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Imagine the early Dischord releases played through a filter that made them all sound like they were being played by DISCHARGE. Yeah, dude. Gnarly, right? Well, imagine no more friends, because RECKONING FORCE has achieved that goal and it fucking rules. Holy shit. Everyone should snatch up a copy of this before it’s out of print.
The songs ain’t new, but now they’ve been properly fastened to a 7″ you can add to your disgusting S.H.I.T. collection. Featuring two tracks from these Toronto-based purveyors of jarring hardcore that were previously released in digital format only, this record showcases the style you expect with a slightly different feel. The vocals are laid much flatter than usual, and the band’s signature twisted stomp is produced with a clean, futuristic sheen that rings as borderline industrial at times, especially on the first track. The second one, “Eraser III,” is the third part of a song that dates back to their first cassette, affirming that though they’ve been in it for a minute now, they haven’t lost the plot.
When you present quality female-fronted pop punk to me, it can really only go one way. I’m a sucker for this shit. It’s my crack. Mid-tempo and super catchy, my head is bouncing around like it’s on autopilot. The B-side even has a certain ’70s catchiness to it. Let’s be clear about what this is and what it isn’t. It’s fun and it’s catchy and it’s easy and it’s well-done and it’s fun. I may have already mentioned that. It’s not going to challenge your perception of what music should be or break down other barriers. If this is your sort of thing, you’ll enjoy it. If it’s not your kind of thing, this isn’t going to change your mind about that. Take it for what it is. Put it on the turntable, turn up the volume, and sing like you think you know the words. Oh, and then crack a cold one.
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SUPERCRUSH is made up of folks who cut their teeth coming up in the Pacific Northwest hardcore scene, but you wouldn’t know it by listening to their second full-length. This is some sugary-sweet alterna-rock that sounds like it was just unearthed from a time capsule buried sometime in the early-to-mid-’90s. Fuzzed-out, jangly guitars, breathy vocals, and hooks galore. This is the perfect record for driving on a warm spring day with the windows down and no destination, or just laying in some grass soaking up some rays, possibly while partaking in a jazz cigarette. I don’t know man, this record is just fucking really good, and I just feel relaxed when it’s on.
This was one of the best kängpunk D-beat records of last year, if not the best in that category. Wanna know how I know? Because I put it on my 2021 top ten. More to my own point, this was one of the best D-beat albums of last year that I did not hear a lot about. Perhaps because no one can spell it? It’s a mystery to me. Swedish vevarsle at its finest, in the realms of DISFEAR, ANTI CIMEX, BOMBANFALL, and SVART PARAD (the band’s namesake is the first track on ANTI CIMEX’s first EP Anarkist Attack, as you know). To be brief and specific, this album fucking rips. The drum fills are subtle and smooth, yet a gut-punch at just the right moment. And those moments are never overdone, appreciated like a cold slap of reality. That is, kängpunk as fuck. Authentic and not tryhard. And certainly not hype—more likely taken for granted. Is that a china cymbal? From SVAVELDIOXID, this is their most vicious, ambitious and grimacing offering. It is more pushed forward, less muffled, distorted and jangling at all the right levels. This is a clobbering, galloping D-beat record that if you missed out on, you should check out. A classic sound that is just the right amounts of fucked-up crazy adrenaline.
These well-cured, veteran Omaha scenesters play pop punk in a rough OPERATION IVY or SCREECHING WEASEL style with bouncing rhythms and traded vocals. The lyrics are often introspective with the “whoas” of growing old, working, and generally dealing with life. There’s humor in songs like the title track and anger in “Faces of Meth.” They do an upbeat version of the DWARVES’ “I Will Deny.” I could be mean due to my general dislike of pop punk, but I won’t be here, as these gentlemen are fighting an uphill battle against middle-age smack dab in the middle of the country and are doing the best they can. If you’re a fan of such music, you could pick far worse than the TIANANMEN SQUARES.
VISIONS is a post-punk band from Portland, Oregon formed by various members of the anarcho/post-punk goth band DEAD CULT. Great debut. Nine perfectly constructed songs of dark post-punk, very much in tune with the CHAMELEONS or SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES. There are expressive guitar riffs, punchy melodies, and a strong rhythmic base that brings a lot of energy to each track. Despite appealing to the dark side of existence and with a clear mission to explore the nooks and crannies of universal weariness, this album feels vital, full of life and contagious. “Hidden Lake” and “Christian Militia” are the standout tracks in my humble opinion.
