Featured Releases: September 4, 2023

Slan: Skiter I Allt 7” (Bunker Punks Discs & Tapes) Bunker Punks dropped this debut EP from Göteborg, Sweden’s Slan earlier this summer, and it’s pretty much exactly what their label was made to release: throat-ripping, raw and fast as fuck hardcore punk. The drums are way at the front of the mix and the guitar sound is totally shredded, so the emphasis here isn’t on the catchiness of the riffs, but the intensity of the performances. It’s one of those records that sounds totally unhinged, like the whole thing is going to crack under the weight of its own rippingness. It rides that edge pretty much the entire time, with just a couple of tempo changes to assure you there’s a super tight band and killer, memorable songs at the core of the frantic chaos. Fans of Totalitär’s fastest and rawest 7”s take note.

Ignorance: S/T 7” (Iron Lung Records) Iron Lung Records brings us the debut 7-song 7” from this band from Helsinki, Finland. While Ignorance is from Finland, they sound like they were tailor-made for Iron Lung Records, playing just the kind of heavy, intense, and arty hardcore that is the label’s calling card. Iron Lung’s description mentions a bunch of Japanese bands in their description, and while I hear that in places, Ignorance doesn’t sound too Japanese to me… they’re not as stylized as bands who root their style in a very particular sound or scene, with a more diffuse approach that might sound like dirty pogo one minute and dark and desperate hardcore the next. Where I do hear those Japanese influences coming through are in the creepy guitar overdubs on tracks like “Evil Eyes” and “Internet Head,” which have some of the dark sound I associate with Mobs or Zouo.

Maniak: Speed Metal Terrorist 12” (De:Nihil Records) Debut EP from this old school-sounding metal band from Falun, Sweden. I’ve never been 100% clear on what constitutes “speed metal,” but maybe it’s an appropriate descriptor for these five rippers whose sound is steeped in the 80s underground. It’s sort of blackened, but also thrashy… the comparison that came to my mind was Sodom circa In the Sign of Evil, but Bathory’s first album or even raw South American classics like Sarcofago’s Inri or Sepultura’s Bestial Devastation are solid reference points too. Like those records, this places raw brutality front and center, but still conjures a dark, cultish atmosphere. While riffs are generally very simple and brutal, the songs are lengthy and well-arranged, which along with some very strong solos (see “Total Blitzkrieg”) betrays there’s more musicality in the mix than you might expect based on the aesthetic. Long story short, though, this rips.

Miss España: Niebla Mental 12” (La Vida Es Un Mus) Big, but slightly dark melodies and energetic punk rhythms come together on the debut LP from this synth-punk band from Madrid. The record comes to us from La Vida Es Un Mus, and serves as another strong entry in the label’s underrated repertoire of pop bangers, alongside underground faves like Rata Negra, Fatamorgana, and Belgrado. Rata Negra fans in particular should check out Miss España, as Violeta from that band sings and plays synth in Miss España. The songs have a similar vibe, too, with strong, memorable vocal melodies perfectly cut with a dash of melancholy. That sense of balance is also apparent in the band’s instrumentation, with the rhythm section laying down a very organic, Ramones-like foundation for the synths. Be sure to check out the charming video for “Marte Rojo,” one of the best songs on the album… the dancing in the video is amazing, and by the end of it the song’s melody will be lodged firmly in your brain.

Turquoise: Sang, Larmes, & Râles 12” (Symphony of Destruction Records) Sang, Larmes, & Râles is the second album by this hardcore punk band from Paris, France. We carried Turquoise’s first album a few years back (in fact, we still have a few copies in stock), but I can’t recall what I thought of it. This one, though, is excellent! I think the official description sells it a bit short by referring to it simply as “käng,” because it really has a fresh and original sound. Sure, Swedish käng is part of the picture and it seems to really inform the music at the riff level, but the production and delivery aren’t really what I expect from that style. For instance, rather than going for a big and distorted guitar sound, the sound here is relatively clean and thin… the guitars almost sound more like an Amdi Petersens Armé record than Meanwhile or something like that. The vocals are unique, a kind of bark somewhere between Cal circa “Protest & Survive” and Tokurow from Bastard, but with a touch of oi!-ish melody. The drums actually fit the käng template pretty well, though, pounding out a steady d-beat with relatively few accents. It all adds up to something that feels both exciting and interesting, with all the rippingness of that great Swedish stuff, but scrappy, DIY production values that make it feel even more classic.

Gimic: Defer to Hate 7" (Crew Cuts Records) Crew Cuts Records brings us the debut from this punk band from Bristol, England, and it’s a strikingly original and vital record. Any comparison is bound to feel off the mark because Gimic really just doesn’t sound like anyone else I can think of. The official description mentions the Minutemen, and I guess that’s a good place to start. I can certainly hear some of the Minutemen’s intuitive ensemble playing in Gimic’s music. The instruments seem to be in dialogue with one another rather than simply following one another, except when the group locks together tightly into sharp rhythms, as if to prove precisely how deliberate everything is. Gimic doesn’t sound like the Minutemen, though, because they don’t play like them. The bass, while busy and melodic, is never really funky. The guitarist clearly hasn’t taken D Boon’s vow never to play power chords, but at the same time they are way more likely to be playing an intricate melodic line (that counters a different one happening on the bass) than hammering away on a chunky riff. The drummer feasts on the music’s intertwining rhythms, referencing the guitar and bass parts alternately in ways that make the music seem even crazier and more complex. Then over that, the singer snarls these evocative, poetic social critiques with a raspy, shredded sound that reminds me of Ellie from Good Throb. All this is happening at once, and very quickly, which makes Defer to Hate feel daunting on the first listen, but spending a little time with these five songs offers so many rewards. If you love records that give off the same urgent, anything-is-possible spirit as the best late 70s and early 80s punk without sounding like anything else in your collection, I can’t recommend Gimic highly enough.