Reviews

For review and radio play consideration:

Please send one copy of 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. We reserve the right to reject releases on the basis of content. Music without vocals or drums will not be considered. All music submitted for review must have been released (or reissued) within the last two years. Please include contact information and let us know where your band is from!

The Lamplighter Terrible Mind CD

Solo stunner from Washington state—like combining skate punk and ’80s anarcho with ’90s discordance and a glorious reliance on repetition. At times, I almost feel like I’m hearing an old(er) punk harness their own youth angst, bashing out undeniably straightforward, driving punk that feels mature and confident. “God Salesman” injects classic early punk with sarcasm (and is the choice cut on the disc), which only reinforces the feeling that this new punk comes from an old soul.

Low Blow Money Fetish cassette

Described as “actual teenagers playing hardcore,” LOW BLOW are some young Canadian punks who made a tape in 2025 that could easily be passed as a “lost” demo from 1984. The targets of their heavy and restless racket are classic (greed, perverts, fakeness) and their sound is familiar, but not a pastiche. An uncompromised echo of the old school can still be tapped into, and these four songs stand as recent evidence.

Kilynn Lunsford Promiscuous Genes LP

Haunted pop music from New Jersey sound artist KILYNN LUNSFORD that is hard to describe in words but sounds like a mix of DIAMANDA GALAS, KATE BUSH, and The Munsters in the best way. This is a unique record and not a passive listen; otherworldly yelps and groans amass in the background of club beats and moody notebook poetry to grip your attention with skeletal hands. What results is a fractured pop album that is as melodic and catchy as it is sinister and disturbing. Tracks like “Disney Girls,” “Gateway to Hell,” and especially the deeply warped “Lillibilly” sound like Top 40 radio played in hell with echo-y, sing-song vocals, distorted bass lines, and a tortured spirit backup group, but it works so well. “Let’s Eat” goes traditional goth with a gorgeously layered vocal performance and atmospheric synth-string beauty. Promiscuous Genes is a fully realized world of sound that welcomes all weirdos curious enough to check it out.

Malicious Algorithm / Merked split LP

A merciless split LP showcasing two faces of modern hardcore violence. MALICIOUS ALGORITHM delivers mechanical, crushing riffs with cold precision, locking into a suffocating, almost industrial attack. MERKED answers with chaotic, street-bred aggression, faster and dirtier, fueled by pure hostility. Both sides refuse compromise, making this a most punishing listen.

Un split LP despiadado que muestra dos caras de la violencia hardcore actual. Malicious Algorithm descargan riffs mecánicos y aplastantes con precisión fría, mientras Merked responden con agresión caótica y callejera, más rápida y sucia. Ambos lados rechazan cualquier concesión.

Memory Ward Memory Ward LP

MEMORY WARD’s self-titled LP is an ugly mess of rumbling bass and drums, razor-sharp guitars, and some of the filthiest vocals ever…and I’ve never meant it in a more endearing way. It’s so intense that after its seemingly short fourteen-minute runtime, your vision will get blurry and you’ll find yourself gasping for air. Next thing you know, you’re at the breakfast aisle of a nearby Walmart with a warm blanket of blood covering everything. As you follow the crimson trail back to your bare hands, you think to yourself: is it your fault or MEMORY WARD’s? What did Tony the Tiger do to deserve this, you sick fuck? What about his husband and kids, huh? Anyways, as a big fan of extremely pissed-off, almost unintelligible, squashed-to-hell-and-back music, this thing definitely ticks all the boxes for me. Just perfect, no notes.

The New Christs The Burning of Rome: Selected Works 2xLP

RADIO BIRDMAN singer Rob Younger curated this twenty-track, double LP retrospective of his other band, the NEW CHRISTS, pulling together highlights from four decades of mid-tempo rock recorded with players from CELIBATE RIFLES, LIME SPIDERS, BARRACUDAS, and HOODOO GURUS. While Jello Biafra once praised their “crunchy, no-frills garage rock” and Tim Yohannan flagged their Detroit/MC5 roots, the material here mostly lands in my ears like ’80s alternative rock with just an extra dash or two of grit. It’s a step back from RADIO BIRDMAN’s aggression, instead leaning into blues-based grooves and their pub rock beginnings. The collection gains a little steam as it moves forward, with later cuts like “We Got This!” and “Born Out of Time” delivering a little more kick, but overall this feels like music made to be enjoyed in a packed bar rather than your headphones.

