Iconoclast: Domination or Destruction 12” (Sealed) It’s no secret that the punk reissue market has long segued into the back side of the bell curve, but this reissue from California’s Iconoclast proves that there’s still gold in those hills. Domination or Destruction does what a great punk reissue should, plucking an under-appreciated gem from the depths of record collector land and giving it the packaging and presentation that it needed to stand alongside the classics. The video footage of Iconoclast in Flipside Video Fanzine is the stuff of legends, years ahead of its time and one of the most raging things ever committed to (video) tape. However, when you went poking around for audio recordings by Iconoclast (no easy task!) it was easy to get frustrated by the poor electronic rips you could find online and/or the poor-sounding bootleg of their collectible lone 7”. This reissue on Sealed Records, however, leaps out of your speakers with the huge, explosive sound this band always deserved. Stylistically, Iconoclast fit in well with the small batch of North American bands who took inspiration from Discharge (Crucifix, Against, Michigan’s Heresy, Canada’s Unruled), with a sound that brought together the primitive riffing of early Anti-Cimex and Shitlickers with the high-energy sound of American hardcore like Minor Threat and Negative Approach. They also have some peace punk touches that are cool, but their hardcore tracks are perfect music. Besides the brilliant sound, this recording comes with a thick booklet full of reproductions of flyers, interviews, and vintage zine reviews. It wouldn't surprise me if this wasn’t every significant scrap of documentary material related to the band. Domination or Destruction is just a brilliant record, and if you’re a person who takes the time to read this, then I’m almost certain you’ll love it.

Dumspell: S/T 12” (Erste Theke Tonträger) Debut vinyl from this band out of Hattiesburg, Mississippi. While Hattiesburg has developed a reputation as a town that produces an unlikely number of raging hardcore bands, Dumspell is more of a straightforward punk / post-punk band. Their sound is heavy and melodic with huge-sounding guitars that might remind you of anything from the Buzzcocks to the best and/or punkiest 90s grunge, alt-rock, and Brit-pop (think Supergrass, Ash, Elastica, and others that had a palpable punk influence). With a clear and powerful recording, songwriting chops, and dynamics for days, this feels like something that they would have plastered all over 120 Minutes back in the 90s, but in 2019 this is a band from a small town in Mississippi that has released a short-run LP on a tiny German punk label. What a time to be alive! Seriously, though, this LP is top-shelf stuff, so give it a whirl if it sounds like something you’d like to hear.

Sensual World: Feeling Wild 12” (Stupid Bag) After a handful of tapes, Feeling Wild is the debut vinyl from Richmond’s Sensual World. I spent a good chunk of my 20s obsessing about heavy, heart-on-sleeve punk rock by bands like Leatherface and Husker Du, and while that sound is no longer a big part of my listening diet, Feeling Wild reminds me why that sound sucked me in. Really, though, it doesn’t sound like those bands; while the sound is big, burly, and punk, the lyrics are vivid and literate, and the overall vibe is melancholy, Sensual World has a much wider palette, as befitting a band named after a Kate Bush album. In particular, Sensual World reminds me of the Chameleons in how they combine somber chord progressions with bright and melodic, Buzzcocks-esque guitar leads. They’ve also chosen to record Feeling Wild with a ton of gritty texture. While putting the vocals so low in the mix wasn’t an obvious choice given how powerful the lyrics and vocals are, I like the fact that they’re fighting for attention with this bubbling morass of feedback and distortion. The songs themselves are snappy and memorable, and the 8 songs on the 45rpm 12” fly by, begging for repeat listens. It’s tough to do a RIYL because Feeling Wild is a singular record, but if you like heavy, melodic punk and appreciate the gritty textures of noise music (and even raw black metal?), this one is for you.

Deletär: S/T 12” (Kick Rock) This French band has changed their sound a bit since their earlier 7”. While it’s still heavy on the Totalitär influence, this debut 12” ramps up the energy level with a clear and punchy recording and adds a dash of skinhead stomp to the mangel. The main riffs on tracks like “Panique” and “Oppression” could have appeared on any of Totalitär’s early records, but the d-beat behind it is sprightlier and the vocals channel the gruff but catchy sound of bands like the 4 Skins, 86 Mentality, and Bootlicker. Deletär also exhibits some versatility, like on the rocked-out intro to “A La Derive” and the ripping, Skitkids-esque lead guitar on tracks like “Plus Croire En Rien.” If you want to get both the skins and the crusties dancing, throw this on. A total ripper.

