Reviews

For review and radio play consideration:

Please send vinyl (preferred), CD, or cassette releases to MRR, PO Box 3852, Oakland, CA 94609, USA. Maximum Rocknroll wants to review everything that comes out in the world of underground punk rock, hardcore, garage, post-punk, thrash, etc.—no major labels or labels exclusively distributed by major-owned distributors, no reviews of test pressings or promo CDs without final artwork. Please include contact information and let us know where your band is from!

Adrestia / Collapsed Antitheism split LP

Split release by two crusty death metal bands, ADRESTIA from Sweden and COLLAPSED from Canada. ADRESTIA’s side is Boss HM2 distortion pedal-infused, ENTOMBED-style old school death metal-influenced hardcore punk played by punks (less hardcore/modern production style). Despite many recent bands simply sounding either more death metal or like ANTI-CIMEX, their approach of doing something in between without being polished is unique. COLLAPSED from Montreal has a similar approach to the ’90s era of Swedish crusty death metal, but leaning more towards the guttural death metal side of things.

Bad Breeding Contempt LP

The UK’s BAD BREEDING certainly needs no introduction; their fantastic 2022 LP Human Capital became a regular fixture on year-end lists everywhere with its brutal critiques of modern empire, carrying on in the proud anti-capitalist tradition of the entire Crass Records roster. It’s a loud, abrasive, and thought-provoking record that anyone would say is hard to top. So where does a band go from there? In BAD BREEDING’s case, they crank everything up to (pardon the cliche) eleven and blow the whole thing out. Their latest LP Contempt is best described as an immersive experience, like going to see a film or exploring an exhibit in a museum gallery. Featuring album artwork by the legendary Peter Kennard and an accompanying zine featuring writings by ASHENSPIRE’s Alasdair Dunn and environmental journalist Aidan Frere-Smith amongst others, when given your undivided attention, this record fully surrounds you for its 37-minute runtime. While pulling inspiration from the aforementioned Crass Records, BAD BREEDING often goes beyond the usual hardcore punk touchstones and lands somewhere far more desolate and industrial. One of the album’s heaviest songs and one that truly feels like its centerpiece is  “Gilded Age/Sanctuary,” a five-and-a-half minute epic that starts off as a full-blown hardcore blast before screeching into an extended intermission, featuring haunting field recordings the band picked up during stints at work sites and walking through town squares for lunch. Disembodied voices and a dark atmosphere break away once halfway through and again in its last minute, returning to a fuzzed-out hardcore dirge that hits like a ton of bricks. This is just one example of BAD BREEDING’s masterful ability to create a mood sonically that matches the mood contextually. When the lyrical content of your music explores the horrors of capitalism, poverty, Western exceptionalism, exploitation, propaganda, imperialism, and corruption this deeply, you’d better have the musical chops to match. Fortunately, this is an area where BAD BREEDING excels. Yet again, expect to see BAD BREEDING on those year end-lists this year, and rightly so; these guys are the real deal and deserve your attention.

Blistering Noise The 2023 Demo: Stop Gaza Genocide cassette

This is not a scam—BLISTERING NOISE, just like EXTREME NOISE TERROR, accurately describes their sound with their band name. Hailing from Japan with members of many prominent bands (ZODIAK, UNARM, DROPEND, KAFKA, KRIEGSHÖG), they play crasher crust. It is energetic yet less chaotic. The guitar and bass notes are recognizable despite their distortion, so naive melodies are pumping under the wall of noise. The songwriting mixes well with the pace changes and stops and bridges. If you are a big fan of the style, then this will be a good monthly dose. Although I miss the uncontrolled nature of crasher crust, everything is in place for a blast, but the burning match is not thrown on the gas-soaked floor. They use a lot of mid-tempo parts and everything sounds well-thought-out and polished—I mean, compared to one BPM from falling apart speed race, rolling, collapsing song structures, and maddened screaming vocals, it is more adjusted. As this is a demo, it’s really promising, so I hope they continue and don’t mind losing their shit on the records.

