Eat Skull - 'Jerusalem Mall' (Woodsist)

Coming off their great second album, I expected more from 'Jerusalem Mall', the song, which (if you're gonna command the A-side alone) should deliver more punch. Overall, this 7" feels like a bit of Eat Skull's different sides. My preference is for the fun, poppy stuff, represented here by the 7"s best track, 'Don't Leave Me on the Speaker'. Unlike 'Jerusalem Mall' this sounds bright, with the guitars working in a style that is melodically ramshackle instead of discordantly ramshackle. 'Thank you! Smokebreaks' is a fast punker along the 'Nuke Mecca' lines from Wild and Inside; fun, sure, but I think these work better on the longform player where there's a lot more meat in the sandwich. 

Le Club des Chats - 'Yes Madame!' (S-S)

How do you like your quirk?  Thick and with a French accent?  Le Club des Chats dropped this single about four years ago and you'd think it was the reincarnation of Family Fodder.  French kids in their bedroom, I guess, but everyone is making music in their bedrooms these days.  The artwork has housecats shooting laserbeams out of their eyes, and the band name is pretty fucking stupid as well.  You gotta love this approach.  You also gotta love seven songs at 45 rpm; it's not a hardcore record, but it is ferocious, exploding out of the vinyl with 'Master of Toadstool' - though the title is misleading cause this isn't slow mushroom music in the slightest.  The drums are the name of the game, frantically bashing through every song and drowning out the other instruments except for the manic male-female voices that shout over every song.  'Ring-a-Ding' is little more than that phrase repeated over a catchy drum cacophony, but it conjures Renaldo and the Loaf at their most punk rock tendencies.  It's ridiculous and young and strange and great.

Cause Co-Motion - 'Which Way is Up?' (What's Your Rupture?)

Cause Co-Motion are actually from NYC I think, but from this record you'd think it was Manchester in '78. There's a British twang creeping out from the singer's voice, and the guitars are glassy and bright over the bouncy basslines. I'd almost say these songs are interchangeable, folding up with major key changes. 'Which Way is Up?' asks the question repeatedly but stops in a puff of 45 rpm dust before it's answered. 'Falling Again' on the flip isn't any longer but slightly more 80s-sounding. I always associated this band with noisy stuff like Times New Vikings but there's no sleep in these eyeballs. I think these guys are trying to reinvent the idea of the singles band, and this is certainly a good entry.