ROHT: ðnsamfélagið Og Framtíð Þess 12” (Iron Lung) After a handful of earlier records, Iron Lung brings us the debut 12” from Iceland’s ROHT. ROHT have a grinding, grimy sound like a violent collision of the industrial and digital ages. The mechanical clap of the drum machines and the bass’s heavy thud sound like they were recorded on a mid-century factor floor, but the screeches and squelches occupying the higher frequencies seem to come from an army of malfunctioning modems. If you like the maximalist bleakness of L.O.T.I.O.N. you’ll love ROHT; in fact, from a musical standpoint, ROHT’s heavier production and sludgy yet catchy riffs (somewhere between Hoax and Bleach-era Nirvana) are even more powerful. This is ugly, difficult music, but it’s packed with power and brimming with subtle and hypnotic textures. In other words if you like the progressive hardcore that Iron Lung specializes in you shouldn’t let this one slip by.

Gaizin: S/T 7” (General Speech) Compilation of rare recordings by this band from 1980s Sapporo, Japan. Situated on the northern island of Hokkaido, Sapporo has produced great punk bands over the years (including G-Gas and Slang), but their scene gets less attention than what happens in the larger cities. However, as with American bands from off-the-beaten path cities, there’s often something special about the music from these places. Gaizin have plenty to offer the Japanese hardcore fanatic: gutteral vocals, metallic riffing, and raw, in your face production. But they also sound out of step. Like the label’s description mentions, the thrashy quality of the riffing and the blistering tempos remind me of Heresy, as do the short songs and dramatic stops and starts. I’m not sure if it’s coincidence or influence, but it makes for one of the more unique-sounding 80s Japanese records you’ll hear. Oh, and these sold out from the label, so if you want a copy you’d best jump on it before it disappears.

Boss: Steel Box 7” (Goner) Debut single from this new project. Boss includes Jonah from Fucked Up / Career Suicide / a million other things and Maxime from Rixe, and if I’m guessing correctly based on the first names on the back of the sleeve, the rest of the lineup is rounded out with a big chunk of Crown Court. That’s a lot of oi! connections, but Boss base their sound more in bootboy glam and pub rock… very early Cock Sparrer or Slaughter and the Dogs are reference points, but Slade and the Sweet seem like more pertinent influences. It’s tough to get away with a 2-track single in this day and age (especially when it retails for twelve bucks!), but both tracks are stone cold bangers. “Steel Box” is more melodic and glammy and “I’m the Dog (You’re the Ball)” is faster, edging into No Remorse-era Motorhead territory. I’m happy to have this scorcher of a single, but I’m even happier to see that Boss are playing a gig at Static Shock weekend in February, so hopefully that means these two tracks won’t be the last we hear of them.

Foward: Future Troops 12” (Todo Destruido) It surprised me to learn from the label’s description that Future Troops is only Forward’s 4th LP. I probably have a dozen Forward records in my collection, but I guess most of them are EPs rather than proper full-lengths. Their early discography is full of gems like Act Then Decide and While You Alive, but their past several records have been the real crushers. Future Troops continues that trend and it might be the best Forward record yet. If you saw Forward on this most recent tour, you know they’re a band at the top of their game. I’ve seen Forward eight or ten times in the past 15 years, and their set in North Carolina this November was the best of them all. They’ve always been great players, but nowadays they’re master craftsmen of hardcore punk. Watching them play or listening to Future Troops is like watching Michael Jordan play basketball in the early 90s or Picasso paint in the 30s. Not only is the skill level incomprehensibly high but also there’s the graceful confidence of someone who knows what they’re doing, how to do it, and why they’re doing it. Whether it’s ragers like “A.C.A.B.” and “Mother Fucker Japan,” the nimble rhythms of “In the Chaos,” the more melodic “True Freedom,” or the epic title track that closes the album, Forward execute every second of music on this LP perfectly. While everyone acknowledges that Forward is a great live band, their records often get short shrift. Don’t make that mistake because Future Troops is a bulldozer.

Lockjaw: Demos 1982-1983 12” (Antitodo) The Spanish label Antitodo continues to raid the vaults of 80s Portland hardcore band Lockjaw, this time unearthing 8 demo tracks for this one-sided 12”. The packaging is thin on information, but I’m guessing the first six tracks come from an earlier demo as they sound like they’re more influenced by 70s punk, though the band’s trademark nihilism is already there. “Back Door” and “Devil” have a rock-and-roll tinge a la Black Market Baby, while the more straightforward “Dead Friends” has a Teen Idles vibe. Things speed up for the last two tracks, by which time the band has arrived at the blazing hardcore you know from their two 7”s. While a few tracks from the 7”s appear in different versions, there’s enough new-to-us material that Lockjaw fans will want to scoop this up, particularly given the great sound and attractive packaging.

Lexicon: 5 Tracks Demo cassette (Iron Lung) Demo tape from this new band out of Seattle, and even though it’s billed as a demo this is already up to the high standard of quality we’ve come to expect from Iron Lung. I hear elements of d-beat, Blazing Eye-style fast pogo-punk, and more straightforward US hardcore (including some big mid-paced mosh parts), but Lexicon synthesize and streamline these influences into a cohesive and powerful sound. Highlights include the ripping, noisy guitar solo on “Rats,” the Minor Threat-ish “Nuclear Winter,” and the catchy chorus of the closing track “Isolation,” but there isn’t a wasted moment. A top-notch hardcore demo.

Dagger: Hexes cassette (Not Normal) After a standout previous 7” on Lengua Armada we get seven new tracks from this bruising hardcore band from Chicago. The sound is rawer than the 7”, but the songs are the same oi!-tinged hardcore concoction that caught everyone’s attention last year. Tracks like “Opportunity” get faster and more Negative FX-y, while “Dagger” has a Negative Approach stomp. Fans of Punch in the Face or Cardiac Arrest (and other bands whose vocalists sound like Choke) should also take note. Seven minutes of pure hardcore.

CT85: demo cassette (Not Normal) Nine-track demo from this new Chicago band, and they’re up there with Alienation and Suck Lords as one of the fastest pure hardcore bands around. While those bands are dark and gritty, CT85 is more punk. The Neos seem to be a big influence for CT85, particularly how they combine impossibly fast drumming with a punkier riffing style. CT85 also has an arty element unique among bands that play at tempos this fast. Ralph from Not Normal is in CT85, and like his previous group the Bug, the sound is loose, occasionally devolving into a wash of pure noise, like on the intro to “The One About Your Boss.” There’s also some dissonant, Die Kreuzen style riffing, most notably on “Punk Frat.” If you love the Neos, the first Meat Puppets 7”, or more recent stuff like the Bug and Das Drip you will know and like where CT85 is coming from.

Jeez Louise: Demonstration Recording cassette (Ketchup and Mustard Industries) Demo tape from this new Chicago band featuring Joe Sussman, whom you may remember from Nancy and Dangus Tarkus. We’re Sussman disciples here at Sorry State so I was excited to hear Jeez Louise, and this tape does not disappoint. If you like Sussman’s previous projects you’ll like Jeez Louise, but it is an evolution. There’s still plenty of the glam and Ramones-based power pop, but the Dickies, particularly Dawn of the Dickies, seems to be a big influence on this project (I swear “Motor Home Boys” even samples the car crash noise from “Manny, Moe, and Jack”). Dawn of the Dickies is one of my all-time favorite records, so I’m happy to hear Jeez Louise try their hand at that more ambitious songwriting style and hyper-fast tracks like “Motor Home Boys” and “Baby Mambo” that remind me of “I’m a Cholo” (these tracks also sound a lot like Bad Brains, who copped a lot of that song’s style on their seminal material). As with Nancy and Dangus Tarkus, you can hear some of the influences that shape Jeez Louise, but at the same it’s its own thing, and a weird and unique thing at that. Some people will find the high pitched vocals and goofy lyrics obnoxious, but I love this demo and will be playing it a lot.

Devil Master: Manifestations 12” (Relapse) Philadelphia’s Devil Master took the world by storm with a pair of highly collectible 7”s, and this 12” brings them together and puts them back in print. It’s easy to see why they’ve caught on, because Devil Master’s sound is a fresh and unique mixture of death rock (I hear a lot of Christian Death’s Only Theatre of Pain), black metal, and hardcore punk. Some people will respond to the spooky black metal vibe, some people will love the melodic lead guitar (the leads on the track “Devil Master” are so melodic they almost sound like a black metal-fied Screeching Weasel), while other people will love rampaging through the pit for pogo-punkers like “Failure to Die.” While the sound is gritty and gross (particularly the vocals, which are distorted and buried in the mix), the music has a pop structure that makes you want to listen to it over and over. Don’t be afraid, though, because they always bury the melodies under a ton of grime. Relapse says to expect a new album in early 2019, but in the meantime pick this up if you weren’t one of the lucky few to nab the 7”s.

Booji Boys: Unknown Pleathers 7” (Sewercide) The latest 7” from this Canadian band is a 5-songer that finds them expanding upon and refining their formula. As before, there are elements of hardcore and classic-sounding punk (and maybe even power-pop), but with total shit-fi production. The first track, “I Wanna Be So Good,” is one of their more hardcore moments with a sprightly tempo and chaotic playing. The next few songs are full of the great, classic-sounding punk riffs that Booji Boys are so great at, but the record’s climax is the closing title track. That song's foundation is a great 999 / Undertones style chord progression, and it builds toward a wild double guitar solo… not two guitars harmonizing with one another Iron Maiden-style, but two guitars soloing across and over top of one another, twisting together like a rat king of noise and distortion. Every time I hear a Booji Boys record I think to myself, “man, I wish I could hear the vocals,” but then after a few listens I realize the guitars are the star of the show and the wild and noisy production is the perfect choice for them.

Q: 2nd 7” (Lumpy) Second 7” from this St. Louis band. I remember liking their first one just fine, but this newest one is a real head-turner. A lot of the elements that Q uses sound familiar if you’re listening to the best new hardcore coming out—I hear S.H.I.T. / Blazing Eye-style pogo mosh, harsh d-beat, and more traditional US hardcore—but Q have two things going for them that lesser bands don’t. First, they’re great at putting together complex, Gauze-esque arrangements with instruments dropping in and cutting out amid dramatic shifts in tempo. Second, they accentuate this dynamism with a loose and chaotic playing style. This record sounds genuinely unhinged, like it was made by the kind of people who would light a boat on fire. If that sounds like the what you want to listen to you can’t go wrong picking this one up. 

Eke Buba: S/T 7” (Lumpy) Debut vinyl from this Croatian band. We carried a few of their tape releases a while back and I think they’ve found a fitting home on the same label as Nosferatu, Closet Christ, and Q. Like those bands, Eke Buba play fast, wild, and chaotic hardcore that reminds me of Koro, Deep Wound, and the Neos. The three tracks on the a-side will leave you breathless, the sound teetering toward Siege’s heaviness, but with wilder-sounding vocals a la Void. The two songs on the b-side back off the tempo just a hair and inject garage-punk flavor into the riffing, like you’re playing a Carbonas 45 at 78rpm. It’s over in what feels like about 30 seconds, but it’s a constant thrill ride.

B.E.T.O.E.: Totalitarismo del Sigle XXI 7" (Discos Enfermos) Latest 7” from this long-running Barcelona d-beat band. B.E.T.O.E. has a straightforward d-beat sound a la Criminal Trap-era Anti-Cimex or early Doom, with simple, Discharge-influenced riffing and the noisy, fuzz-drenched (but still thick-sounding) production of Japanese bands like Disclose or Contrast Attitude. Sometimes this style of straightforward d-beat can go in one ear and out the other, but I like how B.E.T.O.E. take a simple riff and ride on it for a while… it’s a lot more authentically like Discharge than bands with complex metallic riffs and dramatic arrangements. Not that the record is monotonous. The tremolo picking in “Despierta” reminds me of early Bathory, while “No Nos Representa” switches out the d-beat for a pogo beat, pulling the band’s sound more toward Confuse-style noise punk. This one might just be for the die-hard d-beaters, but those folks will really enjoy it.

