Reviews

Katy Otto

Juliette Memories Fade LP

I have a niece named Juliette. She is full of power, punch and heart—and that’s what the former Polish band JULIETTE also offers up with the release Memories Fade, on Refuse Records out of Berlin. If you yearn for the early ’00s as I always do, you will love this recording. The first track “Inscribed on Your Face” bolts in with a full-on assault in the cultural vein of SAETIA and YOU AND I, so much so that before I looked more further at the link online, I said “I bet these guys are from NJ/NYC.” But nope, straight outta Poland. I couldn’t ascertain if the lyrics were in Polish or English, but the song titles are in English. Several of the other tracks, including “And the System,” have the cozy late ’90s jangle that calls to mind JEJUNE for me, which was music to my ears. I really liked the bass line that “Losing My Hope” started with. Production-wise, as a drummer I thought there was a little overemphasis on guitar in the mix and would have loved to have heard drums a little higher, but overall, this is an excellent album I hope lots of fans of the genre will hear.

On the Might of Princes Sirens LP reissue

Holy musical candy to my ears. I was certainly given music directly in my lane with the review of ON THE MIGHT OF PRINCES’ Sirens. Driving beats, plaintive vocals, melodic hardcore/emo sounding straight outta the best New Brunswick basement circa 2001 but with the polish and sheen of the likes of ENVY. The album opens up with a guitar riff on “No Sign of the Messiah (Pt II)” to set the emotional landscape of heartache those of us kids of the messageboards crave. Truth be told, I always knew of ON THE MIGHT OF PRINCES because of their proximity to so many bands I loved back in the day, but never got the opportunity to see them. This re-release is driving home for me the harsh reality that I truly missed out. Fans of THURSDAY, SAETIA, HOT CROSS, and, as I noted—partly tongue-in-cheek and partly dead serious—the messageboards of the aughts, will fall in love and put this on repeat.

Band of Bastards / Black Mercy American Carnage / The Curse split LP

​​BLACK MERCY and BAND OF BASTARDS are both punk/hardcore bands from Austin, Texas. This split LP offers ’80s-style blasts of hardcore on both sides. BLACK MERCY has a bouncy, lurchy feel on tracks like “The Curse.” They call to mind the frenetic urgency of SOUL GLO and classics like MINOR THREAT’s self-titled release. I particularly enjoyed “Salvo,” with its guitar soloing and danceable breakdowns, and imagine this would be a ton of fun to see live. BAND OF BASTARDS features former members of SPARTA and …AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD. Interestingly though, the band sounds like neither of those, and once again conjures not only ’80s hardcore but also DC hardcore (my favorite kind!) in particular. “FYP” is a powerful anthem, with driving drums and a switch to an upbeat rhythm midway through. I loved the lyrics of “Lack of Love,” a snarling treatise on “shitheads with no remorse,” exploring empty words and the disconnect of those who make policies and those who have to live with them. Overall, I am excited by what these bands are doing, their take on the world, and the politics/values they are covering. What this split did, which is what all good splits should do, is make me wish I was at a show they were both playing—ideally in front of a building we were all protesting. Coke bottle clear with blue swirl vinyl frankly also sounds delightful, and this release can provide you that!