Milk

 

Milk is a hardcore punk band from Nagoya, Japan, and has been around since 2016 at least.

Ok when you read Japan and hardcore punk in the same sentence you immediately think of super loud and chaotic bands like Gauze, Gizm, Bastard or all the D-beat obsessed bands like Disclose, D-clone etc...

Well that's not at all where we are here!

 

 

 

  These guys are playing some king of super fast but also super clean hardcore punk which makes me think of some Scandinavian bands like Amdi Petersen's Arme or Nitad and even more of the French bands Youth Avoiders and MSS FRNCE.

Yes everything is in the speed and the cleanness of their act... tight, precise and super sharp! 

 

 

  After a bunch of self-released demos, a 7" on Summer of Fan and another one on Less Than TV, All About Milk is the first full length of the Nagoya guys and the only one I found online! 

With 12 songs and none of them longer than 2 minutes, Milk is properly showing every one how super tight hardcore punk should be made!

The super clean guitar really stick out and is quite surprising when you think about it but the lot is so fast and well played you just feel the energy all the same.

Because energy is all it is about! "Faster, faster, faster just make it faster" seems to be the leitmotiv of their release... and it works!

This is first class punk rock! 

Milk just released Bricks, a new 7" out on Hysteria and A-Z Records.

With 5 super fast tracks (the longest one being 1:36 and 2 of them being shorter than a minute), Milk keeps mastering the same recipe... it's all about speed and energy baby! 

 

  Nothing surprising here then but just exactly what expected, first class super well played clean hardcore punk!

Beautiful!

  

 

 

   Damn I would love to see these guys live...

 

 

You can listen to Milk and other beauties on Rien à Faire #16.

 

N,J'Oi! 

 

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Terms of Endearment

 Ok just a short one today about this (one-man?) band from Long Beach, California.

I don't have much information about the band itself, I think it's just a guy making low-fi music in his room to be honest. But why not eh?

I will pass quickly on Get Hard, Babey! (great title!) released in November 2018 which sounds way too much like what it probably is, a young dude making low-fi messy punk rock in his room... It's quite bad really.

No I will directly jump to this early 2020 release called Human Experience which still sounds really low-fi but in a great 80s American punk kinda way...

It sounds a bit like if Clif Hanger from The Freeze was covering for Darby Crash playing with Ill Repute... well ok it doesn't make any sense but you get the point, it's early 80s punk/hardcore AF! 

So take a few minutes to drop an ear on this release, I mean anything that makes your eardrums feel good for a minute is good to take right ?

N,J'Oi!

You can listen to Terms Of Endearment in Rien à Faire #15.

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Histamine

 

picture by Sabrina Loong

Histamine is a hardcore punk band hailing from Sydney, Australia, which has been around since February 2018.

Featuring members of Skin Prison, Sports Bra and probably other hardcore acts that internet history is not aware of, Histamine has made the choice of making heavy in-your-face Boston style hardcore... and I love it!

 

 Like many good stories it starts with a 2018 demo. A 4-track demo tape in this case.

The 4 Aussies deliver cream of the top hardcore punk with a heavy and stomping sound. Boston style ? Yes sure! They have been compared to Boston Stranglers but I feel less brutality in Histamine... maybe a bit of Vacant State, Drux, Lubricant or Jarada would be more accurate?   

Well anyway who cares ? This demo kicks ass and that's all!

   

 

 One year later Histamine releases another 4-track tape (on Black Wire Records) which brings their sound to a heavier and darker side of hardcore. I had some doubts but I think it's now safe to say that bringing peace and love to the audience was not part of the plan.

It really sounds like some of these guys have a foot in the metallish world and even if they refrain themselves from showing it too much in the music itself (thanks god!), I can feel the gloomy heaviness dripping on my eardrums...

 

 

  It's good, really, but to be honest I was more excited by the more in-your-fucking-face-asshole approach of the demo...

On top of the bands listed above I would add C.H.E.W and Khiis for the dark heaviness.

Histamine is back in this late 2020 and honestly nothing which happened in the past months has managed to cheer them up... and the near future doesn't look too bright either...

Darker, heavier and more aggressive than ever, this new EP released on Last Right Records is just a highly dosed version of what the band has delivered in the past...

Yes we're all angry down here and thank you guys for expressing it so well!

 

 

 

 

  You can listen to Histamine on Rien à Faire #16 among many other nursery rhymes.

 

 

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VA - Rien à Faire #16

Sorry I have been super busy with work lately and am a bit late with the updates...

But here is the brand new November RAF compilation with a shitload of great new tracks!

  N,J'Oi!

