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!

The Ejected A Touch of Class LP reissue

Blimey, a reissue of the EJECTED’s first album, A Touch of Class. I know the name of the record was supposed to be ironic and tongue-in-cheek, but even that intent does not make up for the pictures of the lads with their girlfriends that already looked awkward in 1982. A rather tasteless choice for a cover, akin to your average chauvinistic heavy metal band. When I was a teen, I played this LP to death (I owned the 1996 reissue for some reason) because its simplicity, sing-along choruses, and energy really appealed to me, and as a consequence, I know the thing by heart. I cannot say that it aged well, though. Overall, it is pretty sloppy, if not generic. It does get the feet tapping, but it could be out of nostalgia and my natural disposition to love naive ’80s British punk, as there were objectively much better bands at that time. The lyrics are what you would expect from an Oi!-inclined UK82 band, about being working class, being fifteen, fighting, England not being dead, and not having 10p. Despite all this, I still get goosebumps when I listen to the shower-tested “Carnival,” a quintessential teenage punk song with an unlikely, out-of-tune reggae moment right in the middle and a chorus that just goes “Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah.” There are two ways to look at A Touch of Class and at the EJECTED. If you think that Riot City Records was the most meaningful ’80s punk label and that getting hammered in front of a brick walls is a way of life, then you can probably already sing along to all the EJECTED’s lyrics, and if you buy this record, it is just because you could not afford the original version. If you are just looking for some solid, tuneful, old-school British punk music but are not a fanatic of the genre, then you can definitely find better bands to listen to.

Foresight In Search of Understanding LP

This is the debut full-length from Polish metalcore band FORESIGHT. This is pretty by-the-numbers ’90s-style metalcore here, nothing more and nothing less. Not very much here really grabs my interest, truthfully. The musicianship is competent and if you’re into this kind of thing it might be worth your while, but I don’t dig it very much.

Jock Jock demo cassette

Montreal’s JOCK comes out swinging with this one. Originally released digitally in 2020, this one ultimately got a cassette release in 2023. Seven tunes of aggro, whirlwind hardcore assault. The Bandcamp description uses AGNOSTIC FRONT, NEGATIVE APPROACH, and Youth Attack Records as stylistic comparisons, which should give an idea of what you’re in for. I also hear a few sprinkling of fellow Canadians URBAN BLIGHT. If all that sounds appetising to you, which it probably should, I would recommend that you give this one a spin.

Lafff Box Lafff Box LP

German punk rockers LAFFF BOX are difficult to pigeonhole into this or that genre. Driving hard with distorted vocals and a noisy, twin-guitar attack, they switch from rollicking, mosh pit punk on tracks like “Master” to a more melodic, mid-tempo rock vibe on the very next track, “Just a Fool.” The rhythm section stands out, providing a bedrock foundation for the chaotic guitars. One of my favorite tracks is the stripped-down Motörpunk rager “Restart the Program.”

Lasso Ordem Imaginada EP

I am a little torn about this one. Not so torn that I would lose sleep or talk about it to my shrink (God knows he’s been through enough), but circumspect enough to be unable to judge if Ordem Imaginada is a solid or average ’20s hardcore EP. There are some elements of the record that I cannot help but find rather generic in terms of production and songwriting considering the current creative context of hardcore punk. On the other hand, it would be wrong and unfair to discard LASSO, as their third EP is objectively, taken as a singular work (out of context, so to speak), a good hardcore punk record. And besides, as a massive fan of orthodox D-beat, I should be prone to love generic music anyway. LASSO’s work sounds angry and very energetic, the seven songs flow with ease, and there are enough shades of hardcore paces (and even some dissonant moments) to please every clique. There are strong elements of the furious years of Italian hardcore like IMPACT or INDIGESTI, but I can also hear some ’80s Mexican hardcore like CLAMOR INEXORABLE or MELI, and even hints of the hardest branch of UK82 punk (say CRIMINAL JUSTICE)—all brilliant influences on paper, but I guess the effects on the vocals and guitars are a little too overwhelming for me, and it actually impairs the raw and direct quality of the songs. I wish I understood Portuguese, because I am sure the band has a lot to say about Brazil.