The Polkaholics 25 Years of Polka CD

The POKLAHOLICS are a polka-punk band from Chicago that sounds exactly like punk, polka, and Chicago. This 25 Years of Polka 3” CD has five songs that feature three members from five other bands, two references to Malört, playing a style not one of them has played in a previous band. I feel that the song “Hallelujah I’m Drunk” could be on an ARRIVALS record. If there would have been an Aching Chicago! Vier! comp, I’m nearly almost maybe kinda semi-certain that the POKLAHOLICS would have been on it. With this, you get great polka-punk tunes that are good foot-stompers, and before you know it, you’ll be moshing and polka-ing around the Falcons Hall with a stein held high, just a-swigging and a-yelling along. I feel as though that this is something that you could sneak on at family gatherings to get grandma out of her chair and maybe even doing shots again.

Revolución X Revolución Permanente: Discografía 1994–1996 LP

A complete discography of one of the most important Spanish hardcore bands from the ’90s Zapatista movement. It’s perfect raw and political hardcore crafted to be used as a weapon in the face of oppression. Given the recent rise in fascism across the globe, this release couldn’t have been timed more perfectly. It comes correct with all their recorded output, a live show from El Paso, and copies of old gig flyers. I could make comparisons to the obvious LOS CRUDOS or MASSACRE 68, and such comparisons would be accurate but would not do them the justice they deserve. They were instrumental in bridging the Mexican and American punk scenes of the early ’90s, and it’s about time this saw a proper reissue. Listen to “I’m Making My Future With the Border Patrol” followed by “Alto Al Bloqueo De Cuba” and you’ll understand what I’m raving about. If you listen to this record and it doesn’t light a fire under your ass, what will? Records like this make me want to fight. Fuck ICE forever. Highly recommended.

Sekunderna Hits LP

New full-length from Sweden’s SEKUNDERNA. Making a fine breed of garage-y power pop since 2018, Hits continues their theme of catchy and fun-loving music, with whole-band harmonies and zippy guitar leads set to a bouncy, uptempo beat. A dirty, grumbling bass shines through during the verses, like on “Minnen,” creating an awesome propulsion towards loud choruses that I want to know the words to. For something light, refreshing, and all fun, give Hits a spin.

Sistema de Entretenimiento 300 Noches Sin Dormir LP

Spanish goth/post-punk/new wave/pop from the early ’80s that was associated with the Movida Madrileña cultural movement is one of my soft spots. The resurgence of synth/post-punk from Spain in the last few years has been very welcome for me, and this band is one of the top-tier acts pushing this forward. On their second LP, they (more than ever) bring to mind legendary bands like PARALISIS PERMANENTE, if maybe colored with a shade of modern lo-fi punk vibes (so as to not say egg-punk). There’s actually a lot of PARALISIS PERMANENTE in this record to my ears, but a reference point more people can understand would be a snotty, punkier early JOY DIVISION. Either way, this is a great fucking record with an immersive dark vibe, “fuck you” attitude, and a bunch of synths. What’s not to fucking love? 

Snakeheads Belconnen Highs LP

Solid, poppy pub rock from Australia that brings to mind some English classics like EDDIE AND THE HOT RODS, BUZZCOCKS, and the BOYS. This album was dropped five years after it was initially recorded and is a posthumous release for guitarist Pete Lusty, who unfortunately passed from lymphoma right before the entire world shut due to the COVID pandemic. I don’t normally let my emotions dictate where I go with a review, but if you’re gonna spin something new this week, throw Belconnen Highs in a couple of your rotations for Pete. This album sounds great, so you will certainly not regret it!

Terminal Βόρεια Του Βορρά LP

Late last year, TERMINAL out of Greece released their second LP—Βόρεια Του Βορρά is eight songs of Finnish-influenced D-beat with burly vocals singing in Greek. The whole thing comes off as having that international hardcore flavor that Felix champions with Havoc Records. The bass lead on “Το Σκοτεινό Τούνελ” is brilliant, but then a searing ANTI-CIMEX-inspired riff tears through the treble-sphere and splits your brain. Absolutely for fans of UNARMED, ANTI-CIMEX, and RIISTETYT.

Venenö Vicio EP

The issue with a name like VENENÖ lies in the fact that there are already a lot of bands who had the same idea, and at first I thought this was the Barcelona one (I admit I did not notice the decorative dieresis on the letter O). This venomous act comes from New York, and this is their first EP. Sadly, this does not do it for me. VENENÖ plays post-punk with a sound reminiscent of bands like the ESTRANGED or CHAIN CULT, but a bit more melancholy. It’s well-executed enough, the vocals are pretty good, very punky and angry, but I really struggle to listen to these sorts of moody guitar leads these days and I was unable to get into it. Sorry.

