End of a Year 2023: Albums and EPs Pt. 2

RESTRAINING ORDER

There are some real heavy hitters in this top ten. This was truly an iconic year for hardcore. It was also an iconic year for The Daily Snob. Thank you for reading and supporting. Hopefully 2024 is even better.

Part 1 is here.

10: Speed Plans - Statues of God (Iron Lung)

Revisionism comes easy when trying to re-create first wave hardcore. There are now officially 45 years of new developments to stir in the pot for some extra flavour. Strict historical accuracy isn’t the only way to make a great record, but when done properly, like on Statues of God, the results are almost always incredible. If this came out on X-Claim in 1982 it would be considered one of the greats. It’s a fast, gritty record that doesn’t need big tempo changes — let alone gimmicks or frills — to hook you. The songwriting is both incredible and incredibly faithful to the hardcore tradition of playing stripped down rock n roll really fast. This is a timeless sound delivered flawlessly.

Listen to “I am Jesus”.

9: Gel - Only Constant (Convulse)

Revivalism has its place, but it’s important for punk to keep slowly evolving. Only Constant is a landmark on the map of modern hardcore, proving change best happens naturally and incrementally. Gel spent five years mastering a formula, but this record injects a type of creative license earned only through sweat equity. A breakbeat here, a stop-mosh part there — these New Jersey “freaks” understand the rules and break them accordingly. We know they got the sound from Hoax and Gag. We know a thousand local bands trying to do this exact same thing. Gel are the brightest star in their rapidly expanding solar system. This record brought the basement to the masses and will possibly be remembered as a particular moment’s high water mark.

Listen to “Attainable”.

8: Restraining Order- Locked in Time (Triple B)

Restraining Order’s previous record is one of my all-time favourite hardcore releases, full stop. How does a band follow up something so singular and expertly done as This World is Too Much? By getting more personal and creative. Much like Fucked Up — who began as Negative Approach clones and then started adding disparate influences until they were writing seven-minute hardcore songs — Restraining Order broke from a strict formula to try something ambitious. There’s hints of Oi all over this record, and even a couple acoustic guitar parts. The band rewards us with arguably their best song to date, “Another Better Day”, through the process of branching out.

Listen to “Another Better Day”.

7: Fiddlehead - Death is Nothing to Us (Run For Cover)

I’m not sure where this ranks among the general consensus on Fiddlehead records. It’s certainly my favourite. When I saw them live, they closed and encored with the biggest hits off their first album, Springtime and Blind. Some of these songs got just as good of a reaction, though. Vocalist Pat Flynn dealt with many “non-traditional” themes in his hardcore band Have Heart, but even then, it was all strained through a lens of anger within the confines of an angry genre. Fiddlehead lets him peel back. He can lay in bed and feel like shit. He can sit on the couch and adore his wife. He doesn’t have to be the hard-headed warrior poet of days past. He can just be a normal dude. That freedom is refreshing, and it makes this record quite relatable.

Listen to “Sleepyhead”.

PAIN OF TRUTH COURTESY OF DAZE RECORDS

6: Conservative Military Image - Causal Violence (Lionheart)

I’m a firm believer in the power of the song. Casual Violence might be mixed in a way that does it no justice. The playing may not be the most technically proficient. These songs, though, are undeniably well crafted, with an ear for melody and a keen sense of where to drop the dance part. I’m also an advocate for different ideas. Button-pushing is a key component of what makes punk rock work. Something about this record transgresses from the polite social contract of modern hardcore. I’m not quite sure what it is. Nothing here is inherently sketchy. Maybe it’s the unbridled machismo. I could also be sensing a contrarian streak within the the lyrics. Whatever the case, there’s a level of dickheadedness on Casual Violence that reminds me of Rival Mob in the early 2010’s. I’m not too sensitive for that anymore.

Listen to “All-American Jawline”.

