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!

Poison Ruïn Not Today, Not Tomorrow EP

Dungeon punk? Medieval post-punk? Anarcho-goth? Chainmail-core? POISON RUÏN is a super hard band to define as they have so much going on in terms of influences. At the core, they are a post-punk band, and that is very well-defined, but they lean towards Oi!, sometimes deathrock, and even dungeon synth at other times. Like medieval AMEBIX playing WIPERS songs after a few pints of mead. It started out as a solo project of Mac Kennedy, but since then has become a full-band venture. “Not Today, Not Tomorrow” starts out with dungeon synth and it ends with thunder over an epic punk riff. Shall I say more? The highlight is the closer “Edifice,” a bleak, mid-tempo post-punk anthem filled with dread. Throw on your chainmail, and get your dice ready.

Public Opinion Modern Convenience LP

The record begins with a stomping, almost hair rock riff and keeps that spirit throughout. This is a punk interpretation of rock, or maybe rock poured through a punk filter. The rhythm is steady, not raging, and there’s cowbells kissing the honky tonk breaks. The power chords are crisp and the singer is ready to “break down the door” ‘cuz they “were right all along.”

Roughed Up King and Council EP

Clandestine, channel-straddling Oi! outfit ROUGHED UP announce themselves with a cracker of a release here. Terrace-friendly chants waging class war, all delivered in an accent that in another life would have been selling two pounds of pears in a brown paper bag at Bethnal Green market. Plenty of joyful guitar-led choruses replete with a little glammy flourish, not dissimilar to the CHISEL at their most anthemic, too. One to keep an eye on.

S.O.H. Life on Edge EP

L.A. bands are so fucking good. There’s something in the smog and sun that consistently spits out the best rage and primal energy. I was awaiting this one eagerly like a hungry animal, as this is last year’s ass-ripper of a cassette put to wax and unlike the usual waste of resources out there, this one deserves it. SYSTEM OF HATE is what those initials stand for, but it could easily be SICK OF HUMANS from the amount of carnage left in this band’s wake. Featuring a member of the excellent PRISION POSTUMO as well as other notable SoCal all-stars, this all-too-short, six-song steamroller is driven by the fiercest vocalist I’ve heard in some time. The COMES, ULTRA VIOLENT, VARUKERS, blah blah…totally stands on its own and shouldn’t be diluted by old man comparisons. Cover art of the year. Don’t be a fool, fool. Pick it up.

State Drugs / Zephr split 7″

A feel-good track each from Denver’s own STATE DRUGS and ZEPHR. “Mr. Untitled” (STATE DRUGS) is soft, and almost a little sappy, yet earnest. A minor scale lead walks up and down over a jangly rhythm guitar while the vocalist croons out “Are we OK? / The world’s scaring the shit out of me / There’s no escape / No point to stay / No where to leave,” the fatalism of which hits home for, I imagine, too many. “Landline (J’ai Une Âme Solitare)” (ZEPHR) is a little more playful and noisier, with classic ambient shouts from backing vocals under “Hanging on a landline / Feeling low / Can’t get myself outside.” These songs could fit in any of the early-aughts Warped Tour compilations, but are obviously covered in the makeup of our present. All in all, they make a cohesive split—have a rainy day listen.

Suffering Mind Lifeless LP

Latest LP from Poland’s SUFFERING MIND. Pure anti-facist grindcore in the vein of ASSUCK and BRUTAL TRUTH to Peel Sessions-era NAPALM DEATH and CARCASS—yes, the ones punks listen to. Non-stop blastbeats, nothing but short, fast, and loud, driven by the rage and aggression from an oppressive system we live in rather than a technical talent show for metalheads.

 

Team Spirit O.C. Life EP

It’s hard to describe (or review) this record without mentioning how much I know 1997-me would have loved it. 2022-me also loves it, but in more of a nostalgic way (of course). For the uninitiated—TEAM SPIRIT was a positive Norwegian straight edge band, and this is their five-song demo from 1997. Fast and infectious with a heavy USHC influence. One tune is a total clunker, but I can listen to “Outside” and the title track every fukkn day.

