Here we go again! Where does the time go — it feels like I just cranked one of these lists out last week, but here we go again. As I grow older, balder, and rounder, I find myself seeking more and more solace in the sounds of my youth. More straightforward, faster, a little more melodic, but certainly soaked in a lot of angst.
Experimentation and things that sound like something the football team would enjoy drift to the wayside in favor of the more familiar and more esoteric. Maybe I’m thinking about this too much. Maybe this doesn’t make any sense. Probably. Anyway, here are the best releases of the year,
Moody, polyrhythmic, intense - a sweeping musical statement soaked in emotions derived from being members of the Iranian diaspora. It’s a massive and sprawling soundscape which never loses a sense of ferociousness with a lyrical bent focused on a litany of feeling spanning the full breadth of the human experience. Sung and spat in Persian, Avestan, Lori, Kurdish, and English. The words demonstrate both a sense of the commonalities and differences that help to define us and connect us. Just stellar.
Melodic and melancholic Portland punk leaning hard in Tim-era REPLACEMENTS with a dash of SAMIAM. It’s a taut, somber yet joyful record that makes you feel a little like you are living between the frames of a John Hughes movie or the lines of an issue of Cometbus.
AYUCABA - Operation Massacre LP
Ripping hardcore punk in the mohawks up and studded jacket approach. Hailing from Barcelona, they take cues from the likes of early ENGLISH DOGS & G-ZET to craft this ferocious brew of filthy and rampaging punk soaked in ripping guitar leads and rabid dog vocals.
I’ve always maintained that if you are gonna do the melodic, anthemic Oi thing and you want me to really like it, then you need to do it in French and have plenty of “Oooo’s” and “Woaaaahs” and that is certainly what you get here! Every song perfectly crafted melodic, danceable, sing-a-long despite my personal ability to speak French consists mostly of “excusez-moi, parlez-vous anglais?” An absolutely perfect record by an outstanding band.
BOMBARDEMENT - Dans La Fournaise LP
Another perfect statement crafted out of primordial goo of DISCHARGE, paired with the bulldozer approach of MEANWHILE but what really sets this apart is injection of sizzling, melodic IRON MAIDEN through a Chelsea (DEATH SIDE, PAINT BOX, etc) and Burning Spirits style melodic lead lines. Total ripper.
What started out as a tribute to their departed friend and all time best punk rocker, Lance Hahn, has morphed into one of the best pop-punk bands going. Sure, it leans hard into the J CHURCH/CRINGER vibe but that’s the thing, “pop” punk used to be p-u-n-k and this is certainly that. Jangly, tuneful, goofy, and a bit sad all at the same time. It’s like jumping in a time machine back to the Bay Area before all the tech bros invade the mission and you could catch JAWBREAKER playing with NEUROSIS on a Thursday at a women’s center.
CATHARSIS - Hope Against Hope LP
Probably the most intense, focused, ferocious, melancholic yet hopeful records to come out this year - I’ve been perplexed as to why this hasn’t made a bigger splash with people. Musically complex, richly layered, providing a soundscape reflective of the lyrical content it reeks of near perfection. Deeply considered, providing a dissection of power in the face of all our hopes and the vision of a better world, paired against the fear to actually take the first step. I once quipped that CATHARSIS is a band which perfects the musical vision of AMEBIX, TRAGEDY, and INTEGRITY layered over the lyrical focus of CRASS and this latest LP really drives that home.
It doesn’t really get better than this - nineteen short blasts of catchy as fuck punk rock from the DILLINGER FOUR meets early Lookout! Records school of thought. Its hella catchy, rippling with melody, snotty vocals spat out with venom without losing track of the melody. More more more of this please!
DARK THOUGHTS - Highway to the End LP
Do dream of a world were Ben Weasel didn’t turn into (more of) an asshole, the RAMONES never broke up (or died!), and punk shows were filled with pogoing maniacs jumping up and down to slashing, quick blasts of nasally punk that is just sticky sweet? Never fear, DARK THOUGHTS are here for you! Total perfection - now where is my George Tabb approved leather jacket with the US pins on the lapel?
DEADGUY - Near-Death Travel Services LP
Mean, ugly, twisted, and angry, this is what the Black Flag reunion should’ve sounded like; this is what Black Flag should’ve become. This record is perfect. Not too shabby for a bunch of old guys.
DIAZ BROTHERS - The World Is Yours LP
More of that Midlands, anthemic as shit, UK punk stuff - big guitars, big riffs, big melodies and everything you’d expect from former members of HDQ and ANGELIC UPSTARTS. It leans hard into the world Dickie Hammond (LEATHERFACE, HDQ, etc) birthed while clearly standing on its own feet. A great follow up to their prior LP.
1000mph hardcore punk in the classic sense - simple, straightforward, no bullshit, venomous thrash that leans hard into early NECROS, AGNOSTIC FRONT, etc.
DISAPPEARANCES - Harrowgate LP
Heavy, throbbing blasts of sonic violence from the city of brotherly love. Monstrous slabs of guitar and jackhammer drums that just bludgeon your brain no matter the pace they’re coming at you. In some ways it’s a very 90s sounding record in how it leans into both ominous dissonance of BORN AGAINST while sucking up all the goodness we saw in the post RORSCHACH bands like DEADGUY and KISS IT GOODBYE. Utterly ferocious.
I looooove ELECTRIC CHAIR - frenetic, ripping hardcore punk which drinks from the same well of influence that birthed H100s, CIDER, etc despite being from the other side of the country. Snot soaked spatter vocals, careening thrashing riffs, plenty of hooks - just absolute perfection. On the flip we have fellow Olympians, PHYSIQUE who pummel us with five blasts of white noise distort-o-rama punk brutality. Caustic, eardrum shattering beauty.