Strap yourself in for a live psych/grunge/garage freakout—”I Got It All” starts things off and shit never slows down. Energy level is through the roof, guitar and bass are EQ-ed to a general buzzsaw blur, and even (especially) when they slow down to a snarl, the shit is just mean and dirty. No frills here, just nasty, greasy damaged after-punk.
The first thing that struck me is that this compilation, for whatever reason, comes off as more of a label sampler than an actual compilation album. I don’t really know why that is, nor do I actually know if it is indeed a label sampler, it just gives off that vibe. Fourteen bands contributed either new or previously unreleased tracks. The collection of bands on here really is a mixed bag, as you have everything from acoustic acts, instrumental stuff, hardcore-adjacent stuff, stuff that would appeal to The Fest crowd, and even some borderline nu-metal-sounding stuff. Perhaps this is what is adding to my suspicions of this being a label sampler. It doesn’t really flow in the way a compilation should, and everything just kinda seems thrown on here just for the sake of having enough material. I will say that the last half of this album is the strongest, but even that really doesn’t make me want to check out anything from the label or bands.
Two bands, one common goal: to make noise not music! AFFECT comes from Sweden, the land of kängpunk, but they could have easily come from Kōchi City. They deliver three songs of pure fuzzed-out, chaotic DISCLOSE worship with ripping shouted vocals that hit the sweet spot. LÖCKHEED comes from Portland, the land of neocrust, but they sure could have come from Sweden. Their three tracks are less chaotic but go straight to the jugular with their vicious kängpunk attack done in a perfect manner. Overall, a great split between two bands that complement each other really well. Do you wear ripped-up jeans with tons of patches? I guess you’d better get this one.
With a recording shamelessly EQ-ed to Nevermind, BASHFORD manages to occasionally crawl out from that early ’90s shadow on Greener Grasses…but apparently direct light is too much. This is pure pre-commercial grunge with an extra dose of hate in the vocals. They nail it, to be clear, especially when they pick up the pace a bit.
Spastic scrap/crap bursts of punk from somewhere in Texas. It’s hard to tell if the anonymity that is BIG BOPPER is an actual band or another one-man solo basement project spawned by quarantine. Regardless, it’s catchy, and its pointedly sardonic humor is infectious. The cover art of BIG BOPPER’s discography and the overall sharp spaz vibe lands it in the Lumpy Records camp, which is a great endorsement.
I always have room on my plate for a helping of hardcore that, quite frankly, revels in its own ignorance. I’ve written about this before; there is a push-and-pull between brains and guts in punk and especially hardcore. I have nothing but love for fellow overeducated bookworm punks, but sometimes you just want to throw something that lives up to its name. Boston’s C4 is simply explosive. They hate techno and mock BOB DYLAN, because nothing matters except riffs that make you go absolutely dumbass and dive bomb off a stage assembled in a church rec room. This is hard-hitting perfection, slamming hardcore that further proves the point: ignorance is bliss indeed. Get over yourself and turn it way up.
Cool release from Siberian band CRISPY NEWSPAPER, who write songs in their native Sakha, a Siberian Turkic language. The songs are short blasts of politically-charged righteous anger that are sonically rooted in US hardcore but energetic and passionate enough to stand out on their own. Lyrical themes range from traditional punk fare like trouble with authority and personal freedom to political violence like the Charlie Hebdo killings. Most interesting are the moments of insight into local issues, like the desecration of Sakha land detailed in “Алроса,” and standing up against a rich and disconnected political regime in “Тобурах.” It’s fascinating to hear from members of a culture that is so geographically remote but still experiencing many of the same issues that punks everywhere can relate to. Great release that is highly recommended.
English was my weak subject in college. I sometimes think I overcompensate for that now. Are they just trying to bug me with the There Still Punk title? Or are they being funny? It’s mostly irrelevant, I suppose, as it really has nothing to do with the music I’m listening to. I’m digging this. It’s melodic and up-tempo and catchy and the lyrics are pretty funny. This is my kind of thing. It’s got a sound that blends early punk and power pop nicely. They’re obviously not the first to do this, but their sound is one I like. And I’ll always be a fan of anyone willing to take on the Mormons. Looking at the credits, it looks like there are only two band members here, with Trevor Lake responsible for everything except the drums. This is worth looking for.
