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!
Split release between BOMB OUT from Berlin and MIAMI DEATH 2 out of Leipzig. The BOMB OUT side consists of a tight, well-produced metalcore/beatdown track with death metal parts reminiscent of AT THE GATES. MIAMI DEATH 2’s side consists of four tracks of gritty hardcore (including a noise track), all under three minutes. You want real short-attention-span hardcore? MIAMI DEATH 2 is your answer.
Debut EP from Toronto-based CLOUDAGE, a feel-good indie set that will have you hooked straight away or leave you spitting up sugary-sweet melodies, depending on your preference for this type of thing. There are fleeting moments of edginess that help cut the sweetness where the backing vocals chime in, and you may feel compelled to nod along. While acoustic guitar strums mix with electric guitar and bass distortion over upbeat drums, the vocals are clearly the focus here: a barrage of narrative lyrics to pull at your memories of breakups and heartache, hardly stopping for a breath, evening singing through outros with “ooh”s and “la da da”s. There’s an homage to Ad-Rock from the BEASTIE BOYS, “Ad-Rock You’re So H”—and is that meant to be ambiguous? Hard? Heavy? Whatever. The closer “Stay Pure” pokes fun at their style with the line “Let bygones be bygones / Don’t turn pain into poetry / To hold onto in sad songs;” a genuine and self-effacing sentiment that may be the thread throughout this four-song debut.
If you like synth-heavy coldwave, then let me introduce you to CONFETTI MALAISE from Marseille, France. This initial full-length finds the four-piece band with ten songs that vary in energy from dancefloor swingers to the occasional melodic, emotionally-driven ballads. Hard-hitting bass and ethereal synth and guitar work creates a party atmosphere fit for our present armageddon. There’s something here that reminds me of BLAQK AUDIO, but with an early SOUTHERN DEATH CULT bend. Give this a listen, and I guarantee you’ll be swaying with a Djarum Black in your hand.
Brest-based Oi!-tinged hardcore types COUPE GORGE return five years after their last mini LP, with a full album of a more mature, assured sound. Comprising various alumni from CUIR and SYNDROME 81, they’ve inherited some of the spartan and sparse sound of their other projects but injected more of a hardcore sensibility that shines through. Definitely more hardcore than Oi! (conspicuous lack of saxophones for our friends from La République), but for those who enjoy LIONS LAW or BATTLE RUINS (for example), there’s a lot of fun to be had.
Third full-length by Portland’s hardcore punk fanatics DAYDREAM. And what a beautifully ugly record! After their great self-titled debut and followed by Mystic Operative, DAYDREAM continues to steer away from the conventional hard punk lines and dares to paint their own. More akin to the artsy side of hardcore, Reaching for Eternity is a rollercoaster of moments, bits and pieces of different parts of hardcore punk, like a collage of Dischord Records bands stitched together. No need to choose FAITH or VOID when you can have both!
The final installment of a series of DISFEAR reissues serves up a D-beat masterpiece that has been out of print since not long after its release back in 1997. It’s nothing short of a crime against punk that this album has been allowed to collect so much dust, but thankfully Havoc Records, et al. have rectified that grave oversight. Housed in a gatefold sleeve and including a bonus two-song 7” with the first hundred records, Everyday Slaughter sounds just as vital and crushing in 2024 as it did when I first heard it over twenty years ago. This is an undeniable, indisputable classic of the genre and it demands to be played loud. The riffs require it! Of the endless number of Dis-clones that have come and gone in the intervening decades, very very few have come anywhere close to the proficiency and sheer brutality demonstrated here. Look, if you like D-beat as a genre even slightly, then this is required listening. There should be an OG copy behind glass at that goofy-ass museum of punk rock (or whatever) that opened recently in Las Vegas, though I bet there’s not. Do yourself a favor and snag one for yourself before it goes back out of print again.
Brand new EP from UK’s grinding straightedge violence unit EYETEETH. An electrifying blend of fast-paced rhythms, aggressive vocals, and raw energy that epitomizes the essence of straightedge hardcore. Four relentless tracks that go by as fast as they start, and everything in just four minutes. What a beating!?! The unwavering commitment to the straightedge ethos lives on!
Ah, the late ’70s, when suddenly everyone wanted to be a punk. These lads from Kingston upon Hull used to also sometimes go by the boring moniker “the GUS WILSON BAND,” and their sound on this 7” of songs recorded in 1978 smacks of classic pub rockin’ punched up with a fashionable punk infusion à la FU2 and the like. The title track, with its electrified R&B groove and “I’d rather be poor and happy” sentiment, is quite good and undeniably catchy. The slightly less spirited “Thoroughly Nice” is a smart and succinct number and the most convincingly “punk” of the three tracks. The bright, kaleidoscopic keys on the power-poppy closer “Hat” end the record on a jubilant note along the lines of the DICKIES’ “Waterslide” or MADNESS’s “House of Fun.” But, by ’79, the group was defunct. While not exactly revolutionary, this short-lived band of Johnny-Rotten-come-latelys managed to get John Peel’s attention during their brief run, and this newly-issued EP provides them with some belated justice.
