News

Innocent: Architects of Despair 12” (Side Two Records) After dropping two highly regarded tapes in 2017/2018, Boston’s Innocent emerges from their slumber with Architects of Despair, their vinyl debut. It’s such a Boston thing for a band to lie dormant for years then emerge, with no hype or advance notice, with a record so killer that it makes you wonder if the band has been locked in a practice space for that entire time refining and honing every detail. That’s the impression I get with Architects of Despair, which is as airtight a hardcore punk record as you’ll find. Stylistically, Innocent’s sound is rooted in, but not constrained by, Discharge, taking that band’s musical motifs and refining them into something that’s more intricate but still has all the crushing power. Take a track like “Straw Men,” for instance, which starts with a riff straight out of the early Discharge songbook but, over the course of the song’s frantic minute and a half, pokes and prods that riff like a specimen on a dissecting table, manipulating its chords and rhythms until, as a listener, you feel like you’re trapped in a building that’s collapsing around you. The vocals are also very distinctive, a bit like Tam’s high-pitched yelp in Sacrilege, but (like the music), stretched to its extremes, rendered almost avant-garde by a long delay effect. While many noisy hardcore records in this vein cultivate a sense of wild abandon, Architects of Despair sustains a seething, simmering tension, its complexity and brutality dancing on the edge of collapse, a feeling that only slightly abates on the record’s two mid-paced tracks. If you follow the output of this universe of Boston hardcore punk bands—i.e. if names like Chain Rank, Lifeless Dark, Green Beret, and Exit Order mean anything to do—you’ll want to make time for this one.

Graven Image: Discography 12” (Beach Impediment Records) Beach Impediment Records compiles the complete studio recordings of 80s Richmond, Virginia hardcore band Graven Image. The two studio sessions collected here originally appeared on the Your Skull Is My Bowl split cassette with Honor Role (1982) and the Kicked Out of the Scene 7” EP (1983), and there are a few outtakes from each session as well. Having grown up in Virginia, Graven Image has been on my radar for a very long time. I’ve always enjoyed their two releases, but this collection presents the band in the best possible light and has given me a much deeper appreciation for them. Graven Image might not have had the chops of Minor Threat or the Bad Brains, but they had some great songs, including my favorite, “My World,” which the band contributed to the We Got Power: Party or Go Home compilation, and uses one of my favorite musical tricks, the guitar hook composed entirely of harmonics (see also the Fall’s “Who Makes the Nazis”). Graven Image sound focused for a young band who didn’t seem to aspire to (or at least didn’t reach) a national level, avoiding ill-considered stylistic experimentation in favor of full-bore US-style hardcore heavy on the straight beats, power chords, and shouted vocals. Rather than just dabblers, they were key participants in the hardcore subculture, and one reason Beach Impediment’s presentation of this material so powerful is because it emphasizes how embedded Graven Image was in this world, with its expansive booklet full of flyers, photos, and other artifacts from the era. As Beach Impediment’s description states, “For admirers of early American Hardcore and not much else.”

Horrid Peace: Agony Surrounds 7” flexi (Acute Noise Manufacture) Horrid Peace is the first release by the band and label, both headquartered in the mid-Atlantic punk hotbed of Richmond, Virginia. People in the area already know the Acute Noise name from presenting numerous noisy punk gigs over the past several years, and their first foray into physical media keeps with the theme they’ve established with their gig-booking operation. Horrid Peace features a bunch of familiar Richmond faces pounding out four tracks inspired by the late 80s UK crust scene, specifically Doom. Listening to Agony Surrounds makes me wonder if they brought in Doom’s Peel Sessions and told the engineer that’s exactly what they want to sound like. They fucking nail it too, with that heavy, metallic sound that’s less about frantic riffing or big chorus hooks and more about creating this pummeling, monochromatic wall of sound that beats you in the face without letting up. Horrid Peace stays in that fist-pumping d-beat mode until slowing things down for the stomping “Human Refuse,” whose pit-clearing chug bears some resemblance to Public Acid’s moshier moments. Besides the four hot tracks, I love the packaging on Agony Surrounds, which nails the aesthetic of cult 80s Japanese hardcore flexis. Oh, and it’s limited to 250 copies, so get it while you can.

Flex TMG: Whisper Swish 12” (Domestic Departure Records) Whisper Swish, the debut vinyl from the Bay Area’s Flex TMG, comes to us courtesy of Domestic Departure, the label run by Erika from Collate. I’m a huge fan of the label’s small but excellent discography, and Flex TMG continues the hot streak. Taking inspiration from the sounds coming out of early 80s New York, Flex TMG mines artists like Liquid Liquid, ESG, and Tom Tom Club for their dance floor friendly, repetitive punk-funk grooves. While that scene is brilliant in its own right, it’s perhaps more widely known as one of the instrumental backbones of early hip-hop… see, for instance, Grandmaster Flash’s “White Lines,” which samples Liquid Liquid’s “Cavern.” That sound is so baked into American culture I can’t imagine not liking it… it would be like not liking classic Motown or something. Flex TMG isn’t just a throwback, though. They make this classic sound modern, dressing up that rock-solid rhythmic backbone with synth and vocal melodies that sound more contemporary… it’s easy to imagine a track like “Come on Over (Bebé)” playing when you walk into a hip boutique or coffee shop. That might sound like a kiss of death to your average Sorry State reader, but remember this comes to us on a super underground post-punk label with five releases under their belt, all of them brilliant and with small runs and distinctive packaging (Whisper Swish included… you need to hold any Domestic Departure release in your hands to fully appreciate it). Flex TMG might be a little outside Sorry State’s usual stylistic comfort zone, but it’s a brilliant record and I urge you to check it out if the above description sounds intriguing.

Ingrates: Don’t Wanna Work 7” (No Norms Records) While I think most people associate Sorry State with 80s-inspired hardcore, I am and have always been passionate about more melodic and song-oriented 70s-style punk, a predilection you can see in the corners of the label’s discography inhabited by groups like Rough Kids, Louder, and the Number Ones. Part of the reason that style of music doesn’t get featured as much in Sorry State’s newsletter is that I’m very picky about it. When a band hits with me I fucking love them, but when they don’t, it’s a hard pass. If things are too slick or lean too far toward pop-punk, I’m out, but if a more melodic band has super raw and noisy production, more often than not that is disguising a lack of good songs and hooks. It’s a delicate balance. California’s Ingrates hit the sweet spot for me, with a gritty yet hook-laden sound that is perfect for a two-song single with eye-catching graphics. The a-side, “Don’t Wanna Work,” is the anthem, an amphetamine-fueled singalong whose chorus hook goes for the jugular while the rhythm section hits you in the ribs with a series of lightning-fast jabs. The b-side is even better, laying back behind the beat and summoning some Steve Jones by way of Johnny Thunders riffing that sounds oh so 70s. The Boys are another good point of reference. I’m always happy to make space in the 7-inch bins for killer, classic-sounding (and classic looking!) punk singles like this.

Ervin Berlin: Junior’s Got Brain Damage 7” (Total Punk Records) Total Punk resurrects this super obscure Killed by Death-era punk single from their old stomping grounds of Florida. This is bound to whet the record collector’s appetite, since the original pressing was only 200 copies and it has never been reissued or comped as far as I can tell… it’s basically an unknown record. Both songs are strong and have everything I love about KBD punk, including bargain basement production (courtesy a local country and western studio) and a twinge of goofiness (see the a-side’s title, “Junior’s Got Brain Damage”). Ervin Berlin was an experienced musician in his late 20s who was dabbling in the punk world, and these two tracks have a punksploitation feel that reminds me of the corkers compiled on the great Who’s a Punk Compilation. The thing I love about punksploitation—experienced musicians doing cheap cash-in records to capitalize on the punk “trend”—is that it’s often capable musicians and songwriters working fast and loose, which gives those records a feel that’s different from the labored-over aesthetic of most studio recordings you hear, punk included. That’s on display in spades here, and I’m thankful Total Punk has brought this obscurity to a wider audience.

Todd Killings & the Contracts: S/T 7” (Slow Death Records) Slow Death Records brings us this 3-song 7” from Todd Killings & the Contracts. From what I understand, Todd Killings is a project featuring some folks from the Bootlicker / Chain Whip / Neon Taste Records camp, and if you’re a fan of that crop of bands, you’ll want to check this out. Stylistically, Todd Killings is in line with the Neon Taste Records roster, which has one foot in early 80s hardcore and another in late 70s underground punk, the best bands on the roster combining the energy of the former with the memorable songwriting of the latter. If you’re a fan of bands like Career Suicide or the Carbonas who tread a similar path, it’s a scene you should follow. As for Todd Killings, from what I understand, these songs were composed and recorded quickly, and they have a loose and immediate quality that feels very 70s to me, in contrast to today when so many bands’ performances are airtight. Further, rather than building the songs around intricate riffing, Todd Killings’ songs all center on memorable lyrical / vocal hooks in the chorus, most memorably on the a-side smash, “(I’ve) Got Your Contract.” It reminds me of early Career Suicide hits like “Quarantine” and “Jonzo’s Leaking Radiation,” and that’s a high compliment coming from me. Throw in some period-appropriate artwork and you have yourself a pretty bangin’ punk single.

Curleys: S/T 12” (Total Punk Records) We loved Curleys’ debut 7” on Total Punk from a few years ago, and this new 12” picks up right where that one left off. Definitely on the more hardcore end of the Total Punk spectrum, Curleys play fast and hard without exception, their super short songs coming at you rapid-fire, without breaks, exceptions, slow parts, or anything that breaks their jittered flow. Even with such narrow parameters, Curleys imbue their music with so much personality. There’s the fucked beyond belief guitar sound, which is blown to shit but still conveys the weird, epileptic rhythms that give these songs so much of their distinctive character. Then there are the vocals, snotty yet garbled, an occasional slogan like “Florida Fights Back” or “We Say No” gurgling up from the primordial soup. While these songs are hardcore punk, they’re played with a sense of total abandon I associate with Hasil Adkins or Dexter Romweber, boiling primordial rock and roll down to its essence, stripping it of anything that doesn’t contribute to the explosive raw energy. By the time they get to the closing track, the strikingly named “Sewer Cuck,” they nearly hit the two-minute mark and even have a kinda melodic guitar line in there, which sounds like Rush next to the minimalistic self-flagellation that comprises the rest of this record.

