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Amdi Petersens Armé: Discography 12" (Havoc Records) DIY hardcore’s retrospective lens turns it attention to the new millennium, and Havoc Records skims the cream right off the top with this discography LP from Denmark’s Amdi Petersens Armé. As I remember it, there were three things that happened in relatively quick succession around 2001-02 that changed everything for me. The first was seeing Japan’s Total Fury on their first US tour. They were the first band I ever saw whose members all dressed as if it were still 1982, and their record and live show were both incredible. The second was Amdi Petersens Armé’s first 7” and US tour (which I sadly didn’t catch… I’m still bummed about it to this day). The third was seeing Direct Control for the first time, which meant this new (old) thing was happening in my neck of the woods and not just in distant, far-off lands. I don’t think I can accurately convey how revolutionary Amdi Petersens Armé’s scratchy guitar sounds and simple, catchy riffs felt at that time. I had been going to gigs for five or six years at that point, and while most of what I was listening to during that time was nominally punk rock, in retrospect it had so many trappings of the bloated era of 70s rock that preceded punk: (comparatively) lavish studio production, (again, comparatively) technical and precise musicianship, slick and professional presentation and marketing, etc. Then, just as the Sex Pistols did in ’76, a new wave of bands like Amdi Petersens Armé called bullshit, wiped the slate clean, and took everything back to its most basic and immediate form. For me, it felt revolutionary, and these bands not only changed the records I bought, but also changed the way I dressed, the way I talked, my politics, and many other aspects of my identity. Amdi Petersens Armé’s music has never really left my turntable in the 25 years since, and revisiting this discography LP in 2026, it sounds just as powerful as it did back then. APA wrote great fucking songs, and if you’re not skanking to “Stalinjugend” or “Skate & Dø,” then we have very different ideas about what makes for great hardcore punk. I’m sure a cynical person could say APA’s music was rendered redundant by the legions of similarly-minded groups who came in their wake (not to mention the early 80s originators who preceded them), but I’d counter that there’s something ineffable in these songs that inspires and captures the imagination. There’s a reason the tracks collected here were ground zero for a whole sub-scene that has flowered repeatedly over the two and a half decades since APA called it quits. While thousands of young punks have been inspired by APA’s music after listening to crappy youtube rips, Havoc Records gives the band an appropriate epitaph by repressing this discography LP, which originally came out on the Danish label Hjernespind in 2013. The LP is beautifully produced, capturing all the band’s essential tracks alongside a huge 32-page booklet full of photos, flyers, and other scene ephemera. The 2013 pressing was downright impossible to get in the States; I wanted one desperately when it came out, but even someone as record-mad as myself couldn’t nail down a copy. (When I finally came across one in a Helsinki used bin in 2025, I snatched it right up.) I imagine that if, like me, you’ve been lusting after this record for more than ten years, you’ve already picked up your copy. For the rest of you, snag this while you can and enjoy getting acquainted with one of the best bands hardcore has ever given us.