Wiccans Phase IV LP

By now, I’d expect most MRR readers are at least somewhat familiar with Texas punks WICCANS, so I’ll skip the lore and get right to the point: Phase IV is really fuckin’ good. Their first new offering in eight years, WICCANS seemingly dropped this thing out of thin air last year and right into the top five of my year-end list. Giving nods to hardcore classics (POISON IDEA) as well as a few contemporaries (FUCKED UP), the band absolutely steamrolls through the eleven tracks without wasting a second of the mammoth thirty-two-minute runtime. This album is a whole-ass journey that provides endless replay value, a statement I’ll stand behind as even on my tenth or eleventh spin, I’m still finding subtle touches missed the time before. I could pick this apart and get into the weeds with how it sounds in more detail, but that would just be wasting the time you could be spending listening to it yourself. Absolutely essential.

V/A Bloodstains Across Chiba: 26 Essential Punk Rock Blasts CD

As mysterious as the Osaka and Tokyo punk undergrounds may be to the average MISFITS T-shirt wearer, they might as well be Top 40 radio compared to the little-known 1990s scene of Japan’s Chiba prefecture. Bloodstains Across Chiba unearths recordings from a gaggle of excellent obscure groups from that era, collecting their scarce output in one revelatory package. Unsurprisingly, most of the bands featured were either adjacent to or inspired by local heroes the C&C, who were one of the few Chiba groups to gain notoriety outside of the peanut-producing province (and whose material is also well worth seeking out if you’re so inclined.) Kicking off the festivities, the SHOCK TREATMENT’s lone six-song demo blasts some snotty, SWANKYS-style bangers to get things rolling. Next up is HERRSCHEN, an all-girl garage group with charming stripped-down style and songs that will stick in your head permanently. The VOLUME hits us with tough and riotous rocking in the vein of Osaka’s similarly-named LOUDER who would emerge a couple of decades later. NO-SLIP rips through three no-frills, ’77-inspired tracks that originally appeared on Antique Records’ Dynamite Vaginas compilation alongside the MANKS and others. And lastly, TESTER’s extremely rare demo serves up eight more sharp and simple stompers to end the collection on a high note. From start to finish, it’s a scorcher, giving “flat tire punk” fiends much reason to hunt, obsess, and ultimately celebrate.

Bloque Fuerte y Firme EP

Seven-track debut from straightedge outfit BLOQUE, whose traditional take on the style doesn’t lead to too many surprises outside of the occasional dive-bomb guitar. I expected it to be a little more thrash-y after the intro, but it’s pretty straightforward. Breakdowns and gang vocals abound, with clear influence from GORILLA BISCUITS and JUDGE. Catch them on tour with SHELTER this year.

Corpse on Delivery …And Another War+ LP

Stripped-down and in your face Ohio peace punk from the mind of MARBLES drummer Mark Slak. ZERO BOYS vibes with tinges of CIRCLE ONE and other early West Coast acts with a modern interpretation that owes more to fellow Midwesterners CRACKS or California transplants NAKED AGGRESSION. …And Another War was released digitally early last year, but the “+” here is the rest of their discography dating back to the Roots of War EP in 2023. Twenty-three tracks in all—a soundtrack to an upfront anti-imperialist, anti-Trump, pro-liberation agenda.

Deep X Cut How to Be Normal cassette

Damn, that’s a fast recording. Six minutes, barely a cig break. The big “X” stuck between the two words making out the name of the band gives a relevant indication as to what this Greek band is all about: (very) fast, abrasive hardcore. We’re not far from classic powerviolence country here with those heavy moshable breaks and a couple of blastbeats. I don’t listen to this style much, to be honest, but I can always enjoy it when it is done proper, and that’s definitely the case here. The female vocals sound really angry and the production is just right, not too heavy but still hitting hard the punk way. The lyrics are in Greek—that’s a strong plus—but the tape’s title is in English for some reason. How to Be Normal is apparently DEEP X CUT’s third EP, and the band is connected to a collective based in a squat in Ioannina, so you know where they stand politically. This would undoubtedly appeal a lot to fans of the genre.

