UK Subs: Live in Ljubljana 12” (Rest in Punk) Rest in Punk Records typically reissues killer, vintage Yugoslavian punk, but they break that pattern to re-release this ripping 1986 UK Subs live set from Ljubljana, Slovenia. I don’t think the Subs get enough love from modern punkers, and while I wouldn’t suggest starting with this record (instead, I’d recommend their second album, Brand New Age or their 5th, Endangered Species), it’s a fun one for fans. It sounds like an audience recording as you can hear some chatter from the punters between tracks, but it’s clear and you can hear everything pretty well, including the drums. The band is in fine form, plowing through an energetic set heavy on hits like “Warhead,” “I Live in a Car,” “Stranglehold,” and “Teenage.” If you see no value in live recordings you can move along, but if you like good-sounding audience recordings of rip-roaring, vintage punk gigs, this is a keeper.

Social Distortion: Poshboy’s Little Monsters 12” (Radiation) So, this one bears some explanation. Social Distortion’s first single, 1981’s “Mainliner,” was originally meant to be a 4-song 12” EP. Posh Boy Records got as far as making a handful of test pressings for the 12” release, but scrapped those plans and pared it down to the two-song single that lovers of early 80s SoCal punk know and love. Besides the four tracks that would have been on the 12”, the band also recorded two others. Time Bomb Records compiled all six tracks on 1995’s Mainliner (Wreckage from the Past) LP, which also included the songs from the session whose songs ended up on the band’s second and third singles on 13th Story Records. So, this is basically an abridged version of the Mainliner collection, but that record is long out of print and difficult to find. It’s too bad they couldn't include the later session here, but these six songs are great, and there’s something to be said for presenting them as their own coherent release rather than part of a compilation. If you haven’t heard this early Social Distortion stuff, ignore the flaming dice vibes of their later material and give this a try. Then you’ll need everything up to and including their first LP, Mommy’s Little Monster. 

Svaveldioxid: Dödsögonblick 12” (Konton Crasher) Second full-length from this bruising Swedish hardcore punk band. If you like Swedish crust from the 80s (early Totalitär, Anti-Cimex, Crude SS, etc.) right on through to the 90s (Skitsystem, Wolfpack, etc.) Svaveldioxid are the band for you. With bruising beats, straightforward Cimex / Totalitär-style riffs, and crunchy, metallic production, they are the best of both worlds. Dödsögonblick is a perfectly executed LP of classic Swedish kängpunk, with slight shifts in tempo and complexity to keep you bobbing your head the whole way through. Svaveldioxid are far from reinventing the wheel, but even if it rates low on the originality scale, this is still a crusher.

Haram: Where Were You on 9/11? 7” (Toxic State) Latest 7” from this much talked-about New York band. Haram are a very important band for a lot of reasons. Their singer’s perspective as an Arab is one that has been underrepresented in punk and punk-influenced music, and they’re willing to bring that perspective to bear on controversial, even taboo, topics like 9/11. The lyrics to the EPs title track are great, articulating how that event affected the singer as a child attending a Christian school outside New York. Haram’s words are worth pondering, but I wouldn’t give their strength as musicians short shrift. They’ve been a powerful band since they started, but they grow more adventurous with each release. Moments like when the title track winds down to a steady drum pulse and some abstract guitar noodles, or the swirling guitar lead that starts “Bomb in the Sky” are as great as anything on the many great records that Toxic State has released over the years. Haram is, without a doubt, one of the most important bands of this generation of punk, and if you aren’t following them closely, you’re doing it wrong.