Reviews

For review and radio play consideration:

Please send one copy of vinyl (preferred), CD, or cassette releases to MRR, PO Box 3852, Oakland, CA 94609, USA.

Maximum Rocknroll wants to review everything that comes out in the world of underground punk rock, hardcore, garage, post-punk, thrash, etc. No major labels or labels exclusively distributed by major-owned distributors, no reviews of test pressings or promo CDs without final artwork. We reserve the right to reject releases on the basis of content. Music without vocals or drums will not be considered. All music submitted for review must have been released (or reissued) within the last two years. Please include contact information and let us know where your band is from!

An Slua Sure Look It LP

It’s time to face an uncomfortable truth—a lot of modern Oi! is complete and utter shite. It’s either hardcore lite made by people in big shorts, or it’s pop punk about the pub made by people in flat caps they bought off Amazon. It’s bland, overproduced, insipid bollocks. So when I get the chance to listen to something truly good, not just “genre good” but actually good, it’s a real treat. AN SLUA is that treat. The Sligo skins have released a modern classic in their debut. Joining luminaries like OI POLLOI and the OPPRESSED in being fiercely political and not being afraid to nail their (correct) colours to the mast at a time when cowards are happy to be fencesitters, they also know their way around a tune. Catchy as fuck, lyrically whip-smart, and choruses that beg to be shouted on the terraces. This is, quite simply, class. Any time you don’t bother listening to this is time wasted.

Bad to Worse These Are Our Streets cassette

One of those bands that isn’t really sure what they want to sound like. Swapping between an amalgamation of HOT WATER MUSIC, O PIONEERS!, CRO-MAGS, and CHOKING VICTIM, the only consistent variable is the vocalist who maintains the same dynamic throughout the entire record. While the stamina is impressive, the lack of vocal nuance is a tad dry. The gang vocals laden throughout sound great and pepper in a much needed charisma boost. A release where everyone involved is obviously quite talented, but it all sounds a bit dated. The whole orgcore motif combining the posi-tough-guy image with the sentimental longing for “home” was fresh fifteen years ago but still hasn’t hit its nostalgia period, it just sounds stale. However, if you still pine for that era, then you’ll love this.

Beta Maximo Último Asalto cassette

As is more often than not the case, Knuckles on Stun brings us yet another absolute smash hit! BETA MAXIMO is a wildly prolific garage punk band from Spain with more releases than some bands have songs. Eight catchy and driving tracks, most of which are pushed over the top by having almost sickeningly poppy synth licks. I absolutely love this! I truly hope that my Spanish not being very good might mean there is a chance that Último Asalto is not the band’s way of telling us that this is their final release. If that is the case, then I really hope I am of the lucky 25 people to get a copy of the forthcoming BETA MAXIMO discography cassette on Knuckles on Stun, as that is the standard amount that label makes of each of their releases (this one included), so get one while you can.

Bezette Stad F.A.N.O.N. 12″

Belgian hardcore band BEZETTE STAD has been releasing music for about five years now. Their latest release F.A.N.O.N. is a six-song 12″ that explores our contemporary global scenario with articulate hardcore blended with D-beat, as if PAINT IT BLACK started hanging out with DISCHARGE. From the bass-heavy opener of “Reform” to the metallic pummeling and digital glitching in closer “28 Days” the F.A.N.O.N. 12″ is six slices of hardcore hellion heaven, and you need to put it in your ear holes posthaste.

Celebration Summer / Wolf-Face DCxPC Live, Volume 42 split LP

Recorded live at The Fest, DCxPC Live, Volume 42 pairs CELEBRATION SUMMER from DC. with Florida’s WOLF-FACE for two distinct takes on melodic punk energy. CELEBRATION SUMMER lean into earnest, ’90s-style melodic punk showing their JAWBREAKER and TILTWHEEL influences. WOLF-FACE counters with a more playful set that mixes their Teen Wolf basketball-punk personas with solid, tuneful, orgcore-flavored “whoaaaaa” sing-alongs, including a cover of TV ON THE RADIO’s “Wolf Like Me” and a live version of “I Wanna Be a Homo(sapien)” with a hirsute wink toward SCREECHING WEASEL. The recording quality is rough, but it feels like an honest snapshot of two bands connecting with a crowd. Limited to 200 copies on this yellowish color that someone decided to call “summer moon.”

