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Spread Joy: S/T 12” (Feel It) Sam from Feel It Records sent me a digital version of this debut from Chicago’s Spread Joy a few months ago, knowing I would like it. He was right. I usually don’t really get into a record until I can get the physical version on my turntable, but I liked this record so much and it was so suited to the emerging spring weather here in North Carolina that I had to put it on my headphones whenever I went for a walk. Spread Joy’s sound is often angular, bass-driven punk that exists halfway between the Suburban Lawns’s art-punk and the pop-oriented, more English take on that sound that reminds me of anything from Delta 5 to Shopping. Certain songs lean in one of those directions or the other, and the band excels at weaving back and forth between nervier and groovier rhythms. And there’s plenty of pop in the mix to keep you singing along. At only fourteen minutes long it hardly overstays its welcome and is just on the edge of feeling like an EP rather than an album (sort of like Saccharine Trust’s Paganicons). Fans of the aforementioned sounds or similar bands like Collate and Neutrals, don’t miss this one.

CDG: Unconditional 7” (Domestic Departure) If you just hit “add to cart” on the Spread Joy record, you might as well add this one too, because it appeals to a lot of the same sensibilities. The Venn diagram of people who would like both bands is in Mastercard logo territory, if not more… if I were more business-minded I would offer a bundle price for grabbing them both. If you can opine on the relative merits of Slates versus Hex Enduction Hour (I definitely can), CDG makes music for you. Not that CDG sounds exactly like the Fall (but sometimes they sound a lot like the Fall). For one, CDG often uses funky grooves (like the Zamrock-ish “Degraded Dialect”), something the Fall didn’t tend to do, but that was a big part of that UK DIY / post-punk / messthetic (although CDG resides in Portland, this is very Anglophonic). If you have any fucking clue about what I’m going on about right now, you need this. It’s exactly how on the nose you want it to be, right down to the distinctive sleeve design and the sneaky pop hit that closes the record. I also love that, while a lot of bands of this ilk release singles, this is modeled on longer 7” EPs like the Television Personalities’ Where’s Bill Grundy Now or the O-Level record, and like those EPs, this feels weightier and wider in scope than a two-songer.

Headcheese: S/T 12” (Neon Taste) Like the Spread Joy record, I’ve been rocking the digital version of Headcheese’s debut 12” while I anticipated the vinyl dropping. This record premiered online back in February, and I kept that tab open for weeks, playing the record over and over. Admittedly, this is right in my wheelhouse. Headcheese sounds like Career Suicide and Long Knife had a baby. They have CS’s knack for writing short, catchy songs that fall in that perfect Jerry’s Kids / FU’s space of punky hardcore. However, Headcheese shares Long Knife’s heaviness, Jerry A-ish vocals, and fondness for the grooves you hear on War All the Time and Feel the Darkness. Another way of coming at this is that Headcheese takes the brevity and speed of Pick Your King, but combines it with the song-oriented approach of PI’s later records. And they are fucking good at it. Fans of the White Stains and Fried E/M records should watch out for this too. The dapper color-matching on the jacket and vinyl is icing on the cake.

Lethal: demo cassette (Survival Unit Records) I was listening to this demo from New York’s Lethal and I thought to myself, “are there any GBH records on the cover of Record Collectors Are Pretentious Assholes?” It turns out there aren’t (as far as I can tell), but the thought is à propos of this band’s sound. Like PI and GBH, Lethal plays hardcore that’s fast, loud, and firmly in the pocket. You know who is on the cover of Record Collectors? Motorhead and Battalion of Saints, and Lethal has a lot of those bands in their sound too. As with all of those bands, great riffs are the building blocks of great songs that build to big, anthemic choruses, and the whole thing is put together with a sense of dangerous, nihilistic energy. Great production too, with a beefy sound that accentuates rather than diminishes Lethal’s grittiness.

Child’s Pose: Eyes to the Right 7” (Thrilling Living Records) Third release from this London band featuring members of Woolf, Nekra, Sauna Youth, Snob, Sarcasm, and many, many others I’m sure, released on the Thrilling Living label, which has brought a lot of great music across the pond over the last few years. Child’s Pose reminds me of singles from the first few years of Rough Trade Records and like-minded bands like Alternative TV, not because they recreate the surface trappings of that era, but because they seem to come from a similar place in the world. Groups like ATV, the Raincoats, and Young Marble Giants were a little ramshackle, but what they may have lacked in technical precision, they more than made up for with an exciting sense of discovery that pervaded their music. It’s exciting for me as a listener, making it feel like the creators are inventing the song as they’re performing it. Of course they aren’t—at least not in the way of jazz improvisation—but it feels like it. These bands—Child’s Pose included—might even sound naïve if they weren’t so smart, even intellectual. Another way Child’s Pose resembles those earlier bands is that there’s a strong sense of songcraft in their music, which offers no shortage of earworm melodies. If you enjoy the older stuff I mentioned or contemporary bands like Woolf, Frau, or Scrap Brain, you shouldn’t miss Eyes to the Right.