Dom Sensitive Leather Trim cassette

DOM SENSITIVE, a new studio project from Adelaide musician Dom Trimboli of WIREHEADS, is a late-night, psych-heavy pastiche of synth swells, boom-bap drum machine patterns, and viiibes. “Digital Random Hat” opens the tape with a loping beat, accordion-aping synth, and laconic vocals that sound like KING KRULE reciting cough syrup poetry. This leads to a surprisingly earnest bar-room piano bridge complete with synthesized trumpet backing, like a bizarre BILLY JOEL D-side. Slow-moving, but oddly propulsive, the sound follows its own odd logic and tricked me into thinking, “Yeah, music sounds like this sometimes,” when it doesn’t. “The Second Day of Spring” is an eleven-minute journey of hip hop piano production with funky synth sax solo breaks that details an autobiographical tale of seeing a man about a horse. Or something. Picture the nerve of sending MRR an eleven-minute dad-psych jam! In this economy of short attention spans?! It’s actually quite listenable, and I can picture this record spinning on turntables in hip parties that I probably wouldn’t be invited to. “Weather Maps” takes a folky guitar trip reminiscent of BECK’s early K records days, and as a whole, the carefree and laid-back feel of the album is recommended to fans of slightly off-center indie like MAC DEMARCO.

The Educated Fools Tantric Decapitation: 69 Minutes of Trichotomy and Liquefaction 2xLP

Sixty-nine minutes of boring, country-esque guitar playing. Sixty-nine minutes of the most boring, off-kilter, pseudo-Americana bullshit. Sixty-nine minutes that I can never get back. The EDUCATED FOOLS are the RETAIL SIMPS, minus one member. They recorded this entire double LP live, and boy, does it show! It’s full of mistakes, background banter, and out-of-tune vocals. If that’s your thing, you might be into this, but you’d also have to dig subpar songwriting. Nothing about these songs is memorable except for how bad they are. Tantric decapitation sounds more fun than having to listen to this record again. Totally not punk.

Function Creep Function Creep demo cassette

According to the liner notes, these guys recorded this directly with no overdubs, and if that’s true, then they absolutely fucking nailed it. This is raw in the best way possible, extremely tight and polished for a demo that was done live in a living room. The music is a fun mixture of early ’90s noise rock like JESUS LIZARD/RED SWAN/DINOSAUR JR. and sinister-sounding West Coast hardcore akin to early DEAD KENNEDYS and T.S.O.L. The energy is palpable, and you can tell these folks are having a great time. I wish more modern punk sounded this way. No corny studio frills, just pure rock’n’roll. You gotta check this one out.

Gumm Beneath the Wheel LP

Ten new tracks of melodic hardcore from Chattanooga rockers GUMM. Convulse’s writeup for GUMM’s debut mentions inspiration from Revolution Summer material; that influence can be heard here as well. Equally as frustrated as it is hopeful, the words match the music, which are both at times catchy and upbeat as well as discordant and downtrodden. A nicely produced and thoughtful record that isn’t my usual thing, but one I enjoyed nevertheless. 

Hyperspace Distant Signals LP

HYPERSPACE’s Distant Signals LP is clean and well-produced pop punk. Bands that come to mind are early GREEN DAY, EGGHEAD, SICKO, the CONNIE DUNGS, and the like. There are plenty of songs on here about having crushes, pining away caused by an unrequited crush, a song or two about the motion picture Star Wars, a song about the motion picture franchise Terminator, being judged about not being punk enough, and plenty more topics where those came from. There are clever songs about Russian space history, goth inspiration for DC Comics, Area 51 lore, and so on. Distant Signals is a fun spin that was created for anyone that enjoys anything I’ve mentioned here.

Lost Legion / Sympos split EP

This LOST LEGION / SYMPOS split keeps things simple, with each band tossing in two tracks and sticking firmly to what they do best. SYMPOS play straight-up, working-class street punk from Waterford, Ireland, pulling hard from UK ’77 without sounding like a tribute act. Their opener, “Welcome to Ballybricken,” is the high point on the record for me, ripping through two minutes of upbeat urgency that feels scrappy, direct, and genuinely fun. Chicago’s LOST LEGION, featuring Ian Wise of FUERZA BRUTA and Foreign Legion Records, counters with their brand of Oi! that leans heavier and more reflective. For me, “Stuck in One Place” lands hardest, a surprisingly catchy and (dare I say) danceable song with lyrics that wrestle with the feeling of being locked into a violent identity. No filler, no grand statements, just four solid tracks that balance energy, hooks, and hard-earned perspective.

Maraudeur Flaschentäger LP

MARAUDER’s Flaschentäger is an absolutely mesmerizing collection of ten short and straight-to-the-point post-punk jams. Though the term post-punk is very ambiguous and rarely gives any idea to what to expect, I’m happy to say that this album turned out to be the kind that perfectly fits into my personal idea of what the term implies: an immense and somewhat liminal vibe created by the perfect alignment of tastefully minimalistic elements. With its catchy hooks, beautifully layered guitars and bass, and lovely sparkles of synth lines, Flaschentäger is one of those albums that invoke “in-between” emotions and mental states that I haven’t found the right words for yet. Sure, you can dance to it. But it’s also good for laying in bed and watching the ceiling for a while. Can’t recommend this one enough.

