Reviews - MAXIMUM ROCKNROLL

Destruct Echoes of Life LP

Hailing from Richmond, VA, DESTRUCT sounds like an unfuckable great mix of BASTARD, DEATH SIDE, JUDGEMENT, and FRAMTID. Imagine the aforementioned bands, blend and mold it back together, trim all the fat, and that’s Echoes of Life. DESTRUCT makes the international hardcore enthusiast dream a reality: if BASTARD was a currently active band, still in their prime and releasing another great record in 2020. DESTRUCT accompolishes something DEATHREAT tried to accomplish 20 years ago with Consider It War, but perhaps an even better articulated version of the ’90s Japanese hardcore approach. Sounds like something that was recorded at Our House in Tokyo in the mid-’90s but was actually mastered at Enormous Door by Jack Control of WORLD BURNS TO DEATH, who is way too familiar with that type of production and nails it beyond perfection. This is no-frills, straight up devestating dark hardcore punk without having any gimmicks, macho-ness, or cosplay-ness, which is something many of us are looking for in the current punk scene that seems to have its head stuck up its ass or is way too concerned about what the next leading hip trend will be. One might criticize how much they can just listen to BASTARD instead, but this perhaps is a great example of learning something from the past and creating something even better with it. Highly recommended.

Ecostrike A Truth We Still Believe LP

Let’s get something out of the way, I’m fucking straight edge. Now that that’s over with, let me say that with a name like ECOSTRIKE I was expecting some heavy eco-terrorism vibes or some sort of stance beyond PETA commercial veganism and they massively fail in this department. Thus, the name immediately elicits a jerk-off hand motion. Second, I believe a lyricist whose largest issue in life is that a couple of their friends stopped hanging out with them in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant is what the kids now call privileged. I suppose you can view the lyrical dedication to the monotonous subjects of broken promises and pain from ending friendships as well as togetherness and the act of still being here as being virtuous, sincere, and maybe even pure. Sure, but these themes are undoubtedly codified and any adult writing these lyrics should be examined by a child psychologist. It’s my opinion that ECOSTRIKE needs to either surround themselves with better people or maybe, just possibly, their being straight edge is ruining their personal relationships as ECOSTRIKE imposes barriers between themselves and once friends who have stabbed ECOSTRIKE in the back by seeking “validation” for their “treasonous hearts” (that’s prose meaning not being straight edge). There’s a couple mentions of brotherhood as well which is a shame. It’s as if these guys learned nothing from the bow-core revolution of 2016. As for the music, you’ve probably heard it before. Stringy Youth Crew riffs with chugging palm mutes, JUDGE-like breakdowns, pick slides, deep evocative screams followed by whiny pleas, massive buildups, gang vocals and super clean production. You’ll like this record if you’ve only been listening to Firestorm in your walkman CD player for the past 27 years. Yes, this review is cynical because this music sucks. And that’s fine, Triple B Records already sold out of the album and are waiting on the second press to come in. Nothing I say matters because, despite my pessimism, the market for this music exists and I doubt serious readers of MRR (if there are any at this point) are lanyard carrying ECOSTRIKE fans. This is hardcore music for people who didn’t experience HAVE HEART, for a new generation of hardcore kids in the military, for people with no real life problems aside from their friends experimenting with gravity bongs, and for people who think being straight edge is the only signifier and personality trait that makes them unique and can connect them with others. From personal experience I can say that straight edge can be a great thing, a life saver in many cases but god damn if it doesn’t completely blind some people and make them intolerable shitheads. If “A Truth We Still Believe” is what makes you feel whole, then great, but I just hope you can have personality traits aside from black Xs on your hands (if that even is one).

Mikey Erg Bon Voyage EP

MIKEY ERG, formerly of the ERGS, has written a love letter to the 7″ format with Bon Voyage. With three new songs acting as a sampler of his capabilities and a cover of the BEATLES’ “Mother Nature’s Son” to fill out the B-side, Mr. Erg will garner clapping and wooting from the rabid fanbase of his past band, and may even pull in some newbies through his infectious enthusiasm. The A-side is pop-punk designed for a festival setting, meant to lure in beer-holding, newly balding 30-something dudes who don’t fit their T-shirt the way they used to. The B-side then sonically explodes with speed and excitement with “Colleen” before moving into the sneering-while-smiling tune of the previously mentioned cover. This 7″ is a fantastic proof of concept document for those that somehow missed the last nearly two decades of Mikey’s career, and it will be a quick and healthy dose for those that have been craving more.

Gesture II cassette

Berlin quartet GESTURE’s first tape, from eighteen months or so ago, was a more-than-nice example of contemporary death rock, slinky and zippy in equal measure. Its successor, again a six-song affair, ups the mean tempo and borders hardcore stylistically, “Wants In Cells” leaning into this in particular. Opening number “Retreat” has those military-drill stern anarcho drums but an untethered, lurching feel; “Breeding Ground” peaces out before the one-minute mark but fees like it could have developed. Eva Sanglante remains a finely frosty frontperson and, while it appears that GESTURE are now an ex-band (we hardly knew ye!), her latest project MERGING sounds pretty swish on the basis of one comp tape song, if you like gloomy punked-up EBM at least.

