The Notwist “News From Planet Zombie” 2026. Marr Music. Limited edition indie record store orange vinyl variant. Even though it’s been two months since we were in Berlin, I’m still slogging through our vinyl haul from that trip. We picked up The Notwist’s latest LP upon the recommendation of the very odd record store owner (33rpm Records); I have never heard of this Munich-based band but they’ve been around for a LONG time. From their Bandcamp page: “The Notwist, formed in 1989, then consisting of Martin Messerschmidt, and brothers Micha and Markus Acher — released their self-titled debut album on Subway Records a good thirty years ago [in 1991], a unique tightrope walk between melodic independent, metallic rock and explosive hardcore parts…” Their most recent release News From Planet Zombie certainly doesn’t have any hardcore but it is really really lovely, leaning heavily into the melodic indie pop vibe (“The Turning” feels super early aughts alt/college radio: lo-fi angular jangle with some retro xylophone-esque bleep-bloops that eventually descend into a bit of a rager), though some tracks do rock out, like “X-Ray” plus there’s some indie grit on “Who We Used to Be” as well. The Notwist cover Neil Young’s “Red Sun” and it’s a shimmering atmospheric delight. They also cover the Lovers 2009 “How the Story Ends” – a band and song I do not know but Bandcamp  tells me they are indie folk-pop group hailing from Portland, Oregon by way of Athens, Georgia and Notwist’s version is great: the lyrics on News From Planet Zombie are all sung in English and I could really only hear any obvious German accent on that cover and musically it is exceptionally layered; landing both sweet pop and experimental art rock. For all of 33rpm Record dude’s weirdness, he certainly steered us in a good direction with this album.

Oddfellows “Oddfellows” 2026. Dirtnap Records, Green Noise exclusive clear vinyl variant. Texas OG punks reunited! The band first got together in ’94, played a bit, sort of split into a zillion (famous) pieces and have now reformed for their first LP (they did put out a 7″ in ’95). Oddfellows features Chris Pulliam (The Reds, High Tension Wires) on guitar, bass and vocals; Mark Ryan (The Reds, The Marked Men, High Tension Wires, O-D-EX, Radioactivity, Mind Spiders) also on guitar, bass, and vocals; and Mike Throneberry (The Reds, The Marked Men, Mind Spiders, Mazinga Phaser, Stumptone) on drums and vocals. Meaning we’ve seen Ryan and Throneberry play at least a couple of times at Dirtnap Fests since a few of those bands are also on the Dirtnap label. Oddfellows is punchy poppy garage punk, exactly the Dirtnap vibe, and it’s great! SO many bangers! The snotty “I Hate Rules,” the messy lo-fi “Late on Love,” the ass-shaking “Eraser,” the jangly and incongruously mod happy/snappy “I Burned Your Lawn,” the odd (but awesome) jangle-grunge of “You’ll Never Get to Mars” (think The Kinks meets Screaming Trees – it’s weird but totally works) – what a fun record!

I cannot find a single live performance of this Oddfellows band (there are other ones out there, a rabbit hole I’m not willing to fall into) so here’s The Marked Men’s full set from Dirtnap Fest 2025 at X-Ray Arcade and yes we were there.

Avengers “We Are the One” 1977. Originally released on Dangerhouse Records, this version limited edition repress, blue vinyl on Superior Viaduct. We got to see the first wave SanFran punks last week at their first and most likely last show in Milwaukee on the 49th(!!!) anniversary of their very first show on June 11th 1977. “We Are the One” was the Avengers first single (this 3 song 7″ is considered an EP for whatever reason); all three tracks would appear on their 1983 album Avengers. Besides being an excellent straightforward punk anthem, it also is notable as the first time a West Coast punk band issued music on an independent label (Dangerhouse). They of course played “We Are the One” (video of Thursday’s performance below, recorded by Joe), one of their best-known tracks, plus a slew of other old favorites like “The American in Me” and “White N****r” which they obviously have changed the title and lyrics to (“Gold Digger is it’s new name/lyrics). Also on the 7” is “I Believe in Me” and “Car Crash” which I think they played but honestly I can’t remember at this point.