Dead Friends 46 Hardcore LP
This eleven-song debut LP from this hardcore band of OC veterans maybe has its DNA somewhere near Brats in Battalions, but punches for more straightforward DETONATORS-style rollicking retconned ’80s hardcore than guitar driven melody. The weight balance between everything that needs to come out in lyrical expression and spontaneous hardcore energy often gets tricky in the old school equation, but DEAD FRIENDS 46 are to be admired for their commitment to honoring fallen friends, a drug and alcohol free advocacy without judgment, and keeping things positive, though reading of the names of the dead friends of theirs at the end of the record is probably the most heavy and sobering thing I’ve heard on a hardcore record in some time. The covers of PETER AND THE TEST TUBE BABIES (“Banned from the Pubs”) and SOCIAL DISTORTION (“Mass Hysteria”), while interpretive, keep things fun as the tried-and-true sturdy gravel throated hardcore otherwise mines dark places.