Reviews

For review and radio play consideration:

Please send vinyl (preferred), CD, or cassette releases to MRR, PO Box 3852, Oakland, CA 94609, USA. Maximum Rocknroll wants to review everything that comes out in the world of underground punk rock, hardcore, garage, post-punk, thrash, etc.—no major labels or labels exclusively distributed by major-owned distributors, no reviews of test pressings or promo CDs without final artwork. Please include contact information and let us know where your band is from!

The Vacant Lot Creaures of the Night EP

A change of pace for the mighty Iron Lung Label, this 7” resurrects material from Australian first-wavers the VACANT LOT. Citing the BUZZCOCKS, MAGAZINE, and WIRE as influences, their four-song Living Underground EP was the band’s sole release from their initial late ’70s run. Vocalist George Howson has rebuilt the band here with a strong new lineup including ALIEN NOSEJOB-er Jake Robertson in order to properly document some previously unrecorded songs from their original tenure. With poetic lyrics and an emboldened sound, the revamped LOT pairs an energetic earnestness with fluid angularity, like a cocktail of the SWELL MAPS mixed with the SHAPES—an interesting and worthwhile post/punk spin.

Teo Wise Fermo o Sparo! LP

There’s an Italian concept called “sprezzatura,” which refers to the art of making something difficult look effortless. While it’s mainly used referring to one’s visual style, it’s the perfect encapsulation of all aspects of this TEO WISE record. This collection of Italian punk, with a spaghetti Western veneer and power pop sensibilities, is the freshest thing you will hear all year. From the instrumental title track into the brilliant early highlight “Confusionale,” to the glammy pop of “M’ama non M’ama” (which is wonderfully reminiscent of the stellar ’70s Italian nugget “Shy Wa Wa” by SHY WA WA), to the eggy attitude of “Non Importa,” this record feels so nonchalant while also sounding so singular and masterfully crafted. A continuous barrage of adjectives and praise could be added here, along with pondering the parallels this record evokes in the listener compared to hearing ADRIANO CELENTANO’s “Prisencolinensinainciusol” for the first time, but truly one just needs to hear this to get it. If anything cooler this year comes along, I would be stunned.

Agen 53 Sp​ä​tgeburten LP

Killer grip of newly unearthed mid-‘80s punk from Verden, Germany’s AGEN 53. The first eleven cuts are studio recordings captured toward the tail end of the band’s existence in 1985, followed by some live performances and a handful of demo tracks. Stylistically scattershot, the tunes range from bouncy ’77-inspired punk with a smattering of post-punk elements throughout. Some songs are jangly and melodic, but they’ll also whip around to a tougher, proto-hardcore approach that exhibits a penchant for aggression and fury. A little something for everyone, this collection makes for a solid introduction to a proficiently eclectic band.

Automated Execution Automated Execution cassette

AUTOMATED EXECUTION from Austin, Texas brings us some raw D-beat hardcore punk with growling vocals, guitar that is on the attack, and drums and bass that really hammer the point home. Most of the songs hit you hard and are over in one to one-and-a-half minutes. This is a really good demo tape. The band is fully formed and plays as a cohesive unit. Raw hardcore sounds better to me than overproduced slick punk played by people trying to make it big; this is real punk.

Billiam / Busted Head Racket Kidnapped! EP

I loved how these guys pushed the limits of electronic-y, punky sound. “Have A Panic Attack With BBHR” is witty, fast, and punky, but quickly devolves into utter chaos and explosion. I loved it. Throughout the EP, the lyrics were sharp and matched the uptempo energy of electronic, distorted chaos. I felt on edge the whole time, so good.

Blone Noble Life’s New Adventure LP

Debut LP from Los Angeles-based BLONE NOBLE, the brainchild of Pat Salway, pictured on the album cover. I imagine this is going to be something you love or hate—the featuring of this release in MRR may have inner critics and readers alike wondering if this falls into the “punk-adjacent” category at all. Prefaces aside, Life’s New Adventure is a dark, moody, synth-driven self-exploration on vinyl. Describing his genre as “doomsday disco,” referenced from the Post-punk.com article on the band, makes for an on-point description. I hear similarities to fellow L.A.-ers COBRA MAN (following the disco thread), with the vocal saturation and broodiness of ORVILLE PECK. I also hear shades of JONATHAN RICHMAN on “Cosmic Ghetto,” with spoken word verses and shouted choruses. In addition to the spiky, haunting synth, a drum kit and drum machine keep a simple, slow beat while bass lines slap, bounce, and give way to that disco groove, with guitar lines taking a backseat in the mix. For me, genre squabbling aside, I really like this. It’s both moody and driving and somehow…fun? Sure, it’s a throwback to ’70s and ’80s disco, glam, synth—especially watching the VHS-quality music video for “Weapon of Love” from a previous release—but what isn’t some homage or amalgamation of sounds these days? Try it out and you decide.

