FEB 14

Maybe I'll just post this every Valentine's Day, because why the fuck not?

LIQUID SKY

Vinegar Syndrome's freshly released, lovingly restored blu ray of Slava Tsukerman's LIQUID SKY is a must see. I'm not even sure it looked this good when I saw it screened in 35mm, during its first run in the 80s (at Electric Shadows!), making this a solid contender for hottest home video release of the year. As for the film itself, it's aged like a fine wine. LIQUID SKY now serves as a valuable time capsule, a window onto a moment of the New York art punk/new wave scene (albeit a hyper-stylised version of it) that today's kids try to emulate, but which is in truth irretrievably lost to time.

More than just a document of a forgotten subculture, the film also transports you to a Manhattan that no longer really exists, not just the skeezy old Broadway and 42nd Street that so often gets the attention when people talk about the old NY, but the city as a whole. There's probably ten minutes of footage in this that have to rank as some of the most stunningly beautiful images of NYC ever shot.

If you had to choose a single movie to call the quintessential example of a "cult film", LIQUID SKY would be it, and Vinegar Syndrome's blu ray is cult film preservation at its finest.

RANK / XEROX

White-hot punk/post-punk/whatever-wave from SF, Cali.

As evidenced by Marbled Eye and others, SF 2017 seems to be a hotbed of contemporary post-punk excellence. No-one is surprised by this.

For fans of Total Control.

M.Y.T.H.

IT'S COMING DOWN: TOTAL CONTROL at the SOH

The other night I had the privilege of seeing the great Total Control perform live, an experience that I'd long ago resigned myself to missing out on, due to my late arrival to the Henge Beat party. Many thanks to the folks at Repressed Records for making this possible as part of their 15th anniversary Vivid Festival bash. Seeing punk bands at the Sydney Opera House has its own novel appeal too: cultural gentrification maaan! It's not the first time for me either, having seen Melt Banana in the bowels of the SOH a few years ago. The boys from Melbourne played a powerful but brief set, cut short by the need to protect the fragile ears of our glorious leader who resides just a bit down the harbour at Point Piper. Yeah, fuck you too Malcolm.

Oh, and check out this sick-ass t:

ISS

Caustically cynical punk for mutants who know better than to take it all too seriously. Now, dance you scumfuck!

I want a jacket with some spikes

THE CONEHEADS

Akron, Ohio, uh, I mean Hammond, Indiana's Coneheads have achieved something that I honestly didn't think was possible.

Somehow these three teenage punks from the midwest have managed to completely nail not only DEVO's sound, but their attitude, philosophy and sense of humour as well. These young neo-spuds just get DEVO to a fucking tee.

Their sound falls somewhere between DEVO's raw mid '70s pre-album material and Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! (with a hint of Duty Now for the Future creeping into a few tracks). They also kind of remind me at times of The Proletariat, that strange band who always felt like the odd one out on This Is Boston Not L.A.

When I say that this Indianan Smart Patrol has achieved the impossible, I'm talking about their ability to make music that's intrinsically tied to a particular band/sound/philosophy, but still manages to come off sounding cool and fresh. Many jocks, ninnies and twits have tried their hand at de-evolution before this, and all have failed*. All Hail The Coneheads! Hack, hack, hack!

The bandcamp link below is to their latest release, the 14 Year Old High School PC​-​Fascist Hype Lords Rip Off Devo for the Sake of Extorting $​$​$ from Helpless Impressionable Midwestern Internet Peoplepunks L​.​P​.​ It compiles their first two tapes, Out of Conetrol and Canadian Cone, but I urge you (uncontrollably) to seek out their latest tape, Selected Ringtones, cuz it's their best stuff to date.

WHO YOU THINK YOU'RE FOOLING WITH THAT PUNK FACADE?

*There's at least two well-known, highly regarded bands who've aped DEVO's sound and look, but transposed it onto a corny-as-fuck, psychotronic B-movie aesthetic. This shit is garbage.

TOTAL CONTROL

Between blast beats and breakdowns Total Control's Typical System LP has been the real soundtrack to my spring and summer, and all told, it's probably my favourite album of 2014.

Sadly, I may never get to see them live, because although this enigmatic Melbourne band seems to have found popularity all over the world, they hardly ever play shows. Apparently they'd rather perfect their sound in the studio, and with Typical System they've done just that, creating as faultless an album as I've ever heard. Like NoMeansNo's Wrong or Out Cold's Goodbye Cruel World, this album is just sheer fucking perfection from first note to last. If I had to pick favourite tracks I'd probably go with "Flesh War", "Expensive Dog" and "Safety Net".

Photos: Marianne Spellman

Typical System is full of sounds that are wistfully nostalgic for me, bringing to mind everything from Devo to Brian Eno without ever feeling too derivative or pandering. A slightly unhealthy indulgence in nostalgia is definitely part of Total Control's appeal, but a healthy dose of sincerity, intelligence and real talent is what keeps them from being just another superficial exercise in aping the past. 

Over the last few years there's been no lack of amazing bands riding the current revival of post-punk and new wave etc (mostly oozing out of the DIY punk scene), but I doubt that many of them will leave a mark in the way that this band seems destined to do. Fashion and trends are always a festering cancer in punk, and bands like Total Control are the cure.

Typical System is available again on vinyl from Iron Lung records. If you just want to stream the album on bandcamp, do so here as the Iron Lung bandcamp page is missing a track ("2 Less Jacks"). You can also grab their previous 7"s and split with Thee Oh Sees there.

BOB 2

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