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Physique: Again 12” (Iron Lung Records) The new album from Olympia’s Physique on Iron Lung Records is (as I expected) a total steamroller, but I had no idea it would blow me away as thoroughly as it has. On Again, Physique strikes this incredible balance between being blindingly raw and pissed, but still making room for subtlety and creativity at every turn. Again is steeped in the history of d-beat and raw punk—from the band’s new, Doom-inspired logo, to the way they end the album with a stretched-out, psychedelic reprise of the leadoff / title track, to the numerous beats, riffs, and musical motifs that reference this music’s long tradition—but the point isn’t just homage, but rather to use that music’s power as a spark to ignite something more original and exciting. When I first listened to Again, I didn’t really grasp that subtlety though, because the bulldozing power took a while to wrap my ears and brain around. As the logo change hints, this time around there’s a nod to Doom and their bottom-heavy, slightly groovier take on Discharge’s sound. And Physique are fucking great at channeling that… their drummer is so deeply in the pocket that all I could do on the first several spins was pump my fist and get lost in that relentless, pummeling groove. However, as I started to get a handle on the songs, Again’s lush sonic world revealed itself to me. Where Physique really excels on Again is in their explorations of rhythm and texture, which have a psychedelic intricacy that makes me think of Can’s best records. The d-beat never stops pounding, but the drummer, bassist, guitarist, and vocalist weave in and out of that rhythm, sometimes embellishing it with polyrhythms that pull it in different directions, sometimes chopping it up and reconfiguring it with brutal stops, starts, and accents. And then there are the tones and textures, which are equally as exciting. In much the same way the rhythm never loses sight of its pounding d-beat core, the tones are always harsh and fucked, but pull from a large library of distortion tones and effects. Sometimes the excitement comes from whiplashing between these different sounds, and sometimes it comes from layering them on top of one another, as on the closing track “Again (reprise),” which wrestles with the title track’s main riff for more than seven minutes, hammering on that motif as the band conjures a psychedelic whirlwind of multitracked madness. Inspirations like Discharge’s “Why? (reprise)” and Disclose’s “Wardead” are easy to spot, but if you think that’s all you’re meant to hear or understand, you’ve missed all the best parts of Physique’s music. So turn the stereo up loud as fuck and let this wave of brutality crash over you.

Chin-Chin: Cry in Vain 12” (Sealed Records) I’m not sure what my official “song of the summer” for 2023 is, but I am 100% certain it’s on this brilliant retrospective album from Switzerland’s Chin-Chin. Sealed Records dropped Cry in Vain early in July, not quite the beginning of the summer, but early enough for the album to provide the soundtrack as I made my way up and down the US’s east coast several times this summer, its propulsive beats and huge melodies keeping me awake and alert on late night drives with the windows down and the stereo blasting. Chin-Chin is so good that it makes me wonder how, after over two decades of being a total music fanatic who adores high-energy pop songs, I hadn’t come across them before. The group started in Switzerland in 1982, taking inspiration from the poppy punk of the Ramones, Generation X, and Blondie and melding that sound with the sweet harmonies of 60s girl groups. While their bio notes the members’ lack of experience, you’d never know it from listening to Cry in Vain… not only is the playing powerful and confident but also the band displays a total mastery of pop song craft. Each song is a masterpiece, so immediate you wonder if you’ve heard it before, but with enough sophistication and tact you can play it over and over without losing any impact (and trust me, I’ve played these songs a LOT!). While Chin-Chin predated the UK’s wave of punky pop referred to as the C86 scene (with bands like the Shop Assistants, the Pastels, and the Rosehips), that crowd fell in love with the still-active group, and 1987 saw a Chin-Chin compilation released on the seminal label 53rd and 3rd. Chin-Chin also recorded a 4-song BBC session with host Janice Long in 1988, and those tracks appear here for the first time… so even if you’re cooler than me and you already own every Chin-Chin record, you’ll still need Cry in Vain for those songs. I’d call the BBC session tracks highlights, but Cry in Vain is a record that’s all highlights, with nary a moment that doesn’t directly target my brain’s pop pleasure center.

