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2 songs of blistering d-beat with wicked gnarly guitar solos from brand new Richmond punks Life Abuse, featuring a list of members from bands everyone loves, Limp Wrist, Self Defence Family, Das Oath, Male Patterns, Devoid Of Faith and more. And 2 songs of snotty, feral, ADHD hardcore from Britain's southeners Skrewball.
Artwork by Krime (@krime_1) and pressed on toxic yellow wax with laser printed A4 insert.
Our take: There was some water cooler talk around the Sorry State warehouse the other day about how split records are coming back into fashion. I’m not sure which side of that debate I’m on… while the internet has eroded the split record’s use as a promotional tool, a well-matched split record can still make for a cohesive release. Life Abuse and Skrewball seem like a logical pairing; while they come from different parts of the world, they have a lot in common musically, particularly the way each band combines elements of d-beat and New York hardcore. Richmond, Virginia’s Life Abuse features former members of Limp Wrist, Das Oath, Devoid of Faith, and many others, and their burly d-beat with touches of melodic lead guitar reminds me of Tragedy, but both their tracks here culminate in moshy breakdowns with crossover-influenced guitar leads that remind me of Leeway. As for the UK’s Skrewball, both of their songs also have breakdowns (the second, “Police Reality” also has an intro mosh part), but their NYHC influences feel more baked-in, with a youth crew edge to both the riffing and the vocals… think Bold with d-beats? As with any band whose sound transcends the imaginary lines between scenes, both Life Abuse and Skrewball are likely to ruffle the feathers of die-hards on either side of the aisle, but for every one of those conservative listeners, there’s an open-eared fan who’ll love the unexpected combination of influences.
Artwork by Krime (@krime_1) and pressed on toxic yellow wax with laser printed A4 insert.
Our take: There was some water cooler talk around the Sorry State warehouse the other day about how split records are coming back into fashion. I’m not sure which side of that debate I’m on… while the internet has eroded the split record’s use as a promotional tool, a well-matched split record can still make for a cohesive release. Life Abuse and Skrewball seem like a logical pairing; while they come from different parts of the world, they have a lot in common musically, particularly the way each band combines elements of d-beat and New York hardcore. Richmond, Virginia’s Life Abuse features former members of Limp Wrist, Das Oath, Devoid of Faith, and many others, and their burly d-beat with touches of melodic lead guitar reminds me of Tragedy, but both their tracks here culminate in moshy breakdowns with crossover-influenced guitar leads that remind me of Leeway. As for the UK’s Skrewball, both of their songs also have breakdowns (the second, “Police Reality” also has an intro mosh part), but their NYHC influences feel more baked-in, with a youth crew edge to both the riffing and the vocals… think Bold with d-beats? As with any band whose sound transcends the imaginary lines between scenes, both Life Abuse and Skrewball are likely to ruffle the feathers of die-hards on either side of the aisle, but for every one of those conservative listeners, there’s an open-eared fan who’ll love the unexpected combination of influences.