Vacancy Shadows 12″

Four tight and well-constructed gems from this Californian post-punk band that navigates the turbulent waters of life in 2022 with songs full of emotion, imagination, and even a bit of drama. Hard to single out one song when they all constitute their own beautiful territory, but I can recommend the glorious opener “Burning” and the very intense closer “Withered.” There’s an LP coming soon to look forward to, so keep VACANCY in the loop.

V/A Radio Dood LP

An LP reissue of a long out-of-print 1986 compilation tape of Dutch hardcore, used to raise money for the all-punk, by punks, and for punks radio station Radio Dood. Notably, this tape contained the final recordings of LÄRM before those eventually found their way on the band’s discography CD. This sounds like a tape from 1986 pressed to vinyl, so unless you are a Dutch HC completist and you love tape hiss and blown-out low end, I’d say this release works better as a historical document than as a home audio experience.

Almen T.N.T. ¿A Donde Vamos Hoy? 7″ reissue

This is a Munster reissue of the first independent Spanish punk single from 1979. After getting assigned it, I realized my knowledge of punk in Spain was pretty minimal, basically having only heard the LOS PUNK ROCKERS knock-off album of SEX PISTOLS covers, the fiery LAS VULPESS, and the brief punky bits seen in the cult film Arrebato. Punk in Spain got a delayed start, bubbling up in the years following the fall of the Franco dictatorship in 1975, with a slow trickling of glam-inspired, proto-punk-ish hard rock. ALMEN T.N.T. was essentially just Manolo Almen, a Barcelona anarcho-hippie protest singer who saw folk on the wane and latched onto the harder rock sound he was beginning to hear. This 7” would be the only thing they would produce, and the leftist politics are up front and center. The A-side translates to “No One Believes in Revolution Anymore,” a song criticizing the consumer capitalist culture that developed in the years after Franco, starting with a sound collage of explosions, police sirens, and gunfire zinging before a heavy fuzz riff charges through the fray. The music on both sides is similar to the post-psych proto-punk street rock of the PINK FAIRIES, while a bit generically bluesy in the leads. The fast evolution of Spanish punk sorta left this in the dust as punks from Madrid to Barcelona dove into the subgenre undergrounds of hardcore and varying strains of post-punk. Its historical importance outweighs its musical significance, but a very cool artifact nonetheless.

Black Dots I’ve Had It / Are We There Yet? flexi 7″

Fast and powerful punk rock tinged with the heartache of emo—think of a more melodic version of SWINGIN’ UTTERS. This flexi release offers up two new songs, “I’ve Had It” and “Are We There Yet?” Although this is a stand-alone release, these songs are paired with three others on a (digital only?) release titled EP2. “I’ve Had It” is a melancholic parting ways track, starting with “I’m packin’ up and movin’ it along / And maybe I’ll just yell about it in another song,” the simplicity of which I enjoy. The rest of the lyrics come off as trope-y and cliché, but the feeling that moves me in the first line, somehow, carries on throughout. “Are We There Yet?” walks a similar line, buts captivates me less with its chorus “How fucking hard is it? / To find compassion past your own shit?” The message may be positive, ultimately, but this is the kind of thing I can take in very limited doses. But hey, if you’re feeling a little whiny, or pouty even, this may be for you.

Bursters Rindcore and More cassette

Blown-out drum machine/synth-heavy electronic music ranging from mid-tempo to blistering fast. Most of these songs feel as if they are over almost as soon as they start. The vocals are delivered with such strain and intensity that you can almost feel polyps forming in your own throat just from listening to this cassette. After almost every track, there is a sound clip about oranges. Presumably that is the titular “rind” that “rindcore” is referring to?

Cramp Suzy Lie Down / She Doesn’t Love Me 7″ reissue

CRAMP was from Portrush, Northern Ireland. This is a reissue of their 1979 7” originally released on Rip Off. The music is straightforward pub rock, played slowly and thoughtfully. The lyrics are sung nonchalantly. On “Suzy Lie Down,” a man sings of trying to convince a woman to sleep with him, including questionably accusing her of being a slut even as he exclaims that he loves her. The B-side “She Doesn’t Love Me” is a song of unrequited love. She does even give him the time of day. Both songs are catchy, but the lyrics make my eyes roll.

