Demolition- World Gone Mad 7" review

Demolition- World Gone Mad 7” review

It’s cliché to say the demo is better than the EP/LP, but here it rings true.  The raw production compared to the slick one on this is the difference.  This IS a very clean sounding hardcore record; the songs all have distinct instrument sounds, as opposed to a wall-of-sound where everything is more or less lumped together.  The songs are there- I can hear the energy in the performance, but it feels like something got misplaced in the shuffle between performance and this recording.  It’s clean-cut mid-to-fast tempo modern hardcore, with a very cool layout and great artwork, leave your doubts behind there.  I have a feeling that some of the imperfections the demo had were boiled out on this recording, and although I believe it is those same imperfections that make hardcore and punk what it is, the record itself is still not bad.  This being said, it is these imperfect people who decided to go their own way, not take society’s shit, and make the music that only weirdoes and freaks enjoy.  I can’t knock that.

-Aunty Social

Kremlin- demo tape review

Kremlin- demo tape review

Though their first release, this tape lasts longer than the 7” they did on Hardware Records.  The song lengths do vary, as do the lyrical content of the songs, but the music is largely the same lo-fi, deranged, fucked-in-the-head 80s hardcore is best known for.  The thumping drums, detached bass, jarring vocals, and pulse-pounding guitar are almost interchangeable with the likes of the Clitboys, the Neos, demo-era Germs, or a lower quality version of the The Fix.  Driving, distant, distorted, and definitely simple music that belongs to anyone who is a punk and/or has a mental deficiency.  No gods, no masters, no production, no bullshit hardcore punk.

-Aunty Social

School Jerks- s/t LP review

School Jerks- s/t LP review

The record starts off with a sick guitar riff and beat backed by mishmashes of indiscernible voices, and that intro kicks into the record, a collection of very short, snotty, almost spazzy hardcore punk songs that go in and out of focus.  Almost totally lifted from the classic 80s hardcore sound (yes, these boys do lift), this is a band that manages to pay homage to the past and still be contemporary.  The instrumentation is beyond part for the course- drums are thundering and steady as can be, guitars almost quietly dark but quick-moving, and bass humming quietly as vocals are spit out with an intentionally absent-minded snot and untimely venom.  This is definitely weird music for weird people, made by equally weird musicians.  If one wants classic 80s hardcore simple yet energetic punk rock that’s fun and misanthropic in a general and indirect way, this is the way to go.

-Aunty Social

Kremlin- Will You Feed Me EP review

Kremlin- Will You Feed Me? EP review

Short, fast, and raw- this could have been a lost tape from an obscure 80s hardcore band and no one would ever know.  However, it is not; instead, it’s a new-ish 80s style hardcore band that sports some psychedelic rock influence, and comes with a member from the School Jerks on drums.  With feedback intact, these five songs blast away at neck-breaking speed.  No frills, no bullshit, no talent 80s hardcore- this is how it’s done, folks.

-Aunty Social

Ghetto Blaster- EP review

Ghetto Blaster- EP review


Ska: A genre inhabited of 85% high school and college students with more free time than they know what to do with, and 15% musicians who happen to like the genre. Ska is a little overdone as a third wave movement, but fusion is the future for ska; this brings me to the second genre: Hip hop. Once populated by oppressed black youth with rhythm and poets of the most delicate prose, it is now held down by hipster swine and the very occasional rhyme master who values music over money. Is essence, rap is commercialized, industrially profitable hip hop. Alone, these two genres are mere bastards of their former selves; together, they’re a furious, fervent, fun mix that really engrains the oncoming fourth wave of ska.

The general vibe of the EP is very radical leftist, sort of crew-like feeling, notably touched on in the song ‘GBC’, short for “Ghetto Blaster Crew”. At times, the EP shifts to a more upbeat hip-hop ska kind of feel, instead of a Choking Victim-lite. ‘Get Drunk’ is one of those tunes. What is meant by “Choking Victim-lite”? The feeling is less ominous and hopeless, but still manages to speak of radicalism. The vocals are a mix of raspy, Rollins-like singing and classic emcee rapping or beatboxing. The guitars are downtuned, minor-chord ska-punk with very heavily accented offbeats. Lastly, the rhythm section just keeps the beat, allowing the guitars and singing to speak as the primary communicator.

This record, this 8-song EP, this is the future for ska Two simultaneous kinds of radical, download this protégé of fourth wave ska.

-Aunty Social