The Hell: S/T 12” (Not for the Weak Records) “This one goes out to the bad boys” is inscribed at the bottom of the insert for the Hell’s debut LP on Not for the Weak Records. It’s the only information aside from the lyrics on the record’s layout, but it says what you need to know about this group from Cleveland, Ohio (the bad boy’s natural habitat). While the Hell plays at hardcore tempos, they remind me more of a nasty, Dead Boys-inspired punk band, with snot-crusted vocals and riffs that strut like a dirtbag gakked to the gills. A stark contrast to the militaristic and ritualistic intensity of hardcore descended from the Minor Threat branch of the family tree, this makes me think of New Jersey’s the Worst, Boston’s Vile, the Dwarves circa Blood, Guts & Pussy… bands that sounded like hardcore because it annoyed the norms, but if too many hardcore kids liked them, they’d find a way to alienate that audience too. While a true bad boy might take this record as a holy scripture, even a dweeb like me can thrash to the Hell… I just probably won’t invite them to stay at my place after the gig.

Fairytale: Shooting Star 12” (Toxic State Records) Here at Sorry State we were huge fans of Fairytale’s previous EP on Desolate Records, and the New York City d-beat band builds on that record’s strengths with Shooting Star, creating something even more distinctive, powerful, and exciting. I can’t believe how much room Fairytale finds for innovation in their sound without compromising the ferocity and brutality. If you merely appreciate Fairytale on that level, there’s plenty to love, and they’re certainly in the same league with flat-out ragers of recent vintage like Salvaje Punk, Destruct, and Electric Chair. However, there’s so much more happening than raw intensity, as Shooting Star is filled with unique and innovative touches at nearly every level. The first time I listened to the record, the unexpectedly melodic chorus of “Possible to Grow” was the standout moment, and playing this record into the ground for the past few weeks hasn’t dulled my enthusiasm for it one bit. However, there are subtler moments that are just exciting, though they take a little more close listening to extract from the din. “Life Plateau,” the first mid-paced song on the record, might seem like a standard homage to “A Look at Tomorrow” on the surface, but the manic drumbeat with an unexpected hi-hat pattern gives the song a uniquely suffocating level of tension. “Fairytale” is another standout, borrowing the hypnotic quality of Disclose’s “Wardead,” but rather than riding the “psychedelic d-beat” wave in any kind of expected way, the outro hangs on the song’s main riff for what seems like ages. Eventually a solo emerges, but just as it starts to pick up steam, the rhythm section drops out while the guitarist continues to noodle away, ending the record’s first side in an evocative moment of deflation. Even when Fairytale is in straightforward bashing mode, Lulu’s unique vocal cadences provide compelling rhythmic counterpoints, and moments like chorus to “Bluer Skies” and the snotty verses in “Wrap It Up and Buy It” prove the infectious chorus in “Possible to Grow” is no fluke. Fusing subtlety and brutality is no easy feat, but Shooting Star pulls it off ably, resulting a record that will peel your hair back on the first listen, but continue to reveal something new with every subsequent spin.

Die Letzten Ecken: Talisman 12" (Static Age Musik) There’s nothing like being knocked out by an album you didn’t know you needed in your life, and that’s what happened when I listened to Talisman, the new LP from Germany’s Die Letzten Ecken. The track that hooked me first was “Rasender Stillstand,” a hard and fast synth-punk banger of the highest order, a Mussolini Headkick that knocks you out and drags you by the collar to an undisclosed location. Think Nervous Gender, the Normal, Metal Urbain… the jagged and paranoid stuff that is punk as fuck with nary a stringed instrument in sight. An album full of tracks like this would have been just fine by me, but over the course of Talisman, Die Letzten Ecken wheels out a host of Sprockets-adjacent moves. “Der Ritter” is more industrial, pulling from the darkest and heaviest corners of the Wax Trax catalog, Throbbing Gristle, and Einsturzende Neubauten, while “Brennender Kummer” and “Talisman” have a more of a balanced approach to sweet and salty, combining pulsing, dance floor-ready low end with a more delicate sense of melody from the synths. Those tracks have a similar vibe to Fatamorgana, and they work well as moments of melodic respite peppered amongst the harsher sounds on the rest of the album. Each song has its own character, and the masterful sequencing makes Talisman a gripping front-to-back listen; it feels like a strong album in a way few records do these days. While Talisman is great in and of itself, its sound and style feel fresh and suited to the moment. I’m smitten with Talisman, and if your tastes also span punk and underground electronic music, I encourage you to check it out.