N.E. Vains Running Down Pylons LP

N.E. VAINS make music that sounds like it should be playing on the car stereo of your dad’s old Buick as you drive around with your friends, drinking beers, and being degenerate little shitheads. At the core, it reminds me of ’90s budget rock bands like NEW BOMB TURKS, but with an undeniable HEARTBREAKERS influence to the guitar riffs and a dash of snotty punk energy thrown in for good measure. The record clocks in at seventeen minutes, and even with a couple of lulls, songs like “The Grounds,” “Running Down Pylons,” and “Pinched Nerve” make it worth picking up. Put it on the stereo next time you want to drive around lighting bags of shit on fire and smashing mailboxes!

Pool Pool cassette

There was a time in my twenties when it seemed like all I ever wanted to listen to was Amphetamine Reptile releases, and I’m so glad I’m not the only one. Hailing from Little Rock, Arkansas, POOL is keeping the sludgy noise rock dream alive and well, with high-register, snarling vocals up in the mix and riffs pouring out that harken back to when MELVINS still lifted from heavy metal or when NIRVANA still lifted from MELVINS. This is a confident-as-hell debut that is recorded damn near-perfectly. There’s a lot of room in the mix that everything rings clear even if there’s some mud on the band’s boots. Heavy, mean, timeless. When a band starts out this good, I can’t help but wait on pins for where they go from here.

Scrape Flood cassette

Strong debut collection of down-tuned doom metal that is more about subterranean, ultra-distorted chugging and monumental chord changes than it is about riffs. Slow-moving and powerful, the band operates in a similar spirit as KOWLOON WALLED CITY or WINDHAND and captures an intense atmosphere of hopelessness and misanthropy with lyrics rife with corporeal imagery of poisons, bloody hands, drowning, etc. The opening crunch of tracks like “Stuck” and “The Taking” hits hard, and I can imagine seeing them performed live would be like a musical punch to the chest. Crushing and bleak.

Scümbari Scümbari LP

From Boston with hate—they don’t bother polishing the edges, they chisel them into shards instead. At first listen, SCÜMBARI sounds like the CIRCLE JERKS playing DISCHARGE covers, but as the songs keep rolling, they deliver versatile songwriting encompassing various styles within a hardcore punk framework. The lyrics rage on about broken lives, city blight, unsteady nights, and the broken dreams of those locked in a system that never cared. What you get is scruffy honesty, hostility wrapped in distortion, and punk that remembers it came from the streets, not a studio.

Slit Demo 2025 cassette

Primitive, noisy hardcore punk operating on pure chaos. SLIT tears through these tracks with reckless speed and total disregard for clarity or comfort. Feedback-soaked riffs and feral vocals dominate, capturing a band at its most raw and unhinged. 

Hardcore punk primitivo y ruidoso que funciona desde el caos absoluto. SLIT atraviesa los temas a toda velocidad, sin respeto por la claridad ni la comodidad. Riffs saturados y voces salvajes dominan todo.

Upside Down Man Fairy Tale for a Modern Age 12″

UPSIDE DOWN MAN does not back away from melody and tight-as-hell articulated musicianship. It’s easy to make comparisons to PROPAGANDHI with their styled and personalized lyrics, but stopping there would also do a disservice to UPSIDE DOWN MAN. These six songs work to amplify a current disconnect we are all feeling with the world happening around us while trying to draw in that helpless feeling by moving toward action through that commonality, or they are about a harsh breakup, as they are all perfectly vague enough to be about whatever you want them to be about. I’m continually brought back to the razor-sharp production where you can hear every single note and drum hit perfectly while still maintaining the momentum of a bullet train. In the ’90s and ’00s, this would have been an easy fit on Fat Wreck Chords or Epitaph with the their three metrics hitting at one hundred percent: speed, clarity, and another one too, I was going somewhere with that but I got distracted by the song and started bobbing my head. If you like those things mentioned above, then you’ll like the link linked below.

Wacky Star Nukular Summer demo cassette

Recorded on a TEAC-1200 dual cassette deck, Miami’s WACKY STAR gives us a lo-fi taste of Florida scuzz, brought to mind on “Away From” with the chant “Don’t you know that I’m just a piece of shit.” This has the feel of a solo project, but no names are credited on the demo, which is limited to twenty copies. While the punk world may be flooded with the sweeping moods of bedroom artists, it’s hard to not enjoy this type of homemade thing. I can see ballpoint-penned composition books, a dirt-encrusted keyboard, a corner with too many guitars backed into it, a pile of cassettes, cables like vines covering the floor…this may not be life-altering, but it sure feels good. Favorite track: “The Light.”

