punk this week: science man, mspaint, sexfaces + 16 more

A week with new records from Sister Agnes, G.I. Jinx, Bussy Kween Power Trip, Private Function, Bloodbags, Les Lullies, and Power Pants.

Science Man, the band, by a van
Science Man, courtesy the artist

It’s Saturday, which means it’s time for a charmingly belated installment of see/saw’s weekly column Punk This Week! Here at the end of May, we enjoy an embarrassment of riches: Science Man, MSPAINT, SEXFACES, Sister Agnes, Private Function, G.I. Jinx, Bussy Kween Power Trip, Les Lullies, Waylon Thornton, and Power Pants. It’s all those bands plus some new Oi! records, some unhinged hardcore, and an impeccable collection of L.A. bedroom psychedelia.

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Science Man: Monarch Joy [Swimming Faith]

Buffalo’s John Toohill has been busy in the past year putting out work with other projects including some great records by Alpha Hopper and Ismatic Guru. Let’s be real, though—a new Science Man album is the main event. Monarch Joy is hardcore with nonstop momentum, this absolute menace of a record with huge burly riffs, guttural blown-out vocals, and sick lead guitar licks.

Even on a more slow-burning track like “How the Butcher Gets Paid,” the band sounds enormous and the lyrics drip with vitriol. The guitars on “Lesser Species” buzz and swarm like a colony of murder hornets while the drums ratchet anxiety beyond any sort of comfort zone. It’s a wild ripper that comes highly recommended to any and all sickos.