punk this week: scrabbled, bag + 11 more

It’s Punk This Week, see/saw’s punk and rock’n’roll round-up column. It’s Thanksgiving weekend—a typically slow release window for music as a whole. Let’s dig into some essential misses from the recent past, including the incredible new album from Scrabbled and the Botox promo. Let’s meet some new bands making incredible records. Grab a decorative gourd; it’s harvest time.

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Scrabbled: Plough Through the Rust [Wormwood Grasshopper]

Scrabbled is a Bribane-based punk operation who wield drone, noise, and violin to make scratchy and dark collages that drip with personality. There’s this whole section of “N.K.O.T.B.” where Bek Moore and Dusty Anastassiou sing about kids with “shit for brains” who play “GTA fuckin’ V.” It’s a foggy record where intensity occasionally cuts through all the tranquilo—where sharp lyrics and freeform experimentation flank from all sides to keep this record exhilarating in every moment. 

It’s sadly a final missive from Scrabbled following Moore’s death in 2016. Greg Hilliard is also no longer with us. It’s a crucial document not just because two of these Australian punk luminaries are no longer with us. Plough Through the Rust merits study and extensive contemplation. In the short time I’ve been living with it, it’s been such a pleasure to listen to it repeatedly—to see how the threads connect between lines and comprehend its many layers. Unbelievable record.