Reviews

For review and radio play consideration:

Please send one copy of 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. We reserve the right to reject releases on the basis of content. Music without vocals or drums will not be considered. All music submitted for review must have been released (or reissued) within the last two years. Please include contact information and let us know where your band is from!

The Knight Shades Why (Baby Why!) / Make You Mine 7″

Only two songs? Bummer! This is, without a doubt, the best garage rock/punk I’ve heard this year. It’s got loads of energy and swagger, and somehow manages to breathe some life into a genre that often feels tired and repetitive. It’s polished and raw at the same time, and I love the JAMES BROWN-esque yelps delivered several times a song. I bet these songs would rip live, and I imagine it would be the kind of show where you’re soaked in beer and exhausted from dancing your lil’ ass off. Gimme more.

Los Inquietos Me Caes Bien Mal EP

On LOS INQUIETOS’ debut EP, these Costa Rican party animals bash their way through a trio of strong and simple rippers with classic 1960s garage style. You can find these leather-clad delinquents raising hell in a shadowy San Jose alleyway, but for a sufficient splash of their “loco ritmo,” it’s probably much easier to just cop this 7”.

Mercy Mercy Collector / Secrets 7″

Florida has produced some of the oddest bands in the history of odd bands. This isn’t one of them. This is just straight-up, mid-tempo, catchy punk rock. And I really shouldn’t say “just,” because this is pretty outstanding. Super fucking catchy. It’s got a bit of a garage-y street feel to it, with vocals that are both engaging and snotty.

Namatay Sa Ingay Terorista 10″

Terorista by NAMATAY SA INGAY is pure sensory overload—an explosive fusion of hardcore punk velocity and noise-laced chaos that refuses containment. The drumming is relentless, pushing everything to the brink, while the guitars dissolve into sheets of distortion that feel more like environmental collapse than structured sound. There’s a violent urgency to the delivery that makes each track hit like an immediate threat rather than a composed piece. Vocals are shredded and confrontational, barely tethered to the instrumentation. It’s messy, volatile, and completely uncompromising. Terorista doesn’t aim for control; it thrives in total breakdown.

Terorista de NAMATAY SA INGAY es sobrecarga sensorial total: una fusión explosiva de velocidad hardcore punk y caos ruidista que se niega a ser contenida. La batería es imparable, empujando todo al límite, mientras las guitarras se disuelven en capas de distorsión que suenan a colapso ambiental. Hay una urgencia violenta que hace que cada tema golpee como una amenaza inmediata. Las voces están desgarradas y confrontativas, apenas atadas a la base. Es caótico, volátil y sin concesiones. Vive en el derrumbe.

Persecutor Lateral Violence EP

Australian metallic powerviolence unit PERSECUTOR doesn’t ease into Lateral Violence. Five tracks with no breathing room, just a direct barrage of aggression. They follow a more modern approach to their craft, emphasizing the fat, buzzsaw guitar tone more along the lines of a band like NAILS, which I wouldn’t necessarily call “powerviolence,” but they certainly have one foot in the dynamics used in that genre. The tracks clock in a bit longer than your average powerviolence song (most around the one-minute mark), so there is room for the twists and turns that this style brings. Every song is over before you can get comfortable, leaving nothing but a bad ringing in your ears. The last song, “Solitary Confinement,” breaks all the rules and goes for almost five minutes of bone-crushing doom and gloom akin to the longer songs of the SECRET or TRAP THEM. The title says it all, aggression turned inward and outward at the same time, a critique wrapped in a beatdown. Short. Hostile. Necessary.

Ravi Shavi Erase America LP

Frontman Rafay Rashid presents his confessional and confrontational lyrics on Erase America, the fifth LP from the Providence-based band RAVI SHAVI. There’s elements of psychedelic, noise, groove, garage, industrial (particularly in the drums), and indie, examining political and personal themes throughout with songs like “Erase America,” “Nuclear Summer,” and “New Brown Neighbors.” This may be a little psych and groove-y for my taste, but I think the poignancy within Erase America keeps me hanging on every lyric, feeling malaise on the more dissonant tracks, anger on the anxious ones, and makes me wonder what, if anything, can get us past this political instability.

Soplón Soplón 10″

SOPLÓN’s self-titled 10” is a claustrophobic and grim breed of powerviolence that slightly leans towards sludge with its groovy moments. I mean, two-thirds of the band play super-distorted basses, so it shouldn’t surprise anyone. If you were wondering, yes, the remaining third (drums) is also pretty distorted. And the vocals? You guessed it, distorted. It shows that they mean business. All in all, I think it was pretty enjoyable.