Cell Rot Parasite LP

This Bay Area grindcore outfit mixes with sludge and powerviolence in a recipe for chaos at its most unrelenting. CELL ROT’s Parasite is a slab of total aggression—eleven tracks that sound like they were recorded inside a pressure cooker. The production is dense but not dull; each blastbeat and low-end rumble slices through with terrifying precision. Vocals are guttural, halfway between a scream and a cave echo, backed by riffs that refuse to stay in one tempo for more than two seconds. There’s a sharp political and existential edge here—nihilism meets confrontation. Convulse keeps releasing records that make the underground feel dangerous again.

Christopher Alan Durham Basement Debris 2021–2025 cassette

Well, there’s a confusing one in every batch. This C.A.D. cassette, which doesn’t have the full name of the artist on it anywhere (and the top of the “C” on the front cover is cut off to the point that I would have sworn it said LAD), is a solo acoustic cassette of four-track songs recorded by CHRISTOPHER ALAN DURHAM. He is a member of a full band out of Detroit, Michigan under the name C.A.D. AND THE PEACETIME CONSUMERS, which is more throwback, freak-out rock’n’roll stuff. This tape, however, I just kind of can’t understand. Super lo-fi, jangly guitar, jazzy, jammy art. There’s drums on at least one of the songs which kept my interest a little more, but the acoustic stuff just feels like a budget bastard amalgamation of REED, DYLAN, and BEEFHEART, and I’ll let you in on a little secret…it doesn’t mix well. The final track, “Walk in the Park,” certainly did not live up to its name—what an absolute slog to get through, clocking in at over four minutes and confusing me the entire time. It did receive a little baffled interest from one of my cats though, looking around with complete bewilderment whenever the sampled bird whistles were peppered in.

Enyor Catalunya En Blanc i Negre LP

Catalan Oi! that tosses an interesting curveball. Of all the stylistic mashups, an indie rock twist was about the last thing I was expecting. Musically, this lands squarely in lo-fi Revolution Summer territory, but the vocals are pure boot boy fodder. I’m convinced that with a different vocal delivery, this would fall into a vastly different genre altogether. Smash together RITES OF SPRING with the TEMPLARS, if you can imagine such an amalgamation. Nine tracks, with a NEGATIVE APPROACH cover for good measure. A  pioneering attempt to be sure, but the incongruity is hard to get past.

Fan Club Stimulation EP

Formerly known as LYSOL, Seattle’s FAN CLUB hits a new high on Stimulation, a five-song, six-minute blast of incendiary hardcore punk with a rock’n’roll undercurrent. The songs tear forward with relentless motion and sharp, swaggering energy—closer to SEUDO YOUTH in pace and delivery than the slower grind of a lot of their earlier material. It recalls “Blessures Graves,” the standout from LYSOL’s Soup for My Family, where they ditched mid-tempo for full-throttle attack but somehow held on to the strut. It’s a sound that feels urgent, alive, and fully realized. One of the best things I heard all summer, and I swear this band keeps getting better the faster they move.

Fretbuzz Nothing is Just Nothing / It’s So Hard 7″

My comparisons will draw some very solid lines as to whether you want to grab this: stir in some modern MOVING TARGETS + FEELIES + GIN BLOSSOMS + later 2024-era SOUL ASYLUM, pleasant-sounding indie rock, and you get the picture. These FRETBUZZ songs hover in a cloudy space where if they actually had some fret buzzing going on, or pushed a little harder in any direction, it would stand out more. Look, at the end of the day, this is a great single that hits on power pop in the ’90s Midwestern style and has all the right points of a good record. The flipside “It’s So Hard” is a bit more driving, but still not speeding through any school zones.

The Grimly Pleased I’ll Choose It EP

This is short, to-the-point, and excellent. Bouncy cowpunk that inevitably brings to mind stuff like THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS and maybe the spirit of Hitler Bad-era VANDALS (in a good way!). Consistency is impressive for these guys, they continue to deliver bouncy-to-the-point-of-dance-y jams with clever, even poignant lyrics. Music like this rewards multiple listens if you click with it, though I imagine the overall sunny disposition may put some people off. Not me though, this world is a fucking nightmare and spending eight punk, fun minutes with some clever music is decidedly on the menu.