Hakuchi: The Best Works: 1991-1994 12” (Black Water) Discography LP from this 90s Japanese hardcore band. This LP is a wild ride because there’s so much different stuff on it. Often for discography releases, the track listing will be in chronological (or reverse chronological) order and/or will also proceed in order of fidelity (usually from best to worst). Hakuchi’s collection LP, though, jumps around a lot, an issue amplified by Hakuchi’s stylistic restlessness. At various points they remind me of Burning Spirits-style hardcore, straight up Cimex/Shitlickers style bashing, and UK metallic crust (anything from Axegrinder to Amebix), and there are also moments (as with a lot of 90s Japanese hardcore bands) that are quite “rock.” If you’re just looking for one of those things, a lot of this might miss for you, but if you just enjoy Hakuchi’s crazy ride, there are a lot of great moments on this LP, and no moments I’d call skippers. If you have a taste for deep cut 90s Japanese hardcore, you’re gonna love it.

Sarcasm: Creeping Life 12” (Static Shock Records) London’s Sarcasm follow up their debut 7” from four years ago, Malarial Bog, with this 6-track EP. Sarcasm is arty as fuck, drawing on the tradition of bands like Wire, Magazine, and Gang of Four who saw punk rock through the prism of intellectual and art culture. I hate when music comes off as pretentious, but Sarcasm just sound like what they are: smart people who like smart punk rock. The lyrics wouldn’t be out of place in a graduate-level poetry workshop. There’s a consistent, well-developed voice and themes that carry across several songs (as well as the album’s artwork), most obviously imagery related to wetlands, particularly peat bogs. Why bogs? I don’t know… I don’t think it’s as simple as a metaphor or an allegory, more an enigmatic symbol. As for the music, it’s minimal, restrained, and as subtly evocative as the words, not unlike the best music from the bands I mentioned above. I could see someone who just wants to rock hating this, but I can hang with Sarcasm’s vibe.

Grimly Forming: S/T 7” (Kiss Kiss Records) Debut 7” from this hardcore punk band out of Los Angeles. If Grimly Forming isn’t friends with the East 7th Punks crew in LA, then someone should make a formal introduction, because they are on some similar shit. If you like Blazing Eye, Cruelty Bomb, and Hate Preachers, this is something you will want to hear. Like those bands, you get throat-shredding vocals, wide-open oompah beats, and mid-paced punk riffs that are gratuitously catchy. It’s music designed to whip people into a frenzy, and it’s hard not to picture half-full cans of beer flying when I listen to Grimly Forming. The production is strong but not polished, and these 6 tracks rip from start to finish.

The Partisans: Anarchy In Alkatraz / No Future Demos 1980 - 1982 12” (Sealed Records) Punk reissue label Sealed Records’ latest release is this compilation of demo material from No Future Records legends the Partisans. I am a huge fan of the Partisans (my band Scarecrow even covers “Police Story”) and I’m coming at this release from that perspective. Everyone should have the two singles and LP the Partisans released on No Future Records, and I like the LP and single that followed as well. However, this LP offers a deeper dive. The big treasure here is a 1980 recording session—to my knowledge, never released in any format—that captures an early version of the band knocking out a set featuring mostly covers of punk bands like the UK Subs, the Buzzcocks, the Sex Pistols, and Stiff Little Fingers (who also started out as a punk cover band) plus two original compositions. I imagine there are some of you who won’t have any interest in hearing the Partisans cover a bunch of classic punk bands, but I think this session is killer. The recording quality is exceptional (gritty yet clear and powerful) and the session reveals the Partisans’ power as players. While I wouldn’t say they bring anything new to the songs, they sound fiery and passionate, and it’s clear that cutting their teeth on these covers helped them build the skills necessary to deliver their original material with conviction. You get to hear that on the b-side of this LP, which compiles two studio sessions that have appeared on previous Partisans CD reissues. The first 6-song session was so good that No Future Records released two tracks from it as the Partisans’ first single, while the second session finds them running through earlier versions of the 3 tracks from their second single. The music is great, and Sealed Records knows how to put together a compelling package with top-notch sound, a well-designed sleeve, and a thick booklet featuring a treasure trove of ephemera: photos, fanzine interviews, ads and flyers, and a new interview with the band about the tracks on this release. If you’re a fan of the Partisans (who isn’t?), this is a no-brainer.

Broken Vessels: Do You See My Smile? 7” flexi (Kiss Kiss Records) Do You See My Smile? is a 3-track flexi from this Los Angeles group featuring members of Rolex and Grimly Forming. Like those bands, Broken Vessels’ foundation is in 80s hardcore, but their vibe is different. While Rolex is all about irreverence and Grimly Forming trades in menace, Broken Vessels reminds me of 80s midwest hardcore bands who played fast but still had some pop / 77 punk melody and song structure. Everything Falls Apart-era Husker Du is a solid reference point. Like Husker Du (at least on that record), the tempos are fast, the playing is passionate yet precise, and the guitars steal the show with a sound that’s dense, moody, and melodic. The label’s description also mentions Paganicons-era Saccharine Trust, and I can hear that too, particularly on the title track. Those of you weaned on the intense but ambitious early SST catalog have a new band to check out!

