Gnarnia Thin Ice / Crimetown LP
From Providence, Rhode Island, GNARNIA plays a sharp and fast nod to “OG heavies DEAD KENNEDYS, BLACK FLAG and GERMS” (from their Bandcamp page). Both Thin Ice, from 2023, and Crimetown, from 2024, make up this 12” vinyl and play through pretty quickly, with only a few songs over the two-minute mark. “Breakballs” is probably the catchiest of the album (Crimetown side), with a gang-like energy in the OP IVY realm. The following track “Underwater” comes out of nowhere and sounds like a 311 song with jam-band guitars, reverb dialed high, and a slow tempo—which, to be fair, does break into a ripper with the distortion pedal stomped back on. That said, these references aren’t meant to dissuade you from GNARNIA’s clever economy of ’80s-inspired hardcore.