Patti: Good Big 12” (Erste Theke Tonträger) After an earlier 7” on Erste Theke Tonträger, Good Big is the debut 12” from this New-York-by-way-of-Oakland band. Their earlier EP reminded me of Uranium Club, and while Good Big has a similarly clear recording and locked-in rhythm section, it also finds Patti developing their own voice. Not that their voice is monochromatic; with 16 tracks averaging around two minutes each, Patti spreads out and explores a ton of different variations on their sound here. Most songs revolve around quirky rhythms, snaky bass lines, skronky and/or angular guitar, and deadpan vocals, but Patti adapts that framework to several ends. One one track they might remind me of Gang of Four, while on the next they can evoke an atmosphere that reminds me of C86 indie-pop, and then the next one wades into math rock levels of rhythmic complexity. If you’re a fan of the smart, punky post-punk bands of bands like Uranium Club, Parquet Courts, or Lithics, Patti treads a similar path.

Video Filth: Hypnosis 7” (Dark Raids) It’s been a minute since we heard from Boston’s Video Filth. You might remember their 2016 7”, but they’ve been a band at least since 2014, when they released their first demo. While veteran hardcore bands can often settle into a complacent groove, Hypnosis sounds hungry, like a band trying to prove they’re faster and meaner than any comparison you can throw at them. The opening track, “Follow Me,” lunges right for the throat with a dense sound, punishing vocals, and one of the most blisteringly fast guitar riffs that I’ve heard in some time. When Video Filth lets off the accelerator, you can hear catchy UK82 vibes peeking through, but the bulk of what you’ll find here is ferocious hardcore a la Shitlickers. The recording is also warm and gritty, and what it sacrifices in thickness and presence it more than makes up for with grainy atmosphere. This rips, but you’ll particularly love it if you revere the 80s classics.

Ligature: Plays: AA's "Suicide Fever" & Second Layer's “Court or Wars” cassette (Roach Leg) I have a lot of ignorance to own up to relating to this release. First, while I’m a big fan of the band Chris Hansell sings for, Warthog, I hadn’t heard of Ligature before I got tipped off about this cassette’s existence. Second, I’m not familiar with either of the two bands Ligature covers here, A.A. and Second Layer (though Discogs taught me that Second Layer is an offshoot of the Sound, whom I love). So, you may come  to this with more context than me, but I’ll share my n00b opinions anyway. I find both tracks interesting in how they combine rather sunny chord progressions with playing and production that are cold, mechanical, and distorted. I’m reminded of tracks like Public Image, Ltd.’s “Public Image” or the Chameleons’ “The Fan and the Bellows,” tracks that seem to ride that edge between darkness and light, like waking up in a great mood on a day that’s cool and gray. Ligature captures that vibe, but augments it with the crunchy drum machines and distorted textures of industrial and power electronics, adding an entirely new layer of affect. It’s like nothing I’ve heard before, and I love it. I don't know what Ligature, A.A., or Second Layer sound like outside this release, but for all its brevity, this two-track tape is brilliant.

Nosferatu: Solution A 12” (Todo Destruido / Media Disease) Much-anticipated debut LP from this Texas hardcore band. When I first listened to Solution A I thought to myself, “is this band all hype and no substance?” The production is murky and the songs fly by so fast that I couldn’t process what was going on. However, remembering how much I liked their earlier stuff I persisted, and after a few listens I’ve concluded that Solution A is Nosferatu’s defining statement. Yes, the production is murky and the playing is loose, but those elements don’t detract from the record’s power. In fact, the grimy, tattered sound of this record seems like the perfect presentation for the distorted and fractured nature of the songs themselves. Like their heroes Koro, Nosferatu’s hardcore is twisted and rent, all unexpected angles awkward corners. Their drummer does this Koro-esque thing where he goes into a roll—usually what happens at a transition point—but instead of moving into another beat, the roll is only part of a dramatic series of punches. I’m sure a drummer could describe what I’m talking about more accurately, but it’s a technique I could listen to all day. This time around Nosferatu has also added a touch of Die Kreuzen-esque gloom on tracks like the brilliant “The Act of Fear” and even slide toward death rock on “Dictated in Red” and “Life of Murder.” Nosferatu could have delivered a debut album of fast, powerful, yet by-the-book hardcore, but Solution A is something different—and much better—than that.

