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!

Polansky Y El Ardor Ataque Preventivo De La URSS EP reissue

Originally released in 1982 as a 12” EP, Snap!! Records has done a great service by reissuing Ataque Preventivo De La URSS as part of their ongoing Revival series. Although POLANSKY Y EL ARDOR was part of the second wave of punk to emerge from Madrid’s bustling scene, their sound is firmly rooted in 1977. The title track is an infectious ditty with a distinctive double-picked guitar line and sing-along chorus. Not far afield from the VIBRATORS or BUZZCOCKS, I’m reminded most of the utterly fantastic Finnish band 013. “​​Y No Usa Laca” is a killer tune as well and exhibits POLANSKY Y EL ARDOR’s use of a saxophone, which comes to prominence on the somewhat dour B-side cut, “Chantaje Emocional.” Beyond being a fascinating document illuminating a corner of Spanish punk history, this reissue also provides an excellent opportunity to get your hands on an underappreciated gem.

RF7 Weight of the World LP reissue

Twelve-track LP originally released in 1981 by Felix Alanis’s label Smoke Seven Records, reissued by Puke N Vomit. Classic hardcore punk from Southern California (Simi Valley), reminiscent of early BAD RELIGION with new wave hints. Rocky guitars with some interesting riffs, amateurish bass, sufficient drumming, deep vocals, and anthemic songs on this one—classic early USHC formula, but with a softer touch. Probably a great band to have seen live back in the day, and although lacking precision, this recording is full of the amateur passion so important for punk. This time vault discovery reissued captures the essence of an era, but for my taste, it lacks distortion and speed. Suggested tracks: “Satan’s Son” and “Jesus Loves You.”

S.C.U.M. Born Too Soon… LP reissue

Discovering a great band or album you’ve somehow missed over the years never gets old, especially when it’s a record as killer as this. Underrated hardcore heroes S C.U.M. from Montreal get the reissue treatment for their excellent 1985 LP Born Too Soon…if only I could go back in time and give this to my high-school self. Oh well, better late than never. S.C.U.M. (who bastardized the Montreal Urban Community police name and logo at the time) played hard and confrontational punk similar to J.F.A. and BAD BRAINS, with some cool satirical Jello Biafra-esque vocals. Lyrically, the band hits every touchstone of punk that was as relevant then as it is today: politics, war, skateboarding (although truthfully, I could do without the sort of corny “Pool Hunt”), and of course, hating the police. Ragers like “Go to War,” “Exit Death,” and “So Much Hate” rattle with power and are so well-produced, it really is a shame these guys haven’t received more recognition.

Sordid Ship Vague Digitale 12″

Avast ye landlubbers and hoist the mainsail, because here comes a 12” of seemingly entirely nautical-themed street punk(?)—while it doesn’t semantically make sense, it turns out that it also doesn’t make for very good music, either! It’s extraordinarily generic; I could see it nestling gently at 4:00 pm on the Breton leg of La Tour Warped or whatever, but I’m not even sure the band themselves would be able to recognise these tunes if they heard them in the wild. One for skateboard owners.

Surface Waves The Phantom Centre CD

Five songs that have a vibe like ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT minus the horns, meets SMUGGLERS at a TURBONEGRO show. Really well-done rock’n’roll-tinged punk. This stuff is really hit-or-miss a lot of the time, as it’s either a really bad rehash of something from decades before or really fresh sounding. Luckily, this falls in the latter category, and while it does have the feel of the aforementioned bands, it is something all its own.

Terminal Filth Death Driven LP

Crashing cymbals, guttural and nearly blackened-style vocals, gnarly hardcore breakdowns, and impossibly swift rhythm shifts make TERMINAL FILTH the current masters of international-style hardcore/stenchcore. This full-length is jammed with some heavy-hitting material! The band calls Berlin home, but they recently played in Portland, Oregon, so I’m hoping to see some more US dates develop. For me, this is worth seeing live. If you’re in the mood for heavy, metallic crust, then definitely check out TERMINAL FILTH and grab one of these LPs.

The Toms The Toms 2xLP reissue

A relic from ‘79 gets the reissue treatment from Feel It. Who the hell are the TOMS? From what I have gathered, this project is from an older Jersey guy, Tom Marolda—songwriter, composer, performer, movie soundtrack writer, etc. Not finding much on any other musicians involved in the project. This is really sweet music, cloying in fact. Like consuming a box of glazed donuts, I can feel my teeth hurting after the long march of heavy-duty power popness that makes up the 24 tracks on this LP. There are moments to be had for sure, but in the end, the production is squeaky clean and the songs way too repetitive. This might be for some, but I need more sharp edges.