Padkarosda: Sötét Végek 12” (World Gone Mad Records) World Gone Mad Records brings us another gem from outside punk’s usual geographic hotspots… you might remember Siberian band Crispy Newspaper they released a while back, and now they’ve brought us the new album from Padkarosda from Budapest, Hungary. One great thing about hearing music from different places is that people who come from different backgrounds and traditions approach familiar tropes with a fresh perspective, and that’s the case with Padkarosda, who imbue dark post-punk with a more straightforward and aggressive energy. The heavy chorus effect on the guitars and the foreboding melodies fit the death rock style, but Padkarosda has a way with a lead guitar hook, and songs like the record’s title track (which sounds a lot like Second Empire Justice-era Blitz) and “Gépszij” where the band shows off that skill are immediate highlights. If Padkarosda was fronted by someone with a melodic croon (like, say, the guy from Interpol) they’d be millionaires by now, but the vocal delivery is snotty and snarling. The barked vocals and the interesting rhythmic inflections to the vocal lines remind me of Dezerter, and as with Dezerter, those vocal rhythms often interact with the musical accompaniment in interesting ways. Anyone with an ear for punky death rock or a broader interest in Eastern European punk will find much to enjoy here.

Gen Pop: The Beat Sessions cassette (Shout Recordings) The latest volume in the illustrious Beat Sessions series captures Olympia’s Gen Pop live in the studio. I’ve loved Gen Pop from the start, which makes sense because they wear their Wire influence on their collective sleeve, and Wire is one of my favorite bands ever. As with early Wire, most of Gen Pop’s songs are energetic, minimal, and angular to the point of being spiky around the edges, even treading into hardcore, but without that genre’s more macho and aggro elements. Even in those aggressive songs, though, there are elements that feel artsy and beautiful, like the interesting guitar melodies in “Senseless Action” or the chiming, Paisley Underground vibes in “Rough Slough Triptych.” Of course the ultimate Wire move is dropping a pure pop banger in the middle of all that spiky angularity, a feat Gen Pop nailed on their debut LP and reprise here with the same centerpiece, the gentle and fluid pop song “Pixel Glow.” As is typical for the Beat Sessions series, Mike Kriebel’s recording captures the band in clear and striking detail, like they’re filmed in strong natural light, and that approach only serves to highlight what a great fucking band Gen Pop is. Oh, and since they rip through several tracks that haven’t been released elsewhere (at least as far as I can tell), this makes this volume of the Beat Sessions a mandatory purchase in my book.

Eteraz: Villain 12” (Iron Lung Records) Iron Lung Records brings us the debut vinyl from this hardcore band from Olympia, Washington. Villain is total Iron Lung Records hardcore… urgent, smart, heavy, noisy, and somehow traditionalist without being any kind of homage. Eteraz is a little metallic but not metal, Discharge-inspired but not d-beat, and they play with confident power without being ornately technical or self-consciously primitive. At the risk of rattling off a bunch of unconnected band names, they make me think of B.G.K., Christ on Parade, Terveet Kadet, Iconoclast… the shit Pushead liked in the 80s and released on his label. It’s lifer music, and while it might lack the accessibility and easy frames of reference of starter punk bands, it makes up for it with its commitment to hardcore’s musical ideals and its unexpected musical subtlety. Also, the lyrics are in Persian, which gives songs a unique character and allows the singer to show off a gnarly rasp. This is bruising, and continues to grow on me with each listen.

Deadless Muss: 5 Years Imprisonment 12” (Euro Import) Deadless Muss was an 80s Japanese hardcore band from Shizuoka. Deadless Muss was on my radar and I have a couple of their records, but I don’t think I’d ever heard this album before this reissue arrived. I was more familiar with Deadless Muss’s earlier material, their 8” flexi from 1984 and their I Will… 7” from 1985. Those records are more in line with the gruff and murky 80s Japanese hardcore sound that I can never seem to get enough of. However, when the band signed to the legendary Selfish label and released their 860 Seconds Cooking 7” in 1987, their sound changed. Besides the layout getting more colorful than their previous records, they got way faster, moving toward a skate-thrash style that reminds me of their label mates at Selfish, Systematic Death. While there are a few moments on 5 Years Imprisonment that sound like holdovers from the band’s earlier period (“Texas Chainsaw” in particular), the band I keep thinking of when I listen to 5 Years Imprisonment is the Stupids from the UK. Obviously the lyrics and vocals are different, but the music is similar, blistering fast skate-thrash with lots of gang vocals and a hint of melody in the guitar playing. If you’re into that late 80s / early 90s Japanese skate thrash thing—bands like Systematic Death, Chicken Bowels (who I wrote my staff pick about last week), early SOB—you can’t go wrong with this well-done Fan Club pressing.

Lexicon: Devoid of Light 12” (Iron Lung Records) Way back in 2018 Iron Lung Records released a demo tape by Seattle’s Lexicon. Now they’re back with their vinyl debut. That demo tape was already head and shoulders above most hardcore records I hear, so Lexicon needed little refinement. Still, things seem a little more unified on Devoid of Light, which sees the band locking into a sound that takes the dense and chaotic production values of noise-punk bands like D-Clone, Zyanose, and Lebenden Toten, and applies it to a more rhythmically intricate and punkier songwriting style. I wonder if you took all the distortion off this if it would sound like Amde Petersen’s Arme or something? It’s hard to say, especially with this full-bore assault blasting in your ears. Lexicon reminds me a lot of the Richmond band Spore I also wrote about this week, and as with Spore, the moments on Devoid of Life that hit the hardest for me are the loosest and most chaotic passages. Lexicon is so locked-in that when a track like “Parasite” or “Electric Shock” flies off the rails, it’s thrilling. Records like this are why we love Iron Lung… it’s raging, interesting, and exciting in all the right ways.

CML: The Dirty Tape cassette (Rotten Apple) Most of what the new label Rotten Apple has released so far has fallen on the weirder and/or poppier end of the spectrum, but this tape from Indianapolis’s CML proves they know raging hardcore when they hear it too. The first track, “State of Mind,” starts off with a haunting intro that makes me think of Part 1, and even when the song erupts, there’s a haunting quality to the riffing and an off-kilter, anarcho vibe to the rhythms… like a more manic Rudimentary Peni or something. After that first track, though, things get down, dirty, and raw, with more straightforward, early 80s hardcore-style bash-you-over-the-head riffs and changes. The vocals are snotty and a little screechy, a dead ringer for Urban Waste in places, and the music has that raw and immediate early 80s New York Hardcore vibe too. Everything about this rules, right down to the perfectly shitty drawing on the cover.

Spore: Rabid Intent cassette (Not for the Weak Records) Not for the Weak Records brings us this gloriously noisy and crushing cassette from Richmond, Virginia’s Spore. I can hear a whole lineage of hardcore punk in Spore’s music… they sound like an American hardcore band influenced by noisy Japanese punk bands from the 2000s inspired by Swedish bands from the 80s who were stealing from the playbook Discharge first drafted. It’s fists-in-the-air, bruising shit, fast and heavy as fuck with no letup. My favorite parts are when the guitarist drops the riff and dissolves into a D-Clone-esque squall of inchoate distortion… most of Spore’s music winds me up, ratcheting up the intensity until I feel the anxiety in my body, then when the guitarist makes that move, it’s like being in the middle of a panic attack and screaming at the top of your lungs, shutting out the world and providing an essential moment of cathartic relief. As with everything on Not for the Weak, the sound is massive and bruising, and with eight tracks and eye-catching artwork, I don’t see anyone complaining they didn’t get their money’s worth out of this one. Totally killer.

The Apostles: Best Forgotten 12” (Horn of Plenty Records) The short history of 80s anarcho punks the Apostles on their Discogs page sums up the band’s unique approach very well: “The Apostles were an experimental post-punk band who developed within the confines of the 1980s Anarcho Punk scene in the UK, but did not necessarily adhere to the aesthetics of that movement.” While the Apostles eventually, once they moved from releasing cassettes to vinyl, evolved into a somewhat more conventional anarcho-punk band (I wrote about their excellent second single, Blow It Up Burn It Down Kick It Till It Breaks, in our Staff Picks section a while back), the tracks on Best Forgotten compile an earlier era for the project when they sound less like a band at all, and more like a container for a wide range of musical experiments. In that way, this era of the Apostles reminds me of groups like Alternative TV, Television Personalities, and Cleaners from Venus… all of them very different from one another, but united by the approach of following their curiosity and pushing at the edges of their respective sounds. Best Forgotten does a great job of documenting that approach, feeling less like an album and more like a documentary, and while it’s hard to imagine anyone saying that Best Forgotten contains a wealth of great songs, it is rich with vibe. It practically smells like a squat in early 80s London, cold and damp and desperate, but at least with the free time to get weird and creative (even if the means to document that creativity are of the make-do variety). I imagine this era of the Apostles’ music flies way over the heads of Conflict and Crass-loving crusties in both their time and ours, but this is tailor-made for punk intellectuals with a taste for the artistically confrontational music of groups like Alternative TV (particularly their second album, Vibing Up the Senile Man), Virgin Prunes, and early Cabaret Voltaire.

Churchgoers: demo cassette (11PM Records) 11PM Records brings us the demo cassette from London’s Churchgoers. Falling on the rawer, punker, and more early 80s-inspired end of the contemporary UK hardcore scene, it’s easy to imagine Churchgoers on a bill with bands like the Annihilated and Last Affront (who also released a record on 11PM)… I’d go to that gig! This is just a theory, but it seems to me that one of the distinguishing characteristics of contemporary UK hardcore is that many of the players grew up listening to New York hardcore, which comes out in their music in subtle ways, even when I think they’re trying self-consciously to do something different from that. I don’t know if that’s the case with Churchgoers, but I hear it on a track like “Hillsy’s,” which sounds like something that could have been on the New Breed compilation tape. Most of Churchgoers’ songs, though, are more in the fast and raw, early 80s vein, though the way the drummer lunges ahead of the beat on the fast parts also makes me think of Heresy (the super short track “M.S.P.” serves as further evidence for that line of thinking). Maybe you won’t hear any of that and Churchgoers will just sound like a ripping 80s-style hardcore band to you, but either way, it’s a win.

Alerta Roja: Punk Rock En Dictadura 7” (Esos Malditos Punks) Esos Malditos Punks brings us this 5-song 7” from early 80s Argentinian punk band Alerta Roja, which they bill as the first punk rock studio recordings made in that country. According to Discogs, two of these tracks came out on an extremely limited 7” (only 50 copies!) in 1982, but Punk Rock En Dictadura presents all five tracks Alerta Roja recorded at the session. While hardcore was in full swing in other parts of the world by 1982, Alerta Roja’s music here is still steeped in the music of the Damned, the Heartbreakers, and most of all the Sex Pistols (they even borrow the “no future for you” melody from the end of “God Save the Queen” for the chorus of “Desocupación”). While the compositions are in that riffy, rock-influenced punk mode, the recording is raw and nasty, giving this a feel closer to that of early European punk classics by bands like Tampax or Lost Kids. Alerta Roja’s singer also has a similar tone of voice to Eduardo Benavente from Paralisis Permanente. All five songs are killer, starting with the anthemic “Desocupación” and climaxing with the gloriously strange guitar solo at the end of “Robots.” If you’ve put in your time with your Killed by Death and Bloodstains compilations, this 7” is gonna be right up your alley.