Tardive Dyskinesia Never Trust a Dream cassette

Raw, noisy, and chaotic, Fresno’s TARDIVE DYSKINESIA delivers six tracks of feverish punk perfection on Never Trust a Dream. Pulling inspiration from bands like CHAOS UK, DISORDER, and GAI (all of whom they covered last year on a previous tape), the vocals are harsh, the bass rumbles right up front in the mix, the guitar hits a phaser effect here and there, and the drums bash away keeping everything on track. If you’re into what Unlawful Assembly and General Speech have going on, this tape is for you.

Urgent Kill It’s OK to Be Kind LP

Straightedge youth crew hardcore for the true believers. This is Tony from Positive and Focused Records’ band, a dedicated scene vet from Holland, and from what I understand, this band is him and a couple teenagers mining the tried and tested ore of youth crew HC. This mines more of the youth crew revival sound than the first wave—I hear some FASTBREAK, maybe some UP FRONT, but it’s done well enough. Lyrically on the right side of things, dealing with Tony’s recent bout with cancer, religion being exclusive and dangerous, the importance of non-racist mentalities, etc. As per tradition, it is unapologetically positive, to the point of almost being saccharine, so your mileage may vary there. I am in the tank for this stuff, so I can recommend it if you need some newer bands doing the style. My only nitpicks would probably be that the guitar tone isn’t sharp enough for my liking and the vocals could be mixed in a wee bit better, but it’s a cool enough genre exercise for those who already partake in music for sneaker and haircut high-top appreciation.

Welt Star Doppel LP

Second release from WELT STAR. Neither their Bandcamp page nor Under the Gun’s site have any description of the group whatsoever, but a previous MRR review of their 2022 Ich Hasse Blumen cassette describes them as “an international collaboration featuring the brains behind DIODE, BOBBY WOULD, and VAGUENESS,” so at least there’s that. Sung in German, I hear a monotone vocal that hangs heavy over an otherwise fun and jumpy soundscape of drums, synths, and melodic guitar riffs. Rhythms are often syncopated and mechanical-sounding, like an engine roaring with a rough idle. Something vaguely post-punk, with a modern German influence and the zaniness like you might find on Berlin’s Phantom label. The first eight tracks are new recordings, while the last seven comprise Ich Hasse Blumen in its entirety, giving us a full dose of the WELT STAR experience on one vinyl release. This one has my vote—awesome record.

Abriss Kill Your Idyll 12″

The first word that comes to mind here is “tough,” and Germany’s ABRISS does absolutely nothing to make me think otherwise. Short, honest, and brutal hardcore manifestations that remind me of touring Germany more than two decades ago, when the fastcore explosion was giving way (albeit stubbornly) to heavier and more Scandi-influenced sounds…but they were still playing fast as fukk, and they still knew how important a good breakdown was. Fifteen tracks on this one-sided slab, most barely kiss the one-minute mark, and you don’t even have to flip it over to do it all over. Think STACK and TEAR IT UP collaborating and you’ll be in the ballpark. Me? I think I’ll listen again.

B.O.R.N. B.O.R.N. 12″

Birmingham, Alabama crasher punks B.O.R.N. just released a fresh slab of distortion-laden, crust-driven noise that is fucking brilliant. Piling on at the nexus of harsh noise and punk, this 12″ is eight tracks that will have you slamming  and two-stepping your way through this shit life in no time.

Brux Sota La Influència 10″

Five tracks from Barcelona’s BRUX, paying homage to the songs and bands that influenced them the most. It’s heavy on the Oi! and post-punk, and honestly, it took me a bit to realize these were covers, as each song would fit nicely into their existing catalog. As I was listening, I started thinking about how music exists without borders and how fucking cool that is. Where would we be today without the influence of first-wave British Oi! and punk? I think it’s cool that a band spent time and money paying tribute to their influences, while putting their own spin on the songs, too. Most of the songs have lyrics converted to their native tongue (Catalan), which is super sick. I’d recommend picking it up, but as of the time of this writing, it’s sold out!

Clown Sounds / Softjaw Volume 2 split 7″

What a fantastic little throwback record this is. One song on each side, one flavor of sweet power pop on each side. The A-side belongs to SOFTJAW, who channel early power pop and some ’60s vibes (in the good BEACH BOYS way, not the bad hippie-dippy kind of way) on the undeniable earworm “Don’t Go Walking Out.” The key here is the layering of the vocal harmonies on one end and the different guitar sounds on the other. A little jangle here, a little reverb there, some clean sounds…it all comes together almost mathematically on the song. Like the ARCHIES, but with the craft on it taken up to eleven. Sadly, one of the members of the band passed away after this recording, but per a note with the record, some of his remaining recordings will be coming out in 2026 under the name UNCLE GRIMM on the same label. If it is anything like this, I will 100% be snagging that record. The B-side belongs to CLOWN SOUNDS and sounds like a lost PAUL WESTERBERG tune circa the Eventually album. Of course, that means there’s a small dose of ELVIS COSTELLO to this, but man, is it well-executed. I know those two reference points stand tall and may generate expectations, but this 7″ blew me the fuck away—I was not familiar with either act and I consider myself a fan of both now.

