There’s almost too much this month. I’m admittedly overwhelmed. I might even have to push a couple great things to next month, but I’ll try to get it all in here. Don't get me wrong, I'm stoked. So let's converse about some new stuff.
I’m starting things off with a very biased review because this is a band that is very near and dear to me, both in their recorded output and as people. I’ve had the distinct pleasure and privilege to release the last couple of USA Nails records and now they are off to bigger and better things with their brand new LP “Feel Worse” and I wish them all the success in the world. That all being said, if you’ve liked any of their other records you will be completely satisfied with this one. Like their other records it’s got a big opener, a bunch of fast and catchy/quirky/noisy rippers, a couple offbeat more experimental tracks (that are also still somehow really catchy), and a couple slower ones as well. They manage to meld the best of post-punk, noise rock, chaotic punk, and wild guitar effects and everything they do is immediately memorable and fun. Naturally, I’m a bit partial to the material I had a hand in releasing, but this one is just excellent and I’m super proud/stoked for these English gents.
And that brings us to Cell Press, a clan of Canucks who I’ve had the pleasure of releasing material for in members other bands. Honestly, what a group of sweethearts making some of the most abrasive math-y/gnarled music around. If you need an introduction you get dudes from Great Sabatini and Bleak bringing those same sort of twisted and chunky riffs supported by some of the wildest drumming you’ll hear north of Niagara Falls. And I’ll go on permanent record that Mark McGee is by far one of the nicest people you’ll ever encounter. Maybe it’s all that Tim Horton’s up there keeping the Canadians happy. Or perhaps they’re mainlining all that coffee and maple syrup getting them juiced up to create insane heavy music like this. Mesh early Mastodon, best-era Melvins, and fellow countrymen KEN Mode and you’re getting an idea of what Cell Press is up to on this second release from them. But you know they all listen to Kittens too because no self-respecting Canadian skips on that.
But now to rewind just a bit. Last fall I had the chance to finally see Deaf Club and the expected level of spastic chaos was most certainly to my satisfaction. In short, they fuckin’ killed it. And it led me to thinking about bands firmly rooted in punk/hardcore but doing something next-level, pushing the sound into dangerous and exciting territory. And I think by teaming up with both HIRS Collective and Fuck Money for a split you get three of the most forward-thinking/sounding hardcore bands around. I better not have to tell you about HIRS and how much they rule. You need to know this. Deaf Club and HIRS collaborate on their side of the split for one original that is all chaos, blast beats, noisy guitars making alien sounds, and wild riffs. They also duo on a cover of “Tourettes” that is most definitely apt for both groups. The B-side is newer Austin-based Fuck Money who have a similar approach to both Deaf Club and HIRS, but incorporating more electronic element, or at least grating industrial sounds that are melded into their nihilistic punk. This is all tied together with some most excellent art from the one and only Paul Rentler who makes some of wackiest collages of freak art around these days. It’s crazy to think Sub Pop co-releasing this as well, but big up’s to all these bands for doing something rad.
Shifting gears, and moving towards some more publicly anticipated releases, Gouge Away make an awesome return after several years away. I thought for sure they were either donezo, or became extremely part-time. But here they are with “Deep Sage”, an incredible release showing the group expand their sound even more, taking new chances, and having them pay off in a big way. Plus, I can claim them as locals since half the band lives in Portland now. I was genuinely elated when they did a one-off show here in January to test out some of these new songs live (the album was apparently written in spurts between 2018-2019 before they took a big hiatus with playing in other bands, moving, some pandemic thing, etc) and it just makes me incredibly happy to have a wonderful new record from them. To me they’re still the same band regardless if they’re doing long fuzzed-out blissful tracks like “Dallas”, or fully embracing Fugazi guitar antics like on the title track and “Idealized”. But if you dig the stuff you heard on “Burnt Sugar” that’s still here too on tracks like “No Release” and the super catchy “Spaced Out”. This will probably end up being one of my favorite records this year.
Moving ahead, this ought to have been the lead because it’s the most well-known of the bunch, but when you’re six albums in as a band what can you do to change things up a bit and keep people interested without alienating them? Maybe that’s a question that was on the minds of the guys in Pissed Jeans and their newest album “Half Divorced”. They’ve always been a really interesting band to me as they somehow stumbled onto exceptional popularity early in their career despite never really touring much at all. They were picked up by Sub Pop early on, but continued to maintain a basement-level attitude about playing shows. I can attest to this as I booked them at a community center where they just traveled up in a car with as much gear as they could pack in at some point while “King Of Jeans” was out in the world. They have that rare opportunity to do short runs of shows in places and sell them all out (which was the case upon seeing them very recently) while just using all borrowed gear from the opening band. And they still completely slay live. The more I listen to “Half Divorced” it comes off as another worthwhile Pissed Jeans record, though I guess, if anything, they lean more into punk-hardcore pacing and approach to many of the songs here than on other records that I felt emphasized the noise rock angle more. And maybe it’s all in the way this one was recorded as the production is a little cleaner. But really, that’s about it. They continue to do sobering lyrical humor better than most with deadpan observations about the mundane bullshit of adult life (i.e.- the record title and songs with names like “Helicopter Parent”). This is the type of stuff to make you scream at the umpire when your kid gets a bad call on a strike at the youth league game and the other parents look at you like they’re considering calling child services.
