Featured Release Roundup: February 26, 2024

Mentalité 81: Génération SacrifIée 7” (Hellnation Records) I’m thankful to Italy’s Hellnation Records for immortalizing this French band’s ripping 3-song demo from last year on vinyl. Mentalité 81 is an offshoot of the French punk/oi! band Syndrome 81 (who, based on Sorry State’s data, has a lot of fans reading this right now), but with an 80s US hardcore-influenced approach. It’s not every day I hear a band with a really clear Minor Threat influence (the most recent one that comes to mind is Japan’s Milk), but I think that has to be what Mentalité 81 is going for, and they knock the ball out of the park. To me, Mentalité 81 actually sounds more like Uniform Choice than Minor Threat, but at the end of the day there isn’t all that much difference. The riffs are fast and precise, the guitar sound is relatively clean, the drummer is fast, and the songs are compact but full to bursting with dynamic stops, starts, and drop-outs. It’s so compact, actually, that these three songs only add up to about three minutes of music, and while it may seem like a waste to make a record with so little music, I’d rather have a little taste than none at all. Hopefully these three minutes aren’t the only thing we ever hear from Mentalité 81.

Nightfeeder: Disgustor 7” (self-released) The latest self-released record from this Seattle band has arrived, and it feels like a slight departure from their earlier records. This reference never occurred to me when I was listening incessantly to Nightfeeder’s previous releases, but I feel like the band must have modeled Disgustor on the Misfits’ classic singles. Obviously there’s the horror movie-inspired artwork, but there’s also the record’s format, a three-song single with an anthemic a-side and two b-side tracks that expand and extend the vibe, which makes me think of the Misfits’ 3 Hits from Hell Horror Business, and Night of the Living Dead. The title track even reminds me of “London Dungeon” with its creepy crawly tempo and big vocal hook in the chorus. It’s still hardcore as it’s heavy and intense, but rather than the song being built around riffs, the guitars lay down a distinctive chord progression and leave plenty of room for the vocalist to be the star of the show. The two tracks on the b-side are more straightforward hardcore, but they are similarly thick with vibes. I would have been perfectly happy if Nightfeeder had simply given us more of the same, but on Disgustor, they show us they’re still challenging themselves and their listeners.

Studs: Ice Pipe 7” (Under the Gun Records) Ice Pipe looks to be the sole release from this (presumably) long-distance project featuring Connor from Snooper and G.U.N. and someone from the Australian project Research Reactor Corp. I imagine many people will hate Studs right off the bat, as there’s a bratty sense of obnoxiousness at the core of these tracks. The drums (a mix of acoustic and electronic, I believe) are jittery and over-caffeinated, the vocals sound like a wild animal in pain, and the sounds are harsh and tinny. If you can listen past those things (or if you’re the kind of sicko who is drawn to them), you get a lot of great riffs (that’s where you can hear the G.U.N. connection) plus the dirge “Stud Fucker,” which steers the sound in a Flipper-esque hooky dirge direction. Like I said, this isn’t for everyone, but a handful of freaks are gonna love it.

AUS: Der Schöne Schein 7” (Static Age Musik) Our third three-song single in this week’s update is this new one from Germany’s AUS on Berlin’s Static Age Musik. In case you haven’t noticed, Static Age has been putting out some excellent records lately. One of my favorites from last year, Die Letzten Ecken’s Talisman LP, was on the label, and like that record, Static Age’s recent releases are steeped in Germany’s tradition of arty yet danceable underground music, one that extends back to pioneering electronic groups like Kraftwerk all the way through the Neue Deutsche Welle and beyond. You may have heard AUS’s previous two full-lengths, but if you haven’t, they sound a lot like Xmal Deutschland as well as that band’s clear inspiration, Siouxsie & the Banshees. Like the mid-period Banshees albums (say, Keleidoscope through Tinderbox), the vibe is often central, dark but upbeat, evoking dimly lit dance clubs full of textured black fabric, eyeliner, and big, dyed-black hair. It’s an ambiance heavily associated with Berlin, and it shows that it’s AUS’s home turf. I usually prefer goth music that has a strong pop backbone, but AUS’s dance-informed approach, where they ride strong grooves for extended periods, works great here too. Three tracks dense with mood and energy.

Phane: Police System 7” (Phobia Records) Phobia Records brings us a new 4-song EP from this Vancouver band. Phane has put out several records over the past few years, but Police System is the first time I’ve given them a close listen. While the artwork on Police System references UK82 tropes, to me there’s at least as much burly Discharge-style hardcore in Phane’s sound. They remind me of Bonecrusher-era Broken Bones, with UK82-style chanted choruses, simple but hooky riffs, and a guitarist with a capable chugging palm and a predilection for flashy lead overdubs. A good portion of Police System’s running time is given over to a cover of “Time Is Running Out” by their fellow Canadians Unruled, a choice whose ripping middle section plays to Phane’s strengths, but whose melodic, oi!-influenced intro and outro showcase their flexibility. A killer, classic-sounding 4-song hardcore punk EP.

Hope?: Your Perception Is Not My Reality 7” (Desolate Records) We carried an earlier demo from this Portland band, and now their debut vinyl finds a fitting home on Minneapolis’s Desolate Records. The label’s description mentions Hope?’s 90s influences, and one stands out to me: Nausea. There are two singers, one with a demonic-sounding rasp and another with a guttural bellow, and the riffs are mid-paced and metallic, with longer songs that move through multiple musical sections, many of them built around powerful chanted vocals. If you’ve been enjoying Flower’s recent recorded output, this is in a similar vein, though they don’t have that bouncy element that so many Flower tracks have. A strong recording and palpable political conviction help Hope?’s debut EP to hit extra hard.