LD-50 Lethal Dose Hardcore EP

It took a few listens of this 7″ for me to find any substance. The title Lethal Dose Hardcore is ill fitting and presumptuous. The cover art seemed to suggest blandness, indifference, and a possible attempt at a formulaic and repetitive vision that the music doesn’t align with. The first two tracks remind me of ARTIFICIAL PEACE and the third, “Gaping Hole,” is their best with a simplicity that stands out. The B-side seems to be an attempt at raw, bashing, käng-style hardcore with the closer decelerating to a punchy pace that stands apart. It’s not awful but it ain’t loud enough and it ain’t raw enough. The band needs to focus and find their sound in the midst of their mixed inspirations. The plus side is that donations from the download of this 7″ on Symphony of Destruction Bandcamp go to international causes.

Might Might CD

This unassuming CD, stark black with chalk-like lettering, MIGHT lead you to believe this band was going to sound subtle. The wispy spoken word intro, “Introduce Yourself,” MIGHT even creep you out a bit. Femme witching vocals slither in and you MIGHT even be a bit scared. I used to love the morose steaming feminist carnival-like recordings of SOW (partner of PIG) back in the ’90s. And this reminds me of the laissez-faire of SOW a little bit. A tribal and metal DIAMANDA GALÁS of sorts with the more CHELSEA WOLFE acoustic eeriness. There is also a CONCRETE BLONDE kind of twang to it. I’m in all sorts of places with this, Southern stoner doom (thinking BRUME, TOTEM/JEX THOTH), black metal, gothic neo-folk. MIGHT is unassuming and escapist. For only two folks from Hanover, Germany, they’ve put together a very interesting project that MIGHT just deserve a few more instrumental layers to crawl into.

Mt. Vengeance Machines LP/CD

So often in these annals you can sum up a review in one short blurt. Indeed, take a look at the first few dozen issues and you’ll see reviews of stone classics that are two sentences long. Tops. So is the point of a Maximum Rocknroll review in 2020 to simply tell you what “it” sounds like and whether or not the reviewer thinks “it” is good……? Good question—and I clearly don’t know the answer or I would already be done here. Theoretically, it would go like this: “Philadelphia’s MT. VENGEANCE plays catchy indie rock that successfully conjures ghosts of late ’80s college radio alt.” Bass player was in ELECTRIC LOVE MUFFIN, which might mean something to a clique of nerds and/or middle aged people from Philadelphia (I fall into one of those two categories). Machines doesn’t sound like it’s emulating another era, it sounds like it was plucked out of one—and that’s a sincere compliment. “Noisy guitars, good left-field jerks in tempo and timing, a tension in the vocals that accentuates melody instead of eschewing it” would be the second sentence. “Super good record from a trio who know exactly what they are were doing,” that would be my closing salvo….theoretically.

Natural Man Band Living in a Chemical World with the Natural Man Band LP

If New Wave Theater was revived for our current day and age and filmed somewhere in the heartland, Kansas City’s NATURAL MAN would easily be regular guests—day-glo punk with blaring sax, dual vocals (sometimes intersecting, sometimes harmonized, often shouted), low-budget synth, and boundless energy to get all of the kids decked out in asymmetrical sunglasses and loud geometric prints to completely bounce off the walls. There’s echoes of Ohio’s favorite spud sons in the cracked mechanical rhythms of “Working Nights” and “Chemical World,” but rather than relying too heavily on the anxiety-ridden DEVO-isms of a lot of their Midwestern ovular-punk peers, NATURAL MAN generally throws things back to a freewheeling and utterly unselfconscious art-schooled dance frenzy that exists somewhere between BLACK RANDY and the B-52’S. Do you want (the new) new wave or do you want the truth?

New Fries Is the Idea of Us LP

The spirit of 99 Records lives on in NEW FRIES, a minimalist neo-No Wave trio from Toronto who, in true ESG/LIQUID LIQUID fashion, aren’t afraid to work a single repetitive, hypnosis-inducing rhythm for as long as they deem necessary. Is the Idea of Us consists of six “proper” songs, and seven brief interstitial instrumentals all uniformly titled “Genre”—the latter suggest anything from static to sirens passing outside the window of a late-night bus to the muffled sound of a band practicing as heard from a few rooms over, while the more structured tracks balance on an ice-thin foundation of slowly pulsating bass throb, blasts of sampler noise, high-tension guitar scrabble, drums stripped to the most austere beats possible, and impassive vocal incantations reverberating through the negative space left between those elements. The very SNEAKS-like “Ploce” is carried almost entirely by a few endlessly-cycled bass notes and some punctuated, electronically-treated percussive hits, and the modern mutant disco anti-jam “Bangs” speeds and slows at unpredictable intervals like a dubbed copy of the ROSA YEMEN 12″ played on a faulty tape deck. Dance music for the heat death of the universe!

Noi!se Lost 12″

I can’t say I’ve been a fan of this Seattle Oi!/modern rock hybrid band in the past and I’m not much of a supporter of Pirate’s Press’s one-song UV-printed picture 12″ format. Seems really wasteful and I don’t get the point. This release finds the band continuing in the slicker, bigger sound vein than earlier releases so it’s not really making me a convert, but their lyrics are well written and their musicianship and songcrafting are undoubtedly talented, veering this release into almost radio-friendly territory. I could see some fans of later DROPKICK MURPHYS or even the USED taking a liking to this one. Not for me.

