Retirement

Reviews

Retirement Attention Economy LP

The combination of PDX bands plus Iron Lung equaling some of the best bits and bobs on the market is becoming more and more fact, not opinion. Case in point: this spastic hell-ride from RETIREMENT, which is the second LP the band has put out, following 2023’s Buyers Remorse.  The band makes note that Attention Economy is their “cathartic release”—I hear it more as a type of primal scream therapy backed by a repetitive, death toll of a drum beat. The band is on full display in all of the LP’s fourteen-song set; there are no skips and the consensus is complete hatred towards the consumerism and materialism our culture is lost in. “You Will Be Forgotten,” “Parasites,” and the slowed-down “Next Time” should be your start.

Retirement Buyer’s Remorse LP

RETIREMENT plays fractured BLACK FLAG meets PAPRIKA negative hardcore that rips. From the pounding drum cadence of opener “No More” to the repeated chant of “No Refund” that closes the record, the band creates an intimidating and feedback-laden atmosphere that never dips below fully exciting. The guitar chugs out dissonant chord progressions and spits atonal noise solos as good as Greg Ginn at his most relevant. The drums (which sound great, full and front in the mix) move from galloping fast beats to mid-tempo stomps and back again. “Pull the Shades” is a great example of this, with a rhythm that moves from near-crossover speeds to creepy-crawl, backing one of the few intelligible vocal lines: “I pull the shades / I lock the door.” The raspy, almost blackened and reverbed vocals are perfect for the band and drip with malice and contempt. “DD.MM.YYYY” adds a harsh noise dimension to the sound with a minute of grinding guitar drone. If you like noisy, in-the-shadows hardcore like HOLOGRAM or FASHION CHANGE, check this out immediately.

Retirement Bleed City cassette

Bleed City was released as a promo tape before the LP Buyer’s Remorse comes out on Iron Lung Records. With a label like that releasing the band, you can already get a sense of where this is going. Harsh, bleak, and unfiltered aggression of hardcore as it was back in the day, with bands like INFEST or NEGATIVE APPROACH as a template. “No feel-good anthems here, just the downward spiral of a dark and bleak trip,” as stated on their Bandcamp. A couple of surprises on Side B in the form of a RUDIMENTARY PENI cover and a remix by Andrew Nolan from ENDLESS BLOCKADE, COLUMN OF HEAVEN, and INTENSIVE CARE fame. Excited for the LP to come out.