Mallwalker Danger cassette

Baltimore’s MALLWALKER have compiled their unreleased studio recordings along with a live performance on their Danger cassette, sadly released in unfortunate circumstances as a memorial to their late lead singer Sarah Danger Underhill, and released at her memorial earlier this year. As the band graciously chose to honor her by releasing this tape, those who missed the chance to see them play live will still get to enjoy these stellar songs. MALLWALKER played classic punk with a sneer and a big two fingers up, reminding me of CRASS, SEX PISTOLS, and U.K. SUBS (whose “Tube Disaster” they absolutely crush). Sarah rants and raves with sarcasm and wit, mostly preserving her scathing barbs for the likes of creeps in the punk scene, from emotionally draining partners (“Taker,”“Spell It Out”) to gaslighting perverts (“Hunt You Down”). She even saves some venom for mom and dad on the clever “Parent Trap,” a big eyeroll to all the rules given to you as a youngster living under their roof. For someone who never knew Sarah or saw MALLWALKER play live, it’s easy to see and hear what so many people miss.

Morwan Svitaye, Palaye cassette

Kyiv-based MORWAN’s third release of post-punk/darkwave was recently made during the most challenging circumstances any band could face (for obvious reasons). This is Alex Ashtaui’s document of life during wartime, and for that reason alone, it should have your full attention. The record pounds an atmospheric, tribal, surf-inflected psych sound into each track, addressing war and the havoc that surrounds it.  The cassette needs to be heard in full, with each song building on the next. It is one of the more impressive pieces of music that I have heard this year. Start with “Полетіли” and “Земля палає,” and it’s hard not to see the importance of this recording.

Nix Nix demo cassette

On the strength of NIX’s four-song debut demo, this one’s no-messing, no-frills hardcore with velocity and bellicosity. The bona fides of the lineup—Reid Allen, Andy Bottaro, Dan Bulford, and Tallulah Hoffman—does not render this a great surprise, but NIX sounds in a real attack-dog mood here, and ensures this eight minutes is only predictable by virtue of how good it is. Tuned down pretty thick and rarely exceeding mid-pace, it’s a textbook example of how to do gruff, burly HC without throwing in metal flamboyance or beatdown sections, and on “Gospel for the Modern Age,” an almost melodic hook pokes out of the maelstrom, along with the sung refrain “Turn my body into dust.” NIX feels very much like a band who are a product of the 2023 London scene—or conversely a few of them, from the Knuckledust/LBU old-timers to so-called NWOBHC acts like ARMS RACE to the fresher likes of ANTAGONIZM.

Outahand Outahand LP

This is a nicely packaged unreleased 1996 album by unknown SoCal sillycore band OUTAHAND. Who, you say? It’s a speedy fifteen songs in like twenty-something minutes. Movie sound bites, rapid drum beats, clowny vocals, and some melodic moments are all included here. They played with the likes of RKL, GOOD RIDDANCE, and NO USE FOR A NAME, which is a great predictor of what your ears will encounter. Not much joy is sparked here. I’m not really sure if this warranted more clogging up of the pressing plants, but if you ever owned a pair of baggy shorts or colorful Ray-Bans, this could be just what you needed.

The Owners The Owners LP

The OWNERS play pop punk so smooth, so harmonious, it veers into power pop territory. The squeaky-clean sound on their self-titled LP contrasts a bit with their world-weary, jaded presentation, but it’s not a dealbreaker or anything. The vocalist has a big, swing-for-the-fences style, which gets a workout since most songs break the two-minute mark. That length made me feel like they lost steam at a certain point. I mean, it’s not Hidden World, but still, punk favors brevity. The lyrics often have a real story to tell and it’s easy to get swept away by the rants and reminiscences.