Peace Talks A Lasting Peace EP

PEACE TALKS’ debut EP is full-on breakneck hardcore from start to finish, with a vocal delivery nearly as urgent as CONFLICT. PEACE TALKS doesn’t sound like any particular band, scene, or era, though I hear a healthy dose of TOTALITÄR in their sound. “Dancing for the Flame” is by far the standout track, though no tracks are bad, and this is the first punk record I can recall seeing that combines “Fuck 12″ sloganeering with more tried-and-true nuclear bomb art. I mean, it’s all part of the same problem, right?

Pig Sweat Pig Sweat LP

Imagine Berkeley’s CRIMINALS with metallic leads and an aggressive snarl replacing Jesse’s terminally adolescent sneer. Energy level cranked to ten at all times, this Swiss hardcore punk outfit delivers consistent power with lines like “Will never find peace with the way this world turns / Will never shut up, not till the day it burns” sinking in… riffs sinking in deeper.

Reviewer Robert Collins
Label Goodwill / Incredible Noise / Rinderherz
Issue MRR #447 • August 2020

Sass Chew Toy LP

SASS are a four-piece from Minneapolis that self identify as “Midwest grunge pop.” I’m already sold on that description alone. The lead-off track “Nice Things” has this syncopated vocal melody in the chorus that sounds like a mermaid singing from the sea floor, though in the bridge of this same song, the singer really reminds me of Tonia from the LIPPIES. I think it’s a really nice mix of style and sound. In the song “Role Model,” the singer belts out these lines that really caught my attention: “Filling myself with empty calories / What even is an empty calorie / I can’t be myself / Around anyone else / There’s a list of things I can’t do / ’Cus I’m a shitty role model.” It’s a rad and disaffected song about how society expects a person to operate. Then in “Gut Feeling,” I hear a mix of the GITS and the BREEDERS, especially with that bass heavy intro. I’m fucking loving this.

Songs for Snakes Airspeed Is Everything EP

Two songs, both of which ride a pretty fine line between catchy melodic punk and an attempt at achieving commercial success back in 1999. It has that straightforward driving but catchy fuzzed out feel of later HÜSKER DÜ or SUGAR (especially in those vocals) mixed with something from JAWBOX’s first major label record (please see guitar riff for the verse on side A). The hooks are there, arrangement is good and the songs just kind of roll along. It is a bit worrisome when the production starts to make it feel too much like the last JAWBREAKER record or THURSDAY, but a couple listens in and the positives shine. Solid songs that sound good back to back.

Spados Fast One on the Masses cassette

Lo-fi treble-heavy power pop from Philadelphia. Sickeningly catchy while still coming across gruff enough that I have no doubts that the punkers can dig it. I giggled a little bit at the hand-written note within the cassette stating “This cassette tape contains *LO-FI* garage rock.” Not mincing words, not pulling any punches, calling a SPADOS a SPADOS. The only label info contained anywhere on the cassette or online merely states CHUB-001. Your guess is as good as mine.

Street Weapon Quick to Die EP

Though the label copy namechecks CONFRONT and ALTERCATION, STREET WEAPON reminds me more of the heavier end of the mid-’00s USHC revival, when a band could still cite BLACK FLAG as an influence without sounding naive or hackneyed. That’s not to say they sound like BLACK FLAG—they sound distinctly modern but with a strong classic NYHC influence—but the simplicity of the presentation hearkens back to an earlier era, where everyone wore flannel and jean jackets and put every weapon they could possibly think of on their record art. These guys are quite young, and I’m not totally sold on this record, but when quarantine is over in 2029, some kid in Virginia Beach in construction gloves will probably get a black eye in a STREET WEAPON pit, which certainly counts for something.

Mal Thursday / Neal Ford & the Fanatics / The Tree Every Night a New Surprise / No Good Woman 7″

I am 100% perplexed by the existence of this record. A current garage rock singer MAL THURSDAY inserts his vocals on two ’60s recordings—one unreleased and one released. Why? I am guessing because someone found the tape of this unfinished 1966 version of “Every Night a New Surprise” by the songwriter Steve Ames’s band NEAL FORD & THE FANATICS (you might know the song from the MOVING SIDEWALKS’ version on the B-side of their “Need Me” 7″) and wanted to finish it. Ego, convincing or whatever got MAL THURSDAY to sign up for the job. The recorders and mixers do a decent job blending the vocals in with the music, but as expected something is a bit off. THURSDAY has a tough-guy-type voice that doesn’t meld that smoothly with these ’60s musical sounds. Yes, that’s a picture of THURSDAY from 1966 photoshopped into the band photo on the cover. For the B-side “No Good Woman,” the original 1967 vocals are removed and replaced with THURSDAY’s. Since I know this song too well, the vocals don’t sound right. Again, I’ll ask: Why? Why not simply record the songs with your own band? This is titled Karage Vol. 1 so we have more of these to look forward to?

