Martin Force

STRAW MAN ARMY's first release was extremely hyped in my circles, probably due to some second-order social proximity between myself and the duo behind this recording-only project. The 2021 cassette Her Majesty's Ship OST was released on Stucco alongside egg-punk sounding bands with names like FROGMAN'S STICK OPERA and PILGRIM SCREW. It's—I don't know—a soundtrack for an apparently non-existent movie, complete with a backstory about the movie's production hell and fake reviews from a film magazin...

We have a problem in Montreal Hardcore: too many tough guy beatdown bands. WILL TO SPEAK was the solitary standout for awhile, bringing more of a posi/youth-crew influenced sound to the scene. So I'm happy they finally have a record coming out. The production is excellent and the riffs are great. Ample dive-bombs! WILL TO SPEAK's lineup is basically local shoe-gaze band SPITE HOUSE + Big Karl on vocals and XVX Dany on bass. It's kind of funny that the single biggest meathead-looking dude in Mont...

Do you like MIND ERASER? Do you like MIND ERASER's high-concept 2008 final LP Conscious/Unconscious? If you've never heard it I would say go give it a listen before continuing. Conscious/Unconscious was the point at which MIND ERASER fully embraced their broader metal influences, in line with the trend of late 2000s powerviolence/hardcore bands breaking up so the members could start metal bands (see LIFELESS DARK who just dropped their long-awaited metalpunk thrash LP this week). This debut LP...

Thomas Pynchon's 1973 novel Gravity's Rainbow (GR) is infamously really long and difficult to read, but also highly regarded (for some reason). There is a good chance that if you have already heard about this book, it's because you got punished by some dude about it. I love Thomas Pynchon's books; Pynchon is an author that a lot of punks and anarchists love, and Gravity's Rainbow is widely considered his best book. There's good reasons people in our worlds like his books: he writes about anarch...

NYC's beloved new crust band. My take is that this is metalcore disguised as crust. For fans of MORNING AGAIN, CHOKEHOLD and NAUSEA. Maybe I selfishly read it this way because I am always looking for that perfect crossover of two things I love, crust and breakdown 90s metalcore. Crust and metalcore are just closer than you think but they really belong together. Love/Compassion Crust/Core. Political lyrics to make you angry over heavy chugs to hype you up. There's even a blink-and-you'll-miss-it ...

I accompanied Montreal's TOTAL NADA on their recent US tour as roadie/designated driver. Rather than a tedious "tour journal," what follows is a compendium of brief scene reports from everywhere we went (to the best of my recollection) as well as some overall impressions from this slice of American punk in it's current state. Philly Does Philly really need a report? The show was at the speakeasy/dive bar Cousin Danny's next to the elevated train line, and I was delighted to learn that Cousin ...

This tape was given to me at Latino Punk Fest by someone who had heard of The Counterforce and was looking for a copy (sorry I was out!). It's a two song promo but I was told 'record soon on Iron Lung' so I hope we get to hear more. It's hardcore punk with a bit of the weird Oregon/Washington twist: a little something on the guitar, not just typical raw punk, but some weird guitar effect nerdery that reminds me of NASTI. A subtle addition but really distinguishes it. Everyone in this band probab...

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Every year, I organize a March Mixtape Swap where two-dozen or so of my friends contribute new mixtape and receive different mixtapes in return. This year my friend Jay submitted the "Ancient Texts" mixtape. This mixtape has an origin story. Montreal's DEADBOLT had recently played a set at 2024's Montreal Madhouse that include a cover of WARZONE's "As One". The crowd response for the cover was so disappointing that the singer, Julia, admonished the crowd: "You all need to go study your ancient t...

This is a discography/retrospective tape for Florida's MAUSER. Their releases are presented in chronological order, starting with 2010's "End Of The Line" and ending with a 2013 live set recorded at Portland's Black Water. Everything has been remastered by Will Killingsworth. MAUSER plays a typical raw hardcore d-beat punk. Lots of booming tom rolls. Mostly fast, sometimes midtempo, sometimes really fast. Raw and harsh yells are delivered through some cave reverb and/or delay at different times...

Another Winnipeg, MB "USHC" band. Compared to HUMAN TARGET (who I saw/got a demo from at the same recent Legion show in Montreal), NUCLEAR TARGET seems a bit more "formulaic" when it comes to the self-applied "USHC" label. Which is not bad: the tones are dialed in, the lyrics are simple and hard to decipher (except for "Warhead": "NUCLEAR WARHEADS WERE ALL GONNA DIE"), the singer is some kind of hardcore punk cartoon character, the breakdowns are plodding and almost too slow. They know what they...

"Human target, I'm (on?) the target, you're on the fucking target, this is HUMAN TARGET." That's how the demo tape from this Winnipeg, MB band starts. An intro like that lets you know this is stupid music for stupid people. They were one of a pair of Winnipeg bands that recently played the first show in 10 years at the local legion here. This band self-identifies as "USHC" which might be annoying for some people tired of whatever trend that is, but this band was good. The riffs are stupid, the b...

Hardcore punk as a mutual aid-based autonomous zone The hardcore punk subculture consists of people, bands, spaces and projects that perpetuate an internationally distributed autonomous zone. It is underground, existing outside the media mainstream of capitalism. Entities within this zone – bands, zines, distributors, promoters, labels, etc. – follow a largely not-for-profit, DIY (Do It Yourself) ethic to achieve common goals, either on the micro level (pulling off a show) or a macro level (the...

RASKOL was recommended to me by some friends as their "favorite band in Philly right now". I describe this as "d-beatdown": a backbone of pummeling d-beat with extremely tight and danceable side-to-side/2-step/slam parts. I'm all about sonic contrast, and this is one of my favorite combos. Too much non-stop d-beat and drawn out breakdowns alike get boring. Just hit me with tight assaults of both in equal measure. Are bands like this the pipeline for Hardcore kids getting into d-beat? I'm not sur...

A track from this demo was in a recent episode of La Hora del Ruido (Noise Not Borders Radio). I missed the live broadcast, but thankfully Boris specifically told me to check out this band because of my known interest in new drum-machine-driven punk and hardcore. D é mo opens (after a sample I can't place) with a drum machine d-beat, so it's going straight to my heart. The drums are loud and up-front as they should be. The vocals are are delivered in shouted unintelligible French, possibly 50% ...

TERRITORY is a new band of old people from Philly. Members of CURMUDGEON and DEATHRATS. This demo-length cassette is crusty hardcore set to a mid-tempo d-beat, reminiscent of early 2000s political crust, but more hardcore and less melodic. Still, the influence of bands like HIS HERO IS GONE is evident in the under-60-second middle song "Suck The Marrow" or as I call it "The One With The Scissor Beats". In the absence of more melodic parts, there are injections of short, at times otherworldly, g...

RECALL is a new band from Montreal, featuring member of SPACERS, PEEVE, DEADBOLT and TOTAL NADA. The demo opens with a slow plodding intro track with an almost spoke-word vocal delivery. It kinda lets you know you're in for some anarcho-vibes, at least politically speaking. After the intro the band kicks into the higher tempo d-beat that set the tone for the rest of the demo. There are still ample tempo changes and a few short breaks such that everything fits under their self-definition of "har...