Wipers: Land of the Lost 12” (Jackpot) Jackpot Records’ Wipers reissue campaign continues with Land of the Lost, the band’s 4th LP from 1986. My opinion on post-Over the Edge Wipers has always been that those records are enjoyable, but they’re missing the magic of those three essential albums. That’s probably a dilettante’s opinion as I know there are fans out there who ride hard for the later material, but revisiting Land of the Lost doesn’t drastically change my stance. There are a bunch of solid Wipers tracks here, some moments that seem a little questionable (like the punk blues of the title track), and one incredible song, the closer “Just Say.” While it’s an enjoyable album, it’s not the place I would start with the Wipers. However, if you’ve worn out the first three albums, Land of the Lost can provide you with a much-needed fix. 

Restless: S/T 12” (Perennial / K) Debut release from this Olympia band. The sound here is rootsy, rocked-out power pop a la the Real Kids, but with a lead guitar sound that’s heavily indebted to Thin Lizzy. Restless have the same retro rock flavor as early Sheer Mag, making me think of muscle cars, dirt ‘staches and seedy high school parties like the one in Dazed and Confused. You might prefer the more Thin Lizzy-inspired mid-paced songs (especially if you’re a fan of guitarmonies), but I think Restless is at their best when they up the tempo and get more into Exploding Hearts / Real Kids territory on tracks like “On the Boulevard” and “Telephone Lover.” 

Physique: The Rhythm of Brutality 10” (Distort Reality) New 10” record from these Olympia d-beaters, and given that it’s their third vinyl release (none of which are 7”s!), I think it’s fair to anoint them with veteran status. The Rhythm of Brutality is a focused, confident record, finding the band at the top of their game, i.e. total Disclose / Framtid worship (there’s even an unlisted Framtid cover at the end of the record). As I’ve said before, it's silly to spend too much time enumerating the subtleties of a record like this. You just need to answer one question: does it rip? The answer is, yes, this rips. The production is perfect, the songs are snappy and interesting, and Physique generate the earth-shaking atmosphere that made their influences so legendary. The Rhythm of Brutality is the best Physique record yet, so if you’ve enjoyed their previous releases I’d encourage you to upgrade to the latest model.

Klonns: Discography cassette (Sickhead) Discography cassette collecting two EPs and a single from this Japanese band. Before I heard Klonns I saw them described as “blackened crust.” On one level that description is perfect, and when you first listen you’ll say to yourself, “yes, that’s precisely what I expect blackened crust to sound like.” However, that pithy description sells the band short because they do way more than smash together two subgenres. The crust and black metal scenes are both home to some of the most painfully bland, generic, and imagination-less music out there, but Klonns’ music is punky and exciting, with an out-of-control energy that reminds me of Warhead at their very best. However, they combine that punky energy with gritty textures and brooding atmosphere, more like a scratched-up old 35mm print than a precise digital projection. If you like both Japanese hardcore and forward thinking, progressive hardcore and black metal, it’s likely you’ll enjoy this as much as I do.

Ojo Por Ojo: Parodixmo cassette (Discos Huayno Amargo) Latest release from this Mexican band who released an LP last year on La Vida Es Un Mus. If you didn’t hear that record, you might remember vocalist / guitarist Yecatl Peña from his previous band Inservibles, and Ojo Por Ojo carries forward that band’s mission of making gritty, grimy, left of center punk. You won’t find breakdowns, cover songs, or singalong parts here. Ojo Por Ojo’s brand of hardcore is raw, primal, and expressionistic. While some moments here have the sinister vibe of early death metal and others bring to mind 90s underground hardcore like His Hero Is Gone, I get the impression that Ojo Por Ojo isn’t trying to court favor with a particular audience or meticulously construct a perfect vision of what their band should be. Instead, it sounds like they’re just funneling raw, undiluted desperation into their music. It’s like a Jackson Pollock painting done only in thin, muddy washes of grey and brown. Highly recommended if you've been following the crop of excellent bands coming from Mexico over the past several years. 