Mal Thursday Mal Thursday’s Greatest Hits That Missed CD-R

Part two of my series of MAL THURSDAY release reviews. This CD-R from 2018 is a collection of THURSDAY’s bands the MALARIANS (his 1980s band), MAL THURSDAY AND THE CHEETAHS (his 1990s band), the MAL THURSDAY QUINTET (his 2010s band) and plain old MAL solo (origin somewhere in between). Beside being a singer, THURSDAY has also run a record label Chunk Records, booked shows and DJed on various radio stations and websites. THURSDAY’s vocal style is macho braggadocio. The music leans toward the harder rock side of the garage rock revival. It works together when the songs are faster and higher energy. Some of the slower ballads seem to be reaching too much and “What’s Up Pussycat?” was not an appropriate cover choice. When the songs do click, like on “Get Outta Dallas!” and “A Taste of Five,” it can be some stomping rock’n’roll fun.

The Mal Thursday Quintet The Other Side of This Life / Don’t Want You Either CD-R

A two song CD-R featuring a cover of FRED NEIL’s “Other Side of This Life” and an original. More of the same garage rock revivalism I’ve come to expect from this crew. They stick to the script and do what they do.

Tommy Bahama Boys Garage Inc. II cassette

Based on the artwork, the name, and the little BEACH BOYS sample at the beginning of this tape, I assumed I was in for some instrumental surf or fun pop music or something. Boy was I wrong. This tape is a truly confusing experience combining harsh noise with lo-fi novelty electronic driving drum machine punk. Call me crazy, but there’s a couple cool, nasty synth-punk songs buried in here if you take the time to dig them up. They seem to have dubbed themselves “seapunk” and “yacht punk.” I don’t expect either of those terms to really make it off the docks, but if tapes like this keep floating to the surface I will certainly keep checking them out.

The Usurpers Future Wars LP

This SLC band comes at you hard and fast with a socially conscious UK82 style and strong DIY spirit. They’re so DIY that you are provided with a full album download complete with make-your-own CD and tape covers free of charge on their website. Musically, it’s a cross between latter-day EXPLOITED and something that would be at home on the Pogo Attack comp of yore. The singer has an off-time shouty/talky voice that reminds me of the singer of the PIST crossed with El Duce. There’s a lot of material here with lots of unfortunately ever-relevant anti-cop lyrical content provided. Pick it up.

The Walking Korpses All Safe and Dead LP

Proving that modern-day Berlin isn’t just a bolthole destination for ketamine-hoofing 27-year-old ravers, the current incarnation of that city’s WALKING KORPSES kicks out glowering goth sludge with a lineup predominantly assembled from what we still call expats but are, I suppose, more properly known as immigrants. Some interesting characters too, including two fellas from SPK splinter group LAST DOMINION LOST; two of post-punk rippers DIÄT (one of whom also released this LP on his label); and singer Jason Honea, who took over vocal duties for SOCIAL UNREST in the mid-’80s and has done the same for WALKING KORPSES after a journey that’s taken him a long way from East Bay skatecore. All Safe and Dead rocks for sure, often relatively conventionally, yet always with a but—awkward, lumbering and clashing, even when a joint like “Autumn Light” bears heavy hallmarks of big coat UK post-punk. Honea’s yelp is closer to BIRTHDAY PARTY-era Nick Cave, with the strep throat of UNSANE’s Charlie Spencer lurking in the mix. Shades/shards of LAUGHING HYENAS, later CLOCKCLEANER and offensively underrated Scottish group VOM can be detected in these seven songs, with a transcendent expansiveness at times (notably final song “Healthy Teeth”) which you could call psychedelic, if psych was less about staring blissfully at the sun than screaming into fog while holding a broken wine bottle.

Born Shit Stirrers Lester LP

I wanted to hate this at first. “This is just another we can just do offensive grindcore and no one can tell we have no passion’ record,” I said to myself. I was wrong about the passion and the genre. This collection of UK expats in Japan make some super fun, super concise punk jams. They’re the kind of immature and snotty that can only come with many years of experience perfecting immaturity and snottiness. Offensive for offensiveness’s sake is typically a pretty boring choice, and heavily featuring samples from American Beauty and featuring Kevin Spacey as Lester Burnham on the cover seems to be just negatively provocative more than entertaining. However, there is enough going on here to shine through the less desirable choices made by the band. There is some legitimate instrumental and lyrical talent on display here, so taking a couple minutes to sample a few of their songs would not be wasted time. The first five tracks will barely cost you three minutes. “Smash Your Smartphone” rings like a classic X song, “The Worm” is a punk rock joy, and “Kurosaki” is a ska-tinged 90 seconds of movie dialogue before going straight into anarcho-punk aggression for another 30.

Dark Thoughts Do You Dream / It’s Too Late 7″

Fuck yeah DARK THOUGHTS. Maybe this isn’t the best thing to admit, but when a band has a fucking stupid name like DIARRHEA PLANET (great band tho), I tend to avoid checking them out. But on the flip side, when they have a really cool name like DARK THOUGHTS, I wanna check them out right away. So these dudes have been making me tap my Converse and wiggle in my tight black jeans since shortly after their first LP. This new single has the best song they’ve possibly ever written as the A-side. “Do You Dream” is a minute and 18 seconds of pop-punk bliss. It’s oh so easy to write off a band when you see the word RAMONES-core associated with them and it totally feels fucking lazy to even put that in a description if I’m honest. Though I’ll be goddamned if these guys didn’t exclusively listen to the Fast Four and MEAN JEANS before writing their own songs. It’s a perfect mix and I recommend buying all their records like yesterday.