One-man projects can be dangerous double-edged swords. If they are meant to reflect perfectly, to mirror the uncompromising artistic vision of one person, they are not without risk. Sure, we all hate it when drummers offer supposedly “good” ideas (as if they knew what they were talking about), or when the singer raises some doubts about your cracking five-minute-long solo, but then when you’re on your own in the studio composing everything, no one is going to warn you if the musical brilliance you just came up with is actually dross. GIZON BERRIA is a one-man band from the Basque Country and, on the one hand, I’m sure the EP achieved what the songwriter aimed at creating, so that it can be said indeed to be a coherent work. On the other hand, I don’t think the elements all work well together. GIZON BERRIA strives to create an occult, dark, creepy and menacing punk sound. It sounds like SLIMY MEMBER and GISM having a date at a witch convention, which could theoretically work—and I gladly admit there are some good riffs on the EP—but it falls a little short. I understand the concept of a hypnotic, pagan, macabre punk sound, but I don’t feel it. It would work better on a longer format with more narrative storytelling moments helping the atmosphere to settle, like the genuinely eerie outro, but on the EP format, it just sounds like a regular modern dark punk band, which I suppose is not the point. This said, it cannot be said to be a bad record, and I can imagine people being curious and even interested.
Punk works best when it’s an overwhelming form of self-expression that feels like a sonic explosion even if it’s a tamed, slightly melodic sound at a moderate tempo. It happens on a razor-thin territory when it has to remain true to the core although it needs to lean beyond a bit to become unique and interesting. How ¿Qué Justicia? starts reminds me of the ’90s, when the sound of hardcore/punk got tamed as it entered a dead-end street of better sound quality and melodies. The main motive of the opening track is a silly, hum-like note that is too rounded to scratch, therefore the overwhelming effect of the song is missed. Meanwhile, everything is in place: angry vocals, dead simple song structures, and a good elan. The B-side of this short EP works much better. The tempo turns up and the music becomes more clumsy. The unpolished rage leaks into those songs more effectively, and then it sounds as if they want to perform their angst instead of songs. The interesting contrast is that the B-side demonstrates perfectly what is missing from the A-side, which makes the record itself exciting. Even if punk sounds super visceral, from messing around on your guitar to releasing records, a band has to make dozens of decisions and contemplating these decisions could be as entertaining as shaking your fist at a dirty venue. The reason behind the contrast of this record keeps my thoughts busy. It is convincingly suggested that GÜIÑA has a point to make through their music. Maybe this is why some of the songs have the sloppiness of pogo punk, because the focus is elsewhere. Such records completely lack the ambition to be something big within the global hardcore scene, while simultaneously carrying the ambition of destroying the existing world order. It’s a double “fuck you” that deserves recognition. I will not blast this 7” whenever I can, but the core idea of our beloved subculture is to have many more bands like GÜIÑA. The artwork looks great, and the 7” comes with an equally beautiful insert and lyric sheet.
With a few records in their bin, Las Vegas’s HEADWINDS put out A.I.—songs are fun, dirty and have plenty of grit, with great-sounding guitars toned to hollow out yer bowels. There’s a little imperfection on the recording that sounds like a stylus hitting some dust, and is fairly apparent on the opener “Desire” during the longer-than-necessary outro. But they’ve got that desert-pysch thing going on, and used a 1959 reel-to-reel to record on, so I’ll give them a pass! After a few times through, this really grew on me—the reverb-soaked vocals on the anthemic “Wild & Free” is an instant hit, and deserves a listen. The songs rollick around, kicking up dust, and give the illusion that everything will be okay, especially on the sandy-strummed acoustic closer “Melody” that sweeps beautifully to a finish.
Black-leather-clad pop punk from the sunny rolling hills of central Tuscany. HIGHSCHOOL DROPOUTS fill their self-titled record out with enough downstroking, palm muting, and “oh-oh-oh-ohhhh”s to satiate any lover of early PARASITES or VINDICTIVES. The timing is impressive and the production is heat. The band put this album out in 2002 and has since broken up and gotten back together a couple of times. The four-piece’s output varies within their discography; they seem to have moved away from the energy that blasts from this slab of vinyl. This is the time capsule that you should start with.
