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Debut LP from Vancouver and Neon Waste’s own Chain Whip. Self released in North America and distributed by Neon Taste Records.
Our take: Latest release from these Canadian punks, and while I liked their 7”, this one blows it out of the water. While the word “hardcore” refers to a narrow band of heavy, metallic music these days, Chain Whip is a throwback to a time when hardcore meant playing snotty punk as fast as possible. Their approach reminds me of the FU’s in that Chain Whip isn’t afraid of melody, but a big melody or hook isn’t a requirement for every song. Thus, you get anthemic songs like “Amber Alert” and moody and melodic punkers like the Dead Kennedys-esque “Turner Street Ghost Motel,” but when Chain Whip wants to lay into a fast hardcore song, they don’t pull any punches, approaching these tracks with the ferocity of bands like Loose Nukes and Blood Pressure. Every once in a while there’s a record like the Zero Boys’ Vicious Circle, Career Suicide’s Attempted Suicide, or the Carbonas’ second album that seems to have everything that you want from both punk and hardcore. 14 Lashes is accomplished enough to stand alongside those monumental records.