Reviews

Revelation

On the Might of Princes Sirens LP reissue

Holy musical candy to my ears. I was certainly given music directly in my lane with the review of ON THE MIGHT OF PRINCES’ Sirens. Driving beats, plaintive vocals, melodic hardcore/emo sounding straight outta the best New Brunswick basement circa 2001 but with the polish and sheen of the likes of ENVY. The album opens up with a guitar riff on “No Sign of the Messiah (Pt II)” to set the emotional landscape of heartache those of us kids of the messageboards crave. Truth be told, I always knew of ON THE MIGHT OF PRINCES because of their proximity to so many bands I loved back in the day, but never got the opportunity to see them. This re-release is driving home for me the harsh reality that I truly missed out. Fans of THURSDAY, SAETIA, HOT CROSS, and, as I noted—partly tongue-in-cheek and partly dead serious—the messageboards of the aughts, will fall in love and put this on repeat.

Paint It Black Famine LP

PAINT IT BLACK returns with their first record in ten years. I’m not 100% familiar with their two-decade old discography but if memory serves, this record sounds pretty much the same as they did when they began: fast, breakneck East Coast (pre-YOUTH OF TODAY) HC with a little (just a little) posi vibe. The sound quality is crisp and clear, which typically I dislike, but here it gives them an unsparing, unfussy sound. As an added bonus, “Safe” features a little floor tom/floor tom/snare/floor tom beat, maybe my favorite in all of hardcore. The lyrics are audible, which is not actually a problem for this band.

Planet on a Chain Culture of Death LP

Oakland acid-to-the-veins hardcore punkers deliver twelve blunt force ragers filled with an exquisite anger and precision in the execution of their ball of sound. Fast-paced, urgent, and cathartic vibes in a racket of harsh, nails-and-glass tracks that come like punch after punch. Breakdowns are good abuse, and specifically flawless in taking speedy cadences and momentum. Solid fire record, and a project that’s probably great live.

Sick Of It All It’s Clobberin’ Time / Just Lies EP

They’ve had it up to here and they’re not gonna take it anymore. So, they’re gonna bitch ‘n moan and strike out in anger. No solutions offered or recommended. The only tune that offers any emotion other than anger/revenge is “Give Respect,” which says that it’s actions that prove the person—a worthy thought. Hope to see a broadening of their range of emotions/humanity; otherwise, this is your moshable NYHC.

Tørsö Build and Break EP

Holy shit y’all, a good fucking record released by Revelation Records in the year 2018! TØRSÖ join fellow Bay Area punkers PRIMAL RITE as the only cool, interesting band released by the legendary label in a dog’s age. This is an excellent record: repping straightedge 2018 with a mix of classic mosh tendencies and a ton of driving Scandi-crust influence, made distinctive by both Mae’s commanding vocals (making her one of the very, very few women to appear on a Rev release) and extremely tight arrangements. “Grab A Shovel” might be the best of the bunch, with a massive outro that absolutely devastates. Thanks to a top-shelf recording job everything sounds fantastic and even the art is interesting and relevant to the band instead of being a slapped-together computerized mess.

V/A New York City Hardcore 1987: Together EP

Seven highly moshable tunes here, all showing some kind of searching attitudes. While there are still traces of the NY “hard” attitude, there’s much more of a human quality that’s replacing the naive “unity for unity’s sake” approach. Bands include YOUTH OF TODAY, SICK OF IT ALL, SIDE BY SIDE, BOLD, WARZONE, SUPERTOUCH, and GORILLA BISCUITS. Pick it up, and hope that as these bands mature they will prove less mercenary and display more emotional depth than the previous wave of NYHC.

Warzone Lower East Side Crew EP

This self-declared skinhead band hails from NYC and puts forth seven raw, demo-tape quality hardcore anthems which are similar to early AGNOSTIC FRONT, lyrically and in mentality. However, WARZONE takes the straightedge path. Patriotic graphics leave me skeptical.