Vanilla Poppers: I Like Your Band 12” (Feel It) Latest 7” from this band that started in Cleveland, but has since moved to Melbourne, Australia (you don’t hear that every day!). I liked the band’s last 12” on Lumpy, but their sound clicks much better on these four new tracks. It’s hard to identify what works so much better here. Like before, the guitarist has a Detroit / Radio Birdman-type riffing style, and while the tempos are still hardcore fast, the production is clearer and the band plays with more swing and swagger. Instead of buzzing on cheap speed, it sounds like Vanilla Poppers are whiskey drunk, cocky, and looking for a fight. With their great, classic-sounding punk riffs and nihilistic hardcore attitude, Vanilla Poppers sound like the rare band who might go over just as well at Goner Fest as Everything Is Not OK.

Tired of Everything: demo cassette (To Live a Lie) Demo cassette from this brand new Raleigh hardcore band; in fact, they played their first show the other day. Will from To Live a Lie Records is the vocalist, and while his previous band Oxidant had the power violence sound you would expect given his label’s history, Tired of Everything is pure hardcore. The riffs are meat and potatoes a la SOA or early Heresy and the drum sound is big and punchy. The vocals carry a touch of melody, but Will delivers them in a deadpan manner that reminds me of countless 80s hardcore bands. If you’re a person (i.e. me) who enjoys listening to old Mystic Records compilations you’ll eat it right up. If you like your USHC authentically 80s style this certainly warrants a listen.

Eyesøres: S/T cassette (self-released) 8-song cassette release from this Australian band, and I believe it’s intended as a full-length album rather than a demo release. With a bass-heavy sound, a chorus effect on guitar, and a vocalist who sounds vaguely like Ian Curtis it’s easy to pigeonhole this as post-punk, but Eyesøres have their own take on the sound. Like a lot of my favorite post-punk and goth bands, Eyesøres don’t overplay the whole “brooding darkness” thing. A lot of their songs have bright and melodic chord progressions, reminding me of how the Chameleons’ or Siouxsie’s best stuff sounded like a haunted version of pop music. Eyesøres also sequence the album well, with the climactic “Golden Soil” (a six-plus minute track that has some of Eddy Current Suppression Ring’s meandering brilliance) leading into three punchier, punkier tracks to close the album with a final adrenaline rush. If you’re a fan of Total Control’s first LP or Constant Mongrel, there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy this too.

Ond Tro: Støv 12” (Travesty Music) Debut 12” from this Danish band. They had an earlier 7” that we carried and the group features a former member of Under Al Kritik, whose EP Sorry State released way back in 2009. Støv is bleak, dark, and desperate, but it’s also intricate and eclectic. The heavy reverb on the vocals, occasional tremolo picking, and dissonant harmonies all seem to come from black metal and contribute to the record’s cold and distant vibe. However, Ond Tro is identifiably a hardcore punk band and not a metal band. Their loose, fast, and darkly melodic way of writing and playing songs reminds me of Everything Falls Apart-era Hüsker Dü or early Articles of Faith, while some songs dabble with bigger melodies that recall the Observers or No Hope for the Kids. However, through all of it the dark and desperate quality persists. I imagine that Støv is too introverted and intricate to catch the hype machine’s ear, but if you like Mülltüte or Kafka Prosess you’ll really enjoy it.

Closet Christ: You’re in My World Now 7” (Lumpy) Vinyl re-release for this DC project’s 2017 cassette. I'm pretty sure the same person who plays every instrument on this record also made the recent Hologram 7” on Hysteria / La Vida Es Un Mus, so it’s funny that it comes out a couple of months after the Hologram record. I also wonder why the project’s name changed, because the two records sound very similar. Certainly if you love one of them, you’ll at least really like the other. Both sound rooted in Koro’s manic, hyper-fast hardcore, but also inject elements of noise and power electronics. Here that’s restricted to the first track’s intro, but it’s quite a way to start a record. It’s kind of like crawling your way up the first big hill of a roller coaster, and when you crest the hill everything is a chaotic blur of unexpected twists and loops. As with Koro, it’s difficult to make sense of it at first, but with repeated listens you understand how intricate and nimble the music has to be in order to sustain that energy level. Some people will prefer Hologram’s burlier sound while others will like the rawness of Closet Christ, but in my book both are 100% essential.

Crisis Actors: demo cassette (self-released) Demo cassette from this new Boston band with members of Sleeper Cell, Terminal Youth, and Poison Control, among many others. I like bands that fall in that grey area between hardcore and catchier strands of punk, and Crisis Actors are right in that pocket. Their songs are fast, the recording is raw, and they even appropriate some Crass lyrics, but they aren’t afraid of a Night Birds-esque surf-punk riff or even a bigger, Observers-esque melody. If you’re a fan of Career Suicide or Social Circkle this will be in your sweet spot. Sometimes bands like this sound too slick or professional, but this demo is very raw. The recording itself is primitive, and the singer’s forceful sing-shout occasionally devolves into a more primal and wild-sounding scream that pushes way into the red. 8 tracks, and all of them rip.

Civic: Those Who No 7” (Famous Class) New 4-song EP from this Australian band whom you may remember from their New Vietnam LP a few months ago. While a lot of Australian bands are moving toward a more accessible sound, these four tracks are heavy and hard-hitting, albeit with a slightly jangly and melodic lead guitar sound. I’m reminded of 70s UK punk bands like the Boys, the Rich Kids, or the Only Ones, bands who were a little more pop-rock than punk but were heavy and fast enough to be lumped in with the punk movement. That’s not to call Civic interlopers, but rather to say their songwriting is more refined and ambitious than your typical punk band. Three originals, a pretty straight cover of “Needle in the Camel’s Eye” by Brian Eno, and a healthy stack of lead guitar lines you’ll be humming for weeks to come.

Exotica: Musique Exotique #03 7” (La Vida Es Un Mus) Latest 5-song EP from this New York punk band, and for my money it’s, by leaps and bounds, the best thing they’ve done so far. First, the recording is just perfect, raw and trebly, but very percussive and with a lot of dynamic impact. The songwriting is also ambitious, with numerous interesting twists and turns packed into these five concise tracks. There’s the wall of sound noise-punk style of “The Ties that Bind,” the harsh noise / experimental elements on “Desciendo,” and the melodic lead guitar on the closer, “Mundo Sin Fin.” Each track is a little different from the last, as the band is confident enough to expand on their formula without experimenting just for the sake of it. Musique Exotique #03 showcases a band at the top of their game, and the rush of listening to a record like this is exhilarating.

Subdued: 4 Track EP 7” (La Vida Es Un Mus) After an excellent demo (which we still have in stock), here’s the vinyl debut from London’s Subdued. Subdued’s sound and image blend cult metal with classic anarcho punk, which results in something that reminds me of early Amebix (particularly the Winter EP), but richer in texture and atmosphere. After the first track, which is a spoken-word piece you’ll either love or hate depending on your predilection for anarcho poetry, comes the EP’s highlight, “Sedation.” With the slowest tempo on the record (an early Killing Joke-esque chug), the guitarist has ample nooks and crannies to fill with metallic and melodic flourishes. I could listen to this track all day as, despite its raw sound, it’s packed with interesting details, like a musical version of a Nick Blinko drawing. The two tracks on the b-side are faster and more hardcore/metal, and while they’re more straightforward, they’re still a cut above your typical rehash hardcore. I hope Subdued stay at it since their sound would work great on a full-length, but in the meantime there’s plenty to digest in these four tracks.

Patti: Bad Back 7” (Erste Theke Tonträger) Debut EP from this band out of Oakland, though I'd forgive you for thinking they’re from Minneapolis as they sound strikingly similar to Uranium Club. Rhythmically, Patti have more of a Minutemen / Suburban Lawns-type white funk swing to them, but the deadpan vocals and Krautrock-ish way of riding simple, repetitive riffs will do any Uranium Club fan right. The bass lines, guitar lines, and vocal patterns are uniformly interesting, but one place Patti excel is in writing cool bridge parts. Most of the songs on Bad Back have a middle section about 3/4 of the way through where the song goes to some strange, unexpected place. The transitions are fluid, so you find yourself thinking, “wait, is this the same song?” until they drop back into one of the familiar parts from earlier in the song. Having that sense of movement and development to the song takes what would have been an interesting collection of riffs and makes them into something more than that, a set of musical stories that unfold in front of you. This is top-notch egg punk, so even if you only mess with the hits like Uranium Club and Coneheads this is worth checking out.

Hate Preachers: 5 Track Demo cassette (Sucks Blood) Another 5-song demo from an LA-based band featuring members of Blazing Eye, but this time the culprits are Hate Preachers. This demo has the same perfect recording quality as Cruelty Bomb (it’s nearly as perfect as an old Inner Ear recording), but Hate Preachers have a UK82-influenced style rather than Cruelty Bomb’s straight d-beat. The vocals still have that raspy, Japanese-type sound a la Blazing Eye, so these straightforward, mid-paced riffs might remind you of G-Zet or mid-era Execute just as much as the Exploited or the Partisans. Like Cruelty Bomb, I can’t think of much else to say… whatever magical fairy dust they’re sprinkling on these recordings, I wish I could get some of it for my own bands.

Ultra: Alta Montaña 12” (La Vida Es Un Mus) After two earlier 7”s we get the debut 12” from Barcelona’s Ultra, and it’s a big step up from those earlier EPs. Like a lot of bands from Barcelona, Ultra have a progressive sound with lots of twists, turns, and intricacies in the songwriting. That’s not to say they don’t rage; like  Osservati Dall'Inganno-era Indigesti (or that record’s obvious inspiration, the Bad Brains), the intricacies increase the power rather than provide a break from it. If you like lightning-fast, stop on a dime hardcore you’ll love the tight playing and clear and powerful recording, but my favorite parts are when the band spreads out. The guitar solos are a treat, with the title track’s wild, whammy bar-heavy lead reminding me of a weird, progressive thrash band like Nocturnus. I also love the Sunn-esque droning intro to “Estado Vital,” and the two electronic pieces on the record are also a pleasant breather. If you’re into the noisy and progressive hardcore that’s been coming out of Barcelona for the past decade, it’s hard to imagine you wouldn’t love Alta Montaña.

Phone Jerks: S/T 12” (Alien Snatch) Debut 12” from this Canadian band playing raw, hyperactive garage-punk in the tradition of bands like the Rip Offs and Teengenerate. While that’s the core of their sound—and they execute it well—there’s a lot more than just a genre exercise happening on this LP. All the songs are fast, raw, and in the same style, but changes in tempo, switching off vocalists, and dropping the occasional ripping guitar lead keeps things fresh from track to track. The lead-off, “Bitchiker,” is my favorite, its high-pitched, comically snotty vocals reminding me of the Nubs or the band Speed from the first Destroy All Art compilation. Aside from maybe Midnite Snaxxx (who are much poppier), there aren’t a ton of North American bands doing this 90s style of garage-punk, so if you’re a fan of the style you know what to do.

