Listener discretion advised : Weight-defying escapades, technicolor transmutations, a swirling sonic energy able to render calamity.

Over seven compositions, CARTOON hone in on a trademark juxtaposition of propulsive rhythm, molten wax-laden guitar, strange keys and haunted bellows. Brace your inevitable fall with aptly titled hits such as “Steam Room”, “Die Bonknacht” & “Pants On Fire”.

Our take: This Philadelphia avant-punk band delivers their first vinyl after dropping a demo tape (also on Human Headstone) back in 2022. Cartoon’s songs are mostly instrumental (though vocals with fractured, imagistic lyrics pop up a few times over the course of the record), drawing from diverse strands of instrument-focused (rather than vocal-focused) music like jazz fusion, post-rock, and Krautrock. But while the compositions sound like they’re based on influences from outside punk and hardcore, Cartoon plays like a punk band, keeping the intensity high and the tempos up, leaning hard into the grooves that form the backbone of these seven tracks. Nyuck Nyuck Boing! isn’t going to be for the majority of people reading the Sorry State newsletter, but if you hang with the post-Paganicons Saccharine Trust material, you’re gonna love this. If you enjoy Jaco Pastorius, 70s Miles Davis, and 80s King Crimson, you’re even better suited for this wild musical journey.

• Format Type: 12"