It appears as though this Melbourne act has been kicking around for a few years now, but this is certainly the first I’m hearing of them. But given this project’s name and song titles like “Super Speedy Zippy Wipper,” I had a sinking feeling that getting through this was going to be an uphill battle. And I wasn’t wrong. To be fair, the ten tracks on this LP are impressively crafted songs that are a bit post-hardcore and a bit post-punk, and the production comes off as very professional. But this sounds like the KILLERS playing DISMEMBERMENT PLAN songs to me. And I know that punk lyrics aren’t generally the most subtle, but lines like “Chasing infinite growth in dirty energy / But there’s no infinite growth if it’s clean and free” are really hard to take when presented in such a clever-rock context (even if I totally agree with the sentiment). I get the impression that others would like this stuff a lot more than me. So, maybe give it a go—you’ll probably be able to tell within a song or two whether or not this is for you.
A story about life under capital in the present told with a tour de force of violent and dark songs by this band from Hannover in Germany. EXILENT specializes in apocalyptic and heavy crust, and knows how to be metallic enough when needed, like on “System D,” or a brutal thrasher like on “Common Blindness,” or more ethereal and dense like on “Hammock.” This band turned ten years old in 2020, so this album is a good gateway to their sound if you don’t know them yet.
It’s heavy, it’s artsy, it’s grimy, and all of this band’s songs are named after greedy oil corporations. It’s like KLEENEX teamed up with BLAZING EYE to stick it to the man.
Indie/pop gusto galore, Oakland, CA’s FAKE FRUIT make a lovely splash with this debut album. Stringy guitar lines, sparse drums, and bass-led tracks range from the quiet and melodic (“Swing and a Miss”), to the more upbeat and confrontational (“Yolk”). The center piece that is Hannah D’Amato’s vocals shines throughout—a spoken style like COURTNEY BARNETT with the edge of PYLON.
Nasty collection of raw punk scabs from this Seattle band, recommended for fans of VILE GASH and HOLOGRAM. As soon as you push play, the fast 1-2-1-2 beats start with harsh, almost blackened vocals and blistering, relentless guitar right in your face/ears. “Medicine” slows it way down with a crawling menace of a beat, shrouded in feedback before it speeds up again and ends with a textural sheet metal guitar “solo.” A short intermission comes in the form of “***** *******,” a warbly, non-English language classic thrift store ballad wrapped in Tascam hiss. It’s a mysterious breather before the ripping starts again. Final track “Coward” is a pounding hate crush with lyrics like, “You’re just another coward” and “Detestable—a waste of human life.” Oof, I would hate to be on the receiving end of that one. Misanthropes, check this one out.
This is the second EP from this pair of ancient Dutch punkers, and it’s a fairly good listen, if not at all being my thing. These two gents have played in WASTE, BETTY FORD CLINIC, and SCOUNDRELS, some of which you may have heard of. It’s fuzzily distorted and catchy as all hell, maybe like a punker and meaner CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN, MUDHONEY, or SMASHING PUMPKINS. It’s definitely worth a whirl. Yay.
GAME’s No One Wins LP from 2019 was and is one of the best hardcore releases of the last half-decade or so, and this successor—six songs at 45rpm—is hot on its tail in that respect. The internationalist London quartet (who include Polish vocalist and Quality Control label owner Ola Herbich, and Jonah Falco of FUCKED UP, et al. on drums) have dialed up the already profound metal factor: the title cut, which opens Legerdemain, moves to a hardcore beat but is Motörcharged in that glorious early ’80s NWOBHM gumby way, Callum Baird’s guitars especially. “The Caricaturist” is the catchiest number on here, and “Shard” the chuggiest, with Nicky Rat’s bass cutting through big time. Lyrics—five songs in English, one in Polish—are political in an allusive, as opposed to directly referential, way. You won’t learn anything from Ola’s words (screenprinted on a tasty A1-sized foldout poster, by the way) but there are dozens of choice individual phrases crammed into a stone killer 12″.
