Side Channel Side Channel demo cassette
This is apparently a new band from Los Angeles, a town that has never been in short supply when it comes to hardcore bands. I haven’t been able to find much intel about them, but I would say that SIDE CHANNEL is not the first music endeavour of its members. There are elements I really like on this demo tape, like the vocals that sound angry but are discernible, and the moments when the band goes for a more traditional dis-oriented, raw punk beat rather than the trendier tupa-tupa. The spoken word part in the introduction points in the direction of the classic Californian peacepunk (of RESIST AND EXIST, ANOTHER DESTRUCTIVE SYSTEM, HOLOKAUST, and so on), although the production has both feet in the modern world of hardcore. Could SIDE CHANNEL become the American SUBDUED? The synthesis of modern angry political hardcore and old school peacepunk? Now, that’s a challenge. A short and sweet recording, and a band I will keep an eye on.