Casual Hex Zig Zag Lady Illusion II LP

CASUAL HEX just might be the last band standing from Seattle’s mid-to-late 2010s DIY post-punk boom, where, alongside similarly-minded outfits like NAIL POLISH and VATS, they pushed back against the city’s rapid gentrification and tech hellscape wealth disparity (instigated by Amazon, Microsoft, et al.) with an appropriately sharp and panicked sound. It’s been seven years since their last record (2018’s Zig Zag Lady Illusion LP), and they’re not exactly a Seattle band anymore (guitarist/vocalist Erica Miller is now based in Portland), but the more things change, the more they stay the same—the trio’s recurring lyrical themes of devalued labor, mindless consumption, social engineering, and the corrupting effects of power are all still firmly in check here (and as relevant as ever), with an instrumental backing that’s just as scathing. Opener “The System” cuts right to the chase, with exacting stop/start beats, needling six-string scree, and Miller’s perfectly-in-control deadpan giving voice to the sorts of internal monologues that should be shared by anyone actually living in reality (“The system, we feed / Has no belief”). The frigid clang of “Letters & Numbers” picks up the screwdriver baton passed on from Confusion is Sex-era SONIC YOUTH, and the sparse, spring-loaded bass bounce launching the standout “Like a Product” signals toward 99 Records-style no wave danceability, while the ensuing claustrophobic crush of piercing guitar pulls from the most caustic side of genre—think Glenn Branca-helmed projects like the STATIC and THEORETICAL GIRLS, or the art-noise meltdowns of INTERFERENCE. No illusion, this is frighteningly real.

Dez Dare Cheryl! Your Love Shines Down Like a Supernova’s Death CD

Wow, has it been so long since 2009 that we’re starting to get nostalgic for unnecessarily long album names? Interesting record here: synth-rock that sounds a bit like the SHOUT OUT LOUDS if they had the same set up as ATOM AND HIS PACKAGE. One of those slabs I wanted to like, but nothing really sticks out or grabs me. It’s a tad dry, which is unfortunate because the composition is interesting. They clearly took a lot of time with the instrumentation, and did a good job weaving the synth leads with the guitar riffs. It never sounds too crowded. The vocals, however, are very drab. This might have been intentional, but the lack of any energy is glaring. I do need to give DEZ DARE a shoutout for using a Casio EP-10 drum machine on “Light Touch of the Man Spreader.” Easily the best preset of all time. If you were big into that Brit dance-pop wave in the mid-to-late ’00s, you might dig this.

Christopher Alan Durham & the Peacetime Consumers Play Atlantis LP

Cool rock out of Michigan exploring lots of different sounds, with a layer of art splashed across them all. Lots of sax, lots of tempo changes, lots of changes in general. Sometimes this results in killer tracks like “Seeing Double,” while at other times, the songs can feel like exercises that weren’t fully fleshed out or just ended too soon. But while their name denotes a desire to keep things civil, their music prefers to challenge; these tracks actually aren’t here to resolve how you want, or make you feel at ease. A summer read, this album ain’t, and that’s clearly how they want it. This isn’t music for your book club, unless your book club is full of freaks and weirdos who prefer ZAPPA anyhow.

End State Their System Won’t Be Fixed cassette

Perfectly executed crust outta NYC. END STATE’s first cassette is a raw, noisy, excellent snapshot of the style that would sit nicely on the Peace of Mind Records roster. Recorded at the illustrious D4MT Labs, the guitars are wicked, the drums are relentless, and the vocals are abrasive as hell. I definitely hear some FRAMTID influence here, which should tell you what you need to know about this tape. I wish there were more than three songs, but it’s a nice taste while we wait for more material. Highly recommended.

Hollywood Fuckheads Totally Fucked EP

Opening with the hideously distorted rock’n’roll of “I’m Not Afraid of You,” these UK budget rockers come in sounding like the SPACESHITS if they were relegated to playing out back by the dumpsters instead of inside the dance hall. “Do You Like Still Life?” drags this sonic muck into a different dimension, twisting it into a crude impression of the SWELL MAPS “H.S. Art.” “Shit Blows Up” is a classic lo-fi stabber in the vein of the RIP-OFFS or the INFECTIONS, and the last couple of tunes most closely resemble the work of New Zealand’s the CAVEMEN. It’s a depraved funhouse of an EP for acolytes of especially chaotic garage.

