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!

Exxxon Diesel Tape cassette

EXXXON is back with a third tape of fossil-fueled fury. This one kicks off with “Mavverick,” which pays homage to MINOR THREAT’s “No Reason” with its thumping bass intro and recurring “you say you hate me” lyric. Next up is the brief, head-bobbing blow-out “Connoco,” followed by the bratty, stomping closer “Chevrron.” While this one’s a little more driving and less funky then their previous efforts, their simple and smart shit-fi recipe remains pretty much the same. They’re going to run out of gas company names eventually, right? They’re already using ones I’ve never heard of, but then again, I’m not really a big gas station buff. I am a fan of uncompromising punk art, however, and that’s what this is.

Feed Stimuli cassette

I guess it was bound to happen, but someone finally smashed the two plastic dinosaurs of NWI-style home studio synth punk and good ol’ fashioned ’80s hardcore. The results couldn’t be more fun or sensibly pissed-off. The bulk of the HC sound comes from the broken-glass vocals that send home the blunt force of tracks like “Numb.” Everything here drives forward, with a cool clean tone to the guitars and satisfying swerve to the synth. Everything congeals in a sound that’s truly disorienting at first, with brainy-but-dumb guitar leads and great riffs that make your teeth throb. The overall impact feels subtle at first, but this is some dank basement rage cage shit, not to mention the dizzying effect of almost every track title/chorus being the same cadence of growling three syllables. Pow pow pow. Almost every cut. I’d definitely slam to it, and I’m amazed I haven’t heard more imitators. Not yet anyway, but they’ll come. Check out “Tooth Decay,” you won’t even notice you’re getting bruised when you’re having such a good time.

Food Fight Shenanigans EP

A French band on a Spanish label! Why can’t the whole world get along that well? Track one gets started with a super catchy power pop number that’s super melodic, but almost has a little herky-jerkiness going on. It’s a fine start and leaves me wanting to hear more. They slow things down a tad on track two, but it remains very catchy, with an almost CARS-like lead guitar. Track three is another power pop cut with vocals that remind me of MADNESS, despite the fact that it is not at all a ska sound. And they round it out with one that continues very much in the same spirit of the others. Overall, four strong songs that are quite easy to listen to. More than bouncing my head, this one has me shimmying my shoulders. It’s a subtle but important difference.

The Harlequins Time LP

And now for something completely different, here are a dozen tracks of psych-y indie rock/pop from Cincinnati, OH. Any of these songs could sneak onto your hometown classic rock station or the soundtrack of a Zach Braff movie. The fuzzy, reverb-y guitars, dreamy, ’60s harmonized vocals, and trippy instrumental passages would make our parents/grandparents rack their brains for where they heard this band before. As an example, the track “Daydream” features BEACH BOYS-style “ooh”s, and check out these lyrics: “I walk through a dream / Half-a-stride / Awake so it seems / Eyes are wide open / Aren’t they?” Far out.

Irish Handcuffs Transitions LP

Catchy melodic punk from Germany with personal lyrics about love, loss, and life, melding different aspects of bands like SAMIAM, NO USE FOR A NAME, and ALKALINE TRIO into a nice package that is totally their own. I’m of the firm belief that everything has been done to death, so to hear a band like this that doesn’t make me write it off as a carbon copy of something from a bygone era and make me reach for the original is refreshing. Well done.

Ismatic Guru II cassette

Treble-punk meets synthwave on this short and fun tape. Imagine the top-of-the-neck guitar lines of CONEHEADS with the bright and bouncy keys of CHERRY CHEEKS and you’ll get the idea. The bio describes the vocals as “goblin ELVIS,” and I can’t do better than that. Every song is a perfect bouncy rocker with interlocking guitar and keyboard elements that are catchy and danceable, with a warm bass (or maybe organ?) sound that is mixed perfectly. The last song is called “Hey, Little Fucker,” which is an A+ title. If you’re on team egg, check this one out.

Leatherface Cherry Knowle LP reissue

Full disclosure here, I love this band. Now, that said, I do not particularly love this album. It was, in fact, the first LEATHERFACE album I heard, and as such it will always have a certain place in my heart, but for me it’s probably somewhere in the middle as far as my personal rankings of their albums go. That’s not to say that it’s not a strong album. In fact, as my gateway to the band, it was strong enough to make me go see them several times, which then led to my eventual love of the band. Song-wise, there are some great ones here. I think it was initially the production of the album that didn’t win me over immediately, but now it’s endearing. I’m glad that it’s finally been reissued, as it is a great record, and the only one I actually no longer have a copy of. Pretty sure it sold out fairly quickly though, so it’s off to the internet I go to find a copy for a ridiculous price!!!!!

