Neil Young

Chokebore, “Coat”

Chokebore was one of the later Amphetamine Reptile bands, putting out three records before that label kind of stopped putting out much stuff. Turns out they actually put out three records after leaving AmRep. I had no idea - I didn’t pursue them beyond the label loyalty, I wonder if they’re good.

Wormrot, “The Darkest Burden”

The unrelenting aggression of grindcore is bracing, a shot of adrenaline that isn’t always what I’m looking for, but when I want it, there’s no substitute. Wormrot’s 2022 record, Hiss, is a great example of it and is in fact one of the records I reach for when I want to scour my brain real good-like.

U.S. Maple, “Rice Ain’t Afraid of Nothing”

U.S. Maple more or less perfected devolved rock, where the songs are recognizable as being rock songs, but the form of them is perverted to the straining point. Any more mutated, and it probably ceases to be something you could credibly describe as being in the same genre as, I dunno, the Dave Matthews Band (to choose a band that was popular when U.S. Maple made this record). We need these sort of tricksters, as they set the boundaries of what is acceptable by pushing them further out.