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The Drin: Today My Friend You Drunk the Venom 12” (Feel It Records) We named the Drin’s first album, Engines Sing for the Pale Moon, Record of the Week in March 2022, and now, less than a year later, their follow-up gets the same honor. The Drin’s first album had such an original voice I was worried some of its charm might have come from an idiosyncratic recording or some other chance confluence of factors. Turns out that wasn’t the case, because Today My Friend You Drunk the Venom carries forward everything I liked about the debut. The Drin’s music still uniquely combines punk, dub reggae, and motorik rhythms filtered through the hazy, lo-fi aesthetics of early Guided by Voices. I’m tempted to draw comparisons to PiL’s first two albums or Joy Division’s more droned-out, Neu!-inspired moments like “No Love Lost” or “Incubation,” but the lo-fi quality and the American-ness of the Drin’s music means those comparisons only go so far. But like those aforementioned bands, as well as the avant-punk/pop music Rough Trade Records released in their early years, pop isn’t a huge part of the equation, yet the songs are catchy and hooky in their way… it’s just those hooks reside in the beefy bass lines and interesting drum rhythms. I also love how much stylistic ground the Drin covers on this record, from the straight up reggae of “Eyes Only for Space” to the motorik punk of “Stonewallin’” (which sounds a lot like Joy Division’s “Transmission”) to “That Day (Azoic),” the poppiest and most vocal-forward song on the album. Today My Friend You Drunk the Venom is a gripping record from start to finish, and an essential listen for anyone whose tastes veer into the experimental fringes of the punk diaspora.

Speed Plans: Statues of God 12” (Iron Lung Records) We’ve carried several releases from Pittsburgh’s Speed Plans over the past few years, but if you haven’t checked them out until now, you’ve arrived to the party just in time. Statues of God is the record you want. I keep seeing the Repos’ name thrown around in relation to this record. Admittedly, that didn’t occur to me right off the bat… instead, I heard similarities to 80s bands like Negative FX, early Agnostic Front, and Youth of Today. But now that I think about it, this sounds a lot like the Repos. Which is to say they sound like the 80s bands I mentioned, but touches like the harmonized guitar leads in “Cleveland” could be deliberate homages to the Repos. I fucking love the Repos (I think I have every single one of their records, which is no mean feat) and I love this, but I don’t think you need to love the Repos in order to love Speed Plans. It’s just a raw, rampaging, nihilistic hardcore punk record, and even though I’ve been listening to this stuff for decades, it still sounds fresh and urgent to me. Maybe that’s because I’m boring or that my tastes aren’t that adventurous, but I prefer to think it’s because Speed Plans is just that good.