Death Gasp Death Gasp cassette

Crusty hardcore punk from Pittsburgh, PA. Six track demo of driving, metal-infused, nasty crust punk. The dubbing of the tape makes it sound super lo-fi, but I also checked out the songs on their Bandcamp and the recording is much more clear than I was initially led to believe.

Fatal Figures X Minus One LP

Each time I listen to this record, I like it more. The vocals seem to be flying at 100 MPH backed by sped-up, slightly rockabilly-ish, noisy-as-hell garage punk. These days of staying at home and doing nothing don’t really require this type of angst, but I’ll take it anyway. That random, out of place, high-pitched note of feedback half way through “You Hardly Ever Crawl” makes me smile each time it catches me off guard. The inclusion of an UNWOUND cover and a BEGUILED cover poses an interesting insight into the band’s philosophy, and I approve.

Hotmom Stupid Vegan Band cassette

This is exactly what I want in a punk demo! Every song a nasty punk hit played fast and spastically on the verge of falling apart. This demo somehow embodies that feeling you get when first delving deeper into the world of punk, going from entry-level bands to the real deal. That feeling of excitement mixed with a tiny amount of fear. HOTMOM has me thirsty for more. Thankfully searching around on the internet I was able to find that they’ve got a slew of other demos out. Phew!

The Inhuman We Will Build / Cheap Novocain 7″

The INHUMAN was the short-lived one-man project of a Tucson, Arizona weirdo named Joel Schenkenberg, who recorded a demo of completely warped art-punk in his bedroom circa 1983. That tape essentially vanished into the black hole of history before two tracks were rescued for this single in late 2019 by Lumpy Records, leading haven for the 21st century iteration of American oddball DIY. Schenkenberg’s vocals are all sneering outsider paranoia, buried in a claustrophobic, sub-lo-fi mix of blown-out guitar, rudimentary synth presets, and drum machine drone circling the same orbit as COUNT VERTIGO, the electro side of 39 CLOCKS, the first couple of CABARET VOLTAIRE singles, and the more left-field early ’80s Subterranean Records groups. “We Will Build” is almost conventionally post-punk with its scribbly guitar solo and anxiously repetitive oscillating pulse, while “Cheap Novocain” slows to a doomed, dystopian crawl perfectly suited to a rasped incantation like “Anaesthetize your brain to pain / Drinking cheap novocain.” Total degeneration by way of the desert!

חרדה (Jarada) מעגל שנאה (Ma’agal Sina’a) 12″

Following their first album in 2018, JARADA comes back with this one-sided 12″ with eight hardcore punk, raw, chaotic, aggressive gem songs. This Tel Aviv band makes us feel the struggle to live in hostile territory, and brings us a cultural and political debate in their lyrics, both in Hebrew or English. If you like bands like EXIT ORDER and ARMS RACE, you should definitely listen to them.

Reviewer Natha Viccari
Label Crapoulet / Doomtown / No Spirit Fanzine
Issue MRR #447 • August 2020

Kürøishi Sound the Alarm LP

This LP was released in 2019 by KÜRØISHI (Japanese name translates to “Black Death”) from Oulu, Finland. At first glance, with Akihito Sugimoto’s artwork, people will assume it’s something along the lines of ’80s/’90s-era Japanese hardcore worship like SELFISH, but KÜRØISHI has an early-’00s melodic crust approach along the lines of WOLFPACK/WOLFBRIGADE and TRAGEDY. Quite often dismissed but perhaps this sound was pioneered by Absolut Country of Sweden-era ANTI-CIMEX in 1990, later progressing to WOLFPACK/WOLFBRIGADE or HIS HERO IS GONE touring Japan in the ’90s and getting influenced by bands like JUDGEMENT with some melodic harmonic elements—yielding a “Japanese HC influenced” style a.k.a. TRAGEDY. In reality, the sounds are influenced by not only the aforementioned bands but also Sweden’s and Norway’s extreme metal scenes from the mid- ’90s… So, with many people already having knowledge and a sense of what Japanese hardcore sounds like, this might not cater to punks with a preference for that approach, but those who’ve seen the “Japanese hardcore” references thrown around at crust shows in 2002 will definitely be able to identify. It’s easy to talk trash on a release for how inaccurately it represents the ’90s Japanese hardcore approach, but it’s also something that we might need more in this age of easy replication and overload of resources. Sound the Alarm sounds like it’s an honest output from what they grew up with but still having an appreciation of something they truly love. They’re from Scandnavia and the influences of that region’s hardcore and metal makes more sense than sounding like they’re from Tokyo in the late ’80s. The record also contains this great sense of imagination (perhaps it can be taken as a misinterpretation?) whether intentionally or not, creating something unique with wide possibilities. Guest appearances by members of PARANOID, VIVISEKTO, SYSTEMATIC DEATH, THINK AGAIN and others.