Kürøishi Egocide of the Warmad LP

Excellently executed crust punk from Finland with an epic scope and an anti-militarist pulse. KÜRØISHI drops a concept LP that sounds like DISFEAR filtered through AMEBIX and a global sabotage manifesto. Galloping drums, dramatic epic riffs, and the kind of political urgency with a dragged soul that steps you into the fire. Not just apocalyptic in sound—it lives it. Recommended.

Life Violence, Peace, and Peace Research cassette reissue

Originally released in 2013, this album punches you in the gut like a pro boxer. With Scandinavian-influenced hardcore riffs à la MOB 47 layered under rumbling bass and thunderous drums reminiscent of the Japanese classics like ACID, LIFE always finds a metallic edge that keeps every track brutal and relentless.There is room for all sorts of vibes and speeds here: the title track opens with a fast-paced banger, while mid-album tracks like “Dead Silent Spring” and “The Way of Human Existence…” deliver epic mid-tempo tunes amid the chaos. There is also a nod to genre forebears in the form of “Conquest,” a DISCLOSE cover. Violence, Peace and Peace Research is a ferocious assault of angry, political, and intense punk. If you crave raw power with an ideological bite, this reissue is essential.

Lower Minds World is Collapsing cassette

Extremely rockin’ release from Tbilisi which reminds me of NO TIME and ARMS RACE in places. Real primal, pissed-off hardcore which will grab you by the lapels and give you a dry slap for your troubles. Get it listened to.

Moto On the Run CD

First off, this is not the Paul Caporino-fronted band M.O.T.O., and the almost unsearchable name and album title keeps this CD a bit of a mystery. The rough recording production and bar-band garage rock leanings actually do align musically with Caporino’s similarly named project, or something akin to the GIZMOS—the difference being that all the songs here are over four minutes, while the “band with the periods” rarely breaks the two-minute mark. Some of the tracks like “Dandelions and Butterflies” have a psych bend like early COMPULSIVE GAMBLERS or late the KNOWBODY ELSE.

None Shall Sleep A Slow Steady Decline / Hope Dies at Dawn LP

NONE SHALL SLEEP has captured elements of MISFITS, the FIENDZ, GASLIGHT ANTHEM, and BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, blended them into their very own sound, and put out a perfectly New Jersey brooding and catchy record. This isn’t a beer-soaked bar-stomper, although it does have those pieces, but it is more driving late at night through the little NJ towns scattered around from the shore to the mountains and falling lyrically into lost hope and melancholy choruses. There is a lot of introspection in these songs, and a maturity giving me the feeling that these gentlemen have been around the sun a few times and seen some shit. It’s hard to write from a point of view centered around your disappointment and not have the songs sound whiny after a while, but they do it and keep it interesting. A couple of the longer songs bring in EFFIGIES and parts of NAKED RAYGUN to round out the entire batch of tunes. I’m not entirely sure where this would fit in my record collection, but I know it definitely fits in there somewhere. Also, the song “Is This My Uniform?” has the Bill Murray speech from the movie Rushmore, so that’s worth it right there.

O-D-Ex My Pleasure / Save : Buy 7″

A melodic yet cacophonous layer cake of digital synths and drum loops propel the two newest tracks from Mark Ryan of MARKED MEN/MIND SPIDERS and Micah Why (KITBASHES, MISSION GIANT). The A-side sounds like the soundtrack to escaping a corporate office building in a dystopian future, while the B-side sounds like the event that may have caused the future to turn dystopian to begin with. While the music won’t make you think of MARKED MEN on the surface at all, the underlying ethos definitely shares a kinship. These tunes hit hard, get right to the point, and leave before you’ve gotten too comfortable.

Perverts Again The New Man LP

With their latest LP, Ohio’s PERVERTS AGAIN carry the torch of URANIUM CLUB’s charismatic humor and SKULL CULT’s contagious quirkiness. Sizzling, fuzzy guitars and gnarly, overdriven bass come together around solid drum grooves to make up a hypnotizingly repetitive, lovably playful and delightfully lo-fi record. With the memorable hooks, mischievous backing vocals, and fun lyricism that The New Man offers, I can guarantee that you’ll have a hard time getting this album out of your head. Well, don’t quote me on that, though—maybe you don’t like fun as much as PERVERTS AGAIN do.

