[engl] 'Just a little sun, gets wasted on my own. Won't you come and open up and join me?' Through the dense cloud of gloom cast over the beginning of the 20’s, bursts TUBULAR SWELLS – a joyous sonic enterprise that pairs impeccably with the hopeful rebirth of our communities and of our lives.

[engl] About The 4th full length by the Italian vampire punx is finally out. Eight tracks of pure passion, desperation, anger and questions that will never be answered. Darker than ever and with a new rhythm section that'll make you twist and shout, this record will drag you down the abyss of existence to release you releaved and stronger than before. Fans of The Cult, A Flock Of Seagulls, Chameleons and Fields Of The Nephilim won't be disappointed.

[engl] Reuben Sawyer is nothing if not prolific. He’s also a man of many talents - his various projects have included the coldwave sounds of The Column, Hollow Sunshine’s blown-out psych-noise, Anytime Cowboy’s take on countrified weirdo-pop, and even ambient house courtesy of Rose. Oh, and he’s a visual artist too, of course. Pfft, who needs an attention span anyway? One thing he’s also dabbled in, however, is post-punk. Human Trophy is firmly in line with that tradition, but pulling from multiple directions at once - one minute this album rattles along like Big Black with the tempo down and the textures dialled up, the next we’re firmly in Christian Death territory. The twisting guitar lines and pummelling bass of ‘Forming Horrors’ even call to mind his blackened punk project Dry Insides, but with less velocity and a helluva lot more menace. Is ‘Corpse Dream’ a goth record? Possibly. Whether goth is a lifestyle choice for Sawyer or not, he’s certainly adept at immersing himself in sounds and making them feel like a comfortable fit. As with all his projects, it feels like another effortless facet of Reuben Sawyer - and in keeping with the rest of his output, it’s absolutely packed with songs you’ll wanna play again and again. Penultimate track ‘The Roads’ is built on a none-more gloomy pile-up of darkly portentous rhythms and a firm sense of disquiet, but once you’re locked into its circular riffage you’ll feel an urge to keep the loop going endlessly. Then there’s the closer ‘Blood Apex’, a dual-vocal nightmare set to music which draws you back in even as it attempts to push you away. Yeah, it’s pretty great. Who knows where Sawyer’s restless muse will take him next - he’s spoken before of wanting longevity from The Column, before unveiling another ludicrous number of projects. Maybe there’ll be more from Human Trophy, maybe he’ll decide it’s high time for a sludge project or start delving into glitched-out techno. All seem possible (and likely). But if this is the only record we get under this name, at least it’s 100% solid gold.

[engl] Hailing from the southern-most state of Chiapas, HURAÑA seems to have appeared overnight with a fully realized vision of wonderfully off center scrappy punk with echoed vocals, punchy drums and richly layered guitar work in the vein of moodier DEAD KENNEDYS songs, without all the silliness. There is a healthy dose of irrepressible hardcore power on here too. We get the feeling there isn't a whole lot of punk music coming out of this region of Mexico but HURAÑA could very well be the spark to ignite an exciting new scene. The certainly have the power, quality and message. Seven mindstickers altogether including a cover of the VULPESS' hit "Me Gusta Ser Una Zorra" which will only be available on the vinyl version of the EP. Always loved that song and definitely do it justice. 300 copies of 70gr black vinyl housed a custom die cut ILR glue pocket sleeve with lyric sheet and download card included.

[engl] To mark the 15th year of both Static Shock Records and Hygiene, we bring you the '15 Minute City' EP, which is also the 100th release of the label. Has it really been four years since their ‘Private Sector’ album on Upset the Rhythm? In that time the band have had a small tweak in line up with the addition of Lucy from Primetime on bass. Hygiene have returned with their most urgent and essential recordings and not many bands can say that after 15 years. Lead track '15 Minute City’ is an absolute bundle of DIY greatness…it has the chaos and chorus of one the classic 70’s / early 80’s Swell Maps 7”s. ‘L.T.N’ is a robotic and stiff post punk song that doesn’t outlast it's welcome as it lasts just over a minute. Last track ‘Petrol’ is a childlike punk gem that gets stuck in your head after one play. Hygiene are one of the most underappreciated bands in London in 2023.