Paranoia Pain & Pleasure LP

The Pain & Pleasure LP by PARANOIA is a compilation of songs from cassette tapes that were originally only available directly from the band during the mid-’80s. PARANOIA plays a type of punk rock that is heavily influenced by goth and post-punk, and at times even explores the prog rock field. There are portions of this album that remind me of PENDRAGON or other prog bands that used fantasy-based fiction to create sonic environments. Looping riffs that seem to continue endlessly before exploring another, while vocals explore lyrics about swords, battles, and other medieval imagery.

Royal Drug Defend Degeneracy CD

Powerviolence out of Albuquerque that draws comparisons to SPAZZ and CAPTAIN THREE LEG. Great barking vocals more reminiscent of youth crew than grindcore. Drums and bass sound huge on this and drive more of the record than the guitars. That might sound counterintuitive for a hardcore album, but it works here. Groovy as hell. I may be biased, but bands who reference Altered Beast in any way get a gold star from me. My only complaint is the samples at the beginning of some tracks. I know this is a classic grind trope, but it kills the momentum on such a short record.

Satin Black Rock Hard at Random cassette

Heavy-metal-infused party punk rock from Dekalb County, IL. Mostly pretty formulaic, with a couple of little curveballs thrown in that are likely little goofs between the band members—for example, the intentionally sloppy blastbeat part of their song “Scumbag Black Metal.” That one makes sense to me, but the disco beat on “Red, White, and Brew” is over my head. With song titles like that, I kind of imagine everyone more or less can tell what they’re getting into with a band like SATIN BLACK.

Sex Prisoner State Property EP reissue

Hard to believe this dropped ten years ago, but here we are, and To Lie A Lie is giving new life to this Arizona powerviolence slab. Ten tracks, overloaded with low end and a lumbering, awkward approach to the fast part of the equation, while the slows just hit you in the gut and then take up residence there. This record still crushes, their approach to PV is legitimately unique and totally holds up…but it would be a copout to review the record without noting that the band name has always sucked and still does.

Slander Tongue Monochrome LP

I really liked this band’s debut self-titled full-length, and was excited to see what they’d cooked up in the past couple of years. I’m mostly happy to report that while the sound is just a touch slinkier and snakier, it maintains its core of driving rock‘n’roll that carries echoes of giants like the ROLLING STONES without merely staley worshiping at the altar. The recipe hasn’t been tweaked much, the guitar work relies heavily on that back-and-forth boogie sound lifted from classic rhythm and blues music for decades, and the drums keep your ass wiggling throughout. What I will say is that I’m missing some of the warmth and recklessness of the band’s debut. Everything’s dialed-in and tidy, but that’s not what everyone wants from rock‘n’roll, is it? With some extra polish, I feel more distanced from the material. It lacks the immediacy, the broken glass on the floor, the stains on the bathroom stall door at a really great dive. Maybe that’s all artifice in itself, but if I get to choose the dream world I live in, I prefer one with cheap drinks where I can smoke inside. This time around, it’s more of a signature cocktail lounge and I’d better take my cigs the hell outside or else.

Telegenic Pleasure Concentric Grave LP

Synth punk is a style that was born perfect. Distilled down to its most primordial elements, it can be taken and re-created over and over again, and you know what? It is made of such noble stuff, that the results are always highly enjoyable. In the case of TELEGENIC PLEASURE (a band composed of members of the GAGGERS, ISOLATION PARTY, MONONEGATIVES, and MISCALCULATIONS), in addition to the aforementioned genre potentialities, you can expect the great talent and experience of such prolific people to generate great songs. And there are plenty of them on this album. Think of the unbridled energy of LOST SOUNDS and the fun and snotty attitude of late ’70s bands from the San Francisco and Los Angeles scenes. Plus, they have an excellent cover of Canada’s the DEMICS that is sure to become a cult classic.