Smirk: LP 12” (Feel It Records) LP is the debut vinyl from this one-person project by Nick Vicario of Public Eye and Crisis Man. Like much of the music released on Virginia’s Feel It Records, Smirk has a sound that’s smart, stylish, pop-oriented, and isn’t beholden to its influences. While those adjectives can describe any song on LP, I like that there’s a lot of different stuff happening from track to track. Much of LP is jittery garage-punk in the vein of bands like R.M.F.C., Powerplant, or Gen Pop, and Smirk is great at these catchy, poppy bursts of energy. However, there are also a couple of cool interludes (or “‘Ludes,” as they’re titled on the record) that dabble in synths and tape manipulation, and a couple of tracks built around Dolls-by-way-of-the-Stones bluesy riffing. I tend not to gravitate toward rock with a heavy blues influence, but to me these are the standout songs on LP, particularly “Violent Game,” my favorite track. No surprise for anyone who’s been paying attention, but Feel It Records has delivered another winner.

Body Maintenance: S/T 12” (Unwound Records) After a demo back in 2017, this is the debut vinyl from Melbourne, Australia’s Body Maintenance. Melbourne is thick with great bands, and Body Maintenance meets that city’s high standard for contemporary underground rock music. The chorus effect on the guitars and general sense of gloom will remind you of dark late 70s and early 80s post-punk bands (the label mentions the Chameleons and Sad Lovers and Giants, which are spot-on comparisons), but like my favorite of those bands, there’s a sweet pop center at the core of Body Maintenance’s music. They’re quite good at it too; while this 12” sounds gritty, a bit of studio polish and an eye toward poppier influences like the Smiths and Echo & the Bunnymen could pull Body Maintenance toward something like Interpol, which might not be a bad thing… the strong songwriting backbone that’s apparent here could support a range of different window dressings. I also love that this short, 6-track 12” leaves me wanting more, which is only a problem if you’re worried about the more expensive price given that this is an Australian import. If you’re looking for some gloomy, melodic post-punk, I recommend checking this out.

Bad Batch: demo cassette (self-released) 6-track demo from this new hardcore band out of Cleveland. While, according to one of their song titles, Bad Batch thinks “Cleveland Sucks,” they sound (at least to my ears) very much like a band from that city. First, the vocals have the snotty, nihilistic vibe of bands like H100s and Gordon Solie Motherfuckers. Second—and this is a subtler point—it’s always seemed from my (outsider) perspective that Cleveland has a uniquely high degree of cross-pollination between people into straight edge hardcore and people into Japanese hardcore and crust. Or maybe I’m just thinking of Tony Erba? Anyway, Bad Batch’s rhythms remind me of Chain of Strength’s fast parts; the beats are more like doot-dat-doot-doot-dat (as opposed to the “dunk-dat-dunka-dat” of d-beat… a very subtle difference). The riffs aren’t too far away from that sound either, but they also sound kind of crusty; the crusty thing comes out even more when the wah-wah lead guitar parts drop in. I feel like I’m getting in the weeds here, so I’ll redirect your attention to the fact that Bad Batch is very much part of Cleveland’s long tradition of anti-social hardcore punk bands and leave it to you to investigate further.

Reek Minds: Rabid 7” (11pm Records) We flipped out over Reek Minds’ debut 7” on Edger Records last year, and 11pm Records scooped the band up for this follow-up EP. As I was listening to Rabid for the first time I thought to myself, “this sounds like Siege, No Comment, and early Poison Idea thrown into a blender,” and when I checked 11pm’s description of the record, I found they compared Reek Minds to the same bands (and Die Kreuzen, which I don’t hear as much). If you liked Reek Minds’ first EP none of this will surprise you, but I think the production on Rabid is a little heavier, which gives this EP more of that power violence flavor than the first one. Just a little, though… I avoid bands described as power violence because so much of that music sounds too slick and self-referential to me. However, Reek Minds employ a few of the same tools and influences, particularly their heavier mid-paced parts and the neck-snapping changes in tempo and rhythm. Any way you slice it, though, Rabid flat-out rips.

Zig Zag: It Gets Worse 7” (11pm Records) 11pm Records brings us the debut vinyl from this hardcore punk band out of South Florida. While most of 11pm’s releases have been pretty aggro sounding, Zig Zag has a sound that’s fast but punkier. The riffs are brighter (the label’s Blatz comparison is dead on) and the vocalist doesn’t bark or grunt like most hardcore vocalists; their delivery is snottier, reminding me of many early 80s California hardcore bands. Musically, there’s plenty of the 80s-style hardcore we expect from 11pm Records here, but Zig Zag doesn’t seem concerned with sounding mean or tough all the time. There’s an element of irreverence to their sound that’s always there, but particularly comes out on the closing track, “Zig Zag,” which starts with a chunky rock-and-roll riff and climaxes with a bunch of multitracked guitars going wild. It Gets Worse is a little left of center, and while that might alienate some purists, if it clicks with you, you’ll love it that much more because there isn’t anything else quite like it.

