Featured Releases: September 18, 2023

Piñen: Nicolasa Quintremán 7” (self-released) Self-released EP from this Spanish band, whose title memorializes a woman who stood up to colonialism and lost her life because of it. I’ll let you watch the documentary film recommended in the record’s official description to learn more, and I’ll focus on the music here. And the music rips! Piñen is fast, raw, loose, and heaving with punk energy. The tracks on Nicolasa Quintremán teeter on the edge of chaos in a way that reminds me of Wretched, but the snotty vocals pull the sound in a different, catchier direction. Piñen sounds a lot like the 2000s-era Barcelona band Otan, who I think is one of the most underrated punk bands of this millennium. The recording here sounds like a bunch of punks playing together in a room, pouring every ounce of passion into their performance. It is totally electric and I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Grand Scheme: Numbers Game 7” (11PM Records) Debut vinyl from this hardcore band from Washington, DC, released on 11PM Records, who has been crushing it lately. Grand Scheme’s songs on Numbers Game alternate between fast scissor beats, brisk punk beats, and crushing breakdowns, and while I prefer bands who stick to punkier rhythms, everything here is fast and raw enough to keep me interested. When Grand Scheme lays into those fast scissor beats, they remind me of Straight Ahead—a high compliment in my book—but they don’t always play in that style. “Absolution” is groovy and mid-paced… fans of Alienator’s 7” from earlier this summer will dig it. People who love the rawest, punkest end of youth crew—think Side by Side—will get the most out of Numbers Game, but it’s one of those records that’s strong enough to appeal to people across scenes and subgenres.

Intention: Brand New Story 12” (Beach Impediment Records) Beach Impediment brings us the debut record from Japan’s Intention. Intention sounds pretty much like what you’d expect based on the Sugi artwork: traditional Burning Spirits-style hardcore with a huge sound, barked vocals, gang choruses, and blazing lead guitars. The songs are compact, focused on delivering high-impact riff after riff with none of the bloat or pomposity that sometimes mars records in this style. The Burning Spirits classics like Death Side, Bastard, Judgement, etc., are fine points of reference, but Intention really reminds me of D.S.B., particularly on the more anthemic tracks like “未​知​な​る​旅​路.” The lack of bloat here also extends to the running length; these seven tracks are in and out in a flash, before you catch even a faint whiff of boredom. I’ve heard some talk about how this style of traditional Japanese hardcore is on the wane, but Intention proves there’s still life in this storied scene.

Sweeping Promises: Good Living Is Coming for You 12” (Feel It Records) Sweeping Promises first record, Hunger for a Way Out, was a certified underground phenomenon, its summer 2020 release date perfectly timed for sweeping away and/or wallowing in the depths of pandemic blues. The follow-up, Good Living Is Coming for You, arrives three years later with sky-high expectations amidst a very different social context, but Sweeping Promises still sounds great. When I first listened to Good Living, I was surprised to hear it’s even rawer than its predecessor, reveling in its home recorded-ness in a way that reminds of vintage Guided by Voices. However, with Sweeping Promises it’s not so much about the sound as the songs, which are uniformly fantastic. Vocalist Lira Mondal has a fantastic voice, not only tuneful but also dripping with personality and charisma. She’s also a hell of a bass player. As memorable as the vocal melodies are, the bass lines often fight for attention with them, and they give these tracks a solid, danceable foundation that multiplies their infectiousness. The guitars and drums, by contrast, stick to the background and emphasize the songs’ core rhythms, and I think they’re smart to stay out of Lira’s way, while extra production touches like synth and horns add some auditory spice. As I’ve listened to Good Living over the past few months, I’m consistently reminded of 90s indie rock… not so much because of the record’s lo-fi sound, but because of Sweeping Promises’ charisma and ambition. In a world of half-baked throwbacks, the way they’ve staked out their own instantly identifiable sound and populated it with great and always unique songs makes them stand head and shoulders above the pack.

Consec: Wheel of Pain 12” (Not for the Weak Records) We named Consec’s previous flexi EP, Bound to This Nightmare, Record of the Week in May 2022, and now they’re back with a full-length follow-up that takes everything I loved about the flexi and pushes it even further. Their aesthetic is early 80s-inspired hardcore punk with some modern touches… it’s straightforward in style, but Consec excels is in their ability to capture their explosive energy on tape. The drums are mega-fast and punctuated with frequent hyperactive fills that remind me of Koro, while the guitarist (at least on the fast parts) alternates between short, clipped riffs that build tension and more abstract bursts of noise that release it. The mid-paced parts have a total caveman quality that (as on their earlier flexi) reminds me of SSD… these aren’t mosh parts to spin kick to, they’re mosh parts that make you want to smash your head through a wall. The recording is tinny and in the red, more like a garage-punk recording than the warm, full tones many hardcore bands go for, which adds to Wheel of Pain’s unhinged feel. A total shredder.

War Effort: Path to Glory 7” (Warthog Speak Records) We carried a demo from Chicago’s War Effort a while back, and I remember the band said they wrote and recorded the entire tape in a single day. Path to Glory, while still straightforward and uncomplicated in its approach, sounds more composed and refined, at least by comparison. Something about this sounds midwestern as fuck to me… maybe it’s because the singer resembles John Brannon in places, or maybe it’s because War Effort also makes me think of Punch in the Face’s brand of “dumb hardcore” (that’s really not that dumb). But, as a few writers have noted, there’s also a distinct Discharge influence; just listen to the way the verse riff in “Connection Severed” alternates between Broken Bones chug and Negative Approach swing. I love the production too, which has a fuzzy but beefy sound and captures a confident but unfussy performance. A six-song 7” of purist hardcore like this is a format close to my heart, and War Effort does it proud here.