X At Home With You LP reissue

Five years after their debut album Aspirations, 1985’s sophomore full-length At Home With You showcased a new depth for the seminal Australian group X. The record mixes commercial sensibilities (the melodious, brass-laden part of “T.V. Glue” is easily imagined as the background for a television advertisement) with unabashed punk ethos that can most readily be detected in frontman Steve Lucas’s expressive, sore-throated vocals. The album features ambitious and artful musicianship, and even an atmospheric ballad in the smoky “Don’t Cry No Tears,” while the band’s pub-rockin’ roots are still on display in tracks like “Degenerate Boy” (a re-working of one of their earlier songs) and the bouncy “She’s Gone.” While it positions its maturity up front, spending a bit of time at home with this newly-reissued LP will assure you that you’re still tuned into the same delightfully abrasive outfit that produced the classic posthumously-released 1977 X-Spurts sessions.

Yellow Wallpaper Choose Death 12″

YELLOW WALLPAPER out of Lexington, Kentucky released the Choose Death EP in the fall of last year. The four-song EP opens with the title track which is very reminiscent of CHRISITIAN DEATH. A more post-punk influence infests the remainder of the disc, with the song “Silly Goose” drawing upon a vague WIRE-like energy. The nearly eight-minute closer “Where the Water Meets the Sky” harnesses a danceable TALKING HEADS bass line to screeching guitar drifts and croony vocals singing lines about where a good place to die may be. Overall, Choose Death is worth the listen.

Zyclone Visions of Impending Death EP

Despite some etymological digging the origin of their name, ZYCLONE remains shrouded in mystery to me. A reworking of the name “Zyklon B”? An easy way to end up close to ZYGOME and ZYGOTE on one’s record shelf? An inability to spell “cyclone” properly? Who knows. If the linguistics are foggy, the power of the band is not: ZYCLONE absolutely delivers. In fact, this might be one of the strongest käng-inspired EPs of 2025, although probably more by way of Japan (to be understood as aesthetics rather than geography) rather than a direct flight to Stockholm, as the distortion is higher than with your usual Scandicore act but still below the last floor of the fuzz building (a.k.a. Osaka). I love the sound of the drums here, and the overall drumming, in fact. A band like K.O.S. (or even FRAMTID) is definitely not miles away, but ZYCLONE has more ANTI CIMEX in their beefy recipe. The six minutes of music on this EP offer exactly what you expect from a good band of this genre—my one (very) minor criticism would be the use of the binary tupa-tupa beat in the song “Visions of Impeding Death,” because I don’t think it quite fits here. As I said, very minor. The members are apparently spread out in North America, but I’m told they are also involved in bands like PSYCH WAR, ELECTRIKA, and AUTOMATED EXECUTION. This EP was released on General Speech, an always reliable label when it comes to quality raw, noisy hardcore.

Arson Burning Future EP

There are few things in life that get my blood pumping as thoroughly as NYC raw punk, and ARSON is a pacemaker set to overdrive. On their latest release Burning Future, their six tracks of noise-drenched crasher crust harkens to ANTI-CIMEX greased up with ZYANOSE. If you missed ARSON’s 2024 release Más Noise, or if your life hasn’t felt right since PERDITION broke up, then now would be a great time to check out ARSON.

Beta Voids Scrape It Off 10″

It would be easy to talk about the saxophone, but listen to BETA VOIDS hard-charge through brilliantly crafted, hardcore-tinged, multi-vocal blasts of punk, and you almost forget that there’s this weird woodwind layer lurking in the shadows on every track…so instead of talking about the saxophone, I think it’s better to just acknowledge its existence and move on. The songs, though —the songs are straight killers. Timeless, high-energy cuts that owe a debt to early California hardcore while firmly maintaining their own unique and expressive character. And “character” is really the word I’ve been looking for while I listen to Scrape It Off (again)—that’s the thing BETA VOIDS have, and it’s the quality that you don’t realize you’re missing in your punk until you hear it. Apparently they do things different in coastal Oregon.

Brut MMXXIII – MMXXIV LP

This is very unique and different—a combination of post-punk and Oi! (which becomes even more apparent when you reach the JOY DIVISION and BLITZ covers later on in the slab). This is a collection of several singles and EPs that BRUT released between 2023 and 2024. The guitarist is playing at such high octaves that I thought they were running a mandolin through a chorus pedal at first. Maybe they are, there are no liner notes included. It gives the tracks this real dreamy quality that pairs well with the treble-heavy bass and dark, barking vocals. Extremely catchy and well-constructed tunes here. A very impressive output for a single calendar year.