01 - Kaleidoscope - Decolonization
02 - Alpha Hopper - The Goods
03 - Viagra Boys - Ain't Nice
04 - Moth - Automated Stock
05 - Slaughterhouse - Fun Factory
06 - Dogma - Austerity
07 - Cheap Meat - Something at Bard
08 - Yammerer - Boa Constrictor
09 - Lip Critic - Blueman
10 - Grout - Left Hates Left
11 - Histamine - Ugly
12 - Milk - 100 Times
13 - Misanthropic Minds - Kill Hubtown
14 - Plastick - 8 Ball
15 - Warm Red - Decisive Auto Glass
16 - Schiach - Disziplin
17 - REVV - Can't Have It

 

And as usual the full compilation can be downloaded:
HERE 

 

 

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RAF Compilations on MIXCLOUD

 

Good news!

All RAF Compilations have been uploaded on MIXCLOUD which makes it a looooot easier to listen and share your favourite hardcore/punk show!

Have a look at the Rien à Faire Mixcloud page!

 N,J'Oi!

 

 

 

Desperate Living

  

 Desperate Living is hailing from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, featuring members of several heavy and noisy acts from the area (mainly from the modern post-hardcore side like The Minor Times, Ladder Devils but also from the poppy indie side like CRUISR and Person L) who decided to get together during the fall of 2017 under a simple edict: “let’s write punk songs.”

 So yes these guys don't come from a scene I follow really closely but as you may know now I like to explore and get surprised. And the quartet from Philadelphia caught my attention.

 

 New Concrete was released on Brutal Panda records (which features many quality Noise Rock / Post-hardcore bands) early 2019 (digital and CD only).

So Punk is the goal right ? But what is PUNK?

Well to these guys Punk is obviously deeply rooted in the sound of the 90s, from grunge to DC post-hardcore through noise rock and New Noise Hardcore, Desperate Living is delivering a concentrate of what punk could encompass at the time.

 

 

 

There is some Nirvana in Leave It, some Turbonegro in the short Ape, some heavy emoish noise rock in Slow One etc...

All over these 6 songs the band is singing despair (Ape), frustration, sadness (Sad Old Man) and anger (Don't You Dare), always powerful and heavy but never brutal or dirty, building its own identity of what punk is and can be.

I guess this is what Refused had in mind for the future when they wrote The Shape of Punk To Come.

 

One year and half later Desperate Living releases a second EP on Brutal Panda records featuring 5 new songs.

From the first seconds of the first song of City Sadness you understand that the band has decided to push the first EP formula to its limits. The guitars are heavier, the vocals are screaming straight to your eardrums, energy is exploding everywhere, the overall sound is slapping your face with a shovel... a name immediately comes to mind: Refused.

 

 

 

 Yes there is a lot of the new noise of the Swedish quintet in this EP, especially in tracks like Fault and Debbie Downer, but not only and the super energetic noise rock influences of the first release are never very far. 

Outside Looking In makes me think of bands like Helmet for some reasons, you know the kind of stoner noise almost ballad song I am thinking of.

 

In the end I think I am more into New Concrete than into City Sadness. 

This first release is just more punk (in the way I see punk I guess) and sounds closer to what I am fond of than the bit-too-big-and-modern sound of the second EP...

But don't get me wrong I really like Refused  but what can I say ? Not everybody is Refused...

  

You can listen to Desperate Living in Rien à Faire #15.

N,J'Oi!

 

 

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Gimmick: New Release

 

If you follow a little bit what's happening on the freak side of the hardcore punk scene or if you visit this blog from time to time you may have heard of Gimmick from Portland and their Quarantine tape.

Well the four punks from Oregon are back with a self-titled EP (only digital for now but I am sure Sorry State or another hardcore label will make a vinyl release soon enough).

 

Gimmick keeps the recipe of nasty hardcore punk and makes it even darker and heavier than ever. Fuck your positive attitude, these guys are all about negativity and anger, vomiting reject and hate.

Alternating between fast and slow parts, the guys from Portland master furiousness in both tempo, reminding the most trashy hardcore part of the "freak punk" scene... like U-nix and the Beta Boys jamming with a back-from-the-dead decomposed Darby Crash on cocaine...

Yes this EP is the contained anger of a terrible day at work being treated like shit by your asshole boss, this EP is the overflow of disgust for our modern times watching a presidential debate, this EP is all the frustration of your teenage years and even more...  

 

Gimmick is pure anger management therapy! 

 

 

 

 

You can listen to Gimmick on Rien à Faire #15.

 

 

N,J'Oi! 

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Mister

picture by Brian Santostefano

 

Mister is a hailing from Milwaukee, Wisconsin and has not been around for very long as their first release is from late 2018.

It doesn't mean that these guys are newbies though, with three members of Big Laugh, two members of Forced Impact, two members of Masquerade and one member of Ritalin O.D I think it's pretty safe to say that they really love to play together and that they are obviously knee-deep in the hardcore scene.

 

The first band release is a short (very short) 3-track self-released demo tape named UNO and released by the band in December 2018.

Three songs of straight to the point super fast hardcore punk strongly influenced by 80s American bands like The Fix or Urban Waste and more recently Koro or Formaldehyde Junkies among many others.