I think you’ll see this end up on a lot of lists despite it being a seemingly hard record to track down - do you like PAINTBOX? Do you like raging, d-beat fueled hardcore with sweeping, hyper melodic guitar leads? Of course you do. Total perfection.
Ripping primal hardcore in the vein of STRAIGHT AHEAD and the ABUSED. It’s perfect. That’s it, the whole review. Just get it.
HARAM - ليش الجنة بيتبلش في الجهنم؟ (Why Does Paradise Begin in Hell) LP
What I like most about HARAM’s latest release is how it feels like a cohesive artistic statement - an exploration of grief, rage, joy, culture, faith and the paths towards understanding oneself and place in the world. There is a complexity and density here musically, lyrically and with the greater packaging of the album which lays down a statement of purpose which demands you take notice. Polyrhythmic percussion layered under swirling riffs that dance in a double harmonic scale before downshifting into more traditional punk riffing or DEAD KENNEDYS style dirges (particularly on the track مسئولية من؟) while vocalist Nader splatters vocals in Arabic conveying a broad spectrum of emotions. To call HARAM one of the most significant and interesting bands going would be an understatement and this record stands as a testament to their importance.
I recently commented to my brother about how I’m just low level angry all of the time but all that rage is just a manifestation of pain, sadness, and disappointment. And so I find myself thinking, almost meditating on the lyrics to “Light Sleeper” on a daily basis - this somber, moody expression of the frustration for the current world and our place in it. But also, an expression of hope and joy and reminder that we’re not alone. That’s this whole album, at least for me. New wavey like the later BLITZ stuff for sure but it’s denser and more thought out and frankly more interesting than Second Empire Justice could ever hope to be. Sure it can be a dark record but it’s also an infectious pop record filled with melancholic melodies and paeans to a life we deserve. Beautiful stuff.
ILLITERATES - Does Not Compute LP
Yes this sounds like YOUTH OF TODAY but not the saccharine sanitized version of YOT which manifested itself in the late 90s youth crew revival but the raw, vicious, snarling dog, rapid fire, bulldozer approach which lead to Choke saying they ripped him off. Outstanding.
On their sophomore release, we find INDUSTRY drinking from the same lurching, crawling anarcho punk well as on the first though, it feels a bit more mechanical in an early KILLING JOKE meets No Sanctuary-era AMEBIX. Dark, heavy, morose music reflective of a lyrical bent which is somber and angst soaked. Absolutely epic record.
For their part, Richmond’s LOUD NIGHT serve up to ripping blasts of MÖTORCHARGE punk metal madness - growled vocals, searing, sweeping guitar leads and a pummeling drum onslaught. On the flip we Germans TAIFUN just shredding on their take on the DEATH SIDE formula - hammer down riffing, blood splatter vocals - just absolutely killer.
THE MILLER LOWLIFES - Pinch Hitters LP
I remain a sucker for really well done melodic, pop, whatever you wanna call it punk. I love catchy, sappy shit and I adore well structured hooks and melody lines and my god do I lose my mind for a great bridge - and this Florida band hits all those marks. It’s snarky, sardonic, syrupy and just so god damn good. I had to check the band roster to make sure this wasn’t Erik from DILLINGER FOUR’s new side project because the vocalist here sounds so much like him but it’s not. A killer record.
Decidedly left wing street punk and roll - boot down the door, fuck the cops jams with a jangly guitar take on the SLADE (skinhead era) meets COCKNEY REJECTS war-in-the-terraces approach backing up gravelly molasses thick vocals. Fucking great.
RADIOACTIVITY - Time Won’t Bring Me Down LP
This record is perfect. I often wonder what it would be like to be able to write flawless melancholic pop songs one after the other like Jeff Burke seems to have as his superpower. Not a turd to be found here just shimmering albeit at times despondent sounding pop perfection.
REDS - The Truth of Impermanence LP
Discordant, emotive, and intense punk in the manner of bands like CURRENT, CHINO HORDE, etc where they’ve taken the ideas from the Dischord Revolution Summer bands (IGNITION, EMBRACE, etc) and molded them into something that is uniquely their own. A lot my early musical education was built on this vibe so this really resonates with me for sure!
SMASH YOUR FACE - Sayonara Smash Your Face LP
Maniacal twists and turns, relentless pace and energy, sidesteps into electro noise and cacophonic mayhem come crashing down in straight-forward blasts of classic LIP CREAM style speed and precision, devolving into CHUCK BERRY soaked in acid total riff insanity! Just a bizarre and absolutely perfect record that challenges just what hardcore, punk, rock, music, etc is and can be without losing a minute of punch.
Rampaging and filthy d-beat fueled hardcore that is just go-go-go! It reminds me a bit of the approach to this style by bands like LARMA with their focus on relentless pacing and energy though there is a cool twist with their insertion of big rocknroll style guitar riffs on some of the slower tracks.
Thick slabs of steamroller, crust as fuck, d-takt powered Swedish hardcore. Think early SKIT SYSTEM or DISFEAR - rabid dog vocals, molasses thick guitar tones, and a relentless drum attack. Brilliant stuff.
UNIDAD IDEOLÓGICA - Choque Asimétrico LP
100% pure adrenaline - just relentless pacing and energy from the moment it starts until the last bit of the amplifiers ring in your ears. Even the slowed down bits serve to just intensify the feeling of speed . A refined and fleshed out take on the ideas on that infamous KORO EP perhaps? Just mind meltingly good.
Riffy and powerful NYHC in the classic ABUSED meets THE MOB meets URBAN WASTE. Thick, strutting, and quick paced with memorable riffs and plenty of swagger.