The Cool Greenhouse: Sod’s Toastie 12” (Melodic Records) While I try to keep my writing for the Sorry State newsletter snappy, writing about the new album from the Cool Greenhouse, one of my favorite bands in the world, feels like an appropriate time to surrender to my natural tendency toward verbosity. If you haven’t heard the Cool Greenhouse before, their songs are very witty and lyrically dense, often analyzing the absurdities of today’s world and frequently causing me to literally LOL. Their music covers a wide stylistic swath, but they are followers of the Fall who have absorbed the three Rs, and their emphasis on repetition keeps the focus on the lyrics, which are the star of the show. The Cool Greenhouse is quirky and isn’t for everyone (especially if you don’t have a taste for things that are very British), but if you want to check them out, I encourage you to do so. This album, Sod’s Toastie, is a fine starting point, though their single “Alexa” is my favorite track, and I also rate the Crap Cardboard Pet EP highly. If you’re already a fan of TCG, as I am, the question is: how does Sod’s Toastie stack up against their discography so far? My first impression was that it’s quite dark. While TCG hasn’t shied away from the bleaker corners of reality on their previous releases (see, for instance, “4chan” from their first album), Sod’s Toastie lingers on downer vibes that make me wonder, “Tom, are you OK?” The title track is super depressing (though also hilarious), and “Y.O.L.H.” and “I Lost My Head” are also palpably bleak. After spending some time digesting Sod’s Toastie, though, I hear a lot of variation. “Musicians” and “Get Unjaded” are both musically (if not lyrically) joyous, and “The Next Stage of Destiny” and “The Neoprene Ravine” are so acid-fried that it’s hard to figure out where they fall on the emotional register. Another thing that sticks out about Sod’s Toastie is its mix of home-recorded and full-band tracks. Who knows if this pattern will hold, but so far the Cool Greenhouse’s singles and EPs have been home productions that relied heavily on synths and drum machines, while their first album from 2020 featured a full-band lineup. Sod’s Toastie mixes the two approaches, and it works. I think the first album missed Tom’s home recording style, which has just as much character as his lyrics, but I also think the band has come into their own on Sod’s Toastie. “Get Unjaded” and “The Neoprene Ravine” are brilliant, the band on fire. While there are scores of bands who take inspiration from the Fall, the Cool Greenhouse seems to have cracked the code on how they wrote and arranged songs, sounding like the Fall without sounding like they’re imitating them, if that makes sense. I dare say “Get Unjaded” could hold its own on This Nation’s Saving Grace, and “The Neoprene Ravine” would fit onto Dragnet. While those are the big patterns I noticed on Sod’s Toastie, in my mind, the big picture gets overshadowed by the relentless barrage of memorable moments. For me, those include: the Wizard of Oz moment in “Musicians” when the song transitions from the spare home recording of its first section to the lush, Fela Kuti-inspired full band section; the bit about cello tape that starts “Sod’s Toastie;” when Tom shouts “guitar solo!” in “Get Unjaded” and then launches into a keyboard solo; the backwards guitar effects in “Sod’s Toastie;” the whole of the vinyl-only bonus track “The Next Stage of Destiny,” a surreal drone whose lyrics are a nonsensical string of cliches delivered by the guy who voices movie trailers; the way Tom hangs on the line “too busy sucking on my little green ding dong” in “The Neoprene Ravine;” the end of “Sod’s Toastie,” when the song seems like it’s going to go on forever, but ends abruptly; the following line from “Get Unjaded:” “I think I can still see joy in people / the way you can still see the ghosts of dinosaurs in birds.” Listing these moments makes me realize that, while most of the hardcore and punk I listen to is geared toward creating albums and EPs that carry a stable vibe through multiple tracks, The Cool Greenhouse feeds my love of the song. There are plenty of my favorite records where I couldn’t tell you the titles of the songs, but I don’t have that problem with TCG… every song is its own universe, with a unique central conceit—a raison d'être—and a wealth of details that make it come alive, like a musical version of speculative fiction. In summation, Sod’s Toastie is another brilliant record by a brilliant group. Here’s hoping the Cool Greenhouse follows the Fall’s lead and has a long career with a sprawling discography packed with stunners like Sod’s Toastie.

Inferno Personale: In Ira Veritas 12" (Symphony of Destruction Records) In Ira Veritas is the debut record from this band based in Bremen, Germany, but featuring punk expatriates from all over the world, including Italy, Colombia, Germany, and Argentina. Scarecrow played with Inferno Personale on the first night of our European tour last summer, and they peeled back our collective faces… they were so raw, intense, and explosive. Thus, I had an idea of what was coming with In Ira Veritas, but even having seen the band, it did not prepare me for how stunning this record is. Inferno Personale features a member of Muro, and they have that way of maintaining an overwhelming level of intensity I associate with Muro and other contemporary Colombian punk bands like Uzi, Systema, and Primer Regimen. I’m not sure how all these bands pull it off, but their music sounds like it’s being wrenched from deep within them, a primal howl that reaches the primitive parts of my brain. I’ve seen Inferno Personale described as a crasher crust band, and while some moments (like, for instance, the album-closer, “Monologue”) summon that subgenre’s blur of intensity, what keeps me coming back to In Ira Veritas is how much compelling music Inferno Personale squeezes in amongst the constant bashing. The album’s cover art is an obvious nod to Wretched’s second album, La Tua Morte Non Aspetta, and it fuses that record’s subtle musicality with the raw intensity of Wretched’s earlier recordings. In Ira Veritas is littered with memorable licks and riffs, dramatic rhythmic shifts, and throat-ripping howls. Like D-Clone’s Creation and Destroy or Confuse’s Indignation, it’s one of those rare records that grabs you by the throat with its intensity, but has the depth, subtlety, and originality to keep you flipping it over. Throw it in a beautifully illustrated, screen-printed jacket that will make the print nerds drool, and you have an irresistible package.

