Featured Release Roundup

Featured Release Roundup: May 31, 2017

Nag: No Flag 7ā€ (Space Taker) 2nd 7ā€ from this Atlanta band that is a perennial favorite around Sorry State, following a killer demo and a blistering debut 7ā€ on Total Punk. ā€œNo Flagā€ is an interesting choice for the a-side, because its melodies are quite buried in the mix, which shifts the focus to the trackā€™s intense, almost industrial drumbeat. I mean, thereā€™s always been a droned-out, noisy element to Nagā€™s sound, but usually thatā€™s infused with the dark but poppy melodic sensibility thatā€™s kind of a signature of modern Atlanta punk bands. Itā€™s still an interesting song, but as I noted itā€™s kind of an odd choice for an a-side. If that track is a little too out there for you, though, the two tracks on the flip are more conventional and are bound to go down easy for anyone who has been into the bandā€™s previous work. ā€œWallsā€ is an upbeat, melodic track with a pretty manic pogo beat, while the closing song, ā€œPatternsā€ is brief but, for me, the highlight of the record. While the vocals arenā€™t super melodic, thereā€™s this absolutely huge melodic guitar hook that sounds like something straight off of the Chameleonsā€™ Script of the Bridge, but darker and noisier. Unfortunately they only play this massive hook once, so it means that Iā€™m constantly running back and forth to the turntable to replay this track. While Iā€™m really enjoying these songs, Iā€™m starting to get a bit antsy for a Nag LPā€¦ this band is so multifaceted and able to write such varied yet universally strong songs that I have a feeling when they finally do put out some big vinyl itā€™s going to be a real knockout. But in the meantime these singles will continue to get a lot of play.
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KurrakƤ: Otra Dimension cassette (Todo Destruido) Latest cassette EP from this great punk band out of Texas. For my money, KurrakƤā€™s LP (which was only released in Spain) is one of the most underrated records of the past several yearsā€¦ itā€™s a record I return to often and never cease to be blown away by. Things have changed a little bit for this latest EP, but the level of quality is just as high. In particular, I feel like thereā€™s a distinct Rudimentary Peni influence running through this recording. The guitars and bass are mid range-y in a very Death Church kind of way, and thereā€™s a dense, almost claustrophobic vibe as well. However, KurrakƤ retain their ability to infuse their songs with occasional moments of pure joy. I always think of the track ā€œLunar Eclipseā€ from their LP, but there are several moments on this tape that rival that track in terms of memorability. My favorite of these moments is on the first track, ā€œAmor Prohibito,ā€ when Dru lets out one of her trademark echo-drenched bird noises. Itā€™s a trick that sheā€™s done before, but that sound is so perfectly placed that it makes a chill run down my spine every time I hear it. There are several more of these key moments scattered throughout the EP, making it an essential listen if youā€™re into what KurrakƤ are doing.
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Dream Probe: demo cassette (self-released) Man, what a great demo! Chicagoā€™s Dream Probe donā€™t really come at you with any kind of gimmicksā€¦ you canā€™t really say they sound exactly like some particular band or play a really fashionable style. Instead, they just play honest, energetic, and incredibly well-written punk songs. Something about the delivery reminds me of the Vaaska / Criaturas axis of bandsā€¦ while Dream Probe donā€™t share any of those bandsā€™ more distinguishing factors like the shredding guitar leads or the super high-pitched vocals, they do share a similar ability to write an absolutely scorching punk song. While those two bands are a pretty solid comparison as far as newer stuff goes (though Dream Police are a lot rawer and their production is more analog-y), their fusion of high-energy hardcore and the more accomplished songwriting of classic ā€™77 punk bands reminds me of plenty of other stuff too, including the catchier early 80s Finnish bands like Lama or Appendix, or maybe even something like Plastic Surgery Disasters-era Dead Kennedys in the way that you canā€™t quite say definitively whether itā€™s punk or hardcore. Any way you slice it, though, I think this band is great and I really hope we hear more from them!
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DAUƐYFLIN: Ofbeldi 12ā€ (Iron Lung) Debut 12ā€ from this Icelandic band that has found a perfect US home in Iron Lung Records. As Iā€™m sure youā€™re aware, over the past few years ILR has firmly established their reputation as THE source for forward-thinking, progressive hardcore (though they dabble in other genres as well), and DAUƐYFLIN certainly fit that mold, insofar as there is a mold for this type of music. Sound-wise, DAUƐYFLIN play up-tempo hardcore with throat-shredding, feral vocals, wild, noisy guitars (drenched in chorus, naturally), and backed by a simple but furious beat. At times they remind me of Hoax or Blazing Eye, but they have neither Hoaxā€™s brutally heavy mid-paced / mosh parts nor Blazing Eyeā€™s slightly campy aesthetic. Instead, the overall vibe here is more like that of recent Spanish bands like Una Bestia Incontrolable or Glamā€¦ in other words, it seems to me like they attempt to meld the intensity of hardcore with the artsier vibe of something like noise music. Listening to this LP puts me in a weird headspaceā€¦ at their best, DAUƐYFLIN put me in the drone / trance state of electronic music, but at like 170 beats per minute, so it feels like youā€™re standing still on the world is whizzing past you at hyper speed. If you like hardcore that pushes at the genreā€™s boundariesā€”in other words, if you follow labels like Iron Lung or La Vida Es Un Musā€”this is something youā€™ll probably want to check out.
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Lifeā€™s Blood: Hardcore AD 1988 12ā€ (Prank) Long-awaited discography LP from this late 80s New York hardcore band, and while Prank Records hasnā€™t really been known for doing a ton of reissues in the past, this LP proves that theyā€™re more than capable. The attention to detail in every aspect of this release is apparent, from the powerful sound reproduction to the vintage-looking layout to the incredibly informative sleeve notes. If youā€™re the kind of person who picks up everything on Radio Raheem Records just because, you will no doubt be very pleased with this as well. Anyway, Lifeā€™s Blood have sort of an interesting place in the history of hardcore, straddling two competing scenes in a way, since they appeared on the New Breed and NYHC: Where the Wild Things Are compilations (and regularly played with the other bands featured on those comps), but they also regularly antagonized that very scene (and the adjacent Revelation Records / youth crew scene) and their guitarist would go on to Born Against after the band ended. So, in my head, I think of Lifeā€™s Blood as the band that gets you all of the ignorant pleasure of listening to NYHC but with some of the hippie-ish vibe of the early 90s ABC No Rio scene. However, revisiting this material for the first time in a few years (I was lucky enough to pick up the Vermiform pressing of Defiance for a buck like 15+ years ago), Iā€™m struck by how closely Lifeā€™s Blood stick to the early 80s NYHC formula. While bands like Breakdown, Raw Deal, Absolution, and others were moving in a more metallic direction, Lifeā€™s Blood has very little of that, pretty much taking Victim in Pain as their template (sometimes a little too closely for comfort), adding in some occasional Negative Approach-type oi influences (which are particularly apparent on the compilation tracks that appear toward the end of side one of this LP). Over the past 20 years or so the hardcore scene has divided to the point where the bands that the New Breed-type bands influenced are pretty much a completely separate scene from more early 80s-inspired hardcore, but Lifeā€™s Blood still seem like a band that people from both of those scenes can agree on, the tattooed moshers digging on the Don Fury production while the punks like the AF-style whiplash tempo changes and early 80s-style minimalism. At any rate, this is a beautifully-executed reissue thatā€™ll do you just fine whether youā€™re a Lifeā€™s Blood super-fan or whether youā€™re just discovering the band.
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Vastusta: Demos 2014-2015 12ā€ (Kick Rock) While I donā€™t hear nearly as much talk about Japanese hardcore nowadays as I did a few years ago, there is a dedicated crew of folks keeping the sound alive, and few more more important than Kick Rock Records. While the labelā€™s first two releases were by Japanese bands, for their third release they mine the cassette discography of Finlandā€™s Vastusta. Donā€™t worry that Kick Rock has changed gears, though, because even though Vastusta is Finnish it would be easy to mistake them for a Japanese band because they sound basically exactly like Warhead. I have no doubt that the Finnish classics have influenced the band as well, and this is by no means a million miles away from the breakneck hardcore of bands like Terveet Kadet and Bastards, but particularly in the vocal department Vastusta remind me so much of Warhead itā€™s uncanny. The music, production, and songwriting are all perfectly executed and deliver maximum intensity at all times. So if you like that ultra-fast Japanese hardcore sound of bands like Warhead and Nightmare and you donā€™t particularly care whether the band is actually Japanese or not I canā€™t recommend this one highly enough.
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Kaleidoscope: Volume 3 12ā€ (Feel It) Iā€™ve been knocked out by every single Kaleidoscope release to date, and Volume 3 is no different. Listening to it again in preparation for writing this description, I kept thinking about what makes Kaleidoscope such a standout band, and I feel like I canā€™t quite put my finger on it. They have some obvious strengthsā€”Shivaā€™s blistering, Hendrix-esque guitar playing (which is actually fairly restrained on this release), and the drummerā€™s consistently inventive and powerful rhythmsā€”but I donā€™t think that Kaleidoscope is such a good band merely because the people in the group are really good at their instruments. The best answer Iā€™ve come up to why Kaleidoscope stands out is that they are a great band. I feel like a lot of contemporary punk suffers from one-person-band syndrome; a lot of bands nowadays seem to be conceived rather narrowly, quickly establishing a template that they will rarely deviate from. This unity of vision extends to the playing as wellā€¦ for a lot of bands (particularly hardcore bands), the playing is tight and regimented almost to the point of suffocation. By contrast, Kaleidoscope sounds loose and organic. The musicians trade licks and play off one anotherā€™s ideas like a great ensemble should, dancing around one another, alternately yielding and taking the spotlight in a way that quite often reminds me of great jazz bands. Consequently, rather than sounding like one personā€™s interpretation of a particular sound or style, they sound utterly like themselvesā€¦ itā€™s hard to imagine anyone else sounding like Kaleidoscope (and no one does!), because it seems (from my outside perspective, at least), that Kaleidoscopeā€™s sound is very much based around what happens when these particular people play together. Now that they have several releases under their belt, Iā€™m also really beginning to enjoy thinking about how each new release fits into the bandā€™s body of work. While the concept behind any given release (if there even is one) isnā€™t really apparent, each one nevertheless has an extremely unique tone and voice. As with the ensemble playing I wrote about above, Iā€™m struck by the contingency of it all, how Kaleidoscope are open to letting circumstances influence and shape their music. Rather than struggling to be timeless (or, worse, trying to resurrect some long-expired moment), Kaleidoscope are open to letting their context shape them. Thus, it doesnā€™t seem like the point is the sound of the band (thus, pithy phrases like ā€œpick this up if you like psych-infused hardcoreā€ donā€™t really apply), but rather to enjoy the fleeting moment. Iā€™m sure that if Kaleidoscope is still putting out records two years from now they wonā€™t have a lot in common with Volume 3, but Iā€™m OK with that, because right now listening to Volume 3 feels like walking outside on a perfect spring day, knowing that youā€™re through the winter but that the hot and sticky summer is just around the corner, so youā€™d better grab this day and make the most of it.
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All New Arrivals

Pretty Hurts: S/T 12" (Rockstar)
Ruby: S/T 7" (Rockstar)
Nightmen: C'est La Vie Goodbye 7" (Rockstar)
Komplikations: Humans 12" (Rockstar)
Brainbombs: Inferno 12" (Skrammel)
Sievehead: Worthless Soul 12" (Static Shock)
Uranium Club: All of them Naturals 12" (Static Shock)
Sarcasm: Malarial Bog 7" (Static Shock)
Ataxxia: 4 Song 7" (25 Diamonds)
Wrangler Brutes: 10/08/04 cassette (25 Diamonds)
Xylitol: Demo 7" (25 Diamonds)
Trampoline Team: Drug Culture b/w I Don't Play Games 7" (Space Taker)
Nag: Files 7" (Space Taker)
Pinku Saido: Poketto 12" (Mutant)
Nope: demo cassette (self-released)
Nature Boys: 3rd 12" (Mandible)
Kurraka: Otra Dimension cassette (Todo Destruido)
The Beatles: Sgt Pepper's 12" (50th Anniversary Edition; Capitol)
Alice Coltrane: Journey in Satchidananda 12" (Impulse)
Miles Davis: Kind of Blue 12" (Rumble)

Restocks

ļ»æUranium Club: Human Exploration 12" (Static Shock)
Ultra Violent: Crime for Revenge 7" (Static Shock)
Midnight: Satanic Royalty 12" (Hell's Headbangers)
Black Flag: Damaged 12" (SST)
Black Flag: My War 12" (SST)
Beastie Boys: Licensed to Ill 12" (Capitol)
Bob Dylan: Highway 61 Revisited 12" (Columbia)
Pink Floyd: Animals 12" (Pink Floyd)
Slayer: Reign in Blood 12" (American)
Slayer: Seasons in the Abyss 12" (American)
Slayer: South of Heaven 12" (American)
A Tribe Called Quest: The Low End Theory 12" (Jive)
Ausencia: Cuantas 7" (Discos MMM)

Featured Release Roundup: May 24, 2017

Welcome to another edition of my new release roundup! This time around things are a little heavy on the metal, which is probably a function of both what has been coming out lately and where my head is at. My friend Scott lent me his copy of Tom Warrior from Celtic Frost's autobiography and I've been devouring that, so it's put me in a very metal mood. However, even if that isn't where you're at this week there's still plenty of awesomeness.

