Rolex: S/T 7"

Coming in from California, ROLEX returns with their debut 7 inch offering now on 11 PM RECORDS. Vicious and untamed; Rolex has created a new breed of hardcore punk that is true to their LA roots, with influences from JFA and Mystic records; but contains the same poison that is behind DIE KRUZEN and CHEETAH CHROME MOTHERFUCKERS. ROLEX is far from your average mindless hardcore punk and brings in riffs and songwriting which owes as much to THE MINUTEMEN as it does surf rock; all with seething lyrics of vitriol and poetry. These ten tracks were previously released on 5 cassingles (R-O-L-E-X) and are now re-recorded and compiled on a 7 inch. ROLEX fuses art and hardcore together in a way not heard before and is truly worth a listen.

Our take: For the past few years, California’s Rolex has been releasing a series of short, two-song cassettes titled R, O, L, E, and X. Now 11PM Records helps to wrap up that project by compiling all 10 of those songs (in new, re-recorded versions) on this 7”. The only thing I didn’t love about the previous cassette versions (all of which we carried at SSR ) is that they were so short, so it’s funny that this makes or a rather long 7”. The re-recordings sound great, and the music is even stronger for having more of it. Rolex’s sound is bent and quirky, as aggressive as your standard fast hardcore band, but with a hyper-developed sense of rhythm that they show off with numerous time changes. The result reminds me of bands like early Meat Puppets, Nasa Space Universe, or Das Drip, all of whom play(ed) lightning fast but dense and sophisticated music. Rolex isn’t confrontationally weird, though; there’s more than enough catchy, old-school California punk to make these songs more than just calisthenics for your ears. Highly recommended.