Hellshock XXV 12″

It seems not so long ago since HELLSHOCK’s 2022 LP came out, a record I could not quite totally get into, I must admit, because it relied too much on classic death metal and it basically lost me—of course, it was certainly more than good enough when in the mood for mean, BOLT THROWER-flavoured music. The fantasy-themed cover of this new LP looks like a scene from The Lord of the Rings and is (I can barely write it) in colour, undeniably a blasphemous cardinal scene in the crust realm. I was more than a little skeptical before playing this, and how wrong I was. The lugubrious BOLT THROWER worship still rules, but the recruitment of Todd Burdette on second guitar brings a significantly different vibe to the songwriting, making it more epic, murkier, but still generating that ominous atmospheric heaviness. The songs are rather long, thoughtfully built, and tell great, albeit really fucking dark, stories. HELLSHOCK are still certainly themselves, and the album will not disappoint fans of gruff metal crust and stenchcore revivalists, but they also offer something more articulate, progressive even, and dare I say it, subtle here (assuming the perfect soundtrack for a malevolent skeleton armies and being growled at by a zombified bear fit the concept of subtlety). The LP has been on heavy rotation here, and I see it as the perfect evolution for the band. XXV is bound to become a classic crust album, not because it abides by the rulebook, but because it creates something new and inventive without discarding the band’s identity. They do not sound alike, but I see records like COUNTERBLAST’s Balance of Pain or SKAVEN’s EP in much the same way. You know what to do.

Love Story in Blood Red Everything’s Everywhere LP

Presumably compiling their entire oeuvre, the ever-reliable Good Times Rock N Roll Club out of New York has provided us with the works of a mid-2000s gem of a project entitled LOVE STORY IN BLOOD RED. With 27 tracks in all, there is more than plenty to digest here. For fans of the vocal stylings of JONATHAN RICHMAN, this collection comes highly recommended. The main brainchild here, Jason Frederick, along with a handful of bandmates over the lifetime of the project, has a real knack for attention-grabbing lyrics and instrumentation. The band/project seemed to exist for only about four years in the Chicagoland area, and while I can’t speak to their influence or impact at the time, getting the chance to dig into these songs twenty years later is a real treat. Surely meant to be digested over time, these dozens of tracks feel like an awesome time capsule that is worth the time to take in in its entirety, even if that takes several listens.

Mecht Mensch Anthology LP

Absolutely legendary early ‘80s Wisconsin hardcore. The “Mechanical Men” tore through the dairyland with mechanical precision when they dropped one holy grail of Midwest punk, the Acceptance EP, in 1983, a furious little record that nailed paranoia, politics, and pure punk anger to the classics wall. They didn’t stick around long, but their sound seeped into the underground. No Coast resurrected MECHT MENSCH’s entire recorded catalog with Anthology, pulling together the aforementioned Acceptance EP, compilation tracks, demos, and live recordings, all remastered from the original reels, even sourced from Henry Rollins’s archive. To complete the deluxe treatment, there is a gatefold sleeve, full-size zine packed with flyers and interviews, plus a huge poster. More than a nostalgia piece, it is a hardcore time capsule. A loud reminder that hardcore will never die.

Personal Hell Window Painted Shut LP

Lumbering and nasty hardcore from West Yorkshire’s PERSONAL HELL, who occasionally wade into neo-crust territory on their new LP Window Painted Shut. It sounds like the band spared no expense on the production of this album: the guitars are thick and crunchy, the rhythm section is low and burly, and the vocals are desperate and right at the front of the mix. There isn’t a bad song in the bunch, but I prefer the quicker cuts, like the excellent “The Brine.” 

Petty Crime Brighton, UK, 1999 EP

A year after putting out one of the best 7”s of the ’90s (1998’s Forfeit Intent EP) on one of the greatest labels of the ’90s (Slampt Underground Organisation forever), Helen White and Layla Gibbon of PETTY CRIME took their short, sharp girl-gang post-punk missives to the domestic interior space of a literal bedroom, recording three new tracks to cassette that remained unheard until now. Intimate, immediate, and with a joyously shambolic recklessness, Brighton, UK, 1999 is not unlike eavesdropping on conspiratorial plots being devised from the other side of a paper-thin wall—when Helen and Layla sing and shout about truth and detachment and misplaced trust, it’s always with an underlying sense of danger. Taut bass weaves around sparse scratches of guitar, desperate rhythms are pounded out on household objects functioning as makeshift drums, and the ultra-lo-fi presentation of it all truly underscores the feeling of stumbling on a radical secret straight from the organizing committee of the boy/girl revolution. A life-affirming document!