ISS: Endless Pussyfooting cassette (State Laughter) Second full-length from this North Carolina punk duo. In case you havenā€™t paid attention to our raving about ISS in the past, hereā€™s the story: Eddie from Brain Fā‰  and Rich from Whatever Brains work together to construct songs out of samples from classic punk records, making entirely new songs. ISSā€™s songs tend to be really different from one another, but the general vibe is an extremely unique combination of dance music and punk that sounds utterly unlike anything that Iā€™ve ever heard before. However, rather than being trance-y, ISS are very song-oriented, relying on Richā€™s ability to pen a pop tune and deliver a big vocal hook, a skill which works particularly well in tandem with his bitingly sarcastic lyrics. Going along with the intertextuality of the music, the lyrics are also dense with punk references, my favorite of which smash together bits of popular culture in really evocative and unexpected ways, like the releaseā€™s title (which seems to refer to both G.I.S.M. and the Brian Eno / Robert Fripp album No Pussyfooting), or the song ā€œInfinite Jast Last,ā€ which gives me hope that Iā€™m not the only person in the universe who both owns an original L.S.D. flexi and also loves David Foster Wallace. Another thing I love about ISS is the fact that theyā€™re unapologetically funny, but unlike a lot of bands who use humor, the songs actually grow on you with repeated listens. I mean, the first time you hear ā€œPart Time All the Timeā€ youā€™ll giggle at its send-up of trendy punk fashions, but once you get past that youā€™ll live for the epic beat drop that sounds like itā€™s straight off the floor of a European dance club. In case you canā€™t tell from all of this description, ISS are one of the most profoundly original and exciting punk bands in the world right now, particularly because theyā€™re one of the only ā€œbandsā€ that is actually responding in an interesting way to the profusion of pop- and sub-cultural content that the internet has brought usā€¦ whereas most artists Iā€™ve heard either wring their hands about the overwhelming nature of ā€œcontentā€ in the digital age (like Parquet Courts) or just shamelessly rip off what has come before (95% of punk bands of the past several years), ISS scrape up the half-digested vomit of information that the internet has brought us and fashion it into something that truly could not have existed before.

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Fried Egg: Back and Forth 7ā€ (Beach Impediment) When I wrote about Fried Eggā€™s previous 7ā€ I remember noting that they were kind of teetering on the edge between being a weird / outsider-type hardcore band and a really straightforward one. For whatever reason, I assumed that as they continued to develop their chops they would continue to go out there musically and get weirder and more unsettlingā€¦ however, with Back and Forth theyā€™ve really done the opposite of what I expected by stripping things down and getting way meaner and more savage. As you might expect given the bandā€™s move to Beach Impediment with this release, Back and Forth is full-bore hardcore; sure, the riffs and arrangements are clever and well put-together, but theyā€™re also brutally succinct and to the point. And I canā€™t help but mention the absolutely savage vocal performance here. I actually mentioned to Sam (who plays bass in Fried Egg and also runs Feel It Records) how much I was blown away by the vocals, and he told me that the band recorded everything for this record live, including the vocals. You can really tell, because the singer is clearly pushing a ton of air through his throat in order to compete with the bandā€™s volume and power, and it sounds like theyā€™re also recorded slightly in the red, further accentuating the raw intensity. Beach Impediment has long ago established itself as the home of the best purist hardcore, and Fried Eggā€™s place on their roster is extremely fitting.

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Venom: Skeletons in the Closet 12ā€ (Wax Maniax) First time on vinyl for this outtakes collection, which was originally released on CD in 1993. These kinds of collections can be a real mixed bag, but this one is really good, mainly because the track listing captures the unique mix of gravity and lightheartedness that made Venom so great. The real draw here is that there are the tracks from the bandā€™s original era that are otherwise totally unreleasedā€¦ according to the liner notes, when Venom would go into the studio they would record everything they had written and then select the strongest tracks for inclusion on the album, and as you can imagine, b-listers from Venomā€™s glory days are still well worth hearing. In addition to outtakes from the album sessions, you also get a vinyl version of Venomā€™s original 3-song demo recorded with their original vocalist. Next up are a few fans-only curiosities like remixes of previously released tracksā€¦ one entire LP side is devoted to a remix of ā€œAt War with Satanā€ that definitely sounds different to the original, but Iā€™m not sure if anyone but die-hards will notice or appreciate those differences. And then in the third category is a bunch of really fun ephemeraā€¦ you can reproductions of the intro tapes that Venom would play at the start of their concerts at various points in their career, and then a bunch of Everything Went Black-style radio promos that are so loose as to be borderline incoherent. Theyā€™re really hilarious, actually, and donā€™t drag on the ear the way that side 4 of Everything Went Black does. The packaging is very nice, as weā€™ve come to expect from Wax Maniax (though I must say I prefer the artwork for the original CD release), as well as brief but extremely informative liner notes from Mantas and Abaddon. While I wouldnā€™t go so far as to put Skeletons in the Closet on par with the power and originality of the first three albums, the information it fills in will make it a treasured and frequently-visited part of any Venom fanā€™s collection.

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Cloven Hoof: S/T 12ā€ (Wax Maniax) Cool reissue of this NWOBHM semi-obscurity on the always-reliable Wax Maniax label. This originally appeared on Neat Records in 1983, and while thatā€™s a rather late date for it, Cloven Hoof were unapologetically NOWBHM in their songwriting and presentation. Itā€™s a solid LP for sure, the highlight being ā€œLaying Down the Lawā€ (which I remember from the old Metal Inferno compilation), which would fit rather comfortably on Maidenā€™s Number of the Beast. Itā€™s not hard to see why the band didnā€™t catch fire, thoughā€¦ while the LP is consistent in terms of quality, itā€™s a bit all over the place in terms of soundā€¦ it seems like Cloven Hoof couldnā€™t quite decide whether they wanted to be Venom, Maiden, or Def Leppard, as there are elements of all three of those bandsā€™ sounds and images at play here. I also hate to mention it, but Cloven Hoff didnā€™t exactly have boy band quality looks, and while this kind of hesher image they had would ultimately work out great for Metallica, it seems to grind against Cloven Hoofā€™s more polished sound. Like I said, though, this is quite the enjoyable listen, and if youā€™re into bands like Angel Witch and Heavy Load (not to mention the aforementioned NWOBHM giants) youā€™ll get more than your fair share of plays out of this one.

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The Sexual: Complete Discography: 1983-1985 12ā€ (euro import) Well done fan club release for this 80s Japanese punk band. This is essentially a vinyl version of the official discography that was released in 2002 (and, like a lot of discography CDs of 80s Japanese punk bands, is now quite expensive and hard to find)ā€¦ it sounds like the audio might have been sourced from that CD as well, because the sound here is clear, bright, and powerful. My obsession with 80s Japanese punk and hardcore is well documented, and the Sexual are, without a doubt, a key band. While theyā€™re not quite as weird or as artsy as many of the bands on the ADK Records roster, what they lack in artsiness they more than make up in raw brutality, clearly pointing toward the increasingly brutal, heavy, and raw direction that the Japanese hardcore scene was heading toward. In other words, you can file the Sexualā€™s releases right next to bands like the Execute, Zouo, and G.I.S.M., all of whom (along with the Sexual) were incorporating elements of metal and Dischargeā€™s approach into the classic Japanese punk template. There are songs here that are nearly as brutal as Confuse, but there are also songs here that have the bouncy catchiness of the Stalin. There isnā€™t a dud among the bunch, and if youā€™re not trying to drop several hundred dollars on near-mint copies of their original two flexis I canā€™t recommend this comp highly enoughā€¦ hell, even if you have those, the strong sound reproduction here might even be better than the original flexis (unfortunately I donā€™t have originals of these to compare). An essential piece of the puzzle for Japanese punk fanatics.

Buy from Sorry State

Aggression Pact: Instant Execution 7ā€ (Painkiller) Sophomore effort from this band that features Mark from Wasted Time / Mercy Killing / Beach Impediment Records on vocals backed by a bunch of Boston hardcore all-stars. As expected, itā€™s a total bruiser. Of course Markā€™s vocals are a big part of what makes all of his bands so great; heā€™s about as powerful as a hardcore vocalist comes, and his lyrics are always thoughtful and sophisticated. Heā€™d probably sound great even singing for a mediocre band, but Aggression Pact are far more than that. While there are lots of cool moments that I could point out on this EP (particularly the inventive guitar solos), I think that what I like about it most is the dense, heavy, in-the-pocket groove that Aggression Pact manages to achieve. Thereā€™s a real Motorhead-esque, fist-pumping quality to these tracks that elevates them beyond what most hardcore bands are capable of, making these sound like kick-butt hard rock tracks infused with hardcoreā€™s explosive energy. There isnā€™t much in the way of twists and turns here, but if the term ā€œmeat and potatoes hardcoreā€ is at all attractive to you itā€™s hard to imagine that you wonā€™t like this.

Buy from Sorry State

UdĆ¼sic: Ugly (Painkiller) On their demo tape, Chicagoā€™s UdĆ¼sic pledged their allegiance to no-nonsense hardcore with an Out Cold cover, but Iā€™m pleased to say that they havenā€™t limited themselves by that initial statement, continuing to let their music grow while never losing sight of what hardcore is about. If anything, though, Ugly is even more hardcore-sounding than their debut 7ā€ for Painkiller. Itā€™s a little fuller-sounding, with extremely warm production that makes this sound vintage in all of the right ways. However, this is far from pure 80s throwback. In fact, my favorite moments on this EP are the ones that feel more ā€œprogressive,ā€ particularly the lead guitar, which merges the chromatic quality of Greg Ginnā€™s lead playing with an extremely inventive melodic sensibility. I also like how confrontational the lyrics and vocals are. In particular, thereā€™s a lot of taking stock hardcore rhetoric and twisting it, revealing what it looks like from another perspective. The track ā€œE.O.M.ā€ (which stands for ā€œEnd of Menā€) contains the line ā€œHope youā€™re ready, ready to fight / Donā€™t give a fuck about your brawn or might,ā€ and while these lyrics might sound banal coming from your standard hardcore dude (particularly given the appropriation of a Negative Approach lyric), UdĆ¼sic implicitly asks us to consider why these words ā€œsoundā€ different when a woman says them. Similarly, they cover the song ā€œSolutionā€ by Vile, changing some of the originalā€™s offensive language to recast the song as a tirade against the very types of people who wrote the original lyrics. The balance that UdĆ¼sic are able to strike between gratifying and challenging the listener is utterly unique to themā€¦ theyā€™re going to give you what you want, but youā€™re not going to get a spoonful of sugar along with it. If youā€™re the type who would yell out ā€œshut up and playā€ to a band you should probably just buy something else, but if you listen to hardcore records hoping theyā€™ll communicate something to you that you didnā€™t already know then I canā€™t recommend UdĆ¼sic highly enough.

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Punk Ekman: S/T 7ā€ (Ken Rock) Punk Ekman is a pseudonym for one (or maybe more?) of the Achtungs. Iā€™m not sure if the Achtungs are done (which would be a shame!), but I assume that the existence of this 4-songer canā€™t be a good sign, because it sounds pretty much exactly like the Achtungs. I absolutely loved all of the Achtungsā€™ records, and these four tracks would have fit perfectly on any of them. In case the Achtungs reference means nothing to you, basically Punk Ekman sound like a harder, faster take on the traditional European punk sound of bands like the Rude Kids or Ivy Green (who Punk Ekman sound quite a bit like, particularly on the vocal department) delivered through the fuzz-drenched production of 90s garage bands like the Registrators or Teengenerate. Itā€™s a simple formula, but like the formula of pop music itself, it has proven an infinitely extensible one. If you think that the Now thatā€™s What I Call Music compilations should be sourced entirely from the roster of Rip Off Records, then this is band that should definitely be on your radar.

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Bent: Mattress Springs 7ā€ (Emotional Response) New 4-song EP from this Australian band. The label drops comparisons to the Raincoats and the Slits in their description, and I can definitely hear a lot of both of those bands in Bentā€™s sound. From the Raincoats, thereā€™s the way that the songs seem to live in the interplay between the bass and drums, with scratchy-sounding guitar that sounds less like any guitarist youā€™ve ever heard and more like the Raincoatsā€™ violinist. And then from the Slits, thereā€™s Bentā€™s weird way of making music that somehow sounds like dub reggae without having a single thing you could point to and say, ā€œthat sounds like something from a dub trackā€ (except, perhaps, for the way that the booming bass and drums dominate the mix). While these arenā€™t exactly pop songs, thereā€™s a haunting, almost mesmerizing quality that keeps me coming back to these tracks. A really beautiful record.