5: Pain of Truth - Not Through Blood (DAZE)

If unbridled machismo is a cancellable offence, someone forgot to tell Pain of Truth. Either that or these Long Island boys were too intimidating to stop. Here’s 11 songs that are ostensibly about kicking people’s ass for talking shit and/or stabbing vocalist Michael Smith in the back, snarled over riffs guaranteed to cause injury in a live setting. Not Through Blood is about as good as this brand of hardcore gets, and if you revel in the type of white undershirt goon music popularized by Madball and Terror (both featured on the record), you’d be hard pressed to ask for anything more. Pain of Truth were already a name to watch, off hype and live bravado alone. This album legitimizes their spot towards the top of the heavy hardcore food chain.

Listen to “You and Me”.

4: Militarie Gun - Life Under the Gun (Loma Vista)

Militarie Gun meticulously mapped out and executed their path from practice space iPhone demos to featuring on a Taco Bell commercial in under three years. It’s one thing to have the vision. It’s another thing to write music that plays well both in a basement and on TV. The success of Turnstile’s 2021 record Glow On opened the floodgates for hardcore bands to dabble in schlock, and MG’s Ian Shelton has been more transparent than most about his intentions. I really wanted to hand-wring over this blatant attempt at “going for it”, but the songs sold me in the end. It’s rare proof that DIY bands can diversify a sound to expressly widen their audience without compromising their talent or creativity. This was also the record Shelton wanted to make. It takes lots of risks and delivers on all of them.

Listen to “Think Less”.

MIL SPEC COURTESY OF BILLY HAMILTON

3: Grand Scheme - Numbers Game (11PM)

Ambition is great. Taking risks is sometimes necessary. We need pioneers and innovators. We also need 22 year-olds playing Agnostic Front riffs backwards in a basement. Numbers Game, to me, represents the lifeblood of hardcore. The formula is tried and true — start a band, write some hard riffs, play them as fast and tight as possible. Do this enough and you might catch magic in a bottle. No need to worry about TikTok, LiveNation or Spotify streams. Pour yourself into what you believe in and someone will care. Grand Scheme put themselves on my radar by getting in a van and driving from Virginia to Toronto to basically play a local show. Then they went home, wrote some S-tier mid 80’s NYHC worship, and quietly dropped it. I don’t know what the average hardcore fan thinks of this, but to me, it’s precious.

Listen to “Absolution”.

2: Illiterates - No Experts (Sorry State)

I feel much the same way about No Experts as I do about the Grand Scheme record. This type of hardcore will never be more than a passion project for the people who make it, but that dedication creates vital and essential music. This band’s entire discography sits in a sweet spot for me — a blend of stomping, gritty demo-core and fast, snotty punk. Illiterates are catchy and goofy in a lovably fun kind of way, but with a ripping undercurrent of speed and complexity that proves they’re serious enough to practice and get tight. No Experts is an improvement on their already great self-titled record from 2021. It ups the production value and trims the fat, leaving us with short, sweet memorable songs.

Listen to “24 Hours”.

1: Mil Spec - Marathon (Lockin’ Out)

Many records satisfied my intellectual craving for great music this year, but only one hit my heart like shit used to when I was an earnest little kid. Some bands view self-expression as a means to an end. They don’t see themselves as artists, just band guys doing what comes natural. Others really consider the role of their art and how it impacts the world around them. Both routes are equally valid. Both have created incredible music and absolute garbage. Mil-Spec always approach their craft with a keen sense of purpose. This record finally achieves the vision in full. They’ve stepped outside the boundaries of hardcore organically. It’s not art for arts sake, nor is it cloying. This is an extension of the people who made it, most of whom still rock classic youth crew merch onstage. The lyrics are intentional. So are the musical decisions. This record feels important. Not in a dorky, music journalist way — in a way that shows it was crafted with effort, care, and a little bit of magic.

Listen to “The Days Don’t End”.

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Honourable Mentions:

Brain Tourniquet - An Expression in Pain
Sanguisugabogg - Homicidal Ecstasy
Tomb Mold - The Enduring Spirit
Raspberry Bulbs - The World is Empty, The Heart is Full
Harms Way - Common Suffering
Poison Ruin - Harvest
Attrition Rate - Demo 2023
Missing Link - No Saving Grace
Entry - Exit Interview
2 the Bone - Bone Zone
Big Boy - Demo
Big Laugh - Consume Me
World I Hate - Years of Lead