I learned a lot while reading about Chile’s IGNORANTES and their LP Palos Por Que Bogas, Palos Por Que No Bogas, from the ’80s Latino hardcore scene and bands that paved the way for them like SEDICION, MASSACRE 68, and LOS CRUDOS, to the current scene of bands playing raw tupa-tupa punk. It’s all killer and the fanbase is rabid. IGNORANTES play fast and raw street punk, and after watching some live footage it’s easy to see the appeal. Their style translates perfectly on this album, giving a good sense of the energy and anger of their live performances. Check out “Ciao Merda” and “No Me Gustas;” if you’re into straightforward fast and loud street punk, this will be for you.
In just a few short years, Michigander Mike Maple has proven many times over that he has a head for pop. This fourth full-length is strong in a way that lasts, not just because it’s wall-to-wall earworms, but rather that this is songwriting that’s taken the best of power pop and internalized it. It pays to do your homework, but there is nothing unapproachable or academic on display here, just natural and breathlessly good songwriting. Time will prove Maple is right there in lock step with TONY MOLINA as a prolific and earnest writer who manages fancy guitar pop tricks like descending minor chords and non-standard harmonies without being flashy or pretentious. A song like “God Bless the World” proves in under a minute-thirty just what this group is capable of. It’s got punch, it’s got heart, it’s got it all. I’m an immediate and zealous acolyte.
I’ve been aware of this band for a good chunk of the near decade-and-a-half that they’ve been in existence. They’re based out of Indianapolis, as am I, and for obvious reasons, you can’t help but notice when they pop up on a local bill. Yet this LP, their second or, like, tenth depending on how you’re counting, is the first time I’m actually listening to them. Some combination of their name and general aesthetic, which you might describe as Hot Topic circus troupe chic, had led me to believe this was firmly outside my area of interest. I’d imagined something like a cabaret-adjacent ten-piece that may or may not have a jug player. But, nope, turns out this is just a trio, and they play a mix of primitive garage punk, BABES IN TOYLAND-esque grunge, and budget surf guitar. It’s not bad! It can feel like an unwieldy tangle of influences at times, and the vocal performances can get a little too pronounced, almost like they’re doing a voice—the hard left turn from SHANNON AND THE CLAMS-y punky ’60s pop to cartoony hardcore on the album opener is a good example of both issues. Otherwise, this is a pretty solid release. I might even go so far as to say a track like “Dork Spit” is good.
Bay Area band NUCLER BLUD plays fast, short, no-bullshit hardcore. These two songs clock in at a whopping 1:38 total. This seems to be their second cassette release, which is a split release cassingle by two labels of which I can’t find any existence whatsoever. The band’s first tape was put out by To Live a Lie, and sounds like some full-on DISCLOSE worship. It’s awesome. The two songs on this cassette seem to have moved away from that slightly, but are still pretty ripping. It’s cool that these tapes seem to have been a giveaway at a Gilman Street gig the band was playing.
I’m not sure what exactly I was expecting, but it was not faster-paced, catchy pop music. Is SCOTT someone I should know? The answer, at least now, is a resounding “yes.” In addition to the pure pop goodness, there’s definitely some surf and punk elements/influences. I’ll admit to being a bit thrown when a solo artist (as opposed to a “band”) delivers legit punk/power pop. It’s just not what I was expecting. This is awesome on all levels.
The latest release from Richmond’s PRIVATE HELL consists of six tracks of dark, metallic hardcore punk attack, sitting right in the middle of the ’80s or ’90s approach but not quite polished enough to be rubbed off as booking agent metal. Reminiscent of the sound of the world of ’90s DIY hardcore rediscovering the ’80s HC style, around LEFT FOR DEAD, the SWARM, or TALK IS POISON. Solid metal-edged riffs rage throughout the tracks without any sacrifice of intensity.
Charlotte Mermoud (of Leipzig-via-Geneva post-punks the STACHES and MARAUDEUR) has used the PURPUR SPYTT project name for her (mostly) solo efforts since 2016, and true to title, Scavenges, Time-Travels, and Scrapbooks collects songs that Mermoud wrote from the start of PURPUR SPYTT to 2023 but only recorded in the last year or two, culled from notebook jottings, phone recordings, and other temporary resting places as a means of clearing the slate. PURPUR SPYTT songs have always been vehicles for Mermoud’s stark, hypnotic bass lines and deadpan, sometimes mundane/sometimes surreal spoken word monologues, with elemental Möbius loop rhythms bumping hips against the likes of ESG, LIZZY MERCIER DESCLOUX, or more recently SNEAKS—aside from a handful of brief field recording/sound collage interludes, it’s all rug-cutting heat. The loping bass groove of “Party Town” twists around cowbell-flecked drum machine beats and blasts of disintegrating synth like DELTA 5 if they’d been on Grand Royal in the ’90s, the rubbery, wound-up bounce of “On a Circle” nails the feeling of claustrophobic anxiety that so many modern DEVO disciples only wish they could hit, and “The Circumstances” (originally written for the STACHES) slinks along a minimal electro-punk wave before breaking into a frenzied freakout of keyboard squeal, drum machine rattle, and needling guitar. No sketchy throwaways or half-baked curios here!
