out back in the day and it's immediately evident where talk of the Helsinki quartet being a lo-fi outfit comes from. It's not that they're lo-fi though, it's more that the guitars have been given a dirty post black metal(ish) production and remain subdued when compared to the sublime vocals. They're like an apocalyptic marriage of the voices of Ian Astbury and the enigmatic Czral from Norwegian oddballs Virus. Kvhost of Hexvessel infamy is the man here and he simply kills. After opening track "Void mother" the band venture into a more retro-based aesthetic and, as weird as it might sound, from here on out "Use your deluge" is probably best described as hippy '60s surf-punk for the 21st Century. There are many influences at work here and the concept has clearly been built from a punk foundation. It's also a grower that runs from "not sure" to "utterly amazing" in the space of a few days. Awesome stuff.
- John Norby

Holograms
s/t
Captured Tracks

Like the adjective 'existentialism', the term 'post-punk' has acquired myriad meanings and applications over the years, each evoking a different shade and tone. For many, post-punk is the Mancunian dirges of Joy Division or the liminal, transitional territory covered on Wire's "Pink flag"; for others it's the jagged edges of Gang of Four, the howling desolation of The Fall, or the playful, intricate compositions of Orange Juice. At the end of most civil conversations revolving around the concept of post-punk, often an agreement is reached that while the genre's most influential records may not sit neatly beside each other, "you know it when you hear it."

With Holograms' debut full-length, this consensus seems rather apt. The record has a wonderful, sprawling scope, echoing (and occasionally distancing itself from) a number of post-punk's most highly lauded members, yet the album deftly evades pigeonholing. What Stockholm's Holograms accomplish in their thirty-eight minute romp is more than enough to allow them to be judged not on their influences, but on the construct the members themselves have created -- a dark, eerily beautiful soundscape of razor wire thin guitars, eddying synths, and sung-spoken vocals; all held together by a spine of heaving bass and colossal drums.

Opener "Monolith" sets the tone -- the first third of the composition a slow burn before the inevitable eruption -- and the two stand outs, for me at least, "ABC City" and "A tower", effortlessly prove that even thirty plus years on from "Unknown pleasures" and "Pink flag" there is still so much left to be said using the post-punk lexicon. "A tower" is particularly noteworthy, easily slipping between chaos and clarity, between violence and introspection, fusing the song's elements into far more than the sum of its parts -- precisely the transcendent quality that drew me to punk and post-punk in the first place. In a few words, "Holograms" is brilliant, proving not only the resilience of a genre, but demonstrating that there is ground still to be covered and territory left to be claimed within its unsettled peripheries.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson

Presenting: Zonen

Not that I want every two-bit band of this ilk to start bombarding me with links, but I'm generally in favor of modern bands doing the analog synth soundtrack thing ala John Carpenter/Goblin/etc and Zonen does it well. Add this Stockholm-based duo to the list alongside Nightsatan of quality modern practitioners.

Invisible Guy reviews Dimmorna Skingras Vol. 2

Invisible Guy has posted a very extensive track-by-track review of Volume 2 of the Swedish punk/hardcore comp series "Dimmorna Skingras": http://invisibleguy.wordpress.com/2012/06/30/va-dimmorna-skingras-vol-2/

Phoebus Beat Clan - Do you wanna murder

The EP name "Assjackal rising" is like a giant flashing red light screaming "STAY AWAY!", but the reality is that Phoebus Beat Clan are actually a solid punky power-pop act. Listen to the entire 3-track EP via Spotify.

New Makabert Fynd 7" "Ondskans flint" on D-takt & Råpunk

D-takt & Råpunk will be doing a new Makabert Fynd 7" with a special limited edition of 50 to go along with the band on their upcoming European tour; dates and details posted here.