The Vacant Lot Living Underground EP reissue

Impossibly scarce OZ DIY artifact brought back to life! The four songs on this 1980 EP from Canberra’s the VACANT LOT legitimately sound like the product of four different bands—I’d love to see some sort of Myers-Briggs-type punk personality test based on one’s preferred selection from Living Underground. I’m in the group clustered around “She’s Really Dead,” an exercise in stark, FALL-ish rhythm and repetition with a hypnotic, endlessly spiraling bass line, off-center disco beats, layers of fucked-up keyboard buzz, and desperate, keening vocals laced with more than a touch of PUBLIC IMAGE LIMITED. “Multinationals” is a rabid synth punk scorcher, like DOW JONES AND THE INDUSTRIALS gone murder punk, and “Tatslotto Night” is even nastier, just sheer unadulterated KBD snot and snarl. Oddest of all (the record’s INFJ?) is “Milk the Land of Its Honey,” which sets up Factory Records expectations (like, major, major early WAKE vibes) before completely shattering them with Nuggets’d-out ’60s garage/psych keys that could have been lifted from the SEEDS. Pick your king!

Axxe Crazy Black Winds Blowing, An Indifferent Sky cassette

First of all, we are welcomed by a psychotic bunch of noise effects with fuzz, reverb, and an electronic blenderization from hell and a chaos from doomsday in their intro. Asbury Park, NJ metallic punk agents AXXE CRAZY is not fooling around. Ten-track cassette of metallic punk mayhem fused with D-beat and crusty vibes, but also thrash metal references and even some powerviolence. You can almost see the visceral thread left behind in each song and the cathartic feel in their demonic vocals, which are filled with anger, despair, and hate. Frenzied cadences and high-pitched guitars, plus engulfing, crazy bass lines. Suggested tracks: “Feast in the Sight of the Minds Eye” and “Pocket Full of Emeralds, Head Full of Lead.” Absolute ripper.

Bad Jesus Experience Ovat Muistojemme Lehdet Kuolleet LP

I’m no Finnish hardcore expert (I barely know my RATTUS from my KAOSS), but this shit rules. Each one of the ten short tracks is a total shredder: fast—like really fast—pounding drums, heavy dissonant guitars, and raspy, hyperspeed vocals that use every second to scream a desperate message. “OK HK” relentlessly blasts out and invigorates everything in me that loves hardcore. “Maa Palaa” opens with atonal strumming that is immediately backed with furious punk that sounds awesome. “Pohjalaiset Sikamafiat” takes a short, contemplative breather in the bridge that allows the band to stretch out for a few seconds before returning to rage mode. It actually makes you realize how intense and fast the rest of the record is. “Ruumiinpolttaja” starts with a blastbeat before the one-syllable-per-snare-hit vocals enter, sounding for a second like vintage NAPALM DEATH in its ferocity. Check out this record right now.

Bench Press / Dr. Sure’s Unusual Practice A Split 7″ Between Friends split EP

Here’s a split of two Aussie post-punk bands fighting the good fight. DR. SURE’S UNUSUAL PRACTICE starts the A-side with their wiry, buzzy guitars, haunted house synths, call-and-response vocals, and metronome-tight drums.  “Great Pacific Garbage Island” brings the tension of our human impact to home, with the line “As the great Pacific garbage island moves in on Hawaii, you’re on my mind.” You’ve probably heard at least something from this lot, they’ve released a lot and are a big name in Melbourne, rightly so! I hadn’t heard anything from BENCH PRESS, but I can see why this “split 7″ between friends” makes sense, as they too are politically engaged in a world that needs youth advocacy. “What you are doing is all wrapped up in politics” is the opening line of “More Than That,” and they do not relent.  Excited to check out BENCH PRESS’s two LPs. The anger on these tracks reminds me of contemporaries MINI SKIRT, but with a more minimal structure. I also read that this is the first record Fellaheen, home of bands like PAVEMENT and BEASTIE BOYS, has put out since the late ’90s, so that might give you an idea of the worth within. Enjoy.

Cell Play to Win EP

For the first time, the Play to Win EP from 2019 gets a proper vinyl release, courtesy of War On Reality. CELL delivers a feral hardcore kick to the groin with Play to Win. The seven tracks go through you like a steamroller. A perfect display of modern stompy hardcore right here.

Cenobite Cenobite demo cassette

Beaming in nightmares from space (a.k.a. Chicago) is CENOBITE, whose sci-fi hardcore evokes a visionary heftiness that calls to mind—hear me out—TIMEGHOUL, if they veered more punk than death metal. I rarely think of world-building outside of fiction, but there is a sort of mythological aspect to this demo due to its inventiveness and bleed-over into tinges of deathrock and industrial-adjacent noise that distorts (mutates?) the DNA of what would otherwise be a straight-ahead hardcore project in terms of energy output. This pummels, but it’s goddamn weird, too. The overall production tends to deprioritize the low end without neutralizing the weight of the riffs. The guitar is cranked through all kinds of cyberware that aids the overall dystopian paradise vibe. All in all, this is a ferocious and thrilling new project—one of the best demos I’ve heard in a while. Check it out, jack in, and blast off.

