Generated by All in One SEO v4.9.8, this is an llms.txt file, used by LLMs to index the site. # The Crowbar Hotel Tape Review Blog ## Sitemaps - [XML Sitemap](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website. ## Posts - [JUG & THE BUGS - ‘80 Grit’ cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/jug-the-bugs-80-grit-cassette/) - How this band is not a household name is absolutely mind-boggling. What began as a New Jersey based solo project in 2018 really stepped on the gas once Covid lockdowns kicked in. The only time I was lucky enough to catch this band live was in a dingy basement in New Brunswick, NJ. It was - [DELICIOUS MONSTERS -  ‘2024 Tour’ cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/delicious-monsters/) - DELICIOUS MONSTERS follow up their debut full-length cassette on Tetryon Tapes with what sadly ended up being their final release. A last gasp in the form of a five-song tape staying true to the form we’ve come to expect. Milwaukee, WI upbeat post-punk loaded with a heavy dose of zany, art-punk eccentricity. While that dose - [SVS -  demo cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/svs/) - Nine-song debut demo out of Buffalo, NY. SVS jam-packs each of these tracks with as many riffs as you can possibly fit into songs that rarely cross the one-minute threshold. Somehow they still find time to toss in wildly catchy breakdowns without ever coming across as macho or tough. SVS plays relentless hardcore-punk while managing - [LUCKLESS - ‘ “I Promise to be Good” ’ cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/luckless/) - I really had no thoughts or expectations about what LUCKLESS was all about when I was preparing to listen to this cassette. Very unassuming, minimalist artwork surrounding a four-song cassette, labeled with a label maker. LUCKLESS is a four-piece band from Toronto, ON comprised of guitar, bass, drums, and synth. Vocal duties are shared between - [PARASITIC TWINS - ‘Promo 2022’ cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/parasitic-twins/) - This band has been kicking around for a while at this point. I booked them on a tour in the early 2010’s and they were absolutely outstanding. Blistering, relentless hardcore-punk from Fort Wayne, IN. A group of people that when they rolled up to the gig you simultaneous felt the desire to befriend them and - [JAKE KING - ‘Rock & Roll’ cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/jake-king/) - Jake King has been operating under the T.T.T.T. banner for a few years now, while also releasing music as J. KING, JACOB KING, and now… JAKE KING. From release to release I find myself having no idea what to expect, since the stylistic lines between these aliases tend to blur. My gut feeling has been - [WHITE KNUCKLE - ‘Can’t Stand To Quit’ cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/white-knuckle/) - Five song solo egg-punk project from Montreal, QC. I’ve seen the tape named ICSTQ standing for I Can’t Stand To Quit, but on both the front cover and the spine of the cassette there is no “I” in Can’t Stand To Quit. The tape begins with the allegedly titular track of “ICSTQ” which starts off - [KILL THE HIPPIES - ‘Special Master’ cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/kill-the-hippies/) - Popping this cassette into the tape deck of my 1989 Dodge B350 tour van, I was convinced that something was broken. The stereo salvaged from the junk yard? One of the speakers? Maybe the tape itself? I can’t begin to count how many records I’ve heard that begin with the classic “uh-oh, your stereo might - [XO’s - ‘(pronounced húgs and kissès) cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/xos/) - Chicago / Northwest Indiana area supergroup featuring members of NANCY, LIQUIDS, and BLEEDING GUMS. Supergroups sometimes stumble under the weight of their own hype, fans expect fireworks but all they get is smoke. Not here, tho. This is absolute goddamn perfection. Catchy rock-n-roll riffs mixed together with no-nonsense, no cheat-beat punk. Hell, the first ten - [COMING DOWN - self-titled cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/coming-down/) - A group of long-running Rochester, NY heavy hitters delivering Revolution Summer–inspired post-hardcore. Well crafted songs with no shortage of riffs, and it’s good! Dare I say… too good? The recording is very clean, slick, and professional. More often than not, that can act like a strike against a band for someone like me who prefers - [ECFU - 'Electric City Fuck You' demo re-release cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/ecfu/) - Extremely limited-run posthumous cassette discography from the Capital Region of New York state. The full output of the band was a demo cassette released right around the turn of the century and now also a live recording of the final ECFU set. Of course I should mention that the band featured future members of ACID - [KRYSTIAN QUINT & THE QUITTERS - 'Something Like That' cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/krystian-quint-the-quitters/) - Debut solo-project release, every aspect done by Krystian Quint, best known from being in Detroit garage-punk band THE STOOLS. Personally, when listening to this tape I hear 9 songs of well crafted power-pop / glam-punk / rock-n-roll, but I’ve always said that music on the ‘pop’ spectrum allows listeners to hear what they want to - [MOCKTAG - '74 West' cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/mocktag/) - Three-piece alternative rock band from Moline, IL, or maybe just a solo project in disguise, as the cassette credits only “Jakob Fucking Martin.” The A-side has seven tracks, while the B-side is hand-labeled: “Side B: ????”