Priors: S/T 12” (La Vida Es Un Mus) Debut from this Melbourne, Australia band featuring members of a bunch of other bands. With a wild and noisy sound, Priors are a great fit for La Vida Es Un Mus, and if you’re a fan of Pig DNA, Sial, or Hologram you’ll see where Priors is coming from. On their faster tracks they sound like futuristic noise-punk, like Confuse but faster, clearer, heavier, and more grating, i.e. capable of drowning out your 2018 reality. The real treat, though, is when Priors back off the tempo and let the catchiness shine through. Like a lot of noisier bands, the bass player does the heavy lifting, and tracks like “Liquidation” might even leave you with a tune stuck in your head. And then there’s “Nanoaggression,” for my money the record’s best track. With a mid-paced melodic riff, “Nanoaggression” is oi! music through the noise-punk filter, like Lebenden Toten deciding to rip through a Red Alert cover. I can’t think of anything else that sounds like it. If you follow La Vida Es Un Mus and similar labels like Iron Lung, you’ve probably already checked this out, but if not you there’s another item for your to-do list.

Neighborhood Brats: Claw Marks 12” (Dirt Cult) Latest full-length (their second, though they also have a ton of 7”s and a singles collection LP) from this California band. Having grown up on 90s melodic / pop-punk and gotten into 80s-style hardcore through that style and the ’77 classics, I’m always impressed with bands who can toe the line between those styles, and Neighborhood Brats are one of the best. While most of their songs feature catchy vocal parts, they never sound like a weak pop punk band. Their songs are uniformly upbeat and/or aggressive, and they never sound like a one-dimensional hardcore band. Further, while Neighborhood Brats are one of those bands whose sound you can recognize in seconds, the space between these different micro-genres proves fertile, allowing them room to write songs that sound remarkably different from one another. Tracks like “Night Shift” and “One Way Friends” edge toward the jittery, punked-up power pop of Midnite Snaxxx (one of my personal favorites), while “Misery Parade” and “Nina’s Ghost” sound like the more hardcore end of late 80s / early 90s skate punk (either would have been a solid track on a mid-period Bad Religion LP). Tracks like the big closer, “Touching the Void,” bring reverbed-out surf guitar into the mix a la Night Birds. Claw Marks is an ambitious album, but one that still gives you everything you expect from a DIY punk LP. If you’re a fan of Night Birds and No Love you should also add a big stack of Neighborhood Brats records to you “N” section.

Pig DNA: Strong Throat 7” (Square One Again) Final recordings from this Bay Area noise-punk band. We’ve followed them closely here at Sorry State, and I still think their Mob Shity 12” is one of the most underrated releases on the La Vida Es Un Mus label. This limited (200 copies!) final 7” finds the band going out on a high note, pushing their sound to its outer limits. The a-side track is a wash of bashing hi-hats, reverbed-to-hell vocals, and other, feedback-drenched noises I assume are coming from a guitar, but I can’t be sure. Like the best bands in this style, Pig DNA have a noise artist’s ear for dynamics, and what makes the song come alive is how instruments careen off and past one another, the different noise textures bouncing around like popcorn kernels dropped into hot oil. The b-side, though, is where things get really exciting. Structurally, it’s your typical noise punk song with a bass that carries the melody, squealing guitars that remind me of Confuse’s Indignation tape, and Disorder-type caustic vocals. The catch is there’s no drum track. Your ear keeps waiting for the drums to kick in, but they never do. It’s a simple move, but it gives the song a different character, making space for different noise frequencies and textures to take center stage. While the facts that the record is so short, more expensive than your typical 7”, and more progressive / avant garde than average will mean it’ll have a limited audience, that just makes it more enticing for those of you who love exploring the outer reaches of noise punk.

The Floor Above: Assault on Still Live cassette (Not Normal Records) Not Normal Records continues its long-running association with this obscure Nashville hardcore band on this latest cassette, containing 21 of the loosest, rawest slices of hardcore you’re likely to hear. The reference points are obvious—Void, Negazione, Cheetah Chrome Motherfuckers, newer bands like Mozart or Neon… that kind of thing—but if you like this style of music you don’t care about the reference points so much as the unhinged freedom that these bands evoke in the listener, and the Floor Above do it better than just about anyone. It seems like they spontaneously create riffs then forget them as they're recording these tracks. Guitars go way out of tune. There are plenty of short outbursts of pure hardcore thrash, but there’s a surprising amount of melody here too. “Roadside Abyss” is a highlight, sounding like it was spliced in from a drunken Plastic Surgery Disasters-era Dead Kennedys bootleg. “Diminished Players” has a comically dumb riff, but the way that riff phases in and out of existence due the looseness of the playing elevates it to the level of genius. Can you even call this “loose” anymore? It’s something else to me, the undiluted sound of “I don’t give a fuck.” My only gripe is with the vocals, which sit way back in the mix and serve as window dressing rather than an essential part of the sound. This is niche stuff, but it’s a niche I can’t get enough of when it’s done just right.

Ripcord: Harvest Hardcore 7” (YOFC) First official reissue of the first Ripcord 7” (The Damage Is Done was a flexi, ya dingus!) from 1988. Whenever you see the word “Ripcord” referring to the late 80s UK hardcore band you can bet that the word “Heresy” won't be more than 20 words away, and I’m here to maintain cosmic order. Truthfully, I was always more partial to Heresy. I’m a smidge too young to have gotten into these groups when they were around, and whether it was that Heresy’s material was more available or that they maintained their back catalog in a more attractive way (I suspect both), I’ve always reached for the H section rather than R when I’m looking for something faster than fast. Today, though, Harvest Hardcore is hitting me right. Ripcord really were a twin-headed beast with Heresy, with both bands sharing blistering fast, dunka-dunka hardcore beats, big breakdowns, and a curated list of cover tunes that still speaks to 21st century tastes (Siege and SS Decontrol on here). The production is solid and the playing tight and locked in, never degenerating into the semi-incoherent blur of, say, Napalm Death. It feels like this era / style of hardcore isn’t the most fashionable at the moment, but then again we sold quite a few copies of that recent reissue of Heresy’s Face Up To It, so maybe I’m wrong. What I can tell you is that Harvest Hardcore is one of the better records to emerge from that scene, particularly if your tastes lean toward straightforward hardcore rather than grind and power violence.

Uncontrollable Urge: S/T 12” (Schizophrenic) Debut LP from this Canadian band that plays dense, catchy, and occasionally swampy punk rock. While the label’s description mentions Liliput, Wire, and Gang of Four, for me those references don’t feel spot-on because those bands are, to some degree at least, minimalists, while Uncontrollable Urge’s sound is more maximalist. The recording is dense and lush, seeming to take up the entire sonic spectrum and leaving your ears to the weighty task of pulling individual elements from the din. Fortunately, there’s a lot to be interested in here. Tracks like the opener “Go Alone” and “Push Back” have a spunky, upbeat punk sound that reminds me of Bratmobile at their best, while “Your Way Out” and “Faked It” have a swampy, lurching sound like Flipper or even the Scientists. My favorite tracks on the record, though, are ones like “Dark Days” and “The Fear,” that have an imposing, apocalyptic quality to them. There’s something of the Birthday Party or Laughing Hyenas’ sense of grandiosity in these tracks, which makes “The Fear” an effective closer. As I said, these tracks are so dense with ideas it may take you a listen or two to make sense of it, but it’s worth the effort.

Natterers: Head in Threatening Attitude 12” (Boss Tuneage) After an excellent 7” last year, the UK’s Natterers lay their debut full length on us. I’m not sure why bands like this tend to have names that start with the letter “N,” but if you're a fan of Night Birds, No Love, or Neighborhood Brats, Natterers’ debut LP is one you need to hear. Like those bands’ records, Head in Threatening Attitude falls in that fertile space between the worlds of hardcore and more straightforward punk, combining the blistering tempos and dynamic, million-changes-a-minute songwriting style of dense, DIY hardcore with a more tuneful, song-oriented approach. Rather than watering each other down, these qualities reinforce one another, giving the LP a three-dimensionality that less ambitious bands don’t have. You’ve got tracks like the slow & brooding “Dead Men Can’t Catcall,” faster melodic hardcore tracks like “Defiant (Again),” punkier songs with more melodic vocals like “Not Long Left Now,” and herky-jerky, rhythmically complex songs like “Germs and Creeps” and “So Much More” that remind me of Group Sex era Circle Jerks or Plastic Surgery Disasters era Dead Kennedys. And there’s even an album-closing surf instrumental! Whether you’re coming at this album because you want a shot of pure punk adrenaline or you want to hear a shit-hot band light their fretboards, drum skins, and vocal chords on fire, Head in Threatening Attitude will do it for you. A real scorcher.

Diastereomer: Ignition Advancer 12” (Bitter Lake) Bitter Lake’s latest reissue from the 80s Japanese new wave scene is this compilation from Diastereomer. As I’ve mentioned before, the new / no wave scene that Bitter Lake has documented so far had more overlap with new age and ambient music than comparable US and UK scenes, and Diastereomer follow that pattern. While moments will scratch your itch for early Human League and “The Diastereomer” has an early industrial, proto-Wax Trax sound, Diastereomer are less rhythmic and more atmospheric. Most tracks are deliberate and meditative, unfolding over several minutes. My favorite track on the record, “Ignition,” features a spooky, John Carpenter-esque synth line and vocals that have the eerie quality of monks chanting in unison. If the other releases on Bitter Lake have interested you, this warrants a listen, but know going in that, sonically, it might be the least rock or punk-adjacent release on the label so far.

Plomo:  Sombras de Manana 7” (Verdugo Discos) After a popular demo, here’s the debut 7” from Chicago’s Plomo, which features ex-members of Gas Rag. While Plomo has a gritty vibe with their nasty, early Dischord-type guitar sound and a gravel-throated vocalist, a closer listen reveals a surprising range on these five tracks. There are catchy, Angry Samoans-type riffs on “Espejo,” while “Malas” is a take-no-prisoners hardcore ripper with catchy stops and starts on the chorus. “Al Día” finishes things off with a dark and melodic riff that reminds me of early Articles of Faith. While the songs and performances are great, my only gripe with the record is that it doesn’t sound as explosive as it should. The tones of the individual instruments sound great, but pushing the whole mix into the red might have given this a savage quality that would have served the band well. The record still smokes, but you might have to turn it up to ear-splitting volume to get the full impact. You would probably do that anyway, though, right? 

Mind Dweller: Kick Out the Amps Motherfucker cassette (self-released) Limited 3-song cassette pressed up for Mind Dweller’s recent mini-tour with Richmond’s Sinister Purpose. In case you don’t remember Mind Dweller’s earlier tape on Sorry State, the quick description is that they’re an Annihilation Time-style rocked-out punk band (or punked-out rock band), but there’s so much diversity in their sound I don’t think that does the band justice. That’s true even on this brief, 3-track cassette. The opener, “Dos Exx,” is as close to a prototypical Mind Dweller track as you’ll find with its big main riff and more agile, Thin Lizzy-style runs on the chorus. “Involuntary Trap” is a standout for being the rare pure hardcore track in Mind Dweller’s catalog. It reminds me of Government Warning, not just in its speed and precision, but also in how the band uses their songwriting and arranging chops to elevate what might otherwise be a straightforward track into something special. The third and final track, “Greed Mania,” gives us more blistering hardcore, but the song’s highlight is the early Iron Maiden-style twin lead guitar in the middle section. Let’s hope this tape is the precursor to more Mind Dweller material hitting the streets soon, because this one is straight fire.