Chuck Jones / Sentido Común DCxPC Live and Punk Rock Mag Presents, Vol. 17: Live in Valle Guarco, Cartago, Costa Rica, 11/19/2022 split LP

This seems to be a split record between two bands from Costa Rica. Not just that, but bands who are connected by a bilingual punk zine out of Costa Rica called Punk Rock Mag. From there, the bands both did a session with DCxPC Live and put it out as an homage to live records—the recording quality is great for a DIY live recording. SENTIDO COMUN has eight songs, whereas CHUCK JONES only has five. My favorite song from the A-side is SENTIDO COMUN’s “El Dia Que Muera” (“The Day I Die”). It’s strong and sung with a lot of passion, almost as much as in their song “Sk8 or Die.” People take skateboarding so seriously! Por que andar en patineta es genial! While I did say the live recording is decent quality, it would sound a whole lot better if there was a live crowd. A lot of the background “whoa-oh”s are sung off-key, and the main vocals tend to get buried in the mix. However, the CHUCK JONES side is solid AF. The recording is a lot punchier and clearer than SENTIDO COMUN’s. For both bands, all songs are sung in Spanish, though the insert is in Spanish and English. While the recording on the B-side sounds a lot better, I think it’s really that CHUCK JONES is more experienced? I don’t know anything about either band, but the B-side is a lot stronger than the A-side. Cool project, great idea, awesome band exposure. I do think it sounds weird being so clean without a live audience.

Crom Early Shit 1994–2004 cassette

Collection of compilation tracks, demos, and outtakes by ’90s Pessimiser Records/L.A. grindcore legends CROM. You get to hear everything in one place so you don’t have to pull out a bunch of physical releases. For fans of ’90s PCP stories, couch-lifting grindcore/powerviolence, push-moshers getting kicked out of the gig vibes.

D. Sablu No True Silence LP

In that cursed year 2020, CASUAL BURN’s David Sabludowsky put out a cool tape on which he played nearly everything. Taken By Static dipped its beak into a gamut of styles, ranging from in-the-red garage to new wave-y romantic swooners to sassy cheap-synth punk. There’s even a couple of sensitive ballads. It was almost a throwback, like a mixtape from when Terminal Boredom was a going concern. It showed promise, but was too scattered to leave a lasting impression. Well, it’s four years later, and D. SABLU’s got a band now. Coming correct outta New Orleans, No True Silence cranks the amps and goes for broke, recalling local legends like KAJUN SS. Although the music brings the aforementioned swamp-dwellers to mind, and even POISON IDEA on “Scandalous,” the general outlook doesn’t revel in the nihilism inherent in those bands. Sabludowsky acquits himself well on the mic, especially on the faster tunes, where he lets loose a scratchy wail. The album hits a peak during the five-song run where all the titles start with the letter “S.” “Spiral Out” pushes faster and faster, building up a head full of steam in search of a release that never comes. “Smut Date” could be a LIVEFASTDIE song, which is all I really need in life. You too, whether you know it or not. Stack these guys up to any of the new crop of Aussie rockers and crawfish country ain’t doin’ half-bad.

E Living Waters LP

Couple of real stalwarts of clang within E’s three-person lineup: Thalia Zedek has held it down in Boston and its outskirts for over 40 years, with UZI, LIVE SKULL and COME all revered among those who know (and like their wrist-slitting noise blues). Jason Sanford founded NEPTUNE, a band who played discordant post-hardcore on self-built, spine-bendingly heavy scrap metal instruments in the mid-’90s, and drummer Ernie Kim used to play with a band called HARRY AND THE POTTERS (but pretend I didn’t bring that up). Anyway, this is the fifth “proper” E album by my reckoning, and it’s a big, burly fucker, equally enervating and energising. Recorded semi-remotely, with Zedek and Kim in Boston and Sanford in Boulder, every riff and drum hit is captured perfectly and cuts to the bone: sometimes I find myself thinking I have no use for this sort of “grown-up” noise rock any longer, but when it’s engineered this beautifully and the songs land so hard, I’m sold. Arguable highlight is “Postperfect Conditional,” where Kim takes lead vocal duties and—partly as a result of his slightly high pitch, partly via the song’s uptempo meld of riffs and scrabble—the band ends up akin to the later-career sound of the EX.

Head Cut Corazón Negro LP

Out of Ventura, California, HEAD CUT plays punk rock—straight up. However, the surf guitar that finds its home everywhere and the range of vocals that are delivered here take Corazón Negro beyond just being a good album. The bass is forward in the production and seems to drive the rhythm with a clean rumble that stalks beneath the lead. HEAD CUT reminds me of WHITE LUNG or maybe even BE YOUR OWN PET, but all comparisons would only be very loose as HEAD CUT is too unique. Maybe needless to say, the Corazón Negro LP by HEAD CUT is my current listening favorite.

Invertebrates Sick to Survive LP

INVERTEBRATES are from Richmond, Virginia and include a couple of members of PUBLIC ACID. Speedy hardcore reminiscent of JERRY’S KIDS at their best—’80s-style hardcore done right, with speed, ferocity, and a little bit of melody. This record makes me want to dance and jump around the room; I can’t wait to see them live. My advice is to get this album before it’s gone, it’s great!