Dominant Patri: Heroes Glory 12” (Demo Tapes Records) Demo Tapes Records brings us a reissue of this obscure but worthwhile document, Dominant Patri’s 3-song 1982 demo Heroes Glory. Dominant Patri was only around for a short time, playing a handful of gigs with other punk/anarcho bands of the day and recording these three tracks. While it’s a slim legacy in terms of volume, Demo Tapes makes the most of it with incredible sound and a booklet collecting what must be every scrap of extant information about the short-lived band. As for the three songs themselves, they are gems. Stylistically, these are straight-down-the-middle anarcho-style punk, not as hardcore as the crustier bands and not as melodic as bands like Zounds, but bringing together both ends of the genre’s spectrum. It helps that these songs have a powerful recording, crystal clear and present in a way that you wouldn’t expect from a band so obscure. As the only audio document of Dominant Patri’s existence, I find myself listening to these tracks with a lot more focus and attention to detail than I otherwise would… it feels like this record is a keyhole to a wider world. That actually goes for the reissue as a whole. Some reissues can feel like a feast overwhelming you with music and visual ephemera, but Heroes Glory is like a miniature painting that you pore over and appreciate every detail. Dominant Patri might have been a blip on the radar, but they were a beautiful blip, and anyone with a taste for vintage UK anarcho will love these three tracks, even if every time we listen, we wish we could have more.

122 Hours of Fear zine This giant, ambitious, full-color, square-bound zine comes to us from Layla Gibbon, former Maximumrocknroll coordinator, member of Girlsperm, and all-around punk historian and aesthete. I was super stoked to devour this mag, and even with my high expectations, it blew them out of the water. Do you ever read Maggot Brain and wish there was something of similarly high quality that focused on hardcore punk? If so, 122 Hours of Fear is the fulfillment of all your wishes. Focusing (rather loosely, I’d say) on the live gig-going experience (Gibbon started work on the project during the pandemic, when there were no gigs), 122 Hours of Fear cuts a wide swath in pretty much every respect, from the contributors (young punks, old punks, and everyone in between), to the bands and music covered (everything from classic punk to the most obscure Japanese noise to mainstream rock), to the styles of writing (show reviews, text messages, journal entries, stream-of-consciousness essays, etc.), to the emotional register (hilarious, angry, wistful, irreverent, surreal, thoughtful), to the modes of presentation (standard written entries, visual art pieces, scans of vintage ephemera, photographs, and more than a few mixes of several of these). While there are highlights (Sam Ryser’s surreal account of a Dawn of Humans gig in Slovenia, Ambrose Nzams’ story of a wild night at Philly art school parties, Tobi Vail’s deep contextualization of the Wipers’ standing in the wider punk scene, and the numerous incredible photographs littered throughout the book), the entire publication is just riveting. There’s also probably a cool story about your favorite band (my favorite band is the Fall, and there’s a bonkers account of one of their most infamous New York gigs). I know this is expensive, but it’s beautiful and the amount of work that has gone into it is staggering. If you love punk and underground culture, it’s hard to imagine you won’t love this.

Class: Epoca de Los Vaqueros 12” (Feel It Records) In case you missed the memo when their excellent self-titled cassette came out (note: that cassette is now back in stock), Tucson, Arizona’s Class features Rik from Rik & the Pigs on vocals, but with a sound that’s more fleshed-out and ambitious than the Pigs’ grimy, Stones-descended punk. Class’s first cassette caught my ear right away, and while I’m surprised to hear the full-length follow so quickly (especially in today’s age of interminable vinyl production waits), I’m pleased to hear that it picks up right where those tracks left off. Class is one of the few American underground bands that sounds of a piece with the most interesting music coming out of Australia right now. Like Civic, Vintage Crop, the Shifters, or Delivery, Class makes pop music informed by the punk and post-punk traditions, and they take songcraft and production seriously in a way bands typically don’t in the American underground, where a tossed-off, slacker approach seems essential to make it clear you’re not with the capitalists. Not that Class has anything to do with capitalism (I bet no one has ever written that before!), but they are interested in making good music that people might want to listen to, and listen to in order to get a feeling of simple pleasure rather than some sort of complex emotional and political gestalt. Stylistically, they remind me of the fuzzy 70s space where the punk underground met the rock overground, with the Flamin’ Groovies trademark chime informing tracks like “Light Switch Tripper,” and others like “Left in the Sink” reminding me of 70s UK bands like the Skids or Elvis Costello & the Attractions who weren’t punks but whose music from that era soaked up the ambient energy. Pop tunes, punk energy, musical chops, rich and subtle production… Class’s debut album has it all.

Penetrode: S/T 12” (Alonas Dream Records) The last time we heard from Philadelphia’s Penetrode was back in 2017, when they released a split 7” with Chicago’s C.H.E.W. That was a great pairing, bringing together two intense and inventive bands with top-notch musicianship, and while C.H.E.W. is sadly no more, the intervening five years have apparently done little to soften Penetrode’s rough edges. The overall tone of this record is dark, murky, and uncomfortable, but the thing I focus on most is the playing. Penetrode is so locked in that they can execute the lunging rhythmic acrobatics I associate with Bl’ast! or Damaged-era Black Flag. You hear this on tracks like “Delusion” and “Past.Future.Present,” which sound a lot like Bl’ast!, but that locked-in way of playing also shapes songs like the dirge-y, mid-paced “Psychic Death” and the manic instrumental “Penetrode.” The riffing is great throughout the record, catchy, powerful, and inventive, often squeezing complex, dissonant chords into nimble runs. The grimy production and the muffled, low-in-the-mix vocals are straight out of the Bl’ast! playbook too, and as with that band it can make it a little tougher to wrap your ear around this record on the first listen. However, once you lock in, the murk perfectly encapsulates the music’s dark and desperate vibes. Highly recommended for those of you who like your hardcore dark, moody, and complex.

Flower City: Maggots Consume 7” (Esos Malditos Punks) Maggots Consume is the debut EP by this hardcore band from Austin, Texas. I’m not sure who is in Flower City, but based on Maggots Consume, it’s hard to imagine their sound isn’t informed by titans of Austin hardcore like Impalers and Criaturas. Flower City has a similar approach, building their songs around interesting and inventive riffing and playing with a head-down intensity that never lets up. As with those bands, it sounds like a relentless barrage on first listen, but a closer inspection reveals a subtlety in the arrangements that keeps the songs interesting all the way through… a noisy lead guitar passage here, an ever-so-subtle let-up in tempo there (only to come crashing back to full intensity, of course). The vocals are drenched in echo and buried way down in the mix, keeping the focus on those riffs, which just keep coming at you for the duration of these six tracks. While the lack of obvious dynamics and theatrics might make Flower City inscrutable to a dabbler in hardcore, those of us with an appreciation for this workmanlike approach to the genre will appreciate their power and precision.

Mosquito: The Originol Soundtrack cassette (Rotten Apple) Several times over the past few years, I’ve wondered, “what happened to Mark Winter?” It seemed like he was everywhere for a few years. His project Coneheads was a certified underground phenomenon, but there was also Big Zit, C.C.T.V., D.L.I.M.C., and plenty more, and they were all very good to fucking great. Then the releases just stopped with no fanfare. Maybe he was still putting out tapes you could only order via carrier pigeon to keep them safe from poseurs like me, but if that’s the case I didn’t so much as hear about them. So, Mosquito: The Originol Soundtrack marks, for me, the return of Mark Winter, and it is fucking awesome and a complete left turn. The fifteen-minute album is all instrumental (there are a few passages with spoken vocals) and the music, according to the description, follows the life cycle of a mosquito. Not being an entomologist, I can’t speak to the accuracy with which Winter has evoked the mosquito’s biology, but I can say the music is wide-screen cinematic, evoking a range of different moods that all seem mosquito-like, but from different directions. The way Mosquito slides between different moods and textures reminds me of the 70s German band Faust, as do the often bass-driven arrangements and the loose, quasi-jammy structure of the different movements. The bass-driven, funky feel also makes me think of cult 70s film soundtracks, particularly Alain Goraguer’s brilliant soundtrack to the 1973 animated film La Planète Sauvage. While the genre differs from anything I’ve heard Winter do before, you can still tell it’s him… the tones and textures of the instruments sound a lot like Coneheads and D.L.I.M.C., and a few of the movements (especially the first and last ones) feature some of his trademark mutant Chuck Berry lead guitar playing. While the potential audience of people who love both Coneheads and the kinds of weird soundtracks and library records unearthed on labels like Finders Keepers might be small, I am 100% in that demographic, and I fucking love this. Now, pardon me while I research how to train carrier pigeons so I don’t miss another note of music this person makes.

Gurs: S/T 7” (Symphony of Destruction Records) Over the past few weeks I’ve written about all four new releases on France’s Symphony of Destruction Records, but I think I might have saved the best for last with this 4-song 7” from Bilbao, Spain’s Gurs. I’m not sure there’s a name for the style of punk Gurs plays, but it’s one I recognize: think of bands like the Estranged or Red Dons whose music is informed both by the Wipers’ melodic density and sophistication and the drama and energy of hardcore. It’s a style many bands attempt, but you have to get the mix just right. If you’re missing the grit or the fire, it can come off sounding like tepid pop-punk or just boring hardcore, but Gurs has no such problem. The performances on these four tracks are explosive, bristling with energy and built around dramatic peaks and valleys. Their guitar player is just brilliant, finding non-intuitive but catchy lines that are worthy of Greg Sage himself… check out “Tan Solo Unos Minutos” for a great example. There’s so much packed into these four tracks, but it all works, making for one of those rare records that’s gritty enough for the punks but memorable and likable enough to get the entire room singing along.

Dust Collector: S/T cassette (self-released) Dust Collector is a new band from Los Angeles, and if you’re well-versed in hardcore, the artwork already tipped you off they play full-bore noise-punk in the Disorder / Gai-influenced style of bands like Lebenden Toten and EEL. This was a trendy style a few years ago and there were a lot of bands attempting it in a pretty half-assed fashion. On the surface, the style is easy to replicate… play a fast pogo beat, run the guitar through multiple distortion pedals, and (the only semi-demanding part) make sure you have a halfway decent bass line to center the song around. Despite the strict template, there’s a lot of room for innovation in this style, as bands like Lebenden Toten and D-Clone have proven time and again. While Dust Collector doesn’t sound as self-consciously progressive as either of those bands, they’re not half-assing it, as their songs are complex and interesting. A couple of them even run for over two minutes, which is all but unheard of in this subgenre. Besides more complex songs with a lot of dynamics, Dust Collector also has a strong recording. Of course, the tones are fucked to hell, but everything sounds clear and powerful, and the mix leaves space for each instrument to do its thing. This is a cut above your average noise-punk tape, and I hope it’s not the last we hear from this promising band.