Ostseetraum: S/T 12” (Mangel Records) This debut release from Germany’s Ostseetraum strikes me as a cryptic record. I’ll paste the label’s description here because it captures some of this record’s enigmatic nature: “Ostseetraum is a small minimal wave band, which, together with bass, guitar, synths, drum machines and vocals, performs scrambled and annoying music for you.” That description seems to say both a lot and not very much and the record has a similar quality; I can’t seem to figure it out, but I play it often. For the past couple of weeks I’ve been putting the record on while I’m working, and when it would end I would think “that was cool… but what did it sound like?” That sounds like a slight, like I’m saying the music was forgettable or lacked personality, but that’s not what I mean. After giving the record my first attentive listen, I’m reminded of Brian Eno’s assertion that ambient music rewards your attention, but does not demand it. So much of the music I listen to is fundamentally dramatic, but Ostseetraum never begs for your attention. If you’re not totally engaged with the music, the subtle but propulsive electronic rhythms will keep you focused on whatever task you’re working on, but when you stop to pay attention, you’ll hear subtle melodies, interlocking rhythms, and gritty analog textures. It’s a feast for the ears. If you’re interested in 80s minimal synth music or current bands inspired by it (like, say, Molchat Doma), this is well worth a listen, but even among those similar-sounding groups, Ostseetraum’s understated approach is special.

GG King: Remain Intact 12” (Total Punk) Remain Intact is the 3rd full-length from this Atlanta band. Here’s the quick rundown on GG King: while he’s played in projects going back to the 90s, I came to know Atlanta’s Greg King as the singer for Carbonas, for my money one of the best punk bands ever to come out of the American south. In Carbonas, Greg honed his pop chops to a razor sharp edge (though not without punk intensity… I remember when Carbonas’ second LP came out everyone was talking about how much it sounded like Zero Boys), but when Carbonas dissolved in the late 00s and Greg started GG King, the sound was a little different. (Well, at least after the first few GG King singles, which someone once told me were largely songs written for Carbonas). One big change was a prominent black metal influence, which is not something one thinks of as a natural fit with the upbeat, song-oriented punk that also informed GG King’s sound. Even beyond that jarring stylistic juxtaposition, GG King felt looser and artier, wide-open to lots of different styles, and every few years they would weave a bunch of these threads into an eclectic tapestry of an album. Which brings us to Remain Intact, which strikes me as GG King’s masterpiece. I love—LOVE!—GG King’s first two albums and the singles, but Remain Intact one-ups them. The melodic songs like “Remain Intact” and “Melt on You” are among the band’s best songs, while the other songs—everything from the 00s-era-Fall-ish “Dekalb County Endless” to the brooding “Cul de Sac” to whatever the fuck “Golden Horde Rising” is (Norwegian black metal meets early Magazine?)—make the album feel epic in scope and are often great art-punk songs in their own right. It’s rare that a current band releases something that feels as ambitious and as important as albums like Wire’s Chairs Missing or Guided by Voices’ Bee Thousand, but that’s the vibe I get from Remain Intact.

Liiek: S/T 7” (Mangel Records) 3-song EP from this German band, following an LP from last year on Adagio380 Records (as of this writing we still have that in stock as well). I hear a few different things going on in Liiek’s sound. The songs coalesce around the bass lines, which have a driving yet funk-and-dub-informed quality that reminds me of bands like Pylon and Delta 5. However, these grooving bass lines contrast with angular guitar lines and shouted, staccato vocals, both of which remind me of early Devo. Then on the third song the whole formula gets flipped with a surf-y lead guitar taking the spotlight while the bass and drums march forward with a motorik pulse. While I hear echoes of older music, it still feels like a contemporary and fresh record. Fans of the above groups should check this out.

Stinkhole: Mold Encrusted Egg 7” (Mangel Records) This is the debut vinyl from this “Mold Encrusted Egg punk” band out of Berlin, Germany. I first heard of Stinkhole on the Life During Wartime radio show on KBOO in Portland. It was one of those moments when I hear something I didn’t know about and wait for the back announcement so I can investigate further. I noted Stinkhole’s name and looked them up, which led me to Germany’s Mangel Records, and now we’re stocking most of that label’s releases. What a story! Thanks Matt C! Back to Stinkhole, though. It’s unclear to me what constitutes “egg punk” as a musical genre, but whatever category you throw Lumpy & the Dumpers into, Stinkhole belongs there too. Not that they sound exactly like Lumpy;  “Steppin’ On Out” and “Slippin’ On Slug Slime” adopt a Flipper / Butthole Surfers-style loosey goosey groove, the title track sounds like sped-up early Devo, and other songs sound like pretty straight hardcore to me, but all those elements are filtered through Lumpy’s gross-out sensibility, mostly in the way the vocalist wretches and heaves. The artwork even looks of a piece with the Lumpy releases. This style of punk lives and dies by its freakiness level, and this one is way up there, especially for something still based in hardcore. A bona fide weirdo ripper.

