Reviews

MRR #522 • November 2026

Baby Killer Baby Killer cassette

HC punk in the image of UK82 and the punker end of US East Coast ’80s HC. This was kind of a fascinating listen—it’s hard to come up with interesting things to say about genuinely good, skillfully executed hardcore punk, but on repeat listens, I found a pretty unique lane here. There’s a subtle darkness to the feel of the band, not explicit post-punk or darkwave sounds, but something about the rhythm section made it feel like the 2010s UKHC of HOUNDS OF HATE or VIOLENT REACTION through the lens of someone who likes SUICIDE a lot. Might be an NY thing. Regardless, the songs are solid and the tempo and melodic changes are above average interesting  for this kind of stuff. Really enjoyed this.

Blug Now! More Than Ever cassette

Countless grimy demo tapes have passed through my hands over the years, and this tape is the grimiest—a magic-marker-scrawled, multi-generation thrift store cassette dubbed over to oblivion with impenetrable boombox rehearsal jams. There is a lyric sheet that came connected by rubber band that not only has words but also a rudimentary guitar tab for the players, and I’m convinced it came straight out of the rehearsal space as a 1/1 master recording (I had to rewind it myself). Is it good? It’s hard to tell, being a sonic black hole of room hiss, blasting feedback, and one-take chaos. On first listen, it kind of sounds like the SHAGGS with a distortion pedal, which isn’t a diss at all. Group chanting, feedback-tinged power chords, and ramshackle pounding fill the space. There are a couple of false drum starts on one song, which made me laugh because this shit’s not exactly in time anyway. So, good is subjective, but punk? Oh hell yeah. This crusty slab of plastic and tape captures the joy of bashing out chords and yelling what’s on your mind (sometimes all in unison). It’s the collective energy of creation and the purest distillation of DIY spirit. It’s a mess, and it’s awesome, and it’s beautiful. This tape isn’t streaming, but you can search for “BLUG 2” on the Bandcamp page of Olympia’s Music for People for a clearer listen. BLUG, let me know if you need the tape back.

Chaos Quitter / We Are the One 7″

Originally released in 1983, this CHAOS 7” was the first Filipino punk record. The first pressing is currently going for over a grand, so interested parties may want to jump on this reissue pronto. There are two tracks; the melodic “Quitter” on the A-side, and the punchier “We Are the One,” which is not the AVENGERS song, on the B-side. This is one of a few elusive grails that have recently become once again attainable thanks to a long-overdue reissue. Come, all ye completists, and joyfully fill thy gaps.

City Slang CS II cassette

Drum machine punk out of Dallas that ended up being a lot more fun than I had initially expected when I saw Barney Fife on the cover. Makes sense, though. Who better represents incompetent law enforcement than him? Very rock’n’roll-heavy with low, bluesy guitar tones. The vocals are what make this band for me—blood-inducing growls coming from the deepest depths of the singer’s diaphragm. It’s classic English Oi! with an East Texas twist. I didn’t think I’d come away loving this, but I do. Great work, and well worth several plays.

Coeur Chamade Coeur Chamade cassette

Hailing from Brittany, France, COEUR CHAMADE’s debut features five songs of melodic post-punk with an artsy undercurrent. The vocalist has a pleasingly subdued delivery that compliments the often meandering guitar lines. I’m reminded of LA FRACTION if they embraced a more laid-back indie approach. The songs are well-crafted, and I suspect that the members have played in bands that would be recognizable, though I couldn’t dig up any evidence to connect that assertion to reality. Regardless, this cassette is a good jumping-off point for a group with demonstrable potential.

Foot Fetish Foot Fetish cassette

This is jangly, this is aggressive. This is the sort of music where you alternately move up and down and side to side in a dirty warehouse filled with smiling friends in less than fashionable clothing. Come summertime, the warehouse turned venue will be gone, but this tape will serve as a reminder of a better than good time you once had. The most obvious touchpoint may be KC’s WARM BODIES, but this is its own twisted thing. This cassette contains the sort of fun urgency that people who live in cold-climate places are inherently born with. Cool guitar movements that are very BROWN SUGAR meets VANILLA POPPERS. I would advise you to buy this and just keep flipping it over ad nauseam.