Debt Rag Lost to the Fantasy LP

The three humans behind the mid-2010s Oakland noisy avant-punk group WET DRAG have all since relocated to Olympia, WA and recently rekindled the project as DEBT RAG—apparently the Bay Area isn’t the only thing they’ve left behind, as they’ve completely ditched guitar on their debut LP Lost to the Fantasy, weaving layers of seasick synth, sharp blurts of trumpet, and all sorts of clattering percussion (full-force cowbell!) into some of the ample negative space newly liberated from six-string oppression. Everyone contributes vocals, with lines overlapping and intersecting in an almost anti-call-and-response just as often as they coalesce into sardonic gang-chants (the collective statement behind “Barf on USA” is brilliantly direct and self-explanatory), drums are reduced to the barest minimum (one tom and one cymbal) and pounded out in sparse, tranced-out patterns, and calculated, ping-ponging bass forms the primary structure for DEBT RAG to build up their sideways art-skronk collages. How many other bands in our modern day and age are capable of triggering thoughts within me of NOH MERCY, DANNY AND THE PARKINS SISTERS, or Y PANTS, let alone all of the above within the span of a single song?! The answer is zero. DEBT RAG for president, barf on USA.

Electric Chair Act of Aggression LP

Olympia’s ELECTRIC CHAIR dropped their debut Act of Aggression on Iron Lung, and it has to be said, this band has chosen the perfect name—putting on this record is like getting strapped in and shuffled off this mortal coil. Stuffed to the brim with abrasive metallic punk, ELECTRIC CHAIR plays in the same vein as GERMS and N.O.T.A., with some oddball freakouts sprinkled throughout that remind me of TY SEGALL at his freakiest. Musically, it’s a dense listen; songs vanish as quickly as they appear in a flurry of violent guitars entangled with frenetic bass and drums. Vocalist Dinah Corona’s unhinged warble is mixed so low it becomes like another instrument, adding an evil vibe that permeates throughout the album. Check out “Fatal Disease Pt. II” and “Security Camera” to see what I mean. Overall, an overwhelming but fucking awesome listen.

Foil Full Band Demo cassette

I read somewhere that a song that starts with a good drumbeat sticks in your mind like gum on your shoe. That’s what happens with FOIL’s demo—three songs of fast and dirty hardcore punk with changes of rhythm and an urgent feeling to the whole composition. The bass sounds thick and the guitars are sometimes like sci-fi noises, throbbing here and there. Kansas City, Peruvian coke, police hatred, and depression, an explosive combination for a punk record. Love the artwork.

Glasses Compendium LP

Female-fronted band from Germany with some great screaming vocals, solid drums, and interesting guitar sounds with rocky solos blending metal and hardcore in the ’00s-style way with some sort of progressive rock. Sludgy cadences mixed with classic hardcore cuts that go by the vocals. Released by Contraszt Records from Köln, Germany, Compendium is a collection of their work between 2008 and 2020, though their last recordings in 2020 were separate from their past releases, so you seem to be hearing different pieces and different styles from time to time, losing the album’s flow. It’s interesting enough to hear metal-infused hardcore from the last two decades, Guitar-driven riffing, heavy drumming, and powerful vocals, with members of EAVES, PERTH EXPRESS, and TRAINWRECK, among others. Suggested tracks: “Spirit Crusher” and “IHYSM.”

Heavy Mother Comical Uncertainty cassette

On the heels of their debut album from last year, HEAVY MOTHER drops a hefty slab of scuzzy rock’n’roll that just oozes with mojo. Three originals and three covers spread across twenty-six minutes of rowdy, raunchy garage punk featuring a bona fide all-star cast. Their lead vocalist, Eddie Flowers, was in the GIZMOS, for fuck’s sake! There’s a guest appearance by Craig Bell of ROCKET FROM THE TOMBS! We’re talking a Midwestern proto-punk hall of fame here, not to mention that half the members were in the COWBOYS. I’m often disappointed by these groups that sound so good on paper, yet HEAVY MOTHER exceeds expectations by exacting the sonic punishment their pedigree dictates: perfectly trashy, obnoxious, loud rock’n’roll. From the brilliantly depraved opening track “Friday Night (Blackout!),” to the phenomenal rendition of the VELVET UNDERGROUND’s “Foggy Notion,” HEAVY MOTHER is firing on all cylinders. An indefectibly stripped-down production gives Comical Uncertainty a ’60s-inspired haze, fueled by reverb. Toss DEAD MOON and ELECTRIC EELS into the cauldron along with the aforementioned bands and you’ll get a whiff of what HEAVY MOTHER is cooking up. Spicy!

