Total Defeat

Total Defeat Dreg EP

Australia’s TOTAL DEFEAT has some tasty, timeless hardcore on their 7″ debut. In keeping with the band’s name, riffs point downward on every song, delivering tough little doses of “just can’t win” punk with a dark and bouncy feel. The band has evolved from the primitive bass-heavy dirges of their 2019 demo and emerged tight and energized. Think POISON IDEA if they were NYHC. Alright, I’ll take it.

• Reviewer Jason Harding
• Label Televised Suicide
• Issue MRR #463 • December 2021

Total Defeat The Loop demo cassette

This DYS-worship demo packs a whole lot of punch, landing somewhere between HOAX and ARMS RACE. The riffs are simple, driving, and catchy, and the vocals sound gruff and desperate. The lyrics are super bleak, with lines like “blank as death I stare at myself” and “dead flies on the windowsill / bed-ridden corpse.”

• Reviewer Ali Tadayon
• Label Is This My World
• Issue MRR #433 • June 2019