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electropunk

Bang Bang Eche * Ur The Best (mp3 ep 2013)

I got to know Bang! Bang! Eche! a couple of years ago when on a P2P network I was looking through someones “nowave or whatever the kids call it this week” folder. This was a pretty big folder, so I just picked out a couple of things based on bandnames. Bang! Bang! Eche! do not make nowave though, more something like electropunk, or actually not even that, it is weird, uptempo popmusic with electronic influences. The band released two eps, rereleased them as online eps and the self-titled 2008 ep and “Sonic Death Cunttt” 2009 ep are now again available from the band’s Bandcamp as “Ep I” (2009) and “Ep II” (2010) with a different order of the tracks and a video for the first ep and an 8-bit “original version” of a track on the second ep.
A while ago the band announced that they had an album ready and a label to release it. When the label said something critical, the band reacted with their usual strong language on their Facebook and the label decided to not release the album at all. Now after quite some silence there is a new online ep with only three tracks and a different, more mature sound. “Ur The Best” opens with a nowavey fast noisy track that is really great. The second track is more punky and more poppy at the same time and however nice, not as good as earlier material. The last track is even more poppy, a bit of the popsound with electronics that you hear more nowadays. It is a very easy-listening track compared to the madness of the first two eps. But, the songs sound good and might very well bring the band under the attention of a wider audience. Also the new ep is a ‘name your price’ Bandcamp release, so nothing should hold you back to try some nice electropop/-punk.
Links: Bang Bang Eche, The Underground Management

We Are The Physics * Your Friend, The Atom (cd 2012)

Indeed, I do not only listen to musical violence, I also have a growing likeness for weird and punky pop music. I discovered this Scotish band a while ago. In 2008 they released their excellent debut cd “Are OK At Music”, however album… it is only half an hour, or as the cover says: “Guaranteed to fit on ONE SIDE of a C60 Tape!”. This also shows the humour of this band. The new album (41 minutes) has a song title that I cannot retype without my software turning the html code into an accent. Also in the music there is plenty room for humour. The music is often fast, guitar oriented popmusic with catchy rhythms and electronics. The vocals are nicely strange and especially the use of ‘choirs’ on the new album is very amusing. The music can be described as somewhat of a mix between nowave weirdness and experimentalism and electropunk. The energy and approach reminds of great bands such as Duchess Says, We Are Wolves and Bang! Bang! Eche!, but each band certainly has a distinctive sound. It is not like I like each and every of these ‘electropunk’ bands, but with two great cds We Are The Physics definately make a wonderfull addition to my discovery so I can play some lighter stuff every now and then.
Links: We Are The Physics, This Is Fake DIY Records

Duchess Says * In A Fung Day T! (cd 2011)

This has been my most looked-forward-to album since I heard that Duchess Says was working on a new album. I adore their 2008 debut album and a while ago the band started putting messages out on Facebook that there were new songs. Two have been pre-released, one alright track and a great one. A few weeks ago the label accepted preorders and coming back from holidays I had “In A Fung Day T!” in my mailbox. The album opens with a great noisy punk sound, very promising! This Canadian band goes from noisy ‘artpunk’ to electropop and I especially like the weird electropunk sound. The album sounds more of a mix between punk and electropop than before and it is different from the debut. It is less ‘extreme’ than the debut and pretty short too (33 minutes) I have heard the cd a couple of times now and however I find the debut cd better, I like “In A Fung Day T!” a lot. If you want something weird and different, Duchess Says may be for you too! The best news is, they are touring too!
Links: Duchess Says, Alien8 Records

Hunting The Robot * Our Ocean Is Illuminated (ep 2010)

Hunting The Robot is a new local (i.e. from Eindhoven, Netherlands) band that I read about is some free, local newspaper, for some reason the bandname already rang a bell then. Yesterday we were in Den Bosch to see “Black Swan” and in some activities leaflet I noticed that HTR was playing that same night. We decided to go and see HTR and went to a small cellar venue that I had never been to (Plein 79). HTR is a band of four young men (they give their own average age as 16) making catchy poprock with a lot of electronics. There are thick layers of wave with screaming guitars and electronic rhythms, but this eccentric band mixes many styles to some punky kind of pop music. I was happily surprised by the lengthy jamsessions in which the youngsters proved to be skilled and varried musicians, the technical 14-year-old drummer giving away a great solo and the nice songs with unexpected changes and great ideas. More than once I was reminded of the great Bang Bang Eche. Not all songs were great, but many were very nice. Last friday the band released their debut, an ep that can be bought, but also downloaded for free. The ep sounds soft, slick, too polished, but worse of all, it contains four slightly boring tracks, while they have an hour of good ones. Good that I did not hear the ep before hearing about the show! Based on the show I find this band promising, but the ep I can rate no higher than:

Link: Hunting The Robot

Bang Bang Eche * Sonic Death Cunttt (ep 2009)

Not all good electopunk comes from Canada! Bang Bang Eche is a young group from New Zealand and currently have two ep’s available, the great and nameless 2008 debut and this second 4 track. The music of Bang Bang Eche is catchy electropunk music with a lot of energy. The band seems to have a considerable following and since their ep’s are sold online, they seem to spread easily. I really enjoy some electropunk such as Duchess Says or Motormark, but I rarely run into anything that I enjoy as much as these two bands. Bang Bang Eche might not be as weird as Duchess Says, but it is good and I hope they will go on a little more, since the better bands in the genre seem to pass away after some time.
Link: Bang Bang Eche

Les Georges Leningrad * Sangue Puro (cd 2006)

Les Georges was a Canadian experimental (electronic) punk band. Somehow many of these seem to come from Canada (the band does no longer exist since May 2007). What also seems to be typical for this kind of music are the slightly distorted and rather childish female vocals. There are also male vocals here and there. The band has great uptempo weird punky tracks which are alternated with a great variety of experiments. Jazz, funk, industrial, Native American tribal music, whatever the band felt like is put on their albums. The experiments are not always my taste and take relatively much space on the albums, but the nice weird things and especially the electropunk (or postpunk or whatever I should call it) are good enough to recommend to people who like happy-tuned crazy music.
Links: LGL memorial Myspace, Dare To Care…
Other albums are “Sur Les Traces De Black Eskimo” (2005 Alien8 Records) (I think this is the better) and “Deux Hot Dogs Moutarde Chou” (2002 Records Coco-Cognac)

Duchess Says * Anthology Des 3 Perechoirs (cd 2008)

Anthology Des 3 PerchoirsHere we have a very interesting band. Duchess Says easily goes from typical electropop to more rock-oriented experimental tracks with (apparently) real drums (“post-rock”?), but this album opens with a magnificent experimental punk song that even the 70’ies artpunk bands would have never come up with. Weird screaming female vocals, lots of guitars, is this perhaps a rock band with electronic influences? Modern artpunk? I don’t mind. This is great and weird stuff.
Duchess Says, Alien8 Recordings

v/a * Digital Penetration vol. 2 (cd 2008)

Digital Penetration vol. 2Damn, there is so much crazy music out there! A while ago I ran into a digital compilation with 64 tracks varying from electropop to electropunk to experimental punk and all kinds of weird stuff: “Modern Mutants handbook” it seems to be a compilation of a music lover going around on P2P networks. A great pile of mostly new music. “Digital Penetration” is a real compilation from a real label, released on a real cd. The music is a crazy and varried as on the illegal compilation. You get to hear Duchess Says with a rather typical electropop song, but already the opener of Kap Bambino is weirder than some Cock Rock Disco stuff. I guess in a way most music can fall under the banner of electropop(/-punk), but this is as varried as it can get. From trance-techno-like songs, to more breakcore sounds to even digital poprock and who-knows-what. By far not all tracks are brilliant here, but some of it is worth digging through that scene more.
Alt Delete Recordings

Motormark * Chrome Tape (cd 2004)

Chrome TapeI decided to review two albums of a disbanded project. I just discovered this great band while digging through the genre and this is probably my favourite band in this vein so far. Too bad they are no longer around, but that does not prevent me from reviewing their music.
Motormark makes sleezy electropunk with guitars and electronic rhythms. The distorted female vocals and crazy male vocals remind of the B-52’s sometimes, but like other bands in this vein, there are gothic/wavey elements, too. However this is pretty poppy, Motormark goes towards a more punk-feeling that I like a lot. Even though this album was released by Digital Hardcore Recordings, the music has little to do with Atari Teenage Riot or Ec8or. Simple lyrics, simple songs, but effective and catchy. “Chrome Tape” does not have the more typical electropop tracks like the predecessor and it is the better of the two, but I like “Pop:Up” too.
Motormark @ Wikipedia, Digital Hardcore Recordings