Buy from Sorry State

All New Arrivals

Voivod: Rrroooaaarrr 12" (Noise)
Voivod: Dimension Hatross 12" (Noise)
Voivod: Killing Technology 12" (Noise)
The Mountain Goats: Goths 12" (Merge)
Law: demo cassette (Self-released)
Young Pioneers: High Again 12" (K)
Crimpshrine: Duct Tape Soup 12" (Numero Group)
Crimpshrine: The Sound of a New World Being Born 12" (Numero Group)
Helium: The Dirt of Luck 12" (Matador)
Helium: Ends with And 12" (Matador)
Helium: The Magic City + No Guitars 12" (Matador)
Do Make Say Think: Stubborn Persistent Illusions 12" (Constellation)
Kurt Vile: Square Shells 12" (Matador)
Kurt Vile: So Outta Reach 12" (Matador)
Wavves: You're Welcome 12" (Ghost Ramp)
Biters: The Future Ain't What It Used to Be 12" (signed; Earache)
Basement: Promise Everything 12" (deluxe edition; marble vinyl; Run for Cover)
Negative Gain: Back from the Dead 12" (Rest in Punk)
Iron Maiden: No Prayer for the Dying 12" (Sanctuary)
Iron Maiden: The X Factor 12" (Sanctuary)
Iron Maiden: Virtual XI 12" (Sanctuary)
Iron Maiden: The Complete Albums Collection 1990-2015 12" (Sanctuary)
Iron Maiden: Fear of the Dark 12" (Sanctuary)
The Sexual: Discography 12" (euro import)
Alabama Shakes: Boys & Girls 12" (ATO)
CFM: Dichotomy Desaturated 12" (In the Red)
John Coltrane / Alice Coltrane: Cosmic Music 12" (Superior Viaduct)
Crass: Feeding of the 5,000 12" (Southern)
Digable Planets: Blowout Comb 12" (Modern Classics)
The Flexibles: Pink Everything 12" (Night School)
Foreseen HKI: Grave Danger 12" (20 Buck Spin)
Full of Hell: Trumpeting Ecstasy 12" (Profound Lore)
Las Munjitas Del Fuzz: Es El 69 7" (Shit in the Milk)
Loss: Horizonless 12" (Profound Lore)
Charles Mingus: Mingus Plays Piano 12" (Superior Viaduct)
Oranssi Pazuzu: Farmokologinen 12" (20 Buck Spin)
Pin Group: Go to Town 12" (Superior Viaduct)
Subhumans: 29:29 Split Vision 12" (Bluurg)
Terminals: Antiseptic 12" (Ba Da Bing!)
Terminals: Singles & Sundries 12" (Ba Da Bing!)
Various: Brown Acid: The Fourth Trip 12" (Permanent)
Deadbeats: Complete Dangerhouse 10" (Artifix)
Modernettes: Teen City 35th Anniversary 12" (Sudden Death)
Shock: Shock Proof 1976-1979 12" (Artifix)
The Attachments: demo cassette (self-released)
Beastmaker: Inside the Skull 12" (Rise Above)
Life's Blood: Hardcore A.D. 1988 12" (Prank)
Integrity: Seasons in the Size of Days 12" (Organized Crime)
Elder: Reflections of a Floating World 12" (Armageddon)
X: Los Angeles 12" (Porterhouse)
Childish Gambino: Awaken, My Love! 12" (Glassnote)
Ryan Adams: Cold Roses 12" (Lost Highway)
Skull Cult: Vol 1 cassette (self-released)
Skull Cult: Vol 2 cassette (self-released)
Pisse: KohlrĆ¼benwinter 2 7" (Apocaplexy)
Dronez / Humanmania: Split 7" (Ryvvolte)
Fit for Abuse: Too Little, Too Late 7" (Warthog Speak)
Fit for Abuse: The Psycho Ray Sessions 7" (Warthog Speak)

Restocks

ļ»æPandemonium: De Pandemonium Affaire 12" (Rest in Punk)
Various: Bloodstains Across Virginia 12" (Prompt Critic)
Frieg Egg: Back and Forth 7" (Beach Impediment)
Long Knife: Sewers of Babylon 7" (Beach Impediment)
Guided by Voices: Bee Thousand 12" (Scat)
Hot Snakes: Audit in Progress 12" (Swami)
Hot Snakes: Automatic Midnight 12" (Swami)
Jawbreaker: Unfun 12" (Blackball)
Lucero: Tennessee 12" (Sabot)
Charles Mingus: The Black Saint and the SInner Lady 12" (Superior Viaduct)
Negative Trend: S/T 7" (Superior Viaduct)
Thee Oh Sees: Mutilator Defeated at Last 12" (Castleface)
Oranssi Pazuzu: Kosmonument 12" (20 Buck Spin)
Oranssi Pazuzu: Muukalainen Puhuu 12" (20 Buck Spin)
Oranssi Pazuzu: Valonielu 12" (20 Buck Spin)
Oranssi Pazuzu: VƤrƤhtelijƤ 12" (20 Buck Spin)
Propagandhi: Less Talk, More Rock 12" (Fat Wreck)
Sonic Youth: Evol 12" (Goofin')
The Sound: Jeopardy 12" (1972)
The Fall: Hex Enduction Hour 12" (Superior Viaduct)
The Fall: Slates 10" (Superior Viaduct)
Feederz: Ever Feel Like Killing Your Boss 12" (Broken)
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard: I'm in Your Mind Fuzz 12" (Castleface)
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard: Quarters 12" (Castleface)
Naked Raygun: Throb Throb 12" (Haunted Town)
Thee Oh Sees: Help 12" (Castleface)
The Secret Prostitutes: Tiger Express 12" (Torture Garden)
Boston Strangler: Outcast 12" (Fun with Smack)
Converge: Petitioning Forever 12" (Deathwish)
Cock Sparrer: Shock Troops 12" (Pirates Press)
Cryptopsy: Blasphemy Made Flesh 12" (War on Music)
Cryptopsy: None So Vile 12" (War on Music)
Agnostic Front: Victim in Pain 12" (Bridge 9)
Drive Like Jehu: Yank Crime 12" (Cargo)
Antidote: Thou Shalt Not Kill 7" (Bridge 9)
Exit Unit: S/T 7" (Deep Six)
Youth Brigade: First Demo 7" (Dischord)
S-21: Year Zero 7" (Slugsalt)
Dangerdoom: The Mouse and the Mask 12" (Lex)
Beastie Boys: Hello Nasty 12" (Capitol)
Beastie Boys: Licensed to Ill 12" (Capitol)
Black Flag: Loose Nut 12" (SST)
Emperor: Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk 12" (Candlelight)
Funkadelic: Maggot Brain 12" (Westbound)
Ghost: Meliora 12" (deluxe edition; Spinefarm)
Misfits: Collection II 12" (Caroline)
Misfits: Earth AD 12" (Caroline)
Wu-Tang Clan: Enter the Wu-Tang 12" (RCA)
Husker Du: Zen Arcade 12" (SST)

Featured Release Roundup: May 17, 2017

Marbled Eye: S/T 7ā€ (Melters) Debut 7ā€ from this Bay Area, California band whose demo cassette we raved about a while back, and now that theyā€™re on vinyl we still love them. To me, Marbled Eye sound like the perfect mix of Total Control and Parquet Courts. Like both of those bands, Marbled Eye have a way of combining a Krautrock-style groove with angular, Wire-esque post-punk style riffing and wrapping the whole thing up in great pop songwriting. While their hooks arenā€™t quite as big as the most memorable moments of the bands I just compared them to, I feel like thatā€™s by design. Even though this is a 7ā€, itā€™s so grooved out that it feels like a record you put on and get lost in the atmosphere of rather than putting on to pump your fist and sing along. This band is absolutely killer, and I feel like itā€™s only a matter of time before theyā€™re as big as the two bands I just compared them to, so grab this 7ā€ and get in on the ground floor.

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White Hell: Lucifer 7ā€ (Unseen Forces) Reissue of the 1985 7ā€ EP by this proto-black metal band from Japan, though the band did feature two American expats. This definitely has the Satanic lyrics that qualify it as black metal, but aside from that White Hell almost sound a bit more like a hardcore band than a metal band to my ears. It doesnā€™t have the rawness of early records by Venom, Sodom, Sarcofago, and the like, but what it lacks in nastiness it makes up for in speed and precision. Iā€™m reminded of some 80s crossover-type bandsā€”Attitude Adjustment, maybe even Crossover-era DRIā€”particularly when it comes to the vocals, but the music spices up the crossover with a pronounced Motorhead influence in both the rhythms and the riffing. This is a cool little obscurity that is an interesting little piece of history for both metalheads and hardcore folks alike.

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Mozart: Nasty 7ā€ (Iron Lung) Debut 7ā€ from one of my favorite current bands. Mozartā€™s demo tape blew me away, and this debut EP is even better. Itā€™s funny, there are a lot of bands out there who talk about ā€œnoise not music,ā€ but often those bands tend to be very rigid and formulaic in the way that they put together and perform their songs. It takes real thought and know-how in order to make music that sounds truly wild and free, and Mozart clearly have that. This 7ā€ is just the sound of pure freedomā€¦ it sounds like hardcore thatā€™s a pure expression of energy, unrestrained by expectations or conventions. It sounds a bit like Wretched or Cheetah Chrome Motherfuckers trying to play free jazz with a woman channeling Doc Dart on vocals. I canā€™t think of a single record that sounds like this, and only a very small handful that are its equal in terms of energy, wildness, and freedom. This is a shoe-in for my best of 2017 list, and cements Mozartā€™s place as possibly the most exciting band in hardcore right now. If your definition of hardcore is anything like mine, you need this record in your life. Badly.

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Anxiety: Wildlife 7ā€ (La Vida Es Un Mus) Anxietyā€™s 12ā€ from last year knocked a lot of us out, so this new EP comes with much anticipation. Itā€™s hardly a rehash of the 12ā€, thoughā€¦ to me, it seems like Anxiety has dialed back some of the more blatant anarcho leanings on the 12ā€, moving toward more of an ā€œabstract hardcoreā€ type of sound than a retro anarcho oneā€¦ in other words, less Subhumans / Crass, more Iron Lung Records-type stuff, or maybe the more out-there bands on LVEUM like Barcelona or Una Bestia Incontrolable (or Pacoā€™s own band The Lowest Form). While Iā€™m sure some people out there will miss the catchiness of the LP, the songs on this EP are still very much in my wheelhouse, and I think that fans of the aforementioned labels / bands will be pretty darn pleased as well. Highly recommended, particularly if you like your hardcore a bit on the arty side.

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Erik Nervous: Ice Cream 7ā€ (Total Punk) Latest single from this Northwest Indiana punk phenom. These tracks have actually been on his bandcamp for months now, so I feel like Iā€™ve already heard ā€œIce Creamā€ a zillion times. However, itā€™s one of those songs that can feel like youā€™ve heard a zillion times even if youā€™ve only listened to it a few times, because it has such a broad, almost obnoxiously catchy melody (which actually sounds like a song that would come out of an ice cream truck). Itā€™s definitely a love it or hate it thingā€¦ if you like that kind of broad, childrenā€™s music-style melody youā€™ll flip out for this track, but if thatā€™s not your thing Iā€™m pretty sure you will absolutely hate this song. As for the b-side, the awesomely-titled ā€œChildren Stabbing Things,ā€ itā€™s more of a straightforward punk song with a super catchy (but not obnoxiously catchy) bass line and furious downstroke guitar that kind of reminds me of another great solo project, Rikk Agnewā€™s All by Myself LP. While these two tracks are quite different from one another, I think they definitely add up to the best Erik Nervous material so far.

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Perverts Again: My Accident 7ā€ (Total Punk) Latest 7ā€ from these Cleveland miscreants, and if you loved their debut LP (and a lot of you did!) youā€™ll be fully on board for this single as well. While Perverts Again features members of Cruelster, theyā€™re less grounded in northern Ohioā€™s tradition of wild, nihilistic hardcore and more in its tradition of weird, off-kilter art-rock. You definitely hear threads of early Devo and Electric Eels here, but even more than that I think that Perverts Again sound of a piece with Darvocetsā€™ nervous, quirky punk. The rhythms make you feel like insects are crawling all over your skin, and the lyrics consist primarily of cryptic phrases (like ā€œunderneath your clothes youā€™re not nakedā€) which sound like poorly-translated dispatches from some far-off cosmic colonial overlord. Perverts Again, without a doubt, have one of the most distinctive voices in modern underground punk, and if youā€™re on board with what theyā€™re doing this single is another essential listen.

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Mutual Jerk: S/T 7ā€ (State Laughter) Debut 7ā€ from this Atlanta punk band featuring Bobby from Brain Fā‰ , Double Negative and Wymyns Prysyn playing guitar instead of his usual drums. Mutual Jerk donā€™t really sound anything like any of those bands, though. On the one hand thereā€™s a real Atlanta vibe hereā€¦ thereā€™s certainly something of the dark, ominous melodies favored by bands like Nag and the Frantic. But on the other hand it takes such a different approach than most punk bands that it has its own really distinctive voice. There are very few full-on loud and aggressive moments. Rather than bashing out big power chords, the guitar noodles around the solid bass lines while the vocalist rants over top of it. All three of the tracks almost sound like extended intros because the tension builds and builds, Mutual Jerk continually delaying the big payoff moment where everything gets loud and intense. However, the songs donā€™t sound incomplete and unfinished, they just focus on a very different chunk of the emotional spectrum than a lot of punk music. Itā€™s quite a striking EP, and if neither broad pop melodies nor hardcore aggression is a requirement for your punk music, this could well be a much-appreciated counter-balance to the countless bands who over-use and abuse those tropes.