Peacemaker: See You Dead cassette (Unlawful Assembly) A two-song, three minute cassette is a tough sell, but if you’re a fan of oi!-tinged hardcore, Peacemaker is going to be difficult to resist. While Peacemaker is based in Milwaukee, these songs remind me of the toughest and fastest moments in the No Future Records catalog. Think Blitz’s “Never Surrender,” the Partisans’ “Police Story,” the Crux / Crash split, or bands like 86 Mentality or Violent Reaction that followed in that tradition. I don’t want to make my description longer than the cassette itself, so I’ll just say that if you’re a fan of that style, this is what you want.

Slogan Boy: demo cassette (Unlawful Assembly) Unlawful Assembly brings us 5 songs by Milwaukee hardcore band Slogan Boy, who take their name from a song by 80s Milwaukee hardcore band Clitboys. As you might expect from a band who names themselves after a song by an obscure local hardcore band, Slogan Boy has a straight up 80s US hardcore sound with raw, vintage-sounding production. While the Clitboys were a little goofy, Slogan Boy sounds more desperate, reminding me more of early 80s New York hardcore like Antidote, Urban Waste, and the Abused. While those are fashionable bands to reference, few contemporary recordings resemble how raw, bleak, and primitive those records sound… this one gets pretty darn close.

Deranged: Place of Torment 12” (Supreme Echo Records) Place of Torment is a vinyl reissue of this Canadian band’s 1989 demo, their second and final tape (Deranged had no vinyl releases). This is a total ripper… blistering, technical thrash metal with darker, mid-paced death metal passages and a snarling vocalist who sounds a little like Blaine from the Accüsed. I’m not sure how the original demo sounded, but Kurt Ballou remixed this version and it sounds great, reminding me of lower-budget productions from labels like Noise and New Renaissance and not “beefed up” or made to sound like anything other than what it is. There are only four songs, but they are dense and complex, with slight prog elements a la Metallica or Megadeth, and to me that’s the perfect amount of music for something like this, where a longer LP might feel same-y by the end. As usual with Supreme Echo, the packaging also includes a lot of contextual info and ephemera, further deepening the pleasure of exploring this band’s world.

Status Set: Music for Cowards cassette (self-released) Status Set is a solo project from Ian Rose, who used to play in a bunch of North Carolina bands like Last Year’s Men and Natural Causes (whose second LP Sorry State released in 2017). With nine fleshed-out tracks, I’d call Music for Cowards Status Set’s debut album rather than just a demo tape. If you liked Natural Causes, there’s a good chance you’re going to like Status Set too, since Ian wrote around half of the songs in NC and writes all the songs for Status Set (the other half of Natural Causes’ songwriting team, Ben Carr, now helms the great band Personality Cult). While Ian's songs for Natural Causes felt darker and incorporated the repetition and dark melodies of post-punk and electronic music, Status Set feels like pop music, albeit dense, clever, and ambitious pop music. The album closer, “Snakeskin Bag,” is a microcosm of the album since it starts with a brooding, cold wave synth sound but, after two minutes of building tension, climaxes in a sweeping, melodic chorus with layers of vocal harmonies… it’s sort of like the transition from early Depeche Mode to Yaz or early Human League to Dare, but over two-and-a-half minutes. This is probably just a case of mining the same influences, but I also hear a lot of the later Whatever Brains stuff in Status Set. Like the later Brains, Status Set sounds like someone into electronic and noise music developing their pop chops. A killer release, and essential if the names above mean anything to you.

Prision Postumo: Amor, Salud, y Dinero 12” (self-released) We carried a demo 7” from LA’s Prision Postumo a while back, but Amor, Salud, y Dinero is their first proper release. While Prision Postumo is a punk band—and a raw and scrappy one at that—this record defies a lot of the hardcore / DIY scene’s conventional logic. Prision Postumo is melodic, their singer doesn’t shout, scream, or growl, and the record is quite long (the 30-minute run time feels epic when 45 RPM 12”s have become the norm). The thing is, though, these choices sound refreshing. It’s great to hear a band that has the energy level of a hardcore band, but doesn’t sound so grim and desperate. While my Spanish isn’t good enough to know much about what Prision Postumo is singing about, there’s a sense of joy in their music that reminds me of the Dickies or the Adicts, two bands cited as influences in the label’s description. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Amor, Salud, y Dinero also reminds me of Rancid’s Let’s Go, which was similarly jam-packed with anthems and had every reason to feel monotonous but didn’t. I don’t think my description here articulates what’s special about this record, but I think it is special, and from the chatter I’ve seen online, I’m not the only one.

