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The Carp: Knock Your Block Off 12” (Total Punk Records) When I first heard about Cleveland’s the Carp, they were pitched to me as an oi! / street punk band from the Cruelster camp, a proposition that immediately intrigued me. As a big fan of the Cruelster universe, I wondered how on earth those two things might go together, and that they don’t really, but exist in an unstable tension across Knock Your Block Off’s ten tracks, makes it one of the most interesting records to emerge from this crew of musicians and one of my favorite punk records of 2024. For anyone with only a passing familiarity with this group of interconnected bands—the aforementioned Cruelster, Knowso, Perverts Again, Smooth Brain, and probably more I’m forgetting / don’t know about—this will probably just sound like another one of those bands with their knotty rhythms, deadpan vocals, and obtuse lyrics. Knowso vocalist and lyricist Nathan Ward is at the helm and sounds very much like himself here, and even though he’s on guitar rather than his usual bass, it turns out his guitar lines sound a lot like his bass lines, angular but hooky, not as exaggeratedly stiff as Knowso, but still coming with a big dollop of homegrown, Devo-esque robotic rhythm. If you’re not interested in what Nathan and his crew does, you can probably stop reading here, but those of us who are in for a pound on this lot are treated to an entirely new musical landscape, albeit one viewed through Ward’s distinctively cracked perspective. As I mentioned, I wondered how the whole oi! / street punk thing would manifest itself in the Carp’s music, and it turns out that it does so in fascinatingly idiosyncratic ways. It’s certainly not a parody or homage; there’s nothing so obvious as a gang chorus, and the exclamation “oi!” appears nowhere on the record as far as I can remember, but those (the few?) of us with a deep appreciation for street punk aesthetics and Nathan Ward’s artistry will love following the faint through-line. There’s work and labor as a lyrical theme (which, admittedly, flows through much of Nathan’s work, including the latest Knowso album we released on Sorry State), the nightmarish skinhead costumes in the video for “Toxic Peace” (which you should most definitely check out on YouTube), and a cover of “Cut Ups” by A Global Threat, a band close to the heart of many a 30-something former street punk. There’s also the odd Blitz-esque guitar hook or (potentially) anthemic chorus (see: “Servitude! You feed on it like breast milk”), but mostly these references are so thoroughly annihilated by Nathan Ward’s mental meat grinder that they’re barely recognizable. A standout track is “Fairview Park Skins,” whose title makes it seem like it’ll be some sort of suburban Dropkick Murphys homage, but when you actually pay attention to the lyrics, it’s not really about skinheads, but a shirts versus skins basketball game in which, appropriately, the skins annihilate the shirts. (Side note: I also love how this song slyly appropriates Rancid’s habit of littering their songs with the names of streets and bus routes.) It’s difficult for me to imagine how any of this will play to a newcomer to this group of bands… it’s so throughly drenched in their peculiar aesthetic, and I get so much pleasure from peeling the onion’s layers that I feel like I can’t access what this might look like from the outside. But for those of us neck deep in this world and loving it, Knock Your Block Off is as great as anything else we’ve heard from this crew, one of the most original and interesting voices in contemporary punk.

Homemade Speed: Faster Is Better 7” (Not for the Weak Records) Those of us in the mid-Atlantic hardcore scene have been aware of this group of young miscreants making noise in the Norfolk / Virginia Beach area for some time, and I’m stoked the rest of the world now gets to acquaint themselves with this group’s fresh take on raw, fast hardcore punk. As befitting the band’s name and the record’s title, the A side of Faster Is Better is a blistering sprint inspired by bands like early D.R.I., Septic Death, and Deep Wound who pressed against the limits of their drummers’ right hands and their listener’s processing capacity. The short instrumental—which sounds like they plucked it from a long-lost Mystic Records 7”—makes it clear Homemade Speed isn’t afraid to squeeze in a hook here and there, then the other three tracks are off to the races. While hardcore this fast probably all sounds the same to many people, I think Homemade Speed has a unique sound on their blistering parts, anchored by a drummer with a unique swing to his fast beat and a habit of punctuating bars with Minor Threat-esque compact snare rolls. The four songs on the B side slow things down just a hair, but the grooves are similarly slinky, allowing the chaos to shine through on moments like the climactic double-tracked guitar solo in “Nothing Left.” If you’re a fan of the blisteringly fast, raw, and wild hardcore punk we like to push here at Sorry State—particularly if bands like Shaved Ape, Meat House, and G.U.N. have been on your playlist—Homemade Speed’s debut EP is essential listening.

