Browsing Tag

Hardcore Punk

Insomnia – Fleabag: Demonically Distorted No-Wave Grunge

Posted on 15 October 2024

Insomnia’s latest onslaught, ‘Fleabag’, is a ferocious synthesis of no-wave grunge and unrelenting hardcore punk rhythms. The standout on their LP ‘Idiosyncrasy‘, is a caustic celebration of noise, embodying the spirit of grunge pioneers with a fresh, chaotic twist. The guitars screech with electrifying distortion, while hardcore punk drums thrash out a beat that pummels listeners into submission, offering no respite from the band’s sonic fury.

In the eye of this storm are the vocals—raw, unfiltered, and dripping with disdain, they transmit a message of ‘we’re all mad here’ vindication for anyone wrestling with the chaos of the human psyche.

Undeniably, Insomnia, hailing from San Diego, has mastered the art of avant-garde obscurity. With the cultivated approach of Glenn Branca’s compositions fused with the brashy energy of Napalm Death, the breakthrough band injects listenability into their sound while ensuring their deliverances of no-wave are unfeigned, unfiltered and unafraid to descend into the sonic abyss. Imagine what Pavement would sound like if they were demonically possessed and you’ll get an idea of what is in store when you hit play.

Stream the Idiosyncrasy LP in full by heading over to Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Kuwaisiana – Gentrification: A Sonic Molotov Aimed at Cultural Erosion

Posted on 27 September 2024
https://soundcloud.com/kuwaisiana/gentrification-aug-mix/s-GGnNrQ0jOK2?in=kuwaisiana/sets/mishriff-ep//s-hQHummCrWZD

Seattle-based trio Kuwaisiana aren’t pulling any punches with their latest release, ‘Gentrification’. From the opening Arabic howl of angst, the band tears into the cold, clinical destruction of cultural roots with brutal fury. As the track shifts gears into English, it doesn’t lose an ounce of its venom. Instead, it hammers home the visceral reality of gentrification – not as a polite reshuffling, but a full-scale assault on heritage and identity.

The track’s aggressive blend of grunge, hardcore, and post-punk catapults Kuwaisiana to the frontlines of protest music. Forget the half-hearted rage of your typical punk track; this is pure, unadulterated chaos. With riffs that cut like jagged glass and rhythms that hit like a riot, ‘Gentrification’ feels like a sonic Molotov hurled at the forces that reduce communities to dust. The gnarled vocals alone could level cities, calling back to the uncompromising energy of Bad Brains and Dead Kennedys.

The lyrical narrative is equally ferocious, painting a vivid picture of the hollowed-out ruins left by gentrification. The reference to ‘Disneyland nose jobs’ alludes to how Kuwaisiana aren’t just on the money, they’re holding the monopoly in the punk scene.

The haunting opening image sets the tone for a journey through displacement, exclusivity, and transience. +Aziz’s Kuwaiti-American identity bleeds through every note, making the track a gut punch for anyone who’s watched their cultural landscape get obliterated by the greed of the powerful.

Gentrification will reclaim the airwaves when it officially releases on September 27; stream the single on SoundCloud first.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

HeadWar say R.I.P. to cognitive autonomy in their rancorous installation of grunge-punk ‘Sheep (2023)’

Posted on 18 July 2023

Don’t wage war; wage HeadWar by listening to the Madison WI-residing grunge-punk trio’s latest single, ‘Sheep (2023)’. While saying R.I.P. to cognitive autonomy, the trio pulled out their heaviest instrumental artillery before sludging it up to the nth degree to replicate the chaos currently breeding in socio-political landscapes across the globe.

While I wasn’t all too convinced by the idea that hard times breed good music before, HeadWar is headstrong enough in their vindication to create an irrefutable testament to the adage. With Dalton Aerts ensuring that his vocals are just as savage as his guitars, Sam Tisue paying homage to the drum fills that make Metallica so ferociously cathartic, and Kyle Eith making the rhythm section as tight as possible; for three minutes, Sheep (2023) may convince you to stop banging your head off the wall and bang to the sonic absolution instead.

Add Sheep (2023) to your Spotify playlists.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Abyssal Voyage arrived as juggernauts in the hardcore scene with their debut single, Time

Posted on 16 July 2023

The Floridian experimental outfit, Abyssal Voyage, arrived as juggernauts in the hardcore scene with their debut single, Time. The short but by no means sweet hit pays homage to the hardcore pioneers Agnostic Front and Minor Threat; to punctuate the aggressive blast beats, gnarled riffs guttural vocals, there are punchy pop-punk-esque choruses, which goes to show how versatile and committed to authenticity the up-and-coming four-piece is.

With the promise of more catchily hard-hitting singles to come, the future looks promising for the synergistically tight outfit, which comprises Andres Ruiz, Colten “Verb” Snyder, Cory Schubert, Dylan “Dyl-Pick” Rimart, and Todd Shown.

If the recorded material hits as hard as their debut single, fans may end up leaving the venue in a stretcher after experiencing Abyssal Voyage live.

Watch the official music video for Time by heading over to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Skitz Wizards sharpened their knives in ‘Anger as a Weapon’

Posted on 25 January 2023

The title single from Skitz Wizards’ 2023 EP, Anger as a Weapon, is a vitriolic hardcore punk cut above the rest. There’s enough cathartic venom to make the reprehensible actions of our disaster capitalist overlords momentarily bearable.

With ample distortion in their arsenal, the Nottingham-based outfit, which says true to the virtue of early anarcho-punk, is abrasive enough to put Napalm Death in the same league as Ed Sheeran.