Hasiací Prístroj Hej Hou Pivo Roul LP

It’s not often that I’m out carousing, perhaps because I’m neither a pirate nor an eighteenth century explorer, but if I were, I would definitely want Slovakian band HASIACÍ PRÍSTROJ as my soundtrack. The lyrics may or may not actually reference ale, but musically, these are good-time drinking songs, something more than hinted at by the sounds of a bottle opening and something being sparked up at the record’s beginning. The clinking of bottles at the start of the frenetic “Arabské Tango” seems like a bit of a giveaway too, as does their reappearance at the start of “X Pív Prosím.” Hej Hou Pivo Roul! is actually the second demo from the band, whose name translates as “Fire Extinguishers,” and was first put out on cassette, DIY fashion, in 1992. Now Czech label PHR is giving the set its first vinyl release, and it’s remarkable how up-to-date the album sounds. Sure, opener “Pivo” could have been recorded inside a tin can, but then either the production improves or my ears adjust and I quickly stop making allowances for the sound. Whatever the subject of their songs, HASIACÍ PRÍSTROJ is unimpaired on this varied yet coherent set that offers a mélange of punk styles, but is none the worse for it as it merrily careens between melodic hardcore, street punk, and folk punk. There are some proto-RANCID influences, a dash of DEAD KENNEDYS on “Hlavou Proti Múru,”, and “Pionier” challenges you to sing along, whether or not you know Slovak. All in all, the sound of a band that provides upbeat, carousingly good fun.

Ice & the Iced Rock ‘Pn’ Roll EP reissue

Despite years of devoted digging, you never came across an original copy of this elusive KBD relic in the wild. It’s okay, bucko, you tried your best, and look—now you can snag a fresh one that sounds and looks just like the real thing, courtesy of Berlin’s No Good records. This label doesn’t put much out, but when they do, they make it count, as evidenced by the justice they have delivered over the years to the likes of the MAD VIRGINS, X-PULSION, and now this much-sought Italian classic. Originally released as a small run in 1981, this four-song EP of rough-hewn and melodic fledgling punk has had obsessive types drooling ever since. Not only will your copy will come free of collector scum saliva, it will also include a two-sided 13×19” poster made by the band that was not released with the first pressing. The thing is, this reissue is even more limited than the original run was, so go ahead and get to it.

Klonns G.A.M.E.S. LP

KLONNS, Japan’s ambassadors of global hardcore, have returned with a fresh full-length slab to slam to, and trust me, you’re going to want to. G.A.M.E.S. finds KLONNS perpetuating their sound which combines the ferocity and ferality of classic Japanese hardcore with the metallic, tough-guy punch of NYHC to create a mutant of profound impact. Aggressive, brutal—these words don’t even begin to touch what KLONNS does on this LP. In fact, we just may need to rewrite the lexicon of hardcore, because KLONNS has changed the definition.

Lotti Bigotti Zártosztályharc 12″

Fun fact: the Hungarian language is closer to Finnish than it is to any of its neighbours. I wish I hadn’t slept through my linguistics classes, it is a fascinating topic. All this to say that I think Hungarian goes perfectly well with punk rock music, and LOTTI BIGOTTI is great at what they do. Hailing from the very active and lively Budapest scene, the band plays inventive and dark punk rock that experiments with post-punk and weirdo punk. They are difficult to pinpoint, but I am definitely hearing some Greek dark punk à la ΣΚΟΤΟΔΙΝΗ or older stuff like ΓΚΟΥΛΑΓΚ, but also ’80s Yugo punk like MRTVI KANAL and PARAF, and even X-MAL DEUTSCHLAND, but on the whole, LOTTI BIGOTTI really sounds like their own with that strange atmosphere, melancholy and bellicose at the same time, depressive but oddly dynamic and super punk and familiar. The combination of male and female vocals is well-organized, and the eight songs go fast, making the listener crave for more. I knew the demo tape but hadn’t given this one-sided 12” a chance (a bit of an odd format, but there you go), and the progression is obvious and impressive. Brilliant stuff.

Plastic Meat Losing It EP

Thrashy, fuzzy punk from Madrid that’s equal parts early ’80s-era California like the AVENGERS and rushed, spazzed-out pop à la DICKIES and BUZZCOCKS, the former reference not exclusively because the singer awesomely brings to mind Penelope Houston intuitions. The band lands in that fast, angular proto-punk sound that their fellow Spaniards and the Australians are doing so well right now. This is their second EP, burning through six songs in ten minutes, and just seems to be scratching the surface of what they’re up to.