Cracked Actor Nazi School LP

If you’ve encountered CRACKED ACTOR before, it is most likely from their appearance on the fifth installment of Killed By Death, where the title track of this LP appeared in all its revved-up, trashy glory. Sourced from a 1981 EP of the same name, “Nazi School” emerged from the same degenerate ectoplasm as fellow East Coast goons the DICTATORS and NERVOUS EATERS. Sleaze-forward raunch’n’roll, with killer tone loaded with swagger. Naturally, the big question to be answered is how the rest of the material stacks up. For me, it’s a bit of a mixed bag. There are some unsurprising throwaways—the cover of “Judy in Disguise,” the five-minute-plus “All Day Sucker”—and a gross-out, ultra-cringe track called “Jailbait Judy,” scraping at the very bottom of the barrel. But the best of the rest packs a mean hook. “Epileptic Fit” could easily make the KBD cut, and “Slow Down” sounds like it was snipped from a DMZ rehearsal tape. Twelve cuts in total, mostly good, just keep the barf bag handy.

Dry Socket / VIOLENCIA split EP

This DRY SOCKET/VIOLENCIA split plays like a transnational stress fracture: two approaches to contemporary hardcore that converge on total abrasion. DRY SOCKET leans into a frantic, blown-out attack built on D-beat propulsion and breakdowns that hit like a missed step in the dark. There’s a tangible desperation in the vocal delivery that cuts through the distortion fog. VIOLENCIA answers with a more stomping, metallic strain, weaponizing mid-tempo churn and gang-shouted contempt into something that feels less like songs and more like blunt instruments. Neither side wastes time with ornamentation; both operate under a strict economy of rage. The result is a split that doesn’t complement so much as escalate, with each band pushing the other deeper into the red.

Este split de DRY SOCKET/VIOLENCIA suena como una fractura transnacional: dos enfoques del hardcore contemporáneo que convergen en la abrasión total. DRY SOCKET se apoyan en un ataque frenético y saturado construido sobre d-beat y breakdowns que golpean como un paso en falso en la oscuridad. Hay una desesperación tangible en la voz que atraviesa la niebla de distorsión. VIOLENCIA responden con una cepa más stompy y metálica, usando el machaque de medio tiempo y los coros gritados como armas que se sienten menos como canciones y más como instrumentos contundentes. Ninguna de las dos bandas pierde tiempo con ornamentos; ambas operan bajo una estricta economía de rabia.

Feral Feral LP

You wanna get weird? FERAL is weird. Fueling classic punk irreverence with electronic power, this Amsterdam duo plows through a synth-driven succession of sinister-sounding originals and covers ranging from the STOOGES to country legend ROGER ALAN WADE. Despite its eccentricity, nothing here seems out of place, including the appearance of convicted sex offender Joe Camel on the album cover. It’s another intriguing entry in the confoundingly diverse Wap Shoo Wap label’s fast-expanding catalog.

Green Crack Kreten flexi EP

Regardless of what sides of the “what is/isn’t” or even “is it even a thing that exists”  powerviolence arguments you may land on, it would be hard to deny that we are eating well at the trough of new PV bands the last couple of years. Enter GREEN CRACK, a band that sounds like it was born of meticulous study of the PV big names like INFEST and CROSSED OUT, but manages to modernize the sound and insert some Eastern European moments to make it feel distinct. It falls a little flat for me in not sounding harsh or powerful enough, possibly due to the vocals which, while being in the PV style you’d expect, maybe bounce a bit too much in early thrash metal style and are a bit reverbed and clean to make them stand out too much. The snare sound here also just doesn’t click for me to give the tunes the accent they need. I can’t speak for the lyrics, but they do throw in a couple samples in English that don’t really add much to my ear. Fairly inessential, but to be applauded for their conviction.

Hot Load Fate Unknown LP

Some things just work together. Oysters and stout. Cheese and Branston pickle. Lee Trundle and a swift kick up the arse. And on this HOT LOAD release, we see just how thrilling it can be when metal and punk have a kiss and a cuddle. Obviously indebted to acts like ENGLISH DOGS, DISCHARGE, and JUDAS PRIEST, it’s never-gets-tiresome NWHOBM swagger and the speed of D-beat in one delightful little package, wrapped up in a bullet belt. Is it the most intellectual exercise of all time? No, clearly not. But maybe the nerds over in the egg-punk corner can sit this one out and let the real rockers have a laugh.