False Ritual: Violence 7” (Whispers in Darkness) Ripping two-song 7” from this Portland band. While you can hear the Discharge influence that you might expect given the locale, the artwork, and the record label, False Ritual’s high-energy style reminds me just as much of 80s US hardcore as the UK / Swedish / Japanese studs and leather set. The riffing is super fast and slightly metallic, and the mile-a-minute vocals are aggressive shouts rather than grunted or gurgled. False Ritual reminds me a bit of Direct Control, albeit noisier, looser, and with a more pronounced Discharge influence. This is a short record, but there’s zero bullshit. I hope we get a more substantial release from these folks at some point.

Rigorous Institution: The Coming of the Terror 7” (Whispers in Darkness) We’ve carried a few releases from Portland’s Rigorous Institution (including a demo tape and a 7” on Black Water), but this is the first time I’m giving them a close listen. It looks like I need to secure copies of both of the previous releases, because I’m flipping out over The Coming of the Terror. Rigorous Institution takes a lot of inspiration from Amebix (which may be the reason I didn’t check them out before; while I like the Spiderleg-era stuff, I’m not the biggest Amebix fan), but that’s akin to saying the Sex Pistols took a lot of inspiration from the New York Dolls. You can hear the connection, but Rigorous Institution goes so much further. They stress the thudding weight of Amebix’s riffing and production, wielding their instruments like primitive medieval weaponry. But while much of Amebix’s music sounds airy and wide open, Rigorous Institution drapes everything in a menacing, nigh-impenetrable fog. The two songs on the a-side could have soundtracked the final battle against the army of the dead on Game of Thrones, as these tracks are similarly grim, heavy, chaotic, and brutal. The b-side is the real treat, though. While the song at the core mines a similar metal-punk style as the two tracks on the a-side, the band gets drowned out by a psychedelic swirl of chanting monks, clanking chains, and what sounds to me like one long trumpet note announcing the coming of the apocalypse (but I assume is the same symphonic synth sound they use on the rest of the record). It’s one of those tracks where you stare at the speakers, asking yourself what exactly the fuck it is that you’re hearing. Recommended if you think blasting Bathory's Blood Fire Death while doing peyote in the Scottish highlands sounds like a cool time.

Blitzkrieg: Buried Alive / Blitzkrieg 7” (Splattered!) Reissue of this legendary New Wave of British Heavy Metal single, whose b-side Metallica famously covered on the b-side to their Creeping Death single. This is an undisputed classic of the style, so if you're interested in the NWOBHM, this single is an essential grip. It’s fast, heavy, catchy as all get-out, packed with classic riffs, and has that warm and murky sound that you love if you’re an avid listener to British independent music of the late 70s. Splattered! Records has executed this reissue with all the care and attention to detail that we expect from them and the sound on the vinyl is excellent, so if this piques your interest, I can’t imagine it'll disappoint you.

Judge Schreber’s Avian Choir: Bleed 12” (Cort) This record is a little outside what I usually cover in these roundups, but I wanted to give it some attention because 1. releases like LBB’s Popped Music on Iron Lung have clarified that some hardcore punks can get down with experimental and avant-garde music and 2. I fucking love it and can’t stop listening to it. Judge Schreber's Avian Choir is a very large ensemble: according to the label’s description, “15 bowed string players, a heavy metal rhythm section … and … overdubs on reeds and guitar.” There are no vocals and the four tracks here aren’t pop songs, rock songs, or event avant-metal songs, but a hybrid of experimental orchestral / chamber music and heavier, metal-informed drone music. The only things I’ve heard that it resembles are the 70s Belgian group Univers Zero and the Japanese composer / playwright J.A. Seazer, but I’d be surprised if too many Sorry State readers are jamming those. Anyway, the music on Bleed is expansive, encompassing spacious drones, skittering, insect-like organic rhythms, mournful and moody microtonal harmonies, heavy rock riffing, and wide open, Ornette Coleman-meets-Darkthrone sonic catharsis. While it’s wildly creative, it never feels difficult or arcane. I think that’s because this record doesn’t trample over the boundaries between genres, but offers us a window into an alternate universe where those boundaries don’t exist. If you’re an adventurous listener with an ear for this kind of wide-angle, symphonic grandiosity, I encourage you to pick this up.