Cult Objects Secrets of Pain​-​Free Living cassette

Secrets of Pain-Free Living is the first official release from Philadelphia’s incendiary post-punk/noise rock trio CULT OBJECTS. Swirling shoegaze-y guitars are combined here with Lauren Leilani Iona’s raw, ragged howl, a powerful match for her honest and emotionally vulnerable lyrics. There are moments where all the clangor reminds me of none other than SONIC YOUTH. The noise is at its harshest and most uncompromising in “Glue Trap,” with its layers of piercing guitar squall, while tracks like “Sea Foam” and “When Will a Fire Come?” sound downright poppy by comparison. “Scorpion Grass” is perhaps the most captivating moment on the record, a six-minute experimental epic anchored by a hypnotizing rhythm section. This is pretty potent stuff.

Dead Stoolpigeon Hit the Bastards Where It Hurts 1995–1997 3xLP

I can never figure out why this band flew (and still flies) under the radar, but this collection will surely speak to any deniers. This is the embodiment of passionate political ’90s hardcore—the band was basically MANLIFTINGBANNER without the Van Den Berg brothers, but I always felt like BORN AGAINST/UNIVERSAL ORDER OF ARMAGEDDON comparisons were more appropriate. This release contains everything and it’s packaged with the care and consideration that the band deserves. If you’re going to start somewhere with DEAD STOOLPIGEON, then I suppose you might as well start with everything.

Doldrey Celestial Deconstruction LP

We don’t get to review death metal albums that often here at Maximum Rocknroll, so let’s get to it! In an oversaturated world of ENTOMBED clones, it is hard to stand out without sounding exactly like the next band in line. DOLDREY manages to sound refreshing, but maintains all the tropes of this microgenre some call ENTOMBED-core or “death punk.” Ice-cold HM-2 riffage? Check. Murky vocal delivery? Check. Pummeling D-beats? Check. Groove that makes you headbang? Double check! The curious thing is that DOLDREY worships Swedish death metal, but they come from an improbable place, Singapore. You can tell that they love punk and hardcore just as much as they do GRAVE or CARNAGE. A great record to put on when you burn out your copy of Wolverine Blues.

Eel Men Live at New River Studios cassette

Short collection of excellent power pop/mod revival from this British band. If you like the JAM or even the KINKS, this tape will be up your alley. Catchy, melodic vocals with clean strummed guitars and basketball basslines, EEL MEN use the classic vocabulary of British rock music but create something fresh and immediately enjoyable. It sounds polished and DIY at the same time, carefully arranged but still drawn from punk around the edges. All four songs are jams (get it?) and I look forward to more. And if this was really recorded live, EEL MEN are a band to check out, because the performance is flawless.

Exhibition You’ll Be Next… cassette

Four tracks of riff-heavy, anthemic hardcore out of Buffalo, NY. The first track, “Give It Up,” starts with a chest-thumping march reminiscent of SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, and then it’s off to the races with breakneck rhythms and chugging guitars. “Chaos Unfolding” also stands out as an absolute ripper and includes a quasi-power metal guitar solo. I know that sounds weird, but it works.

The Faction Room 101 and Growing Pains LP

Notable not only as one of the first skate punk bands, but also as a skate punk band with an actual pro skater in their lineup. As can be surmised from the title, these are demo versions that would eventually appear on their first two releases: fast songs about skating, cops harassing them about skating, etc. They’re legends of the style and if you’re a diehard for it, you’re already picking this up. I haven’t ever successfully stood on a skateboard, so skate punk never endeared itself to me. This music usually just reminds me of shitty older dudes at shows I went to growing up, who love to use pejorative slurs and say charming shit like “If you dont wanna get hit, get out of the pit.”

Florida Men Florida Men CD

These Dutch fellers make no bones about wearing their influences on their sleeves here. Pop punk in the vein of SCREECHING WEASEL, LILLINGTONS, etc. played with full-on sincerity and it shows. A lot of times I feel like this type of stuff misses the mark, but this hits it dead on. The homage to the weasel logo on the cover is a nice touch, and made me chuckle.

