Featured Releases: November 12, 2025

House Arrest: Food on Your Table 7” (Extinction Burst Records) California’s Extinction Burst Records brings us the vinyl debut from this hardcore band out of Bandung, Indonesia. House Arrest’s sound is rootsy enough to appeal to the purists (one member is wearing an Out Cold shirt in their Bandcamp profile image… message received!), but their sound is also undeniably modern in some respects. I hear a lot of 86 Mentality in the mix (see “You Wish,” whose riff and rhythm is pretty dead-on), but there are also elements of modern stompy hardcore, and the singer’s gravel-y shout feels very 21st-century too. With a touch more metal and a more modern-sounding recording, I could see this appealing to the same audience as Scarab, but instead House Arrest went full-on old school with the production and presentation, both of which are firmly rooted in circa-82 hardcore, particularly the Negative Approach 7”. I think that was a great choice, making the record sound immediate and classic but not straight retro. If you dig mean, hooky hardcore punk, this is well worth your time.

Split System: No Cops in Heaven b/w Pull the Trigger 7” (Static Shock Records) Static Shock Records bring us a new two-song single from this Melbourne, Australia group who has released two well-regarded LPs and a string of singles. With a sound that carries the big riffs and choruses of classic Aussie punk like the Saints and Radio Birdman into the 21st century, Split System is easy to like, but don’t make the mistake of thinking they’re all style and no substance. In fact, they don’t lean into the retro thing too hard at all. While their presentation feels classic and true to the era they’re inspired by, they don’t have that faux-vintage patina so many bands use to paper over a lack of inspiration in their actual songs. That brilliant lead guitar hook in “Pull the Trigger” doesn’t sound like Radio Birdman because of some $400 ProTools plugin or a $5,000 vintage amp… it sounds like Radio Birdman because it’s biting, energetic, and hooky as all get-out. Split System has the total package… inspired playing, great tunes, and the ability to capture them on tape such that blasting them at home or in your earbuds makes you feel like you’re up front screaming along in a sweat-and-beer-soaked Aussie pub at the climax of the greatest night of your life. If you like classic-sounding punk, pick up this and/or the next Split System record you see and join the cult. The water’s fine!

Abism: S/T 7” (Toxic State Records) New York’s Abism follow up their 2023 LP on Toxic State with a new 4-song EP. No major changes from the earlier stuff, not that there needs to be as Abism has one of the most unique hardcore sounds going. The rhythm section is firmly rooted in the early Discharge sound, but rather than trying to erect a punishing wall of sound, they focus on the more minimal, almost drone-y aspects of early Discharge. The guitars, though, aren’t really in the Discharge mold at all, with Crazy Spirit guitarist Eugene Terry doing his unique thing on top. Eugene’s guitar is a big part of what I think of as the Toxic State / Ground Zero NYC punk sound, and it’s in full effect here, with his patented wobbly riffs and strange chord progressions no one else would think of. Abism’s vocalist also leaves their stamp on these tracks with an angry, acerbic style that reminds me of Monsé from Tozcos. The sum total is punk that’s fast and angry, but has a totally different vibe than anything else out there. That means if you love it, you need to snatch this up because there’s no other band that’s going to scratch the same itch.

K9: Thrills 12” (Who Ya Know Records) After a string of cassette releases, Richmond’s K9 finally puts their sound to wax. For me, K9’s music evokes an era and a sound that I hear few, if any, bands call back to these days: the precise moment in the early to mid-80s when indie rock and hardcore’s paths diverged. I don’t know enough about the members of K9 to know for sure if this is the case, but they sound like folks who cut their teeth playing in hardcore bands, saw possibilities for different types of songs and different styles of playing, and pursued those interests without completely shaking off their hardcore roots. Many of the songs on Thrills are straight up old school hardcore that any fan of the genre would love, but my favorite tracks push the sound somewhere else. They might have the agitated tempos and dramatic arrangements of hardcore (quick instrumental breaks, big cymbal crashes, etc.), but they also feature more melodic singing and playing and lyrics that go beyond hardcore’s typical second-person accusations. The opener, “Arms Fall Off,“ sounds like scrappy, punky indie rock, but with its toe-tapping energy and lyrics like, “If your arms fall off / you’ll have to use your teeth to sign your will,” I am 100% here for it. If you’re a fan of Taang!-era Lemonheads or Squirrel Bait, you’ll flip for Thrills, but anyone whose tastes encompass both hardcore and rootsy indie rock should give this a spin.