With an intro featuring gunfire, you already know it’s going to be a good one. HOUNDS OF WAR is Claire Vastola and Max Parker, both from the excellent SUBVERSIVE RITE, one of the best SACRILEGE worshippers out there. This time around, they unleashed a three-song demo of metal-tinged hardcore punk with hints of DIRT and VICE SQUAD. The demo goes by quickly but the songs certainly get stuck in your head, as every song is fun from beginning to end.
Dramatic post-hardcore from New Jersey with sludgy, guttery vocals and suspenseful breaks throughout. There is a level of anticipation to KIRKBY KISS that is waiting for something to break—when it finally releases, there is a feeling of relief. Solid hardcore with post-hardcore moods and solos. Songs cut off in an intense way and it is appreciated as not to drag on. Like I said, KIRKBY KISS plays with a lot of build and suspense that dive bombs or bursts into some calamity at the end. These careful structures containing an intensity of underlying fire is undeniably heard. I Listen(-ed) Closely and here are all sorts of levels of street punk, blue-collar hardcore, Oi!, and post-punk. Digging their combination of all these subgenres with sincere grit.
Mid-tempo punk from Leipzig, Germany. These songs are pretty catchy, but it’s a little difficult to pigeonhole exactly what they sound like. It’s like an Oi!-inspired egg-punk band, or an egg-punk-inspired Oi! band, if you can picture either of those. Nine-song cassette which is over very quick and inspires an immediate second listen.
The defiant and danceable sound of ’80s ex-YU post-punk, updated for the new dark ages by a group of punks affiliated with the Nigdjezemska autonomous space in Zadar, Croatia. Doomtown’s assertion that this is “likely the poppiest-sounding” thing they’ve put out is a bit of a red herring—relative to Scandi-hardcore copycats, sure, but it’s not like MIŽERIJA is TALULAH GOSH, either. There’s definitely a strong melodic pull in these four tracks, though much like that first HONEY BANE single, the hooks embedded in MIŽERIJA’s anarcho-pop jabs are further wrapped in razor wire, with nagging, klaxon-call guitar (especially on the perfectly paranoid-sounding “Izolacija”), driving deep-set bass, frenetic drumming, and intently shouted femme vocals, warbled with blown-out echo as if captured via a clandestine tape recording from under the floorboards. Very sick.
On the surface this is some pretty cookie-cutter “tough guy hardcore.” It checks all the boxes. Breakdowns? Yep. Gang vocals? Sure. Lyrical content about being “hard”? You bet. Metallic riffs? Goddamn right. Borderline hokey drawing of some tattoo-like art on the cover? Of course. All the red flags are there that would turn me off to a record like this, but there’s something about this that I don’t completely loathe. I can’t quite pin it down, though. I wouldn’t go out of my way to put this on, but I wouldn’t turn it off if it was playing. I suppose that’s a win.
It’s truly a gift to be able to make antisocial hardcore bile come across like top 40 hits, and Milwaukee’s PEACEMAKER has it. These two songs are unabashedly hateful and also catchy as hell, reminding me of some of Drew from SICK THOUGHTS’ best efforts of the last decade. “Alright folks, that was Need To Know’ by DOJA CAT, and now here’s a real toe-tapper from PEACEMAKER, See You Dead’!”
Latest release by this Warhammer-themed hardcore punk band from Denmark. B-thrash chainsaw guitar parts with some classic metallic ’80s UKHC vibes. Non-polished, nasty, and gritty-as-fuck apocalyptic hardcore you can smell the stench of from miles away. Appropriate background music for the filthy, disgusting, devoted mutants of the chaos god, Nurgle.
A very nice reissue of this 1981 film soundtrack. The film is a trashy, low-budget teen sex flick more commonly known as Beach House. The music sounds much more professional. ADAM ROTH AND HIS BAND OF MEN, which includes Adam’s brother Charles, play very catchy power pop. The songs are punchy and fun. The title track lays out the plot humorously as a good movie theme should. Bonus fun fact: one of the songs on this LP, “Judy Won’t You Dance With Me?,” was co-written by Denis Leary. The film is silly fun and the soundtrack rocks.
