Fen Fen National Threat LP
In a move similar to acts like INSANE URGE or the SCHIZOS, Detroit’s FEN FEN have decided to scrub most of the garage punk gunk out of their sound, opting instead to play their hardcore straight. And it was absolutely the right move—this record rips! They’re not doing anything here that you haven’t heard before; this is essentially Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables/Adolescents/Wild in the Streets worship with some beefier guitar timbres, but it’s extremely well-played and the production is just so crisp and immediate. I think what really sells this one for me is the vocal performance. My dude’s really going for it! It ends up sounding like Jello Biafra dialed back to non-cartoony levels mixed with—and I’m sure I’m going to lose everybody on this point of comparison—NAPOLEON XIV (the teetering-on-the-brink-ness of it all and the quickening cadence really gives me “They’re Coming to Take Me Away” vibes). I love it. Also, as residents of the Motor City, they’re apparently required to NUGE it up every so often—listen out for the excellently out-of-character hard rock guitar solo that wraps up “Nothing to Say.” My one complaint is that this LP has about five more songs on it than I (and I imagine most punks in the 2020s) have the attention span for. But otherwise, yeah, killer shit!