On vacation so the last few days have been a bit hectic in getting here, but I’m here. Spent the morning in the ocean, recharging. It’s good, you should try it.

Look for a Purple Vu this week because a lot of reissues have come out once again and you need to follow my lead through them. That’ll also have thoughts on the older movies I’ve seen this year and felt compelled to recommend.

Heathen D runs twice a week (almost always) and gives you a handful of things to listen to, and enough rope to figure out where it comes from. Many of you are already keyed in but if not, you can find all of this music out there (and should) without feeling like a dick for not knowing where to look. Nothing gets people more insecure than facing a world they don’t understand. Please take some more confident steps inside. It could save your ass someday.

PO Box 25717 Chicago IL 60625 USA // [email protected] and on with it.

NON PLUS TEMPS Conditional Bunker LP (Siltbreeze)

The most volatile of projects from the membership between some of the Bay Area/Norcal’s S-tier postpunk outfits – Famous Mammals, Naked Roommate, Preening, Andy Human and the Reptoids, The World (RIP) and so forth – we find ourselves staring at Non Plus Temps once more, and they stare back. Their 2022 debut album Desire Choir and follow-up cassette were high beams through the murk of their approach, a terrific dubular conceit to which Conditional Bunker now reframes as somewhat of a tolerance break from their processes of weeding out harder than any projects in this frame since Out Hud. The dense, irradiated cover art frames it well, like two Toynbee tiles melting on top of each other into the asphalt. First couple of listens kinda shattered parts of my expectations as well as my patience but I ask you all kindly to stick with it; if we’re still thinking the On-U Sound directionals from the last one I’d put this closer to Missing Brazilians or The Mothmen, all in the same hemisphere of political/artistic balloon static charge. But this is more of a musical suicide/graveyard/bug juice, a Superman ice cream, a spumoni / neapoilitan / rainbow cone smash-up of Dog Faced Hermans/Ex style agitation, early-mid ‘00s postpunk revival (San Diego’s deeply-missed GogogoAirheart is front of mind) and Red Krayola/Art & Language style situationism, letting the curious, liberated minds behind it show us what they’ve learned. Every song changes up the expectations and while they eventually get to the dub zone, we’re reminded of what else they can do beforehand, a vital band explor/ding outwards.

More reviews below, good stuff that you’ll discover sooner with me.