Itchy and the Nits Itchy and the Nits cassette

Let’s not beat around the lousy, unkempt bush—this is one of the best releases I’ve listened to in a while! ITCHY AND THE NITS, a new-ish trio out of Sydney, pair Raffaelli-era DONNAS worship with Pink Flag minimalism, as though the MUMMIES’ brand of budget rock was too opulent since it failed to trim the fat on traditional song structures. There’s no excess here. The average track length hovers right at 1:20, and the album employs exactly one extremely locked-in drumbeat. It gives the impression that these girls aren’t here to fuck around…despite the fact that most of the seven tracks on this cassette are about someone having crabs or whatever. What’s wild is that it never even feels like a gimmick. It comes off more like they set out to write some songs, and this is just what they happened to have on their minds. Nothing but good dumb fun for scabby dumb punks! Bozos need not apply.

Jack & the Rippers I Think It’s Over LP reissue

Real nice and vital reissue (from the reissue kings Puke N Vomit Records) of this excellent 2005 compilation of songs by these essential Swiss KBD punkers. You get the “on every comp and good mixtape,” pogo-crushing hits “I Feel Like a Tram” and “No Desire” from their one-and-only back in the day 7” single. The other tracks are culled from an unreleased second EP session and various cassette tapes. They’re  extremely English in sound, with a BUZZCOCKS, the BOYS, or poppier DAMNED numbered vibe crossed with some more UK DIY or even anarcho moments. Not quite as punk as fellow Swiss peers the NASAL BOYS, but most tracks are essential except maybe the pseudo-reggae “Endless Peace” or questionable JOHN LENNON “Cold Turkey” cover. It’s even available on splatter vomit tie-dye dayglo vinyl that you can slap on your punky bedroom wall. Good stuff.

Liver Values Blind Anger cassette

Fuck me, this is a rough one. I don’t recommend blasting this at your next family reunion (unless you actually want to be repudiated, in which case definitely go for it). LIVER VALUES are from Germany (Blind Anger was recorded in Ludwigsburg, so I’m guessing they must be from the Stuttgart area) and I’m not completely sure about what they are trying to do, apart from making a lot of noise. The production, if you can call it that, is rough indeed. I do like the very primal raw vibe of the recording, but because of the lack of hooks and breathing space in the songs, it just leaves the listener exhausted. In terms of songwriting, LIVER VALUES’ dark hardcore tends to go in all directions, too many in my opinion, and I think a more focused approach would help. I do like the distorted D-beat moments, I think they work well especially with the drums being very forward in the mix, and I can hear a lovely DISORDER/CHAOS UK influence too, but on the whole, the slower hardcore parts and some transitions lose me and it is all too harsh and flat to really make sense.

Model Citizen Live at Dial Back Sound LP

MODEL CITIZEN is composed of members of DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS and the DEXATEENS. Apparently this LP marks the groups first release in years, like since the late ’90s or something crazy. Some of these tracks have a STRAWBERRY ZOTS feel, really pop-oriented with a ton of organ. I think I’m good, maybe the band’s namesake song is kinda OK? This is like being trapped in a truckstop bar, get me out of here!

New Dawn The Wicked Shall Not Rule 12″

Something tells me that between them, the members of NEW DAWN own every pressing of every record Porcell played on—even the YOUNG REPUBLICANS 7”. I kid (well, about the YOUNG REPUBLICANS record, at least). Seriously though, there’s some heavy YOUTH OF TODAY/JUDGE influence here. While they may not be breaking any new ground with their sound, it’s not stale by any means, and being that they only give the listener seven songs here, it’s over before it gets the chance to dry up.

Primitive Fucking Ballers You Gotta Do Something cassette

Hectic drums, powerful bass, and a sloppy, provocative voice with the violent urge of a televangelist on speed. It seems like the drummer is trying not to repeat the same beat twice, and the result is an atmosphere of anxiety and muffled howling, like a chemical hangover the morning after a party that got out of hand. Hardcore punk in the vein of the Lumpy Records catalog, but more aggro.

Retirement Bleed City cassette

Bleed City was released as a promo tape before the LP Buyer’s Remorse comes out on Iron Lung Records. With a label like that releasing the band, you can already get a sense of where this is going. Harsh, bleak, and unfiltered aggression of hardcore as it was back in the day, with bands like INFEST or NEGATIVE APPROACH as a template. “No feel-good anthems here, just the downward spiral of a dark and bleak trip,” as stated on their Bandcamp. A couple of surprises on Side B in the form of a RUDIMENTARY PENI cover and a remix by Andrew Nolan from ENDLESS BLOCKADE, COLUMN OF HEAVEN, and INTENSIVE CARE fame. Excited for the LP to come out.