Ruby Rash Merit Badges cassette

Heavy goth and deathrock-inflected synth punk with fuzzy low-end crunch, pounding electronic drums, and melodic, melancholic vocals. Tempos range from creepy crawlers like the gorgeous shoegaze-y alternate reality club hit “Dream Eater” to the faster punk beat of “Broken Moon,” but all maintain the same morose power. Recommended for fans of bands like HORROR VACUI and PINKISH BLACK, RUBY RASH creates dark, subwoofer-rattling atmospheres perfect for those of us who enjoy spooky season year-round.

Sinkhole Groping for Trout LP

Vinyl re-release for the originally CD-only debut album by this ’90s pop punk standout. I have a pretty positive memory of this band from that era; they seemed more invested in songcraft than a lot of their contemporaries, and listening to it now that rings even more true. There’s just more going on musically even when the goal is catchy, melodic punk rock. The recording has a new mastering job that elevates the different components, putting the guitars and melodious vocals right in your  face. I will say, the band always lacked a little bit of bite for my taste and that still holds true now, but not to the massive detriment of the record. Somewhere between WESTON and SQUIRTGUN with a dash of GAMEFACE, this is very, very ’90s. It sounds a lot better than it did in ’94 and has a couple comp/single bonus tracks too, a fine release overall.

Sklitakling Normal Drift LP

Loved these guys! Their layering really made the songs feel super whole and created this tense, thick atmosphere. I loved the bass lines and cascading vocals, which were both screamy and melodic at the same time. If you like anything punk, check these guys out.

Star 99 Gaman LP

“Kill,” the first song, is terrific, with melody, clarity, and drive. I love songs that can pin a time of year outside of basic imagery associated with color, touch, smell. When Saoirse sings about cicadas, it collapses on time of year with sight, smell, and sound with one word; she has delivered a near-perfect line. However, after this song the LP starts some twists and turns that flow into dream pop, indie rock, and things like that. There are two distinct songwriters, and their styles vary in a way that makes me wish this were a split LP with two different bands. Both styles are similar but different enough to make the Gaman LP not flow. Also, I personally get a bit bored with broken-hearted boys with troubles, and half of this LP is that. I’d say this is for folks that like the MEASURE, P.S. ELIOT, RADIATOR HOSPITAL, the AMBULARS, and such.

Staticø Absurdity of This World LP

With a creative flavor of hardcore out of Serbia, this first full-length from STATICØ mixes influences to create a unique cohesion. Infused with relentless Scandi-punk pummeling, it pushes the spirit of UK82 to aggravated extremes, creating a fitting backdrop for their intensely passionate social and political commentary. This union is surprisingly natural, demonstrating the unspoken handshake that exists between the styles while creating a futuristic feel that rings maybe loudest in the chaotic title track. When the closing “The End” comes on, echoing the morbid march of SIEGE’s “Grim Reaper,” it’s hard to imagine a cooler conclusion.

Top Dollar Objects of Misfortune EP

Get ready for the TOP DOLLAR stomp! Objects of Misfortune is an eight-track beast of an EP from New York’s TOP DOLLAR released on 11PM Records, the go-to label for all the best “modern” hardcore releases. Two years after their excellent demo, TOP DOLLAR unleashes their New York youth-crew-styled hardcore played at maximum velocity, with an unpredictable edge à la Youth Attack Records. All bangers, no fillers, with impeccable energy throughout, this is a record that will be spinning on my turntable for a long time.

Aŕesi Aurrera Beti 12″

I’ll be the first to admit that my knowledge of the Basque language leaves much to be desired, which is an enormous shame since Mendeku Diskak has been instrumental in spotlighting what continues to be a verdant and fertile scene of top-notch punk. AŔESI is no different, having already impressed with a few potted releases, and now a full(er)-length 12”. A potent mix of rock’n’Oi! which has a nod to BLITZ and some of the more rockin’ CROWN COURT tunes to boot(boy). It really is impressive to write such compelling sing-alongs in a language I can’t speak, let alone shout along to. And yet I do.

Bardø Self Sabotage cassette

Described as “old fuckers on a PV bent,” and that’s exactly what it is. Very raw-sounding, unpretentious powerviolence with obligatory intro samples. INFEST and NEANDERTHAL are high on their influences list, as they take some of their cues and use them to perfection. Old school to the core. What else to say? Let’s fucking go!