Galore: S/T 12” (Rocks in Your Head Records) Debut vinyl from this pop band out of the Bay Area. I think it’s a pretty low-profile, small pressing release, and I hadn’t heard about it, so I’m grateful to one of our awesome customers for hipping me to Galore. Galore reminds me of bands like the Dolly Mixture and Young Marble Giants… like those groups, they play pop music that comes off as introverted and played with a gentle touch. While a faster song like “Cucaracha” revs up a little, most of the songs on this record sound pensive and tentative, like Galore is working through their feelings or even just what means to be a band as they go, and letting us in on that process feels intimate and special. Fans of the poppier, gentler end of the post-punk spectrum should give this a listen.

Cexcrime: Rip It If It’s Specific cassette (Deluxe Bias Country Club) We just got in a batch of tapes from the Deluxe Bias Country Club label, and while they’re all worthwhile, for my money this one from Cexcrime is the pick of the litter. Like most of the releases on this label, you get basement 4-track level fidelity and ripping fast tempos, but where Cexcrime separates from the pack is in the vocal department. The sound is like Big Zit or Lumpy & the Dumpers, a sort of constipated squawk, but oozing with personality. The riffs are simple but catchy and very punk, and the five tracks blaze by in about five minutes, climaxing with the “Institutionalized”-style rant in “My Way.” Excellent stuff.

The Smog: Set in Stone / Lost My Mind 7” (Going Underground Records) This is the third single from this Japanese punk band, though it’s the first one I’ve heard. Those of you who have followed Sorry State for a while may be familiar with the two albums we put out by LA’s Rough Kids or the album we released from Japan’s Louder, and if you liked any of those, Smog has a very similar sound. To me, these bands are some of the truest heirs of 70s punk like the Buzzcocks, Generation X, and the early material by the Jam, marrying classic pop songwriting with a big guitar sound and energetic delivery. While it’s not too far away from bands like the Marked Men and Radioactivity, it doesn’t sound like “garage” to me, and it certainly doesn’t sound like pop-punk… it’s just classic, timeless, tuneful punk that seems impossible for a modern band to get right until a band like the Smog nails it. Both tracks are strong, but for my money the b-side, “Lost in My Mind,” is the stronger of the two, with its varied dynamics and bursts of melodic, Bruce Foxton-esque bass playing. I’m hoping we hear more from the Smog, particularly if, as with this record, it’s available at a great price from a US label.

No Negative: The Darkening Hour 12” (self-released) No Negative’s previous LP, The Last Offices, was Sorry State’s Record of the Week back in May 2019, and this EP delivers more of the unclassifiable music that knocked me out then. No Negative is a tough band to describe because they don’t stick to a particular style or mood, so I’ll just go track by track. “Perverbial Grade” takes a two-note figure whose sunny-yet-warped vibe reminds me of Whatever Brains and splatters it with two loose and expressionistic lead guitars engaged in a death battle for your full attention… take the intensity and density of noise rock, but remove the downer vibes. “Upside Down World” sounds like it could have come out of just about any era of the Fall (and, consequently, reminds me of some modern Fall-influenced bands like Parquet Courts), but the wild guitars keep the track sounding like no one but No Negative. “Raw Deal” is a space-y instrumental that sounds like primitively recorded Ash Ra Tempel (no drums), while the last track, “Mon Obsession Personelle ft. Bernardino Femminielli,” is a kinda-sorta cover of “Louie Louie” with dramatic spoken word vocals in French. It’s a wild ride, but I’m glued to my seat every second. This will be a thrill for anyone who likes their guitar music to go way out.

Ritual Warfare: Repulsive Addiction 7” (Sewercide Records) Sewercide continues their hot streak with this three-song EP from Halifax’s Ritual Warfare. While I think of Sewercide as a hardcore label, Ritual Warfare is full-on metal, though it’s the kind of metal that appeals to punks. I’d wager that members of Ritual Warfare have well-worn copies of Celtic Frost’s Morbid Tales in their own collections, as their riffing style and rhythms owe more than a little to that classic record. It’s hardly a throwback though; Ritual Warfare drops into full on raw blasting parts occasionally (most effectively on the 58-second ripper “Blood Fucker”), and these parts up the intensity level even more. The recording quality, artwork, and everything about this release are spot-on, so check this out if you’re into that raw mid-80s sound that lives on the bubble between thrash and death metal.

