Shirtless Thugs - "Ripped You Off!"

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Nearly four minutes of snot nosed and fucking stupid (in the best way possible) hardcore punk from the Salvation and Cult Maternal camps on an 8 dollar cassette.  Musically it's like a less inspired "Record Collectors Are Pretentious Assholes".  I guess you did get ripped off.  Ah-ha-ha-ha.

Sickoids - "Sickoids" LP

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Philadelphia's SICKOIDS are a straight up phenomenal band.  Taking influence from punk and hardcore across the spectrum their sound falls somewhere between "Kings Of Punk" era Poison Idea, "Land Speed" era Husker Du with some Italian hardcore style wildness thrown in for good measure.  This band sounds instantly classic and new simultaneously, which is a difficult thing to do with hardcore punk in 2012.  This LP has everything I like in a hardcore record, weirdness, speed, occasional stomping intros and gruff vocals.  This record is near flawless.  They also put on an incredible live show.

Merchandise - "Angels in the Station" CD R

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I got this at Merchandise's show in Phoenix on Monday night, it's a CD R that features rehearsal and demo tracks from the last two LPs plus some exclusive material. It's pretty good, but it's not as good as the LP's or the cassettes that led up to them. Although, it's miles better than the lathe or that weird disco 7" they did.

S.H.I.T. - Demo 2012

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Toronto is seriously killing it this year, as always. S.H.I.T. are catchy, in-your-face, ruckus hardcore punk from the usual suspects from Urban Blight, Violent Future and others. From what I hear the demo was recorded by none other than the almighty Jonah Falco. Seriously, the riff to "Feeding Time" is already stuck in my head. Fuck this is good.

Salvation - "House of the Beating Hell"

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Salvation's latest picks up right where "Mortality Interactions" left off. I hesitate to call it hardcore, but I don't know what else it is. It's just dark, unsettling music that takes influence from a wide variety of hardcore punk and black metal, creating something completely unique. This just sounds fucking evil.

C.R.A.S.H. - "A War On All Fronts"

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Killed By Death style punk from members of No Age, Mika Miko, Nazti Skinz and more importantly Born Against, Universal Order of Armageddon and Wrangler Brutes. This shit is ugly, obnoxious, fast and fun. Sorta like Kill From the Heart era Dicks or HPP or something. Fuck it. Don't miss out.

Tempe SS - "Heroin Heaven Demo"/Avon Ladies - "Overlords Chambermaids" split Cassette

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Tempe SS are truly ugly hardcore featuring Philly Mike Pinto. The vocals are snotty, gruff and in your face. Seriously one of the best front men I've ever seen. It opens with a raging cover of "Mad At The World" by YDI. On the B-Side of this tape you get a preview of the upcoming Avon Ladies 7" "Overlords Chambermaids".

Somewhere within the Tempe SS demo you will be given elaborate directions that I urge you to follow.

Cülo/Tenement - Split

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Two modern masters of their craft on one split 7". Each bringing something unique to the table. While each side has it's own distinctive feel that may clash with the other side at times this is not some split with a throw away side. Instead it's two incredibly solid bands doing what they're best at. This a split I can promise you will listen to both sides of.

The Cülo side is heavier and gruffer than their earlier material, while keeping their distinct sound. This is their best stuff yet. Truly menacing punk. Meanwhile Tenement play 90's garage tinged pop punk, like you've come to expect. I like this a little better than their most recent LP, but not by much. I don't really have much to say about them other than I think they're the best pop punk band going right now.

Divine Right - Pray For Me

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Nasty hardcore from Chicago. This band's demo was solid, but this straight up blows it away. It's like Negative Approach meets Void. Pounding, mid tempo, riffy and noisy. I guess there's members of Loser Life too. Anyway, it's fucking good. Get down with it.