SOFT SHOULDER has been refining their brand of angular, no-kilter post-punk for quite some time. Calling them prolific feels like an understatement…at last peek, there were no less than 34 releases listed on their Discogs page, and a sizable grip of those appear to be lathe-cut 5”s. Incredibly niche. Aptly titled, It’s All a Small World After brings us sixteen tracks of unadulterated worship at the altar of the FALL. There’s just no way around the comparison when the vocalist sounds like a dead ringer for Mark E. Smith. When a group’s sound is so closely aligned with a classic band (essentially homage territory), the question of originality recedes and is replaced by the more immediate concern of execution. After all, aping the FALL is a bit different than trying to sound like the RAMONES (not that many have actually pulled that off very well either, in truth). I’m happy to report that they do in fact pretty much nail it. And, you know, originality may well be a long dead farce at this stage anyway. Worth a spin if you enjoy the modern sounds of URANIUM CLUB, COOL GREENHOUSE, VINTAGE CROP, ’80s UK DIY, or uh, the FALL.
Roachleg hits the nail on the head with this demo cassette from SPLEEN. The best I can do to describe SPLEEN’s noise is to say it’s a blend of raw punk and deathrock with heavy emphasis on the rock’n’roll part, and it’s all sung in French. This five-song demo rips through with an apocalyptic urgency while feeding upon darkness and simultaneously mingling enough melodic tones and raucous bop to keep things danceable. Nightmarish themes permeate the lyrics which are delivered in a Peter Murphy of BAUHAUS sort of way, but with a blown-out effect and a bit more caffeination. I really dig the song “Advienne Que Pourra,” which roughly translated means “let the chips fall where they may.”
This is an interesting one to describe. It’s almost like a cut from the ’80s, when new wave and punk had a lot of blurry lines going on. It’s catchy and it’s a little moody and it’s kind of pretty, but it’s also definitely rock’n’roll. And I say “new wave,” but I’m not hearing any of the electronic instruments you’d traditionally associate with new wave. At times, it’s got a little bit of an early U2 feel. Definitely very catchy. Both cuts mention the “chip shop.” Ha, it’s a theme. I really do like this one.
It’s a myth that the water in New York makes the pizza crust the best on Earth. Could we build a similar myth connecting New Jersey’s water leading to painfully (in a good way) earnest emo-indebted punk bands? TEENAGE HALLOWEEN follows in this tradition of music that says what it means, and presents it couched in a belted-out anthemic sound that calls to mind New York neighbor JEFF ROSENSTOCK and the more erudite Jersey-born TITUS ANDRONICUS. The music is exhilarating, custom built for shout-alongs replete with gorgeous, soaring guitar work perfectly exemplified on tracks like “Getting Bitter.” The band in general just seems sort of impossible not to love, unless you’ve got “sourpuss” tattooed across your knuckles or you write “fluent in sarcasm” in your dating app bios. For the rest of us who still see the value in wearing our heart on our sleeves and telling your friends you love them—god bless TEENAGE HALLOWEEN and god bless all of us.
This band from Kyushu Island was already included on the Downright Vulgarities compilation (also released on Black Konflik Records) that I reviewed a couple of months ago, and unsurprisingly, the band delivers seven new tracks of the traditional ’80s Japanese sound. To be honest, if you told me that TOLIVE used to be active between 1984 and 1987 and that this was a reissue, I would definitely believe you, especially if you caught me at my most gullible. The singer sounds exactly like your typical ’80s Japanese hardcore singer (think GUDON or GISM, obviously), and this confers a delicious vintage feel to the recording, which I suppose is what the band goes for. Musically, this is classically executed Japanese hardcore with those triumphant riffs and characteristic high-energy backing choruses that you can shout along to with clenched fists. The production is quite raw and simple so that it almost has a stripped-down feel, which may not be intentional. In any case, I think TOLIVE would have benefited from a more energetic and refined sound. The cover looks absolutely beautiful, though. I am not the biggest fan of this brand of traditional mid/late ’80s Japanese hardcore, but I am convinced this would appeal to the nerds who are.
