XYRESIC - DEMO (2018)

We continue this week with more punk from Singapore! I believe we shared the stage twice with XYRESIC (once in Malaysia and again in Singapore). I hope my brain hasn't gotten so fried that I can't remember that exactly, but I'm pretty sure about that. This band is pretty sick. They came out on stage all geared up and masked and played some ripping hardcore! At times, it has a bit of a metallic edge, but it gets the blood pumping all the same. Watching young punks get out there and put out some solid tupa-tupa style punk always reminds me of why I love this shit in the first place. One thing I didn't notice then was the song titles are in Spanish. I don't know if the lyrics are in Spanish too (it's a bit hard to decipher with the reverb. Also, I'm pretty sure I'm going deaf). Anyway, this is a solid release and you can check it out here

URGENT MATTER - 2019 CS

Hell yeah, let's keep this ball rolling! Today, we have URGENT MATTER from Singapore. When I first heard them, I jokingly told them that they are the grindcore of punk. That's because most of their songs are under a minute long and are as fast as they can be (for a garage-y, Ramones-y style at least). Seriously tho, these guys are great fun live. We managed to play with them in both Singapore and Malaysia, and both times were an incredibly hot, sweaty, fun mess. They especially tore it up in Singapore, where I'm sure they are local heroes. The lyrics and music are both fast and short and this tape is over relatively quickly. But that's OK, because that just means you can hear it on repeat a couple of times! They just released a new tape for 2019 and you can check it out here
Seriously. Great band, great people, great music. Keep an eye on this one!

SS/BLOCK - DEMO & PROMO

We're going to keep moving across South East Asia this week. Today we have the might SS/BLOCK from Malaysia. We were lucky enough to tour with them through Malaysia when we were down there. What we have here is a kind of US inspired HC for lack of a better description. Do you like GLUE? Then you'll dig this. At times the drumming reminds me of UK82 styles beats with the pedal and snare striking at the same time. Doesn't matter what I describe this as, just know that it rips!! If you're anything like me, you'll probably find yourself headbanging in your cubicle while you listen to this at work (which is what I'm currently doing).

Check them out on their bandcamp here

Here's a short video of their set when we played together in Georgetown. Cool space with a skate ramp and tons of kids just ripping it up:

GAZE DREAD - DEMO 2018

Been gone for about 2 years, which in the grand scheme of things isn't really so long (although in internet years, it's almost like being gone 100 years)! I've been travelling and doing so much that to be honest, I even forgot about this site.Well, I'm back! And fresh off a trip from South East Asia. Today we have Gaze Dread from Jakarta, Indonesia. I was lucky enough to catch them while we were in Jakarta (which was a wild show and in general is just a wild town!). I've never seen so many motorbikes in my life in a single town. The traffic reminded me of an old joke my Dad use to tell me: A guy is trying to cross the street, but the traffic is non stop persistent. He yells at a guy across the street, "hey buddy, where's the cross walk to get over there"? The guy replies, "I don't know. I was born on this side"! Anyways, this demo is just straight up sick hardcore. Real quick and aggressive and reminds me of bands like SIEGE. This demo is good, but live this shit will blow your mind (and ears) out. Hope someday they can come to the West Coast and make all our ears bleed.
You can download and listen to their demo on their bandcamp.

LINK

SAVAGES - TOMORROW'S VIEW

Japan is an incredible country. The food is delicious, the scenery is beautiful, you can buy beer from vending machines, and they have some of the best punk bands in the world! When most people in the US think of punk from Japan, they tend to think of raw noisey stuff (like FRAMTID or ZYANOSE). That's not the case with THE SAVAGES, however. What we have here is melodic and catchy. It's infectious and it'll get in your brain and you want this in your brain! Download this stuff and sing along the best you can (I've also included their side of the split EP they did with BLACK AND WHITE).

You can download it here.

WOUNDS - MMXIV

I finally had the time to recover from Manic Relapse weekend... Kind of. It was honestly one of the best weekends in a long time, and not just because of all the awesome bands that played, but because of all the good friends from all over that I got to hang out with! I wish it could have lasted a little longer...


Anyways, I first got this tape about a month or 2 ago off of STEEL CHAINS when they played LA (and if you missed them, then you're a bozo). This is Kiwi's favorite tape and she plays it all the time. I can't really blame her, because it really is that good! It's got a melodic punk vibe similar to bands like RED DONS or DEFECT DEFECT. I think the most unique aspect of this tape is the vocals. They give it an almost post punk feel. But what do I know? Nothing, that's what. From what I've been told, this band was pretty short lived and is no longer active, which is a shame. At least we still have this tape *tape player chews up tape*


No worries if it chews up your tape tho, just download it here.

XM2 - EL GRAN RECHAZO

This one was a bit of a mystery to me. When ORDEN MUNDIAL played the Dog Haus, the next day was a bit of a mess. Someone had locked the garage door and taken the key, locking all of the gear inside the garage. Also, the singer was missing and no one knew where to even begin looking for him. To make things a bit more urgent, some of the members had a flight to catch in a few hours. It was a hectic morning to say the least. Once everything had been settled and the missing people were found, everyone rushed out of the house (I never got my garage key back though). Later that same day, I was looking thru my tapes and I noticed a tape that wasn't there before. XM2, I can only assume, was left as a gift... Or maybe it fell out of someones pocket. In any case, thanks for the tape! Raging hardcore from Barcelona. It's similar to bands like BARCELONA or ORDEN MUNDIAL. Thru a random email many months later, I found out that Hector from ABSURDO sings in this band (although he doesn't sing on this tape). As everyone I'm sure already knows, Barcelona has some of the best hardcore bands in the world, and this is no exception.

You can download the demo here and you can stream and follow the band here.