Featured Releases: April 8, 2024

Häxorna: demo cassette (Total Recall Recordings) Very brief 3-song, 3-minute long demo from this new band from Athens, Georgia that (I believe) features members of Consec. Häxorna’s meaty US hardcore-influenced sound and hoarse, desperate-sounding vocals remind me of another great Georgia hardcore band, Bukkake Boys. The songs are lean and to the point, but the hooky riffs, dynamic arrangements, and tasteful vocal placement elevate these songs above mere inchoate bursts of thrash. While Häxorna sounds like the more straightforward cousin of their label-mates Joro Path, there’s a freaky little guitar overdub at the end of the last track, “Total Recall,” that hints they may have a few different moves up their sleeve. This one is compact, but hits hard.

Absolut: 2024 cassette (Prescription) This cassette compiles a bunch of recent studio recordings by long-running Canadian metal-punk band Absolut. The three tracks on the a-side are new demo recordings for an upcoming LP, while the five tracks on the b-side come from an unreleased 2022 demo. We love Absolut here at Sorry State, and these recordings hint that their upcoming album may be their defining statement. Absolut’s guitarist’s chops get more impressive with each passing year, and while getting better at your instrument can be a double-edged sword for a hardcore band, Absolut has not lost the plot. As with Sorry State’s Valtatyhjiö, tasteful touches of double bass drumming add spice to the relentless d-beating, and the blistering lead guitar licks weave across and through the riffs, as on the standout mid-paced track “Burn in Hell.” That track’s main riff would be plenty to carry the song on its own, but the lead shredding means every bar of the song offers unique surprises for the ear. Absolut’s next album may one day render these recordings obsolete, but in the meantime I’ll be burning up this hot reel.

Why Bother?: Serenading Unwanted Ballads 12” (Feel It Records) Serenading Unwanted Ballads is the latest full-length from this punk band from Iowa on Feel It Records, whose 2023 album A City of Unsolved Miseries got a Record of the Week nod at Sorry State. I hesitate to mention how prolific Why Bother? is because it might make you skeptical about the quality of any individual release… how could a band release so much music and have it all be good? However, as with their similarly prolific label-mates the Cowboys and Class, I hear no appreciable dip in quality across their many records. And holy crap, do Why Bother? have a lot of records, having put out at least eight albums since 2021. Not only did A City of Unsolved Miseries arrive barely a year ago, but also there’s an entire album, Calling All Goons, that came out between that and Serenading Unwanted Ballads. I am not privy to Why Bother?’s inner workings, but I’m guessing you can chalk up their quickly growing discography to some combination of these factors: 1. there probably isn’t shit else to do in Mason City, Iowa; 2. Why Bother? doesn’t play live (though there is one track on this album that says it was recorded live), and 3. they have a fucking ton of ideas. The latter is apparent on Serenading Unwanted Ballads, which has a ton of variety. There are tracks that, like many of my favorite Why Bother? songs, sound like gritty punk/pop in the vein of mid-period Husker Du (the opener “Nullity,” the aforementioned live recording of “Frothy Green”). A bunch of others—many of these among the record’s best—sound like post-punk underground pop music, like “Until” with its late 70s Manchester guitar line or the beautiful “High as the Heavens,” which sounds like it could have been in a John Hughes movie. “Your Love Will Die” has a cool 60s-sounding psychedelic surf vibe, while “Some Don’t Dance” is minimal and jittery a la the Urinals. And like any great band, Why Bother? takes these different ideas and runs them through their filter in a way that makes everything sound coherent. If you’re a fan of pop-based but adventurous punk, check out Why Bother? Don’t let their discography intimidate you… dive in here, and if you like it, sleep comfortably knowing there’s plenty more to hear.

Phil & the Tiles: Double Happiness 12” (Legless Records) We last heard from Aussies Phil & the Tiles on their debut 7”, released on Anti-Fade Records, and now they’re back with their first full-length on the similarly hot Australian label Legless Records. While Phil & the Tiles sound like a contemporary Australian band, they also sound like a band who might have formed at an art school at any point since, say, 1975. They have the right influences (the Fall, the Stooges), and they clearly know what’s cool (cryptic lyrics, synthesizers, singing that’s more like fast talking, etc.) and what’s not (earnestness, soloing, pomposity). While it has that sheen of art school cool, Phil & the Tiles’ music isn’t difficult; there’s a grit to it, but they are also fond of simple, naïve-sounding melodies. These melodies might come from the guitar, the synth, or any of the multiple vocalists, overlapping and criss-crossing in ways that are a delight to untangle. At their most brooding (like “Ode to Phil”) Phil & the Tiles remind me of the post-punkier end of the contemporary Aussie spectrum with bands like Low Life and Total Control, but I’m just as fond of the more upbeat, punkier tracks like “Captain Punish.” There’s just so much music on Double Happiness, its eclectic songwriting and dense instrumentation giving it both immediate appeal and strong replay value.

Repression: War Comes Home 7” (11PM Records) War Comes Home is the debut vinyl from this Arizona hardcore band. They had an earlier demo tape on the excellent Total Peace label, but since that recording Mike from Extended Hell and Yellowcake has joined on drums. As I said when I wrote about Yellowcake’s 7” a while back, Mike is a beastly drummer who will improve any band he’s in, and War Comes Home is indeed a powerful record. Repression’s sound is jagged and noisy, drawing from more than just a narrow spectrum of influences. Total Peace’s description of their demo mentioned Nine Shocks Terror and Deathreat, and I can hear that in War Comes Home. In the same way those 90s bands sounded like an amalgamation of everything in hardcore that had come before, Repression’s music isn’t anchored in one particular scene or style. The snotty but snarling vocals sound contemporary, with a similar catchiness as Gag or Paprika, and the guitars do everything from flanged-out noise to driving power chords to loose and chaotic leads, all three of which you can hear on the closer “Noxious Bulbs.” The mid-paced “Eradicated” is another highlight, with a strutting riff that would make your granny want to slam. While the fact that Repression doesn’t stick to one clear lane may make them a little less immediate, I love that War Comes Home doesn’t sound quite like any other record in my collection.

Nasti: People Problem 12” (Iron Lung Records) People Problem is the third 12” vinyl from this Seattle hardcore band. Jensen from Iron Lung (the label and the band) is in the group, which makes sense because Nasti sounds to me like the quintessential Iron Lung Records band. Their sound is dark and desperate, their music uniformly heavy and intense, but also adventurous. There are parts that remind me of Gag’s elastic pogo, Reek Minds’ crossover riff-fests, and Brain Tourniquet’s pulverizing bottom end. But they have their own moves too, like how, through all these tempos and rhythms, the guitarist deploys these broad melodic flourishes that remind me of 90s alternative rock (check that almost pop-punkish lead in the otherwise bleak “Ruin Everything”). And then, as if Nasti’s sound wasn’t already unique enough, when they drop into the five-minute closing dirge “White Fences II,” they augment the sound with sampled percussion, bringing an alien set of textures to this well-worn hardcore trope. Needless to say, if you’re a fan of the arty, forward-thinking hardcore Iron Lung specializes in, Nasti will be right up your alley.