Junk Guts Get Trashin’ cassette

High-energy punk. I originally thought the drums were programmed, but I think there’s a person behind that kit? Someone smarter than me is gonna need to wise me up here. If it’s the latter, then this drummer is one of the tightest I’ve ever heard. The singer does a ton of heavy lifting here; their energy is what carries this album throughout. Otherwise it’s pretty typical cut-and-dry punk rock. Twelve tracks seemed daunting at first, but the album really picks up midway through and ends strong. I’m starting to question whether the drums are real or not again. To quote JUNK GUTS, “sometimes I think my brain is broke.”

Küken Küken LP reissue

Twin Brothers Christian and Phillip Paul (the latter of whom also goes by “Beat-it” for reasons that elude me) have been fixtures of the German punk scene since the late ’90s, playing in power-pop-tinged garage punk acts like the HIGHSCHOOL ROCKERS and the KIDNAPPERS. They formed KÜKEN in the early 2010s and have issued a steady stream of EPs and LPs via the usual Euro garage channels, like Alien Snatch and Bachelor. What we have here is Alien Snatch reissuing their second LP, 2017’s self-titled album initially on Drunken Sailor, and adding a couple of bonus tracks. With this coming out hot on the heels of last year’s self-titled (so-called III) LP, it’s hard not to compare the two releases. And I think this is the stronger record. Both are full of the type of snotty but power pop-y downstroke punk that probably had its heyday back in the mid-to-late ’00s, when acts like the CARBONAS, BEAT BEAT BEAT, or the MARKED MEN were in full swing. But the fourteen tracks on this LP, which fly by in a brisk twenty-one minutes, don’t sound as thin as the stuff on III, and they strike a cooler, more consistent tone. Imagine some amalgam of the aforementioned acts crossed with a little of the bleak nihilism of, say, PREDATOR. It’s way more up my alley than schlockier strut rock moments on the new LP. Both records are worth your time, for sure. But if you missed this one for some reason, now’s your time to dig in—it’s great!

Marcel Wave Something Looming LP

MARCEL WAVE is the new musical venture from two former members of SAUNA YOUTH/MONOTONY, two former members of COLD PUMAS, and writer-turned-vocalist Maike Hale-Jones, putting a distinctly British spin on the sort of chipper-sounding (but often conceptually dead serious) twee-adjacent post-punk that their Upset the Rhythm labelmates TERRY have honed into a fine art over the last decade. Keyboards bubble alongside casually rattling tambourine, with Hale-Jones’s delivery criss-crossing from the talky deadpan style that’s de rigueur in contemporary UK DIY circles (the stop/start standout “Mudlarks” takes a joyride right through HYGIENE’s lane) to sweetly soaring harmonies à la DOLLY MIXTURE or GIRLS AT OUR BEST! (“Bent Out of Shape”), frequently within the same song (“Barrow Boys,” the especially TERRY-esque duo of “Peg” and “Elsie”), with sharp, narrative lyrical musings examining the likes of stratified social class in the UK, unchecked urban development, the double-edged sword of fame, and the monotony of routine capitalist labor. There’s also some obvious callbacks to Brix-era FALL, especially in the ramshackle gang-shout chorus punctuating the jittery, organ-blaring “Ides of March,” which is packed with more sly hooks and off-kilter melody than a song that’s not even a minute-and-a-half should be able to contain—like the rest of Something Looming, it’s a welcome instance of history repeating.

Norms 100% Haza​á​rul​á​s LP

When I sat down to construct this review I started by listing out some words and phrases that came to mind. Urgent, frantic, sinewy…this slab has been on repeat for two solid weeks now, but I’ve struggled to find a coherent way to talk about it. Noise, speed (or the impression thereof), total saturation—I’ve tried to describe it to friends but everything I’ve come up with sounds fragmented and nonsensical when 100% Haza​á​rul​á​s is wound desperately tight. Off-kilter, mind-warping destruction, a novel use of cowbell…it’s like this album has shredded my skull into shards. NORMS have been honing their craft for over a decade, and I have to believe this record represents their finest form. Like their previous releases, 100% Haza​á​rul​á​s is dense and chaotic, deserving—nay demanding—a studied listen. Underpinning the screeching feedback and cacophonous percussive blasts, you’ll find some of the most devastating and innovative riffs to be etched into wax. I can’t get enough. Absolute hardcore lunacy for deranged punk freaks.

Perdidos Dormir Para Siempre EP

Cavernous Dallas post-punk project sung in Spanish. Reverberating vocals that evoke nostalgic, dreamlike thoughts almost as loud cries in the dark, and the string section is on-point with a very good selection of notes and riffage. Drums are tight, but a little distant in the mix compared with the ball of sound that is created here. Favorite track: “Dormir Para Siempre,” as it’s the most energized track of all, while the other songs are mid-paced all the way, which may be a bit repetitive. Recommended for adherents of early and current sounds of Latino punk such as GENERACION SUICIDA and TOZCOS. Interesting project, very well-oriented.