Phobophlyptix Phobophlyptix LP

Holy shit, PHOBOPHLYPTIX fucking rips! The Los Angeles-based thrash metal crossover band also uses an equal amount of grindcore influence, and the entire package comes out sounding brutal, vile, and captivating. Old school sent through the modern meat grinder renders a ten-song, single-sided 12″ that is over before you know it, and rocks so hard that you’ll be replaying it for the entirety of a day.

Rufinoos JF.FJ. EP

I’m going to like this one. Four songs in less than six minutes. Now we’re talking. Yes, female-fronted, super catchy pop punk. Pretty and mid-tempo, maybe even a little speedy, this is not at all super sticky sweet. Jesus, just amazingly catchy. Short and to-the-point. In Spanish, if that matters to you. I really like this.

Self Improvement Syndrome LP

From Long Beach, California, SELF IMPROVEMENT is out with their second LP. Compared to 2022’s Visible Damage, this release dives further into the no wave realm, with slower tempos, sparser arrangements, and fewer heavy moments. If you like the slower parts of the CONTORTIONS, maybe mixed with a little ESG, then you’ll like SELF IMRPOVEMENT’s sound, which, in the end, doesn’t need comparison. Guitar riffs snake around beneath Jett Witchalls’s rich and compelling vocals, while bass and drums are lockstep throughout with an effective propulsion. The band also features a synth and drum machine, but they’re blended so well I can hardly tell, besides the obvious click track or one-off synth eccentricity. The overall feeling here is a skewed pleasantness, like a shaky and out-of-center photo of someone smiling. Witchalls’s vocals create this tension on a dime, coming in smoothly, then changing over a sour chord or drum clatter, as she sends the band into a diagonal spiral wherein you may cock your head to one side, intent to hear whatever’s coming next. Unique sound for the languid and perturbed.

Siniestro Total Acto Fundacional LP

SINIESTRO TOTAL is one of Spain’s most famous classic punk acts, and this LP showcases the band’s first-ever live performance from 1981 before they became the polished unit that would go on to release twenty-plus albums. Their early sound on this seventeen-song set shifts between bouncing along and falling apart. Charmingly out-of-tune at times and frothing with youthful enthusiasm, it has a minor league GERMS-meets-the PLUGZ kind of feel. Tunes featured here including “Las Tetas Di Mi Novia” (“My Girlfriend’s Tits”) and “Hoy Voy A Asesinarte” (“Today I’m Going to Murder You”) ended up on the band’s debut LP, but a handful of these songs never made it to record. While many bands would reasonably want any evidence of their very first live show erased from existence, ashamed of their fledgling incompetence, the fact that SINIESTRO TOTAL’s is being celebrated in this manner is a testament to their confidence as veteran rockers, like looking at baby pictures. You know, if their baby pictures included images of them singing a song called “(Aunque Este En El Frenopatico) Te Tirare Del Atico” (or (“Even If I’m in the Mental Hospital) I’ll Throw You Out of the Attic.”)

Skappository For Your Health! CD

If anyone at any time in the last 30 years would have bet me that I’d find a ska band in 2025 that I like, I would have taken that bet and ended up broke. SKAPPOSITORY, with charm and humor, applies the classic sounds of the SPECIALS, BAD MANNERS, and MADNESS, as well as a more modern feel from the likes of MUSTARD PLUG and the SLACKERS. I know that typically in a review of ska that folks would throw around OPERATION IVY for points, but this ain’t that. I think SKAPPOSITORY has a more refined sound and a tuneful maturity that OPERATION IVY didn’t have. If I haven’t sold you yet on SKAPPOSITORY, how about the fact one of the folks in this band plays a keytar? Yeah, I said it. Go click into your favorite online search engine and look at pictures of them from basements to clubs and you’ll see a fella with a keytar strapped onto his body. I think it’s pretty bold to be a ska band these days, but SKAPPOSITORY pulls it off well.

Screaming Mailboxes of Destiny Morgantown, WV 7/11/85 cassette

Live cassette of a single track, recorded just a few weeks shy of forty years ago. The SCREAMING MAILBOXES OF DESTINY were a short-lived hardcore punk band from Pittsburgh, PA spanning from 1984 to 1985. They posthumously released a ten-song, one-sided 12” in 1986. This tape, however, features a live show where the band is introduced by an unbeknownst-to-them poet. The only music on the cassette is the very first song they played that night on July 11, 1985, fill-in drummer and all. Oh, and it is only on the A-side of the cassette. In my opinion, the same test-tone that was included on the B-side of their LP should have been recorded onto the back of these cassettes, but that might be taking the absurdity of that story told within the included zine a bit too far. Did I mention the cassette also comes with a huge zine? It is filled with classic SxMxDx flyers, newspaper clippings about the band, bad reviews from this and other classic punk publications, as well as existential autobiographical memoirs of the singer of the band, Jim Hayes. This was an absolute delight to read, and I must have listened to the cassette four times before seeking out other recordings by SxMxDx to have in the background while I fully digested the zine. I truly and thoroughly enjoyed this and recommend it highly. Am I really singing the praises of a three-minute, one-song cassette with a twenty-plus-page, full-size sheet of paper zine, double-spaced like a high school essay and limited to a total of twenty-three copies? You better believe I am! It is one of my favorite things about punk, that every single aspect of a release can be arguably shitty, yet the beauty of the project can shine through regardless.

