Featured Releases: March 4, 2024

Little Angels: Psycho Summer 7” (11PM Records) Debut vinyl from this band from Pittsburgh associated with the vibrant scene around bands like Speed Plans, Illiterates, and Necro Heads. While Little Angels’ sound on Psycho Summer is nastier and more blown out than any of those bands’ records, it’s still of a piece with them, particularly Illiterates, who like Little Angels have a noticeable straight edge influence to their raw and ragged hardcore. Psycho Summer opens with three sub-one-minute rippers that evoke the most raging parts of Urban Waste, but with nine tracks on this record, there’s space for Little Angels to shake things up. My favorite track is “Boyfriend Phone,” a mid-paced pit clearer whose open riffing gives more space to the vocals, which ride a hooky counter-rhythm in the chorus that makes me want to chant along, fist in the air. But the strongest thing about Psycho Summer is how energetic and full of life it feels… great hardcore should make it impossible to sit still, and this fits the bill.

Vaguess: Thanks//No Thanks 12” (Under the Gun Records) Under the Gun Records (USA) and Erste Theke Tonträger (Germany) team up to bring us this new full-length from California’s Vaguess, and while both labels are associated with the egg punk thing, Vaguess doesn’t fit that mold. While Thanks//No Thanks touches a bunch of styles across its 10 tracks, the era I’m most reminded of is 90s indie… I’m thinking of bands like Pavement, Guided by Voices, Dinosaur Jr, the Breeders… the sound before it calcified into “alternative rock” and was still shot through with a sense of experimentation inherited from the early Rough Trade Records bands. As far as modern comparisons, I’d put Vaguess in the same lane as the World and Powerplant, bands that indie rockers probably think of as punk, but punkers think of as indie rock. Like those bands, Vaguess isn’t afraid to make an immediate-sounding pop tune, but they aren’t about to pander to anyone either, and they’re committed to the idea that a big melody goes down best with a healthy side of bite. Great production here too, with rich tones and a sense of space to the mix rather than all the instruments being crowded together. A really enjoyable record.

Ready Armed System / Acaustix: Military Grade Vol. 1 12” (Roachleg Records) Roachleg Records kicks off a new series they’re calling Military Grade with a split 12” between two Texas hardcore bands. The same person recorded both sides, and both bands sound raw, fuzzy, and live, akin to the blown out recordings we’ve heard on records by their fellow Texans Nosferatu. Despite—or perhaps because of—the similar recordings, differences in the two bands’ styles really shine through on this split. Ready Armed System plays ultra-fast US-style hardcore, with tempos worthy of Koro (occasionally even pushing into Heresy territory) and a singer with a scruffy, Rollins-esque bark. Acaustix has more of a raw punk style with super blown out guitars and bashing d-beats, taking influence from Anti-Cimex and Framtid. Both bands totally rip, and while the recording lacks some detail (particularly the drums on R.A.S.’s side), the performances are bursting with the wild energy I want from an underground hardcore punk record. Another ripper from Roachleg.

Ivy Creep: demo cassette (11PM Records) 11PM brings us the debut from this Richmond band. Daniel, former guitarist and riff-master from Haircut, is the primary songsmith, and it totally sounds like it, as he has a distinctive way with a meaty-sounding riff that’s grounded in the No Way school of fast-and-intense hardcore punk. The presentation is grittier, though, with harsh vocals and a fuzzy, chaotic sound to the recording that keeps things dark and introverted. Among a bunch of comparatively mid-paced fist-pumpers, “I.F.S.” stands out as a faster track with a sprightly, agile riff. Another solid entry in Richmond’s long and storied hardcore tradition.

Deef: 脳 (Nou) 12” (General Speech Records) General Speech presents the entire recorded works of the obscure 80s Japanese hardcore band Deef, spread across two LPs. Never releasing vinyl during their original run and living in the isolated northern city of Sapporo, until these reissues, Deef’s name was known only to a handful of fanatical record collectors and hardcore archaeologists. Forming in 1979 when the members were 12 and 13 years old, Deef was among the earliest hardcore bands in Japan, and on the 1982 recordings collected on 脳 (Nou), it certainly sounds like it. Particularly on the tracks from the original 脳 (Nou) cassette, it sounds like Deef is inventing hardcore as they go, speeding up fairly standard-sounding punk songs to ever-faster tempos. There’s a sui generis quality to it that reminds me of the Neos, the sound of young minds doubling down on philosophical and aesthetic extremes. By the time they recorded the last 3 tracks on the a-side (labeled here as an “unreleased E.P.”), they were more deliberate, varying tempos and evoking a sinister, rather than playful, atmosphere. Had that EP come out on vinyl, I think Deef’s place in the history of Japanese hardcore would be very different; certainly an artifact like that would sell for a lot of money in today’s collector market if it existed. On the b-side of this LP, you get a well-recorded live tape featuring many of the songs (and a similar performance) as the 脳 (Nou) cassette, including a song that I’m not sure is a cover or or just a rip-off of Discharge’s “A Look at Tomorrow.” Some of you might prefer this earlier, formative version of Deef, while others will prefer the slightly more realized material collected on the second LP, Real Control, but if you’re a Japanese hardcore fanatic, you really need it all, particularly when you throw in General Speech’s informative and period-appropriate packaging.

Deef: Real Control 12” (General Speech Records) Real Control is the second (and last) in General Speech’s series of LPs collecting the recorded works of the obscure early 80s Japanese hardcore band Deef. While all of the first LP, 脳 (Nou), was recorded in 1982, Real Control captures the band in 1983, by which time they’ve matured considerably. Not that they’ve abandoned hardcore here; in fact, Real Control sounds even more hardcore, of a piece with the legendary Japanese hardcore recordings surfacing in 1983 like Kuro’s Fire, the Great Punk Hits compilation, etc. The Real Control tape, which appears as the a-side of this LP, finds Deef’s music exploding into technicolor, the band mastering a wider range of tempos and rhythms and their riffs becoming more creative, distinctive, and memorable. Even the singer sounds more dynamic, moving between growling, shouting, and screaming, and the recording is great, with a powerful drum sound right at the front of the mix. On the b-side, we get another strong live recording, capturing the band in similarly confident form. This time the mix focuses on the vocals, and the singer’s charisma is evident. You could sneak any of these songs onto the Outsider compilation and they’d fit just fine. As I said in my write-up for 脳 (Nou), I think both volumes of this Deef collection are essential, but Real Control I’d particularly recommend Real Control if you’re a fan of Kuro, LSD, the Execute, and the nastier end of 80s Japanese hardcore.