. The big reveal for me was that mine was blank, though online I discovered that the band offered to - [BZDET - ‘Daleko Od Ok’ cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/bzdet/) - Twelve song cassette from what is quite possibly the most prolific underground project active today. BZDET is a solo recording project that began during Covid lockdown, and the sheer volume of releases is staggering—even I, who put out the band’s collection cassette on my own tape label (Tetryon Tapes), can’t fully keep track. Thinking that - [PISS RULES - ‘Repissues’ cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/piss-rules/) - A brother-sister egg-punk duo based out of Brussels, Belgium with vocals reminiscent of early anarcho / peace punk stuff not unlike HONEY BANE in her earlier recordings with FATAL MICROBES when she, too, was a young teen. PISS RULES combine that youthful exuberance with driving, kooky, mostly electronic based song writing, still performing live with - [GLASS DOLLS - self-titled cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/glass-dolls/) - Six-song debut release of slow, meandering, drum-machine driven, warbly bedroom-pop songs. A solo recording project from Montreal that feels rooted in nostalgia. Songs seem written to make the listener wistful for…something. Maybe it’s love…maybe it’s lunch…maybe even the songwriter wasn’t entirely sure what they were going for. Some tracks are atmospheric and pretty, though at - [CUCUY - ‘People Talking’ cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/cucuy/) - Six tracks of spastic, disjointed, panic-inducing hardcore-punk from the Windy City. Blistering riffs devoid of any sort of melody or sing-songy quality, CUCUY tears through these six songs in about ten minutes — still finding time for noisy intros, outros, and interludes. The frenzied, chaotic musicianship is as tight as the straight-jacket you may find - [LETTUCE HEAD - ‘It’s Going To Be Cold In There Tonight’ cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/lettuce-head/) - Solo project debut cassette out of Rochester, NY. LETTUCE HEAD is the brain child grown and cultivated by Graham Allan Balcomb, with sporadic help from a handful of other Rochester, NY heavy hitters. Musically, most may know Graham as being involved with Rochester lunatic freak-out project CLIBBUS, but I personally always think of him as - [WATERHEADS - ‘EP.2’ cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/waterheads/) - With an opening track being an instrumental version of the Billy Joel song ‘Just the Way You Are’ where each line seems to be testing a different Casio keyboard preset, I had no idea what to expect from WATERHEADS. After that, however, we have 8 ripping songs in 7 minutes of throwback 80’s style US - [ROBITS - ‘Here Come the Robits’ cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/robits/) - Finally, a band who understands the correct pronunciation of that word. As a devoted fan of vintage sci-fi, I’ve often wondered why, whenever a visibly uncomfortable actor in a clunky tin suit shuffled across the screen, the townsfolk would flee in terror screaming about “robits!” I naturally took this to be the proper pronunciation. Who - [LIFELINE - ‘Endgame Groupthink’ cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/lifeline/) - Only release by short-lived Montreal crust-punk group. Five riff-heavy bleak songs of angry, disturbing, metal infused crust. The guitar work definitely keeps your attention on these songs, complete with catchy riffs, down-tuned chugs, and even the occasional pinch harmonic. While I may not entirely be sure what their self-proclaimed genre term of necro crust is, - [SHADOW SHOW - ‘Fantasy Now!’ cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/shadow-show/) - Second full-length release from Detroit, MI power-trio. If you’re already familiar with MOD LANG, who share a member with SHADOW SHOW, you know how these Detroit kids can nail retro-infusion style bands. MOD LANG have got to be the most authentic sounding throwback power-pop band I have ever seen, while SHADOW SHOW focus more on - [DUMBELLS - ‘Up Late With’ cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/dumbells/) - Debut release from Sydney, Australia. DUMBELLS play some sort of amalgamation of jangly indie-pop, glammy power-pop / rock-n-roll, PAVEMENT-esque alt-rock, etc. etc. etc. As I have noticed is often the case when a pop band is particularly good at what they do, people tend to hear in them the style which most resonates to them. - [SCHENECTAVOIDZ - ‘Attaining