Slump: Flashbacks from Black Dust Country 12” (Feel It) Debut full-length from this Richmond band that combines heavy punk/grunge with Hawkwind’s acid-fried space rock. You won’t find catchy choruses or pop melodies on Flashbacks from Black Dust Country, but an M.C. Escher-esque maze of swampy riffs that woven through with layers of reverb and echo-drenched guitar and synth noise, punctuated by the occasional shouted vocal. Slump reminds me a lot of Destruction Unit; like that band, their sound has a density informed by 90s noise rock. Slump doesn’t make big, dramatic gestures, instead exploring the nuances of timbre and texture with a tinkerer’s patience and attention to detail. Flashbacks… is a slow burn, but with its big, clear sound and layered textures, it’s easy to get lost in it.

Skull Cult: New Mutilator 7” (Going Underground) Latest EP from these Indiana punks who have dropped a healthy grip of 7” vinyl over the past two years. Skull Cult is of a piece with bands like Coneheads, Liquids, and Erik Nervous but I wouldn’t write them off as also-rans. New Mutilator begins with my favorite track, “Braindead,” which feels like an epic even though it falls well short of two minutes long. Over its 105 seconds, you get a noisy intro, a big, melodic chorus, a post-chorus interlude of Dickies-esque organ, and a blistering James Williamson-style guitar lead, all filtered through hissy shit-fi production. It’s like Skull Cult tried to take every kind of big, climactic moment they could think of and cram it into one song, and the result is an orgy of awesomeness. The next three originals are more restrained, but Skull Cult still packs them with great melodies. The EP ends with a cover of “Psycho Killer” by the Talking Heads, which I find an odd choice given that Coneheads covered the same song and Skull Cult will probably garner comparisons to Coneheads until the end of time. Their version, however, differs  from Coneheads’; while the latter stressed the disaffected, robotic quality of Talking Heads’ original, Skull Cult restores the dirty groove that Talking Heads removed from their music.

Aviador Dro: Nuclear, Sí 7” (La Vida Es Un Mus) Reissue of this 1982 Spanish synth-punk EP. I wasn’t familiar with Aviador Dro before checking out this reissue, but I’m now learning that they were a very important band. Not only is their discography huge, but LVEUM’s description also credits this single with being the start of independent / DIY label culture in Spain. I’m excited to learn more about Aviador Dro and check out their many other records, but in the meantime Nuclear, Sí is great even without the weighty historical context. If you’re a fan of vintage minimal synth like the Normal, Grauzone, Cabaret Voltaire, the Human League, and Solid Space (or modern purveyors like the Detriti Records roster), it’s hard to imagine you wouldn’t love these four songs. While they’re minimal, there are enough layers to the sound to give the tracks a sense of harmonic complexity, and the great vocals remind me of Paralisis Permanente in how they’re both aggressive and catchy. Fans of classic Spanish punk and/or vintage minimal synth will both find a lot to love here.

Overdose: Hit the Road 7” (Splattered!) Second single from this Motorcharged band from New York. “Hit the Road” comes out of the gate with fire, opening with a blistering lead that walks the (thin) line between prime-era Motorhead and Scandinavian Jawbreaker-era Anti-Cimex. There are a lot of bands who have done this Motorhead-inspired sound over the years, but Overdose is a standout, capturing the punk energy that you want, packing their songs with exciting part after exciting part (there’s even a SECOND guitar solo in “Hit the Road”!), and delivering the whole thing with a thick layer of grime that makes you feel like you’re watching them bash it out in a damp basement at 1AM when everyone is bleary-eyed, drunk, and raging. The b-side is more mid-paced but just as raging, and slacker pace gives the guitarist room to deliver a more melodic lead. This record is a total ripper.

Chubby & the Gang: All Along the Uxbridge Road 7” (Goner) US pressing of this single that came out on the UK’s impeccable Static Shock a few months ago, albeit upgraded to come with a proper picture sleeve rather than a company-style sleeve. If you don’t know Chubby Charles’ name, you know his work from bands like Crown Court, Arms Race, Violent Reaction, Boss, and others I’m sure. While Chubby & the Gang’s sped-up rock-and-roll riffs will please the ear of any Crown Court fan, this project wades even deeper into pub rock, as you might tell from the Chiswick rip-off labels. In particular, Wilko Johnson from Dr. Feelgood’s manic, agitated guitar style seems to be a big inspiration for the riffing style here. The vocals are double-tracked in a swirling, loopy manner that reminds me of Booji Boys, and as with that band there are some cool melodies once your ear adjusts.