Pleasure Cube Cube cassette

This is the third release from Minneapolis, MN art-punk trio PLEASURE CUBE, but it’s also maybe viewed as their first release? I’m not entirely sure how to categorize it. There are two previous recordings, which could certainly be viewed as demos as they are a little bit rougher-sounding—Cube has a majority of the same songs from those recordings, but it’s more cohesive and recorded a bit better. However you decide to decipher all of that, PLEASURE CUBE plays some amalgamation of art-punk, post-punk, noise rock, and surely some other subgenres, too. There’s some almost FLIPPER-esque parts which jumped out at me, noticeable both in the plodding, repetitive song parts as well as moments in the vocal delivery. There’s definitely parts of this tape I think are really cool, but the length of the individual songs (as well as the overall length of the cassette) feels a bit overwhelming to me.

Quid Quo Circle Walks in Circles LP

Seattle-based trio QUID QUO puts out a second full-length after 2017’s debut APAINTEDROOMISASMALLERROOM. They’ve got a post-hardcore, truncated rhythm sound going on that reminds me of the EVENS (but more distorted), with complimentary male/female vocals to boot. Zack Wait throws his voice around in a way that reminds me (slightly) of Jello Biafra, while Chelsea Gaddy does sound similar to Amy Farina (of the EVENS). “Lamps Plus at Dust” is my favorite of the fifteen songs on offer, with a hopeless chorus sung by Chelsea that repeats “On and then on and then / On and then on and then.” QUID QUO appears to be a hard-working lot, their Facebook page littered with show posters, playing with the likes of JAMES CHANCE AND THE CONTORTIONS, TOP DOWN, and UK GOLD, to name a few—so if you’re in the Seattle area, check ‘em out!

 

Rising Seas The War Within CD

A little bit AFI, a lot ANTI-FLAG. I bet they get the latter comparison often, being from Pittsburgh. Yeah, this thing rips. If you like fast-as-fuck political punk screamed at you in a melodic and brutal ballad, it’s this absolutely. The drums hit hard and are rapid-fucking-fire. Yup, there’s a little less room in the ANTI-FLAG-shaped hole in my heart. Oh, and introspective working class lyrics? Yeah, they got that too. I love this.

Schnaps Alles Verdampft LP

SCHNAPS gives us old school punk/hardcore with a lot of influences. I hear a little bit of NOFX-style guitar playing and some old school hardcore punk with a few ska parts which slow down and at times and remind me of the CLASH. I hear a lot of melody mixed in with the hardcore. If your favorite bands include the CLASH, TOY DOLLS, NOFX, RANCID, DAG NASTY, STRUNG OUT, ALL, and bands like that, you might want to check this out.

Slitasje Måndag Morgon LP

It’s pop, it’s punk, but it’s not pop punk. There’s definitely big, chunky power chords and plenty of melody. The rhythms bounce as much as they blast. There’s also a ton of lead guitar relative to most punk. The band’s sound is a well-oiled machine, and they occasionally deviate from a rigid punk format to slow down or spotlight only an instrument or two. The vocals are right up front, a choice usually reserved for those doing a bit more singing and a little less screaming, but here they command attention without choosing one over the other.

World Headquarters Unremitting Humiliation Ritual cassette

Gloomy garage punks versing on issues of scene critique and modernity’s existentialism. Monotonous and draggy, but very well-executed. This drone duo makes a plethora of sounds in a slow and steady cadence, but still manages to hold a driving force (barely). String section is well-seasoned though a bit overshadowed in the mix, and vocals are good, too. Undefined and a bit slow, yet interesting enough for some spins. Favorite tracks: “So Broke” and “King of the Scene.” Special mention to the solid straightforward lyrics, much needed nowadays.

YC-CY Wake Me Up Again EP

Phantom Records continues their mission to blanket the globe in oddball releases from the deepest recesses of the European punk underground. This time, we’re treated to some harsh synth punk from Switzerland. YC-CY has apparently been at it since the mid-2010s, but this four-song EP is the first I’m hearing from them. They play an odd mix of Ed Banger-esque maximalist French House, 2-step/UK garage, EBM, and melancholic darkwave. Tracks are constructed around drone-y but melodic baritone vocals buried under blankets of electronic squall. Imagine the SERFS, DAF, and KAVINSKY playing at the same time on top of a BOY HARSHER record. It’s not bad, and I certainly applaud their efforts to be this annoying while playing something this unpopular. But I doubt I’ll be dipping back in.

