Live Fast Jeff Young: Vol. 4 - July 29th, 2017

What's up Sorry Staters?

So I'll be straight up, I did not stay true to my word and missed my blog post last week.  I'm gonna try to get back on track with getting these written every other week, but it's just been busy with shows in Raleigh lately!  I mainly just want to talk about records because so much killer stuff has come into Sorry State since my last entry.  Here's a few things I wanna talk about on the personal front though: 

My new band Vittna put out our demo tape since last time I wrote for the blog.  I brought a few tapes to sell at the store and thanks to everyone who's picked one up!  We're sold out, but I'll bring some more in soon.  Daniel was nice enough to write a little blurb about it in his last blog post, but just in case, you can check it our here:

Another update: Skemäta and Drugcharge are going cross-country! We're doing a full-US tour starting mid-October.  We've already contacted a lot of people about booking shows for most of the dates.  We're still looking for someone who books shows in Albuquerque/Santa Fe and a couple other places.  I'll list the dates below, and please get in touch if you can help out!  Hit us up: skematapunx@gmail.com

10/15 - Atlanta, GA

10/16 - Gainesville, FL

10/17 - Tallahassee, FL

10/18 - Birmingham, AL

10/19 - Hattiesburg, MS

10/20 - New Orleans, LA

10/21 - Houston, TX

10/22 - Austin, TX

10/23 - Denton, TX

10/24 - Oklahoma City, OK

10/25 - Albuquerque, NM

10/26 - Tempe, AZ

10/27 - Las Vegas, NV

10/28 - Los Angeles, CA

10/29 - Bakersfield, CA

10/30 - Oakland, CA

10/31 - San Francisco, CA

11/1 - Medford, OR

11/2 - Portland, OR

11/3 - Boise, ID

11/4 - Salt Lake City, UT

11/5 - Denver, CO

11/6 - Kansas City, MO

11/7 - St. Louis, MO

11/8 - Iowa City, IA

11/9 - Minneapolis, MS

11/10 - Chicago, IL

11/11 - Bloomington, IN

11/12 - Columbus, OH

11/13 - Cleveland, OH

11/14 - Pittsburgh, PA

11/15 - Charlottesville, VA

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We don't have it at the store yet, but I also want to mention to check out the new LP from Bareclona's Lux!  I'll do a more refined description in a later blog post once we have the records for sale at SSR.  Listen here: 

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 Alrighty, now let's talk about some records.  Lots of ragers this time:

Impalers: Cellar Dweller 12" - I'm sure for the majority of people who are keeping tabs on their new hardcore releases that this is a no-brainer.   Me and everyone at the shop have discussed that somehow after all of their releases, Impalers still manage to out-do themselves.  Especially because stylistically, in the motor-charged/d-beat/whatever field, Impalers still manage to stand out.  The songwriting this time around takes a lot interesting twists and turns, changing tempo and feel on a dime.  To me, the standout feature of this new record is Ulsh's vocal performance, weaving between throat-shredding growls and deranged, monotone spoken parts.  Also, the choice to make the third iteration of the title track just shred lead for the whole song is a bold, but solid choice.  I feel certain that with this new slab Impalers will make their way to a lot of people's best of 2017 lists. 

Katastrof: S/T  7"- Admittedly being the biggest Totalitär fan at Sorry State, it was pretty obvious I was going to love this record.  That said, even compared to Poffen's previous project with the same guitar player, Institution, the execution on this record is even more raw and savage.   If you want some real deal, undiluted Swedish hardcore punk, this record is a must.

Innocent: Power Hungry and Mindless CS - New project out of Boston featuring the mighty Ryan Abbott on drums.  The way this tape was hyped to me was that it sounded like early Sacrilege.  Honestly, I really don't think it sounds like that, but it is really great.  The reason I say this is really because the songwriting is much more punchy and rhythmically complex than it is Discharge sounding.  This is really just a super tight, riff-filled assault on the ears.  The high-pitched soaring vocals really make it too.  Killer stuff.

Criaturas:Ruido Antisocial  7"- Latest and greatest release from Austin staples Criaturas.  I would say that especially after not releasing anything for 4 years that this new EP sounds really fresh and may even be their best material.  Dru's vocals on previous Criaturas releases sort of weaved between melodic and harsh, but on this it's all aggressive all the time.  I also really like the sound of the recording, the drums are super punchy, the bass is grimey, and there's plenty of soaring rock leads.

Kombat: In Death We Are All The Same 7" - While I had heard their demo tape a while back, something about the songs on this 7" are next-level.  The drumming is raging fast and the chorus-drenched guitar work is shredding all over the place.  Kombat's style really seems like everything could fall apart at any minute, but never quite reaches the brink.  This comes across seeing them live too, because while this EP is killer, it's only a taste of how explosive they are in person.

Blank Spell: Miasma 12"- Debut full-length from this Philly punk band.  While it's got some UK82 style pogo beats going on, there is also a twinge of goth punk in Blank Spell's sound.  That said, I would still describe them as a hardcore band.  The wailing vocals really stand out and totally enhance the rhythmic complexity of the music.  It also is worth noting that this band sounds super powerful for a 3-piece.  

Also, might as well take this space to mention that Blank Spell is playing in Raleigh later in August.  Check it out here: BLANK SPELL/HALDOL/NURSE IN RALEIGH

Testa Dura: Lotta Continua  7"- New band featuring Sorry State family Törsø's drummer on vocals.  Giacomo, originally from Italy, sings over top music that really does bring to mind classic 80s Italian hardcore.  The recording is lo-fi and organic sounding and only makes the raw, unhinged quality of the music more authentic sounding.  Total ripper.

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I think that'll do it for this time.  I'll put together a list of upcoming NC punk shows in my next post.  Thanks for reading!

-Jef Lep