The Massacred: Post-Mortem 7” (Active-8 Records) Active-8 Records brings us the debut EP from this UK82-style band from Boston. While Post-Mortem is the first Massacred recording to get wide distribution and the band has no online presence, I’ve had the sense they’ve been bubbling up for a while now. I saw them in New York last summer and they were shockingly good, playing with the power and confidence you typically only see from well-seasoned bands. Their vinyl debut continues the pattern, confidently executing a fully formed vision. As I mentioned, the Massacred plays UK82-style punk, and while it would be appropriate to compare them with the Partisans, Skeptix, or Ultra Violent, the band the Massacred makes me think of is the Exploited, but without the goofy shit and if every single track was as good as their best ones. The band is on fire, and while their songs might have a straightforward and traditional framework, they’re executed in a way that maintains the highest level of intensity without wavering for a fraction of a second. In particular, I can’t get over the guitar playing. There’s nothing flashy about it, but it’s a relentless barrage of lightning-fast picking that’s flawless without sounding robotic… though they don’t sound like them, the way the Massacred approaches playing their music makes me think of the almighty Out Cold. The Massacred has put as much care and attention to detail into the design and presentation of Post-Mortem as they put into the music, too. I love that, rather than the 2 and 3-song singles that were de rigueur in the UK82 world, Post-Mortem features 8 tracks at 33rpm, and like the early Dischord and Touch and Go 7”s it seems to be modeled on, it feels more like an album than a single. The packaging design is also perfect. As with the Public Trust record Active-8 released a few years ago, holding Post-Mortem in your hands conjures a similar excitement to many of my favorite early 80s punk artifacts. This just rules in every way.

The Annihilated: Submission to Annihilation 12” (self-released) We’ve been eagerly anticipating new music from London’s the Annihilated ever since we heard their demo tape in early 2020. That was one of our favorite releases of that year, and Submission to Annihilationis exactly the follow-up we’ve been waiting for. The Annihilated’s sound is fast and jagged, with a dark and desperate vibe that reminds me of Black Flag’s Damaged. Bobby, the Annihilated’s singer, has an early Rollins-esque bark, but the music is mega-fast Koro-influenced US-style hardcore that might remind you of killer recent Texas bands like Nosferatu and Save Our Children. As with Koro, the Annihilated has a way of taking hooks (particularly catchy guitar riffs, but vocals, bass, and drums each have plenty of time in the spotlight too) and compressing them into dangerously unstable, hyper-dense cores of sound, this instability further emphasized by the band’s loose and swingy playing style. If any of the above references pique your interest, check this out right away… it’s scorching, not an ounce of fat in its svelte but substantial 19-minute running length. And kudos for putting together packaging for the physical version that stands out from the crowd, with a fold-out poster sleeve on yellow paper that’s packed with EC Comics-influenced pen-and-ink illustrations, ransom note lettering (the real stuff, not a font), and high-contrast photo collages. Yes, it’s on the nose, but nothing about Submission to Annihilation feels cliche. It’s as urgent and invigorating as the best hardcore from any era.

