Look who we have here again. Yes, the omnipresent James Domestic is in yet another band. Here it’s four tracks of basic garage punk with Domestic’s vocals snarling away over a rollicking soundtrack. I’ll hold my hands up and admit it took me a while to realise that all songs have the word “public” in […]
If you’re looking for a sign that spring has arrived (besides flowers and sunshine and Cadbury eggs), here it is. This collection of 2016 demo tracks is really a sudden burst of an album, filled with raw, booming, gnarly, irrepressible garage pop. Very different in tone from Melchior’s two somewhat recent, superb cassettes of meditative, […]
A twenty-song song cassette tape with artwork that looks very ’80s major label, similar to CBS Records or something. It’s a very nostalgic look for someone my age, for sure. Songs are all over the place, just the way the cassette buyer likes things to be. Some super poppy stuff, acoustic in places, fast to […]
How gradual is death truly? When you think about how much you grew from seventeen to twenty, and then compare it to the last three years of your life, it can certainly feel like we’re living dead years. The songs on this record confront the creeping stoppage. The standstill. The “Creation and Decay”: “All bright […]
I’m not sure why this slab of vinyl exists, except perhaps as a tribute to the band’s late vocalist. It’s a real shitty live recording of this short-lived San Diego hardcore band. Just about all of the songs on this record were also released on two studio records, so it’s not like this is the […]
The pride of Columbus, Ohio is back with a new batch of songs! I think these cats are more off again than on again, making the appearance of Songs for Money even more surprising and rad. This trio’s blend of pop hooks and atmospherics is bolstered by memorable vocal harmonies sung by twin brothers Austin […]
Modern flavor hardcore—or should I say “hawdcore”—from DC. The vocalist is a dead ringer for Victim in Pain era Roger Miret and the music follows suit with odes to NYHC and Madball in particular. No chugga-chugga or crowd killing foolishness here; just four blows to the head of the type of hardcore that will never […]
Longtime Czech band that started in the early ’90s. Their first recorded outing was 1996! Fierce political hardcore sung in their native tongue with some NYHC vibes along with the straight ahead damage of Poison Idea. It’s totally “fine” and listenable but isn’t making it to the top of the pile anytime soon. If you’re […]
I’ve been a huge supporter of Tor Johnson Records over the years, so it was natural that when they announced a subscription series in celebration of their 20th anniversary that I signed up as soon as possible. This first release from the series features Dikembe and Slingshot Dakota, two bands I’m not super familiar with. […]
The picture, band name, and label would lead you to believe the third (or fourth?) full length by this long time Dallas band would be straight up “street punk,” but there’s waaaaaay more to it. For sure there’s Cock Sparrer, Street Dogs, et al. vibes here, but there’s something in the songwriting and vocal delivery […]
White and black swirl reissue with two blistering songs. I know I’ll never see this band live, but I can crank this up and pretend. Punishing and unrelenting. Snatch this up quick as Merge only ponied up for three hundred platters and then that’s it. –Sean Koepenick (Merge, mergerecords.com)
Drug Church’s first full-length in four years is rather on the short side: ten songs in twenty-six minutes. However, still here are influences from the Pixies, The Breeders, and Seaweed, all filtered through a post-hardcore sound. Yet, there’s a bit of growth: “Premium Offer” has a Cursive vibe and “Tiresome” leans hard on a Quicksand […]