M Section Pastrami Salami LP

The “silly guy hardcore with schizophrenic musical styles and influences” is a genre much ignored and not one I have been presented with for quite some time. Having once been in such a band, I can understand (to a point) while also being thoroughly perplexed by the all-over-the-place-ness met with showboating musicianship as a chosen mission. Elements of jazz, country, metal, prog and of course punk are the backdrop for adult contemporary masterpieces with titles ranging from “Where’s the Beef” to the epic “Lobster Dog” whisked along by precision drumbeats, noodling guitar stroking and pop-punk whoa whoa whoas. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Oh sorry, pardon my nod. The reference points for me would be FAITH NO MORE, MR. BUNGLE and SUM41 so Santa Rosa’s burning. Give it a whirl.

Miscalculations The Perfect Candidate LP

This London group is sometimes art-gothy, sometimes pop-punky, but always energetic. It often has a similar energy as the A.K.A.S (ARE EVERYWHERE!), especially in the electro/keyboard-like noises focus, or the less ska-ey end of the SUICIDE MACHINES. “The Blurred Line Between Art and Crime” is a great track to dip your toe into. It’s a danceable good time that feels unstoppable as it plugs along with juggernaut strength. “Brutalist Parade” almost feels like it’s about to bring you to an industrial show in a secret warehouse somewhere right before ending the album on one final and abrupt shout. This is a hip wigglin’ electro punk album for those that can’t help but dance when given even the slightest inspiration to do so.

MSPaint MSPaint cassette

Maybe this is aiming for some Wax Trax!-style industrial damage, but the singer should straight up be in a COLD WORLD tribute band. It also kind of reminds me of this early ’90s British rave crew called the SHAMAN. Hazy political aphorisms rapped over some mild keyboard jams. It’s hard to take stock of the music because the vocals just make everything sound like open mic night with some LIMP BIZKIT fans tearing it up.

Off the Clock For You 12″

Another release from the fertile and verdant Vic City Skins mob, and with members who’ve done time with big hitters such as NO HEART and LAST CRUSADE among its ranks, there’s little surprise that OFF THE CLOCK deliver some classic hard-as-nails Oi! with hardcore influences that packs a steel toe cap kick to the knackers. Vocals are as rough as a badger’s arse, but just about stay on the right side of tolerability, and the riffs are as no-nonsense as they come. Music to have a pint spilled on you to.

The Persecuted Terrorist USA EP

These Austin punks know how to ruck it up UK82 style, making a mess of it for the squares and keeping their hair charged proper at evening’s end. Nice ’90s-style polico/street/drunk punk style graphics and an attitude right up there with early TOTAL CHAOS. Their singer has one of the best pirate growls as evident on mid-tempo numbers like “So Many Lies,” but they also have a nice SHAM sense of melody such as in the title cut. Numbers like “The Prisoner” would be welcome in any VARUKERS set, and the lyrics, while nothing new, are manic yet cerebral and well-written. I could see these folks on stage with the ELECTED OFFICIALS as well as in an ’80s London squat. A well-thought-out and packaged release.

The Prof. Fuzz 63 Owls LP

Peppy, organ-led garage rock with a monotonic singer. The high-pitched organ sounds and the low-register vocals match perfectly giving PROF. FUZZ 63 a more unique sound than the average 21st century garage band. The drumbeats and guitar riffs are simple and add just enough foundation. The RAMONES update “Sheena Is a Soccer Mom” is a bit too corny, but the two (!) FLIPPER covers are pretty cool.

Rocky and the Sweden City Baby Attacked by Buds LP

Latest release from ROCKY AND THE SWEDEN from Tokyo—Japanese hardcore scene veterans that have been around for quite some time with ex-members of BASTARD, SYSTEMATIC DEATH, and VIVISICK. With song titles like “Green Riot,” “Mary-Go-Round,” and “Weed Weed Weed,” ROCKY AND THE SWEDEN really show their appreciation for weed. It’s still not quite legal in Japan but glad to see they’ve yet to get in trouble for constant dedication to the ganja for the past 20 years. ROCKY AND THE SWEDEN also impresses us with how fast and aggressive they sound despite consuming such a mellow substance. 420 hardcore bands with a similar approach include REAL REGGAE, another counterpart from Japan that sung about smoking weed. From the title of this record, you might imagine something in the stoner rock realm (along with some G.B.H. reference) but turns out to be a great Japanese hardcore punk record. In terms of sketchiness, their chosen expression is reminiscent of older MRR articles about how it was illegal to be a punk band in certain countries. Most people typically would want to play in a jam band or stoner rock but these guys remind us to not judge anything by its cover. This shows us a new possibility of smoking weed where not only you can play slow and groovy but you can also play aggressively and fast. City Baby Attacked by Buds sounds more like they’re on speed or methamphetamine than smoking weed—basically the DEATH SIDE style Japanese approach with epic, dramatic riffage and NWOBHM-influenced guitar leads. ROCKY AND THE SWEDEN continue to fight for their freedom of smoking weed not only by “burning spirits” approach but by “burning buds” with the same spirit. Great colorful artwork done by Masato Okano of NYC.