The III Dig Your Own Grave cassette

I am not the first in line for a grunge or alternative rock renaissance, and this mixed bag from Philly rockers the III didn’t change my mind. Opening track “Full Speed Ahead” starts with a crashing open chord and dissonant guitar figure that takes you right to SLINT city. The first minute is so good, and then someone had to be a guitar hero and show off their chromatic scale runs which totally kills the vibe. And so it goes for the rest of the tape: some great moments followed by headscratchers. I mean, the WIPERS, a huge sonic influence for the III, were incredible. Shit like ALICE IN CHAINS was not. Title track “Dig Your Own Grave” has a propulsive heaviness to it, not unlike SCREAMING TREES, complemented by the Lanegan-esque timbre of the vocals. It’s the III at their best. Instrumental closer “Get It Where You Can” ends the tape with a question mark. Guitar hooks and melancholic minor chord progressions evoke the sweeter side of the REPLACEMENTS, but then feel uplifting to the point of a schmaltzy ’90s-era teen movie.

Kissed by an Animal Middle Distance LP

This marks the third LP by KISSED BY AN ANIMAL, and it comes complete with their signature of a gatefold cover with bright, exploding psychedelic artwork covering every corner. One of my favorite things about this band is that with each record, they get incrementally better, but not to say so much better that their original sound is lost (as it is with some). Interestingly, Middle Distance does have a slightly more aggressive quality to it, and some of the past playfulness has been abandoned, but I imagine that is reflective in a bunch of stuff for a lot of us these days. They are distilling power pop, pop punk, and Indie styles and still honing their own path with the unique vocals of Dima Drjuchin. The songs themselves continue to flop between everyday beauty and occurrences of larger chunks of despair, all put to humble and memorable little licks. It should be noted that Handstand Records never ceases to surprise me with not only the quality of what they put out, but also the variation of their roster. You might not like everything that they put out, but be damn sure what they touch has quality behind it. A chef’s kiss to KISSED BY AN ANIMAL’s new LP.

Knife’s Edge Let the Hard Times Roll 12″

Yes mate, this is good stuff. Sometimes you need some proper meat-and-two-veg, no-pissing-about Oi! Nothing smartarse about this, and entirely to its credit. The equivalent of a Neil Warnock team in 2026, nothing fashionable about it, but it’ll do a job for you. A cheeky little BLITZ cover nestled in between the other tunes was a lovely little surprise, too. Top work.

Lowlife Coach Lowlife Coach CD

Mid-tempo and catchy, I find the guitar sort of jangly and relaxed. Not the tightest band in the world, and I mean that in only the most positive way. Just kind of laid-back. The female vocals are snarly and pretty at the same time. They can get quicker and tighter, but I much prefer the mid-tempo relaxed cuts. From Oakland, which I always love.

Mirrors High All the Time LP

This record caught my attention immediately and is bound to turn some heads. MIRRORS are Cleveland proto-punk legends who were active from ’73–’75, and whose members went on to spawn bands like the ELECTRIC EELS and ROCKET FROM THE TOMBS. This is the “final” recording from the band, as frontman Jamie Klimek passed away in late 2024. The music sounds like a Midwesternized amalgamation of the SAINTS meets the FLAMING GROOVIES—there’s lots of swagger and attitude, but it stays clear of any real aggression. It’s kind of psychedelic, kind of power pop, and there’s some great guitar playing going down. The vocals remind me of WEEN or the DWARVES; funny, serious, and undoubtedly offensive. Klimek delivers some lascivious lyrics that are sure to piss off half the people who listen to what he’s saying. I heard no less than three uses of the “R” slur before I had made it through four songs! I’m a believer that rock’n’roll should be confrontational and should piss people off, but I’m not sure I want to hear a 73-year-old man getting horned up about teenage sex or waxing philosophical about his boner. Aside from some cool guitar parts and the haunting but dreadfully long “A Kiss Before Dying,” there isn’t anything to keep me coming back to this one.

Motor Death Strangled by Slavery 12″

Greek bangers MOTOR DEATH come out swinging with Strangled By Slavery, a kick to the neck worth of D-beat filth and death metal grime, mixed in the most gruesome way possible. Riffs grind, drums blast, bass hammers, and the vocals gurgle. This is basement-show-level brutality done right. It’s death metal without the cliches, metallic without wankery, and crusty without pretentiousness. Imagine if TERRORIZER learned how to play MOTÖRHEAD songs while on tour with ANTI CIMEX. Play it loud! Louder! Louder than that!