Martha Please Don’t Take Me Back / My Heart is a Drummer 7″

This 7” single came in advance of MARTHA’s fourth studio album Please Don’t Take Me Back, which was released at the end of October. The group has written a lot of music since their first release in 2012, and between their old family (I assume) photos for album covers and their syrupy indie sound, they have definitely made a “thing” for themselves. “Please Don’t Take Me Back,” sung by one of the male vocalists, reminds of some newer ARCTIC MONKEYS that’s made its way through alt-radio stations countrywide—and while I don’t necessarily mean that as a compliment, the song is great in a lot of ways: it starts with simple palm-muted strumming, bouncy drums, and iconic over-pronounced British vocals that build into a heavier chorus with plenty of harmonies and catchy hooks. “My Heart is a Drummer” (which I don’t see on Please Don’t Take Me Back) has a more enjoyable structure, with a fast drum breakdown during the chorus shouts of “In the place where my heart is a drummer / In the place where my heart is drummer.” I also find the female vocals (occupying the second half of the song) a little less grating and the lyrics less formulaic. Everything about this works, sounds great, and has that air of nostalgia (just look at the cover) that is so popular amongst a world gone wrong, but you have to really like sappy indie to enjoy this, and for me, these two songs were about my limit.

Nasty Facts Drive My Car 12″ reissue

Teenage punky power pop perfection! While too many KBD slabs have been elevated to “essential” status by virtue of little more than their scum stats, this is a legitimate ripper, and a really important one at that. NASTY FACTS first came together as four grade school Brooklyn tweens playing covers in 1975, an origin story that would probably be enough in and of itself to cement their legend, but bassist/vocalist KB Boyce was also Black and queer, commanding space in a scene that has generally been synonymous with lovelorn white men fixating on women as lyrical subjects/objects of unrequited desire. The band tears through the three tracks on their one-and-done 1981 single with the wound-up melodic velocity of the BUZZCOCKS (bobbing bass, blazing guitar, restless drumming), with KB’s vocals exuding effortlessly cool teen nonchalance on the unassailable A-side “Drive My Car”—the line “I’d rather dance than read a book” in one verse precedes “I’d love to hit you with my car / Don’t ever look at me that way” in the next(!), with some SHANGRI-LAS’ “Leader of the Pack”-style car crash sound effects thrown in to really underscore that sentiment. The B-side (“Gotta Get to You/Crazy ‘Bout You”) is killer, too; a double-trouble dose of fierce, anthemic bubblegum punk right up there with the likes of SCREAMING SNEAKERS and the MNM’S (if you know, you know). Such a crucial record in so many ways. 

Oog Bogo The Beat Sessions cassette

When this act dropped their Plastic LP earlier this year, I was not a fan. It seemed like yet another herky-jerky solo affair in an already overcrowded field, and the record struck me as being superficially wacky or out-there (an impression I think I got from its record cover). But maybe most significantly, the album’s production just kinda left me cold. The guitars sounded thin, squishy, and percussive—at times, almost like they’d been programmed on an SNES—and the vocals were too forward in the mix, really breaking the illusion that these songs were being played by a band. So, I hastily filed this away as being fine but not for me. Now, look, we all make mistakes. If you’re unfamiliar with the Beat Sessions series, the deal with them is that sound engineer Mike Kriebel invites a band to drop by his Golden Beat studio in Los Angeles for a one-day, high-quality, live-ish recording session that he then releases as a cassette (it’s essentially a modern-day Peel session). For this twelfth installment, OOG BOGO (a.k.a. Kevin Boog from MEATBODIES) is joined by a handful of folks to more or less re-record that entire LP in a looser, live setting. Seriously! Seven of the eleven LP tracks are represented here, along with three quarters of their 2020 EP and a KLEENEX cover (“DC10”). And this just worked for me this time…like, a lot! The songs are faster, and the production is much more immediate—this thing really beats the hell out of you like you’re in the room with the band. What’s wild is that pretty much all the parties involved in the LP’s recording (at least TY SEGALL and Mike Kriebel) are also present here, perhaps in slightly different roles. In any case, hearing these songs in a new context allowed me to appreciate them for what they are—well-written, intricately constructed, genuinely out-there bangers that are equal parts psychedelic pop, SPITS-y downstroke punk (particularly in their dum-dum harmonies), and whatever you want to call Here Come the Warm Jets or the A-side of DAVID BOWIE’s Low. Revisiting the LP, I still think some of my original complaints are warranted, but I’m willing to admit that I was wrong—it’s an excellent album. Still, this collection of tunes is nevertheless an improvement over that. Stellar stuff!

