Review Roundup - August 2023

Plus: what's happening in Milwaukee?

I’ve never thought of Milwaukee, Wisconsin as a cultural hub, but if you talk to people who live there, it’s actually quite a happening spot. Especially for hardcore. They don’t have a national level band getting shout-outs on big podcasts or written about by music journalists, but anyone paying attention can point to a MKE group who deserves a break through.

The scene seems to be supportive and thriving from all angles. Bands like Enervate and Infamy are holding it down in the heavy world, while Big Laugh, World I Hate and more come from the punk end of things. Talking to people there, it seems like the factions aren’t as deep as in other places, and most people are just stoked to see good bands every weekend.

Hopefully the city’s momentum continues to build and we witness something real special from there in the next couple years.

Enervate - All Said and Done (Rest Assured)

I’ve been writing band bios for the Hold Your Ground zine. I’m including FFOs and the number of times I could have described a mid-bill heavy hardcore band as sounding like Trapped Under Ice is astonishing. Milwaukee’s Enervate, who played the fest last year, are a breath of fresh air, doing moshy, 90’s inspired heaviness without invoking too much TUI. I mean, the third song, “React”, kinda treads in those waters, but lots of other stuff is happening. There’s moments of melodic sensibility to the guitar playing, coming from what sounds like a 90’s metalcore approach. It’s a cool flourish and an interesting juxtaposition with some of their more modern riffing elements. I think these songs may have been rushed or cobbled together in the writing process. There are some strong transitions, but a few of them feel like they needed more thought. Still, any true modern metallic hardcore head will appreciate this regionally important four-song release.

Enemic Interior - II (Mendeku Diskak)

The cross-section of oi and post-punk has been fertile ground ever since Blitz went out on a limb for Second Empire Justice in 1983. Combining the two styles is like painting with complimentary colours — there are plenty of ways to do it, and it’s kind of hard to fuck up in an offensively bad manner. Barcelona’s Enemic Interior take the anthemic choruses and straightforward song structures of oi, then adorn them in post-punk’s cold, detached tones. The runtimes are short to a sometimes self-limiting degree. A couple tracks would benefit from teasing out the hooks a little longer, or maybe just some more repetition to get the melodies jammed deep in my mind. The abridged song structures make me wonder if the people involved are coming from hardcore. A couple frenetic bursts of speed also suggest there could be coremen behind the curtain. This EP is a pleasant listen, but doesn’t leave a huge impression.

Entry - Exit Interview (Convulse)

I’m feeling Stockholm Syndrome towards this LA band’s latest EP after initially being lukewarm on it — but shit… only four listens and I’m on board? Something of substance is happening here. My first thoughts were “great, more Gel-core. Can we get any more derivative?” I still kinda feel that way, but Exit Interview is about the best rendition of black shirt pogo music you will find. This band features two members of Touché Amore, so you know they can write a song. Every track is under a minute thirty. There’s no extemporaneous mid-tempo time-wasting. It’s just fast, fast, fast. We also get some off-kilter time signatures adding pizzazz to the recipe. The production on here is incredible — warm and heavy but not clicky or fake. Entry’s drummer and bassist, who handled the mixing and mastering on this EP, are professional sound engineers. Makes sense. I doubt I will spend much more time with Exit Interview. I’ve heard this played to varying degrees of competency 100 times over the last five years. That said, anyone still entrenched in the Gel/Spy revolution needs this. I mean, it’s on Convulse, so you know it’s worth a listen.

Self Defense Family - Law of Karma Live: Fake Shit Wins but Not Tonight (Landland Colportage)

Live records are often superfluous artifacts made for die-hard fans and completionists. Self Defense Family’s effort is a bit different, only because the band dropped so much material over a ten year period. New fans might find this collection a helpful starting point, and old fans, like myself, could use the reminder of just how many bangers exist in the back catalog of their dense discography. This doesn’t exactly transcend the limitations live records often run into. It’s recorded well and it flows nicely, but how excited can you get for old songs being played in one take? I also think the more definitive example of vocalist Patrick Kindlon’s legendary stage banter exists on the bootleg CAvis Tapes recording from 2012 (I feel like an asshole writing that, but it’s on streaming. Check it out!) Law of Karma probably won’t make my year end list, or even my listening rotation, but I do enjoy this once-prolific band who mysteriously stopped churning out new material reminding us how they made some of the best post-hardcore from their era.

Accusation - Demo 2023 (Quality Control)

This is quintessential demo-core — fast, fun, sloppy and not-too-serious. You can tell everything about this by looking at it on Bandcamp, but then again, you can’t tell much at all. Who’s in the band? Will they release more music? Are they playing shows? Only the most plugged in among us have those answers. Accusation, in that sense and musically, would fit in just as well on Lockin Out in 2002 as they would on Mosher’s Delight in 2014, as they do on Quality Control in 2023. QC isn’t really a demo-core label, but their reverence for the roots of that ethos (late 80’s NYHC like Outburst, Breakdown, and their more obscure counterparts) has been on display more and more over the last few years. Accusation fits pretty well, although they blend New York stompiness with a fair bit of Boston-style speed in the vein of No Tolerance, a band they cite as a major influence. This type of hardcore is interchangeable but essential. It comes as quickly as it goes, but we wouldn’t be here without it.

Mile End - 2023 Promo (New Morality Zine)

Here’s some young homies putting me on to old music by channeling semi-obscure 90’s metalcore like Threadbare and running it through the filter of what’s popping today. This is the type of refreshing new music only young people can make. They’ve done their homework. The dissonant and chaotic parts hit the nostalgia receptors hard. Then the mosh riffs come in and you know this band has a firm grasp on what’s happening now. My greatest hope is that when I listen to this in five years, it will age well thanks to the classic elements — but also transport me back to this exact time and place. Mile End’s last record sounded like Touché Amore with Rotting Out breakdowns. The first time I saw them live, I was like “where the fuck is all this heaviness coming from?” Turns out they’ve been playing and tweaking these new songs for two years. This promo goes a long way in dialing up what the band wants to accomplish. I think there’s still some dialing to do, but that just means their best is yet to come.

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

Fiddlehead is a curious case for me. They’re often compared to some of my favourite bands ever, like Title Fight, or in the case of a recent Axe to Grind podcast episode, late era Hot Water Music. Vocalist Pat Flynn also fronted Have Heart, a foundational band in my introduction to hardcore. Despite all that, Fiddlehead has yet to stick quite the way I want them to. This new record comes the closest so far. Flynn has always been a touching lyricist. His work in Fiddlehead deals heavily in the grief of losing his father. This record’s musings on depression tug a lot of the same heartstrings those Have Heart records did, except we’re both older and a bit more relaxed. The anonymous A2G commenter who compared Fiddlehead to HWM also triggered me to notice how close Flynn’s voice is to Chris Wollard’s Hot Water Music’s Epitaph releases. There’s also some sullen guitar melodies reminiscent of The New What Next. For the most part, though, this is Fiddlehead doing Fiddlehead — an emo band fronted by a hardcore singer.