Savage Pleasure: S/T 12” (Toxic State Records) After a demo cassette a few years ago, Toxic State Records unleashes the debut vinyl from New York’s Savage Pleasure into the world. If you haven’t heard Savage Pleasure, the first thing you might think when you listen is “whoa, this band really sounds like Amebix,” and while that’s a fine thing, I worry that belaboring the comparison will get in the way of appreciating what a fantastic album this is. There’s something about the way Savage Pleasure deploys dynamics that keeps me flipping this record over and over. While they pack the LP with hooky metal riffs, Savage Pleasure largely avoids the grand gestures—breakdowns, flashy guitar solos, big chord changes—that form the highlight reels of most hardcore punk records. Instead, their sound churns (a verb I come back to whenever I try to describe their sound), seemingly as regularly as the tides, but like the ocean, possessing an undeniable power. Tempos shift gradually in a Celtic Frost-ian way, with just enough variation to ensure the music never gets stale or repetitive. As the record’s synth and acoustic guitar intro sets the scene, Savage Pleasure pulls you into their world with “The Sickening Fear,” and it’s like a fog has descended, blocking out the rest of the world and saying “you’re with Savage Pleasure now.” The album is quite short—only 20 minutes, which feels brief given the cinematic scope—but there isn’t a moment that feels redundant or half-baked. When you’re in Savage Pleasure’s world, you’re there completely. There has been a lot of creative energy in this UK crust-influenced corner of the underground lately, and certainly if you’ve been enjoying recent records by Industry, Rigorous Institution, and Subdued, check out Savage Pleasure. But I think this is more than just a RIYL record, so try following Savage Pleasure into their world, and if you’re anything like me, you’re going to want to stay for a while.

Muro: Nueva Dogma 12" (Fuerza Ingobernable Discos) Bogota, Colombia’s Muro returns with their long-awaited 3rd album, Nueva Dogma. I think everyone who encounters Muro, whether it’s live or through their recordings, agrees they are a special band. The most striking aspect of their music for me remains the passion and intensity they capture on their recordings. As thousands of lackluster albums across the history of recorded music prove, even a great band can have trouble capturing their energy on tape, but that has never been an issue for Muro, whose electricity transmits even through the very raw recordings they favor. Nueva Dogma continues that pattern, but while the presentation is primitive, the songs themselves are anything but. Sure, there are plenty of short, frantic riffs that will tickle the fancy of anyone who knows the rewards of exploring the 80s international hardcore canon, but Nueva Dogma is also a notably musically progressive record, with Muro exploring a wide range of riffs, styles, grooves, and textures across its ten songs. In particular, the lead guitarist brings a lot to Nueva Dogma, which is spiced with a thrilling mix of catchy, sometimes quite melodic licks. While the grimy presentation and chaotic performance disguise it, some of these tracks would probably even qualify as melodic hardcore, at least on the level of the musical composition. That griminess of presentation is an important part of Muro’s trip they don’t want you to miss, though. As you may have noticed, Nueva Dogma’s music is nowhere to be found online. Instead, in order to hear this remarkable record, you need to access the punk DIY network that has propagated this self-made artifact across the world. With multiple inserts, a ton of cool illustrations, and packaging handmade in the band’s home country of Colombia, Muro’s effort to bring something of their world into the homes of everyone who buys Nueva Dogma makes for an engrossing experience that elevates what would have been, under any circumstances, a truly noteworthy hardcore punk record.