Persona Free Your Mind! 12″

Free Your Mind!, the latest release from NYC’s PERSONA, consists of seven tracks of anarcho-punk-infused, thrashy fast hardcore punk fury. Fierce combustion with the intensity of maniac drums and noisy, textured analog-sounding recording, a damaging, in-your-face explosion. Reminiscent of anarcho-punk bands going outside of their musical boundaries and fusing the fury of fast USHC such as HERESY/RIPCORD and DAN, or the intuitive New Mexico/East Bay fury of GRIMPLE. We’ve been pogoing for the last decade-plus with the Toxic State catalog, and perhaps it’s time for more circle pits and stage dives.

Pyhät Nuket Kuoleman Sotatanssi LP reissue

PYHÄT NUKET was formed by Finnish punks Lasse Aaltonen and Juha Nabb while their main outfit, the legendary RIISTETYT, was taking a break, and after this short-lived project was finished, most of the musicians went on to NUKET. PYHÄT NUKET was far from their main gig, delving more and more into goth and new wave territory, but you can just call it post-punk—catchy and bright anthems for the goth that resides inside each punk. Kuoleman Sotatanssi has now reached a cult classic status in the underground scene and has seen a reissue courtesy of Svart Records.

Remedy Feelin’ Demo 2022 cassette

Low-fidelity, rudimentary rock’n’roll. Singer’s going for some kind of Colin McFaull-meets-Angry Anderson snotty bar rock vibe while the band plods through grimy would-be jams that sound like they are, quite literally, coming from your drunk neighbor’s garage. Which is, of course, the charm of REMEDY FEELIN’, because that’s exactly what they’re going for. When they hit the multiple vocals on “Sleepless Summer,” I’m reminded of SF greats FANTASY (which will mean little to most readers, but if you know, then you definitely know)—like glam without any of the chops or any of the….well, without any of the glam. Weird, right?

Savageheads Service to Your Country LP

As my dear friends in the Guinness marketing department will oft remind me, good things come to those who wait, and this is a very good thing indeed. Coming hot off the heels of their solitary release eight(!) years ago, a SAVAGEHEADS full-length finally lands, and fuck me sideways lads, it’s a total bloody belter. Thirteen tracks of raging UK82-in-‘22 pogo joy and the perfect soundtrack for cheap cider and solvent abuse. Snotty, amphetamine-rapid riffs, sneered vocals sticking two fingers up to every establishment of which you can think, and pounding drums that feel like the heartbeat of an anxiety attack. People will compare this to yer ABRASIVE WHEELS, yer SKEPTIX, yer PARTISANS, etc., but this is just a really fucking good record and one you should nick your nan’s pension to get…it’s just that good.

Sawchuk Modern Love LP

Active for around eleven years so far, this is the first full-length release for Detroit’s SAWCHUK. Modern Love straddles the line between fast hardcore punk and the more heavy, more groovy variety of hardcore—whichever mode it is in at any given moment, it is consistent in its negative energy. This record displays a wide array of different emotions, very few of them of a positive nature. Modern Love is a very dour listening experience, but in the best way.

Thee Dirty Rats Humans Out LP

We’re in desperate need for a new wave of garage that doesn’t feel like an echo of an echo of the past. There have obviously been great garage rock duos that loom large over the scene, and THEE DIRTY RATS feel in step with the tradition, but the use of cigar box guitar that truly sounds like shit (not a compliment in this case) and distant and muddy drums makes most of the affair feel hollow. One high point that actually uses the crappy sound to an almost motorik effect is the uncharacteristically effective “Headache.” I could hang if the rest of this LP sounded the same, a blood rush of nearly industrial rock that touches base with SUICIDE and NEU! more so than anything from the garage canon. Likewise, the following track “Plastic Veins,” with its JESUS AND MARY CHAIN bubblegum goth aura, satisfies by doing something not altogether new but with a steely confidence and bummer vibe that I just want more of. Like any subgenre, the formula works best when used against itself, and I wish this Brazilian two-piece took that more to heart.

The Trouble Seekers The Trouble Seekers LP

What a pleasant surprise. The TROUBLE SEEKERS are Kevin McGovern from the PROSTITUTES and Hillary Burdon from the PANDORAS. On their first album, they deliver a superb set of songs with great elegance, melodic sense, and humor, mixing the classic Southern California punk sound of the ’80s, synths à la SCREAMERS or NERVOUS GENDER paired with a punchy drum machine, and some classic rock attitude. Imagine the McDonald brothers collaborating with Lawrence from DENIM—that’s the closest thing I could come up with to describe the very personal sound of this project.  Listen to “Out of Order” and thank me later.

