Since 2020, we’ve been putting more effort into working with labels for a variety of reasons. In a way, it helps us move through things faster. You find a cool label, more than likely you find more than one cool band. For instance, think of all the cool bands we’ve covered since getting in touch with SKiN Graft Records.
The Mark Fischer led camp of weirdo rockers and noise pirates have not only been musically congruent, but personally as well, and it’s always nice to see them in our inboxes. So you can imagine how stoked we were when they hit us up with a press release announcing that Squid Pisser, Buñuel, and Hyper Gal had all signed to the label.
Each of these bands offers different takes on the chaos and mania that’s defined SKiN Graft Records overall aesthetic. If you haven’t heard them, it’s high time that you do, and now you will, complete with some wordage from the press release. We are… journalists, after all.
SQUID PISSER will continue their live assault and make their SKiN GRAFT Records premiere early next year with “Vaporize A Neighbor”, a four-song EP packaged in a 24-page wraparound comic book sleeve, released in conjunction with Sweatband Records. The band’s Tommy Meehan says, “SKiN GRAFT has been putting out vibrantly nasty music and chum-inducing art for over three decades. I’ve been wanting to work with Mark for years now. We’re grateful to be teaming up with such a legendary label and we’re feeling right at home in the company of so many other fucked-up sounding bands…”
BUÑUEL is heavy. The sound of a difficult situation made worse by an unwillingness and an inability to play nice. Produced by a literal supergroup of global significance, BUÑUEL boasts the sound work of the Italian trio of guitarist Xabier Iriondo (Afterhours, A Short Apnea), the bass of Andrea Lombardini (The Framers), and the drums of Francesco Valente (Il Teatro Degli Orrori), along with the singular vocals and lyrics of Eugene S. Robinson (Oxbow).
Springing from Osaka, Japan’s cultural center and historical heart, comes HYPER GAL, a two-piece band consisting of visual artist Koharu Ishida on vocals and noise artist Kurumi Kadoya on drums. The minimalist duo make maximum impact – stripping music down beyond the bare essentials, to create shimmering, no wave pop from blastbeat drums, glittery keyboard loops and ethereal bubblegum vocals – laced with velvet and firecrackers.
What is this, Christmas or something? It’s like the Neapolitan flavor of… wait. Christ, it’s December.