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What’s up Sorry Staters?
Full transparency, I feel strange trying to muster any enthusiasm to assemble a “year in review” or a “top 10” list of any kind about 2025. In preparing to do this, I decided to revisit my entry from this time last year, when we did our “Best of 2024” write-ups. By comparison, it seems like my tone was full of hope and excitement at the beginning of 2025, still feeling pretty pleased about the year 2024 behind me. I even made a collage with all my favorite photos of places I visited and people I love. Unfortunately, I just do not feel that same way right now. The end of 2025 delivered such a blow that it has overshadowed many of the positive experiences I’ve had this past year. Right now, I think I could more easily come up with a “Top 10 Worst Things of 2025” list…
BUT—There’s also a part of me that understands that many of you readers don’t come here for that. While I appreciate this forum as an opportunity to express myself, the newsletter shouldn’t necessarily be my vehicle to cause you all to ingest more negativity. Especially now, as all of us are certainly being bombarded by negative shit constantly—whether it’s the horrifying state of the world at large, or maybe some of you are dealing with difficulties in your personal life I that I don’t even know about. It’s an extra scary time—only adding weight, feelings of existential dread, and heightening anxiety surrounding our moments of mundanity. So, in 2026? Resist. Take care of each other. And try to experience and appreciate what you love amidst all this madness.
Corny? I dunno. Anyway, here are some records I liked this past year:
- Necron 9: People Die 12” - I think I made this call early on. But yeah, this is the best record released in 2025 for me. Ugly, grimy hardcore for outsiders. Delivered with ferociousness, a lot of heart, and not one ounce of pretense. A record that restores one’s faith. Inspires one to shout up to the sky: “Hardcore LIVES!” Too bad they broke up already. Cool that they left behind this little perfectly documented moment for all of us. Gut the pigs.
- Ayucaba: Operación Masacre 12” - I already wrote a lengthy description about my feelings on this record, which you can read here if you want to. Based out of Barcelona and featuring members of Muro and Inyección, Ayucaba plays a triumphant, raw, inventive take on hardcore that’s just oozing with character. Metallic guitar leads, demonic vocals, epic songwriting, feeling very powerful and grandiose but still anarchic, earnest and approachable. Amazing record.
- Kaleidoscope: Cities of Fear 12” - I think this band has reliably delivered me more goosebumps than any other band over the last 10 years. For real. But from record to record, they really shift sonically. Volume 3, released on Feel It in 2017, feels like a totally different band. Maybe they came across more post-punk? Less dense, more austere and otherworldly with an artsy sensibility. And while I love their previous records, they just aren’t HEAVY in the same way as Cities of Fear. I think maybe the void left behind after the inactivity of Tower 7 just caused Kaleidoscope to get reflexively heavier. The opening track “Burning Alive” is just like blazing hardcore. And it fucking rules. The band still evokes that off-kilter, weirdo punk vibe, but they just feel more driving and pissed off on this record. Seems like the genre descriptor du jour of the mid-2020’s is to describe a band as influenced by “heavy anarcho punk” or whatever, which Kaleidoscope surely is… buuuut straight up, a song like “Controlled Opposition” sounds like the dirgey moments of Bl’ast… And maybe it’s uncool to say a band sounds like Bl’ast or Black Flag anymore in the year 2026. I don’t give a fuck. I mean it as the most sincere compliment. Maybe their best record yet?
- Save Our Children / Stunted Youth: Split 12” - 2 bands, both from Texas, and they share members. These guys clearly think Gang Green and Deep Wound are infinitely cooler than Disclose. 36 songs split between 2 sides of an album in 33 minutes. Never relents, never gets old. All killer all the way through. Another couple of bands that kept the faith, flying the flag for true blue oldschool US hardcore. But sadly, yet another fire that has already been extinguished. Came and went, exploding like a bottle rocket. Hardcore rules, dummie.
- Ultimate Disaster: For Progress… 12” – The homies in Richmond delivered an absolute crusher with this 12”. Just 3 dudes, power trio style. Discharge-inspired hardcore? Well, yes. But I think the approach is like if you refined the elements of Discharge-inspired punk to its most pure form of brutality. A lack of epic crust influence. No drawn-out pondering experimental passages or melodic interludes. Trim all the fat. Full impact. Not to mention the excellent recording… big loud guitars and riffs played with airtight execution, like a battering ram assault on the ears. The intensity of the tight, sawblade-like riffing with a brutal, metallic edge brings to mind the Swedes’ take on the Discharge formula. To me, For Progress… sounds like Disfear’s Soul Scars way more than it sounds like it’s trying to perfectly replicate Why. Killer record.
- Exploatör: Apokollaps 12" - A project comprising the 3 original members of Totalitär playing the style of punk I love so dearly. This could sound like hyperbole, but this is the band’s 4th LP and I think it’s their best yet. Just diving into the record, the production sounds crisp and bright and fresh. Maybe I didn’t realize this originally, but Kenko, the recording engineer aficionado who played in great bands like No Security and Dischange, now plays second guitar alongside Lanchy. This particular style of Swedish hardcore just gets the hair on the back of my neck standing up like nothing else. And just when I think I’ve heard it all, Exploatör still surprises me with their songwriting, bringing musical and rhythmic ideas I didn’t expect. No one does it like the OGs.