Burgers Gone Wild / Dru the Drifter Do the Shplit! split cassette

Following in the lineage of Jay Reatard and Drew Owen, DRU THE DRIFTER is a prolific young purveyor of lo-fi garagery, and the A-side of this tape showcases four new transmissions from this the incorrigible punk upstart. On the flip, BURGERS GONE WILD is a tambourine-shakin’ one-man force to be reckoned with in the spirit of King Louie Bankston (R.I.P.) If you like it cheap and cheeky, you’ll be rocking this one until you need a pencil to help spin its guts back inside.

Candy Snatchers Good Riddance / Round Up 7″

Two new tracks of pure, unadulterated rock’n’roll from Virginia Beach’s own CANDY SNATCHERS, now entering their thirty-third year of existence. What’s left to say about a band that’s been consistently active for the last three decades? Vocalist Larry May sounds like a combination of MEAT LOAF and Lux Interior of CRAMPS fame. May’s range and energy is equal parts impressive and inspirational. Some folks begin phoning it all in after a measly ten years, but Larry’s still out there spitting venom—full of piss, vinegar, and Mountain Dew. I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about the music itself. This slab sounds fantastic; beautiful production and tight as hell. I’m a tad shocked at how much I love this little piece of wax. Proof that punk can get better with age.

Class Act Malaise LP

CLASS ACT from Kansas City follows their debut tape with Malaise, a grimy and offbeat LP that toggles from full-speed West Coast-style hardcore punk to lumbering mid-tempo noise rock. There’s offbeat, angular guitar work, some instrumental interludes, and vocals that gleefully rant and rave throughout. It’s a frantic and at times chaotic listen; fans of MINUTEMEN and SACCHARINE TRUST will find lots to love here.

The Dissidents / D.O.V.E. A Better World split LP

Now I didn’t see this one coming, but it is a record that makes a lot of sense, not just musically but politically as well. Unless you have been living in total isolation in a cave for the past ten years, living off insects, dead snails, and moss, you will have noticed that the world is getting more oppressive, violent, and intolerant by the hour, and it is only logical that some punk bands, as a form of protest, use the medium to express their outrage in a way that is relevant to the present sociopolitical context. A Better World is a record embedded in our contemporary reality; it is a punk record of the old anarcho-punk tradition, a collaboration between two like-minded bands, united by a common message: the DISSIDENTS from Philadelphia (with the much-respected Bill Chamberlain on guitar, who tragically passed recently), and D.O.V.E. from California. I love the album a lot for its sincerity, its positive energy. and for the effort from both bands to write catchy tunes that have proved to be perfectly hummable. The DISSIDENTS, with their dual female vocals and dynamic, tuneful punk rock style, remind me of ‘90s and ‘00s bands like HARUM-SCARUM, the ASSASSINATORS, or even UK bands like DAN. The band manages to be melodic and angry at the same time in an old school fashion. I liked their split with VITRIOLIC RESPONSE, and this one is even better. On the other side, D.O.V.E. goes for a more classic ’80s anarcho-punk sound (often renamed “peace punk” in the context of the ’80s and ’90s punk scene in Southern California), a genre I have always cherished dearly. Their first LP was very good but showed that D.O.V.E. was still learning how to fly. This new effort is more focused, the songwriting is more solid, diverse, and memorable, and demonstrates how great the band has become. At their most upbeat, classic UK bands like the SEARS or A-HEADS come to mind, but there is also a moodier post-punk vibe running through the music, and INDIAN DREAM, AWAKE MANKIND, and LOST CHERREES also got invites, while the band even dares to wander into proper OMEGA TRIBE-approved hippie-punk territory with the soft “Peace by Piece.” If you don’t like classic anarcho-punk, D.O.V.E.’s music won’t really cut it (hopefully the message will), but I love the genre, and they gracefully tick all the boxes of genuine idealist anarcho-punk music—in a world full of bitterness and cynicism, this record feels fresh. You should definitely hurry.

Em Gee NMA cassette

I admire this project because it is unapologetically about being things that the punk world at large tends to scoff at these days: it’s a hyper-personal, bedroom-pop-feeling, ukulele-forward bit of folk punk. It takes huge balls to put that combination out into the world, so I have to commend that courage. It comes close to working for me, but sadly it doesn’t quite get there. It sounds like a lo-fi, back-alley performance (is “back-alley punk” a thing? it should be) version of the spirit of the WORLD INFERNO FRIENDSHIP SOCIETY through a Plan-it X Records filter. There is a ton of charm here, confessional and simply direct lyrics that very much have a personality, and some beautiful little moments, but on most tracks, that slightly off-meter folk punk vocal delivery just doesn’t come together with the song. The fact that there is a full band and some interesting instrumentation (there’s a trombone in here) comes so fucking close to making it work, too. I didn’t hate this, I can tell it’s just not my thing more than any objective flaw in the music, but I’m glad this is out there.