New Levels of High’ cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/schenectavoidz/) - 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 - [ZERO BARS - ‘Life and Hell’ cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/zero-bars/) - 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 - [ECLECTIC BLEND - ‘Live at My Apartment’ cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/eclectic-blend/) - 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 - [WELCOME TO THE CROWBAR HOTEL!](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/welcome-to-the-crowbar-hotel/) - After harboring tape reviews for years with no home for them to rest, THE CROWBAR HOTEL is now open to the public. Our hotel staff plans to review fresh releases as they are submitted to us. The Crowbar Hotel has no turndown policy and will review any physical release sent in, with a heavy emphasis on audio cassettes. In the meantime, we will be accommodating a number of backlogged reviews that have been waiting for their launch. Enjoy your stay and check back often! Hot towels not included. - [DEFORMED SKULL - self-titled cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/deformed-skull/) - 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 - [DOLLAR DRAFTS - ‘Bat Out of Heck’ cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/dollar-drafts/) - 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 - [HAVANA SYNDROME - ‘Kill Your Brain’ cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/havana-syndrome/) - HAVANA SYNDROME is back with their second cassette EP and it is another round of demented synth-punk mayhem. Hailing from Buffalo, NY, their first demo surely turned some heads, well, it definitely turned mine anyways. This project began as the solo-project of mastermind Lucas, first cassette being just him and the songs driven by a - [YELLOW GHOUL - self-titled cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/yellow-ghoul/) - Six songs of distorted, no-frills, no-nonsense hardcore-punk. YELLOW GHOUL is a recording project from Buffalo, NY which is the brainchild of the drummer from PISSING MATCH / PURE HEEL. Rob recorded all the instrumentation then enlisted Buffalo musics unofficial mayor, hardcore-punk stalwart John Toohill, to write lyrics and record vocals to them. What we end - [STIFF PRICK - self-titled cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/stiff-prick/) - Newest offering from the Kill Enemy Records camp out of Pittsburgh, PA. Another ripping fast hardcore-punk band of the style which has become almost synonymous with this labels other output; ILLITERATES, LITTLE ANGELS, SPEED PLANS, etc. There’s at least some shared members with ILLITERATES, and likely others on the label, but who can really keep - [GARBANZO - self-titled cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/garbanzo/) - Debut cassette out of Gettysburg, PA. GARBANZO brings us 4 tracks of lo-fi, fuzzed-out garage-punk. Repetitive, catchy, flanger-heavy tunes with lazily delivered vocals. As far as I can tell this is a drum-machine driven solo project but I cannot say that with absolute certainty. It’s snotty, it’s juvenile, it’s catchy, it’s pretty much all you - [NAG - ‘Fear’ cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/nag/) - Newest offering from NAG out of Atlanta, GA. Since their first demo in 2016 this band has brought us something like 3 LPs and too many EP’s / singles / splits to accurately count. Don’t think for a second that NAG doesn’t have any gas left in the tank, though. The seven tracks on Fear - [T.A.C.K. - Self-titled cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/t-a-c-k/) - 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 - [SUN COUSTO - 'Satan and I Walk Under a Rainbow' cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/sun-cousto/) - 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 - [PAINT BY NUMBERS - 'Demo Tape March 2024' cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/paint-by-numbers/) - 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 - [ODOR EATER - 'Fairytale' cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/odor-eater-fairytale-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 - [HOT EARTH - ‘That’s Hot’ cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/hot-earth/) - Absolutely blistering hardcore-punk from Atlanta, GA featuring members of JUDY AND THE JERKS and NAG. Lo-fi, relentless, disturbing as hell hardcore-punk the way hardcore-punk ought to be. Even has a DYS ‘Wolfpack’ cover uncredited on the track listing. What else can really be said? No nonsense hardcore-punk. Get into it. Recorded by Hampton Martin of - [THE DUMPSTERS - ‘Waste Management’ cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/dumpsters/) - THE DUMPSTERS - ‘Waste Management’ cassette Lo-fi, distorted, fucked-up garbage punk. With the bands schtick being that of trash, and having seen them play live while all wearing garbage bags, it is unsurprising that this cassette sounds like it was recorded IN a damn dumpster. Angry mid-tempo riffs plod along while the singer, who is - [NECRON 