Founded in 2021, the duo set out to extend sonic escapism to the downtrodden. Given the socio-politically agitated environment we are all suffocating in as poverty becomes more prolific, it should come as no surprise that plenty of the increasingly disenfranchised populous is tuning into the raw distorted bass and breakdowns that can effortlessly match our own mental turmoil.

Anger as a Weapon is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Less Miserable – The Dentist: Meet the Icons of Self-Depreciating Post-Emo Pop-Punk

Posted on 27 September 2022
43 Chinook by Less Miserable

Post-emo pop-punk outfit, Less Miserable took expression to the next level in their 2022 standout single, The Dentist. The visceral track explores the intricacies of depression by making a series of proclamations that everyone who has ever felt inadequacy loom along with the bark of the black dog will relate to.

With killer lines “the sun on my face feels like a cheap insult that I can’t ignore” and the chorus hook “If you want me to see a dentist, you’ll have to kick me in the teeth, I can’t ask for help unless it is an emergency” to a backdrop of progressively off-kilter post-hardcore rancour, The Dentist will break your heart through resonance. Before mending it through the affirmation that you’re not alone in the insecurities you feel in loving relationships and the tendency to neglect self-care when you don’t see yourself as something worth investing in

Without a hint of hyperbole, I’ve just found a new favourite artist in the Alberta-based outfit who specialises in self-deprecating anthems made to drink cheap beer to and shout along to in sweaty basements. It’s almost enough to make me buy a plane ticket to Calgary to party with the candour-gifted lyrical visionaries.

The Dentist is now available to stream and purchase via Bandcamp.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Trash n Privilege get biblical in their tempestuous hardcore punk track, Flooded

Posted on 27 March 2022

Californian punk heavyweights, Trash n Privilege, are back on maniacal form in their latest EP, Wrong Again…Brah, featuring the juggernaut of a standout single, Flooded.

With guitar riffs that would make John Dwyer weak at the knees, gnarled feral basslines, percussion that affirms Trash n Privilege as an unfuckwithably cool powerhouse, Flooded is a breeding ground of tempestuous hardcore punk catharsis that pays homage to punk pioneers.

Every track on the EP finds a new way to attack societal hypocrisy – the kind of hypocrisy that breaks into powerless frustration. It’s a subversive shift from the narrative that punk rock will save the world, a well overdue one. As Against Me! already pointed out, the revolution was a lie; what will always be real is the vindication from empathetically scathing acts like Trash n Privilege.

Flooded is now available to stream on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

Tune into Wave of Sheep’s punch-drunk-hardcore-punk single, TV Static

Posted on 9 August 2021

If your playlists are falling short of angsty punch-drunk-hardcore-punk, tune into TV Static, the latest single released by the Birmingham-based fourpiece, Wave of Sheep.

Their scuzzy track is 2:11-minutes of full-frontal aggression that channels the same anger that has eaten us away at us in isolation, but when it is spiralling out of frenetic tracks like TV Static, it’s a unifying cathartic experience that affirms that your anger is a sign of sanity rather than the flipside.

With nods to 70s punk in the production and hints of snarling post-punk to the vocals, you can’t help getting swept up in the track that attacks modern problems with vintage style.

TV Static is now available to stream along with the rest of Wave of Sheep’s EP, Lights Gone Out, via SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Trash n Privilege brought 80s hardcore punk back to the airwaves with The Pain I Like the Most.

Posted on 16 April 2021

Trash n Privilege reintroduced hardcore punk to the airwaves with their anthemically-charged EP, One More Round, featuring the standout stormer, ‘The Pain I Like the Most’. The intensity of the instrumental aggression is enough to give Melvins a run for their money.

The American punk outfit fronted by Steve Shepard takes plenty of influence from the Californian and DC hardcore scenes in the 80s. Lyrically, they’re even more of a visceral force to be reckoned with. The Pain I Like the Most is packed with the abrasive emotions that usually come with negative connotations, but Trash n Privilege proved how necessary they are for endurance.

With their curveball melodic breakdown that leads to a wall of punk discord before the outro in their nuanced track, Trash n Privilege succeeded in affirming that they’re one to watch. Anyone who likes to vent through music that doesn’t buy into the ironically toxic woke culture which manifests on Twitter through very different kinds of breakdowns will want them on their radar.

The Pain I Like the Most is available to stream via SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Inner Turmoil – Grave Mistakes: Beatdown Moshing Hardcore Punk

Posted on 30 December 2019

This song is basically a big jumping fest with a bulky interlude during which it changes into a big moshing fest. Get psyched with this syringe of adrenaline!

Inner Turmoil elegantly describe the music they make as “music to punch your friends to” and we couldn’t agree more. With their song “Grave Mistakes” we can promise you that you’ll get clobbered over the head with brutal guitar riffs, fierce tempo changes, and a killer moshing end part. Their sound and songwriting doesn’t deviate that much from the standard hardcore punk/moshcore formula, but either way, this scene is not exactly infamous for the creative boundaries it’s been pushing in the last decade (at least). While this sound has remained stale for a long time now, it is the frantic live gigs and festivals that are keeping it alive and kicking. And judging by this song, catching Inner Turmoil onstage, you’re probably in for some bruises. I would love to consume this sonic beast live!

Drawing influences from the scene giants, such as Agnostic Front and Sick Of It All, Inner Turmoil are bound to make you jump around. All my hardcore kids, be sure to listen to Grave Mistakes here

Review by Nektarios Oikonomakis