As soon as this EP kicked off, I knew I was going to love it. Fast, sloppy, garbage-grind. Lo-fi and gritty recording makes it sound like it was unearthed from a ’90s time capsule. The treble on the guitars and bass is turned up way high and gives off a classic black metal vibe. Nothing beats the pukey vocals for me. So many modern grind bands hire vocal coaches to “learn” how to scream. What’s up with that? This dude here just goes for it and it sounds a million times better than someone who had to pay to sound brutal. They’re probably a real joy to see live. Really great stuff here, and well worth a pick-up if you’re into this type of trash-grind.
The WIND-UPS channel the RAMONES with the grit and noise of that band’s first records. The power chords come with the fuzz and crackle of a demo cassette, but without feeling too contrived. The songs are breezy and fun if you can let your guard down. I never felt like the cacophonous drums or vapid lyrics were too derivative or overdone. Of course they could, in fact, be those things, but I enjoyed this enough not to care.
ANDY PLACE AND THE COOLHEADS have been rocking the Portland, Oregon region for nearly a decade, and their garage power pop sound on this latest EP is refined into three tracks. “Feels Like a Dream” opens things up with bang that channels SWEET. “Contrarian” hits next with an egg-punk energy, and is honestly my favorite song by ANDY PLACE AND THE COOLHEADS to date. The closer “Blackwater Commercial” is a 42-second song that heaps praise upon Portland’s legendary punk dive, Black Water Bar. So I guess this album functions as a solid two-track, and the Black Water gets a cool jingle, too.
Fun punk/pub rock out of Sweden, which is surprising because this sounds a lot like the bands that came from the Chicagoland area in the mid-to-late ’90s—very similar to WALKER and WINEPRESS and all of the other Harmless Records groups, probably because each song has these simple little guitar licks that are catchy as hell. Singer reminds me a lot of Joey Ramone mixed with Frankie Stubbs of LEATHERFACE fame. The kind of band I’d love to come across on a pub crawl. Big fan of this EP, and think it’s well worth a spin.
This is the debut 12” from BUG out of Victoria, British Columbia. With their earnest and romantic sound, the songs are reminiscent of ’90s grunge and indie with a pinch of deathrock stirred in. Warbled vocals with an obnoxious punk affectation deliver poetic lyrics over eleven tunes that could possibly pass as lost entries from the earlier Sub Pop catalog. It’s the kind of thing that would have found an enthusiastic audience on a property located directly between the Lollapalooza and Warped Tour admission gates. Check out “Heads are Gonna Roll” for one of the finer moments here.
Brooklyn’s CASH BRIBE plays frenetic NYHC with varying influences coming together to produce a fairly eclectic album that dips into powerviolence (“Creature of Consumption”), moody psychedelia (“Umbra”), and alt-rock (“Escape From New York”). While it does make for a sound interesting enough to hold my attention until the end, there’s a lack of cohesion that feels a little jarring, especially as the band leaps from style to style. Overall, not really my thing, but there is definitely an audience out there for this.
German label Erste Theke Tonträger delivers this fiery debut LP from Naarm, Australia, featuring members of PINCH POINTS, DR. SURE’S UNUSUAL PRACTICE, GONZO, DRAGNET, CARPET BURN, GUTTER GIRLS, and more. Synth-punk-driven garage madness. Solid grit, multiple and good flipping variations. Including crazy-ass funky vibes, and even cadences near Aussie cumbia (if it even exists?) in passages. Exquisite drums, and the synth and keyboards are excellent here. All tracks are in harmony, and there are some that could be an EP on their own, as in the case of “10th Dimension Advertisement Apocalypse,” which surpasses eleven minutes in length, and “Checkers.” The old lo-fi ’80s tape vibe is well-achieved, and there’s even some nods to the style of Under the Gun associates. Multifaceted, trance-inducing egg-psych almost all the way, especially the track “Circuit Breaker.” Good blasting explosions of Australian garage from a solid super-group delivering new dimensions and sounds. Crunchy, deep-fried, lo-fi feels.
This cassette compiles all three of CULT OF LIP’s first EPs—Right Now (2015, No Problem Records), Your Feedback (2017, Rare Plant Records), and Sleep Receiver (2018, Rare Plant Records). All of these are individually available from MPLS Ltd, and finally, this compilation on Kitschy Spirit. The music is equal parts psychedelic, noise, and shoegaze, gathering into an industrial-sounding headache betrothed to shimmering, warbled guitar and looping instrumentals; “Fog” off Right Now is a good example. I’m not saying this in a bad way at all, and there are times when everything gels in songs, like “Fray” from Your Feedback, that is dreamy and dark. Ronnie Lee and Hannah Porter achieve all the vocals and instruments on these recordings, except for Sleep Receiver on which the drummer Eric Whalen is credited. This pared-down lineup gives a true focus to their sound, which has progressed since their first release over ten years ago, with Sleep Receiver (the most recent) being my favorite of the three. This cassette comes out in front of their 2023 Marsha LP, perhaps creating some buzz (or fuzz) for the release. I was surprised how much this grew on me: while it droned and wandered at times, the effective songcraft and Hannah’s haunting vocals kept drawing me back.