Tiger Helicide Species of Concern CD

Twisted hardcore that rouses punk’n’roll and even some sounds from BLACK FLAG’s darker progressive eras, right from the paranoid corners of the mind. TIGER HELICIDE builds songs like homemade noise bombs—ugly, shaky, and ready to explode. Filtered vocals, caveman drums, and riffs that dissolve in acid. Punk from a broken lab. Six tracks, endless threat.

Ultimate Disaster For Progress… 12″

This is an impressive record. It makes me wonder what it would sound like if DROPDEAD put out a D-beat album. I bet it would sound something like this. Fast, well-played hardcore with some very big hooks. I’m looking forward to catching them live at Skull Fest this August. Great sound, well-played and attention-grabbing. This is a record I will listen to quite a bit.

The VanCooths Hello World LP

From the Netherlands (now Belgium), this female-fronted power pop band sounds like it could have been released by the Subway Organization record label that gave us bands like the FLATMATES and the SHOP ASSISTANTS. This has those same soft and pretty voices featured by those bands. The songs are upbeat and to the point, meaning they’re not too long. Fucking great record, even when they find the synthesizer.

Yorchh Sólo Me Falta Un Plan cassette

I should probably be paying more attention to this Valencia-based label and the surrounding scene they’re documenting. I’ve enjoyed the handful of Flexidiscos releases that I’ve come across, but that handful only represents something like 5% of their entire back catalog. Then in looking into this project, I find that the dude behind it, Néstor Sevillano Barja, is in a ton of other bands I’ve never heard of: BRIGADA, COREA, LA CULPA, FUTURO TERROR, MORENAS. So, yeah, it seems like I’ve only scratched the surface of quite the fertile scene! Anyway, YORCHH is Néstor’s solo project, and Sólo Me Falta Un Plan, the act’s fifth or sixth cassette, is composed of nine one-minute-ish sketches (plus two demos) that touch on minimal post-punk, gothy synth-pop, and clangy industrial punk. The arrangements are lo-fi and austere, generally made up of nothing more than a cheap synth melody, minimal bass guitar (or sometimes the bass will provide the melody against a synthwash backdrop), a skeletal electronic beat (maybe just a keyboard preset, even), and Néstor’s earnest voice, which he often strains to keep in tune, reminding me a bit of Ian MacKaye at his gentlest. It’s all quite charming, and he’s able to wrench a lot out of very little, which is exactly what you’d want out of a project like this. I really loved it. Further evidence that cool shit is happening in the southeast of Spain!

Aldi Ost Lost in Cyberspace EP

Punk/HC band from Bremen, Germany. I liked how they balance faster-tempo and more classically punk songs like “Overload” with more unique, kinda funky riffs in “Boss =/ Friend.” While “Overload” wasn’t as captivating to me stylistically, I did enjoy the build that they had in other tracks like “State of the Reunion.” My favorite track though was “Rug,” as it was just an explosion of frantic energy. I also loved how unleashed the vocalist for that track is, and I hope they can do more vocals in the future.

Amerol Amerol demo cassette

This world is shit, and AMEROL is the cure. Side effects may include: inability to control bodily movements, tinnitus, and profuse sweating. AMEROL, from Perth, plays ’80s-inspired hardcore punk and reminds me of SOOKS, but with a bit more ferocity and grime. The demo includes six tracks that are nasty, dirty, and packed with quick, intricate twists.

Blammo / Riboflavin split LP

Excellent split record from two Atlanta bands with shared members and similar slacker indie meets Swiss punk influences. The track listing volleys back and forth between bands, but the laid-back art-punk vibes remain the same, with BLAMMO more on the LILIPUT and CHIN CHIN influence side, while RIBOFLAVIN evokes a slightly atonal, shambolic PAVEMENT via K Records feel. It’s a great lo-fi indie punk record that flows perfectly and manages to capture an uplifting and timeless nostalgic mood without feeling contrived or corny. Not an easy feat, and both bands do it really well.

