punk this week: artificial go, jazz, army of god + 8 more

Hey, it’s Punk This Week. The past couple weeks have been wild; 42 blurbs in two weeks is a lot of records! Let’s take a breath this time and focus on the 11 most exciting releases out there, including a new single from Artificial Go and the latest punisher from Unlawful Assembly.

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Artificial Go: “Triple Ones” [Carpark]

In their first single after signing to Carpark, the outstanding Cincinnati band Artificial Go step forward with traces of the same bouncy ebullience from their first two albums. The guitar leads, catchy as always, are played with a light touch; every player here lends a nimble effortlessness to their approach. But there’s also a slight grit bristling along in the mix.

Maybe it’s Angie’s shaker rattling through a song where the narrative is standing up for oneself. “Explain to me your thought process,” she sings from her gut. There’s an authoritative tone here that’s appropriately shaky for frustrated confidence. Nobody wants to be in that position, but we all find ourselves there one way or another. Following Angie and Micah Wu’s lovely folk duo Age of Peace record, it’s nice to hear a return that’s forceful, but not artificially so.