Imagine what would happen if the Crucificados Pelo Sistema LP, Valtion Vankina LP, and Who the Helpless EP morphed into one and then mutated into some fucked-up thing? Complete devastation of hardcore annihilation. The world is ending and this is the music for it.
The vocals here will make or break your listen. They’re droning, snotty, and repetitive. I kept thinking of English anarcho-punk bands, whose vocals can be a barrier to entry. The guitars have a thin, whiny quality, which seems odd for a band really channeling bawdy bar punk. I kept waiting for them to thicken or turn up. This band initially struck me as a kind of bombastic proto-punk outfit, and they kept making choices which pulled me away from that impression. I don’t know if that contrast was intentional, but for me it defined the listen.
Simple and effective guitar/drums garage rock band featuring members from the US and Turkey. Stripped-down, flanged-out guitar lines and catchy vocals make this an enjoyable, conceptual romp through Beyoğlu, Turkey. The track “SlightlyDelic” stands out from the rather primitive garage stompers on the record with a fast and funky post-punk approach, complemented by commanding spoken word vocals. Several songs center on themes of late nights in the city’s streets and include sound clips and Turkish lyrics mixed with English that give the record a cool, culture-straddling flair. One of the band’s vocalists, Chris Sollars, recently released a solo project called $OLLAR$, which I mention because this release contains three of those songs in more polished, upbeat versions.
This is some superb power pop that’s all glammed up. In fact, this will transport you directly back to 1976. The A-side actually fades out like they used to do back in the day—imagine the SWEET and the BAY CITY ROLLERS and then throw in some attitude. (In other words, heavy on the SWEET.) Honestly, I even get some little hints of the PARTRIDGE FAMILY. Holy shit, turns out this is a reissue of an older recording and this is actually from 1974 (not 1976). English. Fantastic.
Long-lost power pop from the mean streets of Yonkers circa 1980. Looks like this four-song recording was it for the group. A couple of great straightforward rockers and a couple lukewarm crooners (“Tomorrow Night,” “She Gives a Color to Me”). All is worth it upon hearing “Instant Reaction;” there is a deep honesty in the vocals and you can hear the steam in the room. They credit Rob Freeman on production duties, who was known at the time for his engineering work with the RAMONES, which adds up. Breakout Records is the shit, I have not met a release of theirs that didn’t slap me around.
What a treat to get this cassette in my review pile; recently I’ve been on a hardcore kick from bands like GOLPE, QUARANTINE, and G.U.N., and I can safely say if you’re a fan of any of these bands, you’ll dig HARRY CHINASKI. Hailing from the thriving punk scene in Buenos Aires, HARRY CHINASKI plays fast and mean tunes inspired by ’80s hardcore and skate punk. Each and every song is brutish and over before you realize it, and I love the echoing vocal effect, especially on “Holocausto Sanitario.” It suits the music so well and gives the album a menacing vibe that reminds me of FAIRYTALE. I can’t recommend this enough, a total ripper worth your time.
The first installment of the Strange Mono label’s Unsung Gems series, releasing recordings that have been lost to time. The JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA was active from 1979–1983 in Bergen County, NJ. Now, I know what you’re thinking, fellow MRR hardcore punk enthusiast: a long-lost recording from a band a mere hour drive from powerhouse record label Mutha Records from the exact Killed By Death time frame?! What wonders might await us? Well, I was wondering the exact same thing, but alas, the JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA was undoubtedly a rock’n’roll act. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Hell, who doesn’t love rock’n’roll? This collection of recordings is a confusing roller coaster to ride on, though—hopping from genre to genre it all feels a bit rudderless. Rock en general, blues rock, reggae, ’70s hard rock, power pop. It plays more like a mixtape than an album by a singular band. None of this is surprising, as I doubt this was ever intended to be a group of recordings played back to back. Moreso, it was likely a band trying to find their sound or whatever people say. Being a bit of an amateur shitty archaeologist myself, It’s always a fun thing to see long-lost recordings unearthed and brought to light. While it may not have scratched the itch I had initially hoped, the songwriting is solid, even if some of it isn’t my thing. The few power-pop-leaning tracks are legitimately cool; “Settled Sons,” “Fifth Amendment,” and “Martyrs For Each Other” are easily my favorites on the tape.
