Kibou Records has been pumping vinyl and tapes out of England since 2011. Along the way, they’ve been using the Without Kibou There Is Nothing series as a twelve-minute showcase for groups from across the land. In part two of the series, the A-Side features heavier acts like grind group Social Rut’s 40-second pummel, “Wreck / Logic,” and hardcore band Albion’s “Black Charcoal Lungs,” which has an evil guitar hook pulsing out some lovely, dirty melody: a little Gallows, a little Pixies—looks bad on paper but tastes great. The satisfyingly bizarre Autopsy Boys make Side-B appreciably weirder, blending post-punk with synth effects, holding the cheese, and featuring a frontman who sounds like a sort of Zero Boys’ Paul Mahern if he were singing in 2079 instead of 1979. Or, you know, Robocop punk. The steady pop beat of Second In Line close out the EP with a list song recalling dead celebrities—”Walt Disney is Dead…/lots of Lassies are dead”— human and otherwise. All side, a nice tour of an EP. Now get on your baby brother’s computer and do the Google math— £4 is only $6.72, you can afford that. Optional white vinyl and included digital download.
–Jim Joyce (Kibou)