This 7″ is an improvement from SILICON HEARTBEAT’s last tape, but it still doesn’t quite tickle my funny bone the way I like it. Although he leans into the sci-fi punk trappings harder than most, it still sounds like a garage punk dude doing the one-man band thing, not like CHROME, which is an obvious inspiration. It’s hard to break those garage chains! CHROME didn’t give a fuck about garage rock (cept maybe “A Question of Temperature”); they were too busy taking acid and dressing up their mannequin friends for the cocaine orgy. Anyway, this record is alright, but it sounds like JAY REATARD just chugged some Robos and LOST SOUNDS is gonna take it easy at the show tonight, maybe skip last call and go home early. Hell, tomorrow’s gonna be a long day and we’re not getting any younger.
Roachleg out of Brooklyn is a crucial living archive of the current wave of gutter scum world-ending hardcore coming out of New York, and this release is a perfect example of why. Clocking in at four tracks in just over five minutes, SUFFOCATING MADNESS is relentless metallic D-beat from hell that satisfies as it crushes your lungs. The short runtime is good, too, because the production here is hot, like ear fatigue hot from the wild cymbal work alone. Throw in the furious blown-out riffing and cavernous vocals and it’s a lot to take in. In a good way. Brain-erasing hardcore punk just the way it should be played.
The TELEFONES were early punk pioneers, sometimes known as Texas’ first new wave group. Their sound pulls from a ton of different backgrounds—classic rock songwriting, new wave instrumentation, and punk ethos. This single is the group’s most well-known, and for good reason. The A-side, “She’s in Love (With the Rolling Stones),” is an upbeat number carried by a wailing saxophone line. “The Ballad of Jerry Godzilla” has darker undertones, playing much like a MODERN LOVERS track. This is worth checking out.
The debut from one of San Pedro’s best, given a cassette reissue for its twentieth anniversary. This album is still as great as it was when it originally came out. Rising from the ashes of the juggernaut that was F.Y.P., TOYS THAT KILL continued down the path of their predecessor by churning out snotty, fun pop punk that could have fit right in with the body of work of the previous band, and while Todd Congelliere’s vocals are unmistakable, it’s the addition of Sean Cole splitting up the vocal duties that really adds that extra element needed to not just write off this record as a new F.Y.P. album. Though twenty years have passed since this originally was released, it still sounds fresh, which is a feat especially when you consider the musical landscape twenty years ago—the mark of not only a great album, but a great band. If this album is not already in your collection and you’re down with cassettes, go get a copy now and hurry, because it’s limited to only 100 copies!
This is a reissue of a Neue Deutsche Welle group with the least number of German members in the scene, consisting of a Czech guitarist, Italian vocalist, Canadian keyboardist, and a German drummer. The tunes oscillate from melodic on the opener “Analphabet” to abrasive and experimental on “Die Leute Sind Interessant.” The keyboards are at the helm on this one, with a dirty and distorted electric piano sound like the SCREAMERS, and the vocals more wacky and out-of-key.
ZTUPED really carries the torch of DC punk into the 21st century. They wear their influences heavily on their sleeves, but expand in slightly new directions. Their sound is more muscular than BAD BRAINS, more intense than MINOR THREAT. In true DC punk fashion, there are six tracks forced onto a 7″, each more blazing than the last. It’s quite a bit of raucous fun. Surely not one to miss!
A format that I am absolutely always a fan of, an introductory mixtape/sampler for a record label. Tarantula Tapes is a Canadian-based cassette label that began as a “pandemic project” for the people who started it. This cassette marks their one-year anniversary of being a label. My sincerest congratulations! Now onto the music! While not everything on this 21-song cassette is exactly my cup of Caesar (that’s what everyone drinks up there, right?), I love the idea of an eclectic, all-over-the-map tape label just putting out music because they believe in it and are helping cultivate their local scene. We’ve got catchy pop punk, rockabilly, some rendition of hardcore, twangy lewd folk-country, instrumental surf, heavy stoner rock, and that’s all just on the A-side! When I was younger and starting my record label, I used to make tapes of my releases and keep them on me at all times, giving them out to anyone vaguely alt-leaning. Skateboarders, mall punks, ween-bags in ironic punk-adjacent shirts, all in the hopes that it would get people more excited about the killer bands we had coming out of my hometown. I imagine this technique would be a top-notch move in Barrie, Ontario, and if this mix were given to young budding punkers, it would likely have a huge impact on them. Being from just south of the border and regularly touring through Canada, I definitely plan on hitting up Barrie once that is a possibility again.