Arüspex Hawthorne & Henbane cassette

Neocrust from California, not too dissimilar to HIS HERO IS GONE or TRAGEDY. There’s definitely heavy doses of black metal in their sound as well. Personally, I’m not really a fan of the “stadium crust” sound, but these guys do it really well. Lots of interesting song structures and musical ideas that I appreciate. Music to soundtrack sprawling epics.

Bad Idea Breakout 12″

Listening to this BAD IDEA LP sent me down a rabbit hole for about an hour after I gave it a spin, as one of the songs in particular reminded me so much of a band whose name I just could not remember—I eventually found them, anyone remember a band called the BEATINGS from the early ’00s? Anyway, BAD IDEA sounds pretty good here, sort of NY proto-punk that dips into early ’80s hardcore, like if the DICTATORS and the MISFITS went out to lunch. “Bad Attitude” has CBGB written all over it, and “Massacre” has a little West Coast vibe going on. They go a little poppy for my taste on “Good to Die,” but otherwise this was an enjoyable spin.

Brain Squeeze / The Death Sentence split EP

Split release by BRAIN SQUEEZE and the DEATH SENTENCE. Tight, cranking the volume eleven, overdriven garage-y guitar sounds of turbulent, thrashing madness by two bands. Both bands do have the ultra-fast JERRY’S KIDS or GANG GREEN-style ’80s Boston hardcore sound, so it almost sounds like a release by one band. Time for circle pits and stagedives.

Broken Barcodes Brainwashed & Braindead CD

Pop-punk-ish growls, sneers, and power chords abound here. This is a really ubiquitous combo, but something about this CD feels distinctly ’90s. Maybe it’s the polished and poppy guitars sprinkled with a touch of Epitaph-style hardcore? Maybe it’s the cover? Maybe it’s the CD format? A good-natured, meatheaded ride.

Cheap Death Immaterial World cassette

Five songs of metal-infused modern hardcore from Brooklyn. The vocalist makes CHEAP DEATH sound very much like some kinda screamo/post-hardcore kind of band. It’s got a fair amount of blastbeats, if that’s your thing. What I don’t understand about hardcore bands that incorporate blastbeats in this way is that if the riffs are slow, the song still kinda sounds slow even with blastbeats filling up the drum portion, but maybe that’s just me. Perhaps this style of hardcore just isn’t really my cup of tea, but the songs are tight, the musicianship is solid, and the vocalist sounds strained and pissed.

Cult Crime Cult Crime demo cassette

More solid punk coming straight outta Toronto. This one is a nice, concise three-song affair. Tuneful, rocking punk. Sounds like something that could’ve come out of Southern California in the early ’80s. Catchy tunes that’ll get your head bobbing like a maniac. I really dig it!

DDT Brave New World EP reissue

Musical rescue for this Atlanta punk rock relic from 1983 filled with hints of no wave and even poppier sounds of the era, with a restored audio and mastering effort by Chunklet Records. Quite interesting to know about what was happening with punk rock and hardcore punk in Georgia 40 years ago. Lovers of archival releases will think it is a punk gem, as this shouts KBD all around.

Deviated Instinct As the Crow Flies: Collected Recordings 2012/17 CD

DEVIATED INSTINCT is an essential monolith for what we call crust punk, or more specifically, stenchcore. The genre, named after their 1986 Terminal Filth Stenchcore EP, perfected the mixture of the dark metal heaviness of VENOM, CELTIC FROST, and SABBATH with the dystopian “no future” sentiment of DISCHARGE and AMEBIX. Alongside AMEBIX, ANTISECT, and HELLBASTARD, their music has left a lasting impact on countless bands and played a significant role in shaping the distinctive crust sound we recognize today, crossing over into influencing some death metal and doom bands along the way. This seminal act disbanded in 1991, went on to form an industrial-esque version of their sound with side project SPINE WRENCH but reunited in 2007, thus beginning a new chapter in their career. As the Crow Flies is a collection of all the music released since the band got back together. It includes songs from Husk, Liberty Crawls…to the Sanctuary of Slaves, and Dance of the Plague Bearer. Overall, the songs sound like their trademark, but with a more modern sounding production. It is an important piece of crust history.