Subdued: Abbatoir 12" (La Vida Es Un Mus) I was a huge fan of Subdued’s first full-length, Over the Hills and Far Away, but this follow-up is a major leveling up, and it’s without a doubt one of the most exciting and essential underground punk records of 2024. While Subdued’s sound is still based on the heavy, chugging anarcho-punk of early Amebix and Exit-Stance, they lean into their strengths on Abattoir, crafting a sound that is distinctly their own. Rhythmically, the band has a unique command of dynamics, every song imbued with cycles of push and pull that seem so natural and organic as to be almost imperceptible, but keep the songs consistently interesting. Atop this foundation, two guitarists weave spiderwebs of dark and delicate arpeggios and sinewy melodic lines, occasionally locking into the heavy underlying rhythms for a bulldozing chug-fest. The lyrics and vocals are fantastic too, and while they give you all the sloganeering you’d want from a dyed-in-the-wool anarcho band, they’re not cliches but compelling, poetic assessments of society’s ills. Abbatoir is dense with memorable lyrics, but you’d be hard-pressed to disbelieve anything Subdued’s singer says, because he delivers every line with a force that makes it feel like truth is being wrenched violently from his guts. Clocking in at a brisk 22 minutes, Abbatoir has no room for moments that are anything short of thrilling. If you like the music we like here at Sorry State, this record should be on your radar.

The Massacred: Death March 7” (Active-8 Records) Death March is the second EP from this Boston band, and holy fuck is it a powerful hardcore onslaught. While the Massacred’s sound and presentation are steeped in early 80s international punk, those influences feel digested and synthesized here, cooked down to a dense and ultra-potent concentrate. Jeff always mentions Headcleaners when the Massacred comes up, and I definitely hear that on Death March, particularly in the guitar playing, the way the riffs bounce around while the guitarist’s right hand barely ever deviates from this inhuman buzzsaw rhythm, the relentless pick attack captured perfectly in this raw but nuanced recording. While the riffs move around a lot, there’s straightforward pop songwriting at the core of these songs, which often build to harmonically satisfying crescendos that make me feel almost weightless. While the Massacred has made sure the bones of these songs are strong, they keep the focus on ferocity in the performance, with the bludgeoning rhythm section and caustic vocals coming from the Shitlickers school of all-out intensity. Like the music, the lyrics are grounded in convention (Discharge-style meditations on war and human savagery), but find room for subtle innovations that make them come alive, whether that’s an arresting image (“Hang them up on chains / rectal fed and bludgeoned / shine your boots sloshed in rotting green puke”) or an interesting metaphor (“Septic Appendix” casts political and military leaders as diseased organs infecting everything around them). Every second of music here, every square millimeter of artwork and packaging, feels considered and optimized for maximum intensity and impact. Highly recommended for anyone who loves a good pummeling.

The Dark: Sinking Into Madness 12" (Toxic State Records) Jeff did a great write-up on Sinking into Madness for his staff pick last week and you should consult that for a more in-depth history lesson and analysis on the Dark’s debut LP, but I still wanted to throw in my two cents on how exceptional this is. Featuring members of recent favorites Tozcos and Personal Damage (among many others), the pedigree here is strong, and it does not disappoint. As Jeff noted, the riffs are in the Randy Uchida school (I even hear a bit of Motley Crue sleaze on “Heartless”), but the record’s pace and tempos remind me of G-Zet’s restrained gallop. Rather than the guttural vocals you might expect from a band in that style, though, the vocals here sound like 80s LA death rock, using screams, shouts, and even some slightly Dracula-sounding croons. It’s a unique combination, and if you like the intense but dark vibes of False Confession, 45 Grave, or mid-period Execute (Jeff’s Blunt Sleazy comparison was dead-on), the Dark might hit you similarly. Sinking into Madness was a bit of a grower for me… the record is so restrained and the sound is so unique that it took me a minute to adjust, but once it hit, it hit hard. And it goes without saying that the Toxic State packaging is on point as always. Sinking Into Madness is one of the most singular and interesting punk LPs in recent memory.