Tàrrega 91’: Fill De La Merda 7" (La Vida Es Un Mus) Well, this rips. Tàrrega 91’s debut sounds like a lost artifact from the early 80s, capturing not just the sound of the initial worldwide hardcore explosion, but also the crackling energy and excitement. LVEUM’s description mentions Discharge’s first few EPs, and something about Fill De La Merda makes me think of the Decontrol EP, the way it’s raw and vicious, but the energy takes precedence over the heaviness. Today’s Discharge-influenced hardcore bands tend to draw more from the denser, more layered sound on Why? and Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing, but Tàrrega 91’ is comparatively barebones, the production recalling the vérité recordings that made early 80s punk records from Finland, Sweden, Washington, DC, Italy, and so many other places so great. There’s so much I love about this EP, but it’s hard to pin down what elevates it above the pack. The great recording, simple but elegantly crafted songs, and intense and energetic performances are all part of it, but ultimately it’s something ineffable, some unseen hand that has reached down from the heavens (or perhaps up from the depths) and blessed this recording with the true spirit of hardcore punk. Play this record as loud as you can and tell me you don’t hear it.

Electric Chair: The Beat Sessions cassette (Shout Recordings) As someone whose idea of perfect production is the low-budget, quickly but professionally engineered records that came from the underworld of recording hubs like London and Los Angeles in the late 70s and early 80s, the Beat Sessions series is a dream come true. Like Peel Sessions, Beat Sessions capture bands clearly and powerfully, but force them to work quickly and lean on their strengths as players. And as anyone who has seen Electric Chair live knows, they’re a blistering unit, perhaps the single best hardcore punk band in the world right now. Recorded in a single day, this cassette features a selection of tracks that pulls evenly from the band’s three EPs and recent LP. Electric Chair is ferocious here, the clear and powerful recording showcasing both how insanely fast and precise their playing is and how hooky their songs are. It’s exhilarating in the same way Pick Your King is, and just like Pick Your King, as soon as it’s over, I want to listen to it again right away. The tracks from Act of Aggression sound great here, and I think many people will prefer this recording’s dynamics over the more punishing, full-scale-assault sound of the album. And the tracks from their first two EPs blow away those other versions… the band has gotten so much more ripping since they made those early records. It all adds up to a killer tape, and one of 2023’s most essential hardcore punk releases.

