I wish more bands put out flexi records. I know they don’t sound great and can be hard to play, but their coolness far outweighs any of these potentially negative factors. They’re fun, they look awesome, and I don’t care what anyone has to say about the matter after that. “Get Fuckin’ Mugged!” from Buffalo, New York’s Brown Sugar, comes on a purple and pink flexi (at least my copy does; I believe there are variations) featuring cartoonish artwork that resembles a chaotic post-apocalyptic battle royale of some kind. The art is fantastic, and the music isn’t far behind. With just three songs, “Get Fuckin’ Mugged!” takes listeners on a whirlwind of bedlam that feels like it’s about to collapse into complete disarray at every turn but never actually does. I love this kind of punk: barely held together blasts of creativity with aggression for days but still hangs on melodically gnarly riffs that stick in your head for a while. Imagine if Dag Nasty were strung out and tried to cover “New Age” by Blitz. It might be short, but “Get Fuckin’ Mugged!” will take you to some weird places.
James is a writer, skateboarder, record collector, wrestling nerd, and tabletop gamer living with his family in Asheville, North Carolina. He is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association, the North Carolina Film Critics Association, and contributes to The Daily Orca, Razorcake Magazine, Mountain Xpress, and Asheville Movies.