Negative Raxxx / RBNX DCxPC Live Presents, Vol. 43 split LP

I’ve glazed these DCxPC releases quite a bit in the past, and each time I’m assigned a new one, I think “Surely they can’t keep hitting home runs, can they?” Well folks, they can! In fact, this might be my favorite addition to the series yet. NEGATIVE RAXXX plays what can best be described as disorienting weirdo thrash-sludge, and it is absolutely phenomenal. Heavy as hell, with incoherent vocals run through a delay effect. This might be my dream band come to life. RBNX rounds out the album in the opposite direction, playing melodic hardcore akin to KID DYNAMITE with a little bit of ska thrown into the mix. The singer kicks off the set with my favorite line from the entire record: “Thanks for coming out on a Tuesday night!” This is why I love these slabs. While they all sound great, it’s the familiarity that keeps me coming back for more. Who among us punk musicians have never grinded through a Tuesday night set? Great stuff, per the usual.

ÖPNV +4917635713990 LP

ÖPNV’s +4917635713990 falls into that subcategory of post-punk that is centered around mid-tempo drum machine beats and groovy bass lines, but the use of creeping synths, megaphone vocals, decorative samples, and clever sound design tricks makes it stand out for sure. It has this slight industrial coldness that creates an in-between vibe that is not “dark” per se, but playfully tense and tensely playful. I absolutely love it, and I think everyone should give it a spin before Nokia sues the hell out of ÖPVN.

Pen16 Magic Touch cassette

Philly quartet playing sloppy, magnificently earnest punk in the anthemic manner that the ARRIVALS could pull off, especially around the Goodbye New World time. The vocals are reminiscent of any of Paddy Costello’s numerous side projects. You can feel the scrappiness of how their live shows probably are as you’re left wanting more after the four quick tracks are over.

The Phoenix Foundation Wait for Me 12″

The PHOENIX FOUNDATION’s Wait for Me is a one-sided, four-track 12″ from this Finnish band, who’ve been putting out records since the early 2000s. The touchstones floating around them are HÜSKER DÜ and LEATHERFACE, but don’t go in expecting much of the abrasion that made those bands great—this is the smoother, more radio-friendly cousin. The singer delivers a gliding, upper-register performance that feels perpetually on the verge of giving out, riding high over tight, ringing guitars in a way that’s appealing enough but never quite matches the urgency of the drummer. The second song, “Intro,” an instrumental, reminded my buddy Jason of SUPERCHUNK or the bands on Merge Records in the ’90s, and when I told him they were Finnish, he said “That tracks.” This is going to sound crazy, but some of the music brought to mind the BIG BOYS’ song “Which Way to Go,” which might be a more interesting comparison than the band probably deserves. It’s fine, but unlikely to fight its way into regular rotation.

Rehash Neu Klang War Crimes & Love Songs 12″

Mangel, hosting the likes of ONYON, KLAPPER, and an early EP from LIIEK, surely has its finger on the pulse, and REHASH NEU KLANG is no exception. Formerly known simply as REHASH, these young punks from Antwerp bring us their second EP, War Crimes & Love Songs. I hear late ’70s rock’n’roll-steeped punk, something on the upbeat side like the SAINTS or MAGAZINE, with more of a post-punk guitar sound like you might hear from WIRE. There’s moments of uptempo jitteriness, other moments of slower reflection, but it all drives along powerfully, keeping you hooked throughout the six tracks. Check out “Kriegslust” for a good taste. Definitely recommend this one.

The Smarthearts Not Forgotten 12″

These guys are from Philly. Outside of their sports fans, I love Philly (my brother used to say that the toughest guys in the world come from Philly). This is straightforward punk rock/power pop. They just come out of the gates and get to it. No nonsense. Melodic and mid-tempo, this really is catchy. I like the balance between the punk grittiness and the pop smoothness. All that, and they still manage to bring a sense of urgency to the table. Excellent.

TV Moms Celebrity Dust CD

Heavy, rocking punk that makes you wanna swing your hair and bounce around. I loved the explosive chorus in “Clouds Burn,” and the subtle shift to a slower and sludgier sound in “Get Sunk”—I definitely felt like I was scraping along the bottom of a lake. They were able to keep an intensity and raw power, even without screaming vocals (don’t worry, they were still in-your-face and deep). Definitely give these guys a shot.

White Cross Fascist EP reissue

As a record collector who has opted out of seeking out first pressings (too stressful, but respect to the true collectors out there), I love a well-put-together reissue. Richmond’s Beach Impediment knocked it out of the park with their 2024 version of fellow Virginians RED CROSS’s 1981–1982 No Message, and have continued that here with guitarist Mikey Rodriguez’s post-RED CROSS project WHITE CROSS. In his review of the band’s first 7″, MRR’s Jeff Bale gave it high marks and, inadvertently, the now widely known moniker (Fascist EP). The release subsequently went on to be a highly influential and highly sought-after piece of hardcore history, seeing no re-presses after a second run in 1983. Fast forward to 2025, and Beach Impediment has done a stellar job on this reissue, faithfully restoring the original sleeve, inner label, and including some extra photos and ephemera; it even comes with a badass sticker. This is 100% essential and absolutely recommended if you, like myself, weren’t around to pick up a copy of this when it was originally released.