Jellicoe & Woodbury: Doubt b/w Fear 7” (Quality Control HQ) A pretty dang killer Japanese hardcore homage here with the requisite Sugi artwork on the sleeve (and it’s one of the better pieces I’ve seen from him lately). Rather than going for the obvious and trying to grab that Death Side or G.I.S.M. fairy dust, Jellicoe & Woodbury remind me of Insane Youth, a less celebrated but underrated Japanese hardcore band that featured future Forward guitarist Soichi. While Burning Spirits-style hardcore is necessarily bombastic, Insane Youth were understated and unpretentious in their approach, and Jellicoe & Woodbury follow that path. These songs aren’t flashy or over the top, just exciting, well-executed hardcore songs with great drumming, meaty riffs, and top-notch production. I’ve listened to both half a dozen times and I still really like them. The other wrinkle to this single is that the band is comprised (at least partly, maybe wholly) of members of Fucked Up, and record serves as an oblique marketing tie-in to that band’s new LP. How does a limited-release 7” on a small UK label paying tribute to a genre that only a few thousand people in the world even know about (much less like) help to edge someone further toward the decision to pick up a copy of Dose Your Dreams? I don't know, but like Fucked Up’s “fake compilation” David’s Town, this warrants a place in your collection even if you have zero interest in Fucked Up’s higher-profile output.

Ultra Razzia: S/T 12” (Foreign Legion) Chicago’s Foreign Legion Records have become one of the world’s foremost purveyors of legit oi! over the past few years, with the Fuerza Bruta LP they released last year turning heads that had only recently returned to a resting position after being blown back by Rixe’s recorded output. If you’re into the sounds that Rixe and comparable, hardcore-affiliated bands like Crown Court are making, then you should know what Foreign Legion is up to. Their latest is the debut LP from Quebec’s Ultra Razzia, who play primarily mid-paced, stomping stuff that reminds me of early Blitz crossed with tougher-sounding old French oi!. With 13 tracks (most of them hovering in the 2 1/2 to 3 minute range), the LP seems like a lot to digest at first, but after a listen or two highlights emerge. I’m a big fan of the track “Razzia.” While it’s the longest track on the record, the extra space makes room for killer, Criminal Damage-esque melodic lead guitar. It doesn’t hurt that it’s also the first part of a one-two punch with “Dans La Guele Du Loup,” the record’s fastest track... its “Never Surrender,” if you will. No one would accuse Ultra Razzia of redefining the oi! template, but the songwriting, production, and performance here are all top notch. If you’re partial to Criminal Damage or Rixe, this LP would be a great soundtrack for a night in with a 6-pack and a few of your mates.

CB Radio Gorgeous: Plays CB Radio Gorgeous cassette (Not Normal) Demo cassette from yet another great punk band out of the Chicago area on Not Normal Tapes. Like a lot of those bands, CB Radio Gorgeous features members of other bands you know, but they don’t feel like a continuation or an extension of a previous project, but rather their own thing. They bear similarities to Big Zit’s Bad Brains-isms, mostly because they play so damn fast and their songs are so great. The production reminds me of the Bad Brains’ Black Dots material and the songs have smart arrangements that make room for all the band’s excellent players to bounce off one another. You’ll often hear a melodic bass line cruising past a guitar riff in a different direction or a drum fill finding its perfect home in the space left open in a riff. Whether CB Radio Gorgeous are in full-on, blistering Bad Brains mode or they’re doing one of their more mid-paced, Dangerhouse-y tracks they keep every second of this tape lively and interesting. I’ve heard a lot of interesting things out of Chicago over the past few years, but this is among the best.

Deodorant: Smells Good 12” (Not Normal) Not Normal digs into Chicago’s bowels and brings us yet another great, unique band. I can’t think of another scene that has nurtured such a diverse and ambitious group of bands over the past few years. Bless Not Normal for documenting so much of it. As for Deodorant, that they’ve laid these tracks to vinyl rather than Not Normal’s default cassette format signals they’ve put in a little more work here. The 12 tracks (well, 14 counting the intro and outro) chew up and spit out a huge range of punk styles, from Big Boys punk/funk, to Butthole Surfers-esque dirge, to Germs-esque nihilistic hardcore, to Dead Kennedys / Crucifucks-esque mockery. Stylistic uniformity has become less popular in the punk scene lately, but Deodorant push it further than most, seemingly determined never to repeat a move or an idea. And like a lot of the bands on Not Normal, they counter-balance their musical ambition with a rough, DIY production style that captures the anger, aggression, and alienation we all look for in punk music while still leaving room for moments of beauty to emerge. If you’re a fan of genre-benders like Warm Bodies or Brown Sugar, this will get you going, but anyone with a taste for left-of-center hardcore should give this a listen.

Fuckin’ Lovers: Electric Lover cassette (self-released) Demo cassette from this new band out of Philadelphia featuring most of Allergy, whom you may remember from a handful of ripping noise-punk records over the past few years. Fuckin’ Lovers played a killer set here in North Carolina a few days ago and I grabbed copies of the tape for the SSR faithful. While Fuckin’ Lovers take inspiration from the same Japanese noise-punk sounds as Allergy (e.g. Confuse, Gai, etc.), Fuckin’ Lovers also represents a subtle stylistic shift. First, instead of having a stand-alone vocalist, the bassist and guitarist share vocal duties, often engaging in memorable back-and-forth trade-offs that add an extra layer of excitement to the songs. Second, Fuckin’ Lovers inject a Swankys-esque sense of fun into their songs. While they’re not as over the top pogo-punk as, say, Sad Boys, allowing the bass to carry the melody makes these songs jump out, and the melodic quality to the bass lines makes for an intriguing contrast with the guitar’s total noise assault and the drums’ relentless pounding. Fuckin’ Lovers work within stylistic boundaries here, but they’re finding their own place within them and honing their unique take.

Stigmatism: S/T 7” (Beach Impediment) 9 songs of total United Blood worship from this New York (or is it New York / Montreal?) project. By the crushing breakdown that comes less than 20 seconds into the first track you’ll have a clear idea of what Stigmatism does and how good they are at doing it. Bands who say they’re influenced by Agnostic Front are a dime a dozen, but few make use of the stylistic tropes of the United Blood era that Stigmatism adopt: things like playing any given part about half as long as you expect them to; unexpected and non-intuitive shifts in tempo; and jagged, non-linear songwriting (see, for instance, “Your Demise,” whose parts seem to be stitched together almost at random). There are few points where they crib directly from their most important source material (“Business End” sounds quite a lot like “Last Warning”), instead reverse engineering AF’s classic tunes and building new ones using the same tools and skills. If you liked the Ammo demo we hyped a few weeks back, you’ll want to pick this up (though it’s more polished and a little less unhinged), but the bottom line is that if you’re intrigued by a band in 2018 playing a note-perfect United Blood homage, there’s no way this is going to disappoint you.

Swankys: This Is My Lifestyle 7” (Crowmaniax) The Crowmaniax label gives us another lovingly executed, detail-oriented reissue of a Japanese hardcore classic, and this time it’s the Swankys’ first EP from 1985. In case you aren’t familiar with the history (all the info is coming from the recently released Flex Japanese discography book BTW), Swankys started in 1982, then changed their name to Gai in 1983, releasing (alongside Confuse, with whom they’re almost always mentioned) some of the most brutal, wild, and exciting noise-punk ever created. Then in 1985 they changed their name back to the Swankys and shifted their style somewhat, incorporating the simple, sing-song-y melodies of bands like the Toy Dolls, the Adicts, and Asta Kask. This Is My Lifestyle finds the band right on the cusp of that second transition. They recorded two of the tracks while they still called the band Gai (they also appeared on Gai's Damnation cassette), one is a re-recording of an older Gai song, and only the title track is a new composition. Unsurprisingly this is the one that anticipates where the Swankys would go on future releases. So many bands have ripped off the Swankys’ formula that it's hard to hear them for how revolutionary their sound was, but there’s no denying this is a great EP. While the guitars aren’t as ludicrously abstract as, say, Confuse’s Indignation, no noise punker will be disappointed with this EP. Perhaps my favorite aspect of This Is My Lifestyle, though, is the vocals. The vocalist merges the growling Japanese vocal style I associate with GISM and Execute with a Johnny Rotten-esque sneer. The single greatest moment on this record is on “Fundamental,” when one of those guttural screams somehow disintegrates into a laugh. What a perfect summation of what the Swankys were all about.

Rata Negra: Justicia Cosmica 12” (La Vida Es Un Mus) One of LVEUM’s flagship bands returns with their long-awaited second LP. As on their first LP, Rata Negra strike a perfect balance between the sweet and salty, delivering song after song that makes you sing along by your second listen, but continues to reveal new wrinkles even after many repeat listens (which, I assure you, this has gotten). The vocal lines are big, broad, and memorable; that’s no surprise if you’re familiar with the band’s first LP or the singer’s previous band, the underrated Juanita Y Los Feos. If you’re a fan of Masshysteri’s big singalongs, her vocals are the aspect of the band you’ll latch onto first, and I promise you’ll love them just as much. For me, though, the guitar work is where Justicia Cosmica shines. While the vocals are blunt and forceful, the guitars are cagey and chameleon-like, shifting between the melodic post-punk leads of “Sombras,” the almost jazzy “Te Elevas,” the surfy “En Su Boca El Veneno,” and the more Johnny Thunders-esque “Vergüenza.” Besides the guitarist’s stylistic flexibility keeping monotony well at bay, his leads are almost always the darker, dissonant counterpoint to to the broader, brighter vocal melodies. It’s that interplay that makes Rata Negra so great. This is music you want to sing along with on a rainy day, not a sunny one. The recording here is powerful and texturally rich, the artwork looks cool… it’s an A+ LP all around, and recommended for anyone who doesn’t mind a big dose of melody in their punk.

Geld: Soft Power 7” (Iron Lung) After the head-turning Perfect Texture LP here’s a new 4-songer from Australia’s Geld. We get three hardcore burners on the a-side and a single, longer track on the flip. As I listen to the tracks on the a-side, I keep thinking of the Impalers. Geld share some of Impalers’ stylistic tropes, like the wild, over-the-top solo in “Burning Hammer” and their general way of playing big, tough-sounding hardcore that stays in the pocket even when accelerating to impossibly fast speeds. Impalers are the gold standard for hardcore bands who can play, and when I make that comparison it’s meant to say you’re dealing with top-notch hardcore musicianship, as is the case here. Geld, however, have this whole other arty dimension that’s at least as big a part of their music as the ferocious hardcore. That pops up even on their fast songs, but it’s most evident on the record’s b-side, which they devote to the lurching “L.O.W.A.G.” This track’s apocalyptic vibe reminds me of the Birthday Party at their best. They also add a saxophone to the band’s usual lineup for this track, though the sax sits back in the mix. This isn’t just one of those “hardcore dirges” where you get a single riff repeated ad nauseam. There are plenty of wild and noisy guitar pyrotechnics to occupy your attention. It makes perfect sense that Geld have found a home on Iron Lung Records, who have always alternated servings of meat and potatoes with the latest trends in conceptual gastronomy. That Geld unite these two poles makes them perhaps the quintessential Iron Lung Records band.

Udüsic: Long in the Tooth cassette (self-released) Latest cassette from this Chicago band whom you may remember from their two earlier 7”s on Painkiller Records. The insert notes they’re working on new material, but shared this 4-track covers cassette in the meantime. If you haven’t heard Udüsic, at first listen they seem like a typical fast hardcore band, but closer inspection reveals unexpected wrinkles. Their choice of covers and their approach to them embodies their subtly progressive approach. You get straightforward covers of classic hardcore tracks by No Thanks and Poison Idea (though the lyrics for “Castration” take on a different character with a woman on the microphone) and more ambitious reworkings of tracks by ZZ Top and Black Randy & the Metrosquad. The recording quality is raw but clear, either a rough 4-track job or a carefully mic’d room recording. While Long in the Tooth doesn’t feel as significant as Udüsic’s vinyl releases, the band sweetens the pot by making the release a benefit for Lysistrata, an organization that aids sex workers. If you buy this cassette from Sorry State, 100% of the money will go to Lysistrata, so grab this ripping little reel and make the world a better place at the same time.