Lamps: People with Faces 12” (In the Red) People with Faces is the latest album from this long-running LA punk band. I’ve seen Lamps’ records in the bins for years, but I’m not sure I’d checked them out. However, I heard several people I trust mention People with Faces was one of their favorite punk records of 2020, so I listened. Given that Lamps has long been associated with In the Red Records I expected something more like traditional garage-punk, but People with Faces is edgy, arty, and avoids the kind of rock and roll cliches that leave me cold. Lamps bop along at motorik-type tempos, which keeps the energy level high as your ear gets treated to a buffet of tones, including lots of distorted bass and synth squeals. The whole album is strong, but it feels back-loaded because there are two awesome cover songs toward the end of the record: “I Owe It to the Girls” by Teddy & the Frat Girls and “I Need a Freak” by Sexual Harassment. The way Lamps’ style meshes with those other compositions is just magical. Killer record.

Sedicion: Verdaderas Historias De Horror 12” (Esos Malditos Punks) This is a reissue of the third record by this Mexican punk band, originally released in 1991. Like the Herejia LP that also just got reissued, Sedicion’s sound is eclectic, but the core is a tough, punked-up take on the early LA death rock sound. Imagine if T.S.O.L. circa Dance with Me or Christian Death circa Only Theatre of Pain were also really into the singles coming out on Riot City Records. Some songs also remind me of Eskorbuto’s Clash-isms, though I wonder if that would have been a direct influence… I’d be curious to know how much Spanish punk made it to Mexico in the 80s. A lot of the Mexican punk I’ve heard is loose and primitive, but Sedicion is a powerful band, both on the songs that lean toward death rock and post-punk and the straightforward rippers. I like the recording too, which reminds me of what was coming out of Mystic Studios in the 80s. This reissue adds a gatefold sleeve with liner notes (in Spanish) and juggles the track listing around, with 7 of the original LP’s eight tracks on side A, the climactic closing track “Escucha” opening side B, and five bonus tracks. While it’s a shame to interrupt the original LP’s flow, the bonus tracks are killer. The recording is a little stronger than the LP tracks, and the songs are just ripping. “Entre Ideas” sounds like a long-lost track by Killing Joke or Dezerter at their best… punk intensity with post-punk complexity. I can’t figure out where these tracks appeared originally, as the only place I can find them together is Bambam Records’ 2015 CD reissue. Regardless, this is a keeper, particularly when you add in the awesome artwork.

The Ex: Disturbing Domestic Peace 12” + 7” / History Is What’s Happening 12” (Superior Viaduct) Superior Viaduct—just about the classiest reissue label you can find—just reissued the first two full-length albums by Dutch anarcho punks the Ex. I’d never listened to the Ex closely before, but I’ve always seen them described as the “Dutch Crass.” I think that has as much to do with the band’s radical politics as their music, but they’re in the same sonic ballpark. While the Ex emerged more or less contemporaneously to Crass, their sound anticipates many of the Crass-affiliated bands like Zounds and Subhumans. Disturbing the Domestic Peace has a minimal anarcho sound, but my favorite moments are when a primitive synth appears, like the killer opening track “The Sky Is Blue Again.” History Is What’s Happening is a little more developed, with a Gang of Four-ish quality to the bass playing, which is where most of the action is happening. The Ex is a universe unto themselves and these two albums are just one corner of that, but if you’re interested, these reissues (which include great sound, beautiful reproduction of the artwork, bonus posters, and thick booklets) are the way to go.

Mirror: 2nd 7” (Esos Malditos Punks) Mirror asked me to write their new record’s description, and I stand by what I said… this is another killer record from Mirror. Here’s the description: Four years after their debut, here’s the second 7” from this Texan band featuring members of punk royalty like Criaturas, Kurraka, Impalers, Vaaska, Institute, Wiccans, and many others. While no one would mistake Mirror for anything but a hardcore band, they’re a hardcore band that pays close attention to texture and atmosphere. The label that released their first EP called them “space punk” and I wrote about the “woozy, hallucinogenic” guitars on that record. However, this time around the swirling feedback gets dialed back in favor of a more streamlined attack akin to the minimalistic creepiness that emanated from 80s Japan, with tracks like “Control Group” and “Hall of Cryptids” borrowing the wrecking ball swing of Fuckedheads-era Gauze. After four fist-pumpers, the EP reaches a climax with the closing track “Cadaver Dogs,” which dials back the tempo a hair and sounds like a house show where someone’s spiked the beer with LSD. Recommended if you like your hardcore raging, slightly left of center, and oozing with personality.

Hellish Inferno: demo cassette (self-released) Demo cassette from this new d-beat band from Oakland, California. Note that the version we have right now is the original self-released version limited to 50 copies; Manic Noise Records will repress this tape soon, and hopefully we can get copies of that as these will be sold out not long after you read this. When I first listened to Hellish Inferno, the first thing that jumped out was the raw recording. It’s noisy and blown out in an “80s rehearsal tape” kind of way, but when I listened to it more, I realized the relentless doot-dat-doot-doot-dat you need to hear for this stuff to hit is right where it needs to be. The guitars, bass, and echo-drenched vocals are nasty as hell, though. Musically, Hellish Inferno reminds me of Tortür in that it’s super fast and packed with two-chord Discharge riffs, but the raw recording gives it a different vibe, more of a straight up Cimex / Shitlickers kind of thing. This one is a certified ripper.

