What's new in de Kempen pt. 1 (northeast of Lier)

There's some totally fresh Belgian punk rock album on the market that you need to check out!
If you don't feel like checking it out, no worries! I already did that for you!
New Crackups is out since October 14th & new Priceduifkes is out since October 15th!

The Priceduifkes - Can't Lose
(Monster Zero, 2011)

1. Puke For Breakfast
2. Break Stuff
3. Stuck
4. I'd Rather Be In The Jizzhut Tonight
5. Bye Bye Love
6. Trainwreck
7. Start Drinking
8. Frogprince
9. I.K.A.W.



The PDS have been one of my favourite (Belgian) bands for a long time. The coolest thing about this band is that they still sound the same as ever, just waaaaaay better. I can't stress that enough. You can't say that they "have gone back to their roots" or some shit, cause they're still there, at their roots. It's amazing. Also, this is the longest release they've ever done, clocks in at about 25 minutes! Insane, right? Totally!
Can't Lose is named after the TV show Parker Lewis Can't Lose. I vaguely remember seeing that show once in a while when I was younger but that's about it. After a "Gentlemen, synchronize swatches!"-quote from that series, the Duifkes start drinking - I mean: they start singing about drinking. Puke For Breakfast is a well thought-out concept of eating "glass sandwiches" (Dutchism: glazen boterhammen) instead of a proper meal and then passing out and throwing up because you drink too much and waking up to a pile of puke. Something like that. It sets the tone alright.
I feel like they have spent a real good amount of thought and time into these songs. They're structured to perfection, with various climaxes and crescendos and other fancy musical terms. Everything sounds great. VS's drumming's tight as fuck, Mambo's guitar work stands out on a lot of the tracks (I'm thinking Bye Bye Love, Trainwreck, Stuck, ...) and Ricky's bass punches you in the face while he himself spits at you with his lyrics. Mambo's backing are far more present on this recording, which is really a good thing because it adds more to the songs that some earlier recordings lacked.
Some of the best lyrics are on this as well. My favourite is without a doubt the Jizzhut song. I can really relate to it. Just imagine sitting in a stupid bar or club and not being able to beat your meat to "some slut chok[ing] on a cock". I'd write a song about that too. That's deep, man. Other than porn and beer, there's also a lot of love-related songs. I think there's definitely some frustration going on. Bye Bye Love is a perfect epitaph for a van, Break Stuff is better than the Limp Bizkit song (by at least a mile) and Frogprince just confronts you with the truth. "You thought I was your frogprince, but I'm just some fucking toad."
And then the album ends on a high note: I.K.A.W. aka I Know A Wookie. This may come as a surprise or act of blasphemy, but I'm not a Star Wars fan. I've seen a couple of the movies though so I know my way around it. Anyway, this epic of 'intergalactic coolshit' would make George Lucas a proud man. Best song to come out in 2011. Approximately.
As for the album, I could probably say it's also the best record but maybe that's not true. I don't know.
Major kudos to the PDS boys for this magnum opus, though!

Check it: http://thepriceduifkes.bandcamp.com/

The Crackups - Animals On Acid
(DIY, 2011)

1. Rich And Cool
2. Cuba
3. The Only Cure Is Alcohol
4. Trashed
5. Teenage Alcoholic Junks
6. Off With Your Head
7. Secret Plan
8. Work Sucks
9. Drunk With You
10. A Girl Is Only Good to Fuck
11. The Bitch Is Back

The Crackups come from the same area as the Priceduifkes do, but they take a different direction. They're heavily set in yearning, reckless rock'n'roll and fast senseless punk rock. It's been some time since their first album so I've been really looking out for this one. Their songs have become way more elaborate and melodic than before. Let's see how this goes down.
This starts out with an electronic disturbing noise, then goes right into the riff of Rich And Cool. "Give me some money for a nice blonde hooker." is the first thing I hear. I'm glad to hear they haven't been writing good lyrics. The lyrics are the mainly criticized point for The Crackups and at first, I as well was put off by it. But by now I've grown to like the simplicity, banality, absurdity and blunt sexuality of the songs. It's all part of it, y'know. It works.
With Cuba and The Only Cure Is Alcohol they continue to rock hard. Cuba is actually re-recorded with a slightly different solo, I noticed. It's probably better but I'm used to the other version so it's weird. The Crackups rely on both heavy and deep guitar riffs as well as high and screeching melodies. The rhythm section supports this really well, their drummer is one of the sickest I've ever seen/heard. Sometimes I think I'm listening to Zeke playing Mastodon songs. It's super fast and super heavy.
Listening to Teenage Alcoholic Junks gets me excited to go drink excessively. It's one of the catchiest songs on the album and the end is just... thunderous. Amazing finish. You can hear the professionality dripping off, compared to the self-titled. I get a little lost with the outro to Off With Your Head, though. Not bad, but: "heh?"
They've put 3 songs of the Bloody Bloody Kempen split on Animals On Acid, and I think they're all re-recorded and of course re-sequenced so it's not like they haven't put any effort in it. The songs fit the album's general feeling of.. well, alcohol, laziness and bitchezzz. If I would take this as a concept album, then I'd say its theme is "alcohol and its effects". That would at least explain the artwork. It's awesome.
But this is not a concept album and The Crackups just do whatever they like. Drunk With You slows down a bit (which is a relative notion in CRCKPS terms) and seems to be a love song? Could this be? Wow. I'm impressed. Anyway, they completely destroy the image of romance with the best song in the entire world: A Girl Is Only Good To Fuck. I'm not lying, I'm fucking serious, please buy this record so you can listen to this song. So much truth in this. Who knew the Crackups could be so intelligent about gender issues. This one song solves all those years of struggle and obsolete feminism. Thanks, dudes!
The album ends with The Bitch Is Back, a fast song. Always good to end with a fast song.
In sum, The Crackups have become a powerhouse of punk rock on Animals On Acid. You should probably take acid if you're gonna listen to this so you can start trippin' balls and maybe you'll understand where these 'songs of alcohol' are coming from. Wowie.

Check it: http://thecrackups.bandcamp.com/