Issue 8

A Varning from Montreal Festival is basically Christmas for Montreal punks – a highly-anticipated tradition, an international punk family reunion, and a huge party. Now in its 17th edition, it’s currently our city’s longest-running punk fest....

I don't care about Halloween. It's not part of my culture and I don't want it to be part of anything around me. I openly hate the North American/British culture, which, for some reason, is cooler than our traditional celebrations that are old (very old) and beautiful, normally related to nature. The only good thing about this cultural colonization is that I can speak and write English, so I'm able to communicate with many people that I couldn't otherwise. But why is English the global language a...

Photos by Joe The Photo Guy Another humid mid-atlantic August means another Skull Fest in lovely steel city, Pittsburgh, PA. I know, I know, “another fest?” How many fests do we really need? I don’t really know, but for me at least, Skull Fest feels like the one that breaks the mold. Instead of being a weekend of punk and hardcore curated by one person’s taste, Skull Fest is a true collaborative effort. You get a mix of punk that is sure to hit all your sensibilities: punk, hardcore, hardcore p...

It's four things at once on my mind at 5am, dispatching, as we are, LIVE from the 3rd stage....

Some interview I read made them seem real self-conscious about their "More Hardcore" LP, but this release sounds a fair bit safer and codified than the slab I first slobbered over. All of these got rerecorded for their big Convulse debut, so we'll see how the finished product holds up, but I can't imagine revisiting these renditions ever again. Released by Kill Enemy Records, listen here: https://killenemyrecords.bandcamp.com/album/speed-plans-tape Speed Plans Tape, by Kill Enemy Records3 trac...

YMMV on the cover art and you'd be forgiven for guessin' the whole presentation'll getcha some post-hockey jock, pre-jarhead Triple B Records flower-era BS, but goddamn. The kick off is an absolute mind-worming ass-shaker, plucked straight from the back half of a BROWN SUGAR rekkid and pulled forward into the NOW, the remaining 6/7s is pure punk rock n roll a la RADIO BIRDMAN (which they dispute, but come the fuck on), PAGANS, or that time the REPOS covered DEAD BOYS. Released by Kill Enemy Rec...

Been a GUNN truther for a minute, and the half of this that sounds like BATTALION OF SAINTS, you know that sneered-up, black-leather-in-the-hot-sun type Cali shit, easily clears the mental-mythical madness I ascribe to the Shooters in question. Mixed up in all that is a bit too much post 7"-era CÜLO. Still, half is more than most may muster, and, paired with a sense of humor, moronic (complimentary) cover art, and well-curated samples, this is worth a spin or two. Released by Going Underground ...

Ur-crust perfection. The only time spent in the stadium is burning the fucker to the ground. Self released, listen here: https://earnthedirt.bandcamp.com/album/all-paths-lead-to-darkness All Paths Lead to Darkness, by Barren Soil3 track albumBarren Soil✶ sarubert...

Zillennial MASSHYSTERI, which was Xennial BURNING KITCHEN, (and the millennials skipped a gen toiling away in the mysterioid sex pest dungeon and/or KCMO glue dens), which is to say this is very good, very catchy. Repetitive (in a good way) vocal hooks, great melodic guitar work that occasionally makes way for SEEMS TWICE by way of CRASS Records no-punk diversions. Very Euro cover art, as bad as the HONDARTZAKO HONDAKINAK LP cover, both of which risk consigning an otherwise great release to barg...

A harsh judgment, perhaps, but knowing some of these players from well-played but firmly "not-for-me" pop punk outfits, I just didn't know they had this in them. Sounds like: Earth-2 ARTICLES OF FAITH's debut 7" "What We Want Is Blood." Feels like: a brick and a knife and a boot to the temple. Looks like: Chicago still likes hardcore. Self released, listen here: https://ritualcross.bandcamp.com/album/ritual-cross Ritual Cross, by Ritual Cross5 track albumRitual CrossN0VA...