The full length debut of this London group is a perfect storm of delightfully off-the-rails hard- and postcore, often permeated with unexpectedly melodic subcurrents and at first glance kinda playing out like a middle ground between weirdcore powerhouse Warm Bodies and fellow someone-and-the-somethings group Judy and the Jerks… but theres more than just that going on here with moments reminiscent of an eclectic cluster of ambitious hardcore groups á la Acrylics, Crisis Man, Murderer, Kaleidoscope or Straw Man Army.
Pointy Sticks, the unexpectedly melodic opener of this Charlotte, Carolina group's debut cassette, kinda sounds like what i'd expect if weirdo garage punk outfit Print Head were to record a hardcore record. The rest of the tape remains beautifully eccentric too, mixing oldschool hardcore thrills with catchy garage hooks and, at times, the odd oldschool hard rock or doom riff, the latter suggesting stuff like Paranoise as a comparison. Other times, you might liken them to some Connie Voltaire hardcore project or the recent Hippyfuckers demo, all of that steeped in a rough fidelity akin to any random Deluxe Bias or Impotent Fetus release.
Speaking of eggs… here's another batch of short and sweet smashers in the realm of occasionally hardcore-infused garage- and post punk that at one point or another kinda resembles a curious mixture of Big Bopper, Feed/Zhoop/Djinn, S.B.F., Patti and Landowner.
Another powerful punch in the nuts from that California supergroup sharing members with the likes of Acrylics, Public Eye, Violent Change and Ceremony. Here, they deliver their most compact and vigorous set of new tunes so far, having fine-tuned their formula of equal parts hardcore- and garage punk for maximum impact, fusing the unrelenting force of Acrylics and Bad Breeding with the abrasive garage qualities of, say… early Teenanger or Video.
This Santa Ana group emits short and noisy KBD-soaked artifacts, equal parts oldschool garage- and hardcore punk with the occasional touch of Gun Club. The overall impression ain't too far off Neo Neos or any of maestro Voltaire's various hardcore projects, early Erik Nervous and maybe some hint of Launcher, meshed together with some beautiful accident of the kind that might've just as well occured on some random Deluxe Bias or Impotent Fetus release.
Gear up for some completely unsanitized, garage-infested oldschool hardcore mayhem, just as rough as it's catchy and fun, on this EP by a Kansas City group that appears to consist of the same folks otherwise known as Dye. Fans of groups á la Fried E/m and Modern Needs are surely gonna approve of this, as will those of slightly more garage-leaning bands like Launcher, Liquid Assets or Mystic Inane.
I don't think i've ever given this dude from Hammond, Indiana the full spotlight he deserves here, although you might've encountered his shit on some Verspannungskassette mixtapes, where his various alter egos have been a regular occurrence in recent months. Now here are three of his latest batches of minimalist hardcore punk, each of his projects sounding pretty similar if you account for some slight variation in tempo and intensity… as well as some added bottom-of-the-barrel-end electronic reenforcement in the case of Feed, which should've rightfully earned him the title of greatest stylophone player in hardcore punk by now.
Curious mixture of hardcore-, anarcho- and post punk on this Kingston, NY group’s debut tape, assembling a distinct style out of gritty KBD-drenched vibes à la Launcher, a hint of UK82 energy, plenty of Rudimentary Peni and the occasional bit of Crass.
Fuck, that shit smells… but in a good way. After their mildly disturbing one-and-a-half tapes on Impotent Fetus we finally get their first “full” length cassette from Tetryon Tapes and once again this is some joy to behold. Ultra-septic hard- and noisecore vaguely reminiscent of present-day acts like Soupcans, Stinkhole or Vulture shit but also of old pioneers of the Flipper, No Trend, Broken Talent variety. There was a time when, as a kid, folks from my church told me that listening to evil rock’n’roll music might give you a demon infestation (thankfully, the fearmongering didn’t work for long…). I don’t know what listening to C-Krit is gonna leave you with but its side effects include violent sarcasm, diarrhea and not giving a shit.
A veritable gut punch, the debut tape of this St. Louis, Missouri group. Hardcore punk with elaborate & flexible anything-goes song structures, at times catchy and melodic, in other parts showing a gloomy post punk / death rock undercurrent and also there’s some of that oh-so-fashionable (don’t get me wrong, i totally love that) garage edge to it. You might be reminded of hardcore-era Hüsker Dü at some points, as well as recent hard- and postcore stuff such as Nopes, Pink Guitars, Cement Shoes or the colorful yet nightmarish hardcore psychedelia of Murderer.