Hardcore five piece World Demise are now streaming two new tracks, “Final Damage” and “Dead and Gone” off of their debut album FSR37. The entire album is set to release on June 1, 2018. FSR37 is World Demise’s first release available via Flatspot Records. Check it out below.
Hardcore five piece World Demise are now streaming two new tracks, “Final Damage” and “Dead and Gone” off of their debut album FSR37.
The entire album is set to release on June 1, 2018.
FSR37 is World Demise’s first release available via Flatspot Records.
Check it out below.
This week DyingScene is excited to bring you The Prettybads‘ single, “Maybe I’m Not the One You Wanted” off their upcoming album, “Meet the Prettybads.” The Prettybads are a female-fronted punk quartet from Houston that features punchy, high-octane songs with a mix of old- and new-school. “Meet the Prettybads” will be out on Indie Vision […]
This week DyingScene is excited to bring you The Prettybads‘ single, “Maybe I’m Not the One You Wanted” off their upcoming album, “Meet the Prettybads.”
The Prettybads are a female-fronted punk quartet from Houston that features punchy, high-octane songs with a mix of old- and new-school.
“Meet the Prettybads” will be out on Indie Vision Music this summer. Until then, check out the stream below! [Read more…]
Krimewatch released a demo back in 2016 and it didn’t really do anything for me. Maybe I should have given it another try but I didn’t…and that was that until tonight when I decided to give their new album a listen; and I am so happy I did! The band are from New York but […]
Krimewatch released a demo back in 2016 and it didn’t really do anything for me. Maybe I should have given it another try but I didn’t…and that was that until tonight when I decided to give their new album a listen; and I am so happy I did!
The band are from New York but vocalist Rhylli is Japanese, hence the mixture of English and Japanese lyrics on the album. Rhylli claims she is defying the stereotype of the submissive Japanese woman, something I feel is much needed in a country where the saying “the nail that sticks out shall be hammered down” is common place.
The whole album lasts 12 minutes, which always makes me happy. Give it a listen below.
Vitamin X are such a good band. If you haven’t heard of them then you are in for a treat. These thrash punkers hail from Amsterdam and have been around for a long time now. They are streaming a song from their new album Age Of Paranoia which is due out on May 18th. The track is […]
Vitamin X are such a good band. If you haven’t heard of them then you are in for a treat. These thrash punkers hail from Amsterdam and have been around for a long time now. They are streaming a song from their new album Age Of Paranoia which is due out on May 18th.
The track is called “Modern Man” and you can give it a listen below. If you enjoy it cant wait for the new album you can check out an old album, and one of my favourites, Bad Trip here. [Read more…]
Rash Decision are streaming their new album “Karōshi” and its a belter! The record is relentless and well worth a listen. You can check it out below. I saw these guys play at an all dayer in York and they were really impressive. If you want to catch them live they are setting off on a pretty […]
Rash Decision are streaming their new album “Karōshi” and its a belter! The record is relentless and well worth a listen. You can check it out below.
I saw these guys play at an all dayer in York and they were really impressive. If you want to catch them live they are setting off on a pretty intense 10 day tour of Europe next month, you can find the tour dates below the album.
It took longer for me to get Abolitionist than I like to admit. I remember eyeing the Portland area as a potential home, years before I was even close to taking the plunge. In preparation, I listened to every Portland punk band I could find. A part of me wanted to be convinced, and of […]
It took longer for me to get Abolitionist than I like to admit. I remember eyeing the Portland area as a potential home, years before I was even close to taking the plunge. In preparation, I listened to every Portland punk band I could find. A part of me wanted to be convinced, and of course, a part of me wanted new music. I found a lot of cool bands, but something about Abolitionist just didn’t stick to me. Back in those days, they had a pop punk tag on bandcamp and I can’t help but think of myself, back then, straining to hear how Abolitionist would’ve sat alongside Teenage Bottlerocket, Off With Their Heads, or Direct Hit! It wasn’t really that melodic, but it was aggressive, had cool art, and was supposed to sell me on a city I kinda-sorta was seeing myself in down the road. But back then—I just didn’t get it.
Well, flash forward. I live in Vancouver, WA, a bridge away from Abolitionists’ hometown and I’m armed with a lot more knowledge and taste. Since then, I’ve recognized that pop punk tag as an influence, not an iron-barred cage, and I’ve expanded my listening experiences enough to place them in a different, and altogether more punk tradition. It took their last EP to open my eyes, and when I finally saw them for what they are (rather than what the bandcamp tag sold them as), I saw Abolitionist as the torchbearers of the Revolution Summer—that glorious and exciting period of punk rock when DC hardcore started to stretch its legs and experiment with both confessional lyrics, slowed down jams, and melody—outrightly rejecting macho posturing and violence. When I hear Abolitionist now, I hear Dag Nasty, One Last Wish, Rites of Spring, and Fuel, but their innovation is in taking the rawness and musical melody of the aforementioned while laser-focusing their lyrics through a political and narrative lens.