Raw Breed: Universal Paranoia 12” (Convulse Records) Universal Paranoia is the debut album from Denver’s Raw Breed, coming to us on their hometown label Convulse Records. I hadn’t heard Raw Breed’s earlier releases, but Universal Paranoia is an ambitious and powerful record with a distinctive sound. Raw Breed fuses elements of hardcore and underground death metal in a way that reminds me of Public Acid, but with Public Acid’s d-beat foundation exchanged for late 80s and 90s US hardcore. While the music is dirty and driving punk, tracks like “Damnation” and “Isolated Reality” have mosh parts that wouldn’t be out of place on an Only the Strong or Victory Style compilation. It’s an interesting vibe, taking those crowd-pleasing parts and making them sound dirtier and more dangerous. I like Raw Breed’s vocals too, which sound like the perfect mix of a hardcore bark and a death metal growl… like John Brannon trying to sing for Morbid Angel or something. Toward the end of the record, Raw Breed messes with the formula a bit, throwing in noisy and progressive passages on tracks like “Malignant Fantasy” and “Isolated Reality.” If they leaned into this part of their sound, I could imagine a future record that sounded like Uniform’s industrial-tinged hardcore, but in the meantime this is a cohesive and powerful record that doesn’t sound like anything else I’ve heard.

Soft Kill: Press Play b/w Concrete Fluid 7” (Convulse Records) When this single from Portland’s the Soft Kill came in the shop courtesy of Denver’s Convulse Records, I thought to myself, “I’ve heard that band’s name… I’ll give it a listen.” While Convulse is a hardcore label, Soft Kill’s sound is total early 80s style darkwave / post-punk with the anthemic sheen of 90s alternative rock. The driving rhythm section and the spooky, chiming guitars are straight out of the playbook of the Cure and Echo and the Bunnymen, but everything is more locked in and polished than the typical underground bands we write about at Sorry State. That’s true of the vocals, which are rich and dynamic, separating Soft Kill from the legions of similar bands out there with unremarkable vocalists. It’s easy to imagine the Soft Kill on a big indie label or playing on giant festival stages. However, they’re connected to the underground that is so important to those of us who write and read this newsletter. I think I first heard Soft Kill’s name when TKO released a cover they did of Blitz’s New Age b/w Fatigue single with Jerry A from Poison Idea on guest vocals (check it out… they make “New Age” sound like Modern English), and they’ve also released records on the underground metal labels Profound Lore and Closed Casket Activities and a slew of other records on small labels and on their own. Discovering all that, I feel a bit like I walked into a party, expecting to find a small and intimate gathering, but it’s a packed-out rager. It’s clear Soft Kill is an entire universe, so if you’re familiar with that universe, here’s another chapter. If, like me, this is your introduction, then welcome to the party.

Hellbastard: Ripper Crust 12” (Agipunk Records) When I first heard Hellbastard’s legendary 1986 demo tape, Ripper Crust, in my early 20s, I totally hated it. I had no sense of what crust was or what to expect, but I thought the band name and album title were so badass that it had to be the most ripping and crushing thing ever… I suppose I thought it would sound like G.I.S.M. or something like that… or at least something super gnarly like Extreme Noise Terror. That’s not what Ripper Crust is about, though. It’s brooding and primitive, equal parts Amebix and Hellhammer. The rhythms are dirge-like and uncomfortable, rarely even reaching early Discharge tempos. Even the fastest parts don’t sound raging thanks to the drummer’s paddle thrash beats. The songwriting and arrangements lean into this, repeating riffs and motifs way more times than I would expect and stretching the songs to sometimes punishing lengths. The production is also very lo-fi, with muffled sounds on all the instruments and an awkward, uneven mix. All those sound like criticisms on the surface, but despite these purported flaws, Ripper Crust’s overall vibe is so dark and grimy and distinctive that I can’t help but love it. It just sounds so nasty, like the end of a party with too much cheap beer and bad speed and you want to go home but your ride got too fucked up and now you’re stuck. Ripper Crust puts me into some negative headspace, but sometime that’s what you want, you know? Many people will hear Ripper Crust and wonder why anyone would voluntary listen to something like this, but if you get it, you get it.

Foreseen: Untamed Force 12” (Quality Control HQ) Untamed Force is Foreseen’s third album, but it’s my introduction to the band. We carried their first two LPs on the respected metal label 20 Buck Spin, but I never got around to listening to them… they seemed to exist just outside the scene I pay attention to. While I don’t follow contemporary thrash and crossover, I love plenty of classics, and those are likely the records that inspired Untamed Force. There are plenty of moments that sound like classic Bay Area thrash, but there’s also some very complex riffing that has a virtuosic quality similar to technical thrash bands like Forbidden or Artillery. There are also a lot of breakdowns, some that have a classic Exodus-type sound and others that have more of a Cro-Mags influence. One of the most interesting moments on the record is the song “Oppression Fetish,” which oscillates between a triumphant power metal groove and a spin kick-inducing mosh part, two styles I never would have thought could work together so well. As a whole, Untamed Force comes off as ambitious and composed, military in its execution, its power undeniable. Not the typical fare at Sorry State, but I think this is interesting and exciting enough that it should interest people outside the typical scene boundary lines.

Outpatients: Readmitted 12” (Painkiller Records) Painkiller Records brings us a retrospective release from this 80s / 90s hardcore / metal band from Western Massachusetts. You might have heard of the Outpatients if you’re a big US hardcore nerd, but since they never got out a stand-alone vinyl release during their hardcore era, they’re relegated to being known by the people nerdy enough to remember how ripping their contributions to the Bands That Could Be God compilation are. Readmitted brings together tracks from what sounds like several recording sessions (it’s not clear which tracks come from which sessions, which is frustrating), all of them no-frills affairs from a production standpoint, but showcasing the band’s wide range as songwriters and obvious power as players. In terms of style, the songs on Readmitted run the gamut from tracks like “Cover Girl,” which is pure 80s US hardcore, to more metallic, crossover-tinged songs like “Backwards Birthday” (these more metallic tracks remind me of our North Carolina heroes Subculture), to post-punk-tinged tracks like “Light Blue” that sound a bit like October File-era Die Kreuzen. Some of these songs are so different that they almost sound like different bands, and you could chop Readmitted into to three separate records with totally different styles, all of them very good for what they are. One of those records would sound like a lost X-Claim! release, another could fit in with low-budget cult 80s metal bands like Medieval or At War (shout out Virginia Beach), and a third might sound like a band trying to get signed to Homestead Records. Despite the stylistic breadth, Readmitted hangs together based on the incredible musicianship—all three guys could tear it up—and the no-frills nature of the recordings. The recordings have a candid quality, like they just threw up some mics and let this great fucking band rip, and while some of them might have benefitted from, say, a second guitar track, I love the way they place the focus on the band’s tightness as a unit. Besides the rad, period-appropriate artwork, Readmitted also comes with an insert full of photos and flyers and an essay by Mike Gitter of XXX fanzine. Ultimately Readmitted is for the 80s US hardcore deep heads, but those of us who fall into that category will enjoy this fresh look at an underrated band who never got their due.

Sniffany & the Nits: The Unscratchable Itch 12” (PRAH Recordings) Earlier this summer, a friend whose taste I respect told me how great the Sniffany & the Nits LP was, and that he couldn’t stop listening to it. I gave it enough of a listen online to confirm that I felt the same way, but I held off on bathing myself in The Unscratchable Itch until the vinyl arrived. Fuck, this record smokes! I liked Sniffany & the Nits’ earlier 7” on Thrilling Living Records (we even included the track “Horse Girl” on our Best of 2020 mix tape), but I like the The Unscratchable Itch even more. One of the first things I thought when I heard it was that it sounds a lot like the Das Drip record Sorry State released back in 2019. Like the Das Drip LP, The Unscratchable Itch is a hardcore record—loud, fast, and aggressive—but it’s bent in different directions. In most every song, the drummer plays the same fast punk beat for the length of the song, hammering repetitively until you feel like you’re spinning out, while the guitarist plays Joy Division melodies like they’re Darkthrone songs, the bassist holds it down, and the singer has what sounds like a tantrum or a mental breakdown. The lyrics are fantastic, many of them deploying rich, poetic images that evoke so much with just a few words. Many of the topics deal (sometimes obliquely) with sexual double standards and a feminine viewpoint of the world, and reading them—particularly since they’re so well done—makes me realize how rarely we hear women’s voices in hardcore punk. The record is furious and menacing, not a dud among its 10 tracks. If you like the aforementioned references and/or you dug the latest Amyl & the Sniffers record or Sorry State’s own No Love, give this a whirl… it’ll scratch an itch you might not even know you had.

Note: As I’m writing this on October 5, 2022, this LP is out of stock at Sorry State. We’re working on getting more, but in the meantime I encourage you to use the “email me when available” button on our website. This one is worth waiting for!

Abyecta: Enemigos De La Razón 7” (Symphony of Destruction Records) Enemigos De La Razón is the second EP from Barcelona’s Abyecta, arriving about two years after their first record, which Symphony of Destruction also released. In case you don’t remember that first EP, Infrafuturo, I’d describe Abyecta’s sound as fast hardcore punk with some light metallic and progressive flourishes. At their core, the songs are barreling hardcore punk in the broad tradition of Discharge (though not self-consciously d-beat), but the guitarist fills the songs with quick metal licks and rapid-fire palm muting. That approach reminds me of early Paintbox and later Death Side, but even more so, Abyecta sounds of a piece with Texas bands like Criaturas and Peace Decay, both of whom are also into that classic Burning Spirits Japanese hardcore sound, but dedicated to a more straightforward hardcore approach. These four tracks blaze by in a haze of riffs, rolls, and crashes, and every time I spin it I want to listen to it again because it feels like there’s still so much detail to appreciate in these dense and powerful songs.

Mirage: Immagini Postume cassette (Roach Leg Records) Roach Leg Records brings us the debut cassette from Mirage, who are from the label’s home turf in the New York City area. Roach Leg has been dropping a lot of tapes and it's tough to keep up with all of them, but Mirage isn’t the one you want to skip. Their sound is unique, with the (mostly) Italian language vocals tying them to the rich history of Italian hardcore while the music draws on post-punk atmosphere and psychedelic texture without sounding like anything other than hardcore punk. The chorus on the guitar and the dark chord progressions make comparisons to spooky-sounding punk bands like Part 1 and Rudimentary Peni obvious, but Mirage really reminds me of Wretched’s last 12”,  La Tua Morte Non Aspetta. Immagini Postume feels more interesting, exciting, and better-executed than most of the vinyl releases I hear these days, so if this is what Mirage is offering as their demo cassette, I’m very excited to see where they go from here. While we wait to find out, though, Immagini Postume will give us plenty to chew on.