Iron Cages: Indulgence 7” (Society Bleeds) Debut 7" from this DC band. Iron Cages strikes me as an oddball hardcore band that interrogates the conventions of hardcore songwriting. They have the same ingredients as a typical hardcore band—throat-shredding vocals, fast and chaotic riffs, and the occasional mosh-inducing tempo change—but the songs don’t flow like you expect them to. Rather than building from a verse into a triumphant chorus and then letting things crash into a breakdown in the expected way, Iron Cages swing between these modes in a way that feels haphazard and almost random, frequently delaying or omitting the “payoff” that we expect from pop oriented music. Beyond just the arrangements, they also have a quirky and interesting playing style. In multiple songs they do this strange rhythm I call the “slow pogo” that is infectious, like cough syrup-infused take on the standard 1-2 hardcore beat. If you have a clear idea of the formula that makes for a good hardcore record and you expect bands to stick to that formula then you won't like Iron Cages. However, if you like bands who do it their own way and defy your expectations, then this record may well do it for you.

The Gears: Let’s Go to the Beach 7” (Munster) Reissue of this California punk classic on Spain’s Munster Records. The Gears’ Rockin’ at Ground Zero is a personal favorite, but I’d only heard this 7” in passing. The two best songs on Ground Zero appear here—“Let’s Go to the Beach” and “Don’t Be Afraid to Pogo”—and I think these versions beat the ones on the LP. They’re a little rawer, with a primitive studio sound that reminds me of the 60s. It sounds similar to the way bands like the Sonics were recorded, and the raw sound puts the emphasis on the Gears’ knack for writing a great chorus hook. The one exclusive track, “Hard Rock,” doesn’t have as memorable a melody as the two classics, but what it lacks in catchiness it makes up for with speed and power. Maybe this isn’t an all-time classic punk 45, but if your interest in early US punk extends beyond the Dangerhouse catalog, this is well worth checking out.

Seditionaries: Wherewolf 7” (Meat House) Reissue of this obscure LA punk 45. I’d never even heard of it, and it’s an exciting prospect to discover some unheard early LA punk at my ripe old age. I don’t think anyone would call Wherewolf a great single, but it oozes charm. On “Wherewolf,” it sounds like the band is going for a death rock sound a la early T.S.O.L. or the punkier 45 Grave songs with its fast tempo, dramatic chord changes, and B horror lyrics. It’s tough to tell if they're being ironic because the lyrics are goofy but not overtly sarcastic, and the vocalist has a Dave Vanian-esque sense of camp. There is also no acknowledgement on the record that the band has consistently misspelled the word “werewolf.” The b-side is a cover of the Yardbirds’ tune “Shapes of Things” and it’s your typical punked-up take on a 60s song. While the songs themselves aren’t great (though they are good), my favorite thing about this single is the vibe. It sounds like a bunch of teenagers making something for themselves and their friends, like you’re overhearing a conversation between a group of friends who spend all of their time together. The recording is also perfect, raw but clear, like they recorded it in a budget studio like Mystic. This reissue isn’t for everyone, but if you go deep in the early California punk scene, spinning this will be a joy.

Various: Killed by Meth Vol 3 12” (It’s Trash) Volume 3 of this compilation series highlighting bands from North America’s rust belt. Volume 3 is a tough volume for a compilation series. The first volume is new and exciting, the second volume makes you think “whoa, they did another one,” and then by the third volume that initial excitement has worn off. Fortunately, Killed by Meth has carved out a niche highlighting great unheard garage punk from their part of the world. As usual, some names will be familiar to Sorry State’s audience. Sorry State label alumni S.L.I.P. open with a brand new track of their trademark lurching, Black Flag-style punk. You may remember Cleveland’s Knowso from their LP on Neck Chop, and if you follow the Perverts Again universe, you’ll want to hear their track. Garage rockers will recognize Obnox, who delivers one of his trademark tracks that sounds like ultra-lo-fi garage but whose melody and rhythm are deceptively funky. From there, though, it’s uncharted waters for me. If I had to characterize the whole compilation, the dominant sound is the raw and primal (but not 60s retro) garage-punk sound I associate with Maximumrocknroll in the 90s. If you like the Destroy All Art compilations, these strike me as the kinds of bands collected there. As with any compilation, some tracks stick out. My favorite is from WLMRT, whose raw and chaotic synth-punk reminds me of the Deadbeats, but wilder and with a stronger sense of melody. As a whole, the comp balances variety and similarity, so it plays like a consistent album rather than a sampler platter. If this were the 90s, I could picture a sun-bleached CD sitting on my dashboard and getting played as I drive around trying to relieve my teenage boredom. This is 2018 so I don’t know how many people will do that, but Killed By Meth Vol 3 makes you feel like you could.

Haldol: UK / Ireland / Iceland Tour cassette (self-released) Brand new 5-song cassette from Philadelphia’s Haldol, and they continue to evolve and push boundaries. There are things that have remained consistent across Haldol’s releases (well, at least since they moved from Nashville to Philadelphia)—the tom-heavy drumming, melodic bass lines, and tortured vocals—but each release has had a very different vibe than the last. Their self-titled LP sounded like a cleaned-up (but still fucked-up) version of Rudimentary Peni, while The Totalitarianism of Everyday Life got dark in a way that reminded me of Joy Division’s Closer. These new songs find the band evolving yet again, laying melodic guitars over the dark and driving foundation. Barring the very different vocal style, the songs on this tape remind me of tracks like “The Queen Is Dead” and “Bigmouth Strikes Again” from the Smiths’ The Queen Is Dead, songs that have a tough, Gang of Four or Crisis-like rhythm section topped with shimmering, melodic guitar that spends most of its time on the higher-pitched strings rather than replicating the bass lines as power chords. The result is grimy yet beautiful, like an oil slick on top of a pothole that’s filled with water from the first rainstorm in a while. The songs are still sprawling and non-linear and listening can be as disorienting as navigating a house of mirrors. But for all of its difficult qualities, I keep coming back to this tape. It’s not an easy listen, but it rewards the people willing to invest the time to parse its beauty.

Electric Chair: Public Apology 7” (Stucco) Debut 7” from this band out of Olympia. The label highlights their Gang Green-isms in the description, but that’s only part of their style. While Electric Chair are great at fast and out of control hardcore that reminds me of early Gang Green or the Neos, they also know their way around a catchy, mid-paced punk tune a la Career Suicide or Social Circkle, though without the tightness or polish of either of those bands. The vocalist even incorporates a little bit of melody into their style, which is something you rarely hear from bands who play this fast and raw. Speaking of which, this has a nasty recording that sounds like they threw it together on a 4 track between knife hits. If you like bands like Alienation or Suck Lords but you still play your Adolescents and Zero Boys records you’ll flip for this.

Hologram: S/T 7” (Hysteria) Debut 7” from this Washington, DC band. While a lot of rather professional and polished-sounding music has come out of that city in the past few years, Hologram don't sound professional or polished. They are raw and confrontationally progressive, with a vibe more like a contemporary New York / Toxic State band than the more clean-cut sound I associate with DC. Their fast, hardcore parts are loose and wild a la Wretched or Negazione, which they accentuate with a mix that highlights a very trashy-sounding crash cymbal. If Hologram had filled a 7” with this kind of wild and out of control hardcore I would already recommend it, but they’re more than just a visceral hardcore band. “Reprieve” is a short noise piece that sounds like it could have been an outtake from the Eraserhead soundtrack, but my favorite track is “Mirroring,” which starts with an unsettling fast hardcore riff, then heads into a noisy breakdown that brings the abstract elements of “Reprieve” into the context of a hardcore song. There are plenty of bands out there with noise interludes (Geld springs to mind as a recent example), but I can’t think of another band off the top of my head who builds that sense of experimentation into their hardcore tracks as effectively as Hologram. If you like both experimental, genre-bending hardcore and the loose and wild sounds of the Italian classics I cannot recommend this record highly enough.

Droid’s Blood: On Trial Years Later b/w I’m Going to Die Poor 7” (Weirdly) Debut 7” from this Chicago band that is a new iteration of Sorry State favorites Broken Prayer. If you were a fan of Broken Prayer it’s hard to imagine how you wouldn’t be on board with Droid’s Blood, since they rely on a similar combination of noisy hardcore and whirring synth topped with Scott Plant’s trademark topical lyrics and distinctive vocals. The a-side is a mass of chaotic sound, but when you focus on any instrument you realize that every one of them is doing something memorable. Following the song is like tracking a great jazz track, where your ear might drift from one instrument to another, but wherever it finds itself will be enjoyable. Then on the b-side the guitar takes center stage, backed up by washes of white noise from the synth. Scott’s vocals are a little harder to discern than they were on the Broken Prayer stuff, which is a shame because his lyrics are always thought-provoking. Still, I’ve been playing this record constantly since it arrived. I hear the band has an LP in the can, so hopefully we'll hear more from them soon.

Terrorist: The State Dreams Its Enemy Into Being 7” (Toxic State) Debut 7” from this New York punk band on the Toxic State label. As I’ve noted before, it seems like an unwritten rule that every New York band from the Toxic State scene needs to find their own style and voice, and Terrorist continue that trend by firmly establishing their own aesthetic on this debut EP. While I don’t know much about the personnel (they only list first names on the sleeve), it was recorded at D4MT Labs, home of Kaleidoscope. This EP bears some of the hallmarks of that crew, like the wah-drenched guitars that remind me of Shiva from Kaleidoscope’s psychedelic explorations. However, Terrorist isn’t a pscyh band; their primitive, propulsive thump reminds me a lot of standout Exploited tracks like “Attack” or “Dead Cities” even though, as a whole, the band doesn’t have a strong UK82 vibe. The contrast between the loose and jammy guitar sound and the powerful primitivism of the rhythm section is jarring at first, but it works and makes this record both singular and powerful. And, since it’s on Toxic State, you know the design and presentation is 100% on point.

Waste Management: Tried and True 12” (Painkiller) Long-awaited debut full-length from this Boston band. You’ll recognize the personnel from many Boston-based projects over the years, but Waste Management stands on its own within that complicated family tree of bands. To me, they sound like a mash-up of classic Boston hardcore like Last Rights or SSD (or maybe more recent bands in that style like Wasted Time) and blistering fast Japanese hardcore, Gauze in particular. The nods to the former style (and its progeny, late 80s straight edge hardcore) are more obvious: the cover drawing, the back cover layout, and the big mosh parts that pepper the LP. However, the bass player is wearing a No Side shirt on the back cover, the insert collage reminds me of the the back cover of Fuck Heads, and the whiplash changes on tracks like “Face the Fire” find the band dangerously close to replicating Gauze’s trademark speed and precision. The vocals remain a love it or hate it proposition, and whether you consider them an acquired taste or a dealbreaker will probably dictate your feelings on this LP. Tried and True stands confidently alongside records by other scene defining bands like Boston Strangler and No Tolerance, so if you’ve been following the contemporary Boston hardcore scene you’ll want to hear this.

