Punk | Hardcore 205 Items

Big Hotel, the sophomore effort of Winged Wheel, is an evolutionary document. Core members Cory Plump (Spray Paint, Rider/Horse, Expensive Shit), Fred Thomas (Tyvek, Idle Ray), Whitney Johnson (Matchess, Damiana), and Matthew J Rolin (Powers/Rolin Duo, solo) expand their lineup to include Lonnie Slack (Water Damage) and Steve Shelley (Sonic Youth), and instead of the entirely remote method utilized to create their 2022 debut No Island, the far-flung party convened in person in Kingston, NY for a long weekend of live studio recording.

The results are undeniably compelling. The band’s signature cyclonic energy is simultaneously augmented and refined with the approach of real-time collaboration. After tracking three days’ worth of group improvisations, weirdly-born songs, and other spontaneous creations, the hours of material were edited with a similar intensity. Half-hour jams became three-minute ragers and fragments were looped into infinity, calling on the same spliced aesthetic as some of the most adventurous material by Can, Faust, or more recently the experimental production of the International Anthem camp. The stereo field has been torn apart and sewn together again, rerouted with strange and mesmerizing left turns. Vignettes of ambiguous construction, both tightly coiled and exploding, revolve around themselves, gathering intensity and mass, coalescing into something greater than the sum of its parts.

'Demonstrably False' swells into existence like a motorik tidepool, tossing fauna onto the shoreline where it sprouts legs with a steady gait lying readily in wait within them. The controlled frenzy of 'Sleeptraining' marks a determined dash to a patch of reeds that are given form by the propulsive and minimal 'Clean Blue Shelf,' where lush terror and the balm of shelter seem equally likely to dwell. 'Grief in the Garden' describes itself like the eventual, fleeting triumph of eyeing the sun as it rises to declare the end of a starless night.

'Smudged Textile' seems another gesture from the sun, where it begins its work of burning swaths of cloud away to uncover the stark and perfect sky; it is around here that the sensation of flight becomes all but irresistible. The aerial coolness of 'Aren’t They All' maintains a reassuring pace much more like a heartbeat than a flapping of wings, which flows naturally into 'Soft Hands,' a piece that widens and ultimately splits the perception, somehow evoking an even, landbound march even as it continues to narrate that endless, gliding flight. 'Short Acting' is blissfully ambiguous in its suggestion, managing to hint at the vault of heaven before descending unhurriedly but inevitably back to earth. 'From Here on Out Nothing Changes' completes the vast arc, teeming as it is with the wild and singular energy of conscious life.

Where No Island was born out of distance and murk, these songs breathe and erupt in close quarters. Though the band isn't necessarily concerned with finding new levels of clarity, there’s a newfound power in the steady drive of Shelley’s unmistakable rhythmic style, and the unexpected interplay that builds on this foundation. Big Hotel is the sound of what happens in the rare and intriguing moments when Winged Wheel are all in the same room."—Jen Powers, March 2024

During the late 1970s, after No Wave pioneer Lydia Lunch met saxophonist James Chance, she began setting her angry and disjointed poetry to anti-music, founding her ground-breaking band Teenage Jesus and The Jerks with Lunch’s shouted lyrics matched by her non-conventional use of electric guitar. The group’s self-titled debut EP is a fast and furious affair, produced by Robert Quine of the Voidoids/Lou Reed, with future Nick Cave drummer Jim Sclavunos on bass and Bradley Field on minimalist percussion; steeped in aggression and audacity, it’s an awesome disc that rebuffs punk’s easy cliches and refuses to be categorized. This reissue also includes the ‘Pre’ EP and the tracks from the legendary No New York compilation. Essential!

The debut LP from Melbourne Australia’s Judges. A 36-minute meditation on the power of THE Riff from some of the folks who brought you Smarts, Cereal Killer, and Living Eyes. Monster stomp dual guitar power punk in line with Radio Birdman at their most ripping. Dripping with grit, sweating out sleaze, and 100% Total Punk! Split release with Anti-Fade Records."

Youth Brigade is an American hardcore punk band formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1980 by the brothers Mark, Adam, and Shawn Stern. The band subsequently founded BYO (Better Youth Organization) as well. The band’s first year of existence was as a six-piece, but they played their first gig as a three-piece on New Year’s Eve 1981 at Godzilla’s nightclub. They were also part of the big BYO extravaganza “Youth Movement ’82” at the Hollywood Palladium, where 3,500 people showed up for an all-Los Angeles bill. In the summer of 1982, after recording three tracks for the first BYO record release, Someone Got Their Head Kicked In compilation, Youth Brigade set out in a big yellow school bus on an ambitious 30-city North American tour with fellow punk band Social Distortion. The now classic 1984 film Another State Of Mind chronicled the event. A premature version of Sound & Fury had been rushed together before the Another State Of Mind tour, but pressing was stopped at 800 copies as the band was not satisfied with the quality of the material and production. After about 30 shows and several breakdowns, they returned home to re-record their debut LP, Sound & Fury, with the legendary record producer Thom Wilson, keeping only four tracks from the original. Sound & Fury, the follow-up version, is now considered one of the greatest punk records of all time not just because of the songs and cultural context, but because it features the hit songs “Sink With California,” “Blown Away,” “Men In Blue (Part 1),” and “What Will The Revolution Change.” Sound & Fury has been remastered from the original analog tapes by Dave Gardner.

Non-standard Californian punkband United Experiments of America was formed in San Francisco in 1978, centring on frontwoman Denise Semiroux, alias De De Troit, and guitarist Michael Kowalsky, who tragically died of a heroin overdose that same year. Debut album Illusions of Grandeur, released by Posh Boy in 1980, captured the tense atmospheres and in-between nature of the group’s sound, part hardcore and part dirge-rock. With original pressings trading at sky-high prices, this reissue comes with rarities ‘Social Circle’ and the angst-ridden theme song ‘U.X.A.’, from the esteemed Tooth And Nail compilation. Intense!

The fourth studio album from Dutch quartet Lewsberg. Recorded in Amsterdam in Spring 2023 with producer Yulya Divakova. Out And About sees founding members Shalita Dietrich (vocals, bass guitar), Michiel Klein (guitar) and Arie VAN Vliet (vocals, guitar, violin) joined for the first time on record by drummer and vocalist Marrit Meinema, who joined the band in the Autumn of 2021. Out And About embraces a collaborative spirit, allowing each member to contribute their unique songwriting talents. The result is a collection of tracks that capture the band's collective creative energy and their individual perspectives. The album also showcases the continued expansion of Lewsberg's sonic palette, with Arie van Vliet's violin playing adding a rich texture to tracks like "Going Places" and "Canines". Compared to their first three albums, Out And About feels lighter, calling to mind the The Feelies, Marine Girls and Young Marble Giants, whilst remaining distinctly Lewsberg

This fine 12-track album by the popular Swedish punk band is now back on vinyl for the first time since its original release in 2000.

The most savagely punk material Eskorbuto left us, the starting point: the self-produced cassette tape, "Jodiendolo Todo" (Fucking It All) reissued on vinyl. This is the mythical demo tape for which they were arrested and imprisoned for 36 hours, accused of apology of terrorism. The recording has undergone a rigorous restoration work and is available for the first time on vinyl. The release features a carefully designed magazine with detailed information.

In 1982 Flipside fanzine voted Suicidal Tendencies “Worst Band” and “Biggest Assholes”. One year later, amidst a tidal wave of controversy including murky rumors of gang affiliations, Mike Muir’s Venice, California crew finally got the credit they deserved.