Trigger Cut Soot LP

German noise rockers TRIGGER CUT have really gone through it during the last few years. First, a devastating fire at their rehearsal space destroyed all their equipment and the early recordings for this album. Through determination and the aid of six (!) community-organized benefit compilations, they finished Soot, their third record. The band then hit another snag when starting their UK tour. Due to post-Brexit bureaucratic red-tape bullshit, they were turned away at the border, sparking international concern about the treatment of foreign touring bands, even appearing in mainstream publications like The Guardian. So, it has been a lot for a small touring band, but how is the album? It’s really good. “Water Fukkery” kicks it off with a mathy, DON CAB-style riff that explodes into trebly, sandpaper guitar and spoken/shrieked vocals like SHELLAC. “Soot Song” begins with fire alarm guitars that then run through several movements of hold-and-release tension that end in a quiet, chiming outro. “Slipstream” might be the perfect TRIGGER CUT song: it opens with a catchy figure and rolling drums, moves from textured guitar and hollered vocals down to near silence, and then takes off again into full-rocking mode. The songs are complex and emotional, and while not necessarily melodic, there is a compositional arrangement that is always interesting. A compelling and exciting record throughout, and a testament to tenacity. I’m glad they stuck it out.

V2 Johnny Rocco / Car Crash 7″

Re-recording of a seminal and classic V2 track alongside one new one, “Car Crash.” This appears to be a predecessor to a forthcoming full-length in the works. The band has reformed somewhat recently, with the only original member being the guitar player. Nonetheless, the tracks sound good and have ’77 Manchester written all over them.

White Collar Demo 2023 cassette

Debut release from Victoria, BC’s WHITE COLLAR. Nasty-sounding anti-capitalist tracks from the city of the newly dead. Aside from the UNITED MUTATION vibes and perhaps some influences borrowed from the Crass Records and Riot City catalogs, it’s also reminiscent of ’80s Montreal mutants CAPITALI$T ALIENATION. WHITE COLLAR not only sounds pissed-off, but reminds us of the ugly realities of our society.

Willful Disobedience Dedication cassette

The first thirty seconds of this cassette might lead you to think that you’re in store for some doomy stoner rock, which is most assuredly not the case. Instead, WILLFUL DISOBEDIENCE plays fast and aggravated punk rock with bouncing bass lines and shouted vocals. There does seem to be a subtle metal influence creeping in, but I think it’s just the way the drummer uses a china cymbal to accent certain parts. The song “Butthole to Butthole” inexplicably sounds like a DWARVES B-side and detracts from a release that otherwise seems to have fairly thoughtful lyrical content. All in all, this isn’t terrible, but it’s hard to commend something so average in a time when there are multitudinous bands pushing the boundaries of what punk can sound like.

Zxrx Community Siah Was Here EP

Four songs recorded by members of ZLODZIEJE ROWEROW, APRIL, and OREIRO as a tribute to their friend who passed away in the summer of 2020. Rather than write some songs of their own, they chose to play some VERBAL ASSAULT and SERENE songs and record their own lyrics. I can only guess that perhaps these were among some of their fallen friend’s favorite songs and the lyrics are in remembrance of them. The songs are sung in German so I’m just assuming here, but the last line of the last song is sung in English with the words being “We say goodbye,” so I’m pretty sure that it’s a safe bet that I’m right. All in all, it’s a cool way to honor a friend.

V/A The Happy Squid Sampler EP reissue

The URINALS started Happy Squid to release their debut 7” in 1978, but this 1980 label sampler effectively foreshadowed some of the scattered directions that the members of the band would follow as they drifted further away from ramshackle punk into the ’80s, from their soon-to-be reinvention as tense post-punks 100 FLOWERS to the moody college rock of DANNY AND THE DOORKNOBS and TROTSKY ICEPICK. The EP leads with three tracks directly from the URINALS family tree, starting with a perfect half-minute of the parent group’s primitive bashing (“U”), followed by DANNY AND THE DOORKNOBS’ “Melody,” a dark, lo-fi punk jangler like the URINALS gone Paisley Underground, and then an organ-buzzing improv noise instrumental called “Get Down, Part 4” by ARROW BOOK CLUB (actually the URINALS incognito). For the remaining three tracks, things are turned over to a handful of URINALS peers from the L.A. underground—VIDIOTS (featuring Rik L Rik on vocals) offered “Laurie’s Lament,” a speedy, Dangerhouse-style burner that’s weirded-up midway with a PERE UBU-ish synth break, PHIL BEDEL’s “Caterpillar Stomp” is squelching, instrumental post-DEVO synthwave, and NEEF rounds things out with a lengthy (the EP’s entire B-side) neo-musique concrète jam. Punk to waaaaaay beyond punk in just six degrees.

