Featured Releases: January 13, 2025

Betrayer: demo cassette (self-released) Crossover-tinged hardcore from this new band from Portland. These three songs fall on the more hardcore side of the crossover equation, with metallic riffing that reminds me of Attitude Adjustment or DRI and a barking singer who sounds kind of NYHC. A lot of bands like this go for short, simple songs, but Betrayer’s songs are longer with a lot more parts a la mid-period Poison Idea, and while the singer’s range keeps things pretty straightforward, they also have an ear for a hook. The production is the perfect amount of lo-fi for me, very 80s sounding, but proficient in all the right ways. With another layer of polish, I could see Betrayer catching on with a bigger crowd, but personally I hope they stay on the raw and nasty path.

Self Defense: 12 Track EP 7” (Slow Death Records) This British Columbian band crams twelve tracks of primitive but hooky hardcore on their vinyl debut. Sonically, Self Defense is firmly grounded in the early Dischord / Touch & Go aesthetic, with songs primarily taking the form of 30- to 50-second blasts of aggro. One place Self Defense excels is in their arrangements. They have a Negative Approach-ish knack for doing these tightly executed drop-outs and trade-offs that make the songs really dynamic, and with twelve songs it’s great that they don’t repeat the same patterns over and over. As with the Betrayer demo we also looked at this week, the production has that perfect early 80s patina, though the vocals could have been allowed to shine a little more I think, as a charismatic performance could have really pushed this over the top. As it stands, though, this is a ripping slice of retro 80s hardcore punk.

Breech Boys: Greetings from Paradise 7” (Slow Death Records) Slow Death Records brings us another new band from their neck of the woods in western Canada, with Breech Boys’ first vinyl release after a few digital releases. The Black Flag and Beach Boys references in the band name and artwork had me expecting something taking inspiration from southern California, but Breech Boys aren’t so easily pinned down. When they pair a woozy-sounding riff to a big pogo beat, they remind me of Glue, but the presentation is much different. The guitars are loud and thick, with a recording that’s raw and punchy but not trying to sound old, and the band likes to ride the edge of chaos as much as they like to lay down those groovy pogo parts that make the kids move. The vocalist is particularly chaotic, making all types of wild noises, though it’s mixed with distortion and frequently drown out by the waves of guitar. The energy level is high too, with the band sounding inspired and explosive throughout these five tracks.

Slevy: Vol. 1 12" (Petruska Records) Slevy is a one-man project from Basque Country and Vol. 1 collects a bunch of recordings made around 2005. According to the liner notes, most of these tracks were released across two EPs and a few compilations, but when I search the names of those EPs and compilations nothing comes up… have they been scrubbed from history or did they exist in the first place? Who knows? I’m not doubtful that the tracks on Vol. 1 come from different sources and sessions, though, as the recording and songwriting styles change from track to track. The quality is uneven, but fucking hell some of these songs are scorchers! While the label’s description references Eastern European punk as a key influence on Slevy, I hear a lot of classic Spanish punk in the sound. Perhaps it’s a side effect of the lyrics being in Spanish, but I hear some of the trademark Clash-isms of early Spanish punk in Slevy’s sound, albeit with many other influences mixed in. “Hadas En El Infierno,” creeps along at a menacing Q: Are We Not Men? tempo before erupting into one of those anthemic, Clash-y choruses. “Pesaje a Utramar,” on the other hand, has a bigger, Buzzcocks-influenced sound. With over 40 minutes of music spread across these fourteen tracks, there’s the feeling that you’re sifting through a lot, but the highs here are undeniably high, and the last handful of tracks where they really lean on the pop melody are worth sticking around for. If Slevy buckles down and puts out a wall-to-wall banger a la Blood Visions, I could see Vol. 1 becoming a very desirable record. For now, though, it’s one of those great little secrets we lovers of international punk can’t get enough of.

Consec: Biohackers 7” (11PM Records) Putting out a 7” with only three minutes of music is a bold move, but I’ll take new Consec material any way they’re willing to serve it up. We last heard from Consec on 2023’s Wheel of Pain, and while I loved that record, Biohackers’ higher concentration makes it even more potent. Hailing from Atlanta, Consec isn’t too far from Koro’s stomping grounds, and I feel like that influence is all over the title track, which crams an insane amount of twists and turns into its furious 31 seconds. “Coward” and “Misanthrope” stretch out a little more with broader riffs, the latter even featuring a tempo-change, but the whole record is still over long before you can find your footing. Pundits may debate the pros and cons of this having a physical release on 7”, but the minimal DJ-style packaging (which reminds me of Urban Blight’s More Reality) doesn’t oversell what’s here, and one would be hard-pressed to identify a single second of filler.

Faux Départ: S/T 7” (Disques Mutant) We’ve been following France’s Faux Départ for years here at Sorry State, and now they’re back with a new 4-song EP. The first two tracks lean toward the poppier side of Faux Départ’s sound, with upbeat tempos, jangly guitars, and plaintive melodies that remind me of Ebba Grön (and, by extension, the Vicious and Masshysteri), but also have enough near-twee melody to slot in next to Neutrals’ neo-Television Personalities style. The songwriting is great, and when that burst of lead guitar erupts toward the end of “Drone,” it’s a magical moment. The two songs on the b-side are faster and more jittery, and while the Marked Men are an obvious comparison thanks to the blistering hi-hat work, “Toujours Là” is a catchy enough song to warrant it. I think this band might fly under the radar of many people in the US, but if you’re into well-constructed melodic punk, they’re not to be missed.