Vomitatrix Vomitatrix cassette

I am not well-versed in noisecore, but from what I remember of seeing BASTARD NOISE, MERZBOW, and SEX MOB (featuring JOHN ZORN), VOMITATRIX aligns with their sonic insanity. However, VOMITATRIX adds more carefree, psychedelic guts to their music. This is chaotic but with formation. Disturbing and unhinged but not without consciousness. I think VOMITATRIX would be a thrill to see live. From Jupiter, FL—I’m feeling more like from Jupiter the planet. Some of the song titles are more disturbing than the maniacal structures (think A.C.). This is “free death,” in the musical genre sense. Like JOHN ZORN, what do you do with yourself when an audience standing there expects you to “play”?

War Effort War Effort cassette

Rumor has it that WAR EFFORT started as an experiment: get into the studio and try to record an EP in a single day. Maybe we’re hearing the end result, maybe not, but I sure do love the myth-making intention. And what do we have here? Blistering and pure D-beat from a band that offers a brutal execution; an in-your-face sound that lives up to the phrase “first idea is the best idea.” This sounds fresh, free, and unabashed.

Whippets Kick EP

Did anyone else expect SNAPCASE’s “Caboose” to start playing after the opening drum lick on this EP? For your sake, I hope not! Anyway, we’ve got a new 7” from Goodbye Boozy, this time it’s the debut vinyl release from the Madison, WI-based act WHIPPETS. The project began as a recording outlet for Bobby Hussy (he seems to have started developing ideas for it as far back as 2013), but he’s since fleshed things out into a full band by adding frequent collaborator Tyler Spatz (the HUSSY, CAVE CURSE) on bass and Riley Heninger on drums. Broadly speaking, I guess the band plays post-punk, but from track to track the amount of “punk” or “post-” you get will vary. Three of the four tracks on this EP tread a lot of the same ground JAY REATARD laid with Blood Visions—tight, dynamic, start/stop songs that are as indebted to garage punk as they are gothic rock or any of its derivations—whereas “Cure” is more mechanical post-punk in the vein of A FRAMES. To top it all off, Bobby’s doing his best imitation of early-BIRTHDAY PARTY Nick Cave—to the point of caricature, though, so it’s more in TV GHOST territory. I don’t think any of these songs have quite as much character as ones put out by the aforementioned acts, but they’re definitely not bad. You should give it a spin!

Your Pest Band Reflecting Board LP

Sometimes bands get it right with their album title. Reflecting Board is spot-on for this collection of introspective punky power pop tunes. It is mood music for when staying home and lounging seems like the right option. The album contains seven tracks that were released in Japan in 2021, now available on vinyl.

Ä.I.D.S. The Road to Nuclear Holocaust 12″

My dad’s dog is really quite extraordinary—my dad actually thinks the said dog is Nobel Prize material, but he’s always been a little hyperbolic. The little bastard has the sharpest ear in the animal realm. Even if you softly whisper words like “cake” or “walk” to someone else’s ear, the furry tornado will rush toward you and glare miserably. I am endowed with the same power when it comes to DISCHARGE. I can effortlessly hear random people in another room discussing the band and, while I try not to bother them, a part of me wishes that I would be more like my dad’s dog and just run to them. So when I heard about Ä.I.D.S., a Swedish project blending the classic D-Takt sound with power electronics, I was very curious, and upon reading the epic romantic description provided by La Vida Es Un Mus, the well-established and prolific label releasing it, I was determined to love The Road to Nuclear Holocaust (a very common road in D-beat mythology). I don’t necessarily dislike original takes on the discore genre—I love THISCLOSE and their silly but respectful tribute to the obsession with DISCHARGE, and even the insane Truth of Arize LP (harsh noise + DOOM-styled cave-crust) gets some playing time. But this one does not do anything for me. There are classic DISCHARGE riffs and a couple of decent ideas but on the whole it just sounds like a bored punk arsing around with a synth during the COVID lockdown convinced that Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing would sound alright with more solos and played through a ’90s kid’s electronic toy. I wanted to love this but ended up disappointed.

[Ass][Ass][Ins] Underneath cassette

Instantly addictive, high-energy punk. SPITS-caliber paired with SOVIETTES-level hooks, all given the business with guitar leads sharing the spotlight with sharp, urgent vocals. Check “I’m Not Paying Rent” and know that you’ll be hearing from Canada’s [ASS][ASS][INS] again—great stuff!

The Berzerkers For Love / Rest Yer Bones 7″

Two straight-up, hard-rockin’ tunes from Orange County. Both songs feature wailing guitars and snarling vocals recovering from the trials and tribulations of the year 2021. The way the singer pronounces “head” in “For Love” makes it occasionally sound like “hair,” making me repeatedly chuckle at the lyric “head on straight.” I always found the phrase “Rest Yer Bones” a bit corny. Does anyone say that anymore? I’ll stick with the A-side.