Ahna Crimson Dawn LP

I remember catching this band in 2016 in Croatia or, to be more accurate, I remember having a great time and being quite impressed by them, but actual details are largely lost—I think they played toward the end of the No Sanctuary fest, which was pretty much an obligatory summer migration for crusties in Europe. This album is the nastiest, meanest record I have heard this month. AHNA comes from Vancouver, has been going since 2008, and is the best example of a band successfully blending stenchcore and old-school death metal. They keep the best of both worlds in a seamless fashion. While the majority of bands conducting such a perilous experiment generally fail because they merely make either an angrier dis-oriented version of death metal or a more technical version of stenchcore music with too clean a production, AHNA’s sound is an actual brew which can appeal to both punks and metalheads. If it does sound like a herd of disgruntled, possessed hippos ravaging your hometown, the tastefulness and the mastery are obvious if you are a fan of crust. This is basically how a dark and desperate cocktail blending death metal and crust should be prepared. If BOLT THROWER, SACRILEGE, DISMEMBER, and AUTOPSY engaged in a brawl at the release party of a split between CRUZ and LIMB FROM LIMB, it would be pretty close to this. Crimson Dawn has a thick, dark, and macabre vibe, but still sounds like it could angrily bite you in half like your studded punk friend can tear through a vegan kebab at 2AM after downing eight pints of lager. I especially love the raging work of the two vocalists on this, and singer/drummer(!) Anju does a magnificent impersonation of Tam from SACRILEGE. The best I have heard, in fact. This album was originally released on CD and cassette in 2020, but the always reliable Phobia Records had the good idea to do a vinyl version.

Body Maintenance Beside You LP

It’s not often a post-punk band is able to find a groove and ride it to the precipice. BODY MAINTENANCE from the United Kingdom is able to find a groove quickly and jam their icy guitar work into the darker corners of rock with their danceable rhythm section. KILLING JOKE meets the SMITHS in a back alley rumble: cold, spacy, and full of hard-hitting twists.

Burning Kross Burning Kross LP

Six-track LP from these Belgian hardcore punks, filled with anger and versing on anti-fascist and anti-racist ideals. From Oostakker near Ghantes, BURNING KROSS delivers violent and fast-paced hardcore punk with crust and D-beat references and deep bass vocals ready to fight. Extra points for the album cover art featuring a KKK scumbag receiving a burning cross right in their torso.

Curious Things Naif LP

After countless rip-offs of either the TOMS or (god forbid) BIG STAR, power pop’s luster has really tarnished for me over the years. Then I throw on this record, and initially my scuzzy punk brain is saying “too shiny, sounds too good!,” but then I realize this is what I’ve been missing for years in power pop. It’s still referential music, to be sure, but it’s referencing heyday ’90s power pop bands like TEENAGE FANCLUB and especially BUFFALO TOM. So I’m suddenly sitting up straighter in my chair, realizing this is something I didn’t think I’d ever hear again! A band with chops, a singer with loads of character, harmonies, and complex arrangements that hit. It takes a fair amount of confidence to put out music this sincere, and I’m totally here for it. To me, it’s tougher to write an honest-to-god ballad like “The Night” with some wavering fragility to it that beats out a hundred leather jacket ’70s-worshiping ironic rockers. This is so far the biggest surprise of the year for me, something I didn’t even know I was looking for, and I can’t wait to spin it all over again.

The Cut-Ups I Hate CD

Holy shiiiiiiit, this is what I want from teenage punk! Snotty, fast, raw swinging in-yer-fukkn-face Brooklyn punk of the highest order, the CUT-UPS do everything that they’re supposed to here (including the “These Boots are Made for Walking” cover, for fuck’s sake), and I’m hoping that future releases (or endeavors) are going to be even better. I Hate is straight fire—highly recommended.