Some sort of algorithm out there is doing its job to point me in the direction of bands I end up liking quite a bit. Such is the case of Force Model, whom I really know nothing about aside from being located in Los Angeles. I gave their debut full length "Found Camera" a listen on a lark and ended up loving it. Force Model doesn’t really stick to one particular thing, but are certainly rooted in punk/hardcore, and also leaning pretty hard into 90’s underground alternative. “Hangnail” is probably the track that perfectly showcases all their varied styles into a cohesive mix of catchy hooks, a heavy and driving chorus, hauntingly melodic bridges, and a loose punk tempo through much of the song. The same can be said of the closing title track, which brings back a lot of energy after a couple more atmospheric tracks before it, with gigantic choruses/finale and an almost psych punk feel akin to more recent Fucked Up material (with sung vocals in place of gruff shouts). Earlier in the record you get a couple fun, fast-paced punk stompers in “Temple/Bus Stop” and “Variety Jones” and I’m quite partial to those as well.
And while on the subject of notifications, but those I have somehow chosen, I keep getting messages from Daze about stuff they’re releasing and in all honesty, a lot of it doesn’t do it for me because I’m really not into beatdown hardcore. Still, every once in awhile something from them catches my attention and in this case, when I saw the record cover for their newest release from Kidnapped I had to check it out because it looks like it could have been pulled from an Unsane B-roll. Yet “Disgust” doesn’t sound like what I thought it would but it still makes sense with the unpleasant cover art. Think more furious powerviolence in the vein of skullcrushers like Infest, but with some heavier moments that recall when legends like Nasum wouldn’t blink at tossing in a breakdown to their warp speed grindcore. Kidnapped follow a similar route, though not as concerned with technicality as they are with a ham-fisted approach to playing incredibly fast and with an attitude like a garbageman in a picket line.
I thought it would be nice to give a little highlight of hardcore-punk coming out of both where I grew up (Syracuse) and where I now live (Portland) in regards to new releases from bands from both towns. First off, from my online view 3000 miles away Syracuse is dealing with a bit of a renaissance as of late with tons of wild shows, a slew of new-ish bands, and what appears to be a lot of new people coming out to see shows and I couldn’t be happier to know that’s happening in my storied little burg. At the top of the heap are local metallic hardcore juggernauts Deal With God and their first real EP “The Bitter Die Hard”, six tracks that fall somewhere between the moshy hardcore that has been the calling card of my hometown for decades and the dark metallic assault of Integrity. While that may seem like nothing new in hardcore it’s the massive sound Deal With God gets on this EP, as well as their delivery that make it exceptional. And, ok, I’m a bit biased because I like to see people from back home get a win. They keep most of the tracks short and sweet, mostly fast, and enough in-and-out breakdowns to keep you on your toes. Honestly, you get everything you could want in a heavy hardcore song in the 73 seconds that comprise “Apparition”, so deal with that.
On my side of the country you get a far different hardcore vibe from the local Portlanders in Jade Dust who just dropped their third record, “Grey Skies”. Jade Dust draw far more from late 80’s DC/Revolution Summer style hardcore and maybe a touch of East Bay melodic punk, and while it’s a far cry from the metallic rust belt hardcore I grew up with it’s a style I also adore and Jade Dust does their thing really well. I’d say they draw deep, like real deep, because two of these tracks are covers- one from classic Dischord punks Ignition and the other from Chicago 80’s HC group Articles Of Faith. I mean, who covers stuff like that these days? Or this decade even? That stuff is very lost to time. But if you want an idea of what Jade Dust sound like those two reference points are quite apt I’d say. While it’s a far more melodic affair they whip through 8 tracks in under 20 minutes, and like all their other records there’s some really cool art that adorns this one that makes you feel like you’re hiking out here in the Northwest.
Finally, I wanted to shout out my old friend Rob Pennington and his new-ish band Jupiter Hearts, who just released their second EP, “All That Pain You Left Behind”. For one thing, I thought my dude was done with being in bands. I also thought Jupiter Hearts was a one-off thing. But here they are making more music and it’s further refined into a cohesive sound. If you know me you know I love bands that can take from the DC/Dischord sound (any era really) and turn it into something cool. Jupiter Hearts does just that by being a melodic hardcore band that definitely has it’s fair share of Faith/Ignition/Embrace influence. The songs are primarily upbeat but have a sort of somber tone with “Two If By Sea” exemplifying that feeling the most as it moves slower than the other songs but is the standout track (to me anyway).