Yambag: Mindfuck Ultra 12” (11PM Records) Cleveland’s Yambag returns with another highly pressurized blast of manic, faster-than-fast hardcore. If you’ve seen Yambag live, you’re doubtless already a fan, as they are one of the most explosive live bands in contemporary punk. I can think of few other bands that command a room the way they do, and when I’m watching them play I feel like their music is a massive ocean wave that’s obliterating me physically and psychically. Their records, of which I think Mindfuck Ultra is the best yet, are similarly powerful. With a blisteringly fast sound that lies somewhere between DRI’s Dealing with It and Napalm Death’s From Enslavement to Obliteration, Yambag shows all the budget power violence and fastcore bands how a truly great band deploys the blastbeat. When Yambag is blasting, it feels like you’re being run over by a truck (case in point: the first track, “Ancient Relics”), but there’s just as much thought put into the non-blasting sections, and if you took blast parts out, you’d still have a great (if very short) US-style hardcore record. And while all the parts work in and of themselves, when Yambag constructs one of their Rube Goldberg machines of whiplash tempo changes (like on “Huff N Puff”), the effect is singular and outstanding. While so much contemporary hardcore feels trapped in a prison of context where you really need to understand the band’s influences and where they’re coming from socially, aesthetically, and politically in order to appreciate them, Yambag delivers visceral gut-punch hardcore punk that makes it feel like you’re hearing this music for the first time.

Fuera de Sektor: Juegos Prohibidos 12” (La Vida Es Un Mus) We carried the demo cassette from this Barcelona band a couple years back, and now they’re back with their first vinyl release. I really liked Fuera de Sektor’s first tape, El Mundo Sigue… it’s one of those releases I return to often, throwing it on whenever I come across it because the songs are so fun and memorable. Fuera de Sektor has re-recorded all four tracks from the tape for Juegos Prohibidos, and I’m glad they did because they get a massive sonic upgrade here. In fact, that’s the first thing that struck me about Juegos Prohibidos: it’s a great-sounding album. It reminds me of a big-budget 90s rock record with its huge-sounding, beautifully textured tones that each occupy their own space in the mix. It’s a totally different style than the typical punk mix where everything bleeds together into a uniform roar, but it works beautifully here because there’s so much to hear in Fuera de Sektor’s music. In particular, Juegos Prohibidos puts the spotlight on Fuera de Sektor’s guitarist, who is an incredible talent. Their style reminds me of James Williamson via Johnny Marr, but playing through Steve Stevens’ equipment, alternating between chunky power chords and nimble arpeggio runs through subtle chords that sparkle with melody. While the rhythm section is taught and muscular a la Joy Division or the Smiths, the guitarist’s style is looser and more alive, their baroque riffing abandoning the grid for livelier, more intuitive rhythms. While the guitar hooks provide the most exciting moments on the record for me—see “Necesito Combustible,” “Solo Ves Lo Peor,” and “Mi Amiga Murió”—the vocals are distinctive and powerful too, and when both elements land with strong hooks—like on the track “En La Oscuridad”—Fuera de Sektor is unstoppable. I also dig the sequencing on Juegos Prohibidos, which puts the shortest, snappiest songs on side B, picking up the energy in the spot where similar releases can start to drag. Arriving just at the start of summer, Juegos Prohibidos is going to sound great blasting out of your car as you heard toward the beach with the windows down and the stereo cranked.