Blockage I Owe You Everything CD

charming while congruently being heartbreaking. For me, I sometimes forget about the RAMONES and the impact they had on me, and the shape of their impact on everything I like about myself and the people I love and value. RAMONES songs, with their simplicity, helped the left-of-center folks find others like us. BLOCKAGE does not back away from their RAMONES love, but there are also elements of the early-to-mid-period MR. T EXPERIENCE when Jon Von brought in those garage guitar riffs and solos. The second tune, still with the RAMONES feel, seems to also bring a couple grams of ALL songs, after Dave Smalley left. “Filthy,” the last track on this CD, is very upbeat musically, and lyrically starts in the morning sun but quickly trots down of mineshaft lit only by a candle in one hand with a mirror in the other so that as you plunge into darkness, you only see your own stupid face in front of you. This band was born in L.A. and now is in NYC, so there ya go.

Cafard Demo ’24 cassette

Pure power in the form of five face-rippers from France’s CAFARD. Noise-punk cardboard box drums with layers of sky-clutching leads and walls upon walls of sound on top of what sounds like a raw four-track recording. It’s not, though—it’s a ruse. And it works. CAFARD is fukkn fast, we’re talking RIGOR MORTIS reimagining Victim in Pain-level “what the fukk” kind of shit here. Take this and the PISUAR tape and ask yourself what you’re doing with your life.

Corredor Corredor cassette

New post-punk group on the Valencia, Spain-based Flexidiscos label. All five songs are catchy and driving, best exemplified on “Una Daga” that starts with a bubbly bass riff, followed by a straight rock’n’roll solo that evolves into a more post-punk riff, way up on the fretboard. They also play around with a death howl/everything at half-speed playback kind of thing halfway through the song—an interesting contrast to the otherwise mid-to-high-end vocal range on display. The drums on the closer “VBES” are awesome, with busy-as-can-be hi-hat flourishes that are countered with a floor-tom-pummeling bridge. While I haven’t been able to find much of anything on the band, I assume this is their debut release? Great cassette.

Dead Sea Lords Dead Sea Lords LP

Gainesville band with the classic Gainesville sound. Whoddathunk? This actually has sort of a Midwest twinge to it, as if DRIVE LIKE JEHU started playing twinkly parts like CAP’N JAZZ while still maintaining that darkened Rick Froberg edge. Of course, there’s still that Northern Florida energy that pokes through their brooded facade, channeling No Idea Records honeys like HOT WATER MUSIC and LEATHERFACE. Shit, there’s even a MINUTEMEN cover reimagined in DEAD SEA LORDS’ own image, and it doesn’t suck! Really solid album here. I’d go as far as saying this is a must-listen if you’re fan of what’s been unfortunately termed as “orgcore.”

Firewalker Hell Bent LP

All blades and metallic distortion, FIREWALKER returns with another record that sounds like BASTARD running a tank factory. Relentless crusty hardcore from Boston—fast, corrosive, and executed with surgical precision while staying completely unhinged. Ripping guitars, pummeling drums, and vocals sharp enough to cut bone. They’re not reinventing the wheel, just burning it down with militant chaos and total urgency.

Gutter Glitch LP

At a glance, everything about Glitch by GUTTER made me think I was in for some classic Oi!: the album cover, the horn solo intro, the fact that these guys are from Lille, France. Boy, was I wrong! Instead of CAMERA SILENS-worship, I was delighted to hear sharply produced hardcore punk that really hits. This album is so cohesive and tight, each song leaner and meaner than the next. Their vocals have the same brutish force as Boston’s the MASSACRED, and while GUTTER doesn’t always exhibit the same UK82 stomp, they do have the same level of intensity. Check this one out.   

Half Built Homes Dreams CD

HALF BUILT HOMES has been a band for a while, with a good chunk of releases going back at least five years. Simply put, this is the only way that an Oi! punk band from the petri dish of Northern Indiana, contaminated by Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois, is supposed to sound. They have just enough musicianship to keep it interesting, but then fuck it up the exact perfect way that the Middle West does every time. It has all the Oi! and sing-along punk stuff, but with Eeyore cloudy days that only Lake Michigan can bring in. Perfect NAKED RAYGUN bits, KRABS parts, tied up in a nicely sorrowful upbeat-tempo kinda way. I live in Michigan and I consider these people to be neighbors of sorts, and by the end of the seventh song on the CD, gosh, are we really this fucked-up here? I mean, I still swim as often as I can, have my laughs with pals, and although I’ve been through a fair amount of stuff, this HALF BUILT HOMES cloud cover is bumming me out. OFF WITH THEIR HEADS plops into this category of melancholy, singable tunes, and although this is a great record, I’m tired of hearing hopeless Midwest songs about maybe trying to be better. This album bends you around a couple corners, as it starts out as a boot-stomper then becoming sad about old friends passing away, the sunrise/sunset thing. The last track reminded me of a pal that died, and although I told him that I loved him every time I saw him, the song reminded me that maybe I don’t say it often enough or to more people or something. In the best and worst ways, this Dreams CD by HALF BUILT HOMES is wonderfully Midwest pop punk/Oi! punk.