Chance Operation Chance Operation 12″ reissue

No New York might have signaled the beginning of the end of New York no wave in its labelling, defining, and constraining a scene that purposely took root as a negation of such things, but meanwhile, there was an entire parallel network of Japanese bands forming in the late ’70s and early ’80s who were directly inspired by the anarchic, brink-of-collapse art-spark that had made New York’s downtown sound so thrilling. CHANCE OPERATION was one of the very best to do it, not unlike a James Chance-less CONTORTIONS if you wanted to get simplistic—ultra-trebly (and frequently slide-manipulated) chicken-scratch guitar, loping mutant funk bass lines, minimalist, jazz-schooled drumming. This five-song 12” (one of three CHANCE OPERATION records recently reissued as part of Spittle’s Made in Japan side venture) was originally released in 1981, sounding for all intents and purposes like it came straight from the floor of the Mudd Club, from “Winecolor Sick” slinking and skronking beneath sparse, perfectly disinterested vocals from bassist Higo Hiroshi and guitarist Yoshiko Komiyama, to the fractured disco-not-disco danceability of “Image Dance,” to the cyclical bass rumble tussling with pinpoint guitar in “Din.” Do I even have to say that it rules? Seek out 1982’s Spare Beauty EP and 1985’s Place Kick LP while you’re at it, it’s easier to do so now than ever before!

Der Moderne Man Unmodern LP reissue

Originally released in 1982 as DER MODERNE MAN’s second studio album, Tapete has reissued this along with the band’s first LP, 80 Tage Auf See, as well as some previously unreleased singles, EPs, and demos (on the Jugend Forscht 2xLP). Based in Hanover, Germany, DER MODERNE MAN found themselves at the forefront of the punk and new wave scenes coming out of the area, freely mixing genres and styles. The opener “Anakonda” starts with a moody feel, featuring a slinky bass line and some spooky vocals, only to move on to dub influences on songs like “Nur Die,” featuring some classic reggae synths, guitars, and saxophones. I also hear psych rock guitars on “Nicht Warten,” followed by a danceable, poppy electronic beat on “Gurus und Geheimagenten.” All to say, this album is full of texture, surprises, and is certainly worth your time.

Expunge / Panic Defense Tools to Kill Humans split cassette

One man’s anger is another man’s weapon. EXPUNGE and PANIC DEFENSE share members and even jam on each others’ songs. This collective decided to immortalize their love for the void with Tools to Kill Humans. It pounds on your eardrums with serrated riffs and punk ferocity coated with an oily layer of feedback. Each track is a wrecking ball of chaos that emulates the bleakness of a dystopian age. It’s primitive, it’s aggressive, it’s messy, and it’s grinding violence. For those who’ve already given up on fixing the system.

Flores y Fuego Wabi-Sabi cassette

Raw and emotional punk that embraces imperfection as a weapon. FLORES Y FUEGO balance melody and abrasion, letting cracked vocals and rough edges carry the emotional weight. The songs feel intimate but still aggressive, with a DIY urgency that comes through loud and clear. The cassette format only sharpens that immediacy.

Punk crudo y emotivo que toma la imperfección como arma. Flores y Fuego equilibran melodía y aspereza, dejando que las voces quebradas y los bordes filosos carguen el peso emocional. Las canciones son íntimas pero agresivas, con una urgencia DIY muy marcada.

Fosgene Ancora Tumulti Ancora Tempesta cassette

With the release of their second tape, Bassano del Grappa’s FOSGENE re-emerges as a dense and direct force of nuanced D-beat power. Although you can hear the menace of Italian champions like WRETCHED and IMPACT in their twisting riffs and charging hardcore, it’s black around the edges and tempered by crusty dystopian dirges, taking the sound to places the aforementioned bands only hinted at. With intelligent tackling of heavy political and social subjects in the lyrics, there’s a stream of anarcho energy to the carefully composed tracks as well, furthering their alluring complexity. It’s strong stuff, a dark stew that leaves you ready to explore these savage expanses further.