Syndrome 81: Prisons Imaginaires 12” (Black Water Records) We first stocked Prisons Imaginaires, the new album from Brest, France’s Syndrome 81, earlier this summer while I was away on tour with Scarecrow. That initial batch sold out immediately, so I didn’t have an opportunity to listen to the record until this restock arrived earlier this week. Hearing it now, it’s easy to see why so many people snatched this up… Prisons Imaginaires is an infectious album. The basic framework of Syndrome 81’s is a collision between battering ram French oi! and angular yet melodic post-punk. That mix of styles isn’t unprecedented, but it’s not common to hear bands attempt it, and even less common to hear bands who really makes it work. Within that framework, Syndrome 81 finds a lot of room for stylistic variation, from the manic “Violence Sociale,” a near-hardcore song that sounds a bit like a faster version of something off of Leatherface’s first album Cherry Knowle, to more mournful songs like “Avenir.” My favorite tracks, though, are the super poppy up-tempo tracks like “Fuir Son Passe” and “Dans Les Rues Des Brest,” which approach the pop bliss of early Cure or New Order tracks with an added injection of punk energy. For the closing track, “Lumiere Magnetique,” Syndrome 81 switches out their acoustic drums for synth drums, going full darkwave and proving they could pass an audition to open for the Soft Moon or Boy Harsher. Through all the twists and turns, the songwriting remains immediate yet sophisticated, making for that rare record that knocks you out on the first listen, yet rewards you for coming back again and again.

Oog Bogo: The Beat Sessions cassette (Shout Recordings) The famed Beat Sessions series returns from a too-long absence with this set from LA punk band Oog Bogo. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Beat Sessions, they’re sort of like a punk rock version of the Peel Sessions. Engineer / producer / mastermind Mike Kriebel brings his favorite bands into his studio for a quick-and-dirty one-day recording session, and like the original Peel Sessions, the Beat Sessions are a magical combination of off-the-cuff performances and high fidelity acoustics, since Mike’s recordings are often much stronger than what these bands get on their own. Past Beat Sessions participants include underground heavyweights like Impalers, S.H.I.T., Uranium Club, and Institute. Oog Bogo might be less familiar than those bands to Sorry State’s readers. I hadn’t heard of them before this release, as they seem to exist in a world of lo-fi west coast garage-punk that is just outside of my radar screen’s range. It’s my loss, though, because I’ve enjoyed checking out their earlier recordings. While Oog Bogo’s earlier records vary in fidelity (their early EPs are lo-fi, their full-length less so), they’re all marked by a meticulous attention to texture, with most tracks weaving a range of different guitar and synth sounds into a rich sonic tapestry. The Beat Sessions, however, captures a different side of Oog Bogo, recording the group’s live lineup after tightening up these new arrangements on tour. Most songs revolve around two beefy-sounding guitars (one of which occasionally gets swapped out for a synth) and the rhythm section does what you need to do to catch the attention of the would-be fans who are drinking at the bar and smoking outside… i.e. they play hard and fast. Oog Bogo sounds like a punk band here, in the mold of high-energy groups like the Carbonas, the Dickies, Jay Reatard, the Marked Men… groups that wield pop songcraft like a sledgehammer. Mike Kriebel’s clear and powerful recording here only adds to the weightiness. I’m sure Oog Bogo’s existing fans will love these punked-up takes, and those of us who hadn’t heard their music yet get a punk-friendly entry point that’ll get us reaching for the rest of their discography.

Totalitär: Vi Ar Eliten 12” (Prank Records) My favorite Totalitär record tends to be the one I’m listening to at the moment, but the band’s final album, 2007’s Vi Ar Eliten, holds a special place in my heart. It’s the first — really, the only—Totalitär record I got to digest as it came out. While Totalitär was well known in 2007, Vi Ar Eliten still felt like a bit of a secret. Most bands who I thought of as Totalitär’s at the time (bands like Wolfbrigade, Victims, and Skitsystem) were playing more polished and/or metallic music, but beneath the head-scratching cover art was perhaps Totalitär’s best music. First of all, the production on Vi Ar Eliten is incredible… the drums are pummeling, the tones on everything else are biting yet full and present, and the mix is just perfect, raw and ripping yet crystal clear. It’s what a hardcore record should sound like to me. Wrapped in that production are a heap of tracks that find Totalitär doing their usual thing with the usual great results: a mix of full-throttle rippers, super catchy mid-paced songs, in-between songs like “En Av Dom Som Dom Skämtar Om” that are the best of both worlds, and a couple of unexpected moments like the rocked-out intro to “Overtid, Overflöd Mot För Tidig Död.” One thing that seems unique to me about Vi Ar Eliten, though, is how much lead guitar we hear. At least half the tracks find the guitarist Lanchy taking center stage, sometimes during the traditional solo section (oh man, the Buzzcocks-inspired two-note solo on “Nej Vi Ska Inte Ha Nåt…” FUCK!), and sometimes at unexpected moments, like the weird little lead break in the title track that starts the record, a moment that always make the hair on my neck stand up. There’s just so much to love with Vi Ar Eliten, and even after listening to it for 15 years it’s nowhere near getting stale. I’m pleased Prank has brought it back into print, and as usual they’ve done an incredible job, with meticulous detail to the record’s visual and sonic presentation and some subtle upgrades that still feel true to the original. This is one of those records that I just don’t want to imagine life without.

Lumpen: Corrupción 12” (Discos Enfermos) Lumpaen released their first 7” a couple of years ago (and we still have copies in stock!), and now Spain’s Discos Enfermos is back with a 12” from these Colombian punks based in Barcelona. As with the Primer Regimen EP we wrote about last week, Corrupción is marked by that unique intensity that seems to be a hallmark of contemporary Colombian punk… the vocals are just shredded, the singer forcing each breath out of their lungs like it’s a projectile meant to kill their mortal enemy. The label’s description tags Lumpen as UK82 in style (and the band’s photo on Discogs shows them wearing t-shirts of bands like Abrasive Wheels and One Way System), but I hear a lot more than that on Corrupción. The title track has a denser, more sophisticated hardcore punk sound that reminds me of Nog Watt in the way it balances ferocity with subtle hooks, while “Cicatrices” leans into the mid-paced, fist-pumping pogo that today’s punks love. In a move that also recalls Primer Regimen, “Anti-Patria” simmers in tension with a stalking anarcho feel, which erupts into “Represión,” the fastest and gnarliest song on the record. Lumpen finishes up with an Ultra Violent cover adapted to their own language, and I’m ready for another spin of this short but gripping 12”.

Freak Genes: Hologram 12” (Feel It Records) Five albums in and when I drop the needle on a new Freak Genes record I still don’t know what to expect, beyond a bunch of synthesizers and ambitious, wide-ranging songwriting. Hologram feels even more eclectic than their previous records, touching base on styles Freak Genes has dabbled in before (like the Jay Reatard-esque “Strange Charm” and “Spiderweb,” or the creepy, Screamers-ish “DNA”), but continuing to push at the edges of their sound. “New Crime” is an upbeat dance track with super catchy synth arpeggios, “Swimmers” is a moody and spacey meditation a la 154-era Wire, and tracks like “Hologram” and “Among the Drain” take surprising left turns, both of them wandering off into art rock land in their latter sections. While a more consistent approach might make it easier for listeners to latch on to Freak Genes, those of you who like following the picaresque musical adventures of folks like Jake Roberts of Alien Nose Job, John Dwyer of the Oh Sees, and Ty Segall will enjoy keeping tabs on Freak Genes’ continuing musical adventures.

Blessure: Ekaitza / Sabaté 7” (Discos Enfermos) This two-song single is the debut stand-alone release (they had a previous split 7” and appeared on some compilations) from this punk / oi! band from Basque Country, and it is a scorcher. It’s a bold move putting out a two-song punk single, but what Blessure loses in quantity they deliver in quality. The a-side, “Ekaitza,” is a great fucking song. Sung in the Basque language, its gritty sound and rudimentary instrumentation sound like something from the Chaos En France compilation, but the song’s structure is pure pop, with a simple but effective guitar hook leading the way to an anthemic chorus. The vocalist is spectacular too, not just carrying a tune but doing it with a unique timbre that makes Blessure sound unlike anyone else. The b-side, “Sabaté,” is a straightforward basher in the Blitz mold with terrace chant backing vocals that make it sound more prototypically oi! Like a great punk single should, this one keeps me flipping the record while I dream about how Blessure might expand on these ideas for an EP or (fingers crossed) a full-length.

The Prize: Wrong Side of Town 7” (Anti Fade Records) This debut 4-song EP from Melbourne, Australia’s The Prize is worth ringing the “power-pop banger” alarm bell for. While Sorry State is known for our focus on hardcore, I’d like to think we know a killer power-pop band, song, or record when we come across one. Hopefully our track record speaks for itself, as we’ve released records by the Number Ones and the Love Triangle on our label and sung the praises of groups like Romero and Midnite Snaxxx in the newsletter. Anyway, the Prize is a group I can get behind. The key thing you need in a power-pop band is hooks (that’s the pop part), and the Prize has ‘em in spades. All four tracks on Wrong Side of Town (three originals and an Incredible Kidda Band cover) are totally hum-able, the title track in particular an earworm that you won’t be able to dislodge even if you want to. The Prize also has the power part down, with energetic performances (particularly on the Ramones-y “Don’t Know You”) and big lead guitar hooks that are just as infectious as the vocal melodies. With all five band members sharing vocal duties, the Prize’s dynamic arrangements keep your ears alert, but everything hangs on those fantastic hooks. A killer EP.

Rashōmon: Nin-Gen 12” (Iron Lung Records) It’s been four years since Rashōmon graced us with their last record, and I’m glad to have them back. Rashōmon has always taken obvious cues from classic Japanese hardcore, but they’ve developed their own take on the sound, combining the brute force pummeling of bands like Warhead and Nightmare with Death Side’s musicality. I’m always skeptical when people say something sounds like Death Side, because usually what they mean is there is epic, Iron Maiden-esque lead guitar all over it, but not so with Rashōmon. While they have occasional leads, they’re quirkier and more interesting than your typical heavy metal flash. See, for instance, the creepy, chromatic-sounding guitar lead near the beginning of the second track. More than Death Side, though, Rashōmon reminds me of the lesser-appreciated band Warhead, particularly in their sneering vocal style and the dense technicality of their songwriting and arrangements. As with Warhead, Rashōmon can sound overwhelming at first, but closer listens reveal each song is rich with interesting musical detail. And since this brisk EP only clocks in at around 10 minutes, there’s plenty of time in your day to give it the multiple spins it deserves.

