If you’re yearning for more of the awesomeness brought about by Stunted Youth’s tracks on the all-around incredible Save Our Children / Stunted Youth split LP, there’s some good news for you as this debut LP by Memory Ward of Phoenix, Arizona scratches a quite similar itch of artsy and unpredictable hardcore punk very much at odds with the kinda meh standards often associated with the genre. Maybe Memory Ward don’t (yet?) reach quite the adventurousness and subtle melodic brilliance in direct comparison, but most of the goods are in place and look pretty fucking good – the eccentric song structures, the abrasive buzzsaw guitars soaring over an unhinged performance… this is quality shit! Not satisfied with just playing very hard and fast, these folks put some actual freakin’ musical ideas into their songs, which by itself already sets them apart from 99% of hardcore acts anyway.