Heat Wrays Heat Wrays demo cassette

I don’t know if these Leeds-based lads met at uni, but you could assume so from the sound of this tape. It’s all a bit erudite, showing off tidy proceedings of wiry guitar interplay with a healthy dollop of apathetic vocalizing that I’m sure the band is tired of hearing compared to PARQUET COURTS (that first one, though, when everyone thought they’d be the new PAVEMENT). I like the songs here overall, they’re not breaking any new ground but the melodies stick in your head and there’s enough variety to keep you engaged. I’m not entirely sold on the vocals on second cut “The Athlete,” but I stand firm that very few bands can pull off talk verses in this day and age. Leave it to LEWSBERG and URANIUM CLUB, that’s my advice. At the end of the day, this is a demo, and it sounds like it. I wish them well, and with some seasoning in the pan they could cook something with confidence down the line.

Junta Screwdriver / Policia No Me Jodas flexi 7″

Self-released punkers from NYC pummel through two songs of excellent Latino hardcore. “Screwdriver” starts off the flexi by demanding your attention with beaten-into-submission drums and death metal guitar riffs that’ll make your head spin. “Policia No Me Jodas” (“Police Don’t Fuck With Me”) follows up with a repetitive anger and is a rerecording from their 2017 demo Open Veins. Get your elbows out for this one.

Kpax! Kpax! LP

Don’t believe the cover, as the mutant-looking creatures in a melting town suggested this might be some falling-apart, naive hardcore. It is quite the opposite—KPAX! from Belgrade plays rigid Oi!; there is no song under two minutes and the pace rarely goes above mid-tempo. Big-scale melodies mix with simplified rock-ish sound, all in Serbian. The singer has a great voice, and the mixing makes it sound like one person singing in the name of at least a factory of desperate people. Guitars have a nicely adjusted sound delivering post-punk tones here and there, and the parts are way more creative than Oi! usually is. Overall, they have a great balance between modern and classic local sounds, between Oi! and post-punk, between careless and determined vocals. All these dualities make the record interesting and fun—for my preferences, it is really long, but at least you got material for your money.  

L’Appel Du Vide Abwärtsspirale EP

This is a great EP from an up-and-coming band straight out of Germany. They mix elements of melodic deathrock darkness, surf guitar riffs, and the hypnotic momentum of the most nocturnal and romantic English post-punk (Sturm und Drang-style). Four songs that feel like four anthems. You don’t need more.

Liquid Lunch Come Again! cassette

Writing this review took me far longer than the tape itself takes to play, because it put me in another existential mood about genre and style. I just really don’t know what more can be written about this kind of music. If you’ve listened to CHERRY CHEEKS, RESEARCH REACTOR CORP, the current crop of Lumpy bands, etc. etc., then you have a clue to what this LIQUID LUNCH tape sounds like: stiff rhythms (with manic militancy on the hi-hat and snare) played at ultracore tempos, protractor and T-square guitar riffs played with pinpoint accuracy alternated with thrashin’ bashers, sprinkled with synth squiggles, and topped with muffled mutoid man yelling. But what are they yelling about? There’s a song on it called “Obamacare,” in this year of our lord 2022. Is this a political song? Is it a goof? Have we reached the Final Devolution of CONEHEADS-core? Are all of these bands just pizza punk with more right angles? Am I thinking about this too much? The answers to all these questions: probably, and who cares?

Mock Execution Killed by Mock Execution LP

Chicago’s MOCK EXECUTION leaves no crust boxes unticked. Part UK traditional crust like DOOM or E.N.T., part Japanese crasher crust like GLOOM or GAI. Even though many bands follow this route in terms of style, MOCK EXECUTION seems to have developed their own distinct sound, with a brutal display of ferociousness throughout the nine songs that make up Killed by Mock Execution—and you will indeed be killed by this noise bomb.