Scrounger At the Edge of Our Abilities cassette

The guitars on this tape are sloppy pop punk with just a touch of reverb and an occasional bum note. The drums sound like a collection of cardboard boxes, pots, and pans. This is a sound I always associate with early ’00s bands like SHOTWELL or ADD/C. The whole thing sounds like an overdub of a bootleg, but SCROUNGER has great hooks and a sense of timing which makes them sound carefree rather than careless. At the Edge of Our Abilities is an easy, breezy ride on top of a punk rock freight car.

Senata Fox Discography cassette

Croatian punks SENATA FOX started in the late ’90s and lasted through the ’00s, and this tape collects the entire recorded works they left in their wake—47 songs on the gnarlier side of the spectrum, with relentless pounding drums and dual screaming/monster vocals. With a thrashy and rabid attack, the band plays a type of hardcore that toes the lines of neo-crust, powerviolence, and grind. In this career-spanning collection, you can hear the band evolve from more of a straightforward fastcore style into the sarcastic, blastbeating beast they had become by the time they recorded “Death Metal Diet.” Kudos to Doomtown Records for preserving the carnage.

Speck Speck cassette

Equation-core complexity meets feedback-riddled, no wave drone jazz on this eleven-song release. Imagine the bewildering instrumentation of BOTCH or DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN (without the tough guy affect) accompanied by CONTORTIONS-style sax riffing. That sounds like a mess, but it’s cool. The vocals are strained and desperate, buried just deep enough in the mix that, although unintelligible, they occasionally offer melody if you mine deep enough. “Dead Beach Boy” is head-bobbing, stop/start dirge-punk that propels forward into noisy chaos. “Blab Eye Chops” has a repetitive bass groove that creates a rhythmic backbone to atonal guitar and sax squall that sounds like NAKED CITY playing on a falling elevator. Eclectic and innovative, punk at its core, SPECK experiments with the form to our benefit.

The Speedways Talk of the Town LP

While this is reminiscent of the EXPLODING HEARTS, it’s decidedly softer. Still, the melodies are as catchy as the guitar riffs. It’s mid-tempo power pop with a jangly guitar thing that’s not quite as infectious as everyone’s favorite power pop/punk combo. At times, this has a certain PARTRIDGE FAMILY quality to it. If you think even for one second that that is anything other than high praise, you are mistaken. They’ve even got their ELVIS COSTELLO AND THE ATTRACTIONS moments. This is worth looking for.

Teini-Pää Sata Syytä Aloittaa LP

I don’t have an inkling of how to speak the Finnish language, so I had no idea what to expect with this record. The cover art reminded me a lot of the mid-to-late ’00s indie rock scene, and to be honest, because of that, I wasn’t expecting much here. However, this album completely blew me away. Very sentimental, rustic dream-rock. I can’t understand what they’re singing about, but I can feel it with the hooks and melodies. For all I know, they could be singing about something absolutely brutal. Still, the songs ooze with tenderness and nostalgia. “Mun Sydän On” is the standout track, the one that caused this album to sink its teeth into me. For fans of SUGAR STEMS and GOOD LUCK. Wonderful stuff.

Toilet Rats IV cassette

Poppy, noisy, synth-driven punk about ghosts, cryptids, conspiracy theories, and horror movies is a rapid summary of what Tommy Ratz of TOILET RATS does on this cassette. I would also describe this album as a romp through various levels of layered-up electronic fun. The instrumental delivery occasionally reaches epic levels, while the vocals croon and snarl in familiar ways. The song “Drug Bird” reminds me of a post-RAMONES Dee Dee side project or something generated by the SPITS. Then “Oskar & Eli” hits in a way that early 2000s pop punk does, finished out with “Walk the Earth,” a zombie-themed, darkwave toe-tapper—yes, please. Give me more.

Uliczny Opryszek Na Zwasze Punk 3 LP

The final entry in a massive three LP endeavor, Na Zawsze Punk 3 is Poland’s ULICZNY OPRYSZEK doing covers from old and obscure Polish punk bands spanning 1978–1998. Throughout the three albums, they deliver a whopping 79 songs, most of which were never recorded to any acceptable degree or previously released in any format. Instead, the band relied on tape recordings from the Jarocin festivals they grew up going to as source material. Jarocin was basically an annual Polish punk version of Woodstock that lasted throughout the ’80s and into the early ’90s and was a vital part of the genre’s existence in the Warsaw Pact nations during that era. They’re essentially resurrecting and documenting an entire forgotten timeline here for posterity, which is a wildly admirable effort. The music itself is a jungle of punk rock that leans into the various styles of the legion of bands who originally played it. There are some grimy old-school punk tunes, moments that wouldn’t be too out of place on a Fat release, Oi!, tinges of ’80s metal, and even a dub-style jam—it’s all over the place, as to be expected. As an added touch of class, each of the twenty songs on this record features a snippet of the original live recording of it before it, presenting it with a direct nod to its authors. The record comes with a dense booklet with info on the bands as well (presumably in Polish), completing the package. Nice little chunk of history.