We may be more than a half-decade out from its heyday, but the NWI scene is still pretty potent. Not only are veterans like LIQUIDS still churning out vital releases, but there seems to be no shortage of cool new acts popping up, like this recording project from Hammond’s Jade Baisa (who’s actually played in LIQUIDS and is backed here by Mat Williams on drums). This EP contains eight tracks of lo-fi punk covering a variety of sounds—some fashionable, some less so. A track like “ABA” sounds like C.C.T.V. mixed with the manic multi-tracked vocals of JUDY AND THE JERKS, and the ramshackle garage-y punk of “Liquidate” sounds not unlike those great early NOTS singles. But she’s also not afraid to slow things down or get poppy. The opening track “Into” has a borderline CRIMPSHRINE vibe, and it’s followed by an earnest slow rocker that reminds me just the faintest bit of some of the emo bands that you’d hear in the late ’90s. I don’t mention that as a slight, more so to point out that the track (and most of the record) is played with a sincerity you don’t really get much these days. It’s actually kind of refreshing and, when paired with good songwriting ideas, makes for a neat record. Unfortunately, this appears to be the final release from the project (hence the title). Bummer.
Pretty stunning debut release from a crew of Austin veterans. Gruff, aggressive sounds that owe a heavy debt to ’90s emotive DIY (think JOHN HENRY WEST by way of ’80s Dischord?) without giving up the quest for fast, raw intensity, fronted by a set of pipes that land like Jerry A. on a heavy diet of DEATHREAT. Short, wild bursts (eight songs on a seven-incher—that’s some real ’90s shit) mashing all of the discordance and rage into those tiny-ass little grooves.
The second single by glam-punk hooligans BOSS arrives three years after the first, with under five minutes of music to show for it, but that’s no bovver cause this 45rpm, two-song, thank-you-and-goodnight format is the canonical vehicle for this sound. Also, most or all of the members have been busy here and there: Jonah Falco’s recorded a stack of bands and played on releases like the sick new GAME 12″, Maxime Smadja has, well, also recorded a stack of bands, even if there’s no sign of a new RIXE record (are they still going?). “Cash Em In” is the pick of the pair here, with a spoken intro by Callum of the CHISEL before a riot of muscled-up boogie and wicked guitar phasing; B-side “Red Signal” is heads-down junkshop glam with great, impetuous “whoo-oo!” backing vocal interjections.
A Berlin-based solo project, CONSTANT COLD WAR cycles through an EP which hints at a fondness for BIG BLACK and invites comparison to the like-minded RIDER/HORSE. Decent enough, but the tracks seem somewhat unfinished.
At first glance of the name, the cover art, and the opener’s instrumental, I thought this was some experimental, sci-fi shit—but I was way off. This is a grunge heavy-hitter served up from none other than Olympia, WA, with little else I can find on the band except that it features members of DOGJAW and RVIVR. The screaming lyrics come off like HOLE’s Courtney Love on Pretty on the Inside (controversy aside, just think of the voice). “Little Minds” is a good taster of the power within DEEP TRENCH.
The internet has been a great archival tool, if nothing else. I find it really comforting to see an otherwise lost-to-time band such as this Miami power pop act able to document their 1980—1983 lifespan—even just on Bandcamp. This doesn’t simply feel like a vanity project, though. The tunes are good! If the DICTATORS had cleaned it up, they might have sounded something like this. These tracks are squeaky clean, but driving and melodic. The harmonies are on point, which is crucial, and there is even some interesting use of dissonant guitar leads on tracks like “Holiday Weekend” (the standout here). There is always a fear of losing music like this, of losing bands entirely as if they never existed. This probably won’t blow your mind like some unearthed gems, like when the world finally caught on to DEATH, but I’m happy to see releases like this. The FRONT were here, they stood in recording studios and on stages, and they recorded music and it sounded pretty damn good. We could all hope to be remembered to the same degree.
New LP of hardcore fury from Lion City. Unique blend of classic ’80s NYHC with UK anarcho bands, and yet still having a contemporary, up-to-date-sounding approach. For fans of stompy breakdowns with raw and raging fast parts that also won’t let us punks down. Artwork by Nicky Rat.
GOING AWAY PARTY puts out their first vinyl release, and second release to date. Tragic, droning, and gripping, they come from Germany’s resurgence in post-punkdom, with members from BLEAKNESS and BARREN?, both of whom I’ve been privileged to review. If the aforementioned styling is to your fancy, take a look into these labels.