Display Homes: What If You’re Right And They’re Wrong? 12” (Erste Theke Tonträger) As you might expect given how immersed I am in the world of music, I’m pretty much always playing something. While I treasure the time I get to listen attentively, often music is playing in the background while I do other tasks. Every once in a while—though not very often—something I have playing in the background is so interesting or exciting that I have to stop what I’m doing and give it my full attention. That’s what happened with this debut LP from Australia’s Display Homes. I was sitting at my desk, half my brain replying to emails or some other rote task while the other half (realistically, less than half) was checking out the latest releases on the German label Erste Theke Tonträger so I could put together an order. When I first started listening to What If You’re Right And They’re Wrong?, I thought I knew what I was in for. Display Homes’ music is upbeat and punky, with a bubbly bass high in the mix, scratchy guitars, and kind of yelp-y vocals… they reminded me a lot of Spread Joy, or maybe a less hardcore version of Warm Bodies or a less arty version of Lithics or Suburban Lawns. All this comparing and categorizing was happening almost subconsciously as I listened, but when Display Homes dropped into the instrumental chorus to “Nitty Picky,” my ears perked up and the music demanded my full attention. What a beautiful melody! Now that I’ve listened to this several times, I’m struck by what a masterpiece of a pop song “Nitty Picky” is. I love the way the song takes a strong left turn during the chorus, moving from the angular rhythms of the verses (which are cool in their own right) to the almost syrupy melody in the chorus. I also love that the chorus doesn’t have any vocals… the band recognized that the guitar hook was so strong that the singer’s best option is to lie back for a moment and let it shine. That stark contrast between the verses and the choruses strikes me as a Pixies-esque move (though Display Homes sounds nothing like the Pixies), and while having the chorus part depart so dramatically from the verses is a risk, when it pays off it pays off big. All that happens on the first track, but the rest of the record also brims with subtle and brilliant pop chops. “Proof Read” is a mid-album highlight, its tense and moody verses featuring vocal melodies strong enough for mainstream radio, but with a chorus pared down to dramatic stabs that are pure punk rock. Another highlight is the closing track “Aufrutschen,” whose shimmering guitars and brilliant bass line make me think of Jawbreaker circa 24 Hour Revenge Therapy. While What If You’re Right And They’re Wrong? has all the hallmarks of a cool underground punk record, and will appeal to people who follow labels like Feel It and Anti Fade, Display Homes has a knack for pop songcraft that’s something special.

Global Thermonuclear War: Seeking Mastery cassette (Dogs of Altamont) Shite, bassist for Rigorous Institution, runs the new label Dogs of Altamont, and their second release is this cassette from Global Thermonuclear War, a recording project that teams up Shite himself with Kyle, the drummer from Suck Lords and Crucified Class. Rigorous Institution and Suck Lords are among my favorite bands of recent years and Crucified Class is excellent too, so this pairing had me excited from the get-go. And fuck does it rule! Seeking Mastery sounds like something that might have come out of the late 80s UK, which makes when you think about it. Shite’s other band sounds a lot like Amebix, and bands like Napalm Death and Extreme Noise Terror adopted the metal-punk approach of bands like Amebix and Deviated Instinct, combining them with a Siege-inspired, blastbeat-heavy drumming—something Kyle showed his facility with in his other band—to creative an exciting new sound. I hear a lot of E.N.T. in particular in Global Nuclear War’s sound, partly because there aren’t metal guitar leads and partly because the music is just so gnarly and ugly… it sounds like crawling on your knees across a bed of broken glass. And as with both Rigorous and Suck Lords’ music, Global Thermonuclear War’s songs are free of the obvious and the cliche. That’s true of Shite’s lyrics, which focus on the most fucked up aspects of today’s world: factory farming, economic “migration,” the bloody imperialist games of nation-states… the lyrics are as direct and uncompromising (though not as succinct) as Discharge, and have the plain-spoken wisdom of someone gifted with the ability to see straight through bullshit. Seeking Mastery is just a great tape, urgent, exciting, fresh, and punk as fuck.

Destruct: Cries the Mocking Mother Nature 12” (Grave Mistake Records) Cries the Mocking Mother Nature is the long-percolating second album from Richmond’s Destruct. It’s no secret we’re enamored of Destruct here at Sorry State. A big part of that is that we get to see them live all the time, and Destruct is a punishing live band. Both live and on their records, Destruct live is an all-out assault whose fury, like the M.C. Escher staircase, seems to ascend infinitely. Destruct is just so fucking powerful, striving for and often attaining the same intensity that marked the Japanese hardcore punk bands that have shaped their sound. I’ve always heard four key ingredients in Destruct’s stew: Bastard, Disclose, Gauze, and Crow. They don’t emulate those bands so much as synthesize them, similar to how those bands synthesized—maybe even purified—their own influences. Also like those Japanese bands, Destruct is exacting in their execution. Everything about them is considered and calculated… it’s like they’ve combed through every aspect of their songs, their aesthetic, and their very existence as a band and maximized its power and intensity. Cries the Mocking Mother Nature is the result, and it’s one of the most coherent, powerful, and unrelenting statements of hardcore punk 2023 has to offer.