The Shifters: Have a Cunning Plan 12” (Trouble in Mind) The Shifters seemed to spring out of nowhere a year ago, and after a spate of releases on several labels they’ve found a home for their debut full-length on Trouble in Mind Records. The jump to a bigger label hasn’t changed the band though. They still sound like a mash-up of early, pre-Brix Fall and Dunedin sound bands like the Clean or the Chills. The full-length format allows the Shifters to spread out, so more repetitive, Fall-esque songs get a little more breathing room, like “Andrew Bolt,” which begins with a synth intro that reminds me of early Tangerine Dream and evolves into the kind of zoned out, Krautrock-inspired excursion that the Fall would embark upon at least one or twice per album. There’s still plenty of pop, though, with tracks like “Molasses” and “Carlisle” bringing memorable melodies to the table. While I liked the more tightly wound aesthetic of the 7”s, if you’re into taking a longer journey with the Shifters you’ll enjoy Have a Cunning Plan.

Marbled Eye: Leisure 12” (Digital Regress) Debut full-length from this Oakland band, and I think it's a step up from their already great earlier material. While Leisure is full of memorable parts, where Marbled Eye excels is in their ability to ride a groove, building it up, bringing it down, and exploring every part with a Neu!-esque sense of musical curiosity. The angular riffing and inventive interplay between the instruments (particularly the bass and two guitars) remind me of Institute, but where Institute roll around in the gutter, Marbled Eye seem to glide above it weightlessly. Like a lot of motorik classics, it can seem repetitive until you realize that repetition is the point, that it gives the listener freedom to follow whichever melodic or rhythmic line you choose without fear you’ll miss out on some particular, fleeting moment. I can’t think of another recent record that so perfectly nails this style of meditative, zone-out post-punk.

Various: Nihon No Wave 2x12” (Mecanica) Exquisitely packaged compilation of vintage Japanese no wave, post-punk, and experimental music from the late 70s and early 80s. If you’ve been following the Bitter Lake reissue label, you’ll recognize names like C. Memi, Neo Matisse, and Dendo Marionette, but even if you’re familiar with this obscure, under-documented scene you’ll undoubtedly hear something that’s new to you. When I hear the term “no wave” I think of New York bands like the Contortions, DNA, or Theoretical Girls, who made rambunctious music with an unschooled vibe. I imagine these bands liked the unconventional skronk of free jazz and did their best to approximate it with their (often limited) musical vocabulary and rock-inspired drum-bass-guitar-vocal setups. However, the bands on Nihon No Wave are sleek, minimal, and futuristic. While I don’t know for certain, it sounds like they were listening to more European experimental music—particularly spacey, synth-focused Krautrock bands like Tangerine Dream and Popol Vuh—than the New York no wave groups. Consequently, what emerges here often sounds like a more avant garde version of the minimal synth scene happening in the UK, Italy, and other locales in the wake of punk. As long as you know that going in you’ll find a wealth of beautiful new music here, and the hand-stitched outer sleeve and beautiful graphic design will ensure that you’ll want to keep it around if only to look at how beautiful it is. 

Landline: S/T 12” (Digital Regress) Debut release from this new project featuring members of Wonder Bread and Toyota. While Landline shares characteristics with the recent crop of drum machine punk bands, to my ears Landline is on another level. Most of those bands have a rough and unschooled quality, but Landline make sophisticated pop music. Their songs are a lot more complex, with a sense of forward movement and rising and falling action to them, and this LP also sounds a lot better than most releases in a similar vein, with both stronger fidelity and a more professional, even-handed mix. Thus, when describing them I want to reach for comparisons to professional pop acts like Gary Numan or Missing Persons. Still, if you’re into bands like BB Eye this sounds like a more polished, professional take on that sound. With 12 songs the LP is longer than I’m used to for this style of music (where a slacker ethos is the norm), so the tracks that stand out are the ones where the group takes a different approach. The most memorable of these is “Stop It,” a slower, darkwave-type song that reminds me of something that might have appeared on a later Siouxsie & the Banshees album like Hyaena or even a slower, more meditative Boy Harsher song. As I noted, though, this moment merely stands out in an album packed with great songs. It wouldn't surprise me to see Landline move on to bigger and better things from here, so pick this up and get in on the ground floor.

IV: S/T 7” (Total Punk) Debut release from this band out of Minneapolis featuring members of Joust, Citric Dummies, and Color TV. I listened to this 7” before I knew they were from Minneapolis, and after that first listen I would have bet money they were from Atlanta. Not only do they have that fast, Dave Rahn-style drumming that every Atlanta bands seems to have, but also their way of writing a dark, haunting garage-punk song is very similar to Predator or Näg. Like the Atlanta bands there’s an unpretentious quality to this. It doesn’t scream “we are redefining music,” but rather offers four more high-quality garage-punk tunes to the earth’s musical stores. Consequently, if you’re not into the style, you’re probably fine skipping this one over, but if you can’t get enough of that sound you’ll get plenty of spins out of this.

Rubble: S/T 12” (Distort Reality) Much anticipated debut 12” from this Portland punk band. Their previous single on Distort Reality was one of my favorites of 2017 and I was eager to see if they could keep the magic going on a big slab of vinyl. Well, I think they have! That last single hinted that Rubble are more than your typical UK82 homage, and the 12” confirms it. The style here ranges from amped-up pogo punk a la Sad Boys to bruising, Partisans-esque UK82 to anthemic oi! to dark, atmospheric anarcho punk. Rubble excel at all of these styles (particularly the fast UK82 stuff… “Blue Lives” and “U.N.I.C.O.R.” are up there with Savageheads for top-notch Partisans worship), but it’s the weirder and/or more melodic parts I love the most. If you liked “Gaslighting” from the previous 7”, then “Eat the Rich” will be a highlight. “Missing Stair” (my favorite track) shows that the guitarist can throw out leads just as catchy as any of the vocal melodies, and the haunting, anarcho-style spoken-word breakdown is a great way to end the side. Like I said, the more mid-paced and melodic tracks are my favorite, but Rubble’s strong sense of song craft and arrangement are on point throughout. Rubble have a new bass player on this record, and his nimble playing is one of the record’s highlights. I also want to mention the lyrics, which are very strong. They’re blunt, avoiding metaphor and tackling contemporary topics like abusers in the scene, “blue lives matter,” and wealth inequality. That might sound like a list of trending Twitter topics, but Rubble’s lyrics neither toe the punk party line nor parrot information from other media. The lyrics strike me as one person’s honest, impassioned response to what’s happening in the world right now. Indeed, Rubble is a punk band for right now, and while they’re steeped in the past they don’t seem interested in rehashing it. 

Zymotic: 8 Tracks cassette (Desolate) Demo cassette from this new band out of Montreal. This is raw, with a biting, Disclose-esque guitar sound that dominates the mix. However, Zymotic’s playing and songwriting remind me more of Framtid’s hard driving sound, with meaty, metallic riffs and a drummer who plays deep in the pocket. The production style of crasher crust can serve as a crutch for weak bands to hide behind, but that’s not the case here. Even with a crummy drum sound you can hear how burly this band is. I’m sure this tape will still turn plenty of heads, but I’m curious to hear what they sound like with a bigger, clearer sound.

Geisterfahrer: Sehr Entgegenkommend 12" (Bandscheiben) Archival release from this German band. They recorded these tracks as a demo in 1979, and (according to Discogs), made 3-5 copies for radio stations and record labels. Geisterfahrer are a long-running band with several full-length records and releases well into the 00s, but this is the first I’m hearing them so I can’t comment on how this release fits into their larger discography. What I can tell you is that, broadly speaking, the style of this recording is minimal, experimental punk that reminds me of Métal Urbain. While Geisterfahrer had four members, they did not have a full-time live drummer, and on most tracks they generate electronic rhythms with primitive synths and drum machines (some very cheesy and dated-sounding, a la the Fall’s "The Man Whose Head Expanded"). They fill out the lineup with a few layers of synthesizers and vocals, augmented with undistorted guitar, some live drums, and on the memorable Velvet Underground homage "Öl Auf Der Strasse," an additional vocalist with a Nico-esque baritone. The vibe is very art school, which will turn off some people, but if you like minimal, experimental groups from the late 70s you’ll enjoy this, particularly since there’s quite a lot of music here. Also note that this record plays backward, from the center out. Don’t be an idiot like me and spend 10 minutes trying to figure out what’s wrong with your turntable. 

Hyäne: Demontage Und Zerfall 12" (Static Age Musik) After an earlier 7”, here’s the debut 12” from Germany’s Hyäne. Stylistically, I’d put Hyäne in that fuzzy place between goth and punk: are they a goth-y punk band, or are they a punk-y goth band? It’s hard to say, but if you split the difference between Warsaw / early Joy Division and Crisis, you’re in the ballpark. To my ears, the band’s biggest strength is their guitarist, who packs this record with a wealth of memorable lead riffs, like on my favorite track, the Crisis-esque “Regress/Exzess.” The vocals sit back far in the mix, so the most exciting parts of the record are when Hyäne deviates from their normal approach, like on the intro to “Aquarium,” which substitutes a synth for the normal bass track and hints at something a little fresher and more exciting than the typical punk band setup. Like I said, those catchy lead guitar riffs are the main attraction, and if you’re a fan of Colin from Davidians / Voight-Kampf’s playing (which sounds similar) you’ll enjoy this a lot.

Mülltüte: S/T (2nd) 12” (self-released) Second 12” from this cryptic German band who has, since the early 2010s, self-released several records with similar covers, each of which features a background texture, an insect, and the band’s name hand-stamped in a different color. We’ve loved them all here at Sorry State, and this one is no different. In fact, it might be the best of the bunch, as it finds the band bringing in a few guest musicians and expanding their sound. Basically, Mülltüte work in two modes here. About half of the record is raging, stripped-down hardcore. They’ve always reminded me of Denmark’s Amdi Petersen’s Armé, and that remains the case here, so if you like that brand of meat and potatoes those tracks will hit their mark for you. The performances are tight and the production is clear and warm without sounding self-consciously retro. However, there’s another side of Mülltüte where they trade blistering fast hardcore for that sped-up garage-punk beat you know from the Carbonas and other Atlanta punk bands. While the cymbals are still pinging at record speed, this beat opens the sound up and allows room for more experimentation, which Mülltüte takes full advantage of here. Like Lost Sounds or Predator, there’s an ominous quality to these tracks, with a paranoid buzz enveloping the punk band at the core. Throw in a few wacky no wave-type rhythms here and there for some extra spice and you have a very distinctive sound. The record is short and jam-packed with ideas, so it’ll take a few listens for your ears to make sense of it, but I’m finding the process of untangling that knot to be very enjoyable.

Chiller: S/T 7” (self-released) Debut 7” from this band out of Pittsburgh, who I am assuming are unrelated to the Canadian band Chiller that recently released an LP on Dirt Cult Records. In case you couldn’t tell from the stark artwork, this is a straight up hardcore record with 6 bruising tracks, a loose and rough playing style, and warm, organic production that sounds like they could have done it on a vintage 4-track. The 3 songs on the a-side appear in order of tempo, starting with the slowest and getting faster over the course of the side. The lead track’s bouncy rhythm might remind you of S.H.I.T., but once the singer pipes up I can’t stop thinking of Fucked Up, as the vocalist reminds me of Damian and the catchy, mid-paced hardcore with slight oi! edge isn’t too far away from Fucked Up’s early singles. The second track turns up the Poison Idea knob while the third track is so fast that it reminds me of Heresy. The b-side continues in a similar vein, starting with a catchy, mid-paced track and gradually ratcheting the tempo to hyper-speed. The music is good, but what cements the experience is the self-released, homemade vibe, which gives the impression that Chiller is just expressing themselves rather than trying to engineer something to the scene’s tastes.

