punk this week: we need to talk about billiam + 5 more
Is there such a thing as too much Billiam? Plus Kid Congo, CRAN, and more.
It’s Friday, April 19, and this is Punk This Week. It’s see/saw’s rundown of the new punk records that are worth a listen. This time we’re (“we’re”) looking at six individual songs worth your time, including tracks by Billiam, CRAN, and Kid Congo Powers. The full post is available to free subscribers. All April, everything’s free. In the future, full Punk This Week posts will be available to paid subscribers. Please consider subscribing to help grow this reader-supported endeavor!
Billiam: “Where Is Jackson Reid Briggs?” [Legless]
It’s time to put an official stance out in the world regarding the work of Billiam. Here we go: There’s a lot of it, and it’s very good! Earlier this year, the wildly prolific Melbourne punk’s album Corner Tactics found its way out of shipping container purgatory and came out on Under the Gun and Cow Tools. It’s lo-fi music with 8-bit keyboard lines with an oddly vulnerable song about Shadow the Hedgehog. (I reached out to see what Billiam thinks of the report that Keanu Reeves will voice Shadow in the next Sonic film; no response just yet.) It’s wildly catchy and essential punk music from young Billiam, who also plays in Disco Junk and seems to release tons of music both inside and outside the confines of the Billiam project.
The new single is called “Where Is Jackson Reid Briggs?,” an aggro track about the dude from Split System. (Again, shout out the new Split System album!) It turns out that Briggs is out in the streets, but Billiam’s where he always seems to be: putting scuzzy power chords to tape. The track is fast and shaggy in a way that’s both tight and threatening to fall apart at every moment. Only four months into this calendar year, I’ve received 10(!) alerts from Billiam’s Bandcamp noting that there’s something new from Billiam. It’s tempting to start to tune it all out or wait for a full album to tune in. What “Jackson Reid Briggs” and its B-side “Shane” prove is that we should always be clicking on the Billiam notifications. [bzzzt: Bandcamp notification] Whoa, another one! (This last bit was a joke about how many times Billiam puts out music. Billiam!)
