[engl] Whaddya mean, you don’t know Dark Thoughts? They’ve mastered the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it-twice energy of that sneaky subgenre some call ‘Ramonescore’ and made it their own, revelling in hooks and pace while making you wanna inhale a good lungful of industrial strength glue (no, your pritt stick won’t do the job). The Philadelphia trio have been making a ludicrously addictive noise for a few years now, dropping their self-titled debut back in 2016, and now they’re ready to move out of the shadows and firmly into ‘your new favourite band’ territory. References? You got ‘em: they’ll call to mind the Bay Area punk of the 80s/early 90s, the I-gotta-weld-that-sound-to-my-brain instancy of Dear Landlord, the in-yer-face-and-out-the-back-of-yer-skull buzzsaw racket of The Queers or The Riverdales (and you don’t even have to worry about that turd Ben Weasel being involved). They’re a goodtime noise for downbeat folks, and they know how to get your subconscious begging for more. Not many bands will make you wanna spike your boss’ drink with bleach before driving your car into a ravine with the volume turned way up. Dark Thoughts are one of ‘em. Get familiar, asap.

[engl] “You only get worse,” goes the first line on Dark Thoughts’ third album, but while they might be correct about your personal decline, this West Philly trio are quite evidently better than ever. Hot on the heels of 2018’s At Work LP – 18 months later, to be precise – this new collection sees the band at their wilfully-dumb-but-smarter-than-u best, knocking out Ramonescore nuggets of the purest gold as if their lives depended on it. Whether imploring you to ‘listen to the radio’ or simply ‘please don’t leave me alone’, Jim Shomo’s voice remains the perfect balance of snot-drenched sneer and wounded croon, while the band lock into their fast’n’furious groove to frame his lovelorn melodies with the correct amount of muscle, and maybe they’ll even pour a few beers directly into their amps while they’re at it. Sure, they retain the sound that powered those first two albums, but they know what they’re doing – if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it; if you’re broke, write a 90-second punk banger about it with an irresistible melody and play it as loud as possible. As if to prove that fact, synth-splashed closer Must Be Nice shows they might even have written their best cut yet. Getting back to that first song, Hesitate, Shomo goes on to say: “I’ve seen the future / It looks so much brighter than it used to.” On the basis of Be Nice, it’s difficult to argue with that assessment: this is the perfect synthesis of pop and punk and a welcome reminder that your 70s heroes just wanted to recreate the unforgettable 45s they heard on the radio as kids. The 12 songs here may be destined for your turntable rather than the wireless, but you’ll treasure ‘em every bit as much. Another classic from a band that just doesn’t know how to stop writing ‘em – Dark Thoughts forever. Will Fitzpatrick

[engl] After a scorching demo and three standout contributions to the American Idylls compilation, Sorry State is proud to present the debut release from Raleigh, North Carolina’s Das Drip. When Das Drip went to record with Kris Hilbert at Legitimate Business studio in Greensboro, North Carolina, they told him they wanted their record to sound like Government Issue’s Legless Bull EP. While it does sound a lot like the explosive snot-punk of early GI’s (as well as hormone overdoses like Gang Green’s This is Boston Not LA tracks or Negazione’s Tutti Pazzi EP), no one will mistake this for retro rehash. Most of Das Drip is double the age of your typical Teen Idle, and they’ve spent those years listening to and playing a lot more than just hardcore. Which isn’t to say this is “mature” either; after all, how can you call a record “mature” when its catchiest lyrics are “tapeworm hanging out your butt?” Most hardcore bands’ attempts to articulate rage and angst look like a three year old’s temper tantrum next to Das Drip’s debut, which is wilder, faster, crazier, and more intense than pretty much anything you can toss at it. Maybe Das Drip is for people who don’t like hardcore anymore because of the macho attitudes, unimaginative tunes, uninspired playing, or any number of other valid reasons. Really, though this record is perfect for anyone who wants the opposite of a Spotify playlist with the word “chill” in the title.

