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Poguba: Noč 7" (Autsajder Produkcija) This EP from Croatia’s Poguba came out earlier this year, and while I’ve given it a few passing mentions in the newsletter, we haven’t had it in stock long enough for me to shine a spotlight on it. Today that changes, though. If you had told me two of my favorite releases of 2026 (this and the excellent new Indikator B EP) would come from Croatia, I would have been like, “huh?,” but the place seems to be having a moment lately (particularly if you count Totalna Tama’s debut LP… that band is based in Oakland, California but has two Croatian members). Like some of my favorite 80s hardcore from the part of the world that was then called Yugoslavia (see, above all, U.B.R.’s Corpus Delicti EP), Poguba sounds raw and desperate, but also totally unique. Many, perhaps even most, of their songs are grounded in Discharge-style hardcore, but they’re also very much not that… in other words, you can clearly hear the Discharge influence, but there are a lot of other things in the mix too. “Darila” and “Maximum Rokenrol” borrow the driving, martial rhythms of my favorite Dezerter stuff, while moments like when the vocals strain to reach the same note as the guitar on “Noč” feel nearly without precedent, like raw, honest expression rather than an attempt to be some certain kind of thing. As with Indikator B, the slight tunefulness of the vocals does a lot to elevate the songs, but Poguba’s vocalist is even more remarkable for the way they balance rawness and melodies. The vocals are so over-the-top and shredded / raspy, but Poguba’s singer has the rare ability to scream in key. Like the perfectly shredded vocals, the sound of this EP is raw but clear, a straightforward document of a band whose music oozes energy and feeling. Noč’s most unexpected moment comes with its third track, “Hočm bit str,” which is a reworking of a very early song by the Cure called “I Want to Be Old” (consult the bonus tracks from reissues of Three Imaginary Boys if you want to hear it). I actually like Poguba’s version way more than the Cure’s. The Cure’s is a demo recording and sounds a bit self-conscious and dull, but Poguba imbues the song with their trademark passion, and the simple vocal melodies are a perfect vehicle for this singer’s style. Poguba also totally reimagines the guitar solo (which is another big improvement on the original) and shaves a significant amount off the original’s runtime. Don’t let the cover outshine the rest of this EP, though, because Poguba’s originals are just as noteworthy. If you like raw, passionate, energetic hardcore, you should give this a listen. For me, it’s undoubtedly one of 2026’s highlights.