When Stephen Malkmus sang, “Bands start up each and every day” in 1994, he probably didn’t think that same sentiment of infinitely sporing music makers could be extended to labels. Sometimes it seems that there are just as many labels—if not more—than there are bands. For whatever genre that may be conceivable, there is a label that caters to those fans. Like cassettes? There are labels for that. MiniDisc? I’ve seen it. I’m pretty sure absolutely no one really wants music on a MiniDisc, but someone out there must be buying them because labels continue putting music on MiniDiscs despite Sony discontinuing production many a year ago (Which brings me to my next question: is the MiniDisc now the Polaroid of music? Or is it the LaserDisc of music?). Anyway, the point is that it seems like a lot of labels just kind of pop up on the daily, and one of the more recent ones to do so is the Boston-based sewer-punk imprint/zine distributor Mina’s World. In self-described “gunk and punk” fashion, the label’s inaugural release is Last Beat of Death by Sick Thoughts, the DIY punk project of a Baltimore teenager named Drew Owen.
“G.O.O.M.F.”, Last Beat of Death‘s first single, is 80 seconds of blisteringly loud and fast garage punk of the dingiest order. The song literally begins with nails-to-chalkboard guitar feedback before Owens begins spitting and cursing and yelling. Owens pretty much just yells, “Get out of my face” in two different manifestations—acronym or in “fuck”-peppered complete sentence—for the duration of the song. Apparently the album was only recorded over two days, and “G.O.O.M.F.” is a perfect display of the frenetic debauchery Owens injects into all of Sick Thoughts’ releases.
Last Beat of Death will be available on hot pink cassette sometime in August via Mina’s World.