Spam Risk Spam Risk cassette

Chicago, IL brings us SPAM RISK, a weird/poppy post-punk band featuring noodly guitar work and vocals bordering on novelty-song style both in their delivery and the subject matter. A couple of the songs on here are super driving and catchy as hell. “Google Bookchin” is the real stand-out track on this seven-song debut cassette. Definitely interested in hearing more of this kooky stuff.

Tommy and the Commies Hurtin’ 4 Certain EP

They did it again! After the excellent Here Come LP in 2018, they come back now in 2020, once more with an amazing power pop, punk explosion. This power trio from Sudbury, Ontario gives us brilliant and cool classic punk, just like BUZZCOCKS but also something like the #1S. I can’t stop listening since they released this EP! A sad fact that it only lasts four songs; waiting anxiously for the next records.

Tralala Das Mädchen Mit Den Roten Haaren / Pubertät Vergeht 7″

The Bachelor Archives series has been doing a bang-up job of documenting and preserving all sorts of lost gems from Austria and Switzerland’s punk past (GLUEAMS! SCHUND!), and the latest installment is a reissue of the 1982 7″ from obscure Viennese punky new wave one-single wonders TRALALA. The B-side “Pubertät Vergeht” absolutely dominates this one, and it sounds so much like early ’80s Austrian femme-punk cult heroes PLASTIX that I had to do some serious research to figure out if there was some personnel overlap between that band and TRALALA (there isn’t)—the loopy vocals that sound like Su Tissue in German, the choppy and off-kilter rhythms, it’s all there… which makes for a very sharp stylistic U-turn when it comes to “Das Mädchen Mit Den Roten Haaren,” with its upstroke guitar and clipped ska beat, male gang vocals on the chorus, and even a bassoon (?!). An odd pairing for sure, but worth it for that B-side regardless.

The Velvet Underground Loaded (Alternate Album) LP

This month’s VELVETS bootleg/cash-in: A vinyl pressing of tracks from Rhino’s “Fully Loaded” reissue of the band’s final proper album. It’s a true “alternate” in the sense that it’s a track-by-track replication of Loaded made up of demos, early versions, and a couple “alternate mixes” (plus a bonus outtake of “I’m Sticking With You” because, why not?). Aside from simply having heard the hits too many times, my main complaint with Loaded is that it’s just a bit too neat and shiny, for a VU record anyway… so this LP is a pleasant surprise. The trio of “Head Held High” to “Lonesome Cowboy Bill” to “I Found a Reason” that opens side B is especially warm and intimate, performed with a relaxed looseness that draws me in despite knowing those songs back to front. Allegedly limited to 300 copies, but I doubt it…

Zone Infinie Dégats EP

Saint-Étienne-based rock urbain outfit ZONE INFINIE is back with a new EP of soaring melodic streetpunk. Like their contemporaries SYNDROME 81 and LITOVSK, their post-punk flourishes temper the gruffness one normally associates with the scruffy bastards in streetpunk, and these nuances only help to add some light and shade to the proceedings. It’s a pleasantly mixed bag, especially for a genre that can lend itself to one-notedness too, with cacophonous drums and spartan guitarlines accompanying the more recognisably streetpunky vocals too. Worth a go.

AOL Gold Plus cassette

Issued on tape by the German label ETT last month, Gold Plus is a new version of the release announced at the beginning of this year. If my computer could be a band, definitely it would be like AOL—machine voice, great cool riffs, systemic drums. This Floridan band knows how to hack into the cybernet world, seven nice and short tracks easy to repeat all over again and again. Bring punk to beyond modern life, DEVO-core in your new and best way.

Die Atlantikschwimmer Kassetto Fix LP

Vinyl reissue of the 1983 demo cassette from the relatively unheralded Neue Deutsch Welle trio DIE ATLANTIKSCHWIMMER, who recorded an LP the following year for the Zickzack label (responsible for backing releases from German noisemakers ranging from EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN to ABWÄRTS to XMAL DEUTSCHLAND in the ’80s) before ultimately disbanding. That LP was essentially a Bavarian take on the bleak, monochromatic post-JOY DIVISION post-punk approach that was having a mid-’80s heyday among UK groups like the CHAMELEONS and the SOUND, and while that direction isn’t completely lost on the demo, there’s also a spiky, agitprop danceability that points to an affinity for GANG OF FOUR and any number of early Rough Trade singles, especially in the dryly shouted vocals and snap-tight rhythms of “Warten” and “Abendvorstellung.” Even the more characteristically gloomy new wave moments here are given a spark from roughed-up demo presentation, which honestly elevates Kassetto Fix above the band’s solid subsequent full-length. Yet another choice Static Age-guided dig through Euro post-punk history, get in on it.