The Instant follows in this vein, and of course, it’s a concept album tightly woven around it’s theme—one day, the people of the world wake up, and they suddenly give a shit. The concept itself is simultaneously cynical, hopeful, and absurd, but Abolitionist explore it thoroughly, with twists and turns galore. Better still though, even as committed as it is to its storytelling, the album never becomes bloated. The songs are short and declarative and the whole album clocks in at a breezy twenty-three minutes.
The reason the Revolution Summer comparison rings so loud for me is in the fundamentals of Abolitionists’ approach to music. “A Little Animal Liberation Never Hurt Anybody” is a good example of their sonic palette. A soaring, hopeful guitar melody leads into a power chord progression marked with lyrics like, “Burned down the factories, freed the slaves. Changed our diet, changed our ways.” Abolitionist sounds like a band using the hardcore framework, but adapting it to their taste. Their vocals are barked, sometimes with a sense of muted melody, but look no further than the bands that formed the basis for post-hardcore to see another group stretching under the confines of punk’s most restrictive style. Another comparison, especially in regards to “A Little Animal Liberation…” is Paint It Black, whose song “Invisible” similarly uses a big major guitar melody to create a sense of triumph in a dark world, a merging of music and lyrics never explored in straight hardcore beyond the default of aggression.
But, as this is a narrative album, there are highs and lows. “Backlash” is a gang-vocaled stomper, and probably the closest to a straightforward hardcore punk song on the album, as well as the shortest song on the album. The final track, “The Lonesome Death,” feels complacent in comparison—a jaunty, but broken record of the album’s final downbeat note, mimicking the lyrical bent with subtle precision. “We live in a veritable utopia!” is The Instant’s last line and it is both a claim, a question, and a critique.
The Instant is an incredibly concise album. In fact, I would consider it a unique counterpoint to longer concept albums like David Comes to Life and The Monitor, which is not to say that those albums are any worse, but that they adapted punk rock to the world of the rock opera, where Abolitionist has adapted the rock opera to punk rock—cutting down it’s run time, zeroing in on it’s focus, and fitting it to the meter of loud and fast. The DC influence on the album allows the band to play with melody without succumbing to it entirely—and in confluence with its run-time makes for an experience that is as urgent and engaging as its message.
4/5
UK pop-punk act Don Blake are streaming their new album, Tough Like Diamonds, which was released on May 9th, 2018. You can give it a listen below. Tough Like Diamonds follows up the bands’ 2017 release, Blake District.
UK pop-punk act Don Blake are streaming their new album, Tough Like Diamonds, which was released on May 9th, 2018.
You can give it a listen below.
Tough Like Diamonds follows up the bands’ 2017 release, Blake District. [Read more…]
Jeff Rosenstock has announced some 2018 tour dates, including a run with Remo Drive, and another with AJJ’s Sean Bonnette. You can check out the full list of dates and locations below. Jeff Rosenstock last released Post- in January 2018.
Jeff Rosenstock has announced some 2018 tour dates, including a run with Remo Drive, and another with AJJ’s Sean Bonnette.
You can check out the full list of dates and locations below.
Jeff Rosenstock last released Post- in January 2018.
New Jersey’s Lost In Society are streaming the title track of their upcoming EP, Eager Heart, which is set to be released on May 25th via Wiretap Records. You can give the song a listen below. Lost In Society last released Modern Illusions on February 26th, 2016 via Handsome Stranger Records.
New Jersey’s Lost In Society are streaming the title track of their upcoming EP, Eager Heart, which is set to be released on May 25th via Wiretap Records.
You can give the song a listen below.
Lost In Society last released Modern Illusions on February 26th, 2016 via Handsome Stranger Records. [Read more…]
Denver punks Allout Helter have released a new music video for their song “Speed Of Blight” which features Nuno Pereira of A Wilhelm Scream. You can check it out below. “Speed Of Blight” comes from the bands’ latest album, The Notion of Control, which was released on October 27th, 2017 via Bird Attack Records,
Denver punks Allout Helter have released a new music video for their song “Speed Of Blight” which features Nuno Pereira of A Wilhelm Scream.
You can check it out below.
“Speed Of Blight” comes from the bands’ latest album, The Notion of Control, which was released on October 27th, 2017 via Bird Attack Records,