Dumb Punts: The Big One 12” (Pissfart) Debut LP from this band out of Melbourne, Australia. One thing I like about contemporary Australian punk is that a lot of it seems to exist outside the scene dynamics that keep comparable American groups boxed into their respective subgenres. At least in my experience, there’s a strong separation between punk and indie rock in the current US scene, and bands tend to fall on one side of that line or the other. Indie bands focus on melody and rarely sound tough or powerful while many punk rock groups fear letting melody into their sound at all. However, a band like Dumb Punts can sound breathy and gentle one second (like the beginning of “Heating Up”) and like a bunch of heavy-handed, drunken oafs the next. They remind me of their countrymen Deaf Wish in that their sound pulls from 80s American indie/college rock, muscular Australian garage (think Cosmic Psychos), and the best 70s pub rock (Slaughter & the Dogs, the Stranglers) in equal measure. Those influences don’t sound like they’d be compatible on paper, but they work here, and keep The Big One sounding fresh and exciting from track to track. It’s a shame that the one-two punch of an unfavorable exchange rate and high postage costs makes this LP an expensive proposition for Americans, but if you’re following the latest and greatest from down under you’re already used to that.

Midnite: Snaxxx: Let Me Do What I Want 7” (Bachelor) Sorry State has been recommending that you buy Midnite Snaxxx records as long as the band has been putting them out, and this latest single won't break that streak. The a-side, “Let Me Do What I Want,” will scratch your itch for more Midnite Snaxxx material with its Ramones-inspired chord changes and memorable vocal melody. However, the b-side is the real gem here, taking the Snaxxx’s sound further into power-pop territory than they’ve been since their “A Guy Like That” single. With a more melodic chord progression, killer guitar leads that recall power-pop greats like Paul Collins or Elvis Costello, and an earworm chorus, “Faded Pictures” is a gem. I love the band’s more Ramones-based material, but since those songs comprise the biggest part of their catalog, it makes the more melodic moments like “Faded Pictures” stand out even more. Like most great singles it’s shorter than you want it to be, but Midnite Snaxxx are so great I’ll gladly chase down every second of music they release.

Stimulators: Loud Fast Rules 7” (Frontier) Much-needed reissue of this NYC punk gem from 1980. I remember wondering about Loud Fast Rules for years because Jack Rabid wrote about the Stimulators so much in The Big Takeover, but for a long time this was a record that was difficult to hear. Like the Bad Brains (with whom the Stimulators played often), the Stimulators had a cassette on ROIR that later got reissued on vinyl, but I always heard this single was where the action was at. The dodgy vinyl rips I could find online did not confirm that fact, but this well-done official reissue seems to capture the record’s charms much better. Hearing it now, the record sounds more Anglophilic than most any US punk that springs to mind, particularly in 1980. One thing that makes this record sound so British is that, on the one hand, it’s nakedly commercial (“Loud Fast Rules!” is about as straightforward as a pop song gets), but it’s also raw and handmade. It reminds me of Good Vibrations Records bands like the Outcasts and Protex, bands that tried to make pop music, but were limited by the materials at hand and their still-developing skill sets. Even though a 13-year-old Harley Flanagan plays drums (and appears on the cover), there’s nothing hardcore about this record. The bonus track is good, but the liner notes (from Henry Rollins and Jack Rabid) aren’t especially informative and the bubblegum pink vinyl feels a little cheesy. However, I’m happy to have this one in my collection despite those minor quibbles.

Judy & the Jerks: Roll on Summer Holidays cassette (Earth Girl) Latest cassette from this band out of Hattiesburg, Mississippi. With a pile of cassette releases (no vinyl to date!) and hailing from a town few people have ever heard of, Judy & the Jerks aren’t on the path to worldwide fame, but you should check them out because they are so fucking great. That’s particularly true if you’re a fan of Warm Bodies, because Judy & the Jerks remind me of them in a few different respects: 1. they’re great players 2. their frontpeople have similar vocal styles and ranges and 3. they’re a hardcore band that plays with the flexibility and inventiveness of a seasoned jazz group… or maybe vice versa? Actually, Judy & the Jerks are definitely a hardcore band, a fact they signal both in their own songs (even the least straightforward track here, “Goblin Reprise,” has some blistering Angry Samoans-style fast parts) and their choice of covers (Gorilla Biscuits on this one, but they’ve also covered Negative Approach and Floorpunch (!!!) on past releases). I love the energy and power of hardcore, but I get frustrated by bands that let the genre’s unwritten rules paint them into a corner. I have shelves full of hardcore records and I don’t need another one that sounds just like a bunch of records I’ve already heard. Judy & the Jerks don’t sound like anyone, and it’s exciting to listen to them because they sound free… even if you know there will be plenty of ripping fast punk on their releases, you have no idea what the next track will sound like. If you’re in a similar position, i.e. you love classic punk and hardcore but you expect new bands to add something to the conversation rather than just reciting the same script, check this band out.

Scythe: S/T 7” (Discos Huayno Amargo) After a standout demo, here’s the debut vinyl from this California band and it does not disappoint. If you’re a fan of creepy-sounding, metallic Japanese hardcore like G.I.S.M., Mobs, our Zouo (or newer bands in that vein like Blazing Eye) the sound will be familiar, particularly the growled vocals and the wobbly chorus effect on the guitar. However, Scythe don’t sound like a modern interpretation of that style so much as a lost relic from that era. The record sounds warm, organic, and analog (or at least analog-ish… I’m not sure how they recorded it), and the lack of clarity only serves to heighten my interest. This feeling carries over to the cryptic and minimal visual aesthetic, which has me examining every square inch of the packaging to figure out what’s going on. Spending time with this record reminds me of discovering records by the Misfits and Black Flag when I was a teenager, long before you could Google a band’s name and instantly find their biography, discography, and other information. This music comes from another place, but I don’t know where that place is or how I can get there. All I can do is listen closer and let myself get sucked into the band’s world. This record feels real and immersive in a way that pulling up a bandcamp site and listening while you wash dishes or run on the treadmill just can’t replicate. So kill the overheads, light some candles, cue this up and let it take you where it wants you to go.

Nueva Fuerza:  Hitos Y Derrotas 12” (La Vida Es Un Mus) After an earlier 7” (which we still have in stock BTW) on the Spanish label Discos Enfermos, here’s the debut 12” from this Barcelona hardcore band, this time on La Vida Es Un Mus. While their earlier EP packed 10 songs onto a 7”, here they give us five songs on a 12”. Don’t worry, though; even though the songs are longer, they still have the clipped, jagged quality of the 7”. On Hitos Y Derrotas, however, they balance that Wire-esque sense of abruptness with longer passages that channel the same tense pulse as Destino Final. One minute the band is grinding into a deep groove, cymbal wash and guitar distortion blending into cascading waves of sound, the next they’re laying into Greg Ginn-inspired jagged and mind-bending guitar leads. Those leads are my favorite moments on the record, and while I wish there were more of them they’re more climactic for only popping up every so often. If you’re a fan of the artsier hardcore bands that LVEUM puts out—the aforementioned Destino Final, Una Bestia Incontrolable, and Permission, for instance—this will tweak your expectations in much the same way.

Ambush: S/T 12” (Diabolous) Debut one-sided 12” from this band out of New Hampshire (you don’t hear that every day!) featuring members of Aspects of War. While Ambush's music is rooted in d-beat and crasher crust, this 12” pushes past those sounds’ basic elements and arrives at something that’s even more interesting. Like Lebenden Toten or D-Clone, Ambush seem less interested in riffs and more interested in building compositions out of shifts in texture and timbre. In that respect they often sound more like industrial music than hardcore. Even the opening track, “Brain Dead,” which has some abrupt rhythmic changes, bleeds together into a vast lake of noise and feedback. Listening to this record reminds me of looking at one of Seurat’s pointillist paintings. Those paintings offer you a choice: you can step back from them and consider what’s being portrayed or represented, or you can get up close and lose yourself in the rhythmic pulses of abstract color. Similarly, any given second of this 12” sounds like inchoate noise, but take a step back and these are definitely songs with a sense of logic and movement to them. For me the magic of this 12” lies in the space between those two ways of listening, how you can’t quite lock onto both at the same time. It’s a tough feeling to describe, but if you’re a fan of super noisy bands like Confuse hopefully you get the gist of what I’m talking about and you understand that this is one of those rare records that can take you to that place.

Hand Grenades: Demos to London 12” (Almost Ready) Almost Ready re-releases this 1979 obscurity from New York, expanding the original single’s two tracks to a healthier four. The record’s packaging gives essentially no information about how these recordings came to be and the label’s description doesn’t help to clarify things much either. What I know is that these recordings come from New York in 1979, but they sound much more like what you would expect to hear coming from a teen center rehearsal space in suburban London around the same time. In other words, this sounds like the major touchstones of UKDIY like Desperate Bicycles, Television Personalities, or Teenage Filmstars. Like those bands, Hand Grenades sound like they’re experimenting with home recording technology and becoming fascinated by the sonic possibilities, but they’re not weird or visionary enough to discard pop song structure and launch into Nurse With Wound-style abstract noise. Sometimes, it’s the song itself that’s interesting. That’s the case with one of the bonus tracks, “Murder,” which reminds me of the TVP’s / Filmstars’ wry, slightly twee take on punk rock. More often, though, it’s the sound itself that’s most interesting, how tape hiss might mesh with guitar distortion and ambient room noise to create lush swirls of sound that couldn’t have been created any other way. Long story short, if you go deep with the UKDIY sound you will enjoy this, though it begs the question of why weren’t there more American groups that sound like this?

Violence Creeps: Nephew Melting 7” (Total Punk) Presumably final 7” from this Bay Area band, since they recently played their last show. They had a great run, though, and put out a bunch of phenomenal records on a slew of different labels. As for this one, it finds them breaking new ground in their final moments as a band. “Nephew Melting” is a disjointed ride, starting with a bubbly, melodic part, then taking an abrupt left turn into a skronkier, no wave-influenced part that’s more akin to the bands earlier, Flipper-esque material. The song swings back and forth between the two modes, giving it an unstable, seasick quality that seems increasingly deranged as the song progresses. As for the b-side, it’s also Flipper-esque, the bass player improvising around a single riff while the singer delivers a biting rant against gentrification in Oakland. If you’ve been following Violence Creeps, you’ll want to pick up this final single, but just because they’re done doesn’t mean that their whole catalog isn’t worth checking out. They’re one of the realest and most vital bands to come out of the punk scene over the past several years, and their records will be worth revisiting long after their breakup.

Predator: No Face 7” (Total Punk) Latest single from this long-running (but slow-moving) Atlanta institution. A lot of the bands from Atlanta have a dark, pop-garage sensibility, and Predator fit the mold in many respects… if you’re a fan of other Atlanta bands and projects like GG King, Uniform, Näg, or Wymyns Prysyn then you’re virtually guaranteed to like Predator. However, Predator has their own take on the style. I’d describe them as “space garage:” Carbonas-esque, catchy, song-oriented punk delivered with the retro-paranoia of the Cold War. The voices sound robotic, the guitar leads hang in the air in a sinister way, and drums drive forward with the relentless, mechanistic thump of progress. The a-side is the pop hit (or as close as Predator get to one), while the b-side is mid-paced, jagged, and stomping. There are two little chords that remind me of “I Wanna Be Your Dog,” but instead of dropping into the expected third chord it snaps into staccato downstrokes that recall Devo’s “Mongoloid.” Predator knows their punk history, but they also know how to write a song that’s catchy and immediate, so you get the best of both worlds: something that’s dense and contextualized enough for the record collectors but still classic-sounding and straightforward enough to make the barflies wander over to the stage to see who’s playing tonight.