What Me Worry? Friendly EP

On the second outing from Tampa, Florida’s WHAT ME WORRY?, they offer up two originals and a PAVEMENT cover. The cover is cool, but where the band shines is its other two offerings. “I Wanna Party With Bob?” is a friendly jab at the drummer of TILTWHEEL, who also hosts his own podcast called I Wanna Party With Bob. “Eckeled!” is the story of a houseguest overstaying their welcome. Fans of TOO MANY DAVES will find this very similar as the two bands share members, although I’d consider this more toned-down and less full-on party than the DAVES.

American Thought Criminal Living in Reality CD

It’s been a long time since I’ve been asked to review an objectively awful release here, the kind of recording that you cannot find one nice thing to say about. Thankfully, my drought has ended with this shiny plastic turd from self-described “dissident punk” band AMERICAN THOUGHT CRIMINAL. Poorly played, poorly written, and poorly recorded melodic “punk” with slower parts that will make you wish you were listening to a fourth-rate, third wave suburban ska punk band’s practice tape. And the lyrics…hoooo boy, there’s a lot to unpack here, folks. The world where antiestablishmentarians and reactionary libertarian-fueled conspiracy whack jobs meet is a scary place, but the drivel voiced in songs like “The Enemy of Truth” and “Written on Our Face” is just a pathetic regurgitation of trite MAGA talking points (at best), the kind of nonsense that gives anarchists a bad name—ill-informed and misguided faux rage directed at invisible bogeymen and false flag pedophiles…it’s exhausting and annoying. The biggest crime here is that the music sucks so fucking bad that most listeners will never get to know how much the lyrics suck.

The Brats Keep Doin’ (What You’re Doin’) / If You Can’t Rock (You Can Roll) 7″ reissue

Ten seconds in and I’m thinking to myself that this sounds like some kids that want to sound like a glam band from the mid-’70s, or maybe they fancy themselves the next ROLLING STONES. Turns out this was originally released in 1975, so I was onto something. It’s fine, but it’s not knocking my socks off. The sound is a little thin for me and I find myself wanting them to pick up the pace. It’s just a little too deliberate. I feel like it was a good start to a good single, but they never quite finished the job.

Cell Deth Cell Deth demo cassette

The pissed-off punk clatter of Canada’s CELL DETH is pretty damn sharp. It’s old-school hardcore with an urgent and authentic feel, and the raw sound on this demo, with the intense vocals competing to be heard over the music, complements the style. My favorite moments here are the off-kilter stomp and cartoonish riffage of “Disposable Culture,” the blastbeat-laden “Climate Crisis,” and the furious closer, but the whole thing just rips on by and leaves a good taste.

Dezerter Underground Out of Poland LP reissue

Not exactly sure what can be (or even needs to be) said about a record that MRR released in 1987, which served as thousands of Western punks’ first exposure to DEZERTER and the larger Soviet Bloc punk underground. As a starting point, it’s still a near-perfect introduction— the four tracks from the Ku Przyszłości EP are absolutely timeless, and the live recordings from Jarocin (the first Polish festival to showcase punk bands) truly capture the band’s live mania (“Nie Ma Zagrożenia,” anyone?). Thirty-five years after its initial release, Underground Out of Poland is still mandatory listening for new punks and gets reissued every few years (as it should), but this one from Pasażer includes a massive booklet with photos and ephemera, so even the well-versed stodgy fucks who have the original will want to pay attention.

Disciplina Limitar Ausencia Ganadora LP

Hooked on the first play. After releasing a four-track demo as DISLI in 2021, this Valencian quartet has evolved so much on their debut LP Ausencia Ganadora, on which they revise their demo and add several new tracks. Pure Spanish punk with nods here and there to post-punk, but with an overall sensibility towards well-crafted and catchy songs. With members of FUTURO TERROR, MAUSOLEO, and MORENAS, DISCIPLINA LIMITAR gathers the essentials for a great band. Bangers from start to finish.

Es Fantasy EP

This is only the third release in seven years by ES from London, but in under an hour’s worth of music (to date), they’ve hit that sweet spot where a band establishes a singular and identifiable sound, but switches it up enough from record to record so things are retread-free. That sound, in short, stacks up spartan, rickety, vaguely creepy keyboards, doomsaying vocals, and a punchy post-punk rhythm section with no guitars in sight. It was a smash on 2016’s Object Relations and 2020’s Less of Everything, and so it is on the four-song Fantasy, but on the whole it’s a bit less goth and a bit more synth pop (“Too Late” especially), even if ES provides pretty screwed versions of both. The bass/drums-led “Swallowed Whole” runs at an almost anarcho-ish canter, too, which is what I mean about nice surprises each time.

