Reviews

Wrecking Crew

Call in Dead Deepest Condolences LP

Whatever anyone’s feelings are toward “old-head punk” or this release, one has to admire three former hardcore kids for regrouping years later to create something ultimately quite modern that doesn’t feel out of touch by today’s standards. While I initially expected this to be undoubtedly indebted by early ’80s American bands such as AGRESSION or whatever, their influences range all over the place, from ’90s chug-core alluding to the likes of the Victory Records catalogue to…reggae? What the fuck, indeed. Albeit, I’ll admit I really enjoyed some parts of it, given I wasn’t expecting to at all. However, while “old guy” punk is always going to be hit or miss, by the standards of today’s releases, this isn’t something I will go back to frequently.

Man Dead Set Too Early to Be Late LP

The cover art is what really struck me here. At first glance, it resembles an old ROLLINS BAND cover. It would definitely pique my interest if I found this in a bin at any record store. On to the album itself: what we have here are ten relatively short, fast hardcore punk songs that are over before they become stale. Most stay under the two-minute mark, which is good, although there are two that go over that mark and while I personally prefer my hardcore songs to stay under one minute, it’s not unbearable, and is hardly noticeable when listening as the songs flow nicely. If you’re like me and constantly looking for something to pull you away from the old faithfuls, give this a spin.