Binge Kings 25-Song Demo cassette

BINGE KINGS announce their arrival with a 25-song collection of shit-fi garage punk tunes consisting of tinny guitar, drums, and snotty shouted vocals. Upon further listening, I think the drums are just one snare drum. It might actually be a bucket. In addition to the songs, there are seven skit tracks taken from movies, mostly centered around beer. The talent on display here is lacking—primitive power chord progressions with simple snare pounds could be great, but the songwriting is never that interesting. The vocals are by far the best part, and the confident full-throated yell works well over the high-tone practice amp aesthetic. It sounds like they were going for CARBONAS-style straight-ahead punk, but you gotta have the songs, man. “Windsor” stands out as a rough little gem with a melody that shines through the fuzz like the best LIQUIDS tracks. I know demos can be rough around the edges; the rawness and spontaneity are often an exciting statement of purpose. This one was a bit of a slog to get through.

Chronophage Chronophage LP

CHRONOPHAGE is a band that slowly wooed me. I’ll fully admit I wasn’t open to embrace their first two releases What is the Mystery of Love? and Prolog For Tomorrow—something about the lo-fi production of the first didn’t light up my enthusiasm for the second, and I couldn’t break through it. But it was Th’ Pig Kiss’d Album that was the skeleton key that opened up everything for me. I love having my mind changed by a band, especially if they’re not being pushed on my plate. I could tell there was some true songwriting happening in this band, unhindered by aesthetic tropes or genre. This new LP is another progressive step, with influences I can only hint at. There are sounds that are familiar to the ear and on the tip of my tongue, but I’ll avoid embarrassment by incorrectly guessing. Written and recorded as the pandemic waged on in uncertainty, the songs seem to reflect the dismal nature of the outside world, and the warm light and strength found in the internal worlds of friendship and love. The production and arrangement of the first three songs suggest fighting through some sort of dense depressive fog, the songs floating in a milky pool of feeling, melodies, and verses, but without any resolution. That’s when “Summer to Fall” kicks in with that instantaneously hooky descending bassline, twanging bites of power pop guitar, the keyboards humbly humming harmony underneath while the vocal ascends with that simple but resonantly tender line “You woke me up at midnight / To tell me you were scared.” The structure of it gives you one perfect hit of dopamine and excitement after another—a trickling sunshower of piano, a clashing call-and-response bridge, back to the undeniable chorus, with a spoken word closer coda. It’s a completely Perfect Pop Song. “Black Cloud” is a similarly strong statement, skeletonized with doomsday jangle and sweetened with synth string stabs, lyrics that sound like viewing scenes of desolation and desperation from a car window, moving through it but never away from it. From this point on the record, the murkiness found on the A-side dissipates, and the closers “Burst the Shell” (a slow-burning blue beauty) and “Fear Agony” (a sharp-tipped rocker with an ecstatically messy fuzzy climax of a guitar solo) conclude the record like you have (or it has) woken from a dream with total clarity. CHRONOPHAGE is one of the few bands currently going for whom I’m excited to see how they grow creatively and sonically. Their music is imagining a better brighter world while still fighting the dysfunctional and doomed one we still reside in.

Cuir Album LP

CUIR (French for “leather”) is a one-man band cruising through eleven two-minute cuts of neo/cyber/future Oi! on the superb Album. These strong (if slightly repetitive) traditional punk songs are elevated with flourishes of synth running through each track. Opening instrumental “Maniac” sets the pace, and standout “Luxure Objectif” sums things up perfectly: a propulsive two-and-a-half minute ode to kinky leather bondage. CUIR mastermind Doug Zilla even sounds a little bit like Tony from the RIFFS, what’s not to love? For fans of CAMERA SILENS and the movie Drive.

Cutters Australian War Crimes EP

This release from Melbourne’s CUTTERS consists of six tracks of hardcore punk reminiscent of early “No Parasan”-era FUCKED UP, with songs about the bleakness and emptiness of modern society and a title track in reaction to war crimes committed by Australian SAS soldier Ben Roberts-Smith in Afghanistan. Without resorting to gothy post-punk or anarcho-punk aesthetics, CUTTERS manage to sonically mirror the very dark realities of our world, with rage coming from the daily disgust and depressive nature of self-claimed proud nations and their patriotic cultures. which seems to be a relatable reality many face around the world.