The Fall-Outs Fine Young Men LP

Seattle-based record and book shop Hex Enduction reissues this band’s 1986 debut, originally an eight-song cassette put out by Green Monkey Records. It’s expanded here with two previously unreleased tracks, pressed to vinyl for the first time. Similar to the grunge scene taking shape around them, the FALL-OUTS pulled a lot of their inspiration from 1960s garage rock acts and 1970s punk. But if these dudes had copies of My War or Master of Reality in their record collections alongside their SHADOWS OF KNIGHT or UNDERTONES records, it ain’t coming through in their music. They lack any of the dourness you would typically associate with the Seattle rockers of that time, choosing instead to play their pop-punky garage rock very earnestly. It reminds me a bit of Tim-era REPLACEMENTS, but it’s also not a million miles away from what Lookout! Records would put out just a few years later (like, CRIMPSHRINE or early MR. T EXPERIENCE). I had a really good time with this, but I can also see folks cringing through a lot of the moments that I found super charming.

Gee Tee Goodbye Neanderthal LP

These Sydney darlings of neo-garage/egg, who began as a one-man bedroom project and got regurgitated repeatedly until spewed out as an unhinged live force to give the SPITS a slow jog for reigning synth punk deviant kingship, are back. They’ve made the big time (as in Goner Records) and will probably be played on repeat in every cafe and kratom-slinging vape shop in middle America real soon. Very deserving are they though, as this might be their best. It’s big car driving music, and no two places have long distances like Australia and the US of A to cruise and enjoy hits like “I Hate (Drivin’ in the City),” “Heart Throb,” and “40K,” as well as the engine-revving title track. I feel like I’ve said enough here, and you could have written this a million times yourself from your prime seat on the bandwagon. Just nod hello and keep your cool.

Gutter Oil IX cassette

Six tracks of gross hardcore in the MEATMEN vein from this Perth, Australia band. The track list is probably the best litmus test for whether you will be into this or not; if you think songs like “Bomb the Hospitals” or “Small Hands Make the Best Clothes” are funny, you will like this. Their Bandcamp promises that “proceeds of sales will be donated to the ‘Second Chance Foundation’ to help re-home ugly children.” I’m sure the band finds all this hilarious. The music itself is thick, heavy hardcore with pounded floor tom beats, power-strummed chords, and slimy raw vocals, all interspersed with odd sound collages of crackling VHS tapes, patriotic songs decaying into noise, and self-help financial seminars. Standout tracks are “Drunk Fuck,” with the catchiest part of the tape in the refrain, “He only sucks when he’s drunk,” and the heavy bass groove that moves “Over the Hill” from mid-tempo chug to speedy D-beat. If well-produced, transgressively humorous punk is your thing, you could definitely do worse than GUTTER OIL.

Hambre Libre Es El Que No Desea Nada EP

Now this is a bit of an odd one. Or maybe not that much, as it cannot be denied that there is currently a trend in punk that sees the music go back to very minimalistic and primitive forms like those that could be found in the ’80s, when punks could not play and were unintentionally crude musicians. This band can be thought of in this light. Still, they’re a bit weird, but in a good way. HAMBRE comes from Mollet del Vallès in Catalonia and they are, quite aptly, rather mysterious. There is no bass guitar on this single-sided EP made up of four short songs of, supposedly, taoist hardcore (!), with lyrics dealing with foundational concepts from the Tao Te Ching (“Libre es el que no desea nada” for instance, which means “Free is the one who desires nothing”). Not exactly topics you see everyday on the punktube, but it confers a sense of originality and paradox to the band’s concept (the Tao Te Ching can hardly be said to have been a massive influence on punk or glue-sniffing). Is it just a silly pose? Well, I don’t think so, as HAMBRE plays minimalistic, fast tupa-tupa punk rock music, maybe not unlike some old Mexican bands, with vocals typical of old-school Spanish punk. Think REVOLUCION X and HEREJIA with a clearer punk rock sound and an obsession with simplicity. The demented artwork reminiscent of Asian horror is as bizarre as the band’s creative stance, and emphasizes the contrast between the taoist notion of harmonious selflessness and the utter madness of our psyche. Or something. I’m not sure the EP is good, but at least it is bizarre enough to be fresh.