Entrapped Světlo Je Mrtvý LP

Phobia Records never misses, and ENTRAPPED’s Světlo Je Mrtvý (“The Light is Dead”) proves it once again. Dark, desperate crust punk from Czechia that crawls out from under the ashes of human collapse. Echoing vocals, grinding riffs, and mid-tempo drumming build an atmosphere that feels post-apocalyptic yet oddly triumphant. The record feels cinematic—each track adds to a larger world of decay, but the energy never falters. Bleak, honest, and absolutely vital for the current state of European crust.

Frigöra Fullständig Frigörelse LP

All punx rejoice, as General Speech continues doing the work to bring us the absolute goods! In this case, we get the complete studio discography of ’90s Tokyo legends FRIGÖRA, compiling 27 tracks of buzzsaw punk with a mängel bent. My theory is that they must have heard Kärnvapen Attack and dove all the way in. Tight, ferocious blasts that never outstay their welcome. Only one cut crosses the two-minute mark, and most don’t come anywhere close. Damaging waves of distortion make for a tidal wave of destructive punk, all done up in a luscious package with a sweet booklet. This is a limited release that will undoubtedly get snatched up fast, so do yourself a solid and hop on it!

Gentleman Jesse I Wonder if You Would Even Notice: Singles and Rarities LP

This Atlanta four-piece plays upbeat, hook-driven power pop built on clean guitars and tight melodies. Sharing some of the same DNA as EXPLODING HEARTS or the TRANZMITORS but with a lighter, less aggressive touch, GENTLEMAN JESSE trades in most of the speed and harshness for classic pop songwriting. Formed in 2006 by Jesse Smith with drummer Dave Rahn (both from CARBONAS), the band’s early singles captured a scene steeped in melody and a fascination with the late ’70s band the NERVES. This collection gathers sixteen tracks from those first five years, most around two minutes long, offering a concise picture of their evolution. Later songs like “I Want What’s Mine” and “I Can’t Hardly Take It Anymore” stand out for their extra bite and momentum, but damn if my brain doesn’t keep going back to the first track, “I Don’t Wanna Know (Where You Been Tonight),” which is just a really good pop song. The collection as a whole works as a snapshot of an era when a bunch of punks started playing pop music. The lyrics, true to style, stick pretty close to affairs of the heart.

Gerber and the Babies Gerber and the Babies cassette

GERBER AND THE BABIES capture the egg-punk/garage Midwest thing very well. At times, the vocals remind me of WALL OF VOODOO. Sometimes this style can go too far into synth or too far into scream-babble, but GERBER AND THE BABIES ride perfectly within the guardrails to make a really fine cassette of catchy and silly tunes. There are nine tracks, making this the perfect length of a listen. The only issue I have with this is that it is put together so well that it has all the elements of a one-time-band release, and then I’ll have to start tracking down the members to see what they do next.

HISTAMINE Quality of Life LP

Quality debut LP for this Australian band. Punk-centered, stompy-as-fuck hardcore that is drenched in the echoes of the vocals to an interesting/unique effect. The band also manages to sprinkle some metal leads and unexpected melodic moments throughout the duration to keep shit from getting boring. I’m a big fan of this type of hardcore being produced largely and cleanly, and it does a killer job of filling out the sound here. Convulse is on roll of releasing HC punk in this vein recently, and they snagged a winner with HISTAMINE. Could have used a little more variety in the slim fifteen-ish-minute runtime, but that’s a nitpick; solid hardcore is always welcome.

Lookers Deeper LP

Sounding like if PJ HARVEY smoothed out all her edges, LOOKERS offer up ten tracks of self-described “dark pop” that don’t seem to firmly plant roots in the listener’s brain. The words “pleasant enough” come to mind over and over as the album moves along, but these tracks feel like they want to feel more confrontational—again, the sleekness unfortunately dampens the fervor. This isn’t to say this album is a total drag, but it just feels like there is a discrepancy between what is trying to be conveyed and what the end result becomes. The vocals can be interesting when they go unexpectedly minor-key or intentionally flatter than you were expecting, which keeps the interest piqued a bit, but they can also do the opposite, like when certain words are just repeated too many times that don’t really have any gravitas, which happens more than a few times throughout (including right from the jump with the words “TV dinner” repeated seemingly ad nauseum). Needed more raucousness, less innocuousness.