Multiplex Segway Cops cassette

Latest cassette release by MULTIPLEX from Bremen, Germany. Sounds like something along the lines of a three-month-long DETESTATION European tour during the ’90s, a PARAGRAF 119 set at Ungdomshuset, or Venezuela’s APATIA NO. Cover consists of a crew of lazy cops riding on their Segways drawn in MS Paint. Something like this needs to be listened to on a thrift store boombox with blown-out speakers while taking over some unoccupied building in your town—just don’t bring the dogs to the show.

Night Court Nervous Birds! Too cassette

NIGHT COURT plays smart jangly, just weird enough lo-fi punk—which is still harmonic at heart—that draws both from late ’70s power pop and ’90s college radio. It’s the kind of release that would stand strong on the Recess Records or Dirtnap rosters. There’s a complex interplay between the reflective lyrics, fuzzed bass riffs, power guitar chords, and clangorous drums, that while being deftly executed, comes off like it was just an “aw shucks” accident. Extra bonus is that this is the second album in the band’s debut duology, and the first album is just as good.

NightFreak Speed Trials cassette

Gruff rock’n’roll stewing in a suburban storage unit packed with knuckle-dragging, burnout used-to-be-punks all half-drunk on Beast. Things are getting tense—it’s sweaty and it smells like shit, motherfuckers are running low on warm beer, and no one is brave enough to walk to the store alone because the night is about to get a lot hotter. The NIGHTFREAK is coming. They launch into “I’ll Show You Heaven” and everyone in the room questions their life choices in unison, but it’s too late. The doors are locked and the stench feels like it’s going in your ears but it’s just another guitar solo. There’s no escape. This is your life.

Obsolete Man Glory Be to the Bomb cassette

Four angry blokes from San Francisco, OBSOLETE MAN. On the table here is a really good mix of heavy hardcore, metalcore, and powerviolence, making very good use of uncommon song structure to create something very unpredictable and unique. These vocals drip with anger and venom, with the instrumentation following suit very nicely. These guys know how to set a damn desolate mood. Solid stuff!

Pisse Lambada EP

“Komfortzone,” the opening track on the new EP from this HoyerswerdaI band, is exactly how you should do the whole “punk band plus a synth” thing. If you absolutely must involve a synth, let it play a supporting role—maybe have it provide a bit of atmosphere, potentially elevate your solid but pretty straightforward garage-y post-punk (or whatever) to something a little different, something interesting. PISSE maybe don’t strike the exact balance I’m looking for on each of the seven tracks here, but they do so more often than not, turning this into a much more memorable affair than it would have been had there not been a synth. It’s a cool record—give it a go!

Psychic Graveyard / USA Nails split LP

I’m not sure if people understand what a force ARAB ON RADAR was when they emerged before the turn of the millennium. The first time I saw them—resplendent in their janitor uniforms—they hit “go” on the strobe light and the band jolted to life like Frankenstein’s monster. The entire crowd backtracked ten steps in two seconds flat. Maybe “scurried” is a better description. DEVO, US MAPLE, and BRAINIAC weren’t just getting thrown into the blender, they were swinging a lawnmower around, chopping up bodies Dead Alive-style. And ARAB ON RADAR continued to deliver the goods up until they split. Afterwards came CHINESE STARS, who I always found frustrating. They didn’t have the killer instinct of RADAR nor quite the methodical precision of SIX FINGER SATELLITE. DOOMSDAY STUDENT was a good-enough rehash of ARAB ON RADAR, but to those who witnessed the first go-round, it wasn’t quite as much of an illicit thrill. Featuring some of the same key players, PSYCHIC GRAVEYARD delivers on the electro-punk promise of CHINESE STARS and pilots it straight into the eye of the hurricane. “Building You a Rainbow” is a suitably mellow-harshing recounting of whatever new age bullshit has crossed your path this week. Singer Eric Paul lists the various permutations of this noxious blather with a withering tone. If “Love My Skeleton Too” is what passes for romance in PSYCHIC GRAVEYARD’s world, then sign me up for the next speed-dating night. PSYCHIC GRAVEYARD’s side of this split is a surprisingly enjoyable trawl through a battered and beautiful landscape. The UK’s USA NAILS are the perfect complement to PSYCHIC GRAVEYARD. The London-based trio has been around for almost a decade now and their noise rock pummel still hits as hard as ever. These dudes are one of the few bands that took the influence of a band like MCCLUSKY and further refined it. And when I say “refined,” I mean “beat the living shit out of,” cuz these cats don’t mess around when it comes to inflicting damage. But they got songs as well, which makes the squall that much more disorienting. “What Have We Become?” is an example of restraint even as it throbs menacingly. “God Help Us If There’s a War” pairs up understated vocals with seesaw bass and a melodic guitar line. Nothing but pure, uncut high-quality goods on this evenly matched ocean-spanning split.