[engl] Dave Smalley, the legendary punk rock singer (DYS, All, Dag Nasty, Down By Law) has a new 7” vinyl EP following their debut album, Join The Outsider’s on Little Rocket Records.

[engl] Dave Smalley, the legendary punk rock singer (DYS, All, Dag Nasty, Down By Law) has a new band Formed in 2017, Mr. Smalley has united The Bandoleros, three Spanish guys and one crazy Argentinian to create 11 solid punk rock hits. There are no borders and no oceans too wide enough to play good music if people can connect perfectly with those who have had similar experiences in the music, touring, knowing really nice people, understanding different cultures and screaming for a change all together. That's punk rock for you and that's why Dave Smalley & The Bandoleros were created so, join the outsiders.

[engl] After two 7”s (one on Deranged and one on Sorry State), Raleigh, North Carolina's Davidians deliver their first 12” record. Realizing the sound hinted at on their previous two-song single, City Trends combines elements of art-punk and hardcore into one of the freshest and most distinctive sounds in contemporary punk. While Davidians pick up on various threads in punk’s 40-year history—the pulse and heaviness of 90s noise rock, the quirky rhythms of the Wire branch of post-punk’s family tree, the brooding atmosphere of goth, and the velocity and concision of early 80s US hardcore—these elements are fully digested, growing organically out of the sound of four people of varying ages and backgrounds playing in a room together. Rather than just referencing other parts of my record collection, for me listening to City Trends reminds me of a time of discovery, when every new band I found was a universe unto themselves ripe for exploring. With this record, the RIYL is rendered obsolete… you either like Davidians, or you don’t. But if you like smart, dense, and original punk rock then I’m pretty sure you’re going to like it a lot.

[engl] Hailing from Catalonia, members of The Gundown were or still are active in brilliant bands like Vöndanikens, Serpent and of course Crim. After a few years of radio silence, this evenly great trio returned two years ago with the killer full-length Dead End Allyway and now, celebrating the bands 15th anniversary, The Gundown makes its first appearance on Rebellion Records with three brand new tracks! Fans of the Catalans will instantly fall in love with Diamond Chains, New Direction - we know we did! Day Drinker from The Netherlands (and Belgium) started out as a solo-project by Ronny Hamersma (The Reapers, Crown Court) many moons ago, but luckily is a full-blown band these days! With this split EP being the first original recordings of the band in it's current line-up, its blistering and working class punk-rock bangs out of your speakers, while the dual-vocals between Ronny and guitarist Jane (Suicidal Taxi, Malad) truly are the icing on the cake! This undoubtedly makes A348, Blood, Flesh And Bones and My Own Worst Enemy Day Drinkers best work to date! A must!

[engl] ‘Reaching For Eternity’ is the 3rd album from Portland, OR’s Daydream.To say this newest offering paints outside the lines of the average punk record is an understatement. By any measure, this is a through and through hardcore punk record, but there are many pop and art elements giving these 12 tracks a quality that necessitates multiple listens to fully grasp the depths of what this record has to offer. Very smart lyrics that are delicately yelled over top notch musicianship brings to mind more modern groups such as CRAZY SPIRIT, STRAW MAN ARMY or POISON RUIN mixed with the FLUX OF PINK INDIANS, DISCHARGE and the entire Dischord Records catalog (at least from VOID to FUGAZI). These songs are as tough as they are beautiful. Uncomforting as they are soothing.

[engl] DAYLIGHT ROBBERY just keeps the hits coming on with another amazing full length! They have this driving talent to keep re-inventing their classic male/ female vocals with perfect harmonies over dark, angular songwriting. “Ecstatic Vision” burst out of the gate with some of the best songs DAYLIGHT ROBBERY has ever written like the catchy songs- Racer Racer and Rear View Mirror. Then they hit you with the haunting tracks like Civilians and Here Comes the Rats. DAYLIGHT ROBBERY just keeps upping the ante with each release and is amazing how fresh and new each record sounds by creating a style of punk that few bands can master. One of the best punk records of 2012- hand down. Artwork done by Christopher Ilth.