Longingly lonely romantic pop rock songs from the prolific Clevelander RICKY HAMILTON. Hooky synthesizer melodies that you don’t mind getting stuck in your head. It lands somewhere beyond where post-punk ends and indie starts. Reminiscent of post-Seamonsters WEDDING PRESENT, where a cover “Montreal” would fit seamlessly into this album.
I love Italian hardcore and was stoked when I got this one to review. There is a quality in Italian hardcore that is undeniable: the ferociousness. IMPULSO comes from Trento and they are filled to the brim with rage on this cassette. They play furious hardcore punk but with a modern stompy edge that could turn any pit into a mosh-fest. They occupy a place sonically somewhere in between WARTHOG and S.H.I.T., but sung in Italian for extra drama in the good tradition of WRETCHED or CCM. Just listen to the follow-up album Costante Ossessione and you can get a clearer picture of this monster of a band.
Chicago’s bad boys of rock return to slay with their second LP! I don’t know if that’s really accurate, but it starts out this review with a nice bang. Members of CÜLO, TARANTÜLA, etc. give it another go as their hard-rockin’, head-scarf-wearing ’70s cock-rock alter egos. The combination of classic-era hard rock and punk is nothing new these days—bands like JACK SAINTS, FANTASY LANE, MÖWER, and most noticeably ANNIHILATION TIME have tread this well-worn path before. With BLACK FLAG, SAINT VITUS, and the OBSESSED as their godfathers, these Chicago gents do a fine job of dirtheaded guitar worship. It feels like MAN-EATERS are a little more on the tongue-in-cheek parody side of this genre though, and they definitely fall more on the THIN LIZZY side with lots of boogie guitar licks and high struttin’ tude. My complaints here are that the guitar is not loud enough and the effects on the vocals are annoying as fuck. It’s a little too long for my attention span, but the artwork is cool and they’re probably a hoot(?) live. Smoke it…get high.
New York City’s NISEMONO 偽者 may be a new band, but the players are veterans in the scene. This mighty duo shares members with the likes of L.O.T.I.O.N., DOLLHOUSE, and WARTHOG. Did I manage to get your attention now? Good! This demo has six tracks of hard-hitting hardcore punk with obvious Japanese hardcore influences, and Scandinavian ones as well. Feels like an alternative continuation to NOMAD (an earlier project of one of the members) as the same mindset is there, just with less fuzz and dirt. A quick search about the name reveals that it means “fake,” but there is nothing fake about them.
Although they didn’t actually start a band together until 2018, Madlaina Peer, Sara Schär, and Klaudia Schifferle of ONETWOTHREE initially crossed paths as participants in Switzerland’s late ’70s/early ’80s punk scene—Klaudia played bass in KLEENEX/LILIPUT, Sara fronted TNT as a teenager and later joined the KICK on bass and vocals, and Madlaina was a member of NOKNOWS (with whom I’m completely unfamiliar; they seem to have never recorded). Onetwothree is a celebration of rhythm and the negative spaces created within it, primarily structured around the interplay of minimalist, elliptical bass grooves (from all three women!) and sung/chanted lyrics parsed into almost haiku-like phrases, with modest support from a drum machine that never really breaks out of the most basic “demo” setting and sparing strikes of guitar and keys that weave in only as necessary. Sleazy mutant disco synth pushes against the ESG-like hypnotic bass throb of “Give Paw” and lands right at the feet of early solo LIZZY MERCIER DESCLOUX, while the even more austere bass/vocals brutalism of tracks like “Adventure” or “Buy Buy Buy” (with its “buy this and this and this and that” incantation) is basically a dead ringer for SNEAKS. ONETWOTHREE could have easily just rebooted the classic Swiss wave of TNT or KLEENEX and offered up, like, “Hedi’s Head Pt. II,” and the femme/art-punk heads of today would have lost their collective minds over it, so the fact that they chose to honor the joyfully anarchic and liberatory spirit of their musical pasts in such a radically deconstructed context—even if it doesn’t quite reach the same giddy highs—is really the punkest move they could have made. (Madlaina Peer passed away at the very end of 2021, shortly after the release of this LP; rest in power.)