 

Ristrikt We Are All Just Human LP

Hardcore punk from Edmonton, Alberta that features members of SNFU and DAYGLO ABORTIONS. The “members of” tag is a bit of a “gotcha” to sell a couple more records, although I believe that by using that, it may actually hurt more than help. RISTRIKT has more in common with modern hardcore/punk than the old school sounds of the aforementioned bands, and I think that this record is strong enough to stand on its own rather than with the crutch of a “members of” line.

Simp Social Institutions of Malevolent Purpose cassette

The debut from two-man band SIMP out of Washington, this collection of songs presents a sound of traditional angry hardcore-ing with traces of the more modern S.H.I.T.-esque style. It’s decent. This guy swears to god he’s a Functional Human, but I won’t believe it until we get a proper LP to follow this up.

Squander War Crimes cassette

Punk from Nova Scotia, reminding me structurally of AUS-ROTTEN, with the sting of A.O.A. or EXIT-STANCE and the production tone of KORROSIVE or PROTESTI. At points loose and chaotic like Finnish HC, and other times straightforward and brutal like LANGUID. This is comprised of members of NAPALM RAID and SYSTEM SHIT, etc. It is somewhat more hardcore and old school than it is crust, like CRUCIFIX mixed with several ’80s Scandinavian and UK influences. A tape that gets heavier and heavier as it goes.

Student Nurse Think for Yourself: Seattle Tour 1979-1984 CD

The complete works (and then some) of late ’70s/early ’80s Seattle art-punks STUDENT NURSE—of the 28 tracks on Think for Yourself, 18 of them(!!!) are previously unheard, and we’re not talking murky practice demos or live rehashes of studio-recorded material, either. Despite only leaving a handful of vinyl short-players behind, STUDENT NURSE still managed to hopscotch through a dizzying range of styles, from speedy, punky bruisers (the minute-long “Lies,” from their 1979 debut 7”), to eccentrically catchy new wave (the bizarro-world hit “Garbage,” from 1980’s As Seen on TV 12”), to upstroked ska-inspired rhythms (“Discover Your Feet,” off the 1981 Seattle Syndrome LP comp), to minimal weirdo pop sung in Dutch (“Recht Op Staan,” the A-side to their 1982 swan-song single). Taken as a whole, the course they charted was not entirely unlike that of SUBURBAN LAWNS, if SUBURBAN LAWNS had been transported from sunny Southern California to the shadow of the Space Needle, with their mixed-gender vocals (guitarist Helena Rogers’ alternatingly jittery/deadpan approach hits some definite Su Tissue angles), spiky riffs and Morse code beats, and a kitsch-minded willingness to not take themselves too seriously—see “Encounter,” STUDENT NURSE’s angular ode to alien abduction that’s an ideal thematic twin to the LAWNS’ “Flying Saucer Safari.” The treasure trove of unreleased archival material is what really elevates this collection to essential status; the stiff, almost GANG OF FOUR-ish funk of “Colonies,” the proto-K Records pop styling of “Letters,” and the robotic post-punk detachment of “Tough Guy in the Lab” are all especially great. True subterranean pop!

Touchhole Touchhole demo cassette

Lo-fi (and I mean low) bass, drums, and noise combo. It’s dissonant but not totally off-the-rails, i.e. there’s definitely a beat, vocals, and something resembling a melody. Imagine a hardcore record with vocals fed through an effects pedal and guitars sped up or slowed down beyond recognition. Kinda feels like TOUCHHOLE is trolling the listener, like “just how much of this can you tolerate hearing?” Your answer may dictate how much you like this.

