Seven tracks of the grimiest hardcore punk I have heard in what feels like forever! ACID CASUALTIES from the New York/New Jersey area are relentlessly pummeling and have found a way to prove that hardcore can still be absolutely terrifying. Do you like ’80s hardcore? Do you hate everything else? Well, this tape might just be for you. It is most certainly for me.
Recent demo cream pressed to vinyl for posterity. Claims of WEIRDOS inspiration seem warranted here, as this is a fairly hi-fi take on that classic rumble-and-burst sound. Vox alternate between maniac-froth and nonsensical annoyance, but they somehow always find a way to fit. Five tunes total and worth a look-see.
For those of you unfortunate enough to not be familiar with BOOTLICKER yet, do yourself a favor and check out their slew of EPs already out in the world. Rip-roaring, relentless Canadian hardcore punk. This cassette is a live show recorded during the band’s last US tour. The recording is top notch and the band is clearly in the midst of their tour tightness. Some of the angriest and best hardcore punk going these days. This live recording sounds better than most band’s studio records. Pro-dubbed tapes with attention to detail on the artwork put this over the top. It even includes a cool looking obi strip on the outside of the tape shell. According to Neon Taste Records there is supposed to be two inserts within the tape but my review copy did not come with those.
BOOTLICKER’s latest output. Reminiscent of early G.B.H. and DISCHARGE singles, the production nails that certain UK82 texture down well with some extra punch. Also has some aspects of contemporary DIY hardcore punk that reminds a bit of Boston bands from few years back such as BLOODKROW BUTCHER or SAVAGEHEADS. Carries the catchiness and drive that G.B.H. had but also has this stomping USHC that Midwest hardcore delivered. Has this continual punch that seems addicting to your ears. A+
The first BOOTLICKER material I heard was their fourth EP, 2020’s How to Love Life. As soon as the opening track “It’s Beautiful” started I knew one thing for sure: this was some of the gnarliest drumming I’d heard in a minute. Crunchy, brutal, and unrelenting, like a machine gun ripping through clips of ammunition. That’s all I needed to become a believer. BOOTLICKER is putting out some of the best D-beat hardcore punk at the moment, and this collection of their first four EPs (from 2017–2020) showcases the band’s ascent from their first 6 Track EP towards the aforementioned How to Love Life. To get the full scope of the band’s output, listen to all 37(!) minutes, but as I mentioned, I highly recommend the track “It’s Beautiful” to hear the band at full power.
Playing hard and bouncy punk with a melting pot of influences, Vancouver’s BOOTLICKER is sharper than ever on this explosive full-length outing. Weaving classic hardcore and D-beat elements into their UK82-style songs, these guys come off as a bit more original that some of the more stringent ’80s-flavored bands that have been springing up as of late. This record from the CHAIN WHIP labelmates is loaded with catchy tunes (“Herd the Sheep”’ will get stuck in yer head) delivered with conviction through obliterated speakers. Taste the rubber, baby.
Sick Canadian hardcore with a D-beat backbone, but a fair dollop of GBH and UK82 in the mix alongside the obligatory nods to DISCHARGE. The recording is very well done, and appropriately blown-out and live sounding, but very well-mixed and bright as well. The band’s energy levels are extremely high throughout, driven by the enthusiastically menacing vocalist and the ripping attack of the bassist. The whole record is consistently good, but it all comes together just so for the record-closing “Slasher”: an unrelenting assault with an immaculate break and one of those two-note Scandi-style solos that work so very well when they work at all. Extra kudos for the lovely silkscreened sleeve and lovingly cut ’n’ pasted artwork.
CHAIN WHIP has been cracking punk skulls since 2018 in an attempt to mix the Killed By Death sound with grimy punk. The result is fast-paced, in-your-face hardcore in the vein of POISON IDEA meets the GERMS, and it has riffs for days. Also, it definitely has a huge upbeat quality to it, akin to Californian beach punk, and this time their sound is tighter than ever, putting the pedal to the metal speedwise. Two Step to Hell consists of six tracks: three of them are re-recorded versions from their 2020 demo, two are brand new CHAIN WHIP recordings, and one is a SUBHUMANS cover. So to sum it up, something old, something new, and something borrowed. What more can you ask for? Vancouver, BC hardcore at its best!