Disintegration Time Moves For Me 12″

When I pressed play on the opener “Carry With You,” I was hit with a drum machine and a dirty, farty synth line—like something you’d hear on a NINE INCH NAILS record—then Haley Himiko (PLEASURE LEFTISTS) came in with deep and dark vocals, crooning through the mechanical soundscape from Noah Anthony (PROFILIGATE), Christopher Brown (CLOUD NOTHINGS), and Paul Ryan (solo project under his name). A little coldwave, a little goth, a little synth punk, and a lot Cleveland. Songs are on the longer side, the shortest being three-and-a-half minutes, so you get good mileage out of these four tracks. The last song (“Make a Wish”) has a music video, if you want to see the team at work. I believe this is the first recording from the group, and I hope they keep at it. Lovers of the off-kilter and avant-garde, apply within.

Evil Engines Straight to My Soul / Teenage Kicks 7″

The A-side is a mid-tempo garage punker with dark vocals that sort of remind me of JOY DIVISION. It’s good. It’s not great, but it’s definitely good. The B-side is a very average cover of the UNDERTONES’ classic single from the late ’70s. It’s delivered at a slightly slower tempo than the original, but for me the real issue is that they don’t do anything with it. If you’re going to cover a classic song, you need to really make it yours. Do something with it. Unless your goal is to be a cover band…

Frisk / Last Affront split cassette

Split between two hardcore outfits out of the UK. There’s a little bit of a grind/powerviolence element here as well. FRISK is reminiscent of early CEREMONY, while LAST AFFRONT has more of a D-beat edge mixed with NEGATIVE APPROACH. Really love the vocal stylings from LAST AFFRONT. They’re unique and help them stand out from the mix of other bands who have done this type of hardcore countless times in the past. Otherwise, nothing really groundbreaking here. Worth a listen if you’re a moshcore junkie.

Fushojiki Atypical EP

Out of Malaysia, this four-piece delivers hardcore punk that reminded me of POISON IDEA, SLAPSHOT, and to a lesser extent, CRO-MAGS. This five-track EP comes fast, hard, precise, and political. A good example is the track “Edu-Cash-It,” which insists “What you have to seek is the education / But it’s been misused for their greed.” An excellent choice for fans of old-school hardcore with a thrashy twist.

George Crustanza Billionaire Blastoff cassette

This band with members from San Francisco and Oakland delivers vibrant, crusty hardcore punk, with pinched, aggressive vocals and high-pitched guitars that deliver rocky riffs all around. Drums are on-point with bass lines that never seem to stop. The Bay Area continues to give us fast hardcore punk bands. Favorite tracks: “GTFO” and “Hiking Stomp.” Catch them playing live, as it must be a thrill—this cassette exudes groove and aggression.

I Got Worms The Second Shot CD

Melodic punk heavy on the crunchy guitars, with vocals that give ‘em just the slightest redneck tinge, like NINE POUND HAMMER on a slowed-down ’90s Fat Wreck tip. Super pro recording, and it’s hard to deny the chops—nice and simple gets the job done here.

חרדה (Jarada) No Co-Existence With…12″

This is a cool one: punk from Tel Aviv sung entirely in Hebrew. JARADA plays tough and heavy hardcore songs about the oppressive system they live in, and boy, do they seem pissed. Each and every song here is angrier than the next, and rightfully so! These guys are living in a world of corrupt police, religious extremism, and general apathy towards it all. Sound familiar? Loud, fast, and hard is the name of the game sonically, each song pummeling forward with crunchy riffs and hoarse vocals, and even though I don’t understand the language, I can understand loud and clear what these guys are expressing in songs like “Inertia,” or the excellently titled “Tear Down the Settlements and Sentence Their Leaders.” If you like your music politically minded and desperate, check this out.

