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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!
I don’t speak any real French or Italian, but I sure wish I did at this moment. That said, I do know catchy when I hear it. Both musically and vocally, this is infectiously catchy. Mid-tempo pop’n’roll, this will have you tapping and swaying along from the get-go. This is my kind of pop music. A couple of the tracks miss the mark for me, but overall I like it a lot. More cowbell.
Boston vets MOVING TARGETS are back with Red Eyes, the third studio album since their 2018 comeback Wires. They still tag themselves “melodic punk,” but this release lands closer to the GOO GOO DOLLS than BAD RELIGION. It’s ten songs recorded by J Robbins, produced tight and clean, but definitely too clean for my taste—it sounds to me more like a band that would underscore some WB drama instead of inspiring kids to fuck the system. Maybe that’s the goal because we’re all grown-ups now, but I found 2023’s Live at Kling Klang, with all of the rough edges on full display, to be so much more compelling. If you’re a die-hard, or if your shelves already have space for SOUL ASYLUM next to your punk section, you might find something to like. For me, it’s more background noise than a burner.
Hardcore hanging on the metal side of the spectrum, sounding a bit like SUICIDE FILE with all of their twangy, noodly guitar leads. Very strong vocalist who has the power of one thousand burning suns. Guitar and bass are in lockstep and play off each other very well. Super fast and energetic as all hell. Very fun EP if you like this kind of thing.
Drum machine post-punk with psychedelic flourishes from this Cleveland band. Monotone vocals with repetitive, chant-like lyrics hang over moody synth textures like a mix of PLEASURE LEFTISTS and fellow Clevelanders KNOWSO. They are best on slower tracks like “Zip Code” and “Circular Psychiatry,” bass-heavy jams that evoke Calvin Johnson fronting BAUHAUS, but it’s all great. Weird, abrasive enough to fit under the punk umbrella, and danceable—it’s a win.
Third release from Leipzig, Germany’s POKY. Songs stay on the shorter side, and have a bedroom-meets-basement energy with some psych-rock guitar elements thrown in, best heard on “Cerberus.” Songs bounce around and stay lighthearted, even eggy, like the track “Im in a Band” which gets more comical with every key change and oddball shriek. Vocals are sassy, even a little whiny, but never in a melancholic way, more like Joe Jack Talcum. With no credited musicians and very little information on Flennen’s or their own Bandcamp page, it’s hard to give any context to the group. But no matter, have the friends over for this one, all fun within.
Third release for this Oklahoma City unit. The main inspiration here is ’80s American hardcore with pedal-to-the-floor intensity and some noisy elements, especially around the vocals. There’s some moments of wild speed, but what stands out for me is the mix/production for the guitar: the whole mix is centered on it, and the distortion flirts with being clean-ish in a very Midwestern HC way. This is decidedly not hardcore worship or rehash; every song on here goes hard, regardless of tempo, with plenty of interesting twists and turns. Great fucking hardcore punk that stands out among its peers, like OUT COLD put in a blender with weirdo Midwest HC vibes.
Buz Clatworthy may have changed the meaning of his acronym and broadened the scope of his home-recording vision, but he hasn’t lost the electric charge of the early recordings that made so many of us take notice to begin with. With merely one full-length in his oeuvre, he continues to push himself creatively through singles, which feels like the smart play. He is allowed the freedom to experiment and express without really having to harken back to any trace of his beginnings of automaton-inflected, fast-paced wormy punk from his youth (okay, he’s still young, but still). “Ecstatic Strife” dips its mug into the punch bowl of what’s best about New Zealand’s ’80s jangle pop scene, with Clatworthy’s assured drumming keeping it on edge. “Golden Trick” is just that, a magical stunner that delves into something more meditative. Honestly, I’d take a whole album of something born of this strain of meditative and mature exploration. It’s gorgeous and lush and hopefully a promise of more to come.
S.C.U.M., or SOCIETY FOR CUTTING UP MISOGYNISTS, attacks with brute force and sheer passion. I couldn’t quite understand the vocals (long, drawn-out screaming) and I absolutely loved it; that’s why I really appreciate that they made this album live and kept the raw energy that they bring to all their songs. I loved how they messed around with tempo changes throughout, slowing down right after picking up the speed—you really don’t know what to expect next. They aren’t afraid to be a little goofy at times, while simultaneously having strong, pointed lyrics. Loved this album.
Long-running Italian garage rock crew SICK ROSE released a two-song 7″ with the A-side covering the LYRES’ “Don’t Give It Up Now,” featuring guest vocals from Dom Mariani of Australia’s the STEMS. This version is faithful to the original, but Mariani’s delivery and the production give it extra punch. Flip it over and “A Golden Boy” channels a breezy mash of ’60s/’70s rock, toe-tapping and driven by a guitar/organ attack straight out of Sixteen Flights Up-era CYNICS. They play the kind of throwback retro rock that frequently makes my eyes roll, but here it seems more substance than style and it works for me. Only 300 copies pressed, so grab one fast.
Just when we needed it most, STRUL has re-emerged to unleash a banger LP that eclipses the intensity of the Gothenburg group’s ferocious 2019 Punkrock Deluxe 7”. These guys shred and pummel with a rocking, guitar-heavy edge, playing O.G. hardcore punk as if it were taught to them by the guys in TOTALITÄR. It’s a top-shelf heavy-hitter in a classic way that brings Kansas City’s TOTAL SHAM to mind, but let us not finger it all up unnecessarily—this rips completely, and STRUL is easily one of the best bands doing it in the worst era of modern history.
Do you remember the feeling when you were young and you became aware of something that you thought was so cool, be it the cover of a record or a toy or a movie poster or something? You spend your time obsessing over it. You do whatever needs to be done to be in a position of experiencing the coveted thing. Once it is finally acquired, you really take your time with it, trying to savor every minute of the experience. Then you receive the rude awakening of finding out that MOLLY HATCHET was nowhere near as cool as you tricked into thinking they were from Frank Frazetta’s artwork. You remember that feeling? Well, receiving this tape was like that experience with time sped up. The packaging of this cassette is so insanely cool. Gold cassettes in a black O-card adorned with splattered gold paint, all wrapped in tissue paper, inserted into a cardboard folding case which is hand-painted and stamped in multiple locations, then dipped in wax to seal it like a bottle of Maker’s Mark. This thing is an absolute work of art! Slowly, I took my time and opened and inspected every aspect of it. Preparing for the unknown, I pushed play. These are expert-level musicians playing every genre of music you can possibly imagine, changing drastically from song to song. It’s essentially the score to a musical. There’s the “CRADLE OF FILTH but it’s a slick hardcore band” song, there’s the “pirate sea shanty” drinking song, there’s the RADIOHEAD-inspired track, there’s some unlistenable garbled nü-metal that breaks into a Tibetan monk chant, there’s a three-minute-long free-jazz drum solo, there’s a laid-back elevator music jazz piano track. I could go on, but I think you get the idea. These are clearly very good musicians who are fans of every single musical genre, and this cassette shows that TRITONIC has chops across them all, but I just couldn’t possibly care less. If this sounds like it is up your alley, then I can’t believe you’re reading Maximum Rocknroll…I mean, if this sounds like it’s up your alley, there is a dissertation on the TRITONIC Bandcamp that will explain to you why you can’t just check It out online. Normally I think that’s a cool move to only have stuff available on cassette tape, but for some reason, the manifesto seems a bit self-righteous and artsy to me. The tape looks truly awesome, though.
Are we entering a new age of Mysterious Guy Hardcore? Did it ever go away? There isn’t much online about the shadowy figures behind this five-song EP, but it rips. Mining similar aural terrain (probably caves, maybe catacombs) as HOAX and CULT RITUAL, filthy shit-fi production reigns supreme here. Nasty, serrated guitar riffs and leads that hint at extracurricular studies in metal, coupled with ultra-raw vocals, create a gnarled full-aggro churn that demands repeated plays. Bleak and disquieting, I look forward to what comes next.
Full of rage and waging a sonic war against injustice, VESTIGIO uses punk as a vehicle to convey a sense of their experience as Latinos living in Canada. Gruff shouts punctuate the chainsaw buzz of wild guitars and tupa-tupa drums. The artwork portrays a scene of skeletons and razorwire that might lead one to chalk this up as a D-beat record, but this is a little different than your standard gasmask and bullet belt fare. VESTIGIO brings to mind APATIA NO and FALLAS DEL SISTIMA, passionate anarcho-punks committed to the struggle against oppression. A solid release from a band I’ll be keeping an eye out for.
Third LP from Chico, CA’s WIND-UPS. Started as Jake Sprecher’s solo endeavor, the project has evolved to include many different credited musicians, most notably JONATHAN RICHMAN’s electric guitar work on the outro “Little Boy Blue” (originally on the ’23 Jonathan Says EP). Is there a steady lineup? Unclear, though there is a trio pictured on the Bandcamp page. Inside, we find a RAMONES-core, burnt-sugar kind of power pop that owes as much to the aforementioned greats as they do to the shamble and sweetness of pandemic-era bedroom projects. I kind of glazed over at first, but after a few listens getting through the powdered, confectionary “Fine Pink Mist” (great, punchy opener), I really enjoyed this. Some standouts of the album for me are “(That’s Just My) Dream Girl” and “To Keep Away,” both which really lean into the RAMONES sound. Kerra Jessen wrote and co-performed “Cheer Up,” which may be the feel-good, don’t-be-too-down-on-yourself song of the year, and features some shoegaze-y guitars during the chorus, in contrast to the otherwise light and sparse verse. And JONATHAN RICHMAN on “Little Boy Blue”?? That reference alone could speak for itself, but the song is actually one of my favorites, featuring a blown-out, melancholic energy that feels well-placed at the album’s end. Is this sad birthday music? Is it the glistening, split-skinned cherry atop a cake no one asked for? Is it a bad haircut on a windy day? You decide.
I’ll say it again. It’s funny as hell to me that I got assigned records from ZERO AZÚCAR and NO SUGAR in the same month. It’s gold. Unlike the NO SUGAR record, this one and I are getting off to a fantastic start. It’s punk, but it’s a little poppy. That said, I would not call it pop punk. Mid-tempo and super catchy, it’s got some sort of organ or synthesizer that they use enough that you notice it, but not so much that it’s a distraction. It gives it a little bit of an early new wave feel. It’s all in Spanish and I speak some Spanish, but not at the level that I understand much of this. But I can say that the vocals are strong and perfect for the music here. Really nicely put together. A complete package. At its core, this is punk rock.
With little introduction needed for the Aussie bedroom artist Jake Robertson, known as the formidable ALIEN NOSEJOB, Agitated and Anti-Fade have put together a compilation of previously released EPs and singles on this massive 23-track LP. Releases are displayed chronologically: 2017’s Panel Beat, 2018’s Death of the Vinyl Boom (featuring a cover of JACKSON ZUMDISH’s “Flyblown”), the DEAD KENNEDYS cover “Government Flu” comes out to play in between, then 2020’s HC45, 2021’s HC45-2, 2022’s Cold Bare Facts, and finally a cover of ED KRUEPPER’s “S-O-S ’75.” Whew. I don’t know, it felt important to credit the releases for some reason. This is one-stop shopping for some of the best ALIEN NOSEJOB on offer—it spans the progression, the off-kilter aggression, the fuzz, and the insanity of this tireless Australian gem. I needn’t say more.
Hardcore is just one of those genres whose umbrella stretches so far that no two fans ever have the same taste. If your sweet-tooth for hardcore trembles for the more melodic strain, harkening back to the late ’90s/early ’00s especially in guitarist/singer Jon Vornbrock’s convincing Dennis Lyxzén impression, you’ll have plenty to like here. In fact, overall BERSERKER is specifically reminiscent of REFUSED. The riffs, the vocals, the earnest and unpoetic political lyrics; it’s difficult to parse it from the influence of the Swedish icons of post-hardcore (read: when hardcore became appealing to indie rock kids). The blend of pit-savvy chugs and chiming open chords in particular dips its toe into noise rock, a cross-genre amalgam that isn’t my cuppa but is competently written and performed. It’s just hard to look past the lack of originality, especially when a track like “Suicide on 66” lifts a riff directly from “Summerholidays Vs. Punkroutine” from The Shape of Punk to Come. And look, I’m not against wearing your influences on your sleeve. I just prefer when it’s not so easy to trace back to a singular source.
Liberated now wave, as brought to you by three of this century’s foremost freaks—you might (and should) know Grace Ambrose, Marissa Magic, and Max Nordile from their time spent warping minds in projects like PREENING, DEBT RAG, MOZART, NEON, and GIRLSPERM (that’s just the short list), and together, they are BLUG. Turnip Nation was written and recorded over the course of just a few hours this summer, a frenetic and agitated first thought/best thought scrawl of clanging percussion, loping, eternal return bass lines, and gnarled, punctuated shocks of treble-heavy guitar in six minute-long (give or take) parts. Intuitive instant music as a document of friendship and collaboration, art-punk at its most wild and free, can you take it?
You know that one guy in town who’s always shouting conspiracy theories for the world to hear but they’re actually not speaking to anyone in particular at all? Well, what if that guy fronted the BUTTHOLE SURFERS? This is like a combat-shocked D. Boon fronting SONIC YOUTH. The fact that I have to make up these weird scenarios to try and explain CELEBRITY HANDSHAKE is honestly a testament to the originality at play here. This is pleasantly unpleasant, or unpleasantly unpleasant; it just depends on who’s listening. And honestly? That’s awesome.
Barcelona’s COLEGIATA dusts off the old synths and drum machines that were left in the attic and puts them to good use in their new 12” record. It’s pretty bare-bones with modest synth layers and a minimalistic approach to songwriting, yet it manages to captivate and immerse you in its gloomy universe. Though it’s mostly mid-tempo, there are some sudden tempo changes that very quickly shift the mood. If you’ve ever sunk hours into those Soviet post-punk playlists on YouTube, or listened to a couple coldwave tracks and thought “Oh boy, this is quite nice, I wish it was a bit less depressing though,” then this record might be what you’re looking for.
DECADE and WOLFCHARGE combined to bring a fourteen-track split 12″ full of high-grade D-beat. DECADE plays an exceptionally raw and noisy breed with a strong focus on ANTI-CIMEX inspirations, while WOLFCHARGE plays a brute force DISCHARGE blend. If you’re a D-beat aficionado, then you probably own one (or several copies). My honest impression, I love the music, but kind of hate the album cover.
At long last, the full-length is here! Over a year ago, EYE BALL released a cassette EP with promises of the songs appearing on their forthcoming full-length. Well, here it is, and holy hell, was it worth the wait. EYE BALL is from Toronto, and I have seen it referred to as being a solo project, a two-piece, a guy and his dog, and even seen photos of a full band. I’m assuming this began as a solo project and has grown into a full band, which would make a lot of sense given the stylistic offerings of EYE BALL. This is egg-punk at its absolute poppiest and catchiest, a band of similar ilk to that of NANCY. There’s more pop punk elements here, however. Picture if DILLINGER FOUR was a twangy egg-punk band. Twelve almost addictingly catchy songs, many of which clock in at under a minute long. Both labels releasing this cassette do incredibly limited runs, so act quick if you’re looking to track down a physical copy.
Garage rock/punk. The first couple tracks didn’t grab me—they sounded a bit like general garage punk; there wasn’t anything super unique to them. However, “Frantic Fuzz Rush” set a shift where all of the following tracks felt like they had more of a grab or an umph to them. With a more droning, noise-focused guitar in “Why Are We Here and Who Are You?” to an explosive start to “Conquerors,” I feel like these guys really started to pick up the pace.
Fun little split between four bands that sound different enough to keep things interesting. I’m sure that what I’m about to say sounds like the “Country/Western” bit from Blues Brothers, but there’s something here for anyone who likes punk-adjacent music. GRIP BITE plays the classic “your favorite local band” brand of street punk, MINDROTT has a late-era PANTERA/HATEBREED vibe going on, RADICAL FUN TIME plays lo-fi crust, and SELF ABUSE rounds it out with their flavor of crossover thrash punk. Really solid disc here; I had it on while I was doing yard work and it helped me forget I’m an old man now. This is well worth a spin.
Live in Japan, it’s the jet-fueled rock’n’roll of MORON’S MORONS! These Polish punks have been at it for a while now, but they’re still playing loose and nasty, as demonstrated by this solid eleven-track live tape. If you dig the CANDY SNATCHERS or the HUMPERS, this will slide nicely right up your alley.
How do I get assigned a record from NO SUGAR and a record from ZERO AZÚCAR in the same month? That’s some funny shit. Onward. Hmmm. This one may take some time to grow on me. We’re not hitting it off right away. It’s female-fronted punk’n’roll that’s heavier on the rock’n’roll than it is on the punk. Still, this should be up my alley. I think it’s just a little too slick for me. Too much guitar work. It’s catchy enough and all that, just a little polished for my taste. It’s even got a little stadium rock feel to it. At its best, it kinda sorta reminds me of the DONNAS. It’s not you, it’s me…
Released on the opening day of their summer European tour, the OBSERVERS are back on stage along with this commemorative Collection LP. Taken By Surprise has rounded up EPs and singles from the archive of the OBSERVERS, who were active from 2002 to 2005 in Portland, Oregon. These fourteen songs come from 2003’s Lead Pill, 2005’s Walk Alone, 2005’s Where I Stay, and Maximum Rocknroll’s 2006 Public Safety compilation LP, with some previously unreleased tracks to boot. Colin Grigson’s bass and Douglas Burns’s guitar and vocals started this group, and if the latter sounds familiar, Burns went on to form RED DONS after the OBSERVERS stopped playing in 2005. I reviewed the RED DONS’ Generations 7” a while back, and thought I was hearing something in common…this collection displays the band’s straight-ahead, catchy power punk/garage songwriting, with mid-to-upper-tempo tracks largely in the sub-three minute range featuring clattering, cymbal-heavy drums, gangly bass, simple, crunchy guitar, and Burns’s hallmark croon and exaggerated vocals. This particularly comes to light on “Walk Alone” from the EP of the same name, and has become my favorite of the album. It’s a little darker than the rest, and the vocals really shine through. I also enjoy “Normally Normal,” a tongue-in-cheek exploration of what it means to be normal, reminding me of something SUICIDAL TENDENCIES might do. Not-to-be-missed release of a staple in the Portland music canon.
With their first release dating back to 2021 and the follow-up dropping in 2023, Washington, DC’s PSYOP continues their biennial release schedule with their 2025 release Defector, featuring four songs of fast and heavy hardcore punk with strong political subject matter. PSYOP is pissed at the system, the government, big business, as well as many other things which they are much more eloquent at expressing than I am, and truly, who could blame them? Fast, relentless palm-muted riffs, driving drums, and barked vocals, with political sound clips between the tracks. Of the three recordings the band has dropped, this is far and away their best output so far. That is, until their next release, which I’m assuming based on their set pattern is scheduled to drop sometime in 2027.
PURE TERROR, New York City’s pan-Arab hardcore band, is back with the Ehteram إحترام EP. This four-song record is filled with raw NYC punk, but with a distinct flavor. If you didn’t catch the PURE TERROR cassette that was released a couple years ago, then now is your chance to check this band out. I’m currently obsessed with the third track entitled “No Compromise” and its shifting guitar riffs over whirlwind tempos. PURE TERROR features Nader of HARAM and a crew of gifted musicians who have managed to create some of the most abrasive (and thereby loveable) punk to exist.
Hey, who is this singer? It’s the dude from the WHITE WIRES. I’m certain of it. Wait, isn’t “Shattered” even one of their songs? It has to be. This sounds so familiar. This is more new wave than it is power pop, so it’s similar, but definitely not the same. And it’s not just the drum machine. Anyway, if you’re a fan of the WHITE WIRES and think you might like to hear a more new wave version of that band, you should give this a shot. I’ve always been a huge fan, so it makes sense to me that I like it.
Impossibly good punk from Montreal—SISTEMA DE MUERTE may be my new favorite band. Top down, this tape is absolutely smoking; the leads are fire, the riffs are big and brawny, the Spanish lyrics are spat with venom, and the drums are working overtime. I hear a few influences throughout, but later-period ANTI-CIMEX comes to mind more than any other for me. I know lower-fi production can be preferred when it comes to this sort of thing, but SISTEMA DE MUERTE benefits from sounding bright and clean, not too dissimilar from contemporaries SISTEMA OBSOLETO. I’d pick a favorite song but I can’t, they’re all too good. A total ripper and very highly recommended; hopefully someday it’ll get a release on wax.
SUTRAS have gained a new fan! Their new cassette The Crisis of Existence combines so many elements I love. With art that looks like a gorgeous cave relic with what I am hoping are cherry blossoms exploding joyfully, they’ve taken the DC spiritual punk vibe and woven in silvery guitar and vocals that sound like being on the verge of tears, ENVY-style. “Welcome, Kingdom Kids” is a perfect song—it makes me feel nineteen and like my friends and I can fight back to save the soul of a sick world. Their Bandcamp says SUTRAS understand suffering, and I believe it. With the meditative hum of LUNGFISH and the urgent cry of early ’00s New Jersey screamo, they are a welcome salve in a world in which I truly feel the crisis of existence. They also remind me of a quote I heard recently that said something to the extent of if you are heartbroken and hopeless at the human suffering and injustice around you, take solace in the fact that multi-trillion dollar industries had PR campaigns to try to make you not care—and they failed. This is a set of songs all ripe to put on a mixtape for the cute person you met at the protest, truly. I’m not kidding. Do it. And roll down the windows of the car when you are blasting “Being Nobody, Going Nowhere.”
Punk rock that you can circle-pit to with a smile on your face. This is pop punk in the non-pejorative sense, meaning it is loaded with massive hooks and anthemic sing-alongs with enough melody to infiltrate even the most resistant ear. The overall feel of the album is late-night hangouts after a show, possibly in a parking lot, just enjoying being a punk and hanging out with other punks. Lyrically, that feeling is enforced with mostly celebrations of being part of the community, politically and socially. Think of MIXTAPES at their most upbeat or the JETTY BOYS at their most catchy, add a healthy dose of beer and Midwest, and that will take you most of the way to where this record plants its flag. Gotta respect the balls to try yet another cover of TOTO’s “Africa,” but honestly the band does well by themselves on it. A fun summer record if I ever heard one, meant for hangouts with good people.
The split 12″ from Germany’s 1 ST CLASS COLLAPSE and the PRIM is a chaotic little gem of powerviolence that doesn’t overstay its welcome. 1 ST CLASS COLLAPSE, hailing from Koblenz, delivers a chaotic and engaging set, marked by either traded-off vocals or one particularly unhinged singer, cycling through yells, screams, and deep, demonic croaks like a hardcore Swiss army knife. The PRIM, from various cities including Berlin, shifts gears with a more metallic hardcore approach—heavier riffs, longer songs, and raw, tortured vocals that cut through the murk. While the songs run longer than average for the genre—each clocking well over a minute—they’re tightly composed and never feel drawn-out. This split is a strong showing from both bands and ends almost as soon as it begins.
Vancouver’s underground at its heaviest—EROSION storms in with razor-edged crust riffs and D-beat urgency that recall MARTYRDÖD in their most feral moments. ALTERED DEAD counters with grotesque, suffocating death metal that grinds the air out of the room. Two sides of sonic punishment—one sprinting, the other crushing—that together feel like the walls closing in.
Following his tenures in the GRIS GRIS and the MIRRORS, musician and producer Greg Ashley has settled into the unique and subtly psychedelic folk stylings showcased on this LP. With a matured creativity and confidence, songs like “Sandra on the Tropic of Capricorn” and the dreamy duet of “One Thin Herione” tap into a vein that evades the timestamps of any particular era. Thoughtfully composed and punctuated by oscillating sonic interludes, this is a potent record documenting ASHLEY’s proficiency as a singer/songwriter, even as it exists on (dangles off?) the edge of what is appropriate for MRR coverage.
Celebrating a decade of making music together, this trio, that formed right out of high school, is here with their It’s All About The Music EP. Coming from the small town of Castel Goffredo in Northern Italy, the band’s motto is “When there’s no good shit around you, better form a band!” which, as a small-town resident myself, I really appreciate. With a love for classic ’60s rock, they started their career with covers of the WHO, the ROLLING STONES, and the BEATLES—even paying homage to the Revolver artwork on their highly-anticipated 2020 Day Tripper LP (not to mention the album title). But far from covers they have come—with four LPs in their pocket and a smattering of EPs and singles, this lot has made a sound of their own, blending that ’60s rock with garage, classic punk, and pop punk, for a catchy as hell result. About this EP, the band writes “One garage rock anthem, three versions: The original. A sped-up punk reprise. A slow kraut intro. It’s obsessive, overthought, overdriven, and absolutely intentional.” Besides the “Kraut intro,” these songs lean on the pop side, and are all fun, with snaking guitar riffs, fast and bouncy drums, rattling bass, and lightly distorted vocals. From the impressionable words on their Bandcamp page, to a nice write-up in Missing Piece (praising the release of Day Tripper), I like the band’s story as much as their music. Everything feels genuine, earnest, and truly bootstrapped from the beginning. Great concept EP, awesome band.
This is a bouncy, garage-flavored, danceable rock album from Bologna, Italy with a workmanlike approach to songwriting and performance. There’s something a little stiff here at first, a lack of flexibility and hooks that leaves me a bit cold even at its most anthemic. My ears do perk up, however, as the band starts to resemble HÜSKER DÜ at the midpoint of the record. While this outing might be frontloaded with weaker material, it starts to feel more lived-in and frayed, slowly revealing a band that is confident and does have an ear for melody. I’m a sucker for a band that mines the ’80s boom of Midwest college rock for ideas and presents them in a contemporary landscape. On a track like “Remember the Valentines,” you can hear a distinct John Reis influence both in the guitar and vocals, and I’ll always go to bat for that. I’m not as sold on the dreamier, spaced-out “Calling on the Altar Boys,” and think overall this 12” is a mixed bag, but there are high bright points to be sure.
Midwestern anarcho-crust meets New York speed chaos. CONTRACHARGE deals in sharp, politically-charged D-beat with the precision of early AUS-ROTTEN, while DELGADO pushes the BPM to its limits with drug-fueled, basement-born hardcore. Ten tracks that don’t just play fast, they burn.
More art/dance punk out of Brooklyn that sounds exactly how you think it does. Fuzzy guitars paired with a tight rhythm section featuring a bass player who does most of the heavy lifting. The music itself is actually quite good, sounding like a slower-tempo GANG OF FOUR or a more refined DEAD MILKMEN. It’s the vocals that make this a bit of a slog to get through. The singer is low-energy, sounding more like an indie music parody or a bad Richard Butler impression. Additionally, the vocals are layered in a tinny reverb that makes it stand too far out from the rest of the music. A better mixing job with less effects may have made it all a little more tolerable. If you can look past all of that, this is a pretty decent record—solid song construction and catchy.
Brain-rattling noise from Philly’s FUCKIN’ LOVERS, whose namesake (a song by noise-punk legends CONFUSE) tells you what you need to know about their sound on Crucifixion of the Masses. Snotty, hectic, and with a touch of psychedelia thrown in, it’s a heady brew and burrows deeper into your skull with each listen. The dual vocals, nasty guitar and bass, and crashing drums peak on the raw blast of standout “Arrogance.” Also of note is final track “The End,” an effects-laden, out-there instrumental that sounds like four walls of noise slowly closing in on you. Yes, it’s as good as it sounds. Great band, great EP, highly recommended.
If this was a little noisier, I could see this being a regular release on Iron Lung Records. It’s the kind of intentionally ugly hardcore you’d see on the label, but maybe a little too clean-sounding for them. This is fucking outstanding, stompy at times, with vocals reverbed just right to elevate the bile and urgency of their delivery. The more I listened to this, the more that different bands came to mind…a more raw punk BOSTON STRANGLER, a more hardcore WHITE GUILT, an intensely focused HOAX…but the fact that every turn had me thinking of other great bands just highlighted that this band is doing their own thing. Even caught some powerviolence vibes here and there, which is a feature not a bug in my book. Ten out of ten, no fucking notes—if you like hardcore punk, go find this.
Atypical sounds for round these parts, but worth your time. KARL FROG is a Swedish musician whose music does not come with power chords or blastbeats; no breakdowns, no shredding up or down the fretboard. What FROG does offer is fantastic and beautiful artsy pop. JOHN CALE’s “Barracuda” has been a long-time favorite song, and as soon as the opener “Colonial Hearts” kicked in, I knew I was in line for something wonderful. Playing this type of music often requires good balance, as the tightrope you have to walk to not quickly fall into Wes Anderson soundtrack-fodder can be extremely tricky. FROG walks the line with ease, offering up eleven smart, poppy songs that feel like good DESTROYER B-sides or early BRIAN ENO with a bit less production. Sometimes your mind can use a distortion break. The next time that happens for you, I implore you to see what FROG is cooking up.
Hailing from Chico, California, LEVEL delivers a relentless and masterfully done record with Symptom of Mankind. The usual suspects of any punk band are all there, but with the intensity turned all the way up to eleven. While gnarly, crushing guitar riffs attack from all sides, the drums pummel away with maximum velocity and bloodthirst. On top of that, tough-as-nails vocals perfectly tear through the full spectrum wall of sound the band blasts towards your general direction. Something that I particularly like about this record is that deep gut-punch of bass. Although a harsh and tinny sound never goes out of style in the world of hardcore, I do appreciate the extra dimension that a full low-end adds to the band’s heaviness. All in all, LEVEL’s Symptom of Mankind is a really solid record that deserves recognition from powerviolence aficionados around the world.
If you’ve read my other reviews in the past, then you’ll know that I’m a big champion of the Australian rock’n’roll scene. However, there comes a time in a person’s life where they reach a breaking point and begin to reassess some prior convictions. Now don’t get me wrong, I still love egg-punk and I still believe that Australia has been the epicenter of some of the purest rock’n’roll over the last five years, but these DEVO/CONEHEADS-eqsue bands are starting to hit the proverbial glass ceiling and produce diminishing returns. METDOG probably sounds exactly how you’re imagining it at this point. Noodly, twangy guitars in lockstep with bass over a danceable four-on-the-floor drum beat. Oh, and of course the nerdy vocals. This is a good record, but it’s like every other Goodbye Boozy release you’ve heard this last half-decade. I will say, they do have a creative use of the synth, utilizing more modern patches over the typical Casio/electric organ options, but there’s still a lot of that, too. Might be worth a spin for the most diehard of the hard-boiled dorks like myself.
Seattle songsmith Rob Vasquez put out singles under various monikers in the 1990s, leaving his greasy garage prints on exalted labels like Estrus, Sub Pop, and In The Red, among others. Cementing his legacy a little further, this one-two punch on Total Punk drags two of his previously unreleased tracks into the modern era. It’s a raggedy, primitive, blues-infected affair, like a totally shit-faced Billy Childish let loose on four-track, and rumor has it that there’s more of this to come (fingers crossed).
I was thrilled when this weird little piece of CHUMBAWAMBA history came out as an LP on Demo Tapes fifteen years ago, and it’s really nice to see it reissued on Sealed now. PASSION KILLERS were a group of teens from a small town near Leeds who had a song (their Big Hit “Start Again”) on Crass Records’ Bullshit Detector 2. CHUMBAWAMBA was also on the comp, and wrote to all the other bands saying “Hey, let’s keep the momentum going, let’s start a movement based on this serendipitous collection of bands!”—PASSION KILLERS were the one band that responded. Long story short, the two bands released a split demo and played together constantly, and two of the members, Harry Hamer and Mave Dillon, moved in with CHUMBAWAMBA (with parental permission, kinda), recorded the material found on this LP in 1983 with Boff of CHUMBAWAMBA joining in, and then got kind of absorbed into CHUMBAWAMBA, with PASSION KILLERS playing their last show in 1984. They reformed to release a 7” of covers protesting the first Gulf War in 1991, but otherwise have not done anything until a series of reunion shows this year (I’m assuming this reissue was done to coincide with those shows). The backstory is cute and all, but happily the music is also fantastic, almost shockingly good for something that has remained so obscure. Dare I say, it’s better than the early CHUMBAWAMBA demos. You can tell that very young teens wrote a lot of this, and I don’t mean that in a bad way. There’s a really charming naivete throughout that is kind of refreshing in this day and age. The lyrics are political and largely idealistic, and the music is decidedly punk (more ’77 punk than anarcho-punk), very simple but very pop-informed and super catchy with sometimes off-key three-part harmonies. It brings to mind a lot of their contemporaries, bands like ANARKA AND POPPY, the MOB, and HAGAR THE WOMB that were straddling the line between punks and (gasp) hippies. It’s very easy to hear what the members brought to CHUMBAWAMBA, and it’s frankly magical. The record comes with a booklet with a detailed history of the band and all kinds of ephemera, and is all-around packaged beautifully with respect for the band’s ultra-DIY roots.
Razor-sharp Swiss hardcore that sounds like S.H.I.T., which may be considered insulting out of context but in this instance, it’s high praise. Backward Values is stuffed to the brim with contemporary D-beat goodness and killer riffs that rock in a WARTHOG kind of way, especially on standouts “Death Dealer” and “Bullet.” I’m a fan, check this one out.
POISON TRIBE out of Denver has released a couple of cassette recordings over the past few years, but this summer, they decided to release their first proper vinyl 7″ entitled False Narrative. On this five-song EP, we find POISON TRIBE offering a refined version of their signature crusty hardcore sound. Instrumentally, somewhere between DISFEAR and NASUM—POISON TRIBE uses a call-and-response, dual-vocal approach which creates a dynamic lyrical presentation. If you dig grindy guitars, shredded vocals, and a terminal velocity rhythm section, then you must absolutely check this out.
This band has members of FALL SILENT, who did the capital-H/’90s hardcore thing pretty hard, mixed with crossover/thrash elements. Here, thrash is the main ingredient (definitely of the thrash revival variety), with some intermittent forays into capital-H hardcore. A pretty solid effort, but some of the songs are a bit long for my taste (four of the ten tracks go beyond two-and-a-half minutes, with one track going over four), and they kinda lose me when they add breakdowns after what feels like a perfectly fine end for the songs. Not great, not terrible, might be worth your time if modern hardcore mixed with revival thrash sounds like your bag.
