Homostupids - Cat Music

(Fashionable Idiots, 2008)

More of the same (full-throttle, hardcore-informed, weirdo-generated garage blat), but it’s noticeably tighter than previous records, and even, at times, one is tempted to label this material catchy. The fact that the Homostupids actually bother to write songs – hard as that can be to discern under all the noise and lousy recording quality – automatically separates ’em from most of the goof-punks out there who lazily get by on volume and shtick. And that’s nothing to scoff at, bub. While these high-volume blasts of craziness might not work so well over the course of a full length (lone alb The Intern is a bit of a slog), KNOW that every one of these guys’ 7”s has been quite the zippy ear grenade.

Homostupids - The Edge E.P.

(P.Trash, 2008)

Huzzah! A scumbag return to the sweaty shitcore of “The Glow,” but with extra helpings of Reatard-esque garage-scuzz informing the, AHEM, songwriting! Bash bash scream is the M.O. here, and appropriately poo-fi production values heighten the avant-jerk-punk excitement. An excellent disc, and, if shopping, know that it’s probably not nearly as rare as the label (and distros?) want you to believe... seems any 7” even remotely in the wheelhouse of punk/hardcore involves 10,000 subtle geek-bait repressings in various shades of wax or paper or ink. DO NOT CARE. Still, all eye-roll collector nonsense aside, note and appreciate that hat-wearing beardo THE EDGE is the sleeve star, and was there ever a non-Bono more deserving of mockery? NOPE. I’ll admit that I do own one U2 CD, a single for “Who’s Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses,” purchased at the Princeton Record Exchange for $1.99 because I could not suppress a morbid curiosity to hear the B-side covers of “Paint it Black” and “Fortunate Son.” And guess what? THESE VERSIONS STINK. Laughably so! Nuts to you, Irishman The Edge!

Homostupids - The Brutal Birthday E.P.

(Richie, 2007)

OK, now Homostupid wackiness fights its way to the fore: six songs packed onto a one-sided 7”, with two sung in an exaggerated, PIL-style sneer, three offering a more lumbering take on the lunatic mayhem of the first EP, and a Numan/muzak instrumental interlude dumped in the middle. Unpredictable… annoying… and still quite satisfying. Almost everything here – particularly the grab-bag stylistic nature of the songs and the gratuitous tape-speed effects – suggests a healthy contempt for the listener, but as long as the music is as surprisingly odd and, yes, fun as what’s on here, I’ll keep on sticking out my hand to feed the mouth that bites me.

Homostupids - The Glow E.P.

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