Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Dials on Secret Mission Records


What I know about Japanese punk could fit at the end of this sentence. That doesn't mean I shouldn't start with this single from Secret Mission Records who recently dropped that Raydios single a little while back; a brief window into the punk on the other side of the globe. Looks like these aren't their only releases either and must have some connections over there setting up these collaborations.

A-Side's "School Girl" is dropping in heavy distortions while focused on that low gurgling rough bass sound, the strings bouncing off the back plate of the fret board. These vocals are minimal and raw enough to cut right to the libido of their intention. Not much subtlety here in the lyric SCHOOL!.. GIRL!...SCHOOL!.. GIRL! making you a little nervous about what they're planning to do. A mix of the Hot Snakes snappy, tight power punk and then this breakdown handclap section of just perfect rumbling bass that comes off like a pop sounding Shellac. Clean separation and manic energy - basically does it really make any difference where this came from?
The B-Side "Nervous" opens with jangly, thin chords that blow out into a thick jittery blues rock sound with a spastic bubblegum punk handclap throughout. If you don't have a picture to go with this the vocal delivery completely nails that exagerated late '70s snotty english style where they were practically spitting the words at you. Big overdriven solo that makes the rest of this sound like it was cut with a lathe. A big fast mess that's hard to pin a creation date to and that's a good thing.

I like this thin brittle grocery bag paper screened sleeve, get this one on black vinyl from Mangrove (japan) / Secret Mission Records in the US.

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