- Lame: Lo Que Extrañas Ya No Existe 12" - Probably one of the most unique records I experienced this year. How do I even describe this band? Lame plays this driving but restrained-by-straight-jacket form of hardcore. Like a chaotic and anxious, yet intelligently orchestrated dirgey mess. Like if Killing Joke took too much speed before they took to the streets to fight cops. The glowing feature of Lame’s sound is the vocals though. I remember meeting Sally behind the bar at the pizza place one of my bands played in London. Now hearing the vocals, I’m like hoooooly shit. The lyrics are delivered like a (with all due respect) psychotic breakdown – erupting like an intense, terrifying stream of consciousness. I can’t believe how many syllables Sally crams in there. It sucks my Spanish isn’t better. I really feel like if I understood every word when listening, then this record would feel even more overwhelming. I really feel like I go through something when I listen to this record. I get like all sweaty ‘n shit. Nah, just kidding. So powerful.
- Tàrrega 91: Ckaos Total 12” - Sometimes I almost feel guilty when I talk about so many records on La Vida Es Un Mus. But they put out a lot of great stuff, what can I say? I took home a copy of this Tàrrega 91 record, liked it a lot, but it didn’t really hit me until I’m now revisiting it at the end of the year. I thought to myself, this is like easily one of the most raging hardcore records I’ve heard in ages. Paco’s description mentions Discharge and MG-15, both good reference points. But damn man, 2 seconds into the first track “No És Cava Teva” and this band sounds so much like early Cimex and Shitlickers it’s not even funny. Maybe I’m trippin’, but that’s how it feels to me. I was a fan of the band’s previous 7” as well. But I love that when they graduated to the full-length format, they reduced their brutal take on hardcore to leaner, more explosive 1-minute-long bursts. I learned that the band’s name is a reference to a series of riots that occurred near the small town where they come from in Catalonia. Devastating, intense hardcore with a sincere and radical agenda. Doesn’t get much better.
- Nisemono: S/T 12” - 偽者 aka Nisemono from New York. I remember loving this band’s demo a couple years back. I don’t have anything eloquent or any funny anecdotes to describe this record… I just think it kicks ass. Whether it’s Nisemono or his old band Nomad, I think I really gravitate toward singer/guitar player Tye’s style of riffing. He’s got that slippy-slide all-over-the-place approach to käng punk guitar vibe going on. There’s kind of a spiritual link between his style and a band like Infernöh, I think. Love the vocals too. Sang in Japanese, which is unique because I think his vocals really stand out over this type of hardcore. Adds another level of dimension for me. Naideu from Warthog’s drumming is absolutely insane as well. I’m not sure if this project was originally just Tye and Naideu, only intended to be a recording project. Recently, I’ve seen that they’ve added a bass player and are now playing gigs. Yet another power trio in my top 10. Hope I get to see them play later this year.
- No Victim: S/T cassette - I originally didn’t intend to give attention to any cassettes for my year-end list. But I just wanted to shout this tape out one more time. I just love it. Another band from Richmond, Virginia. The guitar player may have been in a band that I already mentioned above. Young punks playing urgent, immediate, no-frills hardcore. Groaning, aloof and detached yet pissed lyrics and vocal delivery in a snotty Anti/Wasted Youth kinda way. I’m tellin’ ya man, “Short Haired Rednecks” might get my vote for hardcore punk song of the year. And much like Necron 9, Save Our Children and Stunted Youth, I think this band might have already imploded. Man, bands need to take a note out of Kaleidoscope’s book and just not break up. Be friends and make hardcore. I selfishly at least want No Victim to record a 7” as good as this tape before they call it quits. That way, I don’t have to get up to fucking hit the rewind button if I wanna listen to it again.
---SORRY, BUT NO HONORABLE MENTIONS---
There were plenty of other records I enjoyed or found interesting this year. Including stuff on Sorry State, like the Plasma LP. But I just don’t have the energy to write about 15 more releases.
I’ll try to keep this next section brief, but I usually like to include a “top 10” of my favorite moments or events of the year. This feels more difficult to do than usual, but I’m trying to look back fondly at some of the times I had that made me smile:
- Keith’s art show - My buddy, singer of Meat House, and talented illustrator Keith Caves had a gallery showing in Richmond back in March. I’m sure you’ve seen my dude’s gnartwork everywhere in the current punk world. It was so rad to see Keith’s art on display being appreciated by the freaks and cretins he caters too. He displayed a bunch of original pieces he had for sale that I instantly recognized, some of which were commissions from me and my bands. I was half tempted to buy a couple. Then there was an afterparty gig with a bunch of sick bands playing. It was fun to rage side by side with my dude Eric, both of us just drooling over the homies Invertebrates destroying the place.
