Spaced: This Is All We Ever Get 12"

Spaced live up to their name, blending hardcore with out-of-this-world sounds to create an explosive and hallucinogenic landscape. On "This Is All We Ever Get," the band pulls from a wide range of influences while still staying centered around individuality. The eight tracks on "This Is All We Ever Get" are enthralling and dynamic, with the longest run time hitting two minutes and thirty seconds.

Our take: I knew nothing about Buffalo, New York’s Spaced before I dropped the needle on their Revelation debut, This Is All We Ever Get, but the combination of the band’s surreal and psychedelic imagery and the Revelation Records stamp of approval moved me to check it out, and I’m glad I did. Compared to much of the hardcore we cover at Sorry State, Spaced’s sound is very modern, though there are old school elements in the mix, like the Cro-Mags-esque galloping beats and the singer’s raspy vocals. Though Spaced’s singer sounds like a woman, they also sound a bit like Kurt from DRI on Dealing with It, super snotty and punk but with legible lyrics and a knack for melding them to simple, hooky melodies. The thing I like most about Spaced, though, is how eclectic their songs are. Though the songs are short (its eight tracks blaze by in just 16 minutes), they’re full of parts that often contrast starkly with one another. They might shift from that Cro-Mags gallop to a Gag/Bib-esque pogo beat, then into a groovy part where you hear the influence of 90s bands like Quicksand. There are also huge mosh parts and singalongs, both of which I’m sure make crowds of people many years younger than me lose their minds. There’s even a vaporwave-ish track (“AIATB”) that breaks up the intensity nicely. While I like some parts more than others, you never know what’s lurking around the next corner of a Spaced song, and the record’s dynamism means that, even if you don’t like, it would be hard to call it boring. I know many people who read Sorry State’s newsletter are dedicated to 80s hardcore styles and Spaced probably won’t be for them, but if you have broader tastes or you’re just looking to mix it up, This Is All We Ever Get is a thrilling listen.