Labels: Poolside Records – Unsane Asylum – Waterslide
Review by: Andy Malcolm
I had (have?) a Her Spectacles CD knocking around somewhere. I got m’good buddy Simon to pick it up for me when he moved to Tokyo a number of years back and I was going through a phase of trying to find the most obscure Japanese melodic punk bands I could. I found plenty. Still a big fan of that Life Indicator CD. Well, Her Spectacles rock through a couple of tracks here, and it certainly is taking influence from the Snuffy Smile scene that the C has a massive soft spot for. These songs are mid-paced, melodic and have slightly rough vocals without being gruff. Closest companions may be Three Minute Movie and Lovemen, as it takes a little bit of Husker Du and a little bit of Superchunk, and rolls them up into a ball. It’s the drive of punk with the melody of indie rock. Always a fine combination. I have a slew of sevens lost in my collection that aren’t that different to this, but I am never going to object to more.
Phoenix Foundation have been around a bit, this is the kind of thing that 30+ year old UK melodic punkers go nuts for. Mid-paced indie rock with a little bite. It’s kind of college rock stuff actually, which I wasn’t expecting as I am sure this lot used to be a bit noisier. Sort of Beezewax, Buffalo Tom, Superchunk… that sort of thing. I like the energy and that it is roughly hewn rather than clean cut. Two good songs round out a very solid split, I’d go to a show on my own and feel sad and get drunk and stand around tapping my foot whilst this band played and feel not so sad again, if only for 30 minutes.