Konvoi - Konvoi (Snot, 2016)

Konvoi
Konvoi
Snot
2016

Rating: 7.5 soft rubber lids out of 10

Konvoi is from Boone, North Carolina.  For any non-locals reading this, Boone is a hippy town in the mountains, and absolutely nothing good ever comes out of there (I say this as someone who grew up right down the road).  Apparently Konvoi didn't get this message, and instead decided to release this blast of post punk snarl that sounds like the Fall, early Whatever Brains, and maybe Ex-Cult all blended together.  I even hear a little bit of Strokes-style garage-pop catchiness to a couple of their songs, but there's a good chance no one else will agree with me on that one.  This is a great record (or actually, tape only much to my chagrin) on any level, but locally it might be the best thing this year and is definitely my favorite "new" local band/release of the last few years.   Nice job for once, Boone, keep up the good work. 

Flesh Wounds - In the Mouth EP (Snot, 2015)

Flesh Wounds
In the Mouth EP
Snot
2015

Rating: 8 political journals out of 10

Running through six songs in about thirteen minutes, Flesh Wounds like to get right to the point.  This is aggro old school-style punk that almost borders on hardcore at times.  On the opener "Attack," it feels like you're being attacked for the entire 78 seconds of the song.  This is a lot closer to early Black Flag or Negative Approach or the punk coming out of DC than it is the modern happy-go-lucky garage punk that the kids love so much.  Most of the songs sound like singer Montgomery Morris is eating the microphone while he sings...I can attest after seeing them live a number of times that this is actually the case.  As a side note, they have a song called "Joy Division Killed My Boner."