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Long Knife: Sewers of Babylon 7ā€ (Beach Impediment) Brand new 5-songer from this Portland hardcore band, and their first since changing drummers. The new guy is Keith from Hellshock, and while the bandā€™s overall approach hasnā€™t changed much (if at all), the drumming does seem a little more in the pocket, giving the band an even more anthemic edge than they had before. Anyway, the first thing that anyone ever comments on with Long Knife is how much they sound like Poison Idea, but I think that the ubiquity of that comparison really does the band a disserviceā€¦ itā€™s not like theyā€™re just collaging together parts of old PI tracks into new songs, and thatā€™s particularly apparent on this EP. There are a lot of little twists and turns that push the bandā€™s sound in different directions, whether itā€™s the double-bass drums on ā€œCitadel,ā€ the noisy guitar solo at the end of ā€œBastards of Bedlam,ā€ or the combo of the surf-y main riff and killer 60s-style organ solo on my favorite track, ā€œThe Tower.ā€ I mean, if you do like Long Knife because they sound so much like Poison Idea (particularly in the vocal department) then thereā€™s no way that youā€™ll be disappointed with Sewers of Babylon, but if you expect and want a little more than that I think youā€™ll be even more pleased with this ripper of an EP.

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Modern Warfare: Complete Recordings 12ā€ (Rerun) Comprehensive retrospective from this early 80s California punk band, which fills out the picture you got from reissues of their two EPs with additional tracks from compilations and related bands. Now, just about everyone who got into punk before the dawn of the internet era probably has a story about a compilation that got them hooked on the genre and introduced them to the next level of bands beyond the obvious Sex Pistols, Clash, Dead Kennedys et al. For me, that compilation was American Youth Report; I remember ordering the comp from Epitaphā€™s mail-order (which was then called Anti-, which would lend its name to the adult contemporary rock label that Epitaph still runs) because it had the Adolescents on it and I had read an interview with Bad Religion where they cited the Adolescents as the primary influence on their sound. Not only does the Adolescents track on that compilation rip (ā€œLosing Battleā€), but it also introduced me to so many great bandsā€¦ Redd Kross, Legal Weapon, the Flesh Eaters, Rhino 39, the Descendents (Iā€™m pretty sure this is the first time I heard them!), T.S.O.L., the Minutemen, and many more. Looking back on that compilation itā€™s kind of uncanny how much it has shaped my tastes, and the whole thing kicks off with Modern Warfareā€™s great ā€œOne for All.ā€ In a lot of ways that track is the perfect summation of why I like Modern Warfare so muchā€¦ they stand right on the border between punk and hardcore, when punk rock reached its maximum level of intensity but the rigid formal codification of the genre that happened with the advent of hardcore hadnā€™t yet occurred. I guess thatā€™s a fancy way of saying that Modern Warfare sound, alternately, like a hardcore band with great melodies and more ambitious songwriting and arrangements, or a punk band that plays with the intensity and aggression of a hardcore band. Theyā€™re really one of the great unsung bands of the era in my opinion, and itā€™s great to have all of their material in one place. Speaking of which, I canā€™t imagine how this LP could have been executed any better. First of all, itā€™s a comprehensive collection of tracks, bringing together the bandā€™s two 7ā€s and the four exclusive tracks they contributed to compilations. The complete Modern Warfare discography comprises the A-side of this release, but on the b-side you also get the three studio tracks recorded by pre-Modern Warfare band The Moderns (these tracks were also released as a 7ā€ on Feral Kid / Ut Records in 2014, and theyā€™re killerā€¦ like Modern Warfare but slightly more power-pop/ā€™77 punkā€¦ it reminds me of the Pointed Sticksā€™ best material) and three tracks recorded by MW singer/guitarist Jimmy Bemis in 2005 (Iā€™m not really clear on why these were includedā€¦ theyā€™re fine songs but they lack both the powerful ensemble playing and the vintage production of the other material on the LP). The packaging here is also perfect, bringing together cool cover art (a striking mash-up the covers of the bandā€™s two EPs) and a huge insert that is chock-full of information, including reproductions of all of the artwork for the records, discographical information, and a ton of amazing-looking vintage flyers and photos. Basically, this is the Modern Warfare record that I have always wanted in my collection, and if youā€™re deep into early 80s SoCal punk you absolutely need this as well.

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Various: Typical Girls Volume 2 12ā€ (Emotional Response) Second volume of this series of LP compilations, and itā€™s at least as good as the first one. In case you arenā€™t familiar, Typical Girlscollects tracks by contemporary bands with women in prominent rolesā€¦ I might be forgetting someone, but I believe that all of the singers on these tracks are women and/or people who do not identify as male. Far from restricting the quality of this compilation, focusing on women and non-males clearly illustrates that the most exciting music in the punk scene is being made by people who arenā€™t your typical rock/punk dudes. If youā€™re a follower of Sorry State youā€™ll recognize quite a few bands that weā€™ve recommended before: Midnite Snaxxx, Juanita Y Los Feos, Patsy, Neighborhood Brats, Flesh World, Black Abba, etc. However, this volume also introduced me to a bunch of killer bands I hadnā€™t heard before, like Bent and Suss Cunts, though I must say that there is not a single track on this LP that I donā€™t really, really like. At the end of the day, I think the strength of both Typical Girls comps isnā€™t so much that it gives a voice to an under-represented group (though thatā€™s important too!), but that it brings together two scenes that overlap a little but exist largely in separate spheresā€¦ specifically, the world of hardcore-informed DIY punk and whatever you would call the scene comprised of bands like the World, Downtown Boys, Priests, Shopping, etc. These scenes share both a common musical heritage and a philosophical commitment to DIY, and to me if you listen to bands like Juanita Y Los Feos and Flesh World (who are on hardcore-oriented labels like Iron Lung and La Vida Es Un Mus), thereā€™s no reason that you shouldnā€™t love bands like Naked Lights or The World as well. Hereā€™s to more erosion of the boundaries between these scenes, not to mention the elimination of traditional gender roles and all of the bullshit that comes with them. Typical Girls is doing real work toward those goals, and itā€™s also a thrilling listen. I canā€™t wait for the next volume!

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All New Arrivals

Girlpool: Powerplant 12" (Anti-)
Strul: Lennart Och Asen 12" (Ken Rock)
Punk Ekman: S/T 7" (Ken Rock)
Diabblese Grupp 6: 3 Track 7" (Reken)
Various: Domestic Sampler UMYU 12" (Discos Trangenero)
Various: Effenaar 7" (Discos Trangenero)
Killswitch Engage: Alive or Just Breathing 12" (Roadrunner)
Perverts Again: My Accident 7" (Total Punk)
Erik Nervous: Ice Cream 7" (Total Punk)
ISS: Endless Pussyfooting cassette (State Laughter)
Modern Warfare: Complete Recordings and More 12" (Rerun)
No Faith: Forced Subservience 12" (Iron Lung)
DAUƐYFLIN: Ofbeldi 12" (Iron Lung)
All Hell: The Grave Alchemist 12" (Prosthetic)
Cloven Hoof: S/T 12" (Wax Maniax)
Venom: Skeletons in the Closet 12" (Wax Maniax)
Dream Probe: demo cassette (self-released)
Redd Kross: Hot Issue 12" (Bang!)
Alice Coltrane: World Spirituality Classics 12" (Luaka Bop)
Oranssi Pazuzu: Muukalainen Puhuu 12" (20 Buck Spin)
Oranssi Pazuzu: Kosmonument 12" (20 Buck Spin)
Sylvan Esso: What Now 12" (Loma Vista)
Various: Guardians of the Galaxy OST 12" (Marvel)
Danny Brown: Atrocity Exhibition 12" (Warp)

Restocks

Mordbuben Ag: S/T 7" (Bachelor)
Black Panties: Prophet of Hate 7" (Prophet of Hate)
Iron Lung: White Glove Test 12" (Iron Lung)
Rakta: III 12" (Iron Lung)
Total Control: Typical System 12" (Iron Lung)
Dr. Dre: The Chronic 12" (Death Row)
Foxygen: And Star Power 12" (Jagjaguwar)
Get Up Kids: Red Letter Day 12" (Doghouse)
Herbie Hancock: Headhunters 12" (Columbia Legacy)
Rage Against the Machine: Evil Empire 12" (Epic)
Soundgarden: Badmotorfinger 12" (A&M)
Jimi Hendrix: Are You Experienced? 12" (Legacy)
Albert Ayler: Hilversum Sessions 12" (Modern Silence)
Beach Boys: Pet Sounds 12" (Capitol)
Damned: Damned Damned Damned 12" (Drastic Plastic)
Drive Like Jehu: S/T 12" (Cargo)
Jimi Hendrix: Axis: Bold as Love 12" (Legacy)
Misfits: Collection 12" (Caroline)
Misfits: Legacy of Brutality 12" (Caroline)
Misfits: Static Age 12" (Caroline)

Featured Release Roundup, May 10, 2017

No Defenses: Released 12ā€ (Demo Tapes) Archival release from this vintage UK anarcho band. Apparently this was slated to be an LP for Crass Records, but the band dissolved before they could finish work on the album. Listening to this now, itā€™s a delightful little time capsule. Comparing this to a lot of retro anarcho thatā€™s been making the rounds in the punk scene for the past couple of years, I realize that modern bands have a lot of trouble living down the influence of hardcore. They might inject some Penny Rimbaud-esque skittery snare work or a melodic vocal, but the shape of modern anarcho-punk is very much grounded in hardcore. However, No Defenses bear no marks of that influence. This is true weirdo music, and it still sounds radical in 2017. I mean, you can certainly hear the influence of the bigger UK punk stuff of the time (a few tracks are quite Banshees-esque, which seems like it might have been a particular influence) as well as the original group of anarcho bands (particularly the more melodic / less rock ones like Zounds, Chumbawumba, and Flux of Pink Indians), but in a lot of other ways the music of this area and era is totally singular, and this LP is very representative. The artwork is a little on the weird side, but you do get a Radio Raheem-style booklet packed with ephemera, so thatā€™s pretty cool. If youā€™re the kind of person who jocks bands like Hysteria Ward and Hagar the Womb this is going to be right up your alley.

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The Nurse: Discography 12ā€ (La Vida Es Un Mus) Discography release from this early 80s Japanese punk band. Iā€™m an absolute sucker for Japanese bands of this era because the overall vibe is so unique. Iā€™m not sure if itā€™s the way that they constructed riffs and songs, something about the production, or just the way that it all fits together, but the bands that come from this sceneā€”particularly the ones who put out records on the great ADK label, which released Nurseā€™s 2nd EPā€”are instantly identifiable and sound like nothing else in the history of music. You wonā€™t hear any of the big, dramatic song structures of later Burning Spirits-style bands like Death Side or Judgement, nor will you get the blazing fast hardcore of Systematic Death, the over the top noise of Confuse or the catchiness of the Stalin, but thereā€™s something unique and valuableā€”if a little more understatedā€”here nevertheless. Both of the bands EPs have been hugely collectible for some time now, and if youā€™re interested in 80s Japanese punk itā€™s pretty much certain that you have them on your want list, but also likely that youā€™ve never been able to track them down (particularly the first one on the Incest label, which is one of those giga-rarities). While itā€™s hard to see someone with only a passing interest in Japanese punk being totally blown away by Nurse, those of you who like to dig deeper than those aforementioned bands will find a whole lot to like here, particularly if, like me, you remain entranced by this magical little moment in the history of music.

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Una Bestia Incontrolable: Metamorphosi 12ā€ (La Vida Es Un Mus) Iā€™m still having a bit of trouble wrapping my ears and mind around this latest 12ā€ from Spainā€™s Una Bestia Incontrolable. The first thing that stuck out to me was the tempoā€¦ not only are there not really any fast songs on this record, but every song seems to chug along at a similar middle tempo. The effect of this choice is that all of the songs kind of blend together into this big wholeā€¦ before you get oriented to these songs, itā€™s easy to lose track of which track youā€™re listening to, and I find myself getting into a mode of listening that I associate with techno, classical, krautrock, or other forms of music where the pieces are longer, more cinematic in scope, and rely on gradually evolving structures rather than repeating patterns that alternate in different sequences. Itā€™s not a mode that Iā€™m wholly unaccustomed to, but it is strange for a hardcore band, and requires some adjustment to your listening habits to start to make sense of this thing. Once you do crack that code, though, this thing really starts to unfold. The way that Una Bestia builds a song around a riff or a phrase almost reminds me of a great jazz band, but theyā€™re simpler, more primitive, more direct, and (it goes without saying) more punk. And as with jazz, the payoff isnā€™t a big chorus or a triumphant key change, but rather the way that the micro interacts with the macro. I feel like Iā€™m basically rambling about this record, but even if you canā€™t make sense of what Iā€™m trying to get across, hopefully itā€™s clear that this records is one of those puzzling things that intrigues me but doesnā€™t quite make sense to me, at least not in the beginning. If you have your idea(l) of what hardcore is and you like to hear bands that live up to it then youā€™ll probably want to steer clear of this one, but if you like those puzzles this is bound to spend more than its fair share of time on your turntable.

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The Pacifics: Quadrafenians 7ā€ (MistkƤfer) Latest EP from this Irish band that features half of the #1s among their ranks. When I first heard about the Pacifics the conceit was that they were doing a kind of Cavern Club-era Beatles type of throwback rock and roll, and while that element hasnā€™t been completely purged from their sound (particularly on the closing rave-up, ā€œBurgers and Chipsā€), at this point they donā€™t sound all that different from the #1s to my ears, and honestly I couldnā€™t be happier with that fact. Honestly, though, I feel like the surface trappings of this record are irrelevant. What is so great about it isnā€™t the vintage-sounding reverb on the lead guitar (though that sounds really, really good) or that they nail the vibe of some particular record that I already love, but rather that these are four classic pop tunes. These folks know how to write a fuckinā€™ song, and there isnā€™t anything even approaching a dud here. If you live for music that combines the visceral thrill of a perfectly-penned pop song with the manic energy of punk rock, then you need this. Highly recommended.

