Luca Cimarusti, Reader music listings coordinator
Screeching Weasel I’ve spent the past few months working on a Screeching Weasel cover band for Halloween. Being required to learn one or two new Weasel tunes every week means I’m listening to these 90s pop-punk masters more than I have since I was in junior high. Sure, Ben Weasel may be a huge piece of crap, but it’s impossible to deny that the man is a musical genius.
Erin Elders, singer-guitarist in Wedding Dress
Campdogzz So far, this Chicago band has released only four songs. My favorite, “Limbs (Anyhow),” is a Modest Mouse-esque dirge, beautiful and deeply sad—it rolls along like a ramshackle wagon in some bizarre dream, with Jess Price’s voice thundering out from the clouds. I can’t wait to see what Campdogzz do next.
UV Race, Homo I bought these Aussies their first shots of Malort at the Bottle on their last pass through town, and I was probably that asshole getting way too into their show. Nevertheless, this 2011 record remains my favorite. Crusty, poppy, and slightly off, it doesn’t try to be anything but itself. They’ll be featured in Noise in My Head: Voices From the Ugly Australian Underground, a new book coming soon via HoZac’s publishing arm, and I’ll be foaming at the mouth until its release.