Eärthdögs Distorted Static Addicts EP

Fuck me, this is one intense listen, and I am not sure where to start. First thing first: this is very noisy and chaotic. Dementia-driven. This is not something you’d get your little cousin for his birthday (unless he is possessed by some evil force). EÄRTHDÖGS play insane and vicious, black-metal-influenced, raw, distorted hardcore noisepunk. Distorted Static Addicts feels more like an experience than just a record, and with less than ten minutes of music, you can’t afford to be late to the fuzzy black mass. I love the genuinely malignant vibe of the record and the overall aggression, especially how energetic and noisy it is. The music sounds like it hates you, and that’s paradoxically what makes it lovable. It is difficult to properly describe even though the ingredients, taken separately, are familiar, but I guess that if a savage powerviolence record were possessed by ORDER OF THE VULTURE and if you distorted the result further, it would be quite close. Solid and furious. You should probably get it for your cousin, actually. This was released on two labels that specialize in these sorts of nasty things, 625 and To Live a Lie.

Gimic We Are Making a New World EP

Listen, I hate being hyperbolic, especially when it comes to record reviews. How are you going to take my word at face value if I constantly tell you how so-and-so’s newest album is the greatest thing I’ve heard all year? It’d be like the boy who cries wolf, except with punk music instead of a man-eating beast. Anyway, GIMIC’s newest single is easily the greatest thing I’ve heard all year. I have no other way to describe this other than post-post-punk. It’s like if you took BOW WOW WOW and threw them into a vat of toxic waste. Dance-y enough to groove to, while simultaneously being manic enough to have a complete and total meltdown in the pit. Guitar and bass are clean with a little bit of distorted twang. Very natural and classic. The tone reminds me of the ADVANTAGE while having a math rock edge. Absolutely worth picking up for your summer jams playlist and beyond.

The Mob 40’s The Mob 40’s LP

The MOB 40’S have a lot of elements of an Oi! band, but it’s probably more apt to call them street punk, or even hardcore. The production quality is good, even on the three demos that round out the album. All their songs have a lot of heft and can be pretty brutal from time to time. This isn’t something I would choose to listen to, but for those of you into things heavy, fast, and somewhat melodic, this is up your alley. I will say it looks like one of the members of the MOB 40’S used to be in NORTH SIDE KINGS, fronted by a goblin human who punched Glenn Danzig once. Not counting that against them, but it doesn’t help that I think their songs are kinda boring. Well-executed, but nothing exciting to me.

The Nerve Curlers 3-Song Sampler cassette

Debut three-song cassette release out of Houston, Texas. Catchy, poppy, indie-infused punk-adjacent rock music. Something about the vocal styling and delivery really reminds me of the LEMONHEADS, though I wouldn’t say the band particularly sounds like them. The band self-describes the release with the tags “psychedelic,” “surf-rock,” and “post-punk,” but I gotta say, I wouldn’t use any of those terms to describe them. Sure, there’s a bit of tremolo on the guitars, but that’s the closest thing to surf I hear, and these are like mid-to-fast-paced pop punk songs more than they’re post-punk—that’s just one punk’s opinion, I suppose. Regardless of how you want to categorize it, I have had the chorus of “God Hates You (Sylvia Plath Style)” stuck in my head for multiple days straight now.

Panikatax A Sudden and Unpleasant Change cassette

This may be a tape-only release on a DIY label, but to unfurl its glossy, multi-panel J-card, you’d think it the work of a real big-baller operation. Took me right back to the ’90s and stretching my pocket money further by purchasing my favoured grunge albums on the cheapest available format, I can tell you. Dubious nostalgia aside, these five songs are a welcome introduction to the dramatic, halfway psychedelic noise rock rumblings of PANIKATAX from Dublin. Big BIRTHDAY PARTY proto-psychobilly rhythms, JESUS LIZARD/FALL/COWS vocal slobbering, and a shit-ton of studio FX, to the extent I assumed there was a synth player in the band until I checked the credits. The B-side of the tape has a live set which is unavailable digitally and has seven songs, all different to the ones on the A-side.

Riot Division …The Album CD

The latest album from Richmond, Indiana’s (not Virginia’s) RIOT DIVISION. Artwork looks like an obscure energy drink, or locally-produced beef jerky package you can get at a desolate gas station in the middle of nowhere America. The sound isn’t too far off from that: some early crossover thrash metal and death metal influences that probably had some sort of weird impact on the creation of nu metal, but that’s not too important. For fans of Monster Energy, Full Throttle, No Fear, etc.

Skint Skint demo cassette

SKINT is like a breath of fresh air in the midst of a nuclear eruption. Back-to-basics hardcore punk just how I like it: ugly, tough, and menacing. Four songs and a couple of samples, this demo hits hard with few frills and all thrills. The riffs are unbothered by complication or harmony, going straight for the carotid and dousing the room in arterial spray. The focused, tight drumming often blasts full bore, and changes beats or tempos at all the right moments. There’s a touch of UK82 in the rabid vocal delivery, with concise yet compelling lyrics. No ambiguity here, SKINT is out for blood. This is a killer first showing. The tape is limited to a hundred copies…grab one while you can.

