Pet Mosquito “Pre Apocalypse Motorcycle Music” 2024. Slovenly Recordings, 4-song EP on orange vinyl. Young “thrift shop thrash” garage punks from Carbondale, Illinois.  Their name inspiration? “…the four of us are pesky and annoying, like teenage mosquitoes.” We caught Pet Mosquito’s set this past July up in Green Bay at GBUFO Fest and their set was killer! We ran into the band again the next day at the GBUFO record shop and steered singer/guitarist Everett towards a few Wisconsin bands (including Milwaukee legends The Mistreaters) and chatted about our mutual love of Jon Spencer (they were going to be performing at a Goner Fest after-party show in September; Spencer performed on one of the main stages). We finally got their first slab of vinyl (they do have a few other releases, all on CD or digital) in the mail a couple of weeks ago.

According to their Bandcamp, Pre Apocalypse Motorcycle Music was “recorded to four track at the ‘historical’ Lost Cross house. Pet Mosquito’s blistering take on Midwestern garage punk draws inspiration from the sounds of a chopped exhaust pipe ripping your eardrums apart whilst you drink a warm beer on the 4th of July. These four songs take the existential anxiety of our pre-apocalyptic world and transmute it into furiously danceable bops that include songs about a femme fatale who sleeps with the Zodiac Killer, secret government projects, and more nonsensical non-nonsense. You’ll be ready to take on any CIA agent, alien, or zombie biker that comes your way. It’s fast, it’s fun, it’s Pre Apocalypse Motorcycle Music!” I’m not sure about taking on zombies, but the EP definitely has a creepy-ass Cramps vibe, lo-fi and thrashing. “K” is short and sharp, “Okie Dokie” has more of a 60’s garage pace but with seriously torn edges. Side 2’s “Secret Services” veers slightly pop for a moment…until Everett starts his wicked growl and “Mr Repeater” is an all-out punk cacophony of sound and energy. Catch these guys live – they are terrific!