The Mar-Mars Demo 2025 cassette

Quirky lo-fi punk rock from Savannah, GA. Demo 2025 is the second full-length cassette from the MAR-MARS, and their first release featuring a full-band lineup. Their self-titled cassette was released as a solo project and has something of a dark, broody street punk aspect to it. This new MAR-MARS release has versions of five songs off the first cassette, so it’s easy to listen back and forth to the progression of the project. A solo project turning into a full band can bring a new excitement to what was once only able to be a recording project. Unfortunately, in the case of the MAR-MARS, the main things that seem to have changed are that the recording of this new cassette is considerably more lo-fi, and the songs sound as if they are holding on for dear life to keep from falling apart at the seams. I was surprised to see that there was a label associated with the release of this, presumably run by someone from the band, as their other release is also on it, but nowhere on the cassette or shell can that information be found.

Ofensa ¿Cual Humanidad? cassette

Genre-bending metal punk from Barcelona, with one foot on the classic UK crust sound and another in the cold buzzsaw death and black metal from Scandinavia. The crusty NIHILIST tone gives the guitars a new dimension of heaviness, and the very politically-minded vocals still make this a very punk-oriented record. OFENSA almost fits the neocrust label, reminding me of bands like AMBULANCE or EKKAIA, but somehow they are something else. A bleak piece of music for bleak times.

Pena Maxima Alentando Hasta El Fin LP

Spanish-sung Oi! from Miami, Florida, with lots of gang vocals, gruff football chants, and anthemic guitar leads. PENA MAXIMA has been around since 2016 and is just now releasing their debut, which is evident in the polished production, skillful playing, and tight songwriting. It isn’t really my taste, but I can appreciate the talent on display here, and can certainly see the appeal for the Samba-wearing crowd.

Ripcord The Damage is Done LP

For those living under a rock, RIPCORD was a seminal hardcore punk band from the seaside town of Weston‑super‑Mare, England, active from 1984 to 1988. These lads played extremely fast hardcore punk with elements that positioned them among the first UK bands to push toward grindcore territory. Their music combined the speed and aggression of US hardcore with the rawness of UK82 punk, having been cited as one of the flagship bands of the UK’s mid‑’80s hardcore scene alongside bands such as HERESY (for whom RIPCORD’s founder Steve “Baz” Ballam played) and NAPALM DEATH. RIPCORD’s The Damage is Done was first released in 1986, originally as a flexi. From the start, The Damage Is Done doesn’t waste any time; each track barrels forward, maintaining a relentless intensity throughout its runtime. One of the standout features of this album is the band’s ability to balance chaos with structure. While the songs are undoubtedly fast and abrasive, there’s a clear sense of purpose in the way they build tension and release it. Lyrically, they don’t shy away from heavy topics: anti-authoritarianism, personal frustration, and critiques of societal hypocrisy. The production is appropriately raw, giving the album a live-wire energy that enhances its punch to the gut. It’s not polished to the point of losing any of the rough edges that make hardcore so captivating, but it’s clean enough to make every instrument shine through, even in the most chaotic moments. Overall, RIPCORD proves 39 years later that they captured the essence of punk in a way that feels timeless and entirely of this present moment. Free Ola!

Sakura Violencia flexi EP

The three-song Violencia flexi was created by four-piece Las Vegas band SAKURA, and it fucking rips! Drawing heavily upon the extensive sound catalog of Japanese hardcore, SAKURA melds noisy, terminal velocity punk into songs that immediately call to mind other things that rip, like RESIN’s 2021 Pot Overdose or DEAD CITY’s 2022 Banned from L.A. What I’m saying is that if you’re into that punk crudo that makes your inner ear feel like a kick drum, or when feedback sounds like an M-80 in a bowl of Rice Krispies, then you’re going to want to pick this one up.