The Sleeveens The Sleeveens LP

The SLEEVEENS are garage punk done cracking, in the typical spirit of Dirtnap. I have not run across this band before, but it turns out they are a dual-citizen team from both Nashville and Dublin. Solid record throughout, with a killer cover of the UNDERTONES’ “Get Over You.”  “Metallica Font” is another toe-tapper. The rest of the lot is pretty run-of-the-mill, beer-sudsed basement anthems.

Spanish Needles Sifting Through the Wreckage 12″

Debut EP from SPANISH NEEDLES of St. Petersburg, Florida, delivering some melodic peace punk. Not exactly sure what the lyrics are trying to convey besides a generally downcast attitude alluded to in the EP title, but it’s made unclear by the songs that are named after comedians/comedy actors from George Carlin to Mary Steenburgen. The production is clean and polished, much like the melodic vocals and tight song structures. “Michael Cera” is probably my pick of the lot, singing “Bide your time with figments of your imagination, / Tell me, is this how it’s going to be until you die?” with a decided bleakness. Nothing life-altering happening here, and I’m a little hung up on the seemingly meaningless song titles—otherwise, a solid debut on display.

Tensö La Pataleta EP

TENSÖ is a punk band from Tenerife. I saw them play last year, and while this is a record (not a show) review, they look, behave, and sound the same live as they do on record. They have such a natural theatrical element that is rare, even if punk tends to act out—and yet, that sort of blasé nihilism paired with anger can make great punk songs. This record blasts of with two rather hardcore-sounding songs that remain melodic, but such sharp shocks are paired with the other half of the record containing mid-tempo, desperate tracks that show how their more laid-back, stretched-out, and more melodic songs could still not be tamed and are still snotty as hell. It’s an area where most punk rock bands fail, but TENSÖ owns this field. Four songs in two different styles, yet still consistent. Such a great band!

Vacation Rare Earth LP

Plenty of folks seem to really dig this long-running Cincinnati act, and the band managed to wow Feel It, a label with unassailable tastes, into putting out this album, so I’m going to assume I’m just missing something…because I fucking hated this record. This came as a genuine surprise to me considering that some of the folks involved in its making have also been responsible for some of my absolute favorite projects of the last few years, like the DRIN and BEEF. But the twelve tracks that make up Rare Earth bear little if any resemblance to those acts. In its best moments, I can hear snatches of things that I enjoy, like the poppiness of a Ric Ocasek or Alex Chilton tune, wed to things I definitely don’t, like emo-adjacent post-hardcore (think BRAID or the PROMISE RING) or the REPLACEMENTS at their alt-rockiest. In its worst moments, it sounds like “Rockstar” by JIMMY EAT WORLD. It’s earnest pop rock that sounds like it’s being played by a band that wants to make it big, specifically in the year 1997. A track like “Mobility” even sounds like it could have been pulled off the VERVE’s Urban Hymns. To be fair, these guys do what they do well—the songwriting is tight and it all sounds slick as shit—and I know folks love all of the stuff I mention above. But it just takes me back to a period of time that I consider to be among the most vapid and shitty for music. I don’t know, maybe I’ve just failed to embrace the power of rock’n’roll or whatever these dudes are selling. I’d probably feel better if I did.

The Web Slivers, Shards, and Tell-Tale Hearts LP

There’s something to be said for the small luxury of listening to the physical copy of a release while simultaneously writing its review, and I’m doing just that for this piece of gold. The WEB were a deathrock band that existed from the early ’80s to the early ’90s. They spun their sonic web with a sound reminiscent of 45 GRAVE, but with more surf guitar and a stronger gothic vibe. This LP collects sixteen songs from their career and presents them in a relatively chronological order. Tongue-in-cheek lyrics highlight indifference towards religion, suffering, and overcoming struggle. Inside the sleeve you’ll find a 9″x11″ folded zine-style lyric sheet with some great photos of the band and some dedications to members who have passed. This record is absolutely going to stay at the top of my stack for a long while, and will probably become a staple of my collection.

Attic Ted Starfish as Man LP

And the prize for worst band name goes to…ATTIC TED. Look, I was primed to really dislike this album. It doesn’t look like something I’d want to listen to. The name of the album is Starfish as Man, for chrissake! To my reluctant surprise, it’s not a bad needle drop after all. ATTIC TED has made a pretty charming post-punk record in the vein of ALTERNATIVE, MAGAZINE, or SUBWAY SECT, with some kraut-y avant garde elements pushing the affair towards the experimental end of the spectrum. Starfish as Man is sprinkled with spacey synthesizers and atmospheric, at times operatic vocal melodies. I presume that these folks have taken plenty of drugs to make music to take drugs to…or however it was that SPACEMEN 3 phrased it. Despite my negative predisposition, ATTIC TED has concocted a substantial freak-pop album that I can’t deny has a disturbingly catchy appeal.