Invertebrates: Sick to Survive 12" (Beach Impediment Records) Longtime Sorry State followers may remember that we (re-) released the demo cassette from this Richmond band back in 2022, and now they’re back with their debut vinyl on Beach Impediment Records. Invertebrates’ live lineup features three members who also play in Public Acid, but their straightforward hardcore sound differs from Public Acid’s noise-drenched, metal-infused crunch-and-rip. Instead, Invertebrates remind me of the mid-aughts glory years of retro 80s hardcore, when the most exciting bands were casting off the excesses and evolutions of 90s hardcore and stripping the genre back to its bones. There’s nothing indulgent on Sick to Survive, which is all blistering riffs and brisk beats. At the same time, though, these are veteran musicians and there’s an undeniable sense of craftsmanship and musicality giving shape to the onslaught. The complex yet fluid riffing reminds me of the fastest Career Suicide and Government Warning tracks, but whereas those bands broke up their records with the occasional moment where melody took precedence over speed, Invertebrates basically never let their foot off the gas, blazing through these ten tracks with nary a chance to catch your breath. Besides the blisteringly hooky riffing that sits at the center of their sound, Invertebrates are masters of arranging their songs for maximum impact, with brief tempo changes (not breakdowns... an important distinction) and passages with broken, staccato drum patterns giving the songs an ebb and flow without ever giving the impression they’re slowing down or slacking off. Their vocalist Max’s classic hardcore bark is also great, keeping things aggro with the melody lurking just below the surface for the true heads to appreciate. You don’t need me to tell you how good Sick to Survive is, though... this record seemed to hit the internet like a battering ram the day it came out, and audiences are universally blown away. So give it a listen and join the party.

Siege Fire: The Devastating Cost 12” (Black Water Records) Black Water Records brings us the vinyl debut from this Portland band. Siege Fire released a demo a few years ago as a two-person recording project, but for The Devastating Cost they’ve expanded to a full lineup, and a formidable one at that. Black Water’s description references Framtid, and while Siege Fire’s intensity is comparable, you shouldn’t make the mistake of dismissing them as mere homage. The riffing is dense and inventive, even though it’s often difficult to make out those riffs through the effects-laden guitar sounds, and the songwriting seems designed to keep the listener off-balance, the songs packed with dramatic transitions and sudden shifts in volume and rhythm. While there’s plenty of blistering hardcore, Siege Fire is particularly strong in those rare moments when they take the gas off the floor, like the interesting rhythms that open and close “Ensnared,” the stretched out rock and roll ending on “A Chain from the Shadows,” the industrial feel to the breakdown on “Death Plume,” and mid-paced “The Devastating Cost,” whose inventive drumming makes it one of the record’s most exciting songs. Everything about The Devastating Cost seems perfectly calibrated to maximize the music’s intensity, from the ambitious songwriting to the bulldozing performance to the production, where they’ve sculpted an arsenal of tones that could skin a gator from a hundred yards away. There’s so much excitement jammed into The Devastating Cost that I could spend all day pointing out highlights, but all you really need to know is that this is a certified ass-beater.

Flower: Heel of the Next / Physical God 7” (Peace of Mind Records) The first release on Peace of Mind Records is a new two-song 7” by New York city’s Flower. While this 7” has a much rawer recording than Flower’s excellent 2022 album Hardly a Dream, it otherwise continues the path Flower forged on that record, and the band’s existing fans will love it. Heel of the Next / Physical God is a two-song single, but it’s quite long, its two songs’ running times adding up to well over 8 minutes of 90s-inspired metallic punk. While Nausea is the band everyone references when talking about Flower, I hear plenty of other bands who fuse metal and punk in their sound, particularly Amebix and early Neurosis. Like those bands, there’s an epic sweep to Flower’s music, that quality manifesting in the song’s ornate structures—both tracks have many parts that build and circle back on one another in interesting ways—and in the grandiosity of their chord progressions and riffs, which evoke wide-open landscapes more than the hemmed-in feeling of New York city’s streets. As on Hardly a Dream, there’s also a bouncy quality to some riffs that I might find off-putting if the members had huge muscles and basketball jerseys, but knowing they’re dyed-in-the-wool crusties, I’m able to bop along without the feeling that I’m compromising my scene affiliation. (By the way, their bass player once told me Biohazard was a key influence for them… I do not know if they were joking or not.) The powerful lyrics and strong vocals, alternating between rapid-fire cadences and hooky chants, also carry over from Hardly a Dream, as does the incredible artwork, once again with a Crass Records-style poster sleeve, and the illustrations are even stronger this time. Flower is a great band who has carved out a lane for themselves that few other bands occupy, and if you’re a fan, you definitely shouldn’t to skip this excellent record.