9 - 'Flower Children Tape' cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/necron9/) - Third cassette release by Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s NECRON 9, all of which were released on the bands own label Unlawful Assembly. Absolutely relentless, no bullshit hardcore-punk. This tape was ‘recorded live in 3 hours on 4-trak machine’ as per the liner notes. Actually, aside from the band name, the release title, the band credits, and the - [WAYS OF HIDING - self-titled cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/ways-of-hiding/) - Hot off the presses, a debut cassette from Montreal, Quebec. WAYS OF HIDING offer up 5 songs of spacey, atmospheric, dreamy, meandering post-punk. These songs are not for the short attention spanned, however, with songs averaging around 4 minutes each. I was in the midst of writing about how the incredibly raw recording was a - [T.T.T.T. - ‘Folk Song Killer’ cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/tttt/) - T.T.T.T. from Buffalo, NY plays out around town fairly regularly. I have seen them with different iterations of band members, and as a solo acoustic act by the brainchild of the group, Jacob King. It’s not unlike how John Dwyer would use THEE OH SEES moniker for full band stuff as well as solo releases - [IMPULSE - ‘001’ cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/impulse/) - Five tracks of lo-fi, pissed-off, no frills, fast hardcore-punk from Providence, Rhode Island. Sure, it’s nothing remarkable...yeah, yeah, it’s not reinventing the wheel or anything like that...but IMPULSE in incredibly tight and this tape is not fucking boring, which is something that can’t be said of a lot of bands that try too hard to - [DIZZY DAVIS - ‘Coming Fast’ cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/dizzy-davis/) - DIZZY DAVIS is the side-project and alter-ego of Radiana Basso from LEOPARDO. In case you’re somehow unfamiliar, allow me to assist you with that. Based in Switzerland, LEOPARDO has released multiple records on different labels, most notably on Feel-It Records, and are a modern garage/psych powerhouse. DIZZY DAVIS seems to share a lot of the - [WIENER DOG - ‘Doom’ cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/wiener-dog/) - Novelty one-man-band project from Buffalo, NY. Lo-fi recording, but in a rather endearing way, even if it means I can’t be 100% sure what instruments I am listening to. All songs have cool simplistic synth following along with the rhythm guitar…or wait, is that the tone OF the rhythm guitar? I’m truly not sure, and - [SPATTER PATTERN - ‘No Disco’ b/w ‘Farewell, Isadora’ cassingle](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/spatter-pattern/) - Minimalist kooky artsy synth music from Kalamazoo, MI. A three-piece band consisting of two members of SILICON HEARTBEAT (including the brains behind that project when it was still a solo endeavor) and Ben Lyon who is probably most known for his incredible artwork but is also the vocalist in Kalamazoo outsider punk project LOSER CANDY. - [BILLIAM - ‘Steakhead Breakbeats’ cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/billiam/) - An Australian solo-project with a near unbelievable amount of output since 2020. Synth heavy, kooky, bonkers, egg-punk mayhem. Steakhead Breakbeats is a collection of BILLIAM tracks from other sessions that never materialized for one reason or another. Though it’s a collection, as a whole this tape does a killer job of mixing the wildly demented - [THE DOLPHINS - ‘Invisibility Over Flight or Premonitions’ cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/dolphins/) - Between running multiple record and tape labels and touring semi-regularly, new music comes through my hands incredibly frequently. I cannot remember to save my life how I came upon this release. Although its appearance and other aspects of this project remain a mystery to me, one thing that is certain is THE DOLPHINS have had - [MÖNEY / SPRGRS - 'SMPÖRNGERYS' split cassette](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/money-sprgrs/) - I picked up one of the hand numbered 50 cassettes of this release when seeing SPRGRS on their U.S. tour this past year. While not often a fan of the split cassette format, it was their newest release and I decided to check it out. The three MÖNEY tracks on this cassette absolutely blew me ## Pages - [HOME](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/home/) ## Categories - [Uncategorized](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/category/uncategorized/) - [Label](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/category/label/) - [Chicken Attack Records](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/category/label/chickenattack/) - [Punk Valley Records](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/category/label/punkvalley/) - [Synth Punk](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/category/label/synthpunk/) ## Tags - [Chicken Attack Records](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/tag/chickenattack/) - [Punk Valley Records](https://thecrowbarhotel.com/tag/punkvalley/)