Reviews

Prank

Avskum En Annan Värld Är Möjlig LP

What can one ideally expect from a new AVSKUM album? In 2023, what should a lover of käng and D-beat expect from an established yet humble hardcore band? It’s not like there is any shortage of this specific sound today. Because of the unstoppable march of music streaming worldwide, there are probably more active Scandicore-inspired bands now than ever. A recent study revealed that, in some countries, there are more S-beat bands than there are working hospitals, which is saying a lot about the state of public health services. You could argue that, with the large amount of solid käng bands, the world may not need a new AVSKUM album, and that’s without mentioning that I am seriously running out of storage space for my collection of D-beat records. Besides, haven’t we all often been disappointed with newer records of “hardcore legends”? And yet, it’s not like the band vanished from all radars since the ’80s—in fact, AVSKUM’s output has been quite solid since 1998 (I’d argue that everything they did was quite good, with Punkista being my least favourite). Still, they have not released anything since the ferocious Uppror Underifrån in 2008 which is a long time in punk years. So why should you consider getting En Annan Värld Är Möjlig? Precisely because AVSKUM always sounds exactly like AVSKUM and doesn’t try to be something they are not. Forget your overproduced hardcore or fakely raw bands, AVSKUM still plays direct, DISCHARGE-oriented political käng hardcore with classic, simple but effective riffing and song structures and a rocking heaviness that has come to characterize their approach. They sound even closer to DISCHARGE and orthodox D-beat bands like MEANWHILE. In addition to the band’s tasteful musical classicism, the vocals are what set the band apart for me. Gunnar has always been one of my favourite Swedish hardcore singers, as the tone of his voice and his distinct prosody manage to express raw, spontaneous anger as well as a rough-hewn emotional tunefulness. He is both shouting and singing and has been doing so since the band’s first EP in 1984. This balance between strictly canonical Swedish dis-oriented hardcore and a highly recognizable vocal style is what makes En Annan Värld Är Möjlig predictably great and AVSKUM quietly memorable.

Grimple Up Your Ass LP reissue

A well-deserved and long overdue reissue for an essential piece of early 1990s East Bay (by way of New Mexico) punk. You hear the term “melodic hardcore” refer to drivel that is neither, but GRIMPLE is undoubtedly both. The riffs are hopelessly addictive, but they are delivered with relentless ferocity while you find yourself singing along with vocals that sound like they are coughing up razor blades. The lyrics are honest and often dark, but the whole record is bursting with hope, determination and youthful possibility—“Behind a locked door I’m not trapped, I don’t want out / To put things in their places, I put myself here,” followed immediately by “I don’t see it so it isn’t there, the real truth is that I don’t fucking care / I close my eyes it’s an easy choice, fuk that bullshit, I want a voice!”  Songs like “Violent Fuk” and “Problem” are uncompromising and full of fire, while “Think” throws dark chords under the rest of the mix and makes you feel queasy (when you listen at the appropriate volume). “But If You Weren’t Here” is an anthem for literally any punk who grew up (mostly) alone and exemplifies how tight GRIMPLE was as a band and a unit. Drop the needle on Up Your Ass and you can just feel that it was them against the fucking world…my only complaint is that it’s weird to hear these songs with out the pops and scuffs and crackles I’ve been adding to my copy for the last 30 years. I can fix that, though.

Grimple / Logical Nonsense A Darker Shade of Grey split LP reissue

Reissue of the GRIMPLE and LOGICAL NONSENSE ’94 split; classic hardcore bands formed in New Mexico that stand up considerably today. GRIMPLE’s sound is so incredibly tight on this recording, there is a bit of metal and a lot of BORN AGAINST. The vocals that Greg Valencia brings and the effect of the production are incredible and bring back years gone by. “Infierno,” “System Fukers,” and “Forever Fuked” are highlights. LOGICAL NONSENSE brings a heavy set of rapid-fire grindcore to the B-side. All are drilling, guttural assaults in the best of all ways. The split ends with a killer WENDY-O MATIK spoken piece. Both bands are almost outdoing each other throughout, very killer stuff.

Skamfläck Synka Alla Klockor för Midnatt LP

First off, the cover here arrives in the grand tradition of cartoony depictions of apocalyptic dystopias (think Cause for Alarm or The Day the Country Died): a grim vision of reality via rounded lines and primary color. The music is a few sibling genres held together by a very metallic crust punk. There are some capital-M metal riffs, but the guitars are otherwise on the “punk” side of the ledger (grimy and spare instead of epic and layered). As usual, I think the run time here is excessive. As Coco Chanel said, “Before you go out, take a look in the mirror and remove one track.”