Self-Inflict: S/T 7” (Not for the Weak Records) Virginia’s Not for the Weak Records brings us another blast of powerful hardcore from their healthy in-house stable of bands based in the Norfolk / Virginia Beach area. Four of these songs from Self-Inflict came out on a tape back in 2020, but when NFTW decided the vinyl treatment was in order, the band went back into the studio and recorded two additional tracks. I wish more bands and labels were so thoughtful when reissuing previously released material! If you’re hip to Not for the Weak, Self-Inflict will be just as essential as other bands on the label like Reckoning Force and Lethal Means, though Self-Inflict has their own identity. Clearly taking inspiration from Out Cold’s no-nonsense style, these songs also remind me of more early 80s-influenced bands from the post-youth crew east coast hardcore scene, particularly Striking Distance. It would be a strong meat and potatoes meal, but the virtuoso drumming gives Self-Inflict a distinctive flavor, squeezing an impressive array of catchy fills and change-ups into the tiny crevices between the relentless jackhammering of the kick and snare. Check out the first few seconds of “Get In Line” (one of the two new tracks and the best one on the EP) for a taste of what I’m talking about. Fans of no-frills hardcore punk, don’t let this one slip past you.

Phantasia: Ghost Stories 12” (Beach Impediment Records) Beach Impediment brings us the debut from this New York City band. I had no idea what to expect from Phantasia going in, and they caught my ear right away with their big melodies and unique atmosphere. Ghost Stories sounds to me like something out of the UK in the early 80s, its unstable mix of gloom and vivid color recalling early records by the Smiths, Modern English, and the most pop moments of the Cure. As with those bands, Phantasia is soaked in post-industrial soot and grime, but you can feel the 60s explosion of color deep below the surface, giving an optimistic armature to songs like “All the Flowers” and the instantly memorable closing track, “Leftoveryou.” I love when dourness is spiked with color and energy, and tracks like “Fate of the Martyr” hit that note perfectly, the upbeat, Motown-inflected rhythms propelling the murk similarly to early Smiths songs like “This Charming Man” and “Handsome Devil.” While you’ll see people throw around genre tags like “post-punk” and “death rock” in relation to Phantasia, I think there’s something a lot more interesting and unique going on with Ghost Stories.

Black Dog: demo cassette (Roach Leg Records) Roach Leg Records brings us the demo cassette from this band out of Halifax, Canada that features players from other notable bands from that region like Zygome and Fragment. Like a lot of bands Roach Leg has put out, Black Dog worships at Disclose’s no-fi altar, building their songs on the same template of bastardized Discharge riffs, drumbeats, and… well, everything. As with most bands of this ilk, the standard format puts the focus on what’s original, and for me that’s Black Dog’s bizarre guitar sound. It’s low and evil, not recalling any other guitarist’s sound so much as the noise Windows 95 would make when it would lock up from running too many programs. It’s a fitting tone for a band seeking to evoke horror, dread, and helplessness in their music. Black Dog’s demo isn’t for the d-beat dabblers, but as with everything on Roach Leg, there’s something compelling here for those with an ear for it.

Tetanus: II cassette (Judgement Tapes) You may remember Charlotte, North Carolina’s Tetanus from their demo tape on Sorry State. When I heard there were teenage kids in my state covering the Mentally Ill, I knew I had to get in on the action, but with II, Tetanus is strikes out on their own, releasing it on guitarist Todd’s Judgement Tapes label. While their demo was bathed in sheets of noise, II is more refined, with a clearer recording that better captures the band’s unique rhythms and strong use of noisy textures, without losing the unhinged energy that comes across in their live show and on that first tape. Everything is there on the first track, “Falling,” an artsy flail that brings to mind early Tar Babies or Meat Puppets. “Borderline” is the only letup, a classic hardcore dirge (with a fast part in the middle) that cakes its nightmare riff in feedback and fuzz. Highly recommended for anyone who likes their hardcore fast, loose, and wild.

 Crna Žuč: S/T cassette (Doom Town Records) Crna Žuč is a solo project from Dragana, vocalist of the Belgrade hardcore band Apsurd. I am a huge fan of Apsurd’s 12” on Doom Town Records, which captured some of the unique mixture of gloom and grit that defined Yugoslavian punk in the 80s. While Crna Žuč is less hardcore-oriented than Apsurd, those elements that make Apsurd stand out are still present, even amplified in many respects. I’d describe Crna Žuč’s sound as gloomy punk or death rock, but what I’m pulled in by isn’t the style but the execution. Dragana writes these serpentine guitar riffs that teeter on the edge of dissonance, full of unexpected notes that sound weird at first, but make perfect sense within the context of the songs. The drums and bass play it cool, building hypnotic rhythms while the vocals pull everything together into dynamic songs that crest and fall. Fans of Tožibabe are encouraged to check out Crna Žuč, particularly if your tastes also lean toward the ethereal and hypnotic end of the underground music spectrum. A unique and addictive release.

Bad Breeding: Human Capital 12” (Iron Lung Records) I’ve been a massive fan of Bad Breeding since their first record in 2016, and through each of the four vinyl releases preceding Human Capital, my enthusiasm for the group has only grown. The trend continues with Human Capital, which to my ears is Bad Breeding’s best album. From the start, the most identifiable aspect of Bad Breeding’s sound has been their rhythm section, and they continue to melt my brain across these twelve new tracks. Bad Breeding has always seemed to come at hardcore sideways, their dense and clattering rhythms reminding me more of industrial music than punk rock. There’s the absence of swing, but also this way of finding rhythms inside of rhythms, creating a trance-like state that often gets jarringly disrupted by one of their trademark whiplash rhythmic shifts. Bad Breeding’s guitarist has also always been inventive, finding space in their dense onslaught for earworm licks, but there’s a sense of melody on Human Capital that feels new. Listen to the way he scatters light-as-air, Slint-esque chiming notes in “Community,” or the memorable guitar line in “Rebuilding.” As usual, the lyrics and political stance are also well thought out, with an essay on alienation under capitalism by band collaborator Jake Ferrell occupying the reverse side of the poster insert. Whether you come to Bad Breeding for the innovative take on hardcore punk, the intriguing political analysis, the spot-on aesthetics, or all of the above, you’ll agree that Human Capital is a highlight in the growing discography of one of punk’s most perennially exciting bands.

Mock Execution: Killed by Mock Execution 12” (La Vida Es Un Mus) Back in 2019, Chicago’s Mock Execution whetted our appetites with their Reality Attack 7”, and three years later they deliver the full meal. One thing I love about Mock Execution is that while a lot of contemporary bands base their style and sound on one micro-scene or even just one band, Mock Execution draws from a wide range of international punk influences. Faster songs like “Apocalypse Now” and “Stagnant Fools” sound like crasher crust, raw and primal gestalt in the vein of Gloom, Framtid, and early Anti-Cimex. However, Mock Execution is also excellent with a mid-paced song, whether it’s a Kaaos-style fist-pumper like “Insanity” or the more chugging, Totalitär-esque “Calm in the Chaos.” Things can also get pretty metal, as on the epic intro for “Enough Is Enough,” but whatever the tempo and style, everything is wrapped in the raw and urgent production and playing style I associate with the 80s scenes in South America and Italy. While my description probably makes Mock Execution sound scattered, it all adds up to a distinctive voice that sounds like no one else. Inventive songwriting, great musicianship, primal performances, sick artwork… I’m sold.

The Flex: Chewing Gum for the Ears 12” (Lockin’ Out Records) I often write in these descriptions that the label’s official blurb says all that needs saying about a release, and usually that’s because there isn’t much to say. That’s not the case with Chewing Gum for the Ears. It’s a complex record that I have complex feelings about, and the label’s description hits many of the points that went through my head as I’ve listened to this record over the past several weeks. The Flex has a lot of different ingredients in their stew, and some of them are ingredients I typically steer clear of, particularly late 80s / early 90s New York Hardcore. I don’t care for many modern bands who borrow from that era, but with the Flex there are so many other influences I really like—80s US hardcore, UK82 punk, d-beat—that I still love it. Chewing Gum for the Ears is a savage hardcore record, ripping and raw and raging in all the right ways. And even when they tear into one of those crowd-pleasing breakdowns (like in “Lost Cause,” for instance), they do it with a panache I can get behind. At the end of the day, The Flex is just a great band, and the proof is in this record.

Personal Damage: Violent Ritual cassette (Test Subject Records) The third EP from this LA hardcore punk band is yet another ripper. While it’s tempting to compare Personal Damage to the titans of catchy, 80s-style hardcore punk that came from their part of the world, the two bands that Personal Damage reminds me of most are from Boston: Gang Green and the Freeze. While Personal Damage’s demo was more on the Gang Green end, Violent Ritual leans more toward the Freeze’s sound on This Is Boston Not LA and Guilty Face. Like the Freeze, Personal Damage writes memorable tunes, and also like the Freeze they play almost all of them at blinding tempos. The call and response chorus in “Banned From Society” is designed to have you singing along immediately, and it succeeds. The searing, Agent Orange-inspired guitar lead is icing on the cake. The trick with this style is to keep it from sounding like pop-punk, and Personal Damage’s off-the-charts snot factor and their commitment to playing as fast and as hard as possible keep them on the right side of that line. Sadly, this isn’t streaming online anywhere, so you’ll have to take my word about how hard it rips. I wouldn’t steer you wrong, would I?

Romansy: Doves of Peace and War cassette (Cool Death Records) Doves of Peace and War is the debut cassette from this cryptic band from Melbourne, Australia. While I’d call Romansy hardcore, they’re on the artsier, more out-there end of that spectrum, filtering the 80s hardcore aesthetic through black metal rehearsal tapes, low-bitrate G.I.S.M. live sets downloaded from sketchy Russian blogs, and wanting to like noise music but just being bored by most of it. While hardcore is a big part of the mix, Romansy comes off more like an introverted home recording project, layers of various types of distortion and damage deployed artfully in a way that’s not beholden to replicating or simulating something that’s happening live in a room. As you might expect, the packaging is top-notch too; the tape feels unique and beautiful to hold in your hand (the unique packaging is another thing that makes me think of noise music). If you only like your hardcore dumb, you should probably take a pass on this one, but the smartypants among us will eat it right up.

Class: S/T cassette (Feel It Records) Concrete info on Class is scarce at the moment, but from what I understand, the band is based in Tucson, Arizona, and features the vocalist from Rik & the Pigs. With that last Rik & the Pigs record fresh in my memory, I was looking forward to this, but it turned out to be very different from what I expected. Compared to the Pigs’ snot and swagger, Class sounds buttoned up, or at least they’re not laying bare their status as total degenerates. Their music is way poppier, and they’re fucking good at writing and playing pop music. Every song is great, and each one seems like its own little world. “Steady Hands” has the golden hour shimmer of Eddy Current Suppression Ring, and “Into the Night” channels the Flamin’ Groovies’ “Shake Some Action,” while “Wrong Side of Town” could be an outtake from the Dictators’ Blood Brothers. Class makes sense on the same label as the Cowboys, who also seem into classic songwriting, wrapping their carefully constructed pop nuggets in a distinctive cocktail of lo-fi aesthetics and 60s-garage-style workmanlike professionalism. Which is a long way of saying this tape contains five infectious power-pop tunes that maintain Feel It’s status as the label with the golden ears.