Gino and the Goons Gino and the Goons LP

It’s been long enough since I last thought about this band that the word “goon” has taken on a cool new meaning. Just one more thing I gotta wrestle with as I give these dudes another go! Anyway, I’ve always liked the idea of GINO AND THE GOONS—a handful of Floridians approaching middle-age (probably full-blown at this point!), who seemingly didn’t have a history playing music, saying “fuck it” and forming a budget rock band at a time when most punks wanted nothing to do with that sound. Real laudable shit! Unfortunately, that admiration did little in the way of helping me enjoy their music. I never hated it or anything, but their songs just never did it for me. So, I went into this release, their sixth(!) LP, with pretty low expectations. Now, I’m not sure if it’s because my expectations were so low, because I’ve mellowed a little in the ten-ish years since I last listened to them, or because they’ve grown as songwriters—probably some combination of all three—but I kinda dug this. The nine tracks that make up the record mix RAMONES-y dum-dum punk, glam, and druggy garage punk (think fellow Sunshine Staters JACUZZI BOYS). Am I ready to erect a GOON cave for some prolonged GOON seshes? I am not. But this record was OK enough to get the job done.

Megaphonies Right to Double Down CD

Melodic and fuzzy power pop from Sacramento. Heavy, deep riffage that brings to mind DEATH FROM ABOVE 1979 and a slew of classic rock bands; kind of like a modern, punked-up version of FOGHAT. This is a pretty bluesy-sounding album, lyrically and musically, which is shockingly refreshing. Production sounds great and the band comes off huge for being just a trio. I won’t lie, this was an unexpected hit for me. I wasn’t sure what a band called MEGAPHONIES was going to sound like, and they completely blew me out of the water. You’re gonna wanna spin this one a couple times.

Minot Walls / People Pleaser 7″

Lo-fi, pop-tinged garage punk from Missoula, Montana. The A-side “People Pleaser” sounds like Toody Cole fronting the VELVET UNDERGROUND or BEAT HAPPENING; sparse instrumentation with chilling vocals and a cool organ line throughout it. The B-side “Walls” was not as interesting. The vocals annoyed me so badly that I couldn’t finish the song, and I tried twice.

Phantom Pike Phantom Pike demo cassette

Nothing warms my cold Midwestern heart more than hearing good new punk music from Illinois, and Central Illinois no less. PHANTOM PIKE is a fresh outfit based in Springfield who take UK82/Oi!, add black metal vocals and some dramatic instrumentals, and dress it all up in chainmail. They call it “Skull Rock,” and you know what? It does fucking rock. Check this one out.

Schenectavoidz Void Beyond the Pines LP

Hardcore punk bong attack! SCHENECTAVOIDZ have crashed back into the world with a release that feels like the spiritual (and extremely stoned) offspring of their old band DEVOID OF FAITH, but weirder and way more THC-soaked. Void Beyond the Pines sounds like what happens when punks take the same rage they had in the ’90s, lace it with paranoia, and hotbox it until their minds start to melt away. The dual-vocal assault hits you like a fistfight in a dirty basement stairwell, the guitars grind and wobble like someone recorded them inside a smoke-clouded garage, and the drums keep everything lurching forward, even when the whole thing feels like it might wander off to stare at tree branches for a minute. It’s still punk as hell, but with a baked edge that gives the whole release a disoriented charm. A perfect soundtrack for getting high and getting pissed-off at the same time.

Stiff Nights Like a Rat / Summertime 7″

Call ‘em “ZZ BOTTOM”—STIFF NIGHTS are some strangely-inspired dudes from Tennessee playing punky, glam-infused, stripped-down Southern rock jams. Rather than go for speed, they let the songs linger, with both sides of the 45 allowing enough time to slam one beer down and crack another. By the time the purple/pink vinyl stops spinning, you’ve got a decent buzz going and you’re headed to the saloon for an evening of debauchery. You might even wake up the next morning “coyote” style, as the old legend goes: head throbbing, spooning with a mystery monster, and faced with the unfortunate dilemma of having to chew your own arm off to escape undetected.

Unidad Ideologica Choque Asimétrico LP

A crushing statement of militant hardcore punk rooted in confrontation and discipline. UNIDAD IDEOLÓGICA delivers rigid, marching riffs and commanding vocals that sound built for the street and the barricade. Lyrically and sonically uncompromising, the record channels organized anger rather than chaos, drawing power from clarity and ideological focus. Choque Asimétrico feels like a call to resist, positioning hardcore punk as a tool of conflict rather than escape. One of the most forceful and politically charged releases of the moment.

Una declaración aplastante de hardcore punk militante, basada en la confrontación y la disciplina. UNIDAD IDEOLÓGICA presentan riffs rígidos y marciales junto a voces autoritarias, pensadas para la calle y la barricada. Sin concesiones en lo lírico ni en lo sonoro, el disco canaliza bronca organizada en lugar de caos, apoyándose en la claridad y el enfoque ideológico. Choque Asimétrico funciona como un llamado a resistir.