Dead Stare II cassette

Eight tracks of old school punk goodness, coming from that school of hardcore that wasn’t yet an exercise in how fast you could play and occasionally featured guitar solos. Some tracks even have hints of British Oi! The two covers they do, by the SPITS (“Bring”) and NECROS (“Reject”), tell a lot about the overall vibe of DEAD STARE. The vocals are too distorted to make out, which is too bad, because they’re enthusiastic about something. I just can’t tell what. Riffy and melodic.

Eskizo Abandonar la Esperanza cassette

ESKIZO is a great D-beat band from Georgia in the American South. The band’s been around since 2015, refining a very heavy and particular rendition of DISCHARGE-worship that is aggressive, vindictive, and yet really fun. Most tracks are in Spanish, but that shouldn’t be any kind of barrier to enjoy the mean sounds of ESKIZO. I really dig “Inestabilidad,” a mix between early DARKTHRONE and MG 15. Get the cassette.

Form Rank Form Rank cassette

Some beefy, American-style Oi! here, if that’s the sort of thing that floats yer boat; some nice lumpen riffs and a really quite spectacularly Neanderthal “ugh” that reaches in and tickles you on the old amygdala are enjoyable enough. The vocals lurch dangerously close to Tim Armstrong-style anglophilia, which is enough to bring me out in a cold sweat. Some inexplicable saxophone dotted about, which I thought was exclusively the purview of our mates sur la continent, so hearing it here has the same disorientating effect as seeing your teacher in the supermarket on the weekend. Perfectly fine stuff here lads, keep at it.

Future of Despair Hell City cassette

The latest cassette release from Los Angeles’s FUTURE OF DESPAIR is from the G.I.S.M.-worshipping school of ’80s Japanese HC, along with ZOUO, ANTISEPTIC, BONES, etc. Perhaps the next generation of L.A. bands is continuing to carry on the DNA of the East 7th/Silenzio Statico catalogs with BLAZING EYE and ZOLOA running inside their veins. A bombardment of Randy Uchida-style noisy distorted guitars with hellish screams coming down from the struggle of daily life on the streets of L.A.

Glaas Qualm LP

Berlin, Germany’s GLAAS comes out with Qualm, their first LP after last years’ self-titled EP. Think post-punk with wild synths and jacked-up effects of a diseased hardcore. This ten-track album is fun and rowdy—the kind of thing that exemplifies the chaos and distress of the genre to the non-believer, yet is the exact thing that sounds to-the-point and refreshing to the enthusiast. With members from DAS DAS (Cosey Mueller), LACQUER (Raquel Torre), and CLOCK OF TIME (Seth Sutton), to name a few, this group comes well-informed and polished only in their form, leaving plenty of splinters to pierce through the speakers, hopefully blowing out into a lousy basement haunt. Copies are going fast!

Hayley and the Crushers Modern Adult Kicks LP

This album is delivered with such a positive spirit that it’s tough to be critical of it. It’s got a lot of catchy pop melodies, I will say. But I can’t stop hearing what sounds to me like overproduction. Maybe that’s just “production,” but I prefer my music not quite so polished. What’s wrong with a little grit? As you may have guessed, HAYLEY AND THE CRUSHERS are female-fronted, and I’m normally a total sucker for female-fronted pop music. And maybe in a different venue, I’d speak differently, but for me this sounds like it wants to be on mainstream radio, and that’s not what I want when I come to MRR.

Icepield A​ɪ​SP​ɪ​ː​LD cassette

I don’t know how to pronounce this cassette’s title, but I do know that this is late ’90s/early ’00s emo. The songs are on the sophisticated end of the genre: tense, scale-crawling guitar parts appear alongside layered power chords. The former come with occasional chugging riffs, which give it a pop punk tint. The vocals are a real SUNNY DAY REAL ESTATE/BRAND NEW whine. The band mostly plays it safe musically but stretches the boundaries a few times, which kept me on my toes.

Lawsuit Models Unknown Ghosts LP

Mature pop punk? Is that a thing? Like, you can tell this band grew up listening to bands that fell under the umbrella of pop punk for sure, but there’s also some actual elements of something other than three-chord RAMONES-worship. There’s parts that kinda have that DESCENDENTS/ALL/HAGFISH vibe at times. At other times, I am catching ATARIS vibes. I don’t really know how to describe it other than a “radio-friendly” aspect. I suppose that’s not really an accurate term anymore, but I do believe it to be a fair description.

The Mickey Finn 1964/1967 LP

This is a nice collection of singles and unreleased songs from this English beat band. Their best-known song “Garden of My Mind” leads the way for a fun mod head trip. Most of the tracks are fast-paced, upbeat rockin’ ’60s numbers to get you grooving. There are a few duds in the repertoire (“God Bless The Child,” “Please Love Me”), and Jimmy Page makes some obligatory session cameos, but when the MICKEY FINN is on, they are on. Great liner notes by Mike Stax, too.

No Comply / They Live To the Max split 5″

Due to some technical difficulties, this review is late, as the format is a unique 5” I could not get to play on my turntable. Well, the wait is over, and it was worth it. NO COMPLY play bizarre-core, as if the brood of RIGOROUS INSTITUTION played more like SWING KIDS, or if MAN IS THE BASTARD teamed up with ASSHOLE PARADE. Two tracks to grease up the wheels. THEY LIVE take a much more blasting hardcore approach, and it is awesome. Think DEVOID OF FAITH, or PLUTOCRACY in terms of distortion, but a little less crusty. Straight-up powerviolence HC with palpable tension. I’m pretty sure the last song is about Animal Chin and this all has an aggressive skate vibe to it. If you see this, get it. It’s a novel 5” and it’s great.

MIT The Male Idiot Theory cassette

Limited-run tape edition of this Belgian band’s album, combining roboto drum programming and guitars full of angle and jangle. The songs are tight and hooky, the vocals distorted and shouty, and the mechanical rhythms, maniacal tempos, and often odd structures clothesline you in a way that no human drummer could. I would say that with 13 songs in 32 minutes, I got a bit of ear fatigue halfway through—there’s a few unnecessary instrumentals, but mostly I think it’s the unrelenting boom-boom-tat of the drum machine so loud in the mix and starting off every song. The best tunes on here, like “Rainy Sunday,” “Not Reliable,” and “Cancel Today” are catchy and crammed with ideas, and a more tightly edited EP would highlight those best.

Primer Regimen 1983 EP

Been waiting for this one for a while, as PRIMER REGIMEN is one of the best Colombian bands out there, and it’s a pleasure to listen to this EP in-depth. After two great EP releases (No Futuro / No Solución and Ultimo Testamento) which were straight-on UK82 pogo-inducing bangers, one might expect more of the same, and this is where PRIMER REGIMEN throws us a curveball. “Hegemonia” opens the EP with tribal-ish, tom-heavy grooves (think What’s This For…!-era KILLING JOKE) that set a more bleak tone for what’s to come, while the follow-up “Líderes” returns to their brilliant brand of passionate and aggressive UK82-influenced tupa-tupa that takes no prisoners. This succession of songs just shows the evolution of the band as they rely more on ambiance this time that on previous records, so this is an important EP for PRIMER REGIMEN, as they are silently perfecting their craft and pulling out different influences, mainly post-punk and anarcho-punk. 1983 is also a very political EP, relaying the bloody story of Colombia that still has a shadowy grip on their people today.

Rabbit Rabbit demo cassette

Love the name (which is presented symmetrically and fairly illegibly) of this band from Brooklyn. RABBIT plays DARKSIDE NYC-style blackened HC with some dooming psych elements. Four tracks of lo-fi bleak hardcore that is set-back and captivating. The guitar tones are a blanket of space warmth, the drums and bass piledrive through with early ’90s NYHC bitterness. Every musician in this band is bringing something powerful, but RABBIT is clearly not about showmanship. I’m about halfway through this listen and now feeling a specter-like sound of CRO-MAGS’ “Malfunction” mixed with NO FUNERAL tone and the OUT OF LINE demo production. Wait for the Watership breakdown (sorry, had to). Excellent demo if old school dark death-inspired NYHC is (or was) ever your thing, and you’re seeking something fresh from this atomic garden.

Raw Breed Universal Paranoia LP

Denver strikes yet again! Those guys are maniacs, they just cannot stop themselves producing quality hardcore. RAW BREED is yet another example of this, brought to us once again by Denver HC powerhouse label Convulse Records. Universal Paranoia rips all who dare to listen to it a new one. The vocals growl and scowl over a vicious instrumental ensemble. The music sounds like a mish-mash of several different HC variants, but it all works like a charm. The standout track for this reviewer is the pummelling “Damnation,” but you can’t go wrong with any of these twelve tracks.

Scary Hours Symptoms of Modern Hegemony CD

The apparent brainchild of one chap from New Jersey, SCARY HOURS are an advanced metalcore project that seems streamlined for the big stage. CAVE IN-caliber discordance and AVENGED SEVENFOLD-style emphasis on the metal end of that metalcore spectrum. It’s very (very) well-put-together, and kinda makes me wonder if these sounds exist on some other youth-driven commercial platform. Make no mistake, Symptoms of Modern Hegemony is (an) extremely good (example of the genre), though the promo version comes with a full-size “campus copy center”-style bound lyric booklet complete with descriptions of the disparate bands the artist used as an influence for specific tracks. “Sackler Street” was a “first attempt at writing something super metallic like the BLACK DAHLIA MURDER or DISEMBODIED,” while other tracks reference LEFTÖVER CRACK, PANTERA, and JETS TO BRAZIL…confused? There’s a lot to unpack here.