Damaging Instinct #1 zine First issue of this new zine from Japan devoted to d-beat, mangel, crasher crust, and associated modes of noisy hardcore punk. Damaging Instinct is written entirely in Japanese (with small amounts of English scattered throughout), so don’t expect to read this like a normal punk zine. However, even though I can’t make sense of the text (at least without a lot of effort), I’m still very stoked to get my hands on this issue. Damaging Instinct has a documentary feel, capturing the personalities and fashions associated with this scene. Besides the usual cool live shots, there are also a series of photos of subjects taken with their back toward the camera showing off their punk vests (like the one of Jacky Crust War on the front cover), which might be boring or repetitive to some, but will be fascinating to those of us who own dozens, if not hundreds, of records that others dismiss as all sounding the same. There are features on Physique, D-Takt & Råpunk Records, EEL, Mueco, tons of photos from Manic Relapse 2019, along with general punk ephemera, cool-looking collages, and plenty more. Damaging Instinct is fucking HUGE, a full-size zine that weighs in at 3-4 times the length of an average issue of Razorblades & Aspirin, for instance. It’s quite expensive and most people will balk at the price, but for those of us into this sound and style, Damaging Instinct will be a treasured item we’ll keep on our shelves forever and flip through often.

Lassie: Temporary Cemetary 7” (Turbo Discos) Two-song single from this band out of Leipzig, Germany. You might be tempted to throw Lassie in the egg punk basket, and while that wouldn’t be inappropriate, I think this single rises above also-ran status. While there are a million bands out there with tinny guitar sounds, budget synths, and jittery rhythms, Lassie has the hooks so many groups lack. That’s particularly true on “Temporary Cemetary,” whose title references both Paul McCartney’s cult proto-synth-punk track “Temporary Secretary” and the Ramones’ “Pet Semetary,” exactly the kind of nerdery I can get behind. The song’s chorus hook is epic, the kind of thing the a-side of a punk single was made for. Round it out with a solid b-side and beautiful packaging (multi-color risograph sleeve and insert with a witty and fun concept) and you have a single worth adding to your collection.

Glaas: Qualm 12” (Static Shock Records) When I wrote about Glaas’s debut cassette earlier this year, I remember thinking that as much as I liked those three songs, Glaas’s music seemed better suited to a longer release where they could go deeper and further. Qualm confirms my suspicion. The maximalism I noted on the cassette is present in full force on Qualm, which on first listen can sound like an inchoate maelstrom, with drums, bass, guitars, synths, and vocals all pulling in different directions, a supernova of sound that is remarkable in its density, but unstable at the core and ready to explode. I’ve been playing Qualm a lot over the past few weeks, and I still hear new things on every pass… the record is so crammed with music that even an attentive listener will need dozens of plays to feel like they’ve made progress extracting its riches. Perhaps because that density can be exhausting, I’m particularly drawn to the moments on the record where Glaas lets their foot off the gas and allows the music to breathe, most memorably on the (unexpectedly) reggae-tinged “An Ode to Ravachol.” For fans of the members’ previous projects like Clock of Time and Nervous Eaters, Qualm is a must-hear, but Glaas will appeal to anyone who has an ear for challenging post-punk in the tradition of bands like Wire and the Pop Group.

Gripe: Como Acabar Contigo Mismo 12” (Neon Taste Records) Hailing from Santiago, Chile, Gripe seems like the band that once they’re discovered, they will quickly find themselves on many year-end “best of” lists of hardcore aficionados far and wide. While the band was active as far back as 2018, this new LP released on the excellent Neon Taste label contains Gripe’s new 9-song recording on the A-side, as well as their 2020 demo cassette on the B-side. Stacked against the label’s local Canadian groups like Chain Whip and Imploders, and more recently bands like White Stains, Gripe’s style of hardcore feels right at home on Neon Taste. Lean and mean blasts of chaotic, jangly, but not-too-distorted guitar reminds me of groups like Amdi Petersens Arme or Total Fury, but paired with that classic, anthemic delivery of 80s Southern California punk. But of course, led by a vicious and commanding vocalist who sings all in Spanish. Tracks like “Forzado” or “Sobrecarga” are quick whirlwinds of fury that sound like a powder keg about to burst. But then a song like “Posición Fatal” is a menacing, slow burn that functions almost like Gripe’s answer to “Welcome To Reality” or “Democracy” by the Adolescents. Each recording on either side of this LP has its charm, but with either side that you might prefer, it’s amazing how these intense, explosively energetic performances are captured on tape. As the sound oozes out of the speakers on your home stereo, it’s like a visceral experience. The amount of blood and sweat the band expels is palpable, almost as if while listening you can feel yourself stuffed like a sardine into a tiny, packed-to-the-gills hardcore show. Much like the label describes, Gripe seems like the perfect party-fueled backdrop for many late-night delinquent activities. Gripe is the band that you want to set up and play at the edge of pool during a skate sesh after you and your friends sneak into someone’s back yard. A perfect soundtrack for fun-fueled mayhem and destruction. Don’t sleep. Check out this LP.

Abuso de Poder: Vago Muerto 7” (Roach Leg Records) Debut 7” by this band from the punk hotbed of Santa Ana, California. Abuso de Poder’s sound toes the line between hardcore punk and oi!, reminding me of early 80s bands like the 4 Skins, Iron Cross, or Blitzkrieg. The gruff vocals and alternately stomping and charging rhythms keep things sounding very tough, but there’s a subtle tunefulness at the heart of Abuso de Poder’s sound. They may not be as catchy as Rixe, for instance, but these six songs are laced with the kinds of touches that keep you flipping the record over and over… 86 Mentality is another good point of reference, both in terms of Abuso de Poder’s sound and that flip-ability factor. I also love that this is a 33rpm 7” with 6 killer tracks… it reminds of old Dischord EPs, which are pretty much my favorite records in the world. Excellent stuff.

Sepsis: The Divide 7” (Hardcore Victim Records) Debut 4-songer from this band out Narm, Australia. The label’s description says it all here… metallic d-beat crust with influences from (early) Sacrilege, Hellbastard, and mid-period Cimex. While metal-infused d-beat like this can get too slick for my tastes, Sepsis keeps it raw and immediate with nasty production and plenty of straightforward, Discharge-style riffing to compliment the moments where they get a little more rock (like on the title track) or metal (“No Pride”). I can’t put my finger on it, but something about this EP comes off as honest, unpretentious, and sturdy, like a good hardcore punk band just doing their thing. If you’re allergic to flash and just want that hardcore punk shit, give Sepsis a try.

The Hazmats: Empty Rooms 7” (Static Shock Records) Static Shock Records brings us the debut single by the Hazmats, a new UK band featuring a bunch of people who play in hardcore and punk bands doing something more melodic. The Hazmats nail the late 80s / early 90s UK indie vibe here, with a sound that’s pure pop at its core but drenched in the boisterous fuzz that was so popular at that time. These two songs sound like something I would have stayed up late to catch on 120 Minutes circa 1990. While there are many people who live and die for this style, I’m not one of them. There are some bands in this vein / from this era that I like a lot (Lush, My Bloody Valentine, the Jesus and Mary Chain, etc.), but it’s not like hardcore punk where I’m going to be interested just because of the aesthetic… a band like this needs good songs to catch my ear. And thankfully, the Hazmats have them! The simple guitar hook in “Empty Rooms” is an instant classic, but rather than resting on their laurels and padding out the rest of the song with filler, the Hazmats frame that brilliant hook with some classic pop tension and release. “Today,” on the other hand, emphasizes the vocals with its big chorus hook of “today will wear me out.” Like a lot of great singles, it feels like peeking through a keyhole into a much larger room. What I can make out is very intriguing, so let’s hope the Hazmats open the door for us.

Uranium Club: Two Things at Once (Again) 7” (Strange Lords LLC) Is there another band anything like Uranium Club? During a time when so many bands reiterate the same idea (and often that idea isn’t even their own), Uranium Club seems like the embodiment of idiosyncrasy and originality. Whether you love or hate their records, you must admit the band is on their own trip, and that continues with this latest single. Two Things at Once (Again) is billed as “retooled” or “reimagined” version of Uranium Club’s contribution to the Sub Pop singles club in 2019, but not being part of said club, I’m not able to go into detail about the differences between the two records. The a-side track has vocals and sounds of a piece with Uranium Club’s previous material, while the b-side is an instrumental that goes off in a spacey direction that sounds like Uranium Club meets Miles Davis’s 70s fusion records. It’s not unprecedented for Uranium Club, but not what I think of as their signature style. I love it, possibly even more than the a-side. The packaging, though, is where you can dive down the rabbit hole. As you can see from the product photo, the layout is heavy on text. It’s written in the second person, parts of it like instructions, but the logic dissolves more or less immediately. If you surrender your rational impulse and follow the text where it leads, it brings you into a similar headspace as Uranium Club’s music (particularly the more spread-out music on their full-lengths), but in a totally different way. Many people—punks especially—won’t enjoy being confounded in this way, but I find Uranium Club’s labyrinthine, Pynchon-esque aesthetic irresistible.

Heart Attack: God Is Dead 7” (Velvet Elk Records) Reissue of this 3-song ripper from 1981, one of the first New York Hardcore records and a legendary grip for punk vinyl collectors. With only 300 copies of the original pressing, it’s been hard to find and expensive since it came out. I guess the band didn’t think it was that strong and didn’t want to keep it in print, and while it may not be on the same level as the Bad Brains and Minor Threat records that were coming out around the same time (what is?), it’s still a scorcher in my book. The title track (which is actually the b-side) is a stop-start masterpiece that sets up the framework Agnostic Front would expand on for United Blood, and it would be a NYHC classic even if it didn’t have the historical distinction of being the first example of it. On the other side, “You” is in a similar vein, but my favorite has always been “Shotgun,” a more tuneful track that also appeared on the New York Thrash compilation, where it fit in next to punkier bands like Kraut and the Mad. Velvet Elk’s reissue expands the minimalist layout of the original pressing, adding a cool photo of the band in front of CBGB on the back cover and an essay about the EP from Lyle Hysen, whose label Damaged Goods Records originally released God Is Dead. Whether you’re coming at God Is Dead as a historical artifact or just a ripping hardcore punk record, you’ll leave satisfied.

Seems Twice: Non-Plussed 12” (Pass Without Trace Records) Pass Without Trace Records brings us a reissue of this rare Australian 7” from 1980 on a 45RPM, one-sided 12”. I’d never heard of Seems Twice before this reissue dropped, and I see the EP’s original pressing is up there with some of the other Australian punk classics in terms of price tag and rarity… one of those will set you back several hundred dollars if you can find an opportunity to buy one. After listening to it, I can see why. Seems Twice has a minimalist art-punk sound, their songs very short and primarily fast, but not hardcore. Seems Twice must have taken a lot of influence from the short songs on Wire’s Pink Flag, but since this came out in 1980, it was too early to be influenced by bands like the early Minutemen and the Urinals who were doing something very similar in the US. I find this style magical because if you played short and fast songs at any point after 1981 or so, you would almost certainly be triangulating your sound off of hardcore, either conforming to it or reacting against it. But Seems Twice, like the other bands I mentioned above, sound like a musical version of minimalist visual artists like Frank Stella. Just as those artists dispensed with so many of painting’s extraneous elements to focus on color and pattern, Seems Twice abandon conventional songwriting structures, distilling their music down to these elemental bursts of rhythm and melody. If that sounds like something you’d be interested in, I highly recommend Non-Plussed… there are only so many examples of this style, and this is a prime one.

