Shaved Ape Love Letter to Hardcore LP
The LP cover is perfect; a picture of Riky Barnes in a RUDIMENTARY PENI shirt, mid-air, ripping a skate trick. Some records you know you are going to dig before you even hear them, and if I saw this in the bins when I was thirteen, I would have bought it, no questions asked. And when I dropped the needle onto this one, I didn’t just dig it, I fucking loved it. Ten songs (the B-side has their 2022 demo in its entirety) in less than ten minutes, and they all rip with the ferocity of ten Rottweilers guarding a junkyard! It’s maniacal, furious, and scary like good hardcore should be. And it was recorded on a glorious tape machine, giving it the perfect fidelity. All these key ingredients are necessary to make a stellar record and to pen an honest love letter to hardcore. Major props to the drumming on this one, too. Top-tier.