Silence: End of This Flesh cassette (self-released) Demo tape from this new d-beat band from Los Angeles. The Anti-Cimex influence is potent here, and when Silence keeps the songwriting super straightforward and the singer goes full Jonsson, they sound almost exactly like them. Cimex worship isn’t the only trick in Silence’s book, though, as other songs are more complex, both in terms of the metallic riffing (a little more on the Broken Bones / English Dogs end of the spectrum) and the nimble rhythmic changes, which is something I associate with bands on Totalitär’s branch of the family tree. A couple of real nerds could have an in-depth conversation about whether this is mangel, käng, d-takt, råpunk, or some combination thereof. The playing is super tight, but the recording is raw, sounding (as so many of my favorite records do), like a great band recorded in a minimal but functional way. Every song is unique, but powerful. A killer hardcore punk demo.

Nightfeeder: Cut All of Your Face Off 12” (self-released) The debut LP from Seattle’s Nightfeeder, the enigmatically titled Cut All of Your Face Off, came out back in August, but the first edition disappeared so quickly that it was gone before we told you how much it fucking rules. Now it’s back in stock, and I won’t let this second chance pass me by: this record fucking rules! For the past week I’ve been reflecting on what makes Cut All of Your Face Off such a great record, and the comparison that keeps coming to mind is Tragedy. Not so much because Nightfeeder sounds like Tragedy, but rather it’s how the record hits against the background of other stuff I’ve been listening to. Before Tragedy got popular, there was this steady background hum of post-Discharge hardcore bands that was fine, but the scene seemed like it was in a rut. Then the first Tragedy LP came out gave everything a shot in the arm, bringing in some different influences, more dynamics, and more ambitious and interesting songwriting. People latched on, and not only did Tragedy get big, but the entire scene got a shot in the arm. I feel a similar way about Cut All of Your Face Off. There are so many d-beat-type hardcore bands out there right now, and while I love the sound and style, many of the bands are fairly one-dimensional, at least compared to something like this record. Nightfeeder can rip with the best of them (see “Amoral Minority” or “And Now We Die”), but there’s so much more here, from the epic riffing of tracks like “Asylum” and “Burial” (seriously… these are fucking RIFFS!) to the Inepsy-style charge of “The Reaper’s Yield” to the anthemic street punkiness of “I’m a Letdown.” I remember listening to this record for the first time and being thrilled by each track as it appeared, each one adding new wrinkles to Nightfeeder’s rich yet uncompromising sound. Cut All of Your Face Off is one of the best punk records of 2022, so if you didn’t get it the first time, don’t miss your second chance.

Balta: Rendszerszintű Agybaszás 7" (La Vida Es Un Mus) Now this is what the fuck I’m talking about! La Vida Es Un Mus reaches its ever-probing tendrils into eastern Europe (Budapest, Hungary to be precise) and plucks out a recording that sounds like Sonic the Hedgehog destroying a low-budget recording studio with a sledgehammer. It’s seven tracks of wild, reckless abandon, and I can’t get enough of it. Rendszerszintű Agybaszás serves as an interesting contrast to the Innocent LP I also wrote about this week. While both are excellent hardcore records, they’re on opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of their overall feel and their approaches to the genre: everywhere Innocent is considered, composed, and precise, Balta is chaotic and impulsive. Balta has a single-minded devotion to constant, paint-peeling intensity, and there’s no letup in tempo or volume to be found on Rendszerszintű Agybaszás… it’s just a uniform lunge toward oblivion without break or modulation. Capturing a feeling like this on a record is difficult (try recording yourself stabbing incoherently at a guitar for 45 seconds and see how interesting it sounds) and it only happens rarely, so when people like me who crave this kind of unhinged musical release find a record with the goods, we snap it up without a second thought. If you’re one of us, I urge you to do the same.