V.D.I. Naces, Vives, Mueres cassette

Excellent catchy, bouncy hardcore punk from Argentina (I think, as I couldn’t dig up much about them on the internet). The guitar is buzzsaw as fuck like on that LOS VIOLATORES song on the Peace/War comp, but maybe that’s a cheap comparison to use fellow countrymates. I’m feeling a lot of SoCal’s RAYOS X and POLISKITZO here, as well as some classic Oi! like Barcelona’s DECIBELIOS. Really, really good. Hopefully I’ll know more about them soon and so will you.

Ataque Subliminal Ataque Subliminal demo cassette

This short four-song demo comes out of NYC from the Toxic State family of fine products. Fronted by raw-throat melodic shouts and the guitar’s radioactive riffs, dripping with just the right amount of flange, plus a bass and drum backline that relays the rhythm more with off-kilter tom rolls, big trashy crash bashes, and a tasteful use of breakdown beats rather than just relying on the standard snare and hi-hat rata-tat-tat ad infinitum. It really lends the songs a lateral swing and danceability, especially on the killer opening cut “Màquinas Deseantes.”

Born Cursed Born Cursed cassette

Beligerent hand-tattooed hardcore out of Massachussetts? Yes. A thousand times yes. This band brings a brick down with their focused take on metallic-tinged HC. There’s a clean, crisp feel to the recording, which normally I’m less onboard with, but it brings a clarity that adds heft and ferocity to this speedy grip of six tracks. There are even more than a few toes dipped into powerviolence, such as on minute-long bruiser “Anti Everything.” There isn’t much on display here other than solid, competent hardcore that will bang your head for you and open the pit on a weeknight. Good effort all around, though might not stick in your head.

Class Class cassette

RIK AND THE PIGS join forces with Jim Colby, one of the all around best musicians I know, to bring us CLASS, with a new cassette tape released on the mighty Feel It Records. Buckle up, folks, and take a little ride with me. Everyone reading MRR knows RIK at this point, and his instantly recognizable voice crooning at you almost intimidatingly on the songs he sings will immediately win over PIGS fans. I’m not entirely sure how many of his Hog Boys RIK was able to wrangle into this project, but teaming them up with Mr. Colby was a helluva move. If Jim Colby is not a household name for you, then that’s a house I’m not sure I care to enter. Jim has been involved with seemingly countless bands spanning many different genres of music, but most notably to the avid Maximum Rocknroll reader, he was the blastermind behind the absolutely killer new wave group from Tucson, AZ, NEW DOUBT, who did a slew of cassette releases, and he was the saxophone player with BROWN SUGAR both live and on the band’s LP. CLASS might first come off as a little confusing, but I urge you to listen to this cassette a few times before you make your mind up about it. A departure from the incredibly nasty lo-fi recordings that helped make RIK AND THE PIGS so special (don’t even get me started on how much I love that last LP), this cassette has impeccably clean production value, each instrument coming through as clear as day. CLASS has different vocalists featured on multiple songs on this tape and feels like there are more than one songwriters taking the reins from song to song. It comes off like a glam rock band or a modern-day version of KISS without the glitter or the gimmick. Well, I haven’t seen them perform live, so maybe there is glitter and makeup and fancy clothes….hmm. I would honestly be quite open to seeing these beautiful ghouls try something like that. Can you tell I’m a fan over here? Pardon me while I flip the tape for yet another listen.

Cutre Inconscientes cassette

It is riffs ahoy on this killer cassette from Buenos Aires, Argentina’s CUTRE—there’s so many of them and they all rip! Classic-style hardcore punk that’ll get your blood pumping (along with your fist). The vocals howl and scream in sheer defiance while the instrumentation is as tight as can be—and did I mention this is jam-packed with superior riffage? I feel like a good indicator of this tape’s bad-assery is the fact that there is an INDEGESTI cover on it. Get this blasted!

