Sarongs is definitely a group of youngsters that came and went too quick. And here they are now (er, there they were?), posthumously releasing their one and only album, forthcoming on 12 inches of wax via their own label Velidoxi. If you’re familiar with the band or the teeny-tiny Syracuse tape label Prison Art, you might recognize some of the tracks here from last year’s brilliant, also self-titled cassette release. Sarongs is a searing, scorching dose of horror-punk in the vein of old school giants like The Cramps, but it also finds a nice nook in recent entries from bands like Balaclavas or the less-recent Be Your Own Pet. Even though not all of this stuff is new, the tracks I wasn’t familiar with before are some of the best I’ve heard yet (“Munsters” especially is a terrifically terrible cataclysmic clash of frenetic energy and frustrated fruition.) And although it sounds like this might have been recorded in an attic on some shitty gear in some respects, the final mixes also sound surprisingly seasoned, especially when compared to the cassette: slinky bass grooves are even slinkier, the femur bones the drummer must use for sticks don’t sound quite as brittle, and the razor-wire strings that must line their guitars feel sharper than ever. High energy, and angsty pissed-offness make this one intoxicating number, and it’s just a damn fine stroke of luck that it’s going to hit vinyl.
You can nab one right now.
• Sarongs: http://sarongs.bandcamp.com
• Velidoxi: http://velidoxi.com
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