V/A Beneath the Falls: A Spokane DIY Sampler LP

The last Spokane comp I listened to came out in 1994 on Very Small Records, so the first thing I did was check to see if there were any repeat bands here from that first one. Well, a lot must have happened in the last 32 years because this is a brand new set of underground bands out of Spokane, so let’s dig in! LOOMER, HAYNES NOBLE, HELL MOTEL, and BAD TRIP MOTEL all have the melody and hooks of Salinas, Tiny Engines, and Lauren Records in that they take a pleasant melody, chop it up a little, and tend to darken it lyrically but brighten it aurally. At first, I thought the JANGLED NERVES tune was going to be their version of AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long,” but it wasn’t. Both the JANGLED NERVES and DAIRYBABY fit pleasantly into the flow of this comp and are a bit more ’70s power pop while mixing in SO COW and RADIATOR HOSPITAL influences. DAIRYBABY has great blended distortion and a melodic quality that works very well with this style. BELT OF VAPOR is as hardcore as it gets on this LP. BEN JENNINGS and JUMBOTRON, although they sound completely different, both glow of ’90s Sub Pop in all the best ways. Closing this comp, BLUNT SKULLS deliver a terrific synthwave song that could have been on a Factory Records comp in the ’80s. Beneath the Falls is a rad snapshot that is seemingly of a bunch of friends that happen to be in bands and wanted to show the world that Spokane is much more than just lilacs and BING CROSBY.

80HD Orc Party LP

Toxic State NYHC by way of being thrown in a blender with grindcore rhythms and ignorant breakdowns. This second LP pushes the excellent drumming to the forefront for me, holding together a solid mix of metal/punk/HC ideas that could very easily sound unfocused and undercooked. Love the production on this, hits like a fucking sledgehammer. The record is a perfect fit for Iron Lung with their curation of basically the entire spectrum of heavy music; this is such a brilliant mix that it’s deceiving in how coherent and natural it sounds. This delivers on the potential of the first LP in spades.

Anti-Regimen Demos 86/87 2xLP

This double LP compiles the first two self-released cassette demos from these Spanish punks who are still going strong today. These demos go back to ’86 and ’87 and are pressed on individual LPs with the original artwork and a sixteen-page zine for the real heads. While the recordings have been mastered for vinyl, they still have the lo-fi charm that you would expect to hear on a tape. On the first track “Ya No Puedes Ir Donde Tu Quieras,” you can even hear the tape warble from the original recording. It’s cool that the British influence is so prevalent here compared to their later thrashier stuff. If I have any complaints, it’s that a few songs sound like the CLASH, and I fucking hate the CLASH. Otherwise, it’s a solid release, and a no-brainer if you’re a fan of Basque or Spanish punk.

Bront #9 EP

Six years since their last release, Antwerp, Belgium’s BRONT is out with their #9 EP. Band leader Brent Pauwels may have been the only credited musician on 2019’s Nipples, but this latest effort features Simon de Geus (MELTHEADS, MOAR) on drums, Samuel D’Hoore (DEATHSTAR, MCGYVER, SAVING NICO) on synth, and Caspar de Geus (BRORLAB, VLERK, MOAR) on guitar and backing vocals. On this four-track EP, we find clean, sharp guitars jangling around simple, driving drum beats, bobbling bass, and angular vocals that are sung/spoken in a calm manner. Poppy garage tunes that stay on the fun, light, and odd side of the dial. The closer, “Hard and Sad,” catches my ears and is quite the anthem, with a really driving pulse-beat and ascending melody. Great 7” out on Belly Button, who are celebrating their tenth anniversary!

Cheater Slicks Live at Double Happiness LP

CHEATER SLICKS get another live document courtesy of Almost Ready Records, who’ve already put out several LPs of their shows plus a four-cassette box set. Recorded at a record store appearance in July 2014, Live at Double Happiness captures the band in their natural state: loud, loose, and completely unconcerned with your approval. Some of it serves a VELVET UNDERGROUND AND NICO vibe, all the instruments doing their own thing simultaneously, and those were the moments that hooked me most. The whole record plays like outsider art rendered in thick, rough lines, presented with a confidence that makes it clear they’re doing exactly what they want to do. If you don’t get it or don’t want to get it, that’s on you. They’re just going to keep on going. Limited to 180 copies on vinyl for the faithful.

Joel Cusumano Waxworld LP

A longtime contributor to the Bay Area music scene, CUSUMANO enjoys a resurgence of sorts with this latest full-length, his debut solo venture. This is towering power pop that is still utterly human. While there is architecture of song here, built up high with airy backing vocals and keyboard atmosphere thick like incense in the verse/chorus cathedral, CUSUMANO’s voice is disarmingly earnest. It’s a singular voice, in a sort of warbling baritone that is commanding and fragile at once. The melodies are perfect, and a track like “No Hello” is like one of those puzzle cubes that could only have been put together the way it was. His understanding of what makes a good song sounds second nature. The guitars soar, the delay washes over you, there’s echoes of something like FELT fronted by David Berman, which may have well been written just for me. Beautiful and sticks in deep.

Daisuck & Prostitute 死ぬまで踊りつづけて LP reissue

Yet another singular Japanese no wave salvo being given a second life through Spittle’s Made in Japan reissue imprint, 死ぬまで踊りつづけて (or Dance Till You Die, a fitting title if there ever was one) was the 1981 debut LP from DAISUCK & PROSTITUTE, a group formed by vocalist/guitarist Daisaku Yoshino under the joint sway of GANG OF FOUR, free jazz, and FRANK ZAPPA. Scratchy, skronky, and sax-spiked, there’s some obvious CONTORTIONS parallels here (the furious rhythmic pummel and shrill squawk of “闇の中のドッペル・ゲンゲル” basically pours gasoline on a fire first kindled by the No New York heater “Dish It Out”), while just as often bringing to mind the POP GROUP stripped of any dub leanings—check the decaying, noise-splintered desperation of the opening track “Ai O Itamu Uta” shifting right into a killer breakneck funk-punk outro. I’d be remiss to not mention that cavernous, Möbius loop bass line propelling the hi-hat-rattling mutant disco beats in “M.U.R.A.,” which is right up there with anything bearing a Rough Trade logo circa ’78-81, and even more of a mind-fuck knowing that bassist Yokai Takahashi would leave the band a few years later to join LES RALLIZES DÉNUDÉS(!). So supremely sick.

Failure to Comply Failure to Comply cassette

Ripping punk from Portland—FAILURE TO COMPLY sounds great on their self-titled debut. Across six noisy tracks, the band channels early hardcore like NECROS and ZERO BOYS to great effect, throwing in some interesting breakdowns and the occasional stab of feedback-laden guitar to keep things from feeling stale. Highly recommended; check out “Moral Failure.”

Gnostics Revelation cassette

GNOSTICS’ Revelation tape is steeped in the kind of nihilistic hardcore with sludge metal cadences and textures that treats clarity as a liability. Everything is blown-out just enough to feel unstable—guitars smear into a sheet of noise while the drums snap like live wires threatening to arc. The songwriting pivots between frantic bursts and slower, tension-loaded crawls, but the mood never lifts from its suffocating baseline. Vocals arrive shredded and distant, as if barked through a collapsing PA system at the back of a condemned hall. There’s a rawness here that reads less as nostalgia and more as refusal: refusal of polish, of accessibility, of any catharsis beyond the immediate physical purge. Revelation is short, ugly, and spiritually corrosive in all the right ways.

El tape Revelation de GNOSTICS está empapado de ese hardcore nihilista que trata la claridad como una desventaja. Todo está lo suficientemente saturado como para sentirse inestable: las guitarras se deshacen en una pared de ruido mientras la batería chasquea como cables pelados a punto de hacer arco. La composición pivotea entre ráfagas frenéticas y arrastres cargados de tensión, pero el clima nunca se despega de su línea base sofocante. Las voces llegan deshilachadas y distantes, como gritadas a través de un PA colapsando al fondo de un galpón condenado. Hay una crudeza que se lee menos como nostalgia y más como una negativa deliberada a pulir o hacer accesible

Hellbender Con Limón LP reissue

In 1997, when Andrew at Reservoir Records (DOC HOPPER, BLACK ARMY JACKET, SILENT MAJORITY, SPAZZ, C.R., STICKS AND STONES, etc.) sent HELLBENDER to Alap Momin’s (ASSFACTOR 4, RYE COALITION, TRANS MEGETTI, YAH MOS, DÄLEK, etc.) basement in Parsipianny, NJ to record their third LP, Con Limón, no one knew that it was to be their final release as a band. Nearly thirty years later, Dead Broke put in the work to make this available again. I think what attracted Dead Broke to this release was, in part, the highly unique and melodic post-hardcore song structures, starting with the sometimes odd, jazzy chords of guitarist Wells Tower, moving to the bass-driven songs of Al Burian that reflect driving down a road without headlights, and culminating in Harrison Haynes’ drumming, articulated perfectly at the level of Bill Stevenson (maybe even better). However, the truly irrevocable parts of this record are layered in the lyrical content, as the imagery is far too blunt to be fiction. The overall specific life points are cadenced out fast and with terrifying clarity, as if standing on a glass bridge above a jagged gorge—like, you know you’ll be OK, but fuck is it scary and uncertain right now. When HELLBENDER was writing Con Limón, they were all clearly going through a transitional period individually, and I don’t think they knew that they were done as a band until they heard their record played back to them. It was then realized that they had weathered an oceans’ weight of change together, made it through, and this was their goodbye to each other. It’s funny how everyone in this band went on to do things that became much better known, but for me, this was when they were perfect. Now remastered, Con Limón pushes forward buried, nuanced elements in the songs, like bringing small gems to the surface. There are now hundreds of bands that have stylistic elements that mirror Con Limón, but zero of those modern bands have reached the high marks of this record. Also, those hundreds of modern bands have probs never heard of this record, and now, perhaps, they will. I really dig it and I think you should, too.

Killer Kin Killer Kin LP reissue

What an album. First and foremost, I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about the album cover. I don’t think there’s another image that could better represent what you find on this here slab. Pure rock’n’roll madness straight from the sewers of Connecticut. Very similar to MC5 and the RIFFS. This is the kind of band GG ALLIN wished he had backing him up in the ’80s. Apparently this is a re-release of their original 2023 LP pressing, which went out of print almost immediately. If you’re dying for this on wax, you better pony up for the shipping charge, because I don’t think this opportunity is coming back around any time soon.

Lika Dregs cassette

Two words: hell yeah. I loved how emotive and powerful these guys are. A growling, guttural force to be reckoned with, even on their (somewhat) slower-tempo tracks. They don’t mess around, you can feel the strength in every note played and sung (screamed). I had a blast listening to every track.

Minderased 四種雑多 EP

Four tracks of furious, jazz-inflected mathcore from this long-running Japanese band. The vocals are earnest and shouted, with guitar riffs that range from the emoviolence of SWING KIDS or ORCHID to the extreme technicality of DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN. There are occasional layers of whooshing synth noise added with some welcome chopped glitch-string samples in the first and last tracks that add dimension to the chaos. The drumming, frenetic and mechanical, lost me a few times and sounded digital and monotonous, especially on the relentless blastbeats of the second track (“集合の理”) and the clicking double-bass kick of the fourth track, “五里夢中杖を失 くし歩く.” If MINDERASED’s drummer is indeed human, then they are insanely precise, albeit cold. Strong mix of technical proficiency and rage.

Mujeres Podridas Sangre y Sol LP

As excited as I was to see this LP in my review queue, I still wasn’t prepared. MUJERES PODRIDAS have been a sporadic force in the Austin, Texas scene for a decade or so (four years between the demo and the first 12”, then another four until this full-length), which means that you appreciate them even more when they grace our world with more sound. On Sangre y Sol, you hear a band fully realized—it’s too easy to use a word like “mature,” even though that’s the best description here. That maturity gives them the confidence to reach into the(ir) past and harness a youthful energy that comes from being excited to make sounds reminiscent of the sounds that inspired the younger you. It’s why you hear early ’00s melodic punk in these songs (KNUGEN FALLER, SOVIETTES, GORILLA ANGREB, MARKED MEN) even while you feel the power and bombast of a fiercely Texan band raised on dirty, bombastic South Valley hardcore (“Mi Terra” at volume, if there was ever any doubt). This record swings, and it swings with complete confidence. This record is passionate and honest…this record feels real. And that shit is rare. Already looking forward to what happens four years from now.

Post Community Post Community cassette

POST COMMUNITY is a collective, a collaboration, an open group founded by members of a slew of East Coast punk bands, and presently operating out of Baltimore—message the band if you’re keen to participate in basement activities. POST COMMUNITY recently released a cassette with Urticaria Records (my favorite imprint), and it is a voyage. Experimental, intricate, one of those rare recordings that keeps you seated at the front of your chair awaiting the next moment’s surprise, as each song seems to be composed of many and they transition rapidly. Post-punk becomes punk, becomes noise, becomes hardcore, but before you know it, the journey reaches its end and the remaining energy feels similar to post-gig afterglow.

Rousers 1979 Sire Session LP

The Sire label was a big deal back in 1979—think of bands like the RAMONES and the DEAD BOYS. ROUSERS were another of those New York bands, though not one I was ever familiar with. I find this one interesting in an historical kind of way. I’m not sure it’s my thing now or if it would have been my thing back in 1979. It’s got a little too much of that rock’n’roll/rockabilly thing going on for me. I can hear it in the vocals and in the guitar. It’s good for me, but it’s not great.