Power: The Fool 7” (Feel It) Between this new single from Australia’s Power and the latest one from New York’s Overdose it’s a good week if you love gritty, Motorhead-inspired rock-and-roll. Like Overdose, Power drags these two tracks through a bog of filth and grime; while “The Fool” is indebted to Motorhead, the production is more befitting Venom or even the sub-Venom filth of classics like Bathory or NME. “The Fool” stays at a slow boil the entire time, the vocals low in the mix like the singer is trying to escape from quicksand. It sounds like he makes it out for the b-side, “Give It All to Me,” which speeds things up a hair and brings the vocals out front for a more melodic, NWOBHM-style chorus. A real fist-pumper.

G.U.N.: demo cassette (Sikfuk Reckidz) Demo cassette from this hardcore band out of Nashville that sees two members of No Way Records’ Life Trap returning to their hardcore roots. G.U.N. recorded these tracks live to analog tape, and the audible hiss and live-in-the-room feel bring to mind Don Zientara’s classic recordings at the original Inner Ear studios, particularly Bad Brains’ Black Dots. G.U.N. has a lot more stylistic range than your typical early Dischord band, though, as you might expect given the fact that at least a few of the members have been playing hardcore for nearly two decades. The opener, “High Horse,” reminds me of early Articles of Faith; it’s wicked fast and pure hardcore, but its gloomy, slightly melodic vibe is more complex and mature than your typical rage-out. “Streetbait” is punkier, reminding me of Sick Pleasure, while the tape finishes out with “Killing Spree,” which adapts the groove from Black Flag’s “Slip It In” and makes me think of Bl’ast! at their most furious. G.U.N.’s demo is raw and aggressive enough that USHC heads will love it, but there’s enough maturity and sophistication lurking in the background to make this of interest to more than just the HC die-hards. Highly recommended.

Ubik: Next Phase 12” (Iron Lung) I was a big fan of Ubik’s previous releases (all of which were on demos and 7”s), so I got excited when Iron Lung announced this debut full-length. Their earlier releases reminded me of Crisis’s catchy anarcho punk, and while there’s still a lot of that in their sound, Next Phase finds Ubik getting harder, faster, and punker. That’s the case for tracks like “New Disease” and “You Make Me Sick,” the latter of which is a pure hardcore rage-out with a ripping, noisy guitar solo. “Peter Dutton Is a Terrorist” starts out with the drummer on the toms and an eerie, goth-punk vibe, then segues into a Rubella Ballet-style catchy punk part, while the dark, catchy, and sophisticated “Shocking New Vision” sounds like something off one of those underrated later Subhumans albums. While there’s a good amount of stylistic breadth on Next Phase, the through-lines that connect every track are the catchy and aggressive shouted vocals and the always-interesting interplay between the guitarist and bassist, whose dynamic is riveting. I’ll be getting a lot of play out of this one over the next few months.

Electric Chair: Performative Justice 7” (Iron Lung) Fast and off the rails hardcore seems to be the style of the moment—at least for a substantial contingent of kids, many of them in the Pacific Northwest—and I couldn’t be happier. If you’ve been into recent records by bands like U-nix and Suck Lords, this new one from Electric Chair should be high on your list of new releases to check out. While they’re not as loose or as lightning fast as either of those two, Electric Chair’s heaviness and their penchant for explosive guitar histrionics both contribute to their signature take on the style. The guitar riff in “Casino” is wild and catchy as hell but unlike anything I’ve ever heard in a hardcore song before, while the careening guitar solo in “Law Means Nothing” is so fast, chaotic, and intense that I can’t sit still while listening to it. While Performative Justice doesn’t reinvent the wheel, it’s explosive and alive and vital in all the ways I want hardcore punk to be.

