What\u2019s old is always<\/em> new again. We got a full-blown n\u00fc metal revival on our hands, noise rock is arguably as popular as it\u2019s ever been, and Myspace-era metalcore is getting about as many new releases from bands with members who were born around the same time the legends were laying the foundation. I was also recently reminded that fucking Greta Van Fleet exists for some godforsaken reason. For some other<\/em> reason, I feel like we\u2019ve just kinda skipped over a lot of good stuff. Where\u2019s the grunge revival? Where\u2019s the college-rock revival? Where\u2019s the early post-punk revival? Where\u2019s all the shit that sounds like it was made by people who hadn\u2019t yet figured out what genre they were supposed to be in? Why does everyone nowadays sound so ready to be categorized?<\/p>\n Well, Whippets<\/strong> make a case to step into these shoes, sounding something like Unwound<\/strong> by way of Dinosaur Jr.<\/strong> and Jay Reatard<\/strong>, or like Fugazi <\/strong>covering Dismemberment Plan <\/strong>and Siouxsie and the Banshees <\/strong>at the same time. They convey this volatile energy with writhing guitar leads that are often as eerie as they are anthemic, and tuneful bass in a rhythm section that paves the way for both their most unruly and airy moments. Much like their 2024 self-titled release, Whippets again flex their knack for melodies that get their hooks in your eardrums like velcro. No Skulls<\/em> is every bit as fearless and without boundaries, gaining traction across a multitude of late 80s and early 90s soundscapes, regularly finding familiar touchpoints with the intuition to pull the rug at just the right time, or mix \u2018n\u2019 match influences in a way that\u2019s as much \u201cAha!\u201d as it is \u201cWhat the fuck?\u201d It\u2019s like post-punk found the perfectly imperfect dancing partner in shoegaze, distraught while still finding an endearing footing, abrasive, oddly charming, and eyebrow-raising all at once.<\/p>\n The video for album opener \u201cThese Woods\u201d taps into a similar throwback, like it could\u2019ve been dug out of a shoebox full of forgotten tapes and old zines. With a hazy camcorder look, sunbleached and spliced together with live footage, BMXers, scrapbook imagery, and other \u201990s feels, it has the scrappy and surreal feel of something you might\u2019ve stumbled across on MTV\u2019s 120 Minutes at 1 a.m. It\u2019s an appropriate visual companion, familiar enough to trigger a deeply buried memory, but weird enough to feel like you\u2019ve never quite seen it before\u2014and maybe even inspire a bad haircut.<\/p>\n Check it out:\u00a0<\/p>\n