Skrewball Wild Cats EP

With rough and snappy charisma, SKREWBALL from Plymouth, UK pumps out four solid youth crew pounders on their debut 7”. This mostly mid-paced “street punk” stomps firmly in between classic NY and UK hardcore styles, aided by an awesome sore-throated vocalist and bursting into fits of speed at the right moments. Maybe this will arouse fans of both GORILLA BISCUITS and ANTISOCIAL?

So Cal’s Parishioners So Cal’s Parishioners cassette

Wow, it’s incredible how aptly named this band is. Four cuts of classic hardcore, but not just any old hardcore—this is classic SoCal hardcore. It’s melodic, it’s mid-tempo, it’s heavy on a distorted guitar, and the production is lo-fi without sounding off. Some people might make a distinction between L.A. hardcore and Orange County hardcore, but when it’s got that surf vibe going on, I just think of it as L.A. hardcore (having grown up in Northern California, it’s all just Southern California anyway). In the end, it’s really nicely done, and I’m happy that kids and bands are still making cassettes; it shows a commitment to the DIY ethic. If someone can get me a copy of the actual cassette, I’ll make copies for anyone who wants one (I’m kidding).

Total Silence Total Silence demo cassette

This is a beautiful, down-tuned, thrash-y, metallic exertion of power. If the first five seconds of sludgy guitar isn’t your thing, then move on. If it is, my god, turn it the fuck up. These mid-tempo tracks let you appreciate all the riffs, belabored drums, and  “I’m not going to have a voice after this tour” vocals. It reminds me a little of DROWNINGMAN in its pace and technicality (but without the harmonies), and is certainly my kind of heavy. I hope to hear more from these Toronto slayers. TOTAL SILENCE(?)—anything but.

Unit X Ontario Songs cassette

UNIT X is a self-proclaimed vegan straightedge band from London, Ontario, but, as opposed to the more metallic-style commonly associated with that term, UNIT X owes a greater debt to the classic, late ’80s youth crew bands. Ontario Songs offers some solid music and ideas and a nice ‘n’ gruff vocal approach. Unfortunately, I feel this four-track release is let down quite a bit by a pretty sterile mix. The drums also sound pretty clearly programmed, which can be a very hit-or-miss move in the land of punk/hardcore, and I feel like the move did not land here. Regardless, this is still a perfectly solid release that is worth your time if you’re into youth crew.

Wolfbrigade Anti-Tank Dogs EP

Arguably one of the most influential Swedish punk bands ever, starting out as WOLFPACK and steadily evolving into WOLFBRIGADE, with their trademark DISCHARGE meets ANTI-CIMEX meets DISSECTION sound. Many of the modern crust bands owe their careers to these Swedish crust-mongers. This new three-track EP shows a slight evolution into a more metallic and dirty territory, even more so than on their last record The Enemy: Reality. Every song is carefully crafted and sharpened into a weapon of crust destruction. WOLFBRIGADE is a central piece in the Swedish punk scene, whether you want them to be or not. So dig your paws in! The Lycanthro Punks will stop at nothing and trample everything in their path.

V/A Punks in Peoria LP

Taking a long view of the various punk and alternative bands to emerge from Peoria, Illinois throughout the ’80s and ’90s, this comp provides some cool snapshots of a small-town scene’s evolution. Starting off with goofy, KBD-worthy tunes from bands with names like CONSTANT VOMIT and BLOODY MESS & HATE, the tone of the collection progresses into some weird, later ’80s new wave/post-punk (peep the lo-fi sci-fi of DAED KCIS’s “Ghost Story Lane”) before eventually landing into a showcase of various popular ’90s styles. There’s archetypal indie pop in tracks from DOLLFACE and DISMISS, as well as what sounds like misguided NIRVANA-worship from FAST FOOD REVOLUTION, and many degrees in between. This will be a cool nostalgia trip for those who were there, and it’s likely to remind folks in various locales of bands they went to high school with.

Apex Predator Apex Predator demo cassette

Savage, angry metallic hardcore out of Seattle! I am here for it. The guitars chug along relentlessly with the crashing cymbals. The lyrics are nasty and to-the-point. This is circle pit material reminiscent of SLAPSHOT with slower, anthemic breakdowns that accelerate into breakneck mayhem. “Intruding Thoughts” stands out for reasons that are just between my therapist and I. There’s no wasted space on this demo. Nothing but five tracks of solid old school hardcore in about fifteen minutes.