punk this week: abi ooze, fuck money, pile, retail simps + 15 more

Hello, hello, it’s Punk This Week, see/saw’s weekly punk and rock'n'roll recommendations column. What a damn week, with new music from Abi Ooze, Fuck Money, Pile, Retail Simps, Wiccans, plus a full-on Gentleman Jesse compilation and a bunch of stellar new power pop bands.

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Abi Ooze and Her Oozers: Live at Lemp [self-released]

Arguably the best power pop songwriter out is heading for the West Coast as we speak, and on their way, Abi Ooze will be selling this full band EP with five extremely good new songs. They recorded these before their tour with Judy and the Jerks earlier this year and it closes out with a fantastic recording of “Tall King,” a song that appeared on the first see/saw benefit comp. I loved it then, and it sounds even better in its fully realized form. 

Every track on this tape is a knockout, and it opens extremely strong. “Appall Lodge Eyes” is a perfect pop song about trying to make amends to no avail. “When will I learn that I’m not the one that gets to share a life/I’m the one that gets left behind,” Jade sings. “I’m the one that has to apologize.”

Some of the most prominent songwriters about heartbreak face this toxic parasocial thing from their stans: They go through a public split from their romantic partner and the response is “oh shit, the next album’s gonna cook.” I don’t want Abi Ooze to be stuck in a perpetual state of heartbreak, but meanwhile, these breakup songs are such a fucking feast. This absolute natural at writing catchy-as-shit earworms is backed up by an incredible band and multi-tracking their own girl group harmonies. A stunning tape. Get it and go see this band.