[engl] Chisel this, Chisel that” — it’s on my phone, it’s on my hard drives, it’s on my turntable, it’s on my t-shirt, it’s on my Instagram, it’s on my blogspot, it’s tattooed on my forehead, my own parents renewed their wedding vows to “Rat Running Scared.” I pressed stop. I unplugged my headphones, turned down the volume, and snapped that god forsaken single in HALF. Enough was enough! But see me, yeah. Once the music stopped only one thought rang through my head: What Have I Done? Where once there was explosive energy there was now a void. Lucky for me, the 5 loveable lads from Blackpool, Croydon, Acton, Chingford, and Guildford KEPT IT MOVIN, and just when I thought all was lost they brought me back in. Three more blasts of full fat extra saturated deep fried limb swinging confrontational uplifting chisel chiselling punk for that special space in your life. Enough said? No. Cos they’ve done it again.

[engl] Explosive new music from The Chisel bringing the edifying and restorative powers of the great British folk tradition back to the table for a staggering next pint. Just when you thought you were fucking full, your mouths been winched open and gallons of shards of broken glass guitar, thick bass, and burning howling bilious guts gets poured down your maw. The speed of UK82, the terror of punk, the solid mass of Oi!. Like a bar stool breaking through a bus stop, there’ll always be THE CHISEL. (Jonah Falco)

[engl] It’s going off and The Chisel are back to cause a bit of bovver. Following a trio of explosive singles, the band finally bring us their debut full-length album, Retaliation, on the London-based punk institution La Vida Es Un Mus. Having formed in early 2020 and featuring a crew of members with long-term associations to the London punk scene, The Chisel quickly secured a reputation as one of the most exciting bands from a pool of contemporaries that includes Chubby & The Gang, Stingray and Big Cheese. Their sound is rooted firmly in Punk but with influences that run across the board to create a distinctive blend of Oi!, anarcho, UK-82 and hardcore. Retaliation is an unmistakably British record that draws a line from 1982 up to the present day, pushing its way into your collection and torching your stereo. Opening with the agitated force of ‘Unlawful Execution’, the tone is firmly set by a song that addresses the brutality of the Met Police (“Tell me what’s the difference between right or wrong / When a copper gets to blast a lad who did nothing wrong”). ‘Come See Me’ is a ferocious ode to camaraderie in the face of mouthy boneheads and bellends. ‘Shit Life Syndrome’ is a poisoned reference to the same cynical phrase used by physicians to describe the effects of people living under poverty and in the grips of substance abuse (“How can you expect people to act nicely, they’ve all been left on the edge of society”). It’s one of many songs influenced by singer Cal’s experiences of growing up in the working-class town of Blackpool. Cal states: “Blackpool as a town is often overlooked or even looked down upon, I wanted to write lyrics which gave the people of my town a voice”. With tunes like these The Chisel show that they’ll never pull any punches. However, beyond the fury and the swagger there’s another side that plays to an additional strength; the ability to write a memorable hook. Songs like ‘Retaliation’, ‘Tooth & Nail’ and ‘Not The Only One’ could be described as modern day anthems (the latter has become a fan favourite since the arrival of their first live shows) and cement their identity as a band not to be defined by their influences.

[engl] Limited reissue of the well respected second wave UK PUNK band, this debut album was originally released in 1982. Clever lyrics, sophisticated melodies, catchy and powerful songs. The reissue features 5 bonus tracks from the band early singles 7": "Puppets Of War", " Subway Sadist", "Outlaw", " Behind Closed Doors" & "Disco Tech".

[engl] The debut full length from London's loudest. Wall to wall speedy punk bordering on the recklessness of Motorhead, the single mindedness of the Kids, the streetwise panache of Cockney Rejects, and the occasional curveball pasted in to keep us all surprised. This LP is timeless vernacular perfection peppered with misleadingly obvious displays of brashness aching their way into the hallways of surprising musical channels. "Can't Tell Me Nothing" could have been on a Rip Off Records 7" from 20 years ago, "Trouble" - a love song to Chubby's one true muse: being naughty - is like an ironed and overdriven Wreckless Eric, "Grenfell Forever" is taken from the empty glass of the Billy Bragg back catalogue. All that alongside the sneering eternity of "All Along the Uxbridge Road," the Hammond Organ smeared "Bruce Grove Bullies" -- it will all have you reaching for your London A to Z and trying your hardest not to spill your pint.

[engl] In the past few years Portland has produced some top-notch hardcore, most notably in the family of bands such as ALIENATOR, SUCK LORDS, REEK MINDS, etc. The latest installment of this cluster of weirdos is CHUEKO, with their four song debut 7”. Fierce fast, hard punk with solid paces, great tones (notably the bass, often taking the helm as the courier of riffage) and really catchy tunes. There are many nods to HC bands past, specifically 80’s USHC, but there is also a nice UK82 overtone, giving the songs a nice swagger, often bringing to mind GBH (in fact the intro for “Stupid People” is a direct homage to said band). This ep deserves to be on your turntable if you appreciate the aforementioned bands and hardcore with an emphasis on punk. No cheezy breakdowns or macho posturing, just steady driving slamming shit which will demand multiple flips of the record.

[engl] Class of Tucson AZ - instantly familiar, idiosyncratic to the max, a glorious collision in which several of American punk’s leading lights emerge from their vehicles unscathed (though I make no promises for the rest of you, see below). What more can I say about 2022’s most eagerly anticipated full-length album? ( a bit more as it turns out, which is fortunate as my fee is pretty expensive, onerous, even) These songs have the requisite crunch / glue ratio and more than anyone else in their idiom, remind me of moments that don’t happen nearly enough, in rock, in life, when your eyes are closed, anywhere. I don’t think it’s a huge stretch to presume the persons responsible for these gems are keen students of the last 40+ years of underground/overground sounds (the good shit anyway), but there’s a singular voice, a defined worldview if you will, somehow cutting through our bland, brutal, grim as fuck moment in history. If you think I’m building Class up a bit much, I can promise you this — there’s at least a half dozen people I know who will hear this record and immediately fall into the throes of a deep depression because they’re _not in this band_ . And if you’re wary of being hyped-2-death, spare a thought for me for just a minute. I’m the one who’s gonna have to talk them off a ledge (figuratively, it’s mostly single stories in this part of the country).

[engl] 9 song debut album after a stunning 7" and Demo. When a band has the word “leather” in their name, usually you either think of something like Judas Priest or you go the Velvet Underground route. Well, Cold Leather sound like neither. In fact, they probably sound as if no punk band had existed from ’74 on. They play those tasty classic rock type riffs with a groovy rhythm section and have the same sexy teenage urgency that you feel when you listen to The Runaways. It’s like they were punks before there was punk – and I don’t mean power-pop. I’m thinking about that period of time when rock was dangerous and sexual and it wasn’t necessary to differentiate it from all the commercial bands’ bullshit. And believe me, if Cold Leather have one fault, is that the short duration of their single and demo leaves us wanting more. For a whole lot more." (cvlt nation /HUGO FILIPE LOPES)

[engl] “Agh! A fresh chop from the large dusty burning murder island: Cold is the Meat to beat. Perth’s finest flesh purveyors have upped their naughty game here across ten tracks of gleefully haughty punