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!

American Thought Criminal Living in Reality CD

It’s been a long time since I’ve been asked to review an objectively awful release here, the kind of recording that you cannot find one nice thing to say about. Thankfully, my drought has ended with this shiny plastic turd from self-described “dissident punk” band AMERICAN THOUGHT CRIMINAL. Poorly played, poorly written, and poorly recorded melodic “punk” with slower parts that will make you wish you were listening to a fourth-rate, third wave suburban ska punk band’s practice tape. And the lyrics…hoooo boy, there’s a lot to unpack here, folks. The world where antiestablishmentarians and reactionary libertarian-fueled conspiracy whack jobs meet is a scary place, but the drivel voiced in songs like “The Enemy of Truth” and “Written on Our Face” is just a pathetic regurgitation of trite MAGA talking points (at best), the kind of nonsense that gives anarchists a bad name—ill-informed and misguided faux rage directed at invisible bogeymen and false flag pedophiles…it’s exhausting and annoying. The biggest crime here is that the music sucks so fucking bad that most listeners will never get to know how much the lyrics suck.

The Brats Keep Doin’ (What You’re Doin’) / If You Can’t Rock (You Can Roll) 7″ reissue

Ten seconds in and I’m thinking to myself that this sounds like some kids that want to sound like a glam band from the mid-’70s, or maybe they fancy themselves the next ROLLING STONES. Turns out this was originally released in 1975, so I was onto something. It’s fine, but it’s not knocking my socks off. The sound is a little thin for me and I find myself wanting them to pick up the pace. It’s just a little too deliberate. I feel like it was a good start to a good single, but they never quite finished the job.

Cell Deth Cell Deth demo cassette

The pissed-off punk clatter of Canada’s CELL DETH is pretty damn sharp. It’s old-school hardcore with an urgent and authentic feel, and the raw sound on this demo, with the intense vocals competing to be heard over the music, complements the style. My favorite moments here are the off-kilter stomp and cartoonish riffage of “Disposable Culture,” the blastbeat-laden “Climate Crisis,” and the furious closer, but the whole thing just rips on by and leaves a good taste.

Dezerter Underground Out of Poland LP reissue

Not exactly sure what can be (or even needs to be) said about a record that MRR released in 1987, which served as thousands of Western punks’ first exposure to DEZERTER and the larger Soviet Bloc punk underground. As a starting point, it’s still a near-perfect introduction— the four tracks from the Ku Przyszłości EP are absolutely timeless, and the live recordings from Jarocin (the first Polish festival to showcase punk bands) truly capture the band’s live mania (“Nie Ma Zagrożenia,” anyone?). Thirty-five years after its initial release, Underground Out of Poland is still mandatory listening for new punks and gets reissued every few years (as it should), but this one from Pasażer includes a massive booklet with photos and ephemera, so even the well-versed stodgy fucks who have the original will want to pay attention.

Disciplina Limitar Ausencia Ganadora LP

Hooked on the first play. After releasing a four-track demo as DISLI in 2021, this Valencian quartet has evolved so much on their debut LP Ausencia Ganadora, on which they revise their demo and add several new tracks. Pure Spanish punk with nods here and there to post-punk, but with an overall sensibility towards well-crafted and catchy songs. With members of FUTURO TERROR, MAUSOLEO, and MORENAS, DISCIPLINA LIMITAR gathers the essentials for a great band. Bangers from start to finish.

Es Fantasy EP

This is only the third release in seven years by ES from London, but in under an hour’s worth of music (to date), they’ve hit that sweet spot where a band establishes a singular and identifiable sound, but switches it up enough from record to record so things are retread-free. That sound, in short, stacks up spartan, rickety, vaguely creepy keyboards, doomsaying vocals, and a punchy post-punk rhythm section with no guitars in sight. It was a smash on 2016’s Object Relations and 2020’s Less of Everything, and so it is on the four-song Fantasy, but on the whole it’s a bit less goth and a bit more synth pop (“Too Late” especially), even if ES provides pretty screwed versions of both. The bass/drums-led “Swallowed Whole” runs at an almost anarcho-ish canter, too, which is what I mean about nice surprises each time.

The Fall-Outs Fine Young Men LP

Seattle-based record and book shop Hex Enduction reissues this band’s 1986 debut, originally an eight-song cassette put out by Green Monkey Records. It’s expanded here with two previously unreleased tracks, pressed to vinyl for the first time. Similar to the grunge scene taking shape around them, the FALL-OUTS pulled a lot of their inspiration from 1960s garage rock acts and 1970s punk. But if these dudes had copies of My War or Master of Reality in their record collections alongside their SHADOWS OF KNIGHT or UNDERTONES records, it ain’t coming through in their music. They lack any of the dourness you would typically associate with the Seattle rockers of that time, choosing instead to play their pop-punky garage rock very earnestly. It reminds me a bit of Tim-era REPLACEMENTS, but it’s also not a million miles away from what Lookout! Records would put out just a few years later (like, CRIMPSHRINE or early MR. T EXPERIENCE). I had a really good time with this, but I can also see folks cringing through a lot of the moments that I found super charming.

Gee Tee Goodbye Neanderthal LP

These Sydney darlings of neo-garage/egg, who began as a one-man bedroom project and got regurgitated repeatedly until spewed out as an unhinged live force to give the SPITS a slow jog for reigning synth punk deviant kingship, are back. They’ve made the big time (as in Goner Records) and will probably be played on repeat in every cafe and kratom-slinging vape shop in middle America real soon. Very deserving are they though, as this might be their best. It’s big car driving music, and no two places have long distances like Australia and the US of A to cruise and enjoy hits like “I Hate (Drivin’ in the City),” “Heart Throb,” and “40K,” as well as the engine-revving title track. I feel like I’ve said enough here, and you could have written this a million times yourself from your prime seat on the bandwagon. Just nod hello and keep your cool.

Gutter Oil IX cassette

Six tracks of gross hardcore in the MEATMEN vein from this Perth, Australia band. The track list is probably the best litmus test for whether you will be into this or not; if you think songs like “Bomb the Hospitals” or “Small Hands Make the Best Clothes” are funny, you will like this. Their Bandcamp promises that “proceeds of sales will be donated to the ‘Second Chance Foundation’ to help re-home ugly children.” I’m sure the band finds all this hilarious. The music itself is thick, heavy hardcore with pounded floor tom beats, power-strummed chords, and slimy raw vocals, all interspersed with odd sound collages of crackling VHS tapes, patriotic songs decaying into noise, and self-help financial seminars. Standout tracks are “Drunk Fuck,” with the catchiest part of the tape in the refrain, “He only sucks when he’s drunk,” and the heavy bass groove that moves “Over the Hill” from mid-tempo chug to speedy D-beat. If well-produced, transgressively humorous punk is your thing, you could definitely do worse than GUTTER OIL.

Hambre Libre Es El Que No Desea Nada EP

Now this is a bit of an odd one. Or maybe not that much, as it cannot be denied that there is currently a trend in punk that sees the music go back to very minimalistic and primitive forms like those that could be found in the ’80s, when punks could not play and were unintentionally crude musicians. This band can be thought of in this light. Still, they’re a bit weird, but in a good way. HAMBRE comes from Mollet del Vallès in Catalonia and they are, quite aptly, rather mysterious. There is no bass guitar on this single-sided EP made up of four short songs of, supposedly, taoist hardcore (!), with lyrics dealing with foundational concepts from the Tao Te Ching (“Libre es el que no desea nada” for instance, which means “Free is the one who desires nothing”). Not exactly topics you see everyday on the punktube, but it confers a sense of originality and paradox to the band’s concept (the Tao Te Ching can hardly be said to have been a massive influence on punk or glue-sniffing). Is it just a silly pose? Well, I don’t think so, as HAMBRE plays minimalistic, fast tupa-tupa punk rock music, maybe not unlike some old Mexican bands, with vocals typical of old-school Spanish punk. Think REVOLUCION X and HEREJIA with a clearer punk rock sound and an obsession with simplicity. The demented artwork reminiscent of Asian horror is as bizarre as the band’s creative stance, and emphasizes the contrast between the taoist notion of harmonious selflessness and the utter madness of our psyche. Or something. I’m not sure the EP is good, but at least it is bizarre enough to be fresh.

Iron Guts Kelly Good Luck, Get Fucked LP

Melodic hardcore punk that kinda runs the gamut of sounds. There’s elements of a little bit of everything here. The singer sounds like a mash-up of SICK OF IT ALL’s Lou Koller and RANCID’s Matt Freeman. This isn’t bad, and there’s definitely an audience for this kinda stuff for sure. That said, it’s not something I could see myself reaching to put on more than once or twice. Probably could have done without the OPERATION IVY cover…but that’s just me.

Last Bias Last Bias demo cassette

Three-track demo from LAST BIAS, a Tampa Bay, Florida four-piece. Tagged as a post-hardcore group, I can hear similarities to/influences from bands like UNWOUND or the JESUS LIZARD, but with a really gruff vocalist, more in line with traditional hardcore. I think the last song “Not The Same” shines the brightest of the three with its structure and riffs. Polish this up and let’s see what’s next!

Model Citizens NYC 1978​–1979 LP

First-time redux of the the MODEL CITIZENS’ one-off 1979 EP (originally released on John Cale’s Spy Records label), now fleshed out as a proper long-player with an additional eight live tracks recorded at the Hurrah and Max’s Kansas City in 1978/1979. The MODEL CITIZENS were part of the constellation of New York weirdos crafting dissonant, danceable, and gleefully asymmetrical sounds in the city’s late ’70s downtown squalor, approaching the music-making process as a conceptual extension of their artistic practices. The four studio cuts all wiggle around the sort of anxious, off-kilter rhythms favored by the best art-school-spawned American post-punk outfits of the era (DEVO, PINK SECTION, etc.)—the delirious, near-wordless shrieks and squeals from vocalists Eugenie Diserio and Gloria Richards that punctuate “Animal Instincts” make them sound like the big city evil twins of Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson of the B-52’S, backed by some perfectly trashy organ stabs that only reinforce that parallel, and the tightly-wound, violin and marimba-accented minimalist groove and neurotically yelped vocals from one of their male counterparts on “I Am Honest” bests early TALKING HEADS at their own schtick. Some of the unreleased live cuts are especially great (the Eugenie/Gloria new wave from hell call-and-response of “Do It Like It Matters,” or the serpentine, bass-led mutant funk groove of “Foreign Tongue”), foreshadowing what was to come from the projects that the MODEL CITIZENS ultimately splintered into at the end of their brief run (major label new wavers POLYROCK, downtown funk-punk combo the DANCE, the backing band for preteen post-punk queen CHANDRA). Yes art, let’s dance.

Negative Prayer Morbid EP

Three evil crushers from NEGATIVE PRAYER, for fans of GENOCIDE PACT, NECROT, and DISFEAR. “Morbid” is the standout for me here; a flurry of growling D-beat that pumps the brakes a minute-and-a-half in, detouring into a thrash-y chug before grabbing you by the throat and throwing you back into the pits (of Hell). Lyrically, NEGATIVE PRAYER isn’t exactly a ray of sunshine, but who wants that from their crusty death metal anyway?

Nightstick Justice Complete Discography cassette

Well, here’s a rip-roaring blast from the past. If you weren’t lucky enough to catch them within the brief window of their existence from 2006–2008, treat yourself to this absolutely blistering collection of raging USHC from NIGHTSTICK JUSTICE. Goddamn, this one really holds up. Twenty-four tracks compiled from three EPs and one long-player; the frantic hardcore on this cassette is up there with some of the era’s best like DIRECT CONTROL, STREET TRASH, and TEAR IT UP. Straight-ahead, no-frills, angry fucking punk. Stellar drumming, rabid shouted vocals, fuzzed-out bass, and riffs on top of riffs, on top of riffs! Listen to songs like “Control” or “Desensitized” and try not to smash anything. My only gripe is that they didn’t make more than 50 of these tapes. Grip one if you can!

People’s Temple I’m With the People’s Temple EP

Brooklyn, NY-based hardcore punkers released this solid eight-track EP in February 2023, aided by Roachleg Records. Filled with classic ’80s USHC nods and all its raw energy, giving us powerful, distorted guitars and good soloing, sharp, spot-on bass lines, and on-point drums with fast cadences, directly entangled with visceral vocals guided by the sharp drum cuts. A great surprise of ’80s-infused songs combining the most classic skate punk from all over, a hint of charged punk rock, and a fresh pinch of no wave in there. Put early AGENT ORANGE, DEAD BOYS, NECROS, and POISON IDEA in a blender and there you go. Suggested tracks: “Patriotic & Brain Dead” and “S.O.S.”

Polluter Demo 2021 cassette

High-octane is the name of the game. South Korean fast hardcore infused with blastbeats and occasional D-beats. Highly energetic music with a very, very pissed-off vocal delivery. Sometimes it reminds me of a slower and less spazzy RAINBOWS OF DEATH. The shifts in style and beats only bring another dimension to their love of hardcore punk. Amazing debut display of modern hardcore.

Rat-Nip My Pillow EP

This is it. The kids from Pittsburgh always know how to deliver it. This is just my thing: the whole thing oozes aggressiveness, you almost can touch it. Drums are like a horse’s kick in the head or a blacksmith punch, riffs are a blunt and overwhelming repetition topped with some razor-like licks, and the vocals are an invitation to take things outside. I can hear 2000s hardcore punk in here, bands like WASTED TIME, DIRECT CONTROL, or CÜLO, a corrosive way of playing fast and dense punk that you don’t find so often nowadays. With this kind of band, everything’s already said or written, so the best thing to do is try not to overthink it and just let yourself go. Dance, scream, break things, and go berserk. RAT-NIP already did it.

Repeat Offender Promo 2022 cassette

Raw-as-fuck steamroller hardcore attack out of Los(t) Angeles. They’ve been kicking behinds for a long minute now, and this is hopefully just a teaser of more to come, judging from the snappy title. Reminds me a lot of CONCEALED BLADE as well as the usual FIX/POISON IDEA comparisons, the latter whom they do a nice job of covering. Well, it’s 2023 and this shit’s sold out already. Give me more. We’re all waiting.

Silent Drama Silent Drama cassette

Sick Italian hardcore here from SILENT DRAMA. On this ten-song tape, the band mixes Japanese and USHC influences into their stripped-down approach, and the whacked-out vocals cement it as a memorable experience. “Ignorance is Blissing” is the stand-out track for me, sounding like a cross between Fuck Heads-era GAUZE and early BAD BRAINS. Snotty as fuck.

Society Problem Stolen Moment EP

There’s a whole lot of noise here, but the most disorienting feature is the rapidly changing drums. Every time I’m ready to settle into a nice raging rhythm, they halt, change speed, or even switch entirely mid-beat. It felt like a student driver riding the brake all down the highway. The vocals arrive via a busted speaker with traces of static. The whole thing is accompanied by a generous (or excessive) use of sound bites.

Spad EP cassette

Two-riff songs that last less than two minutes each, simple but effective guitars, and a voice that kinda speaks to you from behind a megaphone at a rally. I like the canned sound and how the bass takes over in the middle of “The Corner Room.” There are no pretensions here, just old hardcore punk with influences from the classic New York and Boston styles, but with a less solemn approach.

Stiff Meds Exciting Violence EP

Based between London and Leeds, England is STIFF MEDS, who go in hard and fast on their debut vinyl release. Uber-fast hardcore punk with some powerviolence-esque time-fuckery thrown in for good measure. Exciting Violence drips with rage and aggression on all fronts— the vocals roar over tight-as-a-vice instrumentation (drummer Luke is the absolute best in the game in the UK right now). If you like it as fast as possible, STIFF MEDS is not a band to sleep on.

Tàrrega 91′ Fill De La Merda EP

TÀRREGA 91′ is a band from the small town of Tàrrega in Catalonia. Their speedy, skate-friendly brand of hardcore is played in honor of a 1991 riot in which 86 youths were detained. Blasting like some of the best hardcore punk bands of all-time, TÀRREGA 91′ manages to blister their way through three fast songs, only to close things out with a welcomed mid-paced pummeler that uses all the primordial power hidden in those tom drum fills. Play on repeat and you’ll be stomping in circles, pissed-off and ready to butt heads. This is that authentic anarchist hardcore that primes the synapses for anything and everything.

Tee Vee Repairmann Organic Mould EP

More wacky, drum-machine-clad, DEVO-infused garage rock from our friends at Goodbye Boozy, this time featuring Australia’s TEE VEE REPAIRMANN. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it a thousand times: the best in punk is currently being exported from the Land Down Under. The rest of the world should collectively thank Strai’yah for their services to rock’n’roll. First half of this slab retains the traditional egg-punk we’ve all come to know and love, reminiscent of SNOOPER, ALIEN NOSEJOB, and CHERRY CHEEKS. The B-side features two slower ballads with a much stronger bedroom pop vibe. Really rounds out the EP as a whole. Great piece here, highly recommended.

Vacum Pang – Du Är D​ö​d! EP

An interesting single from VACUM, a pioneering post-punk band from Northern Sweden who were active in the late ’70s. After some digging into the band’s discography, I found a lot to love on their earlier releases. VACUM had a cool style, sort of a quirkier WIRE, or even JOY DIVISION with an additional female vocalist. They were active for a few years and seem to have had a small but powerful impact on the punk scene at the time. Years later in 2019, they re-recorded their track “Pang – Du Är D​ö​d!” (“Bang – You Are Dead!”) to celebrate the 40-year anniversary of their label Massproduktion. While still maintaining the general vibe of their earlier work, this updated version unfortunately doesn’t work as well. The production is a little too slick and the blaring saxophones during the intro and chorus reminds of third-wave ska, while the verses jerk back to icy post-punk mode, making for a slightly confusing listen. The B-side is an updated demo from 2014 which starts off well but is a bit bland overall. It’s a shame, because VACUM is a band worth looking into—this just isn’t the right place to start. Check out their debut Rädd För Tystnaden 16 Brottstycken Ur 5 Verkligheter for the good shit.

The Whiffs Scratch ‘N’ Sniff LP

Scratch ‘N’ Sniff is the sophomore suite of songs from the WHIFFS, whom Dig Records have billed as “Kansas City’s foremost power pop foursome.” From the oft-mimicked Hard Days Night cover art to the above statement, I was not eager to like this, writing it off as parody.  After tucking into each syrupy, twelve-string Rickenbacker-layered song, the record quickly became hard to turn off. This album reminds me of a lot of happiness that will soon get stuck in your head. The record seeps with great melodies and tight songwriting that becomes something more relatable and oddly familiar than first perceived. The album’s thirteen tracks each build on each other, without any weak filler. Sounds like the BYRDS covering the REPLACEMENTS, feels like Paul Weller when he rocked a turtleneck. Start with “Wanted” and “Pretender”—there is not a moment wasted, and the tracklist continues on with modern-world glee.

V/A Gritty But Pretty, Vol. 1 EP

This is a mixed bag of tunes, some of which hit hard while some are actively annoying. NEKRA, a London-based hardcore band with a previous release on the excellent La Vida Es Un Mus label, kicks things off with a ripper of an opener. From there, a more melodic track from the Belgian outfit LAVENDER WITCH keeps things engaging. The rest is fairly forgettable, save for a cut by TIGER SEX, whose song “Food Porn” continually repeats “She got my brownies / She likes the fudge” as its chorus over a rote riot grrrl riff. Yikes. Definitely nothing here makes this an essential comp.

A.M.D. Sucking Stalin Tour cassette reissue

A.M.D. (ANTI MILITARY DEMONSTRATION) was a hardcore punk band based in Budapest, Hungary and was active around the late ’80s. This cassette, initially released in 1989, was recorded live, and while the audio quality certainly isn’t high-definition, it is certainly comprehensible. This tape is great—much like a lot of the bands coming out around this time, the guitarist has clearly been digging a lot of metal records, but this is hardcore punk through and through. Reminds me quite a bit of BGK at times. My only complaint would be that, at 42 minutes, it does go on a bit, but don’t let that dissuade you. Recommended for fans of classic hardcore punk with a slight metal bent (only slight).

Argh El Silencio De Los Cromagnones EP

Temuco’s anti-new-world-order, post-apocalyptic punks. D-beat merged with classic hardcore punk featuring members of INYECCION, with lyrics touching subjects such as modern society’s surreptitious decay and the macabre system we are in, chemicals in the water poisoning us, submission to heavy technology, and abusive social domination. Ranting guitars, crazy open hi-hat D-beat drums, and a desperate maniac voice trying to warn you about the geopolitical experiments of globalization mixed with violence and chaos nowadays. Really dig the format of the songs as cautions or presages of a real near future, but also depicting stuff from our present. Chileans sure know their hardcore punk, and this themed DIY band is a faithful example. Four-track EP in under six minutes. Go give them a listen and join the forces of ARGH in order to be prepared to fight a more than grim prospect (or perhaps is it too late?).

The Brats Be a Man / Quaalude Queen 7″ reissue

Sick. The BRATS’ once-obscure ’70s single (since reissued and sold out by Hozac Records) now graces us again thanks to this fine Italian label’s money. In case you’re not an obsessive ’70s proto-glam punk nostalgia nerd, the BRATS were the vehicle of very brief original NEW YORK DOLLS guitarist Rick Rivets. My well-aged peers might know “Be a Man” from the cover done by SF punk favorites the INFECTIONS. It’s definitely the better tune here, but the flip ain’t no slouch either, and the whole thing has a slightly warped sound adding to the whole platform-soled “Quaalude” stagger sound. If you’re like me and missed the boat on ingesting the Roher disco biscuits, this is a suitable, clearer-headed substitute that won’t leave you with the joy of questioning your bedmate’s name in the morning. Good stuff, punker. Pick it up.

Buen Destino Buen Destino LP

Excellent debut LP from this Barcelona band that deftly melds full-throated hardcore with math, metal, and even post-rock influences. The record immediately smacks you in the head with opener “Morir de Asco,” orbiting through the same universe as CONVERGE and BOTCH; serpentine guitar figures piercing through raw hardcore. “Los Creyentes” features multiple time changes that reveal the band’s musical chops while escalating an epic build-up that rivals any heavy post-rock band, tempering beauty with ultimate audio violence. It’s awe-inspiring. “Futuro Final” layers pounding, noise rock kick drums with algebraic guitar that becomes near-catchy despite its intricacy, like a flashing knot of Christmas lights. Final track “Bajo el Mismo Sol” constructs a staggering wall of sound with all elements turned up to maximum volume and intensity that is a staggering end to a great record. Intelligent, consistently experimental, and extremely heavy, this is an exciting introduction to a band worth watching.

City of Industry Spiritual West LP

Angry and moody melodic hardcore from Seattle, Washington’s CITY OF INDUSTRY. This is the trio’s fourth LP, and according to guitar and vocalist John Caraveo, “Spiritual West is, musically and lyrically, the most honest, raw, and poignant piece of work I’ve ever done.” The lyrics are highly personal, and Caraveo sings and shouts them with an abrupt honesty, like he’s already lost his shit. I expected more songs like “Perruquier,” with dark, meandering synth, heavy mid-tempo drums, and droning guitar, which, past the three-minute mark, feels long compared to so many sub-two-minute tracks that chug at full speed. “Spiritual West” is the most confessional moment of the album, with Caraveo’s voice alone shouting over a hollowed-out synth line that’s repeated throughout the twelve songs. If sad and tragic with a touch of crust is what you’re looking for, check out CITY OF INDUSTRY.

Cuir Flood de Loose EP

Synth punk is another one of those subgenres that really needs to be dialed in so as not to sound stale, and this French solo project gets it pretty much right on the mark. Despite production that leans slightly toward thin, these songs are nonetheless meaty and efficient, ripping it up in record time with no fat whatsoever. It’s a nice buzzy blast of synth-driven punk, simple as that.

Death Toll 80K The Future is Yours 12″

Finland has always been a hub for death metal and black metal, but what about grindcore? Is Finnish grindcore any good? The answer is “fuck yeah!”. Similar to their grinding countrymen ROTTEN SOUND, DEATH TOLL 80K has been relentless at the grindcore game ever since their inception in 2005. Taking cues from the likes of ASSÜCK, PHOBIA, or TERRORIZER, they take the crown as one of the most extreme grindcore acts at the moment in the absence of INSECT WARFARE. Unrelenting grindcore with a death metal feel to it, complete with pummeling drums and moshing grooves. Nine songs in eleven minutes. What more can you ask for?

Dirt Royal Shoot Me Now / Better Than Worse 7″

Two peppy numbers of self-described mod/punk. I get more of the punk than the mod, but feel free to disagree with me. Super catchy, I found myself bouncing my head non-stop. I’d even say more power pop than mod. Super tight, I found myself putting this back on again and again. The sing-along vocals on the second track were particularly good, I thought. I’d go out of my way to find this one.

Disease SS Distort Pollution cassette

Would I have called my band DISEASE SS? Probably not. It is, truth be told, rather generic, and I am not a massive fan of having “SS” in a moniker (it makes bands’ shirts pretty much unwearable at dinner parties). But then, the name DISEASE SS definitely gives you a clear preliminary idea of what this Malaysian punk unit from Kedah is all about: the D will be beaten, distortion will be celebrated, and fury revered. The band comes from the same scene that has recently graced us with bands in love with the Swedish and Japanese sound like 13DAS, SYNKKYYS, or PARÖTID, so that when the listener is confronted with a tornado of raw distorted D-beat from that area, surprise is not exactly of the essence. Just another day at the noise-not-music office. Does it matter? Of course not, as DISEASE SS do well what they claim to be doing. If you are in need of a raw and wild take on LIFELOCK or DISCLOSE (whom they cover), significantly infused with the “dislickers” sound of bands like the Swedish DISCONTROL or early APPÄRATUS like Malaysian punks are renowned for, then this will be your thing. It is a niche, but a comfy one.

Eye For An Eye Teraz LP

Including their 2005 split with the HUNKIES, Teraz is the eighth full-length album by this Polish powerhouse. EYE FOR AN EYE fires off ten tracks of their signature metal-tinged punk, with scorching female vocals and hardcore breakdowns. It’s obvious that EYE FOR AN EYE has been honing their craft for many years, and Teraz finds them at the top of their game. Alternating between brutal and melodic, each song feels like the result of the kind of chemistry that is reserved for long-running bands. The lazy comparison is to POST REGIMENT, due to the vocals and being from Poland, but EYE FOR AN EYE veers far more into an aggressive, metallic territory with lots of tempo changes and even some blastbeats. The production value on this album is quite polished, which detracts from the energy, but suits the mosh parts well enough. Overall, a strong effort from a group of seasoned hardcore veterans. 

Fükkheads Speed and Political demo cassette

Pure noise. Call your friends, lock yourself up in a basement with mold and bad acoustics, try some acid, and play out-of-tune guitars and rusty drums. Then, record everything with an old phone while a maniac screams as if the world was coming to an end. The result would be something similar to the latest FÜKKHEADS work, an indiscernible maelstrom of din topped with a voice out of a psychophony. A crust pandemonium just apt for the demented and fans of the most unhinged DOOM tracks (kind of the same thing). The A-side is a 10:32-long recording of a cave show; the B-side was taken from a squat gig at an abandoned factory. It seems more fun to play than to listen to, but as they say: “This release is an existential cry for help as the human race accelerates towards complete oblivion, wishing to return into the mycelium network from once we evolved from. It’s ugly but so is this world!”. I agree.

Gut Health Electric Party Chrome Girl EP

Well, this is an interesting one. On my initial listens to this Melbourne five-piece’s debut, I was having trouble nailing down points of comparison. I kept landing somewhere among the contemporary no wave/post-punk scenes of Oakland and Portland. The four tunes on this EP are built around sparse, bass-driven grooves, and harsh guitars play more of a percussive role. So, in that respect they’re not a million miles away from the stuff LITHICS, the WORLD, or COLLATE have made. But it would also be a stretch to say this sounds like any of those bands. It’s more like GUT HEALTH takes that same minimal post-punk foundation, cranks up the tempo, and, instead of making something funky, arty, or cool, layers in goofy synths and exuberant vocal melodies to create something that’s unabashedly new wave pop. Listen to a track like “Lethargic” to get a good sense of the uniqueness of this act—I wouldn’t say this “Kids in America”-meets-JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS chorus comes out of nowhere, but it’s definitely not what you would expect given the first 30 seconds of the song. It’s a formula that I think ultimately works due in large part to the tightness of the band and Athina Uh Oh’s commitment to this vocal performance. I’d be really interested to see how well this works live. On record, though, it’s good!

Headcheese Demo 2022 cassette

Kamloops’s HEADCHEESE is planning an LP, but in the meantime, we get this unhinged little demo. The band swings back and forth between sounding playful and pissed as they run through four speedy tracks of schizophrenic hardcore. These beefy tunes are centered around start/stop dynamics and often drop into spats of sparse, jerky instrumentation, not unlike the CONTORTIONS. If you like ‘em heavy and weird, this one’s for you. There’s a great hoe-down-style song called “Loss Prevention” on here, too.

Kibera Nemáš Jméno EP

D-Beat from the Czech Republic with an epic touch, good structures, and an afterlife voice. The guitars are too grandiloquent and solemn for my taste, almost with a bit of metal, but they have everything you look for in the genre.

Limbs Bin A Glass of Sour Quince cassette

Has a decade (plus) of harsh noise madness mellowed LIMBS BIN? No, young punk…not at all. Eighteen doses of chaotic, repetitive blasts shoving frenetic vocals from track to track with no time to breathe in between. A swarm of electronics fill the scant remaining spaces so the listener experiences nothing but pure mania; extreme noisecore stripped to its core elements (the “noise” and the “core”) and presented untreated, at maximum intensity. Eighteen fully-formed assaults crammed into 177 seconds…and then you can exhale.

Mess Traidores / Excuses 7″

Here are two more crackers from MESS, one of the best to do it in the current crop of Oi! bands gaining popularity. Both sides of this 7” scratch the itch, with “Traidores” and “Excuses” straddling the line of first-wave ’70s punk and classic UK82 and Oi!, influenced by the usual suspects (BUSINESS, BLITZ, 4-SKINS). Throw this on with a beer or spliff for a solid Saturday night.

Nag Human Coward Coyote LP

If you’re looking for straightforward hardcore or punk, maybe look elsewhere, but if you’re in the mood for that creepy, kind of surreal, Outer Limits-inspired punk, then stick around. NAG from Atlanta, Georgia released Human Coward Coyote earlier this year as a fresh addition to their growing catalog. This new album pushes the punk element deeper with a bit more raw production and in-your-face drums. If you’ve ever enjoyed the work of A FRAMES, then you’ll like this. There’s even elements that remind me of the ADOLESCENTS and a bit of AGENT ORANGE. Overall, it’s a fast, fun blend of darker punk interspersed with some intergalactic noise.