Kombat: In Death We Are All the Same 7” (Hysteria) This 7” actually came out back in 2017. Kombat played a show at the Bunker here in Raleigh after its release and blew me away. I picked up the 7” that night and I loved it, but I don’t think Sorry State ever carried it. However, some copies popped up, and I jumped on the opportunity to stock this record, even if it’s three years late. In Death We Are All the Same still sounds great. The rhythms are ultra-fast, jagged, and Koro-inspired (much like their drummer’s subsequent band, Hologram), but they drench the guitars in chorus and go off on long melodic tangents that remind me of Devil Master. It’s not metal at all, though, just ambitiously melodic. But it’s also ambitiously fast and ambitiously nasty. The recording is great, clear but raw and very live-sounding. I think the band broke up after this record came out, but that does nothing to diminish this record’s impact.

Paranoias: Napalm Springs 7” (Helta Skelta Records) Debut 7” from this killer Australian band. Like several of the bands in the Helta Skelta Records circle, Paranoias has a fast and catchy sound that sits in the middle of the Venn diagram where 70s punk, 80s hardcore, and 90s garage-punk meet. The production is raw and biting, which dirties up a batch of 5 songs that, in different hands, could sound almost bubblegummy. Fortunately, Paranoias bury that catchiness in heaps of distortion, bringing to mind the Angry Samoans, Career Suicide’s catchiest moments, or a surf-inflected version of the Registrators or Teengenerate. In other words, it’s super fast, but you can tap your toe and sing along. I’ve played this about a dozen times already and I still want more.

Courtroom Sketches: demo cassette (Voice from Inside) Demo cassette from this 2-person quarantine recording project featuring Tomek of Koszmar and Mike from Extended Hell. While those bands are more in the d-beat realm, Courtroom Sketches has a pure USHC sound with barreling rhythms, classic-sounding shouted vocals, and the occasional Pig Champion-esque lead guitar part for an extra bit of oomph. Interestingly, the vocals are higher in the mix than a lot of records I hear these days, and that, along with the clear enunciation, makes this great for yelling along if you’re able to keep up with Mike’s lightning-fast delivery. 6 songs including a cover of “Police Brutality” by Urban Waste that fits in perfectly with the blistering originals.

Cage Kicker: Parasitic Future cassette (self-released) 2nd cassette EP from this hardcore band out of Berlin. Y’all gobbled up all our copies of the first tape before we had time to write about it, so we’ve got a bigger stack this time. Which is a good thing, because Parasitic Future is even better! Cage Kicker has a rough USHC sound with burly (but not slick) production, snarling vocals, and complex riffs that are dense, but with a strong sense of catchiness. I’m all for a dumb riff and a caveman rhythm, but Cage Kicker’s songs feel well-written—even elegantly constructed—without sounding sterile or overworked. Parasitic Future is an explosive release all around, and I can picture people going off to this the same way they did the last time I saw Warthog live. I miss gigs, but tapes this ripping are a good consolation prize.

Prospexx: S/T 12” (Symphony of Destruction) Debut 12” from this two-person darkwave project from Singapore. When I was first checking out this record, I was bopping along, thinking to myself, “this is some pretty good darkwave.” It’s a lot like Riki, taking the songwriting approach of 80s synth-pop (particularly the emphasis on vocal melody) and giving the dance beats an added sense of heft and toughness. Then the next track started, and I was like “hey, I know this song,” and realized it was a cover of “Secret Police” by the Danish band No Hope for the Kids, done in Prospexx’s darkwave / synth-pop style. I must have played “Secret Police” hundreds of times when the single came out in 2003… it’s one of the best songs of the 00s, even if the lyrics are a little goofy. I hate to make too much of a cover song, but Prospexx got me with that one, and it shows not only their great taste but also their hardcore punk bona fides. The other three tracks are great too, and I’m sure I’d be raving about them even without the cover song. If you’ve been listening to groups like Riki and Fatamorgana, Prospexx hits those same buttons.

Vaxine: S/T 7” (self-released) Debut vinyl from this New York City punk band featuring a couple of transplants who played in the great Portland band PMS84 along with some New York natives with similarly impressive resumes. Vaxine meets in the middle between PMS84’s street punk / UK82 sound and the more hardcore-sounding stuff out of New York (like, for instance, guitarist Mike’s other band Extended Hell). The songs are almost all super fast (only slowing things down a hair for the anthemic “In Decline”), but with a UK82-informed sense of catchiness, particularly in the vocals and occasionally melodic bass playing. It’s clear Vaxine isn’t trying to do anything but deliver a batch of killer punk songs, but they do so with a sense of creativity and style that belies the fact they’ve been around the block a time or two. Take, for instance, their creative use of delay on the vocals, which gives the track “Leeches” one of the most memorable choruses I’ve heard in a while. An all-around killer EP.