Iron Lung Adapting // Crawling LP

From the always surgically noisy Iron Lung catalog comes IRON LUNG, a band that slices with a scalpel instead of strumming. Hardcore that’s angular, rhythmically unstable, and constantly rearranging itself. Imagine NEON BLONDE, DAZZLING KILLMEN, or maybe RAKTA on steroids. Bizarre post-hardcore with a lab coat and clenched fists. Demands attention, but it’s worth every anxious pulse.

Killing Yield Volatile Future cassette

Full-throttle raw punk blasting out of Zagreb, Croatia. Tasty riffs stacked on top of more tasty riffs, backed by a tight-as-fuck rhythm section. Sitting atop it all, the vocalist tears into the delicate membrane of your sorry eardrum with a scathing critique of the militarism, consumerism, and greed that plagues our dying planet. Scratches a similar itch for me as AVSKUM, which I’ll happily bleed to any day. Play at maximum amplitude! 

Mr. Piss Mr. Piss cassette

Ten-song mono cassette written, recorded, mastered, and produced in Raleigh, NC by MR. PISS. All ten songs are mid-tempo. repetitive riff noise rock tracks with a mixture of barked vocals, sometimes sleepy and off-time, and just full-on rapping. There is a drummer credited, Dick Gunn, amidst four other queer-sounding, homoerotic pseudonyms for the other players on the recording, but I would be absolutely baffled if this were not a drum-machine-driven solo project. Actually, there is a photo included which features four people in it, so maybe it’s not a solo project per se, but with five credited members, I think it’s safe to say that I’m at least correct about the drum machine. It’s anyone’s guess just who the titular MR. PISS is, though. The three longer tracks, ranging between three-and-a-half to five-and-a-half minutes, are a bit hard to get through, and the out-of-tune dissonance of “Stretching Leather” has a real nails-on-the-chalkboard aspect to it, but thankfully they followed it up with what is easily my favorite song on the tape, “Knife Fight,” an easy-to-digest, short and sweet, revved-up bop compared to the droniness of much of the rest of the tape.

The Number Ones Sorry / Blind Spot 7″

Here’s your song(s) of the summer. After around seven years, the mighty NUMBER ONES have returned with two tracks that show you exactly how power pop should be done. Given the time since their last release, it reasons that this may be many people’s first foray into the band. So for the uninitiated, think of the classic slabs from Good Vibrations, your favorite BUZZCOCKS singles, or falling in love with the girl on a certain Manchester Megastore checkout desk. Side A is two minutes of pop perfection. The word “sorry” has surely been used an uncountable number of times by an uncountable number of bands, but these Dubliners make it sound like a newly discovered feeling. Side B is no slouch either, providing another earworm that you’re happy to play host to for as long as it decides to stay in your brain. Well worth the wait, and still true to their name, this is a scorching hot two-sider.

Plastic Balls Planet Earth / Living Killers 7″

A teenage punk relic from Monument, Colorado, this 45 features two previously unreleased tracks recorded in 1985. Formed by three members of the Lewis-Palmer High School Jazz Band, PLASTIC BALLS managed to record a couple songs during their brief existence, and here they are. “Planet Earth” starts off sounding a bit like the earliest BEASTIE BOYS efforts before leading into an absurdly intricate guitar solo of epic proportions. The B-side “Living Killers” is a groovier tune, saddled with the same shouted vocals and once again, some unnecessarily crafty guitar work. More obscure and amusing grist for the ever-churning KBD mill.

Puñal Buscando La Muerte LP

A mere seven years after their demo, PUÑAL is back with a total ripper of a record for their vinyl debut. A kind of classic UK82 take on a classic Spanish sound, coming across like ESKORBUTO taking a trip to Stoke-on-Trent in 1983 for a scrap and a pint. Bass lines are infectious and propel the whole thing along at a fair whack, with the drummer holding on for dear life at points, as the vocals sound almost cartoonishly evil at points. Truly terrific stuff.