- Municipal Waste weekend - 2 nights, one weekend in April, all celebrating the Waste’s 25th anniversary as a band. Public Acid played night one. Pretty rad getting to hang out while side stage and watch Annihilation Time. The big gig the following night at The National was pretty wild. That’s a big ass stage. But I must say, the impromptu after show on Saturday night was a rager to remember. Richmond’s most gnarly slammers with the least amount of self-preservation threw the fuck down that night.
- SLC - Meat House went and played this insane festival in Salt Lake City that our boy Conrad put together. I kinda had forgotten what SLC was like. Upon arriving and being reminded, I was like wow, this huge ass valley surrounded by mountains is kinda beautiful. Turns out the fest was outdoors on an open-air stage in this alley right by a kickass punk market in a predominantly Latino neighborhood. Killer Mexican food everywhere, many Palomas were consumed, and it was killer hanging with homies like Cesar from Bloodstains, who flew out just to kick it with us.
- The Damned - I finally got to see one of my favorite bands of all time. I took the train by myself to DC and had the best time ever. 3 original members in the lineup, including Rat Scabies back on drums, plus Paul Grey from the Black Album/_Strawberries_ period (my ideal era). They played absolutely incredible. The set list was damn near perfect, closing with “Curtain Call” and playing a few deep cuts from the Friday the 13th EP. Then I briefly interacted with Ian MacKaye outside the venue, but I was basically unable to form words. I was floating on cloud 9 that night.
- Noise Annoys - Public Acid embarked on our month-long tour around Europe, and it all began at the amazing Noise Annoys festival in Sheffield, UK. Bry and all the crew in Sheffield are the coolest people and hosted one hell of a good time. Highlights of bands I saw include Rat Cage (of course), our lads in Tramadol, Muro, Indikator B, fucking GEFYR played one of the most raging live sets I’ve seen in years, plus so many other great bands.
- K-Town – It was my third time experiencing the magical weekend festival in Copenhagen. Quite possibly THE best hardcore punk festival? I just feel more at home every single time I go. It’s like a big punk family reunion. Public Acid was the very last band of the entire fest. Still pissed I accidentally missed Lame’s set, especially with their LP being one of my favorites of the year. Ugh. But I did get to watch so many amazing bands: Kriegshög was devastating, Necron 9 absolutely destroyed, the homies in Cicada brought the house down, Futura from LA was great, Sorry State’s own Plasma and Lasso… and then along with all the music, so many great memories just hanging out with a bunch of friends. I plan to go back to Ktown in 2026 if I can swing it.
- Halloween - It’s always my favorite day of the year. I decided to have myself a ghoul’s night out. So, what did I do? I made myself look dead (bolo tie and all), drove up to Richmond, went to a gig to see a Dead Boys cover band because it was Night of the Living Dead (Boys) after all, got covered in fake blood, and partied with all the homies at Chubb’s house afterward. Pretty solid.
- New Public Acid - Public Acid has a bunch of new songs in the tank. We went up and recorded in Philly a couple months ago, and I must say I’m very proud of how the recording turned out. I can’t wait for everyone to hear it. There’s still work to be done, but expect a fresh slab o’ wax to be released at some point later this year. More PubAss news to be announced in the months to come.
- Totalitär - This is probably the most difficult thing for me to talk about. I’ve barely had time to reflect on me and Usman’s trip to Sweden. But when I sit and think about it, it really is pretty amazing and a full circle moment that me and my best friend got to go see our favorite band play in the flesh while we were together in fucking Stockholm. And they played excellent. I never expected anything like that to happen when we were hanging out listening to records in my apartment when we were like 22 or whatever. Sounds silly, but it’s wild because us both loving Totalitär has been a big focal point of our bond since the beginning of our friendship. And once again, we got to visit our friends in Vidro (Melody, Lucas, Vendela and Staffan) as well as Wilhelmina, Christoffer, and many other people who travelled for the gig. I’m very grateful for that. I think I’ll mostly remember just the two of us riding the train all around Stockholm.
- This year in record collecting - As always, I like to end things with records I managed to pick up over the course of the year. Last but not least, I suppose. Because let’s face it, in present company, we’re all just a bunch record fiending lunatics, aren’t we? Honestly, I did get quite a lot of records this year, but nothing totally bonkers. No brickwall 1st pressing Nervous Breakdown this year. Some of the coolest records I got were actually gifts. Between the Wretched 7” from Usman and the Kohu 63 12” that Daniel gave me, I’m a pretty happy camper. Still need to get back at Daniel with something equally cool because he knew how badly I wanted that Kohu 63. Believe it or not, it’s hard to find records for one of your best friends when he’s the owner of Sorry State Records haha. Feels like he has everything sometimes, but there’s ALWAYS more. So yeah, like I said, I got a lot of stuff this past year, but some of the more run o’ the mill stuff I decided not to squeeze into this photo. But anyway, here’s a quick glimpse at some of my favorites I got this year: