Tenement

Tenement

S/t

Deranged

On the heels of 2015’s highly praised double-LP masterpiece, Predatory Headlights, comes a new 12-inch by the Wisconsin punk outfit Tenement. This self-titled record includes the five newly remastered tracks from the band’s recent limited tour cassette, as well as two new unreleased songs.  From day one, Tenement has incorporated myriad influences into their polychromatic sound, and no single release fully represents their musical identity. Like most of their works, Tenement showcases a new side of the band—one that’s a little less punk and a little more pop. It’s a sound that’s been poking its way through the group’s decade-long tarp, finally stretching a hole large enough to crawl through. Here lies yet another piece to the ongoing Tenement puzzle, one many fans hope they won’t be solving anytime soon.

Tenement

Bruised Music Vol. Two

Grave Mistake

***n the summer of 2009, Appleton, Wisconsin punk group TENEMENT prepared to embark on yet another trip across the United States in their 1986 Dodge short bus. Like their recording sessions of the time period, their method of travel was often grueling and economical. They played with brutal honesty and they lived with brutal honesty. After a violent incident that resulted in a lot of blood, a lot of broken glass, and the dismissal of half of the rhythm section from the group, this behavioral pattern would ultimately lead to the demise of the first major lineup of the band, and usher in a new era of introspection and experimentation. In 2011, their first two full length records, Napalm Dream and The Blind Wink, were released only a few months apart and lead to Tenement's widespread recognition as one of America's most notable melodic punk bands. Four years later, they released what many critics, from The New York Times to Rolling Stone, viewed as their major statement and first big achievement—Predatory Headlights. This newest singles collection, Bruised Music, Volume Two, represents the time between the release of their 2011 LPs and their 2015 sprawling double album. Bruised Music, Volume Two is not only a collection of singles, but really a collection of transitional tunes that would form the basis of their present sound and distance them from their early juvenile aesthetic and more simplistic approach to the punk idiom. Much of the material heard within was recorded at home on...

Tenement

The Blind Wink

Deranged

Napalm Dream, the debut album from Wisconsin trio Tenement, was a solid effort heavy on catchy, high-octane punk—but its followup delivers a more varied and distinct set of material. Originally released in December 2011, The Blink Wink’s surefooted mix of influences (Replacements, Decendents, Lemonheads) comes together seamlessly across these eleven songs. It’s rare when a band so deeply rooted in hardcore punk pulls off such a diverse and strong album this early in their career, but Tenement comfortably moves beyond the confines of the genre to keep the listener captivated. This timely reissue of The Blind Wink comes courtesy of Deranged Records.  “This record is a beautiful oddity.” —Razorcake