Rags Rags cassette

Screamy hardcore with tempo changes that you kinda know are coming. The uptempo parts have a ’00s crust vibe that gets subverted by metalcore mosh breakdowns. RAGS keep things moving along with eight songs in under ten minutes. Going in, I was hoping for some unhinged fastcore madness. They stab in that direction, but don’t quite draw blood.

SSIK Inferior Health EP

Out of Vancouver, SSIK (are they aiming to be the antithesis of Gene Simmons & co.?) pulls OG spirit into the modern age. Opening with the apocalyptic hoedown of “Joy,” this seven-song hardcore assault is loaded with an explosive sound, distorted vocals, and just a touch of good old-fashioned rockin’. Recommended for fans of bands like ILLITERATES, S.H.I.T., and ELECTRIC CHAIR.

Sympathy Flowers Sympathy Flowers cassette

SYMPATHY FLOWERS are from Oakland, California, and they bring us some dark post-punk. Like all of my favorite post-punk, this band always has a driving bass line. To me, it sounds like they are influenced by bands like KILLING JOKE, RUDIMENTARY PENI, the AU PAIRS, and early JOY DIVISION. In the end, they manage to take their influences and make their own sound. Dark, hard-driving post-punk with vocals that provide an on-the-edge tension to the music. The drumming is perfect for this music, whether it is a rock-steady beat or playing sparsely and filling the in-between spaces while the guitar gives us some tension. This is a very good release, and I would recommend it to anyone who likes dark-sounding music.

Tensión Los Besos Nunca Dados 7″

With a slew of releases over the past decade, TENSIÓN, of Rosaria, Argentina, keeps after it with a new single. Well-dialed post-punk on offer here, with soaring vocals that aren’t overly sentimental in feel, but are powerful and draped in reverb. Drums and bass stay busy, really pumping tracks along, while guitars play sweeping chords and quick notes that sustain over verse lines, the whole lot finding full momentum at the end of the opener “Hacia el Oeste” which is one big crescendo. B-side “Un Llamadoa a tu Bondad” has a bouncier gait, with plodding, chunky guitars, and vocals that are lighter and more carefree than the first track. From the album artwork, overall aesthetic (looking back at previous releases), and a locked-in post-punk handbook sound, they’ve got me sold.

Added Dimensions / Almond Uppers / Death of a Rolling Stone split cassette

This is a split released between two Philly, PA and Richmond, VA-related bands—ADDED DIMENSIONS is the Richmond-based project of Sarah Everton and Rob Garcia, previously of Philadelphia bands like BLOWDRYER, TELEPATHIC, and READING RAINBOW. ALMOND is from Philly and features Armen Knox of local darlings HONEY RADAR (who used to live in Richmond!), but has flown entirely under my radar (LOL) until now despite putting out a bunch of digital releases and spending a lot of time retweeting RINGO STARR. ALMOND’s side is an eighteen-minute live set of what I can only assume is a conceptual “suite” about the death of either Brian Jones or Charlie Watts. Honestly, I couldn’t understand the words, but the sound is very fuzzy, droning, and blown-out garage-y rock’n’roll-y, with a psychedelic feel. It reminds me of bands like the GRIFTERS and GLORIUM and, frankly, HONEY RADAR. ADDED DIMENSIONS sound a little more lo-fi than on their previous releases (but not as lo-fi as ALMOND), and there’s a Farfisa on the absolute banger “Repetition.” But other than that, it’s more of the same trebly, anxious ’90s post-punk revival/C86 sound with blasé, almost chanted vocals that sometimes edge into something a little more intense. Lyrics are focused on the push and pull between internal and external expectations we have for ourselves and others. Everton is a killer songwriter and every track on here is a catchy gem, with simple sounds but complex ideas. And the tape benefits the Transgender Law Center—the Trump administration has made trans people into one of its main out-groups to be demonized, with absolutely no pushback from anyone in national politics. I can think of few causes that are more important right now than protecting trans people from legal attacks on their very existence as their authentic selves in society. Just a couple of weeks ago, Marcy Rheintgren, a trans woman, was arraigned in Florida on charges that could result in eleven months in prison for washing her hands in a public bathroom. This shit is real, and props to these bands for trying to do something about it.

Arse Complete Arse LP

Australian punk/dark punk band. Absolutely loved these guys. They had powerful fast tempo tracks like “Prick in The Franger,” a bit more of a post-punk vibe in tracks like “Infinite Sedative,” and a kind of in-between with fun bridges in tracks like “Who Comes Next.” With great distorted bass lines, varying fun guitar, and angry, intense vocals, you’re in for a treat. Even the slower tempo songs are filled with intensity and power.