The Teeners, Iron Age, and Hatred Surge

The Teeners' second release is hot and loud, like 7 inches of indie rock vinyl should be. This uncouth local quartet, part of Austin's Super Secret Records family, traffics in unceremonious garage punk, but Johnny Vomitnoise's unhinged screams, captured here with a sublime touch of overdrive, owe something to the surplus rage of hardcore. "Pill Me" is the hit, with a three-chord lick supporting Vomitnoise's refrain of "I'm a piece of shit." Its frantically rushing chorus begs, "Pill me! Pill me! Pill me!" Leave your turntable on 45 revolutions per minute for the beginning of Iron Age's "The Way Is Narrow" single (Painkiller), and you're in for some ... And Justice for All-style thrash, but unless your taste runs to chipmunk-core, better dial it down to Black Album speed. The stomping title cut's best moment is its guitar solo, a clever construction that builds tasteful, off-key scales into brief shredding. The B-side, a cover of "Satori: Part I" by the Flower Travellin' Band, is darker, with simple, dirgelike riffs that are transposed into leads when the song shifts into double time. Iron Age guitarist Alex Hughes proves himself Austin's go-to guy for intelligent grind with Hatred Surge's latest 7-inch on Deer Healer, although it's unclear whether "grind" remains the right appellation for this record's fractured, declamatory, Freud-quoting hardcore. Hughes plays most instruments here, with Faiza Kracheni doubling the vocals. Though a poor representation of Hatred Surge's more conventional live presence, it's an exceedingly interesting piece of angry music.