Sindrome De Abstinencia / Nino Viejo:  Ruido Vivo en Da Skatepark cassette (Open Palm Tapes) Chicago’s Open Palm Tapes brings us this split cassette featuring live recordings from two current Chilean hardcore punk bands. Like many people, I avoided live recordings for years, mostly because I thought I was supposed to. Anyone who listens to raw hardcore should know that fidelity shouldn’t be your chief concern with a recording, and live recordings often capture something that’s much harder to find in the studio… so who cares if you can’t distinctly hear each hit of the kick drum? Sindrome De Abstinencia’s tracks here are a case in point… they are exploding with energy. Their style of fast hardcore (they cover Los Crudos, Infest, and Spazz during their set if that gives you any indication) might be something I’d gloss over based on a genre description, but there’s no denying the wild intensity of what they capture on this recording. Nino Viejo’s style is less chaotic, more in the fist-pumping vein of Poison Idea, and while their recording doesn’t have the same magic as Sindrome De Abstinencia, it’s still an interesting listen. I know record collectors get all worked up over raw South American hardcore from the 80s, but these two bands prove there’s still great stuff happening in that part of the world.

People’s Temple: demo cassette (Roach Leg Records) People’s Temple’s demo cassette on Roach Leg Records made the rounds last November, but the initial pressing sold out even more quickly than your typical Roach Leg release (which is saying something!) and we missed out on that batch. Fortunately, Roach Leg pressed up more copies, and we got in on the action. While People’s Temple has the raw hardcore sound that you associate with Roach Leg Records if you’ve been following the label, it doesn’t fall into the d-beat or noise-punk categories that many of Roach Leg’s other releases do. To me, they sound like a band that could have come from early 80s California with their sprightly tempos, hint of melody, and nihilistic sensibility. People’s Temple makes me think of bands like Circle One, Sick Pleasure, or Wasted Youth… like those bands, there’s a hint of tuneful UK punk in People’s Temple’s sound, but it’s so raw and thuggish that it’s its own thing. Tracks like “Dead Soldiers” and “LSD & Anarchy” (which sounds to me like the hit song of the tape) have big choruses that might remind you of UK82 punk bands, but then a track like “Human Livestock” has a garage-y feel that reminds me of Formaldehyde Junkies. People’s Temple is as dirty, raw, and nasty as anything on Roach Leg, but the subtle tunesmithery makes this tape stand out from the pack.

Corrupted Morals: Think About It 12” (Lavasocks Records) Lavasocks Records, who gave us a 12” expansion of Corrupted Morals’ Chet 7” a while back, give us another CM treat, this time a vinyl reissue of the band’s 1986 demo. Wow, what a scorcher! I heard rips of these tracks online years ago, but nothing approaching the fidelity on this 12”, which is clear, crisp, and powerful. This earlier material is more straightforwardly hardcore than the Chet era of the band that I’m more familiar with, but I like it even better. The songs are even faster, but they still have that crossover edge to the riffing and those great snotty vocals that are bathed in California surfer dude accident that hooked me on Chet. Think About It is a relentless barrage of 12 tracks coming one right after the other with no letup, and is bound to tickle the fancy of anyone who loves Attitude Adjustment, Life Sentence, and other super-fast mid-80s US hardcore in this vein. Since all of Think About It fits on one side of a 12”, Lavasocks pads out the b-side with a live set recorded a few months after the demo. The fidelity on this set isn’t as strong, but it’s listenable and it includes all five tracks that later appeared on Chet as well as a bunch of demo-era material. This is an essential pickup for anyone who loves Corrupted Morals and/or anyone whose interest in US hardcore extends deeper and further into the 80s.

Weak Pulse: EKG cassette (Open Palm Tapes) Open Palm Tapes brings us a cassette from this 80s USHC-sounding band from Chicago. Weak Pulse sounds like a band that would have thrived in the No Way Records era, their straight beats, shouted vocals, and straightforward yet memorable riffs recalling under the radar US hardcore classics like the Clitboys’ We Don’t Play the Game EP or the N.O.T.A. album. The production is perfect, neither too raw nor too slick, capturing the band’s power and not calling attention to itself, emphasizing Weak Pulse’s ample hooks. If you’ve ever showed up at a gig and realized you inadvertently dressed exactly like the Circle Jerks’ mascot, this one is for you. Highly recommended for all USHC heads.

Grimly Forming: Live on KXLU 88.9FM cassette (Lament Records) Grimly Forming has been kicking around the Los Angeles area for at least six years now, releasing a string of cassettes and one 7” we enjoyed when it came out a few years ago. Now they’re back with this 11-song live on the radio set. If the tape wasn’t titled  Live on KXLU 88.9FM, you’d have no idea this was a live recording, because the fidelity is as strong as a studio release and the songs are edited together tightly like on a studio recording. Grimly Forming’s sound reminds me of the heavier and creepier end of the 80s Japanese hardcore scene. While I’m sure they’ve heard G.I.S.M., I hear more Kuro, the Clay, and Sodom (as well as stuff like United Mutation that isn’t from Japan but has a similar tone). It doesn’t sound like Grimly Forming is trying to be fucked up or weird, but plenty of fucked up weirdness finds its way in without any special effort. Fans of more contemporary bands like Blazing Eye and S.H.I.T. who are heavy and energetic yet steeped in atmosphere will also love this.

Realm of Terror: Loss of Hope cassette (Gutteral Warfare Records) Loss of Hope is the latest cassette from this Michigan band that channels the greyed out anxiety of the crossover hardcore / metal scene that flourished in late 80s Britain. Extreme Noise Terror is the obvious reference point, which I reach for because the vocals do that alternating low / high thing I associate with E.N.T. Before the E.N.T. thing dawned on me, though, I thought to myself that Realm of Terror sounds like Disclose with death metal parts. Their sound is tinny and blown out, essentially crasher crust, but when they drop into a mid-paced part, the riffs are more complex and heavier. Perhaps this is what the band means when they say there are more stenchcore elements on Loss of Hope than on their previous release, Accelerated Extinction (which we also have in stock), but I’m hearing raw death metal more than stenchcore… I’m no expert, though, so maybe I’m wrong. You’ll also hear Realm of Terror flirt with grind, which is keeping with the aesthetic. It seems like many people have been discovering this universe of 80s UK punk/metal crossover lately, and I love how Realm of Terror fuses those influences with crasher crust and d-beat to arrive at something that feels fresh and exciting.

SØRDÏD: demo cassette (Roach Leg Records) Roach Leg Records brings us another slice of raw and manic noise from their home base of New York City. On their debut tape, SØRDÏD does a great job of giving us what we want from a nasty noise-punk record while subtly expanding on the formula. The higher frequencies are totally fried and distorted (as they should be), but the bass and drums have a rich sound, keeping your feet moving and your fist pumping through tracks like the crushing “Idle Hope” and the stumbling, Disorder-influenced “Blankhead.” While SØRDÏD might sound like by the book noise-punk at first listen, there are more interesting bits peeking in around the edges, like the brief glimpse of burning spirits-style melody that pops up toward the end of “Last String” and the catchy, thrash metal-sounding bass riff that starts off “Idle Hope.” With a sound that will please both the trad and progressive wings of the noise-punk world, SØRDÏD’s demo is another excellent release from Roach Leg.

Delivery: Personal Effects 7” (Feel It Records) Feel It Records brings us the second 7” from this new-ish band from the contemporary punk hotbed of Melbourne, Australia. According to the info I read online, Personal Effects differs from Delivery’s previous releases. Those were home recorded and leaned into that medium’s potential for idiosyncrasy and eclecticism, while these two tracks have a more polished recording that reflects the band’s well-developed live sound. Since Personal Effects is the first Delivery record I’ve heard, I can’t comment too much about that, but I love what I hear here. Delivery sounds fully developed, with a powerful, punk-informed rhythm section and memorably askew horn arrangements. There are pop songs at the core, though, and both sides of Personal Effects deliver. “Personal Effects” is ambling and mid-paced, the wheezing horn line complementing the broad vocal hook in the chorus. “The Topic” is even better to my ears, the horns even more left of center in a Cravats kind of way, a catchy song barging its way through those weird horns and the stumbling rhythm. Delivery’s way of combining left of center sounds with big hooks reminds me of UV Race, another Aussie fave. Here’s hoping Delivery keeps ‘em coming.

Fuera De Sektor: El Mundo Sigue cassette (La Vida Es Un Mus) La Vida Es Un Mus once again dips into the fertile Barcelona punk scene, bringing us the debut release from Fuera De Sektor. Falling on the more melodic end of LVEUM’s spectrum, Fuera De Sektor’s sound is steeped in the powerful and hooky 70s / 80s punk tradition. Tracks like “El Mundo Sigue” and “Viejas Trampas” have a melancholy edge that fans of Rata Negra or Chain Cult will have no problem enjoying, but I like the other two tracks even more. “Necesito Combustible” has a bouncy rhythm and bright guitar hooks that remind me of the Undertones at their very best, while “En La Oscuridad” sounds like a deep cut on an 80s goth / new wave mix tape, the guitar hook pulling it toward rock and roll while the vocals add dark atmosphere. With four tracks that are fairly different from one another, Fuera De Sektor’s sound feels wide open, but despite the stylistic variation, the songwriting is top notch.

Living World: World 7” (Iron Lung Records) Iron Lung brings us the debut vinyl from this Pittsburgh hardcore band, following up a couple of cassettes, including one on the hot Unlawful Assembly label. Pittsburgh has enough punks and punk bands that there seem to be multiple sub-scenes in the city, and I’m not sure which one Living World is most associated with. They have both the retro 80s vibes of the White Stains / Loose Nukes crowd and the youthful energy of the Speed Plans / Illiterates group, and they sound like they’d be at home on a bill with any of those bands. My first reaction to Living World was that they sound like a looser, nastier version of early Direct Control. As with Direct Control, the framework is classic US hardcore, but there’s a slight crossover edge to the riffing a la DRI, and Living World’s vocalist even sounds a bit like Brandon from Direct Control. After six brisk hardcore tracks, Living World breaks things up with the spoken intro for Ubuntu, a song they wrote for George Floyd (though it’s right back to ripping hardcore for the latter part of the track). There’s a chaotic energy about World that I like, and when you combine that with the solid songwriting, you end up with a killer hardcore punk EP.