Clang!: Whac-a-mole 12” (self-released) Debut release from this band out of Tampa, Florida whose sound lies somewhere at the intersection of post-punk, no wave, and noise rock. More than a stylistic hodgepodge though, Clang! reminds me of those styles because of their heavy emphasis on rhythm. While some bands write songs around melodic progressions, others write songs around riffs, and still others might write around tempo changes, textures, or any number of other characteristics, Clang!’s music centers on groove. Each of Whac-a-mole’s twelve tracks takes a particular rhythmic motif and explores it inside out, altering and augmenting it and scraping out its insides. About half of the tracks are only around a minute and a half long, but on others (most noticeably on the nine-minute closer, “Gomorrah”), they stretch out and go deeper. When you hear a band like this that is adept at inventing and embodying rhythms, it makes you realize how monotonous most bands’ grooves are. Recommended for fans of the Slits, the World, Preening, the Ruts, Public Image Limited, and other rhythmically inventive punk music.

The Middle Ages: S/T 12” (Ripe) Debut release from this punk band out of Seattle. The members have a heavy resume, but I wasn’t familiar with any of their previous projects, so I went in to the Middle Ages fresh. What I found was unpretentious punk rock that sounds like it walked straight out of the mid-70s. While it’s not self-consciously retro, it still captures the classic sound of first-generation, pre-hardcore punk. In particular I’m reminded of bands like the Saints, the Stranglers, X, Generation X, the Jam, and the Replacements. These are bands who only had a negligible attachment to punk as a subculture, but found a natural affinity with it thanks to their appreciation of the fast, the loud, and the raw. Further, these bands had top-notch pop songwriting chops, which made their best material feel like instant classics. The Middle Ages shares those characteristics. I can’t think of any other current bands that sound this direct and effortless. If you’re a fan of the aforementioned classic groups, this is well worth checking out.

Distort #54 zine Latest issue of this long-running Australian zine. Cleveland punk has always preoccupied Distort, and this issue goes whole-hog, with 116 dense pages devoted to the topic. There are lots of reproductions of Cleveland punk ephemera, a healthy number of reprints of Clevo-centric material from earlier issues of Distort, and a few new additions like a lengthy interview with Craig Bell of Mirrors and Rocket from the Tombs. Rather than being formatted like a conventional punk book or other straightforward archival project, the issue examines Cleveland through what feels like a cracked and distorted lens, placing a kind of translucent psychedelic curtain between the reader and the source material. Much of the original writingtakes the form of faux YouTube comments written from dozens of different perspectives, some of them insightful and many of them dumb (mostly in a funny way). It’s a heavy-handed choice, but I think it was a great one, and I enjoyed reading this far more than I would have another dry oral history or faux-academic analysis (like, say, the one you’re reading right now). Over the years Distort has transformed from a well-done, albeit conventional punk zine to something more like high art, and it seems like that vision has culminated here.

Populists AKA Yan Wagner: Belgian Trip 12” (Detriti) More top-notch European electro from the Detriti label. Like most of the other stuff on Detriti, this has a heavy dance floor groove with the boom bap right in the foreground to get you moving. The Populists’ angle, though, is simple and minimal with 80s-sounding drum machines and synths, reminding me of being a kid in the mid-80s, rolling around in a circle at the skating rink while early hip hop like Afrika Bambaataa and Grandmaster Flash pumped in the background. Like pretty much everything I’ve heard from Detriti, this is excellent.

Liquid Assets: demo cassette (self-released) Demo cassette from this new band out of Ottawa, Canada. With a sound that brings together aspects of slime punk, hardcore, and catchier garage punk, Liquid Assets reminds me a lot of Menthol, one of my favorite bands of the past several years. These eight tracks are dripping with grit and grime, yet there’s a fun, sunny counterpoint there to give it balance. The riffs are straightforward, mid-paced, and in major keys, but they’re banged out with an "I don’t give a fuck" attitude that reminds me of the New Bomb Turks at their loosest and most punk. Sometimes when I hear a record like this, it feels like it’ll fall in the cracks between genres, but this seems like one that could bring sub-scenes together. It just rocks that hard. Bonus points for gorgeous artwork courtesy of Josh Feigert (Uniform ATL). 

