3/8/25.
The first few moments of the opening salvo, "Overheat", on Underbelly's album "And I've Told You of My Past Lives" reminds me of a sludgy Superchunk.
New label, West MI Punk is setting out to chronicle the fertile scene in Western Michigan. In fact, the label's website features a spreadsheet of Western Michigan bands. And West MI Punk has been around a while - just in digital form. This release (7" lathe and CD) represents the first physical release from the label.
At times Underbelly (a three piece whose genre is called "queer punk" on the spreadsheet) remind me of early Sonic Youth, or maybe demo-phase songs from The 3D's.
If you peruse the digital releases from West MI Punk, you'll see several lives shows from the Fruitport Bandshell (right on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan). A quick search returned several pictures of this picturesque scene that has hosted pretty gnarly/noisy punk sounds over the years.
Underbelly are as much a portrait of the state of music in Western Michigan, as they are a rollicking, messy punk band.