Barcelona Residuos del Ultrasonido EP

Might be my emergency exit from burning out—anyway—I consider hardcore as a form of art. Even if it defines itself as noise not music, still it is a sonic expression of emotions and thoughts. A reaction to complex processes thundering in each of us. Hardcore is best when unadjusted, each layer of the music freely and indivisually explodes from the players but when added together becoming a bit more than several syncronised performances. Historically the cacophony of hardcore was written on the account of untrained musicians, who employed enthusiasm instead of education, although we must not forget how confusing the world is even when you seem to be able to function in its array of bullshit. It is much more hostile when you are young and reckless to start a punk band, where these kids were matching their songs to their experiences. Art could help to conserve these feelings reflecting on terror of surreal reality. BARCELONA had an artsy edge from the beginning, especially with their cover art, but with Residuos del Ultrasonido the suspicion shifted to hard facts: while they are a pure primitive force of destructive and radical hardcore, they are not only attacking year end top ten lists but the borders of hardcore. It is strange how internationally appreciated they are, yet almost no one is ripping off their sound. While it is not an insoluble formula, it is a continuation of beloved pioneers of radical hardcore and it carries the signature soundmarks of BARCELONA. The bass is a loud pulp, punching the space of the music with its extension despite with its power; the drums remind us to the visceral driver in mankind to beat the shit out of bang-able objects to create rhythms that match with our inner tempo; the vocals are towering over the music, setting a direction with raspy, ferocious screams which later go as far as imitating dog barks; finally the guitars are tying many knots with the strings when not blasting head-deforming riffs. It is a short 7″, but packed with so many layers it instantly becomes a classic. There is some discussion over the cover art, which even if improvised at last minute or meticulously planned, works as a great, funny fuck you. I love how it recalls the infamous What The… cover. It also reflects on that art is not necessary some academic, always high-brow happening, but it could be dumb and funny, yet meaningful; it could be anything. Probably a lot of people would be distracted by the cover if this would be BARCELONA’s debut EP, but if this was only the beginning it would be a fair price to pay. Amazing record.

Blotchouts Lenora Guards the Egg cassette

Angular, dissonant, blip-bloops of no wave weirdness. Really fun, weird, artsy kookiness. BLOTCHOUTS from Mobile, Alabama bring us twelve songs on this newest release of theirs including a truly bizarre cover of JOHNNY THUNDERS “You Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory.” Much of this tape is too weird and long for me, but in the moments they lock into some driving grooves it is super cool. The band seems to have a ton of other releases so if this kinda thing is for you, you’ve got a lot of new tunes to check out.

Denim Ski Mask Justice EP

Wallop! This demo from a duo of Austrian recalcitrants ticks a lot of boxes for me—namely, it’s short, sharp and almost entirely lacks any fucking about whatsoever. Raw enough to cause salmonella, this is hard-as-nails Oi! stripped back to its component parts. Full of menace and the threat of aggro kicking off at any point, barely concealed within three songs that say all they need to in fewer than two minutes. Listen to this! You have been warned.

Geld Beyond the Floor LP

’Twas the prehistoric epoch of 2018 when GELD’s Perfect Texture LP kicked my ass through the top of my head via its solid gold meld of Scando-Japano HC abandon and psychedelic guitar excursions. Beyond the Floor dials down the psych tropes—little on this twelve-tracker zongs out quite like, say, “Parasitic Fucker” off the debut; maybe the gothy scrawling on “Forces at Work” approaches that level—but is every bit as deranged and dangerous. Written and recorded on “pills, meth, booze, weed [and] DMT,” so says the sales spiel: if this is the case, this Melbourne foursome are the opposite of sloppy drunks, cabbaged stoners or too-gone tweakers, rather a destructive forward line dosed on black market medicine by a shadowy team doctor. That is to say: fully sick in-the-red guitar tone, basslines that are sinister but groovy in the same way, say, Kira’s were in BLACK FLAG, foaming provoked-animal vox from Al Smith, maybe some bestial black metal influence in there but it’s such a barrage yer just guessing really… plus the lyric “Pubs open in my mind” and, if you were quick enough (which you weren’t, should you be reading this as a buyers’ guide), a really neat Jack Chick-parody comic packaged with the browny-gold vinyl. GELD are god’s-honest dons.

Ghouli Nothing cassette

Dark and angry hardcore from Richmond, VA. This is a really nice mix of different types of punk. I hear some early TSOL in there, some RUDIMENTARY PENI, even some HOLIER THAN THOU which makes for a cool amalgamation of early punk and death rock stuff, but they’ve clearly got the chops to blister through some faster songs as well.

مراة بركان (Mara’a Borkan) War / Revenge cassette

Two new tracks to follow up their previous tape, proving its quality was not novelty, more so MARA’A BORKAN is capable to write tense hardcore tracks even in a more organized headspace. Since these tracks are not restless, although angry and energetic, but it’s not a hot-headed mess. They have grown to be confident and deliberate. In exchange they introduce almost kraut-rockish repetitive hooks that pair well with the bouncy riffs and the still foreign melody of the vocals. They are great at keeping beats exciting, playing with emphasis and mixing hardcore with a bit of Arabic rhythms. While it is not at all challenging to enjoy them, the band expands the horizon of hardcore. The guitar sound has been refined, the sharp distortion is gone, in its place is a coiled, spooky patchwork of awesome riffs. They were great as a demo band, presenting fundamental angst, translating their environment to radical hardcore and they are great as a matured band too, who has nothing to prove. Instead, us listeners have to demonstrate that we appreciate unique bands from strange places. Tunis is a frequented resort for Europeans, one that is many miles away from the reality that explodes from MARA’A BORKAN’s music. I trust them and enjoy their tapes better than I would appreciate to be a dumb white tourist.