Iron Guts Kelly Good Luck, Get Fucked LP

Melodic hardcore punk that kinda runs the gamut of sounds. There’s elements of a little bit of everything here. The singer sounds like a mash-up of SICK OF IT ALL’s Lou Koller and RANCID’s Matt Freeman. This isn’t bad, and there’s definitely an audience for this kinda stuff for sure. That said, it’s not something I could see myself reaching to put on more than once or twice. Probably could have done without the OPERATION IVY cover…but that’s just me.

Last Bias Last Bias demo cassette

Three-track demo from LAST BIAS, a Tampa Bay, Florida four-piece. Tagged as a post-hardcore group, I can hear similarities to/influences from bands like UNWOUND or the JESUS LIZARD, but with a really gruff vocalist, more in line with traditional hardcore. I think the last song “Not The Same” shines the brightest of the three with its structure and riffs. Polish this up and let’s see what’s next!

Model Citizens NYC 1978​–1979 LP

First-time redux of the the MODEL CITIZENS’ one-off 1979 EP (originally released on John Cale’s Spy Records label), now fleshed out as a proper long-player with an additional eight live tracks recorded at the Hurrah and Max’s Kansas City in 1978/1979. The MODEL CITIZENS were part of the constellation of New York weirdos crafting dissonant, danceable, and gleefully asymmetrical sounds in the city’s late ’70s downtown squalor, approaching the music-making process as a conceptual extension of their artistic practices. The four studio cuts all wiggle around the sort of anxious, off-kilter rhythms favored by the best art-school-spawned American post-punk outfits of the era (DEVO, PINK SECTION, etc.)—the delirious, near-wordless shrieks and squeals from vocalists Eugenie Diserio and Gloria Richards that punctuate “Animal Instincts” make them sound like the big city evil twins of Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson of the B-52’S, backed by some perfectly trashy organ stabs that only reinforce that parallel, and the tightly-wound, violin and marimba-accented minimalist groove and neurotically yelped vocals from one of their male counterparts on “I Am Honest” bests early TALKING HEADS at their own schtick. Some of the unreleased live cuts are especially great (the Eugenie/Gloria new wave from hell call-and-response of “Do It Like It Matters,” or the serpentine, bass-led mutant funk groove of “Foreign Tongue”), foreshadowing what was to come from the projects that the MODEL CITIZENS ultimately splintered into at the end of their brief run (major label new wavers POLYROCK, downtown funk-punk combo the DANCE, the backing band for preteen post-punk queen CHANDRA). Yes art, let’s dance.

Negative Prayer Morbid EP

Three evil crushers from NEGATIVE PRAYER, for fans of GENOCIDE PACT, NECROT, and DISFEAR. “Morbid” is the standout for me here; a flurry of growling D-beat that pumps the brakes a minute-and-a-half in, detouring into a thrash-y chug before grabbing you by the throat and throwing you back into the pits (of Hell). Lyrically, NEGATIVE PRAYER isn’t exactly a ray of sunshine, but who wants that from their crusty death metal anyway?

Nightstick Justice Complete Discography cassette

Well, here’s a rip-roaring blast from the past. If you weren’t lucky enough to catch them within the brief window of their existence from 2006–2008, treat yourself to this absolutely blistering collection of raging USHC from NIGHTSTICK JUSTICE. Goddamn, this one really holds up. Twenty-four tracks compiled from three EPs and one long-player; the frantic hardcore on this cassette is up there with some of the era’s best like DIRECT CONTROL, STREET TRASH, and TEAR IT UP. Straight-ahead, no-frills, angry fucking punk. Stellar drumming, rabid shouted vocals, fuzzed-out bass, and riffs on top of riffs, on top of riffs! Listen to songs like “Control” or “Desensitized” and try not to smash anything. My only gripe is that they didn’t make more than 50 of these tapes. Grip one if you can!

People’s Temple I’m With the People’s Temple EP

Brooklyn, NY-based hardcore punkers released this solid eight-track EP in February 2023, aided by Roachleg Records. Filled with classic ’80s USHC nods and all its raw energy, giving us powerful, distorted guitars and good soloing, sharp, spot-on bass lines, and on-point drums with fast cadences, directly entangled with visceral vocals guided by the sharp drum cuts. A great surprise of ’80s-infused songs combining the most classic skate punk from all over, a hint of charged punk rock, and a fresh pinch of no wave in there. Put early AGENT ORANGE, DEAD BOYS, NECROS, and POISON IDEA in a blender and there you go. Suggested tracks: “Patriotic & Brain Dead” and “S.O.S.”

Polluter Demo 2021 cassette

High-octane is the name of the game. South Korean fast hardcore infused with blastbeats and occasional D-beats. Highly energetic music with a very, very pissed-off vocal delivery. Sometimes it reminds me of a slower and less spazzy RAINBOWS OF DEATH. The shifts in style and beats only bring another dimension to their love of hardcore punk. Amazing debut display of modern hardcore.