Have not heard from Vancouver, BC’s CHAIN WHIP since the mighty 14 Lashes LP that got into my hands late 2020 or so. There have been a couple of releases from them that have slipped by me, but this one is just killer and filled to the brim with aggro, brutish squeals from a gutter. Listen to “Toothless,” “Teenage Kinks,” or the slowed-down “State Hornets,” and tell me this isn’t CAREER SUICIDE by way of ’80s Huntington Beach. Until the band does a proper Midwest/cowtown tour, I am relegated to YouTubing the hell out of them. Living in Europe? Go see them now. Neon Taste has my money.
I have to say, I did not have a clue about either Cotard’s syndrome (some sort of neuropsychiatric condition involving the delusional fear of losing limbs, something like that) nor CÖTARD, the band, before this review. Needless to say that I much prefer the latter, as the aforementioned syndrome did frighten me quite a bit after reading about it online and I spent the night checking whether my limbs were still in place…but then, that is generally what happens when I Google medical conditions (I once thought I had caught the bubonic plague). Let’s stick to punk, shall we? CÖTARD is from San Luis de Potosi in Mexico and Delirio is their first proper vinyl output after two tapes and one CD. The umlaut on the “’o” does suggest that they are not insensitive to Scandinavian music, which does not exactly come as a surprise, since they play relentless, gruff, and hairy crustcore. This is exactly the sort of band that makes me wonder why and how I had not heard of them before, as they are right up my street (figuratively speaking, I looked and they are not actually up the street, sadly). On the bright side, it is very pleasant to be surprised. CÖTARD plays absolutely crushing Scandicrust with hoarse, desperate-sounding vocals in Spanish. I suppose the comparison with a metal-free NAPALM RAID makes sense, as they do share a similar unrelenting fury, not unlike Portland’s DÖDLAGE, either. If you need a more poetic image, let’s say the band sounds like a blown-out version of classic Swedish crustcore, like an electrocuted 3-WAY CUM or SKITSYSTEM, or maybe like SVAVELDIOXID covering DISRUPT while being chased by starving hyenas wearing sunglasses. This is Scandicrust at its most intense—the recipe is classic but the dish, well-executed, is perfect. This EP is a significant improvement upon their previous works and hopefully it will find its way to Europe (to be more accurate, in my mailbox).
Have you ever had to face a charging rhino? Unlikely, I suppose, but listening to EXTENSIVE SLAUGHTER’s first serving, entitled More Than a Nightmare, can be said to be the punk equivalent of wrestling such a monster, because you’ll similarly get bruised, trampled, and possibly abducted. However, if you emerge victorious in the fight, the trophy will be a crust album to rock to instead of a horrible stuffed rhino head to hang above your fireplace, looking judgingly at you for eternity. This new Vancouver-based unit took their name from an EXCREMENT OF WAR song, so it gives a pretty solid indication of what to expect. The production is thick, powerful, and makes the band sound like an unstoppable, pummeling, galloping force. EXTENSIVE SLAUGHTER reminds me of furious ’00s metallic crustcore bands like NUCLEAR DEATH TERROR or MAN THE CONVEYORS, as well as the more recent EXTINCT/EXIST from Melbourne or Sweden’s PARASIT. The band also adds some blastbeats here, and there are some genuinely thrashing metal moments to headbang to (the description says that some members play in death metal bands too, which makes sense). As an orthodox crustcore fan, I personally don’t think the death metal blastbeats really add anything to the songs, but I guess they work well enough and keep the energy level high, in a MASSGRAVE kind of way. The vocals are hoarse, shouted but not too forced, so that they have more of a Swedish hardcore feel rather than a gruff crust one, which would broaden the band’s appeal, I assume. This is a very solid Scandicrust record and a band I will keep my watchful eyes on.
British Columbia combo containing BOOTLICKER alumni rattle out twelve songs in twelve minutes and rarely if ever drop the tempo for this, their first vinyl outing. HEADCHEESE has a pretty big streak of garage punk in their hardcore, though, twin guitars both sounding scrawny and tinny (in a cool way). Reminds me of the SPITS here and there, early BLACK FLAG in certain respects, ANGRY SAMOANS for the insouciance… BLOODY HAMMER from late-’00s Texas had a really similar vibe for their short existence, I’d say. Lyrics, sang and I think written by Lewis Podlubny, lean heavily on the loser-punk burnout anthems but throw in some anti-police sentiment (I like the framing of this one: that’s cool your officer dad is nice to you, but he’s still a cop) and a sardonic love letter to Google Home.
