Year: 2026

Six song debut cassette from Cleveland power-trio. The ‘power’ that DOLLAR DRAFTS has just happens to be their sense of humor. A tight band with pop-sensibility and solid musicianship with a huge emphasis on goofy, idiotic songs. Seeing this band live, however, is a surprisingly engaging and entertaining experience. In terms of the recorded output…

Disturbingly lo-fi, fucked up, 80’s-inspired hardcore-punk from Connecticut. DEFORMED SKULL is the kind of band that could be used as a barometer to tell just how into hardcore-punk someone truly is. This is the second self-titled cassette released by DEFORMED SKULL, and is thankfully also known as The Jailbreak Demos which is helpful for differentiating…

Living in Western, New York, there is a reasonably small pool of weirdos and outsiders consistently doing music stuff. I have been aware of  ECLECTIC BLEND for quite some time and anxiously awaiting their studio demo that has been in the works for multiple years at this point. Is that what I received when finally…

I was sent the first ZERO BARS demo to review at the end of 2023 by MAXIMUM ROCKNROLL and I remember liking it ok, but really liking that amidst their fast punk songs the band slipped us a curve ball of a catchy WIRE-esque post-punk number. Lo and behold they do it again on this…

Second cassette from this stoned out three-piece from Schenectady, NY. Ten songs of riff-heavy, stoner-rock-infused fast punk. Don’t worry all you heady-heads out there, there are plenty of sludgy parts within this tape, too. Given the style, I was pleasantly surprised how short these songs are. Not a one of them gets even close to…

Lo-fi mid-tempo post-punk from Sudbury, ON. Four absolutely killer, catchy songs, that lean a bit artsy from time to time, but not enough to be fully off-putting. I’m not often one to harp on the fidelity of a demo, and I do like this despite its sound quality leaving a bit to be desired. Having…

Cassette release of the sold out LP on We Don’t Make It Records from 2019. Two-piece lo-fi garage / indie-pop band from Switzerland. Guitar and drums, both members sharing vocal duty. SUN COUSTO make a somewhat confusing statement on their bandcamp page: “hopefully we don’t know how to play.” Well… the playing on this cassette…

Otherworldly, dancy, minimalist, plink-plunky new-wave. Completely timeless. You could have told me this came out anywhere from 1985 to now and I would have been likely to believe it. ODOR EATER is a Portland, OR based two-piece act, one of whom I believe is Harley from FUGITIVE BUBBLE who have an LP out on the…

Five tracks of lo-fi, mid-tempo, stomping cowpunk. A two-piece out of New Orleans, comprised of drummer, Stella, and guitarist, Roach, both of who share vocal duties. While it may seem that there’s nothing particularly spectacular about T.A.C.K.; the songs are incredibly simplistic, the band is merely a guitarist and a drummer, the recording is incredibly…