Usman's Staff Pick: May 18, 2023

Hello and thanks for reading. I have been listening to KOHTI TUHOA a lot lately. I recently moved and Pelon Neljäs Valtakunta keeps finding its way back onto my turntable. I wrote about them in a staff pick a few years ago when I first heard them. They instantly had me hooked. When I heard their PAINAJAINEN cover, I lost my mind. On the album I just mentioned they have a song entitled “Kohti Tuhoa.” Unfortunately, there are times when a band has a song named after the band and it just doesn’t hit very hard. But every now and again there are occasions like this where it hits so hard you punch the fuckin air, even if you’re just jamming in your room alone. I feel like when you name a song after the band, it must be like the best song ever. It probably won’t have the same effect when you pull it out of the context of the full album, but “A Mean While” by MEANWHILE is another excellent song of this style. The lyrics are super clever, too. My drive to work takes about as long as the Who Killed Dove EP. I’ve been playing it every day for the past two weeks I think, haha. Funny enough, the song starts off with a song entitled “Crow.”

Anyway, today seems like a good day. I’m looking forward to whooping ass tonite in laser tag, and as you can see from my staff pic, I had a pretty sick mail day yesterday. I’ve been looking for this HEADCLEANERS 7” for ages it feels like. It feels great to cross one off the want list. (Yes, I have an actual written out want list.) I still desperately seek Extrem P with a green cover… I hope one day I find a copy to cherish and love forever, until death do us part. I got this copy of Disinfection in the mail from the UK alongside a few other new releases. I am here today to talk about one of those new releases, TÀRREGA 91’ on La Vida Es Un Mus. I saw they dropped a few new releases at once recently, and TÀRREGA 91’ instantly grabbed my attention. The cover looked classic, and even the name sounded classic as hell. I went to check it out, and surprise, the first track had my full attention! The band was described to take influence from bands like HHH, MG15, and ARROGANTA AGITATORER. I can definitely hear this, but one thing I hear (and see) is TAMPERE SS. Aside from the cover looking similar to an ‘80s Finnish punk collage, Tàrrega is the name of a city, just like Tampere. For the song structure, I mean of course at the end of the day it’s all DISCHARGE, but they have a few slower songs remind me of classic Finnish bands like TAMPERE SS or RIISTETYT. Speaking of RIISTEYT, the back cover of this TÀRREGA 91’ EP looks similar to Laki Ja Järjestys. The TÀRREGA 91’ discs are white labels, and they have these tiny gold stickers on them. They look just like the stickers Vote Vasko (P. Tuotanto) put on the represses of Laki Ja Järjestys and Systeemi Ei Toimi E.P. Haha, alright… enough of the nerd shit. Aside from TÀRREGA 91’ referencing their city of origin, it’s also referencing the year tons of youth rioted and nearly burned down their town hall. So sick. Per usual I didn’t really explain what the band sounds like but whatever. Overall, this is a killer record, and I would check it out if you have not. Alright that’s all for today. Thanks for reading and thanks for the support!


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