The Battlebeats Meet Your Maker LP

A one-man garage rock tour de force from Bandung, Indonesia, Andresa Nugraha has been putting out records under the BATTLEBEATS moniker since 2019. His last full-length was the pre-pandemic album Search and Destroy. which was released by Alien Snatch. There is the speed and precision of TEENGENERATE with the power of GUITAR WOLF throughout the dozen tracks here. Lyrically, there’s the humor, wit, and self-awareness of some of Paul Caporino’s best work with M.O.T.O. With all of this, Nugraha has created his own sound and style which keeps evolving and improving with every release.

Betonwelt Betonwelt cassette

Hamburg band BETONWELT answers the question, “what would a perfect balance of anarcho-punk, post-punk, and hardcore sound like?” The answer: it sounds awesome! Wildly distorted guitars, lyrics shouted in multiple languages, and a rhythm section that pounds out the beat make this self-titled well worth a listen. The second track “Burning” introduces the hardcore feel, while “Depression” goes even harder with a racing opening and grimy, plodding midsection. The closing track “Alone” almost feels like it could have been a ROLLINS BAND recording. Most of the thirteen tracks on this album contain a great sing-along chorus, which must make the live performances amazing.

Brain Itch The Future Burns cassette

Pretty solid mid-pace-ish D-beat from Toronto. The production isn’t quite as raw as I would personally prefer, but the tunes still deliver the goods. Lots of solid riffage here. There’s no song shorter than two minutes, but all the tunes manage to keep your attention the whole time. I like it!

CarlxJohnson Hesoyam LP

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas-themed powerviolence straight out of Slovenia. Wow, now that’s a sentence I never thought I’d type. Regardless, this whole slab rips. Brings to mind HEWHOCORRUPTS, MAN IS THE BASTARD, SPAZZ, and the like. There’s also a FUCK ON THE BEACH cover nestled at the end. Fantastic stuff here, and well worth a spin if you’re a fan of the tongue-in-cheek grindcore from the late ’90s/early ’00s.

Chinese Telephones Outta My Hands EP

Wow. If you like super catchy garage/power pop music, this will light you right up. Makes me think of GENTLEMAN JESSE, MYSTERY DATE, and SONIC AVENUES. Nicely produced, which, for me, means it’s done well, but not at all overdone. You can really feel the energy of the band through the record. That’s not always true. Really, an excellent record.

The Dishrags Four LP

Part two of Supreme Echo’s reissue campaign for Vancouver-via-Victoria punks the DISHRAGS comes a decade after 2014’s Three LP (which collected recordings from 1978 and 1979) and picks up the story in 1980, the final year of the band’s existence. The DISHRAGS’ reputation as one of the first all-female punk bands in North America (if not the first) generally precedes them, but what is so often lost in that narrative is that they were also one of the earliest Canadian punk bands, full stop—they started out as high school teens in 1976 and literally played the first punk show ever in Vancouver! Absolute legends. Four gathers a number of demos and live tracks previously unavailable on vinyl, along with the three songs from the group’s swan-song Death in the Family EP, and although the DISHRAGS didn’t undergo any dramatic stylistic shifts during their brief run, there’s a streak of artful introspection in this later material that wasn’t as evident in the snotty and sneering first-wave-influenced punk of the years covered on Three. The economical instrumental scrappiness and personal/poetic lyrical outlook in tracks like “You Fit the Picture” and “Silence” recalls fellow late ’70s/early ’80s Pacific Northwest femme-punks NEO BOYS, while the more revved-up rippers like “Beware of Dog” and “Carry On” have the DISHRAGS careening out of the gate in an almost Dangerhouse-ish fashion (think DILS/BAGS). It’s killer!

Earth Crust Displacement Under the Surface EP

Raw punk crasher crust for Berlin. EARTH CRUST DISPLACEMENT kicks plenty of ass—distorted to deafness, just to my liking. Pure FRAMTID/PHYSIQUE-style blasting D-beat while still having killer tunes to back it up. Very pleasantly surprised with how much this slays. Highly recommend to anyone into DISCLOSE-esque noise destruction.

Filthy Traitors Date Night CD

Driving, pounding punk rock delivered with female vocals that are both pretty and powerful, kind of reminding me of Kim Deal. Musically, it’s melodic, but with a healthy dose of frenetic energy. At times, it borders on metal, which ain’t my cup of tea, man. And, in keeping with the metal theme, sometimes just a little too much extracurricular guitar work.