Destiny Bond 2022 Promo cassette

DESTINY BOND dials back the distortion and lets the riffs and drums drive, and drive they do! They dispense galloping D-beats and floor-punchy breakdowns with expertise. The singer’s aggrieved, sarcastic gripe is a nice change of pace from being barked at. The mostly straight-line punk riffs occasionally insert melodic notes and fills but mostly keep it simple, which is as it should be.

Exil Mercenary EP

EXIL returns with another fine smorgasbord of crisp, tight Swedish hardcore. Great artwork and no bullshit. In case you don’t have a clue, this features former members of DS-13, E.T.A., the VICIOUS, and more. It has that clean-but-heavy guitar roar and enunciated vocal style you’d expect from those previous bands, but this isn’t an ancient throwback to, like, 2001. My favorite track has to be the closer, “Can’t See Your Face,” for being dirtier and having an almost Hell Comes to Your House creepy-crawl bad vibe. It’s such a copout to write after reviewing Swedish bands, but this is definitely “skol!” worthy.

Fol Jazik Dete Na Xx Vek / Oglas Šifra 7″

Two doses of primitive Yugoslavian drug punk circa 1979 unearthed by the folks at Rave Up. There’s something amazing about listening to a band struggling to bash out two-chord riffs, and every moment of this single sounds like a struggle. Rudimentary at best, raw brilliance at its worst, “Dete Na XX Vek” deserves to be preserved in the outsider punk archives—file somewhere between TAMPAX and the DOGS.

Frente Norte Ardiendo LP

If you were to pick up this record on cover art alone you’d assume that it was some kind of metal band and, well…you’d be wrong. Like way off. There’s a lot to unpack here. The vocals are gruff, but musically, this is kinda poppy but very simple-sounding; I don’t mean that in a disparaging way. It’s kind of all over the place musically and the vocals shouldn’t work with what’s going on here, but for some reason they do, and they are the biggest reason that I like this. The lyrics are sung in Spanish, which I think adds to the charm here. If they were sung in English, I think it would lose something. I think this record will be seeing a lot of time on the turntable around here.

Gentlemen Rogues A History of Fatalism LP

Catchy, mid-tempo power pop with a definite indie pop feel. There’s even a hint of country/Americana in there. They cover MORRISSEY’S “The Last of the Famous International Playboys.” That’s gutsy, but they do pull it off. This is really well done and if you like bands like the ALL AMERICAN REJECTS, this could be up your alley. I’m guessing it isn’t punk enough for most MRR-ers. I’m totally digging it.

The Honeymoon Killers Hung Far Low LP reissue

This last HONEYMOON KILLERS album originally came out in the Year Punk Broke (1991 A.D.) The KILLERS were mainstays of NYC’s downtown scum rock scene, while leaning towards the blues-punk side of the street. Two-thirds of the HONEYMOON KILLERS were of the female persuasion, which made them stand out from the rest of the unwashed masses. Even Cristina of BOSS HOG did her time in the band, but when this album emerged at the dawn of the ’90s, the HONEYMOON KILLERS were two-thirds BLUES EXPLOSION. With Russell Simins on drums and Jon Spencer on guitar and vocals, founding members Lisa Wells and Jerry Teel raised some hell one final time. You can definitely hear how Spencer and Simins’ post-modern take on trashy rock’n’roll influenced Hung Far Low’s direction, but Teel and Wells are still firmly in the driver’s seat. Listening to this album is equivalent to a Lower East Side booze crawl that doesn’t end until the sun comes up. You might not remember much about it, but you had a damn good time while it was happening. Shortly after the HONEYMOON KILLERS packed their bags for good, the BLUES EXPLOSION exploded on a national scale and Teel joined an even better band than the one he had just laid to rest—the CHROME CRANKS.

Kids Born Wrong Book of Vile Darkness LP

Just looking at the song list for this album makes me smile. “Bury Me Someplace Bad and Ugly,” “Mermaid Blues,” “Killed On Video,” “Full of Bugs.” The titles paint a picture that is backed up with some fuzzy, retro-ish indie rock. Some lyrics are screamed while others are spoken calmly. They save the best song, “We’re All Gonna Die Down Here,” for last. The music pulses and the vocals panic. Just weird and wicked in the right ways.