Le Pilgrim D​é​mo cassette

Genuinely weird shit coming out of Buffalo, NY! I couldn’t turn up anything about the band, so it’s unclear who all is involved with the project—their Bandcamp profile pic is just an image of what appears to be a teen plucked straight out of one of the audiences in The Decline of Western Civilization. In any case, this appears to be their debut release. It’s eight tracks (a quarter of which are sung in French) of what I would primarily describe as USHC, maybe on the skate rock end of the spectrum. But the production is pretty bizarre—the guitars are both thin and really fuzzy, while the vocals, which are pretty buried in the mix, sound like they were recorded in an abandoned mineshaft. Then, every so often a really faint keyboard kicks in, or a “Careless Whisper”-ass saxophone lick, or even a TALKING HEADS-esque vocal melody. Really bizarre stuff, all of which is wrapped in a J-card seemingly signaling you’re about to listen to some playful European post-punk. I don’t know that I loved this, but I’m certainly fascinated by everything about it.

Loins Loins 12″

First off, this EP’s cover is a still from Electrocuting an Elephant, an early 20th century film in which, you guessed it, an elephant is killed on screen. If there’s a good reason for using this image, the band doesn’t provide it. Yuck. Luckily, the edgelord antics end there. The rest of the album really splits its time between plodding hard rock riffs and brittle pop tunes with a menacing bass-and-drums undercurrent. This band could be playing something from the Doolittle outtakes and the rhythm section would still sound like it’s about to throw a floorpunch. The last track is a thrashing noise piece whose lyrics consist of the singer screaming “beans!”—the whole record is filled with this back-and-forth between sillines and severity.

Mage Commander Demo 2023 cassette

Oh Jesus. I could be totally wrong, but this reeks of a one-man bedroom project where some technically knowledgeable human decides to put down the video game controller, make self masturbatory guitar music (debatable), and put it out to the world in hopes of gathering praise or in a sadistic attempt to force one’s art (debatable) down people’s throats. Sure, you could say this about much of the great black metal music of yore, but this ain’t that, my friend. If you check online, you can even see videos of this talented soul self-stroking his stringed member over a video game rhythm section, and it’s very much a Guitar Hero version of thrash metal punk with some prog moments. Message to our readers: “If you feel the overwhelming urge to put your homemade laptop music on a viable punk format and send it in, please don’t. Thanks and goodnight. -RR.”

Miscomings Hat cassette

I think it takes a certain level of self-awareness to be able to acknowledge when you just truly do not understand something. I wholeheartedly admit that MISCOMINGS from Seattle are very much that for me. Structureless, angular, plink-plunky, riff-less guitar licks over math-rock drums that incorporate blastbeats, disco beats, and many things in between, with vocals repetitively yelped on top. Kooky, artsy no wave/noise rock that leans into that nu-metal-feeling groove pretty heavily. Maybe it’s just over my head and I’m missing something.

One Million Bulgarians Pierwsza Plyta Vol. 1 LP

The first in what is (hopefully) a series of releases celebrating the early works of underground Polish dark/post-punks ONE MILLION BULGARIANS. Brooding and cold mechanical wave sounds with a bass-heavy recording and a deliberate, plodding pace, this collects recordings from 1986, at the very beginning of the band’s run. You know SIEKIERA…right? Considerably less accessible, which is precisely what makes this release so compelling.

Pigmilk Demo 2023 cassette

Stripped-down, discordant, gnarly noise punk with screamed vocals. The tunes on this tape are not quite as disgusting as its cover art, but almost! Nothing subtle or melodic here. PIGMILK blazes through seven tracks faster than an electrical fire in a slaughterhouse, with nary ‘a one cracking the two-minute mark. Most songs are uptempo and brisk, but don’t be shocked by the occasional breakdown or off-kilter interlude. There’s something slightly left-of-center lurking beneath the surface, gurgling up in the angularity of shrill guitars and subverted harmonies. This is evident in “I Tried,” which is the most overt nod to emotional hardcore. “Know Thyself” reels that impulse in and delivers a no-frills ripper. Good stuff. Analogous with life, this demo is brutal and over before ya know it.