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Muff Divers: Dreams of the Gentlest Texture12ā€ (Lumpy) Debut LP from this Chicago duo, and I think itā€™s pretty much a shoe-in for my ā€œBest of 2017ā€ list. Itā€™s no secret that we here at Sorry State are enthusiastic devotees of Joe Sussmanā€™s workā€”heā€™s also a key player in Nancy as well as Dangus Tarkusā€”and Dreams of the Gentlest Texture is the best thing heā€™s done so far. Iā€™ve wasted a lot of time thinking (and having idle conversations, mostly with Seth and Jeff) about what makes a Muff Divers song different from a Nancy song or a Dangus Tarkus song, but Iā€™m not sure thereā€™s an answer to that riddle. The more important thing to note here is thatā€”as good as all of those projectsā€™ releases have been for some time nowā€”each new one seems to be better than the last, and this is the best one yet. The absolutely scorching riff that starts off the album would fit perfectly on a Powerpearls comp if you slowed the record down to 33RPM; at 45RPM, though, listening to it evokes a feeling similar to eating an entire Easter basket full of candy all in one morningā€¦ in a good way! Somehow, Muff Divers manage to sustain that sugar-rush feeling across eleven tracks, not by crafting a well-rounded set of songs, but rather by the sheer brute force with which they shove great riffs and great melodies down your through one after the other. They never deviate from an Itā€™s Alive-esque manic tempo, restricting any use of finesse to shredding guitar licks (that are somehow still insanely melodic) and densely-packed arrangements that constantly play guitar, vocals, bass, and synth off of one another in ways that you hardly notice are clever because they zip by so fast. If youā€™ve already worn out the great Midnite Snaxxx album from earlier this year, this is the only thing Iā€™ve heard thatā€™s worthy of replacing its spot in your rotation.

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Smart Dads: Bummer Summer12ā€ (Radio Raheem) Radio Raheem Records works their magic again, this time on a real obscurity: a 1982 cassette from this band out of San Antonio, Texas. While I have heard of a couple of the projects that Smart Dadsā€™ members went on toā€”the underrated Bang Gang as well as Hickoidsā€”this was totally new to me, and unlike a lot of stuff thatā€™s been dug up in the past few years this is fuckinā€™ great! Despite the rather late date on this one, Smart Dads sound way more ā€™77 than ā€™82 to my ears, with nary a trace of hardcore in their sound and a whole bunch of big riffs and choruses that betray both their love of the Ramones and Sex Pistols as well as the classic rock they no doubt grew up on. Of course thereā€™s a sprinkling of the weirdness that I associate with early Texas punk, but at their core these are just amped-up, energetic rock songs, and really good ones at that. The best of the bunch is the title track, which leads off the tape with its massive chorus hook, but the whole thing is solid. Had they been from a city with more of a punk infrastructure I have no doubt that Smart Dads had a classic punk single in them (if they were from California they seem like theyā€™d be a shoe-in for Dangerhouse), but Iā€™ll take this snazzy-looking one-sided 12ā€, cassette transfer issues and all. Oh, and since this is on Radio Raheem of course you get an extensive, full-color booklet jam-packed with photos, flyers, and interesting liner notes. Definitely in the top tier of recent punk rock archaeological finds.

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Fried E.M.: S/T 7ā€ (Lumpy) Debut record from this new band out of St. Louis, but if you blindfolded me (actually, Iā€™m not really sure why you would have to blindfold me, but I guess thatā€™s how these sayings go) and told me this was from New York I would have no trouble believing it, except perhaps for the fact that itā€™s recorded much better than a lot of the Toxic State-type stuff that it sounds like. The band that Fried E.M. sound the most like is Crazy Spirit, though theyā€™re a hair faster, they donā€™t tend to hang on riffs in that Krautrock-y way that CS do, and theyā€™re more apt to reach for whiplash, hardcore-style changes and transitions. I think thereā€™s also something of Kaleidoscopeā€™s somewhat more ambitious, more psychedelic take on this sound hereā€¦ or at the very least if you dig what Kaleidoscope are doing I think youā€™d probably like Fried E.M. too. Now that the New Yorkers seem to have abandoned this sound, itā€™s time for the cretins of the countryā€™s less trafficked areas like the midwest and the south to take up the torch and march this sound into its most twisted and contorted depths. I must say Iā€™m looking forward to that journey.

Buy from Sorry State

Trauma Harness: Ghost of a Flea7ā€ (Lumpy) Are Trauma Harness the band with the most releases on Lumpy Records? I think that at this point they may have even surpassed Lumpy & the Dumpers. Anyway, the fact that they put out so many records despite the fact that theyā€™re a quasi-uncomfortable fit on the label reminds me a lot of Sorry Stateā€™s relationship with Whatever Brains, and just as the people who bought Direct Control and Koro records were probably really confused by the ā€˜Brains, the people who buy Lumpy and CCTV records probably donā€™t quite know what to make of Trauma Harness, but no doubt the people who have taken the time to really hear this band appreciate them a great deal. On this latest single they come at ā€œnew waveā€ from a few different directions to uniformly strong results. The a-side is a guitar-based, big melodic pop song that reminds me of guitar-based 80s new wave bands like the Chameleons or Modern English, while the two tracks on the b-side lean on the synths a little bit harder, going in more of a Human League / Depeche Mode kind of direction. While the vocals are a tad on the unconventional side (at least for pop music), the pop songcraft shines through and ensures that no matter what style theyā€™re pursuing Trauma Harnessā€™s songs are going to be really cool and memorable.

Buy from Sorry State

Mala Leche: S/T 7ā€ (Lumpy) Iā€™m not really sure what the deal is with this recordā€¦ Lumpyā€™s description mentions rather vaguely that this project is a ā€œSt. Louis / Minneapolis connection,ā€ but I donā€™t really know anything other than that. I am wondering, though, is the first track (which is titled ā€œPantallasā€) a synth cover of ā€œI Peed in the Poolā€ by Lumpy? Or does it just have a really similar chord pattern? Pantalla means ā€œscreenā€ in Spanish, so it doesnā€™t appear that the lyrics are a translation, but boy are the songs similar. Anyway, aside from that little bit of intrigue I should probably tell you that (on the a-side at least) Mala Leche sound to my ears like a synth-and-acoustic-drums combo, and while there are really not too many similarities in terms of songwriting style or vibe, I believe that whenever you hear a band with that setup of instruments you are legally obligated to compare them to the Screamers. However, something like Natural Causesā€™ or Ausmuteantsā€™ synth-inflected take on the classic jittery punk formula would be a much better comparison. The songs on the b-side sound like theyā€™re recorded with electronic drums, but the vibe is similar, if not a little noisier and more desperate. In addition to just being generally into the way this band goes about writing and recording songs, I really like the fact that there are nine fully-formed songs on this 7ā€ record. Despite the vast difference in instrumentation, it feels like a mini-full length in a similar way to a lot of classic early 80s hardcore EPs. Anyway, thatā€™s a whole lot of references to throw out, but if youā€™re into the more jittery and nervous bands on Lumpy like Muff Divers (particularly their 7ā€) and BB Eye Iā€™d strongly recommend snatching this up.

Buy from Sorry State

Faux Depart: demo cassette (Roll Mops) Debut cassette from this French band, and itā€™s a shame that itā€™s not on vinyl (at least not yet), because itā€™s more fully realized than a lot of proper full-lengths I hear these days. The recording is great, the songs are extremely well developed, and thereā€™s more than enough material here for a 12ā€ record, so hereā€™s hoping some enterprising label gets on it. Stylistically, Faux Depart are in the same broad category as bands like the Marked Men; like the Marked Men, Faux Depart play in a classic, upbeat melodic punk style, though Faux Depart have a bit more ā€™77-era punk in their DNA. Indeed, if youā€™re not overly fussed about your ā€™77-style bands having vintage-sounding production, fans of old European melodic punk like Ivy Green or Hubble Bubble will absolutely love this. Definitely one of the best cassette releases weā€™ve gotten in a while, and very highly recommended if youā€™re a fan of this catchy, pop-inflected punk sound.

Buy from Sorry State

PMS 84: Easy Way Out 12ā€ (Discos Enfermos) After a couple of killer 7ā€s, hereā€™ā€™s the debut full-length from Portlandā€™s PMS 84. PMS 84 has long been a favorite around Sorry State, and while I think they miss their original vocalistā€™s more unique and identifiable style, they still write some of the absolute best UK82-style punk out there. While a lot of bands who take the Riot City and No Future catalogs as their inspiration sound almost deliberately plodding to my ears, PMS 84 have a real spring in their step, making more upbeat and memorable bands like the Partisans and Ultra Violent the best reference points for their sound. While this sound can start to wear on the ear over the course of a full-length, PMS 84 deftly throws you a bone in the form of a super catchy guitar lead, bass break, or squeal of guitar feedback just as you think that your attention is starting to wonder. A perfectly-executed punk full-length by a band with some of the most airtight songwriting youā€™ll find.

Bad Breeding: DIvide LP (Iron Lung) Much-anticipated second LP from this killer band from the UK. Their first one was a total enigmaā€¦ it seemed to come out of nowhere, and before I could really get a handle on it everyone had snapped up the copies that we got in the store, so I feel like I never really got to live with that record in the way that I wanted to. However, Iā€™ve been full-on feasting on this new one. I guess the big questionā€”as it is for just about any sophomore effortā€”is, ā€œis it as good as the first one?ā€ This has been the subject of a lot of conversation around the shop, and while most people seem to prefer the first one, as of right now Iā€™m coming down pretty hard on the side of Divide. I mean, sonically speaking, not much has really changed. Bad Breeding still sound like hardcore thatā€™s gleefully unaware of all of the genreā€™s cliches. Itā€™s basically heavy, intense music that sounds like it was made by people who either arenā€™t steeped enough in the genreā€™s conventions to be influenced by them, or theyā€™re so talented that theyā€™re able to avoid those conventions. As a result, thereā€™s a sense of freshness to Bad Breeding that very few bands have. And that freshness doesnā€™t just come from sounding like an old record that still sounds fresh, but rather just because it seems like Bad Breeding is doing something genuinely new. What is that thing? I mean, basically it seems like itā€™s taking the more experimental end of anarcho-punkā€”stuff like Flux of Pink Indians and Crass at their slightly more out-there moments (though thankfully Bad Breeding never copy any Penny Rimbaud beats, which can be a little too on the nose for my tastes)ā€”and make it way heavier, infusing it with a big and burly guitar sound thatā€™s sort of like Killing Joke playing through some heavy AmRep bandā€™s equipment. Anyway, thereā€™s no reason why you wouldnā€™t love Divide if you loved the first album, but I think that this one benefits from a little more concision and focus. Itā€™s the kind record that can appeal to you if youā€™re a die-hard hardcore person, or if you just like weird and experimental musicā€¦ if you took my recommendation on the great Housewives 12ā€ from a while back, I could see this catching your ear in much the same way. Any way you slice it, though, Bad Breeding is one of the best bands going and this is a total must-hear record.

Buy from Sorry State

Sorex: Portrait of a Prisoner 12ā€ (Radio Raheem) Another expertly-crafted archival release from the great Radio Raheem Records. Much like the Smart Dads LP they recently put out, this LP is from a total obscurity: Redondo Beach, Californiaā€™s Sorex. At first listen, Sorex sound almost comically generic, like the prototypical teenage hardcore band from 1980s California. However, when you listen closely (and you have to because these recordings are pretty no-frills, though weirdly their lone vinyl releases is probably the worst-sounding thing on here) you see thereā€™s actually a bit more to them than initially meets the eye. Sure, the lazy comparisons to second-string bands from the same scene like Anti or China White arenā€™t entirely out of place, but there are a lot of little moments here that catch my attention. In particular, thereā€™s a bulldozer quality to some of their hardcore songs thatā€™s reminiscent of early Agnostic Frontā€”a lot of this music isnā€™t a million miles away from the comp of early AF material that Radio Raheem releasedā€”only with more California-style vocals. And even though some of those hardcore songs are about as full-bore and confrontational as the genre gets, you can also hear a bit of classic punk influence in the bandā€™s sound, particularly in the catchy chorusesā€¦ Iā€™d be willing to bet good money that the members of Sorex had records by bands like GBH and Channel 3 in their collection, as well as a smattering of the ā€™77-era UK classics. Yeah, itā€™s the same stew of influences that fueled literally thousands of similar bands and at the end of the day there isnā€™t really all that much to differentiate Sorex from the pack, but if you dig diving deep into the sounds of this era, youā€™re definitely in Radio Raheemā€™s target audience and youā€™ll get a big kick out of this LP. Oh, and it goes without saying that the packaging here is as exquisite as every other Radio Raheem releases so far, with a big full-color booklet packed with liner notes and visual ephemera.

Buy from Sorry State

Lux: demo cassette (Discos Enfermos) Demo cassette from this new hardcore-infused anarcho band out of Barcelona. While there are a lot of bands pursuing a similar tack in the current punk scene, Lux sound pretty special to my ears. The main thing that sticks out to me is the drumming, which has a really strong and unique style that seems to take equal parts from Penny Rimbaudā€™s skittering snare rhythms and the propulsive forward march of the Partisans. Iā€™m not really sure how the drummer is pulling this off, but itā€™s really, really cool. The vocalist also has a pretty distinctive shout that reminds me a bit of the singer for Sad Boys. The recording quality is as rough as youā€™d expect from a bunch of Barcelonan anarchists, but thatā€™s pretty much to be expected. Anyway, if youā€™re into this neo-retro-anarcho sound, this is a pretty cool one.

