Highly recommended. We enjoyed their previous 7" (from about 7 years ago!) and this one hits the spot too! We've been entering some KILLER 7"s the past week or so and are getting closer to unveiling the first box of 200 or so 7" from the vaults... From our friends at Sorry State: "This Portland band released an excellent 7” back in 2019, and now they’re back after seven years with their follow-up EP. Despite the lengthy wait between records, not much has changed in the Noxeema camp. They still have an interesting sound that sits in the fuzzy space between a few different punk subgenres. The jangly guitars paired with fast, driving drumbeats make me think of first-gen hardcore, but perhaps even more, I’m reminded of the early 2000s bands from northern Europe who were inspired by that era. I’m thinking of bands like Amdi Petersen’s Armé and Regulations, but while Noxeema sounds a lot like those bands in places, they have none of the retro sensibilities (I doubt they have shaved heads and dangly earrings!), so the vibe is quite different. I also hear some no wave in Noxeema’s sound, particularly in the simple, repetitive drum patterns, which are often hardcore fast, but groove in a hip-shaking way… could you imagine Young Wasteners covering ESG? Often the music stays spare and straightforward so the vocals can take center stage, and these songs have a punkier feel. The first track, with its stuttering vocal line (“s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-sick!-sick!”), owes something to the Cramps, and that camp sensibility feels like a callback to the 70s, when echoes of glam rock were still very apparent in punk. And then there’s “Serenity Now,” whose heavy power chords are different from anything else on this 9-song EP, bringing to mind early Bad Religion. 9 song crammed on a 7”, all different from one another, a unique vibe you can’t get anywhere else, sick artwork… Noxeema’s new EP has “buy me” written all over it."