“Important” is an understatement when describing this band. The LAST SURVIVORS amalgamate the raw energy of UK82 with the ferocity of Scandinavian hardcore, delivering a relentless sonic assault that leaves listeners electrified. Their music pulsates with the unbridled spirit of rebellion, echoing the grit and determination characteristic of their predecessors. This LP collects their 7″s on Crust War, Dan-Doh, and Pogo 77, as well as other rare tracks, fully remastered for vinyl. In the words of Jacky Crust War: “There were some bands we couldn’t ignore. That was the one, the LAST SURVIVORS.”
California is sun-baked into the sound of this full-length. Songs about catching waves, being too high, and skating (sorry, I meant “sk8ing”), all delivered via that sound that hasn’t quite left us since WAVVES, BEST COAST, and FIDLAR seemed ever-present and sponsored by Vans. That all sounds like a preamble to a dunk on these fun-having party punks, but I have a sweet tooth for this kind of sound. It really doesn’t do much to elevate the genre, but it’s earnest guitar pop about hanging with your buds (weed pun) and wasting your youth. That sort of thing never really goes out of style, even if by the end of just 30 minutes the sound gets a bit stale for me.
There’s no denying the influence of UK post-punk and new wave here. Most of what you’ll hear on Immaculate Protection could have come right off the streets of ’70s Manchester. The pop sensibilities are adorned with all the peculiar sounds and sharp, treble-touched guitar of that period. I was happy to see the band muddy some of that shine, though. They occasionally mutate their melodies enough to maintain a dark, uneasy tone. Together with the singer’s almost monotone delivery, NOWAVES keep the revelry and angst flowing.
It’s a confusing thing—I could have sworn that I was not a fan of recordings being overproduced, and that I prefer a recording to be a bit raw and lo-fi if it captures the essence of a band. OUTSIDER might have me reconsidering this stance, however. This may be a new frontrunner for the most lo-fi recording I have ever heard. It’s a shame too, because there are some pretty damn catchy riffs on it, which can be slightly deciphered from the cranked treble on the one guitar you can actually hear. Hell, I couldn’t even tell you for sure if there were drums on the songs or if my brain was just filling in the gaps. If you had told me this was someone’s practice tape of ideas for songs to show potential band members, I would have believed you; that’s closer to what this cassette sounds like than a demo. There’s two songs, it’s hardcore punk, they hate cops, there’s about two-and-a-half minutes of “music” on a forty-five minute tape, but I couldn’t tell you much else about it. I never thought I would be one to gripe about production values. Thanks a lot, OUTSIDER, I have no idea who I am anymore.
This is one that nobody expected: a new record from Bruges’ PRIVATE JESUS DETECTOR. I have always seen the band as part of a scale that can be used to assess the degree of nerdiness of a given punk. If one is cognizant with them, you know there is some solid knowledge of the ’90s crust and D-beat scene involved, and potentially the lovely prospect of a lengthy debate over the merits of SVART PARAD. You could say PRIVATE JESUS DETECTOR are something of a cult band if you are into primitive and raw European hardcore punk influenced by the heaviest brand of UK anarcho-punk and vintage käng hardcore. It is admittedly a small cult. I am always dubious when I am faced with new material from a band that split up 30 years ago (that was even before the SPICE GIRLS’ formation), because you never really know what you are going to get—a lot of old bands reform and record stuff that they would have been ashamed to listen to back when they were still relevant. But you can also be pleasantly surprised, and this Belgian powerhouse falls in the second category. The influences haven’t changed, and PRIVATE JESUS DETECTOR still works with the same basics, namely ANTISECT and ANTI-SYSTEM getting into a school fight with CRUDE SS and DISCARD (don’t worry, they all make peace and listen to EXCREMENT OF WAR by the end), but the sound is cleaner and clearer and it reminds me of how HELLKRUSHER has evolved. The band hasn’t given up on the vintage anarcho politics either, and the song “Serpent’s Game” shows they think critically about “the scene.” On the whole, Nobody’s Master Nobody’s Servant is a pretty good album and it does have a couple of genuinely hard-hitting numbers where the dual vocals work great together (a second singer, Vrokker from CHRONIC DISEASE, has been added for the album, and I’m always a sucker for those). Hopefully it might make people want to check out the earlier material, but I know full well that the ones who will listen to this new album are the ones who are already fans anyway, some of whom will whine that it doesn’t sound like the How Evil Can One Get EP from 1994 as if the band should have been frozen in the ’90s like a punk mammoth. I wish ANTISECT’s reformation sounded something like this LP.