Snarewaves DIY flexi EP

Four quick jammers on this release that equals about two minutes of music total. It’s fun and raucous: LUMPY AND THE DUMPERS-style gross-out vocals, reverbed garage punk guitars, and digital drums, all played very fast. There isn’t much information online about SNAREWAVES, but they have quite a few of these micro punk capsules and a lot of colorful artwork. If you like what you hear, go down the rabbit hole.

Tension Pets Expresso Plaza CD

In just a few tracks, this Chicago group is able to explore a lot of exciting territory. From bad-vibe carnival punk to more earnest (if unhinged) punk-inflected indie, this group is clearly confident while at play. Talk about adventures in sound and richness of ideas, and yet while some bands can stretch themselves too thin, this band seems uncannily aware of their strengths (which are many). This is squiggly, artsy weirdo music, but heavy thanks to a syrupy synth underlying it all. The vocals are howling and manic, but stuck to the rhythm in a way that all but demands you shout along. One of the most singular, fun, and powerful releases of the year.

The Whiskey Bats DCxPC Live & Dead, Volume 7 EP

Another edition of DCxPC’s Live & Dead series which sees the featured band contributing a handful of both live and studio-recorded songs (“live” and “dead,” get it?). This time around we’ve got Pennsylvania’s WHISKEY BATS bringing us two tracks from the studio, and two live tracks from Camp Punksylvania in the summer of 2024. This is your typical pop punk/orgcore affair, sounding a bit like DILLINGER FOUR meets LAWRENCE ARMS meets DEAR LANDLORD. You know the deal. I’ll always go to bat for these DCxPC releases. This is the type of pure punk archiving that you just don’t see anymore. The live recordings are raw, unedited, and uncut. You can hear every fuck-up as well as every victory. It might sound a bit ironic, but that’s pure perfection to me. I really appreciate what DCxPC has been doing and you should too. Grab this slab and a couple of their other releases. You will not regret it.

偏執症者 (Paranoid) Vanished Resilience / False Control 7″

偏執症者 continue to exert mastery over D-takt in a way that few others even approach. Of a piece aesthetically with a slew of recent releases, this two-song ripper embodies the band’s general imperative: the perfection of a craft. Distinct from so many dis-clones in form and function, I think of PARANOID as “boutique” D-beat. To the matter at hand, both tracks unsurprisingly rip. Upbeat and punk forward on both accounts, the topside “Vanished Resilience” contains a fun trick where they switch from a fast, raging D-beat to a slower (still raging) D-beat. It may sound minor, but this is exactly the type of punk acrobatics that a lesser band would never consider, much less pull off so seamlessly. If you’re not sufficiently lured in by the rad art, this moment alone makes for required listening.  

 

Added Dimensions Jane From Preoccupied America LP

Richmond, Virginia consistently churns out great bands of all stripes, and ADDED DIMENSIONS are certainly no exception. Discordant garage with danceable grooves and unexpected harmonic layers. Art-tarnished if not fully damaged, the SWELL MAPS reference is fitting. They don’t sound much like GRASS WIDOW or VIVIAN GIRLS, though both of those bands spring to mind. Catchy and streamlined without being simplistic or saccharine. Out of the fertile bed of minimalism flowers a vine yielding complex fruit. Citric, sweet, with a touch of bitterness…remarkable and delectable. I dig it more with each listen.

Big Laugh Days of Disarray LP

Possible swan song from this Milwaukee hardcore band, and it’s a ripper. This 12” EP contains four tracks of complex punk, mixing big riffs, metallic palm-muted chugging, and layers of intricate sonic variations that keep each moment exciting like a blend of INSIDE OUT’s attitude with FUCKED UP’s compositional intricacy. The whole record is great, but “Vacation” stands out with its blend of aggression and textural minor-key fuzz. Check this one out, and let’s cross our fingers that it’s not the last from BIG LAUGH.

Crude Image Crude Image cassette

New London-based hardcore punk project from Lindsay Corstorphine of VIOLIN. CRUDE IMAGE cites inspiration from a few corners of the world, but the Midwest influence is most prominent. All of the instruments are quick, muscular, and tight, and the vocalist sounds like they popped a few blood vessels laying these tracks down. A real pressure cooker of a record, For fans of INMATES and the HELL.

Disolvente Guerra cassette

Some mid-tempo headnodders from Barcelona’s DISOLVENTE. Nothing too complicated here; this is very much your meat-and-patatas bravas UK82-flavoured street punk. It does chug along at a decent pace, but is nothing that’ll stay with me beyond the end of the record. I’m sure they are a laugh live, at the least.