Buy from Sorry State

Warm Bodies: Eat Snot and Rot cassette (self-released) Latest cassette EP from this Kansas City punk phenomenon that has quickly become one of my very favorite punk bands in the world. As I noted in my description of their most recent 7ā€ on Thrilling Living, Warm Bodies bear a striking resemblance to Sorry Stateā€™s own Davidians, something that is perhaps even more apparent on this material than it was on My Burning Love. Thereā€™s the wild-sounding tremolo effect on the guitars, the post-punk-like interplay between the guitar and the bass thatā€™s somehow rendered at fully hardcore tempos, and the way the shouted staccato vocals seem to skip along the surface like a rock across the surface of a choppy pondā€¦ but the vibe is so utterly different. Rather than Davidiansā€™ studied artiness, Warm Bodies sound unrestrained and wild, like a lot of the Lumpy Records and Total Punk-type bands that theyā€™re typically associated with. In other words, Warm Bodies are a treat for both the brain and the gut in equal measure, and the ability to balance those two things so things so expertly is as rare a quality as youā€™re going to find in punk rock. Buy everything this band has ever done (and probably will do!), including this tape. If your musical tastes resemble mine at all, you wonā€™t be disappointed.

Buy from Sorry State

Other New Arrivals

ļ»æ

PMS 84: Easy Way Out 12" (Discos Enfermos)

Karpatos: S/T 12" (Discos Enfermos)

Lux: Demo 16 cassette (Discos Enfermos)

Hard Charger: Bad Omens 12" (Wasted Time Records)

Sorex: Portrait of a Prisoner 12" (Radio Raheem)

Smart Dads: Bummer Summer 12" (Radio Raheem)

Planet Y: S/T 7" (Adult Crash)

Damaged Head: Gone 7" (Adult Crash)

Taking Back Sunday: New Again 12" (Warner Brothers)

Moon Duo: Occult Architecture Vol 2 12" (Sacred Bones)

The Afghan Whigs: In Spades 12" (Sub Pop)

Descendents: Everything Sucks 20th Anniversary 12"+7" (Epitaph Records)

Perfume Genius: No Shape 12" (Matador Records)

Mac DeMarco: This Old Dog 12" (Captured Tracks Records)

At the Drive-In: Inter alia 12" (Rise Records Co)

Gorillaz: Humanz 12" (Parlophone Records)

Slowdive: S/T 12" (Dead Oceans Records)

Pisse: KohrĆ¼benwinter 7" (Beau Travail Records)

Alement: The Hunter 7" (Ryvvolte Records)

Warm Bodies: Eat Snot & Rot cassette (self-released)

Brain Vacation: Nuclear Retort 12" (Wall of Youth)

Violent Party: Sinusoidal Limitations 7" (Rust And Machine Records)

Exit-Stance: Saying Nothing (But Speaking My Mind) 12" (Rust And Machine Records)

Omerta: Pyromania EP cassette (Runstate Tapes)

Outcry: demo cassette (Runstate Tapes)

TortĆ¼r: 2017 demo cassette (Runstate Tapes)

The Pacifics: Quadrafenians 7" (MistkƤfer Records)

Marbled Eye: EPII 7" (Digital Regress)

Beta Boys: Hard Rock Music 7" (Digital Regress)

Columns: In Loving Hues cassette (Digital Regress)

Various: Typical Girls Vol 2 12" (Emotional Response)

Bent: Mattress Springs 7" (Emotional Response)

Lognhalsmottagningen: S/T 7" (Emotional Response)

Lesbian: Hallucinogenesis 12" (Translation Loss Records)

Nightbringer: Terra Damnata 12" (Seasons of Mist)

Unwanted: Secret Police 7" (Damaged Goods Records)

Slime: Controversial 7" (Damaged Goods Records)

Mordbuben Ag: S/T 7" (Bachelor Archives)

Kitchen People: Trendoid 12" (Oops Baby Records)

Hooligan: S/T 7" (Cameleon Records)

Cheater Slicks: On Your Knees 12" (Almost Ready Records)

Buck Biloxi: Hollow Earth 7" (Holotrash Records)

Brain Fever: S/T 12" (Tsuguri)

Muff Divers: Dreams of the Gentlest Texture 12" (Lumpy Records)

Fried E/M: S/T 7" (Lumpy Records)

Mala Leche: S/T 7" (Lumpy Records)

Trauma Harness: Ghost of a Flea 7" (Lumpy Records)

Plastic Tones: s/t cassette (Disques Mutant)

Diktat: A Double Tour cassette (Cool Marriage Records)

Faux Depart: demo cassette (Roll Mops Records)

Immortal War: Hell's Razor cassette (Failure Recordings)

Symptom: Hideous World 7" (Failure Recordings)

ƖTZI: "Gong Show" b/w "Sunbeam" 7" (self-released)

C.H.E.W. / Pentrode: Split cassette (Slugsalt Records)

AssƤssini: S/T 7" (Rawmantic Disasters)

E.D.S.: demo cassette (self-released)

Crooked Bangs: II 12" (Nervous Intent Records)

Street Eaters: The Envoy 12" (Nervous Intent Records)

Artificial Brain: Infrared Horizon 12" (Profound Lore)

Boss Hog: Brood X 12" (In The Red Records)

Flying Saucer Attack: Distance 12" (VHF Records)

Flying Saucer Attack: S/T 12" (Domino)

Foreseen HKI: Helsinki Savagery 12" (20 Buck Spin)

Golden Pelicans: Disciples of Blood 12" (Goner Records)

Warm Soda: I Don't Wanna Grow Up 12" (Castle Face Records)

Darkthrone: A Blaze in the Northern Sky 12" (Peaceville Records)

Lockjaw: Shock Value 7" (Antitodo Records)

Lockjaw: Dead Friends 7" (Antitodo Records)

US Weekly: S/T 12" (Night Moves)

David Bowie: No Plan 12" (Columbia)

Foo Fighters: Songs from the Laundry Room 10" (Roswell Records)

31: A Rob Zombie Film OST 12" (Universal)

All: Pummel 12" (Porterhouse Records)

White Hell: Lucifer 7" (Unseen Forces)

Ausencia: Cuantas Vidas 7" (DiscosMMM Records)

Prision Postumo: S/T 7" (DiscosMMM Records)

Easy Money: Collection 12" (Neon Taste)

Amon Amarth: Jomsviking 12" (Metal Blade Records)

Black Keys: Chulahoma 12" (Fat Possum Records)

Bush: Sixteen Stone 12" (Zuma Rock)

Mayhem: Mediolanum Capta Est 12" (Peaceville Records)

Trent Reznor: Before the Flood OST 12" (Lakeshore Records)

Isis: Live VII 12" (Ipecac Records)

Harlott: Extinction 12" (Metal Blade Records)

Death Angel: Fall from Grace 12" (Metal Blade Records)

Ghost Bath: Starmourner 12" (Nuclear Blast Records)

Night Demon: Darkness Remains 12" (Century Media Records)

Zhrine: Unortheta 12" (Season Of Mist)

Zombies: Greatest Hits 12" (Varese Sarabande Records)

Antiseen: The Complete Drastic Sessions 12" (TKO Records)

Roht: S/T 7" (Iron Lung Records)

Mozart: Nasty 7" (Iron Lung Records)

Behavior: Bitter Bitter 12" (Iron Lung Records)

Cold Sweat: Blinded 12" (Iron Lung Records)

Bad Breeding: Divide 12" (Iron Lung Records)

Rakta: Rakta at KEXP cassette (Iron Lung Records)

The Obsessed: Sacred 12" (Relapse Records)

Conqueror: War.Cult.Supremacy 12" (Nuclear War Now!)

Crypt Rot: Embryonic Devils 12" (Southern Lord)

Rotting Christ: Thy Mighty Contract 12" (Peaceville Records)

Wolfbrigade: Run with the Hunted 12" (Southern Lord)

Craven Idol: The Shackles of Mammon 12" (Dark Descent)

Cold Leather: demo cassette (Commodity Tapes)

Maquina Muerta / DHK: Split cassette (Commodity Tapes)

DRUJ: War Hymns cassette (Commodity Tapes)

Anti Sex: Por Que no te Callas? cassette (Commodity Tapes)

Syndicate: Vol. 1 cassette (Commodity Tapes)

Leisure World: Paper Thin Community 7" (Deranged)

Pressing On: Future 7" (Deranged)

DS-13: Vad Vet Vi Om Kriget? 12" (Deranged)

Mutual Jerk: S/T 7" (State Laughter)

Wear Your Wounds: WYW 12" (Deathwish)

Innumerable Forms: Promo 2016 cassette (Hell Massacre Records)

Fange: Pourrissoir 12" (Throatruiner)

Cutting Through: Demo 2016 7" (Can't Keep Us Down Records)

Self Defense Family: BBC Session 12" (Deathwish)

Grinning Death's Head: Blood War 12" (Deathwish)

Culture Shock: S/T 12" (Deathwish)

Pentagram: Relentless 12" (picture disc; Peaceville Records)

Me First & the Gimme Gimmes: Rake It In: The Greatest Hits 12" (Fat Wreck Chords)

Roky Erickson: All That May Do My Rhyme 12" (Play Loud Records)

Miles Davis: Bitches Brew 12" (Columbia Legacy)

Miles Davis: Kind of Blue 12" (Jazz Wax Records)

Gogol Bordello: Gypsy Punks 12" (Side One Dummy)

Gogol Bordello: Super Taranta 12" (Side One Dummy)

Joey Bada$$: All American Bada$$ 12" (Cinematic Records)

Anxiety: S/T 7" (La Vida Es Un Mus)

The Nurse: Discography 12" (La Vida Es Un Mus)

No Defences: Released 12" (new)

Frieg Egg: Back and Forth 7" (Beach Impediment)

Long Knife: Sewers of Babylon 7" (Beach Impediment)

Ā 

Restocks

Human Gas: Discography 12" (euro import)

Various: Typical Girls 12" (Emotional Response)

UVTV / Shark Toys: Split 7" (Emotional Response)

Wetbrain: S/T 7" (Residue)

Janitor Scum: S/T 12" (Lumpy Records)

Opeth: Still Life 12" (Peaceville Records)

Pura Mania: Cerebros Punk 12" (Hysteria Records)

Sem Hastro: Rancor A Cidade 7" (Hysteria Records)

Wipers: Youth of America 12" (Jackpot Records)

The Super Duper Blues Band 12" (Jackpot Records)

Mustafa Ozkent: Genclik Ile Elele 12" (Jackpot Records)

Etta James: At Last 12" (Jackpot Records)

Ausencia: S/T 7" (DiscosMMM Records)

Los Monjo: La Vida Gue Todos Envidian 12" (DiscosMMM Records)

La URSS: Maravillas 12" (DiscosMMM Records)

FINAL: S/T cassette (DiscosMMM Records)

Fashionism: One Shot 7" (Neon Taste)

Bad Brains: S/T 12" (ROIR Records)

Black Keys: Rubber Factory 12" (Fat Possum Records)

Black Keys: Thickfreakness 12" (Fat Possum Records))

Darkest Hour: So Sedated, So Secure 12" (Victory Records)

Death: Scream Bloody Gore 12" (Relapse Records)

Mayhem: Deathcrush 12" (Back On Black Records)

Mayhem: Live in Leipzig 12" (Peaceville Records)

Midnight: Complete and Total Hell 12" (Hell's Headbangers Records)

Midnight: No Mercy for Mayhem 12" (Hell's Headbangers Records)

NOFX: The Longest Line 12" (Epitaph Records)

Royal Headache: S/T 12" (What's Your Rupture? Records)

Run the Jewels: RTJ 3 12" (Mass Appeal)

Sleep: The Clarity 12" (Southern Lord)

Sunn O))): Monoliths and Dimensions 12" (Southern Lord)

Weedeater: Good Luck and God Speed 12" (Season Of Mist)

Poison Idea: War All the Time 12" (TKO Records)

Total Control: Typical System 12" (Iron Lung Records)

Various: Yugoslavian Pandemonium cassette (Commodity Tapes)

Various: Brazilian Pandemonium cassette (Commodity Tapes)

Various: Chilean Pandemonium cassette (Commodity Tapes)

Various: Mexican Pandemonium cassette (Commodity Tapes)

Various: Peruvian Pandemonium cassette (Commodity Tapes)

Various: Filipino Pandemonium cassette (Commodity Tapes)

Various: Italian Pandemonium cassette (Commodity Tapes)

Various: Iberian Pandemonium cassette (Commodity Tapes)

Career Suicide: Machine Response 12" (Deranged Records)

Heat: S/T 7" (Deranged Records)

Helta Skelta: Beyond the Black Stump 12" (Deranged Records)

Oathbreaker: Rheia 12" (Deathwish)

Touche Amore: Parting the Sea Between Brightness and Me 12" (Deathwish)

Converge: All We Love We Leave Behind 12" (Deathwish)

Converge: Jane Doe 12" (Deathwish)

Bracewar: Discography 12" (Deathwish)

True Vision: Against the Grain 7" (Painkiller Records)

Self Defense Family: Heaven Is Earth 12" (Deathwish)

Cold Cave: Full Cold Moon 12" (Deathwish)

