Two bands from opposite sides of the States come together for one vicious 7″ EP. California’s SPY and Massachusetts’ MANIAC bring their two different brands of pissed-off hardcore onto a single disc, and it’s great. The two bands’ respective vocalists both spew their venom across their two tracks (two per band/side), with the instrumentation being similarly biting. This reviewer does slightly prefer the SPY side, but both are very much worth your time.
Bay Area hardcore contingent SPY kinda popped up out of nowhere in 2020 and took the scene by storm overnight following the release of their first EP, Service Weapon. With Habitual Offender, SPY is back with more of the vicious, mosh-friendly hardcore punk that endured them to so many people when they first popped up. The vocals spit bile in every discernable direction toward the listener, with the instrumentation serving to further pummel them. This record exudes pure, unrestrained hatred from its first second to its last—it’s great!
This is sick. SPY wastes absolutely no time kicking off, a squeal of distortion followed by some seriously fucked-off stomping hardcore. I’m stumbling for comparisons to make but it sounds so fucking furious, with that sweet tinge of delay on the vox that allows for a real fucking snarl to seep through. The stomp that comes through on this tape is so fucking prevalent I can feel my bad knee begin to throb beneath my desk and I’m only two tracks in; hardcore is best when it doesn’t try reinvent the wheel, but rather uses it as a vehicle for genuine aggression and frustration. This is some desperately pissed-off shit from the Bay Area and it shows. I’m a sucker for Bay Area HC, but regardless of your tastes in regional HC, this should easily tick all your boxes.