Chain Whip: 14 Lashes 12” (self-released) Latest release from these Canadian punks, and while I liked their 7”, this one blows it out of the water. While the word “hardcore” refers to a narrow band of heavy, metallic music these days, Chain Whip is a throwback to a time when hardcore meant playing snotty punk as fast as possible. Their approach reminds me of the FU’s in that Chain Whip isn’t afraid of melody, but a big melody or hook isn’t a requirement for every song. Thus, you get anthemic songs like “Amber Alert” and moody and melodic punkers like the Dead Kennedys-esque “Turner Street Ghost Motel,” but when Chain Whip wants to lay into a fast hardcore song, they don’t pull any punches, approaching these tracks with the ferocity of bands like Loose Nukes and Blood Pressure. Every once in a while there’s a record like the Zero Boys’ Vicious Circle, Career Suicide’s Attempted Suicide, or the Carbonas’ second album that seems to have everything that you want from both punk and hardcore. 14 Lashes is accomplished enough to stand alongside those monumental records.

Prolix Destruct: Shoreline 12” (self-released) Debut vinyl from this band out of Portland with a catchy, anthemic crust sound. Prolix Destruct has a member that played in the Minneapolis band Destroy, which is funny because when I checked out Shoreline I thought it had a very 90s vibe. I lived in Richmond, Virginia from the late 90s through the early 2000s, and Prolix Destruct sound like a band that could have played Richmond during that time. There were a handful of kids you’d see at, say, both an Avail show and a Tragedy show, and I could imagine those types of kids creating something like Shoreline. While it has all the forward momentum and heaviness of crust, the melodic lead guitar lines (which have a Chelsea vibe, but aren’t a million miles away from the classic Fat Wreck bands), dark chord progressions, and desperately shouted vocals also remind me of Strike Anywhere and bands of that ilk. Fans of Signal Lost and Burning Kitchen are also likely to enjoy Shoreline. 

Adderall: Versus Big Pharma 7” (11PM) Debut 7” from this Asheville, North Carolina band with a big and catchy sound. While Adderall has the 1-2 beats and catchy, snaky bass lines that I associate with pogo-punk, they’re so much bigger, tougher, and meaner than most bands of that ilk that you aren’t likely to see anyone comparing them to Asta Kask or the Swankys. Instead, they have the heavy-handed crunch of modern bands like Blazing Eye or Warthog that trade in big, pit-clearing riffs. The vocals are also a standout, a Sakevi-inspired inhuman snarl. I know Asheville, North Carolina is not the most hyped scene, but don’t let that stop you from checking this out. This band and this record are explosive.

Ill Globo: Check the Odds 7” (Aarght) Another week, another killer record from Australia. When will the deluge stop? Melbourne’s Ill Globo play amped-up, hardcore-leaning punk rock that reminds me of the Angry Samoans or Sub Pop-era Dwarves. While they have all the big, dramatic punches and snappy snare fills you want from a hardcore band, between those climaxes they squeeze in a ton of furious, Ramones-inspired downstrokes. While a lot of bands of this ilk go for a tight and precise sound, Ill Globo is looser and meaner, with squeals of feedback frequently interrupting the charge. Fans of the more hardcore-leaning Total Punk bands like Foster Care, Beta Boys, and Patsy should take note. In fact, if Total Punk hasn’t already contacted this band and asked them to do a record, they’re fucking up.

Loose Nukes: Behind the Screen 7” (Beach Impediment) First proper 7” (their first was their demo pressed to vinyl) from this much-hyped Pittsburgh band. With an ex- / current members of list that reads like a “best of the 2000s” article, it’s no surprise that Loose Nukes has gotten a lot of attention during their short tenure as a band. However, they more than deliver the goods, with their demo and this 7” quickly and firmly establishing them as one of the best hardcore bands in the world. Deep heads will recognize Eric’s distinct riffing style from his days playing guitar in Government Warning and Blood Pressure, and the songs on this 7” find the perfect balance between the catchiness of the former and the fury of the latter (GW fans will love “Innocent,” which sounds like it could have appeared on that band’s first EP). The rhythm section is rock-solid too; Vince (previously of Witch Hunt and Sickoids) is one of those drummers who will probably never be in a band I don’t like. His rhythms have a subtle swing to them that is, to me, what hardcore punk should sound like. And then there are the vocals courtesy of Jim from Dark Thoughts. While a lot of great hardcore vocalists lock onto the beat and use their voice as a rhythm instrument, Jim’s vocals are looser and wilder, frequently devolving into a pained scream that breaks out of the rhythmic lock-step like a lion escaping from a cage. Behind the Screen is an example of masters of their craft doing what they do best. For the foreseeable future, when I want to listen to a pure hardcore record this is what I'll reach for.