The Replacements: Tim 12" (Sire)

NOFX: Punk in Drublic 12" (Epitaph Records)

  1. Rex: Electric Warrior 12" (Rhino Records)

Radiohead: Kid A 12" (XL Recordings)

Sleep: Holy Mountain 12" (Earache Records)

Joy Division: Unknown Pleasures 12" (Rhino Records)

Operation Ivy: Energy 12" (Hellcat Records)

Nirvana: Bleach 12" (Sub Pop)

Bauhaus: Crackle: The Best of 12" (4AD)

Bauhaus: In the Flat Field 12" (4AD)

Sigur Ros: Agaetis Byrjun 12" (XL Recordings)

The Smiths: Hatful of Hollow 12" (Rhino Records)

The Smiths: Louder than Bombs 12" (Sire Records)

Brand New: Deja Entendu 12" (Triple Crown Records)

The Cure: Three Imaginary Boys 12" (Rhino Records)

The Cure: Disintegration 12" (Rhino Records)

The Cure: The Head on the Door 12" (Rhino Records)

David Bowie: Ziggy Stardust 12" (Parlophone Records)

David Bowie: Aladdin Sane 12" (Parlophone Records)

Metallica: Master of Puppets 12" (Blackened Records)

Metallica: Kill Em All 12" (Blackened Records)

Led Zeppelin: I 12" (Atlantic Records)

Ryan Adams: Heartbreaker 12" (Pax Americana)

Damned: Damned Damned Damned 12" (euro import)

Bob Dylan: Highway 61 Revisited 12" (Columbia Legacy)

Funkadelic: Free Your Mind 12" (Westbound Records)

Funkadelic: Maggot Brain 12" (Westbound Records)

Nirvana: Unplugged in New York 12" (DGC Records)

Pearl Jam: Ten 12" (Epic Records)

Rage Against the Machine: S/T 12" (Sony)

Trouble: Psalm 9 12" (FRW Records)

Warsaw: S/T 12" (Vinyl Passion Records)

Weezer: Pinkerton 12" (Geffen)

Wu-Tang Clan: Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) 12" (RCA)

Zombies: Odyssey & Oracle 12" (Varese Vintage)

Nirvana: Nevermind 12" (DGC Records)

Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon 12" (Sony)

Brand New: I Am a Nightmare 12" (Pmtraitors)

Cause For Alarm: S/T 7" (Victory Records)

Earth Crisis: Firestorm 7" (Victory Records)

Geto Boys: S/T 12" (Rap A Lot Records)

Geto Boys: We Can't Be Stopped 12" (Rap A Lot Records)

Ghost: Opus Eponymous 12" (Metal Blade Records)

Iron Reagan: Crossover Ministry 12" (Relapse Records)

Modest Mouse: The Fruit that Ate Itself 12" (Glacial Place)

Parquet Courts: Tally All The Things You Broke 12" (What's Your Rupture? Records)

Propagandhi: How to Clean Everything 12" (Fat Wreck Chords)

Saves the Day: Through Being Cool 12" (Equal Vision Records)

Swans: Filth 12" (Young God Records)

Uncle Acid: Mind Control 12" (Metal Blade Records)

Townes Van Zandt: S/T 12" (Fat Possum Records)

RiƱa: Demo 7" (La Vida Es Un Mus)

Belgrado: Obraz 12" (La Vida Es Un Mus)

Disclose: Yesterday's Fairytale 12" (La Vida Es Un Mus)

Disclose: Nightmare of Reality 12" (La Vida Es Un Mus)

Rata Negra: S/T 12" (La Vida Es Un Mus)

Rixe: Bapteme de Feu 7" (La Vida Es Un Mus)

Rixe: Coups et Blessures 7" (La Vida Es Un Mus)

Dangus Tarkus: Rock N Roll for the People 12" (Dig! Records)

Pallbearer: Heartless 2x12ā€ (Profound Lore Records)

Featured Release Roundup: April 16, 2017

Wondering what's new this week? Here's the rundown of everything that's gone live on the site in the past week or so along with Daniel's thoughts on some of the key releases.Ā 

Ā 

Video Filth / Mutant Itch: Split 7" (Dark Raids)
Split 7ā€ from these two bands, comprising two of the last standing in the noise-punk game. Bostonā€™s Video Filth turn in three tracks here that do just what I want this genre to do, that is push toward the avant-garde. Iā€™m not sure if this is still the case, but I know that Video Filth used to contain members of Sadist, and I think thereā€™s a very similar sensibility at play here in the way that the noise textures wash over top of the solid hardcore foundation. The drum sound on here is also weirdly industrialā€¦ it almost sounds like the drummer is using an electronic kit, or maybe theyā€™re just close-micā€™d in such a way that it sounds like the drums are beating from inside your skull. Either way itā€™s pretty cool. As for Mutant Itch, their take on the genre is a little more right-down-the-middle, what with their manic pogo beats and gargled vocalsā€¦ however, they do the genre justice, and the howling, shrieking backing vocals are welcome and unexpected touch. Iā€™m not sure how many of you out there are still flying the noise not music flag, but if you are this split will scratch your (Mutant) itch just fine.
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Syndrome 81 / Urban Savage: Split 7" (Offside)
Split 7ā€ from these two European oi! bands. Urban Savage are from Malmo, Sweden, and while Iā€™m not really familiar with any sort of indigenous Swedish oi! scene, to my ears they have a very American sound, both in the way that they put together their melodies and in the fact that thereā€™s a good deal of American hardcore influence that seeps into their two tracks. As for Franceā€™s Syndrome 81, theyā€™re coming from a country with a much richer history of oi! and they pretty much nail the nimble rhythms and terrace chant melodies that make early French oi! so great. While both of these bands play straight up oi! music, I like that the presentation of this record isnā€™t super heavy on the skinhead vibeā€¦ it looks like a DIY hardcore 7ā€, and Iā€™d imagine thatā€™s the scene where a lot of these bandsā€™ members are coming from. Four solid oi! tracks for a couple of bucksā€¦ how can you go wrong?
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Bolt Thrower: Realm of Chaos 12" (Earache)
Bolt Throwerā€™s second album is back in print, and boy am I a happy camper to have this one back in stock. Iā€™m not a scholar of death metal, nor am I particularly knowledgeable about Bolt Thrower in particular, but in my unschooled opinion Realm of Chaos kicks ass. To me, Bolt Thrower is death metal stripped of its technicality and reduced to sheer brutality. Sure, there are riffs galore on Realm of Chaos and there are even a handful of guitar solos, but nothing on this album feels flashy in the way that Death or Morbid Angel were wont to, particularly later in those bandsā€™ careers as different influences started to creep into the mix. No, Bolt Thrower is just uncompromising death metal, recorded beautifully and delivered in as pure a form as you will ever find. If you only own five death metal albums, I dare say that this should be one of them. Mandatory.
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Beatniks: S/T 7" (Neck Chop)
So, the main conclusion that Iā€™m drawing from listening to this Beatniks 7ā€ on the great Neck Chop label is that there is a time machine hidden somewhere in Fullerton, California. There is simply no other explanation for how the Beatniks are able to make proto-punk music that is this authentic. Seriously, these tracks could be dropped into the middle of one of those Rocket from the Tombs collection CDs and I doubt that anyone would notice. Basically, Beatniks sound like punk before it was called punkā€¦ this is rock and roll, but it doesnā€™t sound like it was particularly influenced punk at all, but rather itā€™s just rock and roll delivered with maximum energy and rawness. You could compare them to any number of bandsā€¦ Rocket from the Tombs, the Electric Eels, Crime, the Pagansā€¦ raw and visceral rock and roll like this will never go out of style, and itā€™s because bands like the Beatniks still sound as fresh as the day the genre was born. Highly recommended.
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Macho Boys: S/T 12" (Neck Chop)
Debut vinyl from this band out of Portland, and man is it a ripper. I feel like if No Way Records was still around that Brandon and Lauren would have been jumping at the chance to release material by this band, as itā€™s very much in the spirit of early 80s USHC revival that that label kicked offā€¦ I mean, Macho Boys even cover ā€œSlamā€ by Decadence, the most mysterious band on the This Is Boston Not LA comp! Given that this kind of stripped-down early 80s hardcore has a pretty well-established formula, the key questions are 1. whether the band gets the formula right (they do!) and 2. whether the production and performance capture the bandā€™s energy effectively (it does!). So many releases these days try so hard to be a particular thing, and often in a bandā€™s quest to sound exactly like Swedish hardcore circa 1983 or early French oi! or whatever they forget to just be punkā€¦ Macho Boys didnā€™t forget. They are punk as fuck, and youā€™ll feel punk as fuck when you listen to it. If you still follow this style (i.e. if you bought the new Career Suicide album) you should really check this outā€¦ itā€™s truly something special. Highly recommended.
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C.H.E.W.: Demo 7" (Neck Chop)
Demo-on-vinyl from this KILLER Chicago band. Hereā€™s what we had to say about the tape version, and it still very much applies: ā€œDemo cassette from this new Chicago band, and it's definitely one of the standout demos we've received this month, if not the best one hands-down. Unlike a lot of the more visible bands coming out of the midwest lately, Chew aren't overtly poppy. They're very much hardcore, but they're hardcore that is almost impossibly catchy. Even though it doesn't really sound like them all that much, I'm reminded a lot of Rudimentary Peni's first two 7"s and LP... like those records (which are among my favorites of all time), Chew have this way of crafting riffs that are deceptively simple and elegant, and are heavy and mean while at the same time being so catchy that they stick to your ribs way harder than a zillion bands who actually try to write pop songs. If you're into the rash of great bands coming out of Philadelphia lately (Blank Spell, Enamel, et al), this is a must-hear as it has a similar vibe and is just as great as those bands... but really this band is a lot better than your typical genre exercise and I really hope I hear more from them sooner rather than later.ā€
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Race Car: Go Build Your Own Go-Kart 7" (Neck Chop)
Tape-on-vinyl from these California favorites. Hereā€™s what we had to say about the tape version, and I have to say that now that this is on wax I think I like it even more: ā€œUnder the radar ripper alert right here! If you're into the recent spate of catchy, novelty-infused punk on labels like Lumpy and Total Punk and coming out of places like Northwest Indiana, then Race Car should definitely be on your radar. With their drum machine-fueled rhythms and catchy songwriting they remind me a bit of Lumpy's Muff Divers, though not nearly as silly and over the top. The pumping drum machine also recalls bands like Urochromes, but after a little while you don't really even think about the fact that these songs are made with a drum machine because they're so damn well-crafted and catchy. Seriously, these are absolutely brilliant songs, and if one of the hip labels mentioned above doesn't put out a record by them sooner rather than later I would be quite surprised. Highly recommended!ā€
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86 Gemini: S/T 7" (High Fashion Industries)
Debut 7ā€ from this Chicago band who describe themselves as ā€œtranscendental d-beat.ā€ Iā€™m really not sure what to make of that tagā€¦ not only am I not really making much sense of the ā€œtranscendentalā€ part, but I honestly donā€™t hear a ton of d-beat on this record either. Instead, 86 Gemini sound like a nasty, ugly, fast hardcore band with a slight black metal undercurrent (due mostly to the weird guitar sound)ā€¦ itā€™s not terribly dissimilar to a lot of what youā€™ve heard on Youth Attack Records over the past several years, or to a few other Chicago bands like Raw Nerve, Divine Right, or Rash. Once I get over my head-scratching about the description (which carries over a bit into the recordā€™s new age-y visual aesthetic), thereā€™s a lot to like here, and if you like the aforementioned bands and/or ambitious, artsy hardcore in general this is well worth checking out.
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Warm Bodies: My Burning Love 7" (Thrilling Living)
Are Warm Bodies my favorite current hardcore punk band? If they donā€™t hold the title outright they are very near the top of the heap. Something about what they do just appeals perfectly to my sensibilities. They are undeniably a hardcore band, but when you look in their music for all of the things that hardcore bands typically do youā€™ll find very, very few of those things. In that respect, Warm Bodies recall a subspecies of ā€œweird hardcoreā€ that doesnā€™t get much attention these days. Iā€™m thinking of spastic, borderline funky bands like Thā€™Inbred, the early Meat Puppets, and (to a lesser extent) Rhythm Pigs and NoMeansNo. By and large, the aforementioned bandsā€™ records havenā€™t aged particularly well, and Iā€™d honestly be surprised if anyone in Warm Bodies had even heard of those bands (much less tried to emulate them), but at the same time Warm Bodies seem to be tapping into this tradition of musically ambitious freak punk that I never even really put together as a genre in my head before. Listening to My Burning Love over and over again (as I have been doing for the past few weeks), Iā€™ve also come to the conclusion that Warm Bodies also have a lot in common with Sorry Stateā€™s own Davidians. While Davidians arenā€™t nearly as fast and manic and their vibe is much artier and more serious, thereā€™s a lot of similarities in the style of riffing, the herky-jerky rhythms, and the guitar-and-bass interplay, as well as how the vocals punctuate the whole thing. I donā€™t even know why Iā€™m talking about these things because these are comparisons that probably only I will agree with or appreciate, but fuckā€¦ Iā€™ve gotta talk about something right? I canā€™t just emulate Tim Yohannanā€™s review of the first Die Kreuzen LP where he just writes ā€œThis is fucking great!ā€ over and over again, even if that would probably be the most appropriate response to this little bottle of lightning. So just ignore whatever I just wrote and buy this thing. Highest possible recommendation.
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Trummerfrauen: S/T 12" (Danger)
Discography release from this early 80s German post-punk quartet, and while itā€™s probably amateur hour to compare a band that sounds like this to Kleenex, itā€™s the best I can give you right now. I mean, itā€™s not like Trummerfrauen sound exactly like Kleenex, but when youā€™ve got this kind of rickety post-punk sound with standard rock band instrumentation (there is a synth, but it doesnā€™t play a huge role on most tracks) and itā€™s fronted by one or more women yelling at you with a thick German accent itā€™s really hard to get away from that Kleenex comparison. Trummerfrauen are definitely a bit rawer and louder, though, lacking many of the more overt pop elements of Kleenex and LiLiPUTā€¦ in other words, there arenā€™t a lot of tracks here that youā€™ll be humming later in the day. Thatā€™s not to say that this isnā€™t a great listen, itā€™s just thatā€”like a lot of post-punk musicā€”the emphasis seems to be more on densely interwoven rhythms than on conventional pop melody. And the lyricsā€”which are split roughly 50/50 between German and Englishā€”are really cool and obviously well thought-out as well, providing an interesting window into a very late 70s / early 80s take on feminism. Itā€™s obvious that the members of Trummerfrauen were plugged into a lot of interesting things happening during their time, and their way of enthusiastically cramming them together in the bandā€™s music and presentation is infectious.
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Exit Order: Seeds of Hysteria 12" (Side Two)
Exit Orderā€™s debut 7ā€ caused quite a stir, and now theyā€™re back with the debut full-length as their follow-up. While Exit Order are largely the same band, a few things have changed. The thing that jumps out at me most is that while the 7ā€ had the drums right up front in the mix in a way that emphasized the almost manic rhythms, Seeds of Hysteria puts the guitar at the front of the mix in a way that emphasizes the riffs more than the rhythms that give them shape. Itā€™s a subtle change that shouldnā€™t be that big of a difference, but I think it totally changes the vibe. Itā€™s still good, but Iā€™m sure that debate will rage for some time about whether the 7ā€ or the 12ā€ is better. Aside from that, Exit Order still plies the catchy, lightning-fast hardcore that you already know them for, though there are a few more mid-tempo moments here (as you might expect when a band makes the jump from 7ā€ to 12ā€) as well as the closing track, ā€œClear the Dust,ā€ which has a kind of apocalyptic peace punk feel with the vocals alternating between speaking parts and parts that are gently sung. If youā€™re expecting more of the same from the 7ā€ you might be a little disappointed, but if you are open to Exit Order growing and changing a little this is a must-hear.
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Protester: Hide from Reality 12" (Trash King)
After a whole slew of releases, hereā€™s the proper debut full-length from DCā€™s Protester. Unless Iā€™m mistaken, this is the first time that theyā€™ve recorded with the full band rather than having Connor play all of the instruments, and between that and the natural stretching-out that tends to happen when a band attempts to write a full-length this actually sounds quite a bit different than the earlier Protester releases. While the foundation is still in early 80s-style Boston hardcore, thereā€™s a distinct metallic element here that I donā€™t remember being so prominent before. Instead of sounding like straight SSD / Abused worship, on Hide from Reality Protester remind me of a mix of Negative FX, LP-era Judge and early-ish Integrity. There are also some unexpected twists and turns, like the total Jon Christ riff that starts off the b-side of the record. Itā€™s not easy to write a hardcore LP, and while this one does spin at 45RPM it definitely feels like a more ambitious and fully realized statement than anything Protester has done so far. Easily their best release and strongly recommended if you like this early 80s-leaning style of straight edge hardcore.
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P22: Beat Session Vol 3 cassette (Shout!)
Third volume of Shoutā€™s Beat Sessions seriesā€”which aims to be a kind of updated, DIY take on the Peel Sessionā€”and while the first two volumes focused on established band this one introduces us to one most of us hadnā€™t heard of. I donā€™t really know anything about P22, but if I had to take my best guess, Iā€™d say that they sound like a hardcore band trying to be a peace punk band, falling somewhat short of the mark, but ending up somewhere more interesting than if they had actually fully achieved their goal. At the end of the day, P22 donā€™t really sound like Crass or Conflict of any of that ilk, but they do take a lot of the tropes of that genreā€”tom-heavy beats, a kind of spoken word poetry feel to the lyrics and vocals, and a bubbly bass soundā€”and apply them to what is pretty much the standard USHC template. What you end up with is this hybrid entity that sounds like hardcore fleshed out and given additional depth, which is something that it often needs. If you like the neo-peace punk of bands like Permaculture, Vivid Sekt, or Rubble this is a slightly more hardcore-oriented take on that sound that youā€™ll almost certainly like.
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Anarquia Vertical: Sistema Total De LiberaciĆ³n 12" (La Vida Es Un Mus)
The La Vida Es un Mus label is pretty much an embarrassment of riches, whether youā€™re talking about the pop hooks of Rata Negra or Primetime, the catchy oi! of Rixe, the bludgeoning hardcore of Kriegshog or S.H.I.T., or the punked-out sounds of Exotica or La Misma. However, whenever LVEUM releases one of their left-of-center hardcore bands I always take notice. Like Iron Lung Records (with whom LVEUM have a lot of overlap in terms of roster), Paco at LVEUM has a real ear for this kind of avant-hardcore, and Anarquia Vertical certainly fit that mold, insofar as there is a mold for this kind of sound at all. While most people not actively involved in the scene write off modern hardcore as a retread of a retread, there are tons of bands out there trying to make hardcore that youā€™ve never heard before, and this is one of the bands that is really succeeding. Iā€™d say that the foundation of Anarquia Verticalā€™s sound is in the loose and while expressionist hardcore of Wretched, though theyā€™re not really as noisy or as crusty. However, thereā€™s the same sense of wild abandon and nearly-falling-apart-ness in their music that makes me love Wretched to the core of my very soul. Though, really, I suppose you could substitute any number of loose and wild hardcore bands into the comparison aboveā€”Void, Genetic Control, early Tar Babiesā€”and it would have pretty much the same point. And then thereā€™s the b-side of the record, which consists of remixes of the a-side tracks wherein they are deconstructed and twisted inside out into seething, gurgling power electronics tracks. Sistema Total De LiberaciĆ³n isnā€™t going to make the kids mosh or point their fingers at the lead singer, but it also deserves a place in your collection because there isnā€™t anything else out there that sounds precisely like it.
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Ā 