 

 

   Ok let's be clear here, I really love this kind of stuff, it's exactly what makes me wanna pogo with my laptop so it was really easy for the guys from the Midwest to convince me.

It is just waaaaay too short! 

 

 Not sure when this live practice tape was released exactly but probably around may 2019.

With more than 9 minutes of hardcore it's a lot longer preview of the band's performance than the less than 3 minutes long UNO... 

A lot of fast songs here again but also some slower and heavier parts which reminds me a little bit some parts of Big Laugh's songs (with a completely different sound of course).

Despite a bit weak live recording sound, this tape offers a wider view of the diversity of hardcore punk played by Mister. I find it really interesting.

A good preview for the proper release to come next.

 

Well that's the release I was waiting for!

After months of delay because of the fucking you-know-what crisis here is finally the Espejismo 7" on the really good Not Normal Tapes DIY label from Chicago.

 With 5 songs between 1 min and 1:40min Mister keeps delivering fast and furious hardcore punk in the veins of the classics already quoted above (The Fix etc...) but with pounding guitar riffs (Reflexion), weird little background melodies (Refugio, Illusion) and nice bass lines (Programma), the band is making it just out-of-the-dogma enough to be super interesting on top of being super energetic. 

  I don't understand anything of what this guy is screaming like crazy but it looks like there is a mix of Spanish and English songs with a strong "Illusion" theme, sounds cool anyway.  

 

Simply a great EP!

 

 

 

 

N,J'Oi! 

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Rascal

 

picture by Miranda

 Rascal is a new band from California playing some kind of freaky hardcore punk. 

Not much more information about these guys, don't hesitate to drop a line if you know more.

 

 Released on the Orange county based label White Gloves Records, Rascal's 4-song tape is one of the most exciting demo of the year. Edging between 80s American punk and freaky hardcore, Rascal is fast, angry and dirty when needed (and as expected) without saying no to a touch of rock'n roll or garage (like what the Dead Kennedys or the Minutemen used to do).

But Rascal is definitely a weirdo act, far from the hardcore dogma they can be linked to the freaks from Rolex for example... forming what could be the "brighter" side of what I call the freak punk hardcore scene (the most interesting scene these days in my opinion).

 

 

  What a great diversity in this demo!

Spacer is a furious hardcore punk song sticking to the noisy side of the genre.

 Prioritize got something of low-fi garage punk which reminds some bands on Total Punk.

El Diablo is a gem of dark-but-joyful freak punk not so far from what Acrylics can deliver.

  Happy Meal got a strong Dead Kennedys taste for a half-cooked song, leaving a feeling of underachievement (maybe the less good song of the four).

 

A very promising demo, can't wait for a proper EP or LP now!

 

Voir cette publication sur Instagram

Une publication partagée par R A S C A L (@rascal.oc) le 10 Févr. 2020 à 12 :44 PST

 

  You can listen to Rascal on Rien à Faire #15.

 

N,J'Oi! 

 

 

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Rolex

 

 

picture by 11pmRecords

 

 Rolex is a punk hardcore band from Los Angeles, California, featuring members of past punk acts from the Golden State like L.U.U.M, Surgeons, The Imposters, Grimly Forming or Broken Vessels.

Well despite its poor visual interest, the cover of the Rolex's 2017 demo has at least the benefit to clearly show that the four guys from California are not referring to a Ugandan delicacy but to a famous not-so-affordable Swiss watch brand... good to know, I was really wondering.

 

 

  With only one song over the 2-minutes-mark, Rolex is not here to make it last. Six hard and fast songs ok, but what makes the band stand out from your average local hardcore punk quartet is the heavy dose of deranged guitar melodies, of hopping bass lines and of changes of pace embedded in the expected hit and run formula.

Yes these guys know their hardcore punk classics by heart but don't hesitate to add a pinch of tasty weirdness in their recipe... a great mix between Black Flag, the early Minutemen and some early 2010s No Way Records bands like Acid Reflux.

So yes... it's pretty good!

 

I will not say much about the five R.O.L.E.X "singles" released between December 2017 and September 2019 as all the songs (except You Are My Sunshine, which is not really a song, from the first tape) have been re-recorded and released by 11pm Records on one self-titled EP. 

So with 9 songs out of 10 under the 2 minutes mark, Rolex keeps the pace fast and the punk hardcore. Thanks to a better recording we can deeply enjoy the energy and efficiency of the band. Weird, angry and highly enjoyable are probably the adjectives you are looking for while the black wax 7" is spinning on your turntable...

 

When you decide to change a well-oiled machinery as the 80s American punk hardcore genre the whole difficulty is to add parts without losing the genre's core (the energy, the speed, the anger etc...) and I have to say that Rolex manages it perfectly.

These weirdos add all the possible freakiness (great job from the guitarist) without making us think for one second that we are not in front of a hardcore punk record.

A great record!

 

 

 

  You can listen to Rolex on Rien à Faire #15.

N,J'Oi!

 

 

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