Non Band Vibration Army / Silence​-​High​-​Speed 7″

Two tracks that were recorded by Japanese art-punks NON BAND in 1981, but ultimately left on the cutting room floor when they released their self-titled 10” the following year. Rhythm completely guides the songs, with hypnotic tom-centered beats tumbling behind see-sawing violin scratch, elastic-snap bass grooves, and vocalist/bassist Non’s flipped-out baby doll chatters and shrieks—a splintered no wave deconstruction of (punk) rock-descended sound, but one that’s more playful and freewheeling than skronking and confrontational, sort of like the RAINCOATS by way of DNA (if you want to be reductive). Both sides are absolutely killer, and as a bonus, the 7” comes with a beautifully laid-out 48-page booklet/magazine full of archival photos of the band taken by Yuichi Jibiki, who was responsible for backing some of the wildest Japanese post-punk of the early-to-mid-’80s through his label Telegraph Records. It’s a German import and not cheap, but absolutely worth every penny and any effort involved in obtaining a copy. Do it!

Physique Again cassette

PHYSIQUE has been one my favourite US bands of the past five years, a statement that is not to be taken lightly since the belly of the beast has produced a lot of quality crust, noisy hardcore, and D-beat music in that time. Before PHYSIQUE, the word “physique,” in its English form, inexplicably evoked images of David Beckham’s underwear ad campaigns, so I am extremely grateful that it has now been replaced with visions of crust pants and Flying Vs. Olympia is not a town that one would traditionally associate with being mercilessly assailed by Japanese-style distorted atrocious hardcore madness, but this makes PHYSIQUE even better. Again is the band’s first real LP and it is relatively long for a dis-noise crasher oeuvre, no less than thirty minutes (as a comparison The Evolution of Combat was a twelve-minute affair), so clearly it is an ambitious undertaking. I have always liked how the band’s sound evolved through time, as the progression from Punk Life is Shit to Again is striking. On this new one, PHYSIQUE keeps working in the liminal space between the crasher hardcore crust school and the most brutal käng tsunamis. D-CLONE Frenching FRAMTID at a conference about the Tokyo Crusties EP and followed by a workshop about how to write your band’s name with the classic DOOM font. Basically. The sound on this album is devastating and almost scary: the drums sound insane, an impressive demonstration of the manic crasher style with its distinct rolls and transitions, the guitar’s distortion is al dente, the bass sounds like there is an earthquake next door, and the vocals have never sounded so desperate, agonizing, and almost unnaturally angry. They sound like a zombified bear singing along to SHITLICKERS on a night bus. PHYSIQUE shines on this, but it is the sheer relentlessness of the songwriting that is incredible, with only two delicious, DISCHARGE-loving, mid-paced scorchers to let the listener breathe and throw a few cool dance moves. Again is an articulated work behind its frightening ferocity, and the last song “Again (Reprise)” is a seven-minute-long galloping D-beat song that goes on again and again, precisely in the style that traditionally goes on again and again, just like war and misery go on again and again. The song never seems to stop even when it should, which is a pretty accurate metaphor for the world we live in. The tape is released on Iron Lung, but there will be a vinyl version soon enough. What a brutal experience.

Poker Face Poker Face LP

Early ’00s full-length from Warsaw’s POKER FACE gets the reissue treatment from Enigmatic. Melodic hardcore that hits like a street punk NOFX, or the later records by NYHC bands who had started to mellow. Catchy guitar leads and determined, gritty vocal snarls, they’re at their best when the songs are short and sweet, but there’s a legion of new fans just waiting to discover this band—and I hope that they do.

Revanche À Jamais EP

A nicely-done EP from Switzerland’s REVANCHE, featuring four sturdy Oi! tracks sung in French. No frills here; this is as clean as a freshly shaved dome. Opening track “Poucave” and title track “A Jamais” are a saxophone or two away from being indistinguishable from the source material these guys are working from. For fans of the old school (TROTSKIDS) and the new school (MESS, CASTILLO) of the genre.

The Rubs (dust) LP

The RUBS make no-frills, verse-chorus-verse pop music. They have been at it for a while now, and have scrawled their name in the lengthy scroll of the Chicago pop punk sound that keeps on trucking. It has been a minute since I have seen this band around. I do remember hearing their single “The Walk” when it came out in 2015 and thinking that Joey Rubbish and company were on the  bluesy garage end of the spectrum…seven years later with (Dust), the band comes with much more of a synth-laden, dreamy pop punk feel. It all has the right feel with enough hooks, harmonies, and palmed guitar riffing to get the bubblegum popping. I feel that a good amount of the record’s tracks would almost do better with shortened lengths—the opener “I Want You” and “Dana” come to mind. I would buy this album just to listen to “Here in My Dream,” a sleepy, quiet composition. It is acoustic and woody and does not sound like the rest of the pack.