Flower: Hardly a Dream 12” (Profane Existence Records) Flower released the digital version of Hardly a Dream in December 2022 and it immediately took over my playlist. I was surprised how quickly and thoroughly I fell for the record because it’s pretty far outside my wheelhouse. Everyone talks about how Flower sounds like Nausea, but I haven’t spent much time with Nausea’s music, so that connection doesn’t mean much to me. I hear a lot of 80s UK crust in Flower’s sound, and while I like a lot of that stuff, it’s not like I’m going to love a band just because they do a good job of evoking that aesthetic. There’s also a slight undercurrent of New York hardcore bounce to Flower’s sound, and that’s a style that really doesn’t do much for me. On the plus side, though, I’m a big fan of the other bands Flower’s members play in; their guitarist Willow also plays in Scalpel, whose LP we put out on Sorry State, and their bassist Jack also plays in Fuckin’ Lovers and People’s Temple. Music influenced by UK crust and stenchcore is also having a bit of a moment… the style seems appropriate to this day and age that can feel grindingly bleak, and some of my favorite current bands like Rigorous Institution and Subdued also draw a lot from that sound. One thing that Flower does that might sound bad on paper is build most of their songs around similar grooves and tempos. However, rather than sounding boring, it’s hypnotic in a way that sucks me in. Hardly a Dream is one of those records that just consumes me when I put it on. While those are the elements of Hardly a Dream I responded to while I spent the winter driving around with it on repeat, now that the vinyl is here, there’s even more to love. It’s a pleasure to sit down with the thoughtful lyrics, which come at you so quickly and in such volume that it’s hard to parse without the lyric sheet’s help. Like Flower’s music, Danny’s lyrics have a lot in common with 80s UK punk, but they’re not an homage to those influences… they’re made for today. And then there’s Willow’s incredible artwork on the fold-out poster sleeve, taking cues from Nick Blinko, but also evoking the hypnotic quality of Flower’s music with its dense, meticulously inked textures. Hardly a Dream is the total package, a vital and fully realized statement that feels tailor made for the world in 2023.

Poison Ruin: Härvest 12” (Relapse Records) From the first time I dropped the needle on Härvest, Poison Ruin’s third record and their first for Relapse, I was smitten. How can you not fall in love with a record that starts with a song as great as “Pinnacle of Ecstasy?” It’s a tour de force, moving from a guitar hook that could have powered an artyfact from the Nuggets era to an equally brilliant main riff to an anthemic chorus and into a heroic lead guitar freakout, moving from part to part with a poise and confidence that runs counter to Poison Ruin’s lo-fi production values. Speaking of which, if you thought moving to Relapse would water down Poison Ruin’s aesthetic, you are mistaken… if anything, Härvest leans on tones that are nastier and gnarlier than their previous records, but the production feels richer and more dynamic than on those releases. A big part of Poison Ruin’s appeal is their sound, a distinctive, cooked-down concoction of anarcho punk, oi!, and classic heavy metal, but even with such a heavy vibe, Härvest’s songs shine. This record takes everything that was so striking about Poison Ruin’s earlier records and just slams the gas pedal to the floor. The hooks are bigger, the riffs more distinctive and memorable, the performances crackle with even more energy, and the lyrical concept and execution is next-level by DIY punk standards. Poison Ruin doesn’t invite easy comparisons, but a good point of reference might be Subhumans. Like Subhumans, Poison Ruin has an identifiable sound and aesthetic and they craft ambitious songs that would lean toward prog’s pretensions if they weren’t so steeped in punk energy and venom. And in that context, Härvest is like Poison Ruin’s The Day the Country Died, where all the elements come together with a rush of excitement as intoxicating as your first drink. I could go into why I love each track on this record, but it’s enough to sayHärvest is a non-stop parade of hits, the work of a brilliant band at the height of their powers. Viva Poison Ruin!