#10 BEEF BEEF
Feel It Records always find the IDGAF garage punk rock that makes me wanna jump up and dance! Today I’m bouncing to BEEF and they’ve got the weird and warped sounds I need to snap me out of the capitalism-induced stupor I drift into every afternoon. BEEF’s reminding me I need to have fun.
#9 Tozcos INFERNAL
Now we have some punks’ punk. Tozcos is full of rage and rebellion, and INFERNAL is an ode to the true spirit of punk as it blossomed through the cracks of the strip mall landscape of California. Listening to INFERNAL, it’s like someone lit a bonfire in an LA backyard show in my mind. Tozcos really makes me miss SoCal punk shows up here in Canada. It’s their first release in 5 years and INFERNAL doesn’t fucking disappoint!
#8 TRUTH CULT Walk the Wheel
On Walk the Wheel, TRUTH CULT walks the line between punk and late 90s/early 00s indie rock so for me, this record is the full package. It’s melodic, rockin, fast, and emotive, clean and gritty at the same time. This is music for our grey days, when all we want to hear is plaintive and overcast, and for our sunny day, when all we need to hear is warm and inspiring.
#7 PEACE TALKS PROGRESS LP
PEACE TALKS is a band for the times, and shows that as much as shit’s changed, humans are stubborn as fuck when it comes to staying the same. Their riffs are relentless, forcing me to face how easy it is for me to wake up, eat, shit, and sleep the same bullshit every day because actually doing something different feels like a threat to my safety. The corrosive vocals and abrasive drumming on their PROGRESS LP remind me that this system doesn’t give a shit about my safety, and the best thing I can do is break free from the mind control! Play this for your upwardly mobile, wealth-worshipping, war apologist relatives over the holidays, you’re guaranteed to get a rise.
#6 UPCHUCK Bite The Hand That Feeds
I wasn’t expecting so much rock when I hit play on UPCHUCK’s new record Bite The Hand That Feeds. But after just one song I knew they were giving me exactly what I needed. It’s punk fucking rock n roll, it’s debauchery and blues, it’s grime and groove. Bite The Hand That Feeds makes me want to dance and sing and cry at the wasted nights and laugh at my wasted youth.
#5 NO TIME Suffer No Fool
What does OI Joy sound like? It sounds like NO TIME‘s new album Suffer No Fool. Every tune on this record is an anthem that makes me smile and want to boogie at the same time! Hell yeah, this band knows how to create music that uplifts our generation. Their anti-racist skinhead song “Everything You Hate” speaks to me on so many levels and I agree with the lyrics 100%.
FEEBLE MIND, ARCHAIC THOUGHT FEAR AND HATE, ALL YOU’VE GOT A SHINING EXAMPLE OF THE MASTER RACE I’M PROUD TO BE EVERYTHING YOU HATE PROUD TO BE EVERYTHING THAT YOU HATE THE REICH IS DEAD SO TAKE A HINT GO GOOSE STEP OFF A FUCKING CLIFF
No Time “Everything You Hate”
NO TIME has no time for BS but they do spend their time writing spectacular Rocking OI Tunes. Real talk, this band also has an 80s Punk vibe about them, which is why I can imagine them performing at the Perkins Palace with the Toy Dolls and The Addicts. I can’t front, Suffer No Fool was mixed perfectly and no time do you not want to moon stomp on a cop’s head while blasting this album. Hot damn, these humans know how to manifest a sonic space filled with joy and rage. I also respect how they are willing to deal with issues that we all face, like anxiety.
#4 SPIRITUAL CRAMP SPIRITUAL CRAMP
Some of the most fun I’ve had at a show is when I’m watching SPIRITUAL CRAMP! This is music that’s impossible not to move to, it’s like it possesses your brain stem and travels down your nervous system and causes uncontrollable bouncing all throughout your body. We’ve been huge fans of this band for years so we’re super stoked that they finally released their debut full length LP via Blue Grape Music. This new record is already waking me up on gloomy weekend mornings and is gonna get me through these heavy, grey days with a hefty dose of optimistic punk perseverance.
#3 MS PAINT Post-American
What do you get when you take hardcore punk, post-punk, synths, and ’99 indie rock and put it through MSPaint? You get an intoxicating swirl of ideals and a kaleidoscope of gorgeous sounds that point us all toward a better future—or at least a better day. Not gonna lie, when I hit play on their single “Delete it,” featuring Ian Shelton of Militarie Gun, I was completely over my hours of being awake today, but then the pulsating, mesmerizing melodies hit, and all of a sudden, everything was alright.
#2 SCOWL Psychic Dance Routine
SCOWL exemplifies why (hardcore) punks are some of my favorite people to be around. They’re rad fucking humans making rad fucking music. Psychic Dance Routine is a different take on the addictive, in your face, pit friendly punk they’re known for. There’s more singing, and I love it. There’s more melody and attitude and I’m here for it. SCOWL is going to the moon and I’m happy about it! The title track shows just how damn good this band is at songwriting; it’s like they took the best of every era of punk and grunge and blended it into a brew I can’t stop sipping. And then next thing I know they’re tossing me face first into a maelstrom of fists and feet. SCOWL is punk for this generation and as an old head I’m stoked to be on the ride!
#1 ANGEL DU$T BRAND NEW SOUL
ANGEL DU$T is a band that can do no wrong in my ears. Every time they release an album, it becomes the soundtrack to living life, usually in the morning because they help me wake up and get stoked to live and make a big-ass breakfast for my family. And listening to their new record Brand New Soul is going to be no different. This record takes the listener on a million different rock n roll journeys in the chaotic but cohesive way that only ANGEL DU$T can. “Don’t Stop” has heavy Jane’s Addiction vibes in the percussion, and then “Space Jam” comes in all hardcore punk again. “Sippin Lysol” feels like the kind of track that would end up with someone getting kicked in the head by a stage diver. “I’m Not Ready” is the track the little birds are circling their concussed head to, and “Fuel for the Fire” has all of us dancing around their knocked-out body. I was a 90s teen so I’m hearing my favorite records of that era threading through this record and it’s making me happy. The distorted voices make me think about Ween and the slacker songs bring to mind Beck. But this is 100% an ANGEL DU$T record, and it’s headed to live on my turntable as we speak.