There is not much (if anything) to dislike about Expired, the new LP from the Kamloops, B.C. quartet HEADCHEESE. Upon first listen, I needed to stop what I was doing and devote all of my usually non-existent attention to the situation at hand. Each track gets more antagonizing and tightly wound, sounding eerily like VOID if they had been produced by Spot. The band is new to me, but from what little I have gathered, they are bound by family ties between two members, come from a small river town riddled with wildlife, and even opened for D.O.A.? This tops my year-end list for sure. Keep going HEADCHEESE, you rule.
Made in Toronto, the unkempt punk of IMPLODERS saddles classic hardcore styles and sentiments with a modern-day level of jaded disaffection. Mid-paced ripping and stomping is delivered with a casual and sarcastic swagger that makes for a promising debut. Be careful with this one, as it sounds like it may stain your turntable.
There’s something exciting about sharing new material in a live setting. I don’t mean if you’re just “some band” telling the audience you have a couple new ones, I mean specifically when recording a release for general consumption. Land Speed Record remains one of my favorite HÜSKER DÜ records partly for the gall of releasing your debut as a live record. So I’m excited by this bruising Toronto troupe releasing their follow-up to an excellent debut EP as a live session from Equalizing Distort Radio. It sounds great, beefier than your typical thin basement demo but with all the dials in the red where it counts. There’s an ’80s influence here—especially in that guitar tone blurring the line between clean and filthy, as well as the bratty, acrobatic vocals—but it all sounds like a fresh jolt of juice. Excited to see what comes next, but in the meantime I’ll play this a couple dozen more times.
German punk rockers LAFFF BOX are difficult to pigeonhole into this or that genre. Driving hard with distorted vocals and a noisy, twin-guitar attack, they switch from rollicking, mosh pit punk on tracks like “Master” to a more melodic, mid-tempo rock vibe on the very next track, “Just a Fool.” The rhythm section stands out, providing a bedrock foundation for the chaotic guitars. One of my favorite tracks is the stripped-down Motörpunk rager “Restart the Program.”
The chair featured on the cover of this Vancouver band’s record is the kind you typically see in welfare offices, police stations, and low-rent business waiting areas. The off-putting nature of this visual fits the existential displeasure that is the springboard for NUTRITION’s agitated grown-up punk. The band’s sound is pretty appetizing, delivering a dense and jangly sort of post-hardcore with a spirited vocal performance and even a whiff of HANK WOOD influence. As promised, there’s some sustenance here, but this aggressively pessimistic platter of short songs is a hearty snack at best.
KBD raer that would go straight to Graham Booth in MRR days of yore. Apparently this is a fake punk band put together for a movie soundtrack; it just sounds like a shambolic but thuggish rockarolla work out to me. No hooks or charisma, just brash falling apart clang. I can see this having appeal to certain wild minds for sure though but it is not really something I would ever listen to again?! I prefer the freaky sounds of REMO VOOR or ELECTRIC EELS for this feeling. If you liked BLAST (the Belgian proto punk band not the SST band) you might like this?
There ain’t nothing wrong with some dirty and desperate rock’n’roll, but I’m not telling you anything that the DIRTS don’t already know. Playing the type of static-shitty garage knockers that originated with the Teenage Hate-era REATARDS and were probably previously best emulated by Finland’s the ACHTUNGS, these self-deprecating Swedes nail the bluesy budget-rock style, complete with black-and-white Xeroxed aesthetics. Echoey, distorted vocals? Check. Songs about being a loser and hating stuff? Check. Earnest and amateurish guitar mini-solos? Check. Even the brooding “Getting Over You” and the damaged power pop of “Telling Me Lies” are in line with acceptable “look, we’re mixing it up a bit” styles for this type of loud lo-fi music. This is no Teenage Hate, or even Welcome to Hell, but I’m glad it’s here because we gotta keep this shit alive. I like to think Jay would be proud.
Punk has always been defined by either how much you give a shit or how little, and Pittsburgh’s WHITE STAINS exemplifies the appeal of both. The music feels urgent, it’s seasoned, driving, old school punk rock with a good sizzle to it. Early ’80s California scene-indebted but not corny or retro. The vocals, on the other hand, sound like they were recorded with a beer in one hand while sitting on the couch. I mean that in the best way possible. The sarcastic “ha ha ha” on closer “Laughing Gas” drips with dismissal. Like you’re dumb for even listening. It’s the kind of degradation that leaves me desperate for more. Each track has teeth and chews on you like a bone, the songwriting is solid and varied. As the Steven Wright punchline goes, “see, that’s how you do that.”
