EP 280: February 2026
Killer episode this week on the pod. Check it out here, here, or here. Playlist here.
Bandcamp is an awesome, modern tool for bands to put their music up for free, unlike the streaming platforms where you have to pay an intermediary. It’s sick that you can just upload whatever you want without much thought, however…I have a couple simple requests for bands on who post their demos/records on Bandcamp:
Say where your band is from. This is basic ass information that most people want to know about you. If your demo is on a record label and thus the label’s location is what’s listed, just put where the band is from in the writeup for the release.
Post your lyrics. I have no idea why a hardcore or punk band wouldn’t want to post their lyrics. Just do it.
If you’re a band from nowhere about nothing, why should I care about your music?
These bands put out new tunes that Kev and/or I enjoyed:
Lose Sight, Rocky and the Sweden, Mr. Radical, About Face, Blood & Tears, The Difference, Bayway, Early Grave, Reason Why, Killing Pace, Life Stained Red, Manik, plus the three bands below.
Collateral / Burning Lord split 7” Fortress Records
Two of the best hardcore bands going dropped two new songs each, plus covers of each other. Collateral put out the best hardcore 7” of 2024 and Burning Lord put out an AOTY contender the same year. These are their first new songs since so expectations were high, and I’d say both bands delivered.
Collaterals’s “Payback” and “Final Call” are both short, hard, aggressive tunes like you’ve come to expect from them. Both songs bounce between scissor and skank beats with those naturally mean sounding vocals on top. Collateral hasn’t written a clunker yet.
They covered “Mirror of Lies” by Burning Lord. I didn’t know the cover gimmick on first listen and texted Kev that Collateral pulled off the best ‘87 Demo worship tune in 20 years. Now that I’ve been smartened up, I gotta tip the hat to Burning Lord for writing the song, but I gotta say I think the cover wins the battle here.
Burning Lord kicks off their side with an “It’s The Limit” tribute that kicks into one of their best songs, “Forge of Confusion.” It’s a slow-fast jam that’s half Mags, half Clevo. Really that’s what Burning Lord does so well—merging Clevo HC circa 1989-1994 with NYHC from the same era. “Ambush” is a more mid-tempo bounce track. They cover “Deadline” by Collateral.
Killer stuff from each band. Hell yeah.
Vipers S/T 7” Swimming Faith / Feral Kid Records
The description for this 7” says, “Lyrics explore the depths of a broken man’s rotting brain as he moves from Brazil back to the US.” Not that we’d know, since they didn’t put the lyrics on Bandcamp. I’ll wait for the 7” to show up in the mail to judge I guess. Some of you will be left wondering forever.
For the tunes and attitude though, it kinda does take us down the Nung River as singer Nick Candela’s dome descends into madness. The record starts strong, bouncing between USHC ‘81 and UK ‘82 style hardcore punk—militant drums and deliberate riffage with Nick’s burly ass voice on top of it. There are some nice guitar licks tucked in, a stoner rock solo (“Coxina Motherfuckers”) for those who own roach clips, and a couple legitimately great solos (“Escape From Brazil”/“I Live in My Car”). The final track (“Preferia”) completes the brain rot with a truly demented vocal performance that is legitimately awesome.
STONE COLD TRUTH: If you weren’t around in the ‘80s, you’ll never be old school. I didn’t get into punk until ‘93 and never went to a hardcore show until ‘96, thus I will never be old school. You might think I’m old, but old school…never.
Crossed Out S/T 7” (1991) vs. No Comment Downsided 7” (1992)
We put two of the best powerviolence 7”s head to head. Both early ‘90s, both on Slap A Ham, both So Cal, both blistering.
The Crossed Out 7” starts out so gnarly with “Internal”—blazing fast scissor beat into a big head-bob riff (duh-nuh-nuh). In a genre pretty devoid of hooks, that riff is a notable one. They beat you over the head with it. We’re back to the pummeling scissor with “He-Man,” this time with call-and-answer vocals that would become a PV staple. They hit a quick bass break then drive into a doubletime fast beat.
I think what makes a PV band great is that they are just playing ripping, fast hardcore. It some ways for these early bands, the PV label is almost an unnecessary descriptor if they weren’t so influential on what was to become of the subgenre. The final track on the 7” is the big droner—an epic coup de grâce that could’ve been a Neglect song in another time and place.
The recording is rough and sounds like a lo-fi wall of noise. It’s bass heavy, with the bass and guitar kind of melding into one sound. The vocals are harsh—hard to understand. Yeah, it’s pretty perfect. Crossed Out’s sound really boils down to their fast-then-slow formula. It’s basically an old tried and true punk method flipped on its head. What makes “Subliminal” so great? Why does “Sink With California” always invoke the biggest circle pit of the night? Tempo changes have always been a staple of hardcore punk—Crossed Out just does it to the extreme.
No Comment’s recording is more bright and the vocals are delivered more in a shouted early ‘80s punk style, a million words a minute. They’re more a continuation of D.R.I. or the Neos than what you’d think of as typical powerviolence vocals. Really that’s what makes this early stuff so great—there are no rules. It’s just great hardcore punk bands playing as fast as they can. The drummer has a blistering fast scissor beat too, and No Comment bounces back and forth between speeds a lot but they don’t hit that super downtempo beat as much as Crossed Out. “Lament” comes close, but it’s almost more of a hard bounce. It’s the rapid-fire way they transition between tempos that makes this record so phenominal.
The band works in some brief discordant parts like on “Sarcastics,” “Hacked to Chunks,” and “Downsided.” They rock the straight up doubletime fast beat on “Distant” and “Push Down & Turn.” That shit rules. No Comment hit us with a droney last track too, or maybe it should just be described as a jam track with some diabolical talking over the top. I could lose it, but whatever…at least they put it last!
Both are top records of the genre and era. Which is better?
Anthony Pappalardo from In My Eyes/Ten Yard Fight joined me for the interview. Pops has helped out with the pod (and this Substack) plenty of times before but it was nice to sit down for a proper Q&A. Beyond playing in those two notable ‘90s roots hardcore bands, he helped put together one of the best books on hardcore there is, Radio Silence. It just got reprinted with bonus pages, so handle business.
Live…Suburbia! is tight too.
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I play in a band called SUBVERSIVE INTENT. Jam the demo here, here, or here and buy the tape here.
- ZN
I still regularily fuck with Live Suburbia. Shit is nostalgic as all hell, in the best way.