Ribbon Stage: Hit with the Most 12” (Perennial Records) New York’s Ribbon Stage literally wear their influences on their sleeve: the cover of Hit with the Most borrows its layout from the Shop Assistants’ 1986 self-titled LP. I love that LP and I would have been fine with a competent homage, but Ribbon Stage delivers much more than that here. Sure, the building blocks are the same as C86 pop—minimalistic, punk-informed rhythms, broad, child-like vocal melodies, harmonies that are sophisticated but not baroque, and a slightly twee aesthetic—but it’s all about the songs, and Ribbon Stage’s approach is decidedly songwriterly, to coin a term. Not only are the songs hooky, but also each one captures a particular tone or texture, from exuberant (“Stone Heart Blue”) to wistful (“Nowhere Fast”) to somber (“Nothing Left”). There are also several memorable lyrical moments, like the chorus for “Hearst:” “my soul is ripped in two… that’s how you like it.” While Ribbon Stage invites the C86 comparisons, US indie rock from the late 80s and early 90s was sipping from the same inspirational well, and moments of Hit with the Most make me think of seminal indie records like Lemonheads’ It’s a Shame About Ray, Guided by Voices’ Alien Lanes, and Sebadoh’s III, with all the songwriting excellence those comparisons imply. Even if, like me, you’re not an indie rocker, give this compact and consistently brilliant LP a try… it has the right combination of punky, underground aesthetics and pop chops to get its hooks in hard, fast, and deep.

Mutated Void: Slash the Altar 7” (Sewercide Records) Hot on the heels of their recent 12” on Iron Lung, we have another 8-song 7” from Canada’s Mutated Void. I really liked that 12”, but I feel like my description didn’t get that across… I felt like I needed a flight of poetic fancy to get across how unique that record is, but it didn’t say everything I wanted to say about Mutated Void. That’s OK, though, because I like Slash the Altar even more. Part of that might be that Mutated Void’s music is so abrasive that it’s easier to digest in small chunks, but Slash the Altar is also just a really strong record. Its sequencing works very well, and the a-side is a master class in hardcore dynamics. The first track, “Slash the Altar,” is Mutated Void in a nutshell. I love that the title seems to reference both black metal and skateboarding, and the main riff sounds like something Darkthrone might have come up with during their punk-influenced 00s era, though with the super abrasive and raw production of Goatlord. The riff is straight up nasty, and when the drummer does that slow tom roll into the chorus it gives me those hardcore goosebumps I love. Mutated Void follows that up with two ultra-fast rippers that, like the Iron Lung 12”, make me think of Septic Death more than anything else, then they change things up again for the standout a-side closer, “Tent City.” That song starts with a huge, crashing intro that makes you think all hell is about to break loose, but instead the bottom falls out and the song goes into this eerie, groovy part that seems to have a bit of Agent Orange in it, but it doesn’t sound like much else I can think of. The b-side is killer too, but I could listen to those four tracks on the a-side over and over. Any way you slice it though, Mutated Void has created two of the most unique and memorable hardcore records of 2022.

Abi Ooze: Forestdale Sessions cassette (Rotten Apple) Abi Ooze has been kicking around for a while, releasing a handful of tapes and one very limited 7” that is already going for big bucks on Discogs, but this is the first time I have had the pleasure of writing about her music for Sorry State. To put it succinctly, I am blown away! Forestdale Sessions is a total scorcher, one of the best poppy punk records I’ve heard in ages. It starts off with my favorite track, “Cry Alone,” which is a master class in pop-inflected punk songwriting. The chorus hook is massive, reminding me of glammy 70s classics like Nikki & the Corvettes, but its barreling energy and big lead guitar hooks are pure punk. It’s a brilliant song any way you slice it. It’s far from the only one, though, as the rest of Forestdale Sessions proves Abi is no one-trick pony. “Run + Hide” and “Russian Bomb” have some of the gooey doo-wop vibes of early Misfits or Protex, while “Splice” is a more reserved punker that dials back the hooks in favor of a Spits-esque cool. And then there’s the other standout, “Untitled,” which is a total departure, with both Abi’s soaring vocal and the song’s hiccuping rhythm sounding like the Breeders (one of my all-time favorite bands). Get this tape! It fucking rules! And while you’re at it, someone put it on vinyl!