This selection was chosen by Gen X dad.

Gen X dad says… Generally I’m not a big fan of genres. I get that as human beings we have an instinctive need to categorize things. It makes lots of stuff easier to understand without truly understanding. I think it also makes things easier to dismiss without a second glance. That being said, if I had to choose a genre of music for which I have the most affinity it would be post punk.

Post punk covers a lot of ground depending upon how you want to look at things. It is generally defined as the music that emerged in the late 1970s out of the punk scene and built on its quickly crumbling foundations. Rip It Up and Start Again: Post Punk 1979-1984 by Simon Reynolds is an excellent book on post punk btw. I highly recommend it.

These days post punk seems to be a catch all term. I read somewhere that whatever music you discover around age 13 is what sticks with you the rest of your life. I was 13 in 1979 and I love post punk bands probably more than any other genre. To my ear it is not that hard to trace a line from late era Buzzcocks, Joy Division, The Fall, Magazine, John Foxx-era Ultravox, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Wedding Present, and such through to lots of bands today. So maybe that 13-year-old bit is true.

All of this is to say that I’m not that objective when it comes to a certain style and sound. I like this album a lot and my actual review will be short because it just works for me.

Anyway, the Flat Worms are from Los Angeles. Their self-titled debut album came out in 2017. Their follow up Antarctica came out this year. I’ve seen them variously classified as garage, punk, alternative, and post punk. I’m just going to say they’re post punk and leave it at that.

There’s definitely a bit of The Fall in the band’s sound and singer Will Ivy’s delivery. Particularly on the lead track The Aughts, Market Forces, and the stomping title track, all of which are on side one.

Side two kicks off with The Mine and for a brief moment the tremolo guitar line will make you think you’ve accidentally put on How Soon Is Now? by the Smiths. That doesn’t last too long though as the song quickly settles into a Pavement-like groove. Condo Colony takes a bit too much from Joy Division’s own Colony as well as other tracks by them, but Flat Worms put enough of their own touches here and there for it to skate by. But only barely.

The closing track Terms of Visitation kind of sums it all up for me with the following lines:

I see your reproduction
Hear your familiar sound
Assembled recognition
Drawn from a memory

If they stick around perhaps Flat Worms will further define their sound and style into something more unique. But, I’m good with where they are now.

Gen Z son says… Sadly, I didn’t find a lot of info on Flat Worms. But from what I did read on Discogs, they are a rock band from the city of Los Angeles, California. They have released 2 albums, a self-titled one, and their 2nd studio release, Antarctica.

It’s not surprising that, like any other band possibly would, Flat Worms have a bunch of diverse musical influences, and these echo through Antarctica. For example, there are elements of post-punk, indie pop, and alternative rock that are present here. There’s a little bit of Leeds, England rock group The Wedding Present’s trademark garage punk sound in here, there’s a little bit of 90s grunge, and even some sounds reminiscent of the legendary, well-known Joy Division. Musically, the songs themselves range from noisier, harsher numbers such as Ripper 1 and Via, to slower, more laid-back numbers like the title track.

In short, Antarctica is a strong record that is very musically diverse and intriguing. You’ll probably want to listen to it again after hearing the whole thing; it is a great selection of post-punk songs with a little bit of noise rock harshness. I absolutely recommend it.