[engl] Slamming new song by Die Rötzz!!! dumb ass backside by DD OWEN / SICK TOUGHTS! On a primitive and stupid scale from one to ten this is a 956373,6. your beer needs this!

[engl] Legendary Austrian Punk. Reissue. Originally released in 1982 when your parents still listenend to Goobay Dance Band. Includes insert / lyric sheet for you do sing along, a postcard and two stickers.

[engl] The release of debut album ‘Ask The Questions’ feels like Dealing With Damage have finally hit their stride and there’s an urgency and an energy around them now that feels really good. 2019 saw the group get to share stages with musicians that have influenced the members of Dealing With Damage greatly over the years (these include The Messthetics, Soulside, Moving Targets and Ruts DC), along with regular gigs on the UK’s fantastically healthy DIY punk circuit.

[engl] Inspired by some of classic rock’s heroes, Death riffrocked with minimal leads at maximum heat, a la Fred ‘Sonic’ Smith or MC5. Following their 1974 demo Death were given an audition with Don Davis, whose chart-topping work with Stax acts Johnnie Taylor and The Dramatics had made him a local celebrity. Davis booked the band into his United Sound Recording Studio, one of Detroit’s main destinations for aspiring blues, R&B and soul musicians, and they recorded the tracks that make up this album with engineer Jim Vitti, whose work with Parliament / Funkadelic seemed to inform his decision to record Death in raw fashion with little polish, showcasing the organic power relationships within the trio. ‘… For The Whole World To See’, a fresh and inspired early entry in the category of punk rock, is the first full-length release ever for Death. The band only released one 7" single, ‘Politicians In My Eyes’ / ‘Keep On Knocking’, which now sells for $1000 a copy.

[engl] Deef, forming in 1979 in Sapporo City, Japan evolved from a school-age free jazz group into a raw hardcore band influenced by the global explosion of political punk and hardcore, as well as Japanese bands like The Stalin. During the early era, their Anti-Emperor gig series “Ten-Nou” was targeted by right wing groups, facilitating a change to the more clandestine “Nou-Ten” Gig, a phonetic play on words changing it’s meaning at face value. Keeping in mind their first cassette, ?, was released before the Outsider Omnibus LP (GISM, Gauze, Comes, etc) when there were very few points of reference for DIY hardcore in Japan, the tracks on this LP show Deef pushing the envelope with the sound and intensity of their music comparative to their peers. This LP version of ? includes the first cassette in its entirety, tracks from the infamous, and almost non-existent Nouten Rockers omnibus from 1982, a completely unreleased studio EP session, and a furious live set from their earliest era, which shows some of the earliest influence of Discharge on Japanese hardcore. The audio has been specifically remastered for vinyl and sourced from the original master tapes. The LP includes a booklet with color and black and white photos, flyers, and liner notes and history in both English and Japanese.

[engl] Documenting the band’s final era, when hardcore gigs in Sapporo were banned, and still had to be organized in private recording studios with seating. Before bands like Gai and Confuse existed on the opposite end of Japan, Real Control shows Deef diving into a totally raw and abrasive hardcore style, issuing a challenge for bands to leave the typical sounds of their peers in the dust, and replace it with something more fitting of the anger and frustration of cold war era, and if you weren’t going to, their opening salvo chanting the mantra “We Kill All Punk Rock Heroes” proved that they would. Real Control contains the second tape in its entirety, as well as their unreleased 1983 session recorded live at Studio Puff, which shows the band at their rawest, most unhinged, and most furiously hardcore, and at the time, more raw than most any band on the planet. The audio has been specifically remastered for vinyl and sourced from the original master tapes. The LP includes a booklet with color photos, flyers, and liner notes and history in both English and Japanese.