punk this week: cel ray, mesh, cuticles, dog date + 13 more
Plus new records from Constant Insult, Odor Eater, BADZY, Topper, Cujo, and more.
Hey, it’s Punk This Week, see/saw’s new punk and rock'n'roll recommendations column. Mesh, Cel Ray, and Cuticles all released classic albums this week. No Idea Records makes its long-awaited return. Constant Insult, Dog Date, and Alienator are all back with new stuff, and there’s so much more good new stuff beyond the names I just typed.
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Cel Ray: Cel Rayzer [Exploding in Sound]
At first blush, Chicago’s Cel Ray make punk music that’s wide-eyed, erratic, vibrant, and bouncy. Do not be misled by its candy coating; Cel Rayzer steeps to reveal a fucked up yet clear-eyed vision of the modern world.
“Price of Gas” is a perfect example—this song about a dude navigating an era of rising costs by blaming all his ills on gas prices and, of course, women. There’s the single “Teen (Cult) Song” where their utopian vision for the future requires capital, land, and cultlike behavior. “Trash” is the latest classic punk celebration of trash from the perspective of trash, which presumes how wonderful it must be to be trash instead of human.
There’s a paranoia and unpredictability to this music, and the record’s adrenaline seems to come from the moments when they look over their shoulders or dart down the nearest alley. This is music that speeds way up and slows way down, but regardless of their gait, Cel Rayzer never cedes intensity and stays absolutely riveting.