Psoas Psoas CD

The latest release from PSOAS of Buenos Aires consists of eight tracks with a unique approach to thrashy fastcore fury. Airy, psychedelic, cleaner garage-rock-sounding overdriven guitars, screamy vocals, a hint of psychedelia at times, but somehow doesn’t scream “math rock.” Reminiscent of the weird side of the tail-end of Y2K thrash, buried somewhere in the 625 or Sound Pollution catalogs with bands like the SPROUTS, MIND OF ASIAN, the FUTURES, or earlier period MELT BANANA, except with better breakdowns. Recommended.

Red Crap The Truth is Still Out There LP

Poland’s RED CRAP brings you traditional punkabilly with a little bit of a surfy goth-rock edge. The kind of band you might see at a hot rod show or a very large tattoo convention. Recording quality is fantastic, but that isn’t automatically conducive to an interesting album. While the talent is obviously there, The Truth is Still Out There is chock-full of old punk tropes that we’ve heard hundreds, if not thousands, of times before—very reminiscent of the early Fat Wreck bands. They would have fit in well with the Lookout! crowd in the late ’80s and early ’90s, but at this point we’ve heard this all before.

Simulation Demo 2023 cassette

New San Francisco hardcore punk band featuring members of ACRYLICS. Stylistically, this is nothing new, nothing mind-blowing, but the heavily distorted riffs are catchy enough that they feel very familiar and I have heard them running through my mind since my first listen. Staying mostly in the mid-tempo range, SIMULATION plods through these four songs, and as soon as it’s over, you’re gonna wanna flip the tape and listen again. Pretty cool first release, and I can’t wait to hear where they go from here.

Smrt Razuma Nova Era Mraka LP

SMRT RAZUMA (“death of sanity”) brings the “new age of darkness,” or so the title of this Croatian band’s debut claims. They play heavy crossover with a well-mixed balance between the thrashing riffs and a hardcore bounce of the toughest order. After two demos, this debut solidifies their thirst for chaos. If you miss POWERTRIP or want an alternative to ENFORCED, you should look here!

Split Tongue Living in Sin City EP

Malaysia-based SPLIT TONGUE leaves a good impression on this 7″. The style is Oi!-tinged hardcore punk, not dissimilar to bands like 86 MENTALITY. It’s raging, it’s driving, and it gets the blood (not to mention the fist) pumping. This is a super solid record, and I really look forward to hearing more stuff from these guys. Recommended!

Toxic Rites Toxic Rites demo cassette

TOXIC RITES have a sound based solidly in the anarcho-punk tradition with a similar delivery to CONFLICT or ACTIVE MINDS: straightforward punk rock with all the speed and aggression intact. Lyrically, TOXIC RITES uses logic-driven dialogues to progress ideas about social, economic, and environmental concerns. Check out the song “Modern Nightmare,” it rocks hard and is as honest a message as you’ll find these days.

Tulips Tangled in Transition 10″

TULIPS are from Germany, they love both Sylvia Plath’s poetry and SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES, and they are able to create songs of ethereal beauty, where they spin a constant tension as if an eminent external danger was about to engulf us all. More than a band, I consider them painters of urban landscapes in the style of German expressionism, searching for ineffable beauty at the bottom of an abyss.

With Arms Still Empty Discography cassette

With maybe the best emotional/melodic hardcore band name ever, WITH ARMS STILL EMPTY puts out all twenty songs from their tenure of 1998 to 2002; the sweet spot of the genre. Think of bands like DEATH BY STEREO, THRICE, DROWNINGMAN—fast, technical guitar riffs, probably a drum kit with a million pieces, call-and-response screamo vocals that shift into sung harmonies, you know the deal. I can only digest this type of music in small doses, indulging my angsty inner teen, so listening to the whole discography in one shot was a bit of a slog. But for fans of the genre, and the band, who apparently had a good run in their heyday throughout the Midwest, this may land as an important piece of history. Again, I think they really nailed the band name, and the songs are just as good, with titles like “Even With Warrior Screams,” “Every Goddamned Butterfly,” and “Lunar Fuck, ”and while I may be laughing, you know these dudes were dead serious. Jump in with both feet or pass on by.