Loose Nukes

Reviews

Loose Nukes Fast Forward to Extinction LP

This is a re-release and upgrade of the initial 2017 demo released by this Houston hardcore powerhouse. I’d usually be a champion for just recording new music and moving on if you weren’t thrilled with your original release, but there were some real good bones here. You can see why they chose to revamp the track list and drop/add some songs from the same time period. What we have ended up with is a complete album from a band that sounds like they’ve reached full maturity despite only recording their first songs together as this group. They keep it tight too, with only one song out of thirteen just barely passing the 1:45 mark. It’s also awe-inspiring to listen to the vocalist, Mike, fit every word into his allotted time. Following along with the lyric page while listening, you are given the impression it cannot be done before hearing it. Along the same line, I was highly amused when, on “White People Problems,” there was just a note that said whatever he was singing didn’t seem to match with what was written, so they just put in a line of question marks. That was much more amusing than just not even trying to write down the lyrics for the verse sections of “Earwax,” also just a line of question marks. Pick this up if you want to hear a hardcore band that came out of the womb angry and good at it.

Loose Nukes Cult Leaders LP

This one is an old school thrasher out of Texas (and not to be confused with the recent Pittsburgh group of the same name) that falls somewhere between FINAL CONFLICT and Dealing With It-era D.R.I. This band’s style and lyrical themes give me the impression that they don’t give a fuck about anything that came out after 1989, but fuck the last 30 years ’cause this totally rips! It’s like, you don’t think we need another song about MK Ultra, but the subject matter is so punk that once you hear it you’re like “oh fuckin’ hell yeah!” If you love pre-crossover thrashed out hardcore and hate Reagan, you’ve got to check this one out!