[engl] For fans of The Getup Kids, Motion City Soundtrack & Saves the Day. The LP started life as a solo album for singer Alan Hiom but, during the pre-production phase of the record shifts in mood and musicianship soon developed into the album you hear today and the band I Said Goodbye. The songs on this record are a mixed bag lyrically but the underlying key is honesty. The songs are written from experiences and feelings that are real, written from the heart so that through empathy and/or shared emotions they can be enjoyed by all. Take Me Home is about missing a loved one whilst on tour whereas Robertson Drive is about the passing of a family member. No two songs lyrically or melodically are identical on this record and that is one of the things that helps I Said Goodbye’s LP stand out in the current sea of sound-alikes and copy cats. This is a very British sounding band, based in Norwich and featuring on drums Pete Wright of Ducking Punches.

[engl] Featuring members of Philly heavyweights like Fuckin’ Lovers and Poison Ruin, ICD10 sounds like they’ve soaked up 40 years of hardcore history and are sweating it out into a battered denim jacket covered in rusted studs and faded band logos. Swirling around ICD10’s tornado of noise, I hear the anthemic anarcho-hardcore of Final Conflict and the Iconoclast, the total noise approach of 80s Kyushu punk, the off-kilter artiness of early 2010s New York, and Gudon’s marriage of heaviness and musicality. ICD10’s vocals are bathed in noise and effects, but rather than the uniform delay effect most hardcore bands employ, there are a range of effects that sometimes cascade across the manic riffing and sometimes lock in with it, creating jagged looping effects that evoke a crumbling technological dystopia. Lyrically, ICD10 combines Crass’s political astuteness with Poison Idea’s nihilism; the world is fucked, the system is rigged, and the only momentary respite is in tasting the void. Faith in Institutions is an unrelentingly bleak record, but it channels its hopelessness into an original and compelling take on hardcore punk.

[engl] Sealed Records release the complete remastered ICONOCLAST Discography including the immense self released 1983 Demo, The Flipside 7? from 1985 plus Two Compilation tracks. It’s a small but perfectly formed discography and one that 36 years after it was first recorded still has power, intensity and rage. ICONOCLAST were part of the early 80’s American peace punk scene that included CRUCIFIX, BODY COUNT, AGAINST, ANOTHER DESTRUCTIVE SYSTEM, DIATRIBE, ARMISTICE and A STATE OF MIND. Idealistic bands highly influenced by CRASS which shined amongst the heavily nihilistic California Punk scene of the era. ICONOCLAST sound was in tune with DISCHARGE, early ANTISECT or WRETCHED while lyrically the songs were political and to the point. They played benefits for animal rights, anti nuclear, anti apartheid, anti police brutality, and Big Mountain. The demo was followed by their only vinyl release on Flipside which has two ragers and the more mellow In These Times which has a touch of THE MOB and OMEGA TRIBE about it. The band had tracks on various compilations including the seminal International P.E.A.C.E. Benefit LP on R Radical in 1984 which had the cream of the crop of international hardcore punk of the heyday.

[engl] After a demo and three seven inches ILEGAL finally unleash their debut full length. 12 songs clocking in at just about 30 minutes. Heavily influenced by early Italian and Spanish hardcore bands like WRETCHED or ANTI-DOGMATIKSS their sound brings to mind a time in hardcore where you could still understand what the band was singing about while sounding ferocious. Lyrics dealing with their status as illegal immigrants in Canada as well as the horrors of modern society, all sung in Spanish. Recorded analog in Quebec Canada with vocals added digitally later in Germany. Mastered by Joel Hatsat in Florida and housed in a beautiful wraparound sleeve designed by Eugene from CRAZY SPIRIT.

[engl] Well, look who's back? Yes, they're our favorite gold harvesters, INGRATES, and as promised, they're back as a full band, able to give us two more huge new nuggets dug out of the torrid sands of the Mojave Desert in Joshua Tree, which in addition to a glamorous pure gold rock, are alloyed with that unique blend of untamed primordial power-pop and wild '77 old-school punk, irresistible even to the most deranged punk freaks like us.