Khiis: Saboor 7” (Distort Reality) Debut 7” from this new band out of Oakland who might be the first punk band I’ve heard with lyrics in Farsi. I’d be interested in Khiis no matter what language they sang in, though, because this rips. Khiis has a dense, metallic sound that sits in a fuzzy space between punk subgenres. The mid-paced parts remind me of S.H.I.T. in their catchiness and pogo-ability, but for me it’s the fast parts where they shine. I might lose people with this comparison, but their fast parts remind me of the Cro-Mags. Like the best Cro-Mags songs, the riffing is straightforward and Discharge-influenced, but the drummer doesn’t d-beat, instead powering forward with a simple, confident 1-2-1-2 beat. I doubt that’s a conscious influence, but if you’re a crusty who acknowledges that the Cro-Mags up to and including Age of Quarrel are legit AF then you will love this. All three tracks are keepers and they’re different from one another, which makes me particularly eager to hear what’s next. I suspect Khiis has a killer LP in them, but I suppose time will tell. In the meantime, this will get plenty of play.

Beta Boys: Late Nite Acts 12” (Feel It) After a pair of 7”s, here’s the debut footlong from Beta Boys. To be honest, I liked but didn’t love their earlier records, but this one is a big step up. They seem to have found their voice here, or maybe their style just works better on the longer format. They’ve always had a chorus-drenched guitar sound, but here there are songs that sound more brooding, recalling the USHC-meets-death rock sound of the old Oxnard band False Confession. There’s flexibility in that style, allowing them space to do tracks as different as the brooding, Christian Death-esque title track that closes the record and “Red Devil,” the opening smasher. That song reminds me of the best 45 Grave songs or Dance with Me-era TSOL in the way it infuses Damned-esque punk/goth with the energy of early California hardcore. For such a short record there’s lots of variation in tempo and song structure, making this a quick and exciting listen. Plus, as soon as it’s done I can’t help but flip it over again because I have to hear “Red Devil” again.

Mosquitoes: Drip Water Hollow Out Stone 12” (Ever/Never) I rely on New York’s Ever/Never Records for a respite from my usual listening diet of punk and hardcore. Whether it’s the baroque post-punk of Patois Counselors, the chaotic no wave of Preening, or the cold, semi-industrial noise of Housewives, I know that the music coming out of a new Ever/Never release will be surprising and challenging. Their latest release is this debut from the UK’s Mosquitoes. The sound here is minimal, but the real watchword is "creepy." Listening to these tracks is like peering through the keyhole of an abandoned house in the country, glimpsing a dark, dusty, and sinister world that doesn’t revolve around the regular rhythms of the modern world. I don’t have a strong frame of reference for this type of music, but I’m reminded of the Eraserhead soundtrack, This Heat’s more abstract passages, or Duck Stab-era Residents, all of which share Mosquitoes’ unsettling minimalism. Like most Ever/Never releases it requires an adventurous and engaged listener, but it rewards that investment of time and attention with a listening experience you won’t get anywhere else.

Glue Traps: Future Shocks 2018 Promo cassette (self-released) Debut release from this new band out of Baltimore. When this came in at the store Jeff made an Instagram post describing it as We Got Power-style hardcore and he couldn’t have hit the nail more squarely on the head. Like the songs on the first We Got Power comp (aka Party or Go Home aka “Daniel’s favorite compilation ever”), everything here is short, quick, and very catchy. There are heaps of things you could compare this to: Angry Samoans, Acid Reflux, early Deep Sleep (who share a singer with Glue Traps), the Authorities, or anyone else you can think of who writes catchy as hell 30 second hardcore songs by the 7-inch load. Sure, it’s nothing new, but it’s a sound that is close to my heart and there aren’t a lot of bands doing it these days, so it sounds fresh and vital here. If you pine for the glory days of We Got Power and/or No Bullshit compilations, you will love this.

Innumerable Forms: Punishment in Flesh 12” (Profound Lore) Debut full-length from this death metal project out of Boston. Justin DeTore from Mind Eraser / No Tolerance / a bunch of other bands helms the project (and played most of the instruments on their earlier releases), but for this release he’s put together a hardcore supergroup, including (according to the label’s description): “co-writing partner/guitarist Jensen Ward (Iron Lung), guitarist Chris Ulsh (Mammoth Grinder, Power Trip), bassist Doug Cho (The Rival Mob), and drummer Connor Donnegan (Genocide Pact).” I hadn’t checked out Innumerable Forms’ earlier releases, but that lineup grabbed my attention, since it brings together some of the best musicians in the current hardcore scene. For all the musical ability of that lineup, though, Punishment in Flesh is not a flashy record. There are few guitar solos on the record (though when they pop up they’re highlights), and while the band plays everything with precision and power, no one shows off. Instead, the energy here is put toward establishing the vibe. If I had to describe that vibe in a word, it is “punishing.” The tempos are rarely fast, and the slow parts are agonizingly slow and heavy (in a good way!), like trudging through knee-deep wet clay. DeTore’s vocals are the centerpiece, and they bring new meaning to the term "gutteral." Every death metal band has low vocals, but DeTore’s are on another level. If this whole music thing doesn’t work out for him, he could make a solid living voicing Satan in Hollywood movies. The record is brilliant and listening to it alone in the dark is a great way to spend 40 minutes of your time. If I may be so bold as to venture one criticism, though, it’s one I have of several projects that come from DeTore’s crew of Boston musicians: it’s almost too perfect. For instance, when I listen to the Demigod cassette that was one of the band’s key inspirations(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksdNoONKvlg), there’s an untamed quality, a visceral wildness that Innumerable Forms doesn’t have. I’d love to hear what this crew sounds like when they cut loose and throw out the rule book, but even if it's a hair stiff it’s still a great record.

Erik Nervous: Nervoloid EP 7” (Digital Regress) Erik Nervous is back with a 5-song EP of Devo covers, but this isn’t a throwaway or stopgap release. Rather than just giving us his own spin on songs everyone already knows and loves, for Nervoloid Erik Nervous has dug up five Devo tracks that never received proper studio recordings and given them the fleshed-out recordings they deserve. I haven’t dug into Hardcore Devo as much as some people and I’m even less familiar with the dodgier bootlegs, so all five tracks are fresh for me. I remember Hardcore Devo being a tough listen in places with some very lo-fi recordings and artsy, out-there song structures, but in Erik Nervous’s hands all five tracks are bona fide hits. Maybe Devo didn’t change that much between their early years and their Freedom of Choice peak, aside from having clearer, more powerful production? These recordings help to make that case, and I think I’ve listened to this record nearly as many times as I listened to Freedom of Choice when I got my first copy. Whether you’re a fan of Erik Nervous, a Devo completist, or you want to hear five killer, synth-inflected punk tunes, this is mandatory listening. Highly recommended.

Stiff Love: Attitudes 7” (Feel It) Olympia’s Stiff Love are back with the follow-up to their debut on Neck Chop, and I remain smitten with them. As before, you have the total package here: great songs, killer artwork, and punk attitude to spare. The two tracks on this single are very much of a piece with the four on their Neck Chop debut, i.e. mid-paced, riff-centered garage-punk songs that somehow sound poppy even though neither the riffs nor the vocals are particularly melodic. I mentioned Nikki & the Corvettes when I wrote about their last record, and that comparison still feels apt given that few bands fall into the same space between garage and punk that Stiff Love occupy. The only bad thing I can say about it is that I wish there was more of it. In the meantime, I’ll just keep playing the two existing Stiff Love records into the ground.

Pious Faults: S/T 12” (Feel It) Debut vinyl from this Australian band doing the “hardcore as art” thing. The label’s description mentions Saccharine Trust and Spike in Vain, and while I don't doubt there’s plenty of wear on the members’ copies of Paganicons and Disease Is Relative, the comparison I can’t get around when I listen to this LP is Born Against. Pious Faults’ squirrelly, off-kilter rhythms, dissonant chords, ultra-compressed song structures, bright, clear, and powerful production, and defiant refusal to rock are all qualities I associate with Nine Patriotic Hymns for Children. I love hardcore, I love art, and I love artsy hardcore (the records I’ve mentioned so far in this description are among my all-time favorites), so I’m right in the target demographic for this record, and indeed I like it a lot. However, I also realize that it’s a different kind of listening than most hardcore records. This isn’t a record you throw on at a party and scream along with as you slam beers. Instead, it’s a record you put on alone, in the dark, letting its mutated rhythms crawl through your body like anxious parasites. It’s not an immediate record, and I would argue that, in order to appreciate it, you need to know a lot about hardcore so you have a clear idea of what this is not. Or, perhaps if you fell in love with prog’s jagged rhythms or free jazz's dissonant harmonies before you heard Minor Threat or Agnostic Front this will speak to you. At any rate, this is smart, weird music for smart, weird people.

L.O.T.I.O.N. / Scumputer: Campaign for Digital Destruction 12” (540) Split 12” between New York industrial punks L.O.T.I.O.N. and Scumputer, which is Gabba from Chaos UK’s noise project. First up: L.O.T.I.O.N. I think the public would describe 90% of the music I listen to as “ugly,” but these new tracks from L.O.T.I.O.N. bring new meaning to the word. Their particular strain of punk /industrial (which you might compare to anything from SPK to Ministry) is aggressive music, but in practice a lot of that music can have a semi-glossy, cyberpunk sheen. Not so with L.O.T.I.O.N. Their music is dingy, dirty, and claustrophobic. L.O.T.I.O.N.’s tracks here are so singular that I don’t want to compare them to other music acts at all, but instead to threads of dystopian science fiction. Like dystopian literature, L.O.T.I.O.N.’s music doesn’t venerate technology, but instead emphasizes how it alienates us from one another and the world. The drum machines here sound broken, more like aging Victorian steam technology than the precise snap of a software drum machine. The production is also as nasty as it gets, the aural equivalent of a decaying urban hellscape drenched in thick, yellow fog. This isn’t cool music for dancing at a club; it’s music for sitting alone at home fretting over what kind of world your grandchildren will live in. As for Scumputer, they build their music out of similar raw materials, but the vibe is very different. Where L.O.T.I.O.N. is singular and uniform, Scumputer is whimsically diverse. If L.O.T.I.O.N. are wandering around a post-apocalyptic landscape looking for shelter, Scumputer is salvaging beers from the rubble and trying to have as much fun as possible. Not falling into any niche of punk or industrial music I know of, Scumputer have a free associative quality that finds them sampling Run DMC, bringing in guest vocals by Jun Kato from Warhead, and combining Tangerine Dream-esque soundscapes with brutal industrial hardcore in the space of about half a minute. The only real through line is that loud and punchy electronic drums are the anchor point for much of the music. If you’re ultra-serious you probably won’t play their side much, but I’ve spun it a lot and I really enjoy it. Often split records either pair two bands that sound too much alike or they try to avoid that and end up with bands that have nothing to do with one another, but the two sides of this record compliment one another well, even if most listeners will have a clear favorite.

Petite: II 7” (Distort Reality) Second EP from this Portland punk band. The first thing that strikes me about this new Petite EP is the sense of melody. Petite tend to get described as UK82 or oi!, but they are on the very far melodic end of either style… think the Business’s most melodic songs like “National Insurance Blacklist” or “Out in the Cold,” or the underrated second Partisans LP when their songs got more well-rounded and melodic. Interestingly, though, it’s the guitars that carry the big melodies. The vocalist has a hardcore shout/bark, which keeps this from sounding like pop-punk, but the guitarists go for it with broad, major-key melodies worthy of Professionals-era Steve Jones or Nidge at his most refined. Stan Wright’s clear and powerful production obscures none of that melody, so if you’re not ready to raise your fist you’d best stay home. This might be too melodic for some, but this is so legit and so well-done that I imagine it’ll be one of the most melodic contemporary records in a lot of punks’ collections.