RiƱa: Demo 7" (Cintas Pepe)
Debut 7ā€ from this Mexico City band on the great Cintas Pepe label. Iā€™m not sure how RiƱa relates to the numerous other bands that have come out of this region in the past several years, but I do know that this might eclipse the Tercer Mundo LP as my favorite Mexican punk record of the past several years. While a lot of the recent bands from this area sound like theyā€™re becoming a bit more ambitious and trying to infuse a goth-punk atmosphere into the sound, RiƱa are pure hardcore. Itā€™s simple, raw, and in your face in a way that records rarely sound like nowadays. The only modern record I can think that comes close to this level of primitive ferocity is the first Otan EP; if you want a similarly accurate comparison you need to go further back to bands like Cheetah Chrome Motherfuckers or the Neos. An absolute scorcher. I canā€™t recommend this one highly enough.
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Elix-R: 6hrs cassette (self-released)
Second cassette release by this Denton, Texas punk band. I remember everyone came home from the first Everythingā€™s Not OK festival raving about this band, so itā€™s great to see them continuing to move forward and release new stuff. I do think that Elix-r are kind of uncomfortable fit with the modern freak punk (for lack of a better term) scene because thereā€™s so much rock and roll in their sound. Thereā€™s something very 90s about their sound to meā€¦ the riffs are very simple and punk in a Bikini Kill kind of way, and the noisy production also recalls moments of Sonic Youth or even Pussy Galore. Thatā€™s a wide range of comparisons, I realize, but what unites those bands is a sense of unforced coolness that Elix-r absolutely share. My only complaint here is that the vocals are totally buried in the mixā€¦ it seems like thereā€™s a lot going on there, so Iā€™d like to hear it a little better. But in the meantime the raw, in-the-red quality of 6hrs certainly serves the band well.
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The Roobydocks: Reliant Robin 7" (My Mindā€™s Eye)
Debut single from this new Cleveland band that features members of Bulsch and, I believe, by extension also come from the same scene as Perverts Again and Cruelster. Roobydocks are a little different than any of those bands, though, playing a style of music that sits right on the line between early UK82 punk and early 80s USHC. In particular, they sound like the early American hardcore bands who were clearly listening to all of the No Future records singles as they came outā€¦ bands like Negative Approach, SOA, and the Necros. In particular, the Roobydocks sound to me like a perfect mix of early Red Alert and Sex Drive-era Necros. Itā€™s pure midwestern punk/hardcore, done without an ounce of fat or bullshit. Highly recommended for the purists out there.
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Natural Causes / Spongebath: Split 7ā€ (Acid Etch)
Thereā€™s this pattern Iā€™ve noticed where a lot of times my favorite song by a particular Sorry State band wonā€™t actually appear on a Sorry State release. I remember Rough Kids had this song called ā€œInto the 00sā€ that I really lovedā€”that song is one of the main reasons I wanted to work with themā€”and despite the fact that they re-recorded a couple of older tunes for their debut LP that wasnā€™t one of them. My favorite track from the sessions for SkemƤtaā€™s first album ended up on the Sanctioned Genocide 7ā€ on Solar Funeral. And now you can add Natural Causes to the list of bands who have dangled their very best track in front of me like a carrot, only to snatch it away at the last second. ā€œDeidreā€ comes from the same sessions as Natural Causesā€™ great new LP on Sorry State, but itā€™s better than any of the songs on that record. Itā€™s just one of those perfect songsā€¦ the triumphant main riff reminds me of a bigger-than-life punk song like ā€œAutonomyā€ by the Buzzcocks or ā€œSoldierā€™s Requiemā€ by Naked Raygun even if it doesnā€™t sound like either of those at all. And then thereā€™s the little middle Eastern-sounding guitar part that I tease the band members by calling ā€œthe Offspring part,ā€ and while it has evoked some gentle teasing itā€™s one of the most memorable riffs the band has come up with. Man, what a track! On the flip side you get a remix of ā€œFashion Deviceā€ from the Sorry State album done by North Carolina noise / dance freaks Spongebath, and it certainly takes that track to a very different place than Natural Causesā€™ version. This split strikes me as a rather low-key affair, but the brilliance of the content totally belies the understated presentation.
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Other New Arrivals
Schizos: *Fuck Iggy Pop* 7" (Neck Chop)
Mayhem: *Pure Fucking Armageddon 1986 Demos* 12" (Euro Import)
Brian Eno: *Taking Tiger Mountain* 12" (Euro Import)
Brian Eno: *Here Come the Warm Jets* 12" (Euro Import)
Diablesse Grupp 6: S/T 7" (Reken)
Urgente: S/T 7" (Pakistan Rocknroll Crusade)
Antisocial: *Made in England* 7" (Evil)
O.X. Pow / Derribos Arias: Split 7" (euro Import)
Attentat: *Ge Fan I Mej / Dod Bland Doda* 7" (Reken)
Terrorizer: *Before the Downfall* 12" (FOAD)
Cheetah Chrome Motherfuckers: *The Furious Era 1979 to 1987* 12" (Area Pirata)
Alternative TV: *The Image Has Cracked* 12" (Radiation)
Fastbacks: *Now Is the Time* 12" (No Threes)
Corpse / Two Fingered Approach: Split 12" (Inflammable Material)
Nightwatchers: *Good Kids Obey* 12" (Endless Daze)
STRFKR: *Vault Vol. 1* 12" (Polyvinyl)
X-Ray Spex: *Germfree Adolescents* 12" (Rhino)
Angel Witch: S/T 12" (Real Gone)
Woods of Ypres: *Woods 5: Grey Skies and Electric Light* 12" (Earache)
White Reaper: *The World's Best American Band* 12" (Polyvinyl)
Flatliners: *Inviting Light* 12" (Rise)
Father John Misty: *Pure Comedy* 12" (Sub Pop)
Future Islands: *The Far Field* 12" (4AD)
Sun Ra: *Thunder of the Gods *12" (Modern Harmonic)
W.A.S.P.: *The Crimson Idol* 12" (Madfish)
Lace: *My Mask Is Off* demo cassette (self-released)
Various: *Subnormal Girls Volume 2* 12" (Waiting Room)

RestocksĀ 
R.I.P.: *No Te Muevas* 12" (Brixton)
Samhain: *Unholy Passion* 12" (Euro Import)
Screaming Dead: *Western Front *7" (Puke N Vomit)
Death: *Demos* 12" (Euro Import)
Death Piggy: *Studio Session 84/85* 12" (Vomitopunkrock)
Even Worse; We Suck: *The Lost Album* 12" (Radiation)
Raw Power: *You Are the Victim + God's Course* 12" (FOAD)
Faze: *Faze 2016* cassette (Runstate Tapes)
Barcelona: *Extremo Nihilismo* 12" (La Vida Es Un Mus)
Exotica: S/T 7" (La Vida Es Un Mus)
Good Throb: S/T 7" (La Vida Es Un Mus)
Rixe: *Bapteme du Feu* 7" (La Vida Es Un Mus)
Rixe: *Les Nerfs a Vif* 7" (La Vida Es Un Mus)
Paranoid: *Cover of the Month* 12" (Svart)