Rat Cage Not Asking For Much LP

It seems appropriate that Not Asking For Much, the new RAT CAGE LP, marks ten years of stellar hardcore punk from mastermind Bry Suddaby. Across multiple compilations, splits, EPs, and LPs, RAT CAGE has always retained their core influences while expanding on their sound, and while I’d have probably said the same about their 2023 LP Savage Visions, this new record really feels like the band has leveled up and evolved into its most fully realized form. Between the ringing guitars on the opening notes of “Steady On Now” and the final shout-along finale of “Not Asking For Much” is a journey that twists and turns with USHC speed, Scandi-punk stomp, and British gruffness, especially in the lyrics department, which remains laser-focused on the increasingly difficult experience of living in the West. Every little touch sounds intentionally placed and perfectly executed, with big, beefy production providing the space for Bry’s vocals to be front and center throughout the proceedings. Each track has at least one if not multiple elements that stand out, but the vital urgency of “Marble Bench,” the anthemic (and acoustic) moments of “Grass is Greener,” the snotty call-and-response sing-along in “Dragged Through the Dirt,” and the excellent drum pattern shift in “Spiders in a Jar” are a few that stood out to me on first listen. I could go on for days, and by all means, hit me up to further discuss this masterclass of an album. In the meantime, here’s the TL;DR: throughout its 22-minute runtime, RAT CAGE delivers an explosive collection of tunes that are absolutely monumental, sounding more dynamic and inspired than ever. Essential listening.

Scatterbox Enemies LP reissue

Hardcore from Coeur D’Alene, ID? Hells yeah. I’m not gonna throw out names of similar bands because I want to be clear that this record is so much more than similarities. Well-crafted hardcore with melody tossed in here and there, and enough guitar riffage and gang vocals to make everyone happy. Info is a little scarce—it seems like the drummer has been in other bands, but I can’t find anything linking to any other members’ projects. Look, the only reason I think this is important is because their sound is that of well-weathered punk and hardcore, and it’s hard to believe that this would be a first band with such honed aggression and articulated sound. Thirteen songs that seem to go by way too fast. Coeur D’Alene, ID, huh…I think my ex-wife has family that lives in Coeur D’Alene, ID. Who knew that Coeur D’Alene, ID had cool things, too?

Sin Offering Guilty 12″

Imagine, if you will, CHRISTIAN DEATH, but if they went through a phase of loving prog rock, and you’ll be close to the sound of SIN OFFERING. SIN OFFERING does a great job of keeping the goth vibe flowing, but there are frequently instrumental moments that remind me of Roll the Bones-era RUSH with dark riffs that begin in the dirt and slowly ascend to the heights of Icarus. Guilty is SIN OFFERING’s latest sacrament, and it’s five tracks of palpable indignation wrapped in a black cowl, or an angry treatise on how darkened souls are created. If you like CHRISTIAN DEATH, DANSE MACABRE, or any amount of gothic inspiration, then you’re going to love this.

Society Reign of Flies LP

Solo basement tunes from Sim Hardin of MESH that seamlessly move between trebly, lyrically conversational contemporary punk like CRUELSTER and mellow, snaky interludes that could be lost VELVET UNDERGROUND song sketches. You never really know what to expect, but it makes sense taken as a whole. Killer power pop hooks catch you off guard, like on the tail end of opener, “Casualties of War,” and then you find yourself tapping your foot along to the rambling vintage country of “Gangstalkin.” It’s an interesting mix, and if you go with the flow, it flows, man. There are a lot of ideas on this record, and they fit together like a rough-edged, homemade puzzle, freewheeling and authentic. I’m going to play it again.

Under Pressure Retrogression LP

This band was featured on the famous New Breed comp back in the day and represented very much “the style at the time” for NYHC. After releasing a vinyl comp of their old demos, they’re back in the ungodly year of 2026 with new material…sort of. Some of this is re-recordings of older songs, some is outright new, but it reminded me heavily of what bands like SUBZERO and SHEER TERROR were doing in the mid-to-late ’90s—more melodic hardcore, but still breaking it down in the bouncy NYHC fashion (there’s an instrumental here that would have made me leave a mosh-sized hole in the world if I’d heard it live when I was eighteen) with the requisite toughness baked in. I feel like that era/sound of NYHC isn’t lauded as other eras, but it was formative to me and I love this stuff, so this is right up my alley. Wish it was longer, but I’m glad the band stuck to their guns and made this kind of NYHC groove for the old heads (not the oldest heads), and hope they keep at it.

Veradas Universal Relays LP

Very cool fuzzed-out psych/garage rock out of Portland. Sinister surf rock chock-full of groove, atmospheric vocals, and wah-wah guitars, with a little bit of desert rock thrown in there as well. At times sounding like a theatrical score, this is a very impressive outing from this PNW trio. Amazing to me that this was put together by just three people. Everything sounds massive and the song compositions are tight and well-constructed. This is an experience! Throw it on after a couple edibles.

Zabøgart Antek Ass“sing” cassette

Indonesian two-piece ZABØGART brings some raw and straightforward powerviolence to the table with their new cassette Antek Ass“sing.” Blistering drums, abrasive guitars, non-stop vocals, and occasional bursts of noise…just what you should expect. Nothing more, nothing less.