I know it’s a cliche to say that time has lost meaning, but I’m definitely feeling that way. Right now the days seem to take forever, but the weeks seem to be going kinda fast, but also is it still only April? I’m a teacher, and I’ve always kinda frowned on co-workers who were like, counting down the days til school got out, because I actually like my job and the kids I work with, so I’m not dying to get to summer break. But, uh… yeah, this year I am kinda in that boat. I’m not doing a countdown or anything, but ever since my team submitted our assessment tracker for the rest of the quarter and seeing all those end of May dates, I’m ready.
But March was good, I guess. I got the first the first Pfizer shot from my school district (and hopefully by the time you read this, the second). I had a few job interviews in the district we’re moving to that I felt really good about (and hopefully by the time you read this, I have a job offer for next year). And we had the first two offers fall through on our house, but we have new showings lined up for this weekend, and we’ve already gotten an offer for over asking, so hopefully that is resolved soon.
Anyways, lots of things happening, but still feel like I’m in limbo a bit. But there were some good tunes to listen to throughout it all. Here’s eight releases I liked enough to write about.
Beach Things – Beach Things (March 2nd, self-released)
I’ll admit, as someone who gets an extra kick out of finding good music from remote locations, I haven’t had great luck finding bands that I’ve dug from Asia. But Beach Things is cool. I feel like I’m just reading off the descriptors in their bandcamp, but they are definitely do that low-fi / power pop thing right. “Wandering” and “Argument” are really good tracks.
Tigers Jaw – I Won’t Care How You Remember Me (March 5th, Hopeless Records)
I was pretty, pretty late to the game on Tigers Jaw. idk when I actually first heard of them, but I didn’t really give em a fair shot until I bought tickets to see them with The Menzingers up in Dallas in November 2019. I was at End of an Ear down in Austin and found a colored vinyl of Charmer. Their self-titled record from 2008 is pretty easily my favorite from them, and I’ll admit that listening to a few singles before this release, my expectations were actually pretty low. However, the whole record has really grown on me, I’ve listened to it more than any other record this year (well, besides the Mikey Erg s/t, but that’s also a lot shorter).
Anyways, there’s been a lot of life changes lately that I won’t get into here, but the phrase “I won’t care how you remember me” resonates quite a bit right now. That song is a great opener, “Hesitation” is probably my favorite track, and it’s just a really solid album.
Fake Fruit – Fake Fruit (March 5th, Rocks In Your Head Records)
A recurring bit on this blog is me saying stuff like “I don’t really like a lot of post-punk bands, but there’s like a strain of post-punk that hits me just right and I love it”. Gvlls, dumb, The Gotobeds, Semana Santa, neutrals, etc. all fall into that category, as does Fake Fruit. With the exception of “Swing and a Miss” (which has some repeated vocals that I’m not super into), the rest of the album is bangin’. “No Mutuals” will be on my end of the year playlist for sure, and “Lying Legal Horror Lawyers” is… well, man, you should just listen to it.
Bobby Ramone – Rocket To Kingston (March 5th, Guerrilla Asso.)
I don’t know if the person who decided to mash up Bob Marley lyrics with Ramones instrumentals is a genius or needs to lay off the weed, but… yeah, some of it works. I’ll admit that my knowledge of both of these legends is only cursory, limited to mostly just their greatest hits, but even I know that this is a combo that is too ridiculous to fail.
Captain Kaiser – The Drovers Inn (March 12th, self-released)
I just found out about this punk quintet from Belgium, but they have a sound that feels really familiar. Fist in the air org-core that seems to be slipping out of style, but still prevailing in a few shadowy corners. As I write this, I’ve only listened to it all the way a few times, and I don’t really know if there’s a specific standout track, it’s just all really good.
Ship Thieves – Irruption (March 12th, Chunksaah Records)
Hot Water Music is good, but tbh I think I kinda like Chuck Ragan’s solo-folk stuff better. I thought I’d be really into Chris Wollard’s first iteration of solo work (Chris Wollard & the Ship Thieves), since it seemed to be aiming in a similar direction as Ragan’s solo stuff, but idk, it just didn’t really stick for me. Well, they’ve dropped his name off at the dock and stuck with Ship Thieves, and it may just be my favorite offering from the HWM-family tree. Ten tracks of southern fried punk rock, not a dud in the bunch. “Race to Oblivion” and “Virulent Man” are my current faves, but that’s subject to change, plenty of bangers here.
Savage Cougars – Self Titled Debut (March 17th, self-released)
While scanning bandcamp for good jams in the “punk”, the blue tiger with yellow and orange stripes with a guitar pedal embedded into its back that was chewing on a human leg really caught my eye. I’m sure that this is supposed to be some sort of cougar (hence the band name) but idk, it’s a big cat with stripes, imma call it a tiger. Anyways, it sounds good and it’s a free download. Oh, what does the music sound like? Garagey-rock from Italy with a punk edge.
Sweet Reaper – Microdose (March 19th, Alien Snatch Records)
Sweet Reaper just puts out jams man. Been hooked on them since I heard their Sidekick album in 2018, and their whole discography bangs. Surfy-garage punk is a genre that needs to expand, and “Drink the Poison” would be the perfect soundtrack to the grim reaper skating down the boardwalk in Pacific Beach.
Anyways, thanks for reading if you made it this far. Here’s songs from most of these releases on a Spotify playlist. Bonus track of the new single from the Bruce Lee Band because Mike Park is cool.
Radio Marcus 