Purported to be Brazil’s very first punk band, RATOS DO BECO never played a formal show in their brief existence from September to December 1978. Legend has it that their open-garage-door rehearsals would draw a crowd of curious onlookers, with motorists pulling over to get a closer look and listen. Founding member Miguel Barella (who would go on to form the excellent new wave outfit AGENTSS) captured one of these practice-cum-gigs on reel-to-reel tape, which all these years later, comprises the four-ish songs on this EP. “Saved from obscurity” releases like this are often propped up by their backstories, and in this case the story is providing a fair amount of propping. Calling it a demo is a bit of a stretch as it truly does sound like a hastily recorded practice, replete with aging tape interference and a snippet of a cover of “Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue.” So, does the music warrant a 2024 vinyl pressing complete with a sixteen-page booklet of photos and liner notes? Your mileage may be different from mine, but I’d answer that with a resounding “probably!” They sound like a rudimentary version of France’s finest first-wave punks, the DOGS. RATOS DO BECO play some dirty rock’n’roll that has enough snarl and feral energy to be called punk. Unlike so many of their contemporaries, they weren’t aping the SEX PISTOLS or (partial cover aside) the RAMONES. The band members appear to have gone on to have impactful careers in music. This EP portrays a partially developed snapshot of unbridled youth and rebellion in its most gestational form. A charming slice of South American punk history.
As the title suggests, this is a promo tape that follows their Beach Impediment 7”. Surely the recording quality is more relaxed, almost rehearsal room-style, but this appears in the mixing and rawness of the sound that lacks the robustness of modern studios. It’s not sloppy, although it sounds a bit framelike as the fulfilling power is missing, which could be fun because it shows the sonic backbone of their songs in an unfiltered way (although this makes the tape interesting rather than incredible). Yet this is a daring move, since the focus here is on the quality of the songwriting rather than studio nuances. SOCIO LA DIFEKTA plays hardcore, the international kind. They mix Swedish-sounding D-beat songs with the part weird, part raging chaos of Italian and Spanish hardcore. As a cultural wink, they covered JEZUS AND THE GOSPELFUCKERS. It’s experimenting, a lot of clever action goes on within the song structures, never to the loss of energy, there is a constant rage, and the rawness of the recording makes it more natural.
Wow. This one is a rocker. There is guitar and bass and drums and harmonica and even tambourine. I’m not sure I’ve ever described a record as being heavy, but here it is. This record is heavy. It’s also a catchy and melodic rager. This is contained insanity. If you had told me this was released in 1969, I’d have believed you. It’s totally authentic that way, but not in a Nuggets or Pebbles sort of way, in a heavy sort of way. As the LYRES were to Boston, so are SUGAR TRADITION to Detroit. That’s rad.
Really great modern Oi! out of Belgium that incorporates a lot of hardcore elements as well. Solid guitar gallops and throaty, barking vocals. Speaking of guitar, the utilization of the barre chords adds a whole level of additional heaviness on top of the melodic leads that give off a bit of a pop sensibility. Catchy but brutal. Everything is played tight, and the drums and bass are interlocked real well. I love the bass tone here, it sounds like the strings are melting off the neck with each stroke. Really amplifies the energy as a whole. These dudes just went all out. Lovely work here.
Before this review, I realized that I had not played WOLFBRIGADE for a very long time. And I am not sure why, because they have become something of a classic band, one of the few Swedish hardcore bands whose popularity transcends the DIY hardcore punk scene (in general, accusations of selling out are never too far away when this happens). It’s a little tragic but, while I do play WOLFPACK regularly, I don’t think I ever really sat down and paid properly attention to Progression/Regression, the band’s first album under their new name, and to be honest, I do feel like a bit of an idiot for it. This album is a hardcore bulldozer—it hits really hard, it sounds mean and unstoppable, as if darkness itself were shattering your bones. The production is massive (more so than on 1999’s Allday Hell), thick and heavy, and there is a feel of relentless unstoppability to the work that leaves one in awe. Intense shit. I am not necessarily the biggest fan of their take on the käng genre, but listening to this again makes me want to ride a bike into the wasteland wearing boots and a bandana. Musically, we’re still heavily in the dark hardcore period of the band when they maximized the late ANTI-CIMEX sound with the addition of a Swedish death metal influence in some guitar leads and in terms of epicness. I almost hear some of POISON IDEA’s rocking darkness at times too, although WOLFBRIGADE is quintessentially Swedish. This is undeniably a real ’00s hardcore classic and it still sounds fearfully powerful. Agipunk and Havoc Records had the sense to offer a new cover because the original was quite dreadful, if quite typical of the ’00’s. A welcome reissue.
It’s pretty wild that this classic record hasn’t been reissued in almost forty years, until now. Originally released on Bomp! in 1977, this debut single from first-wave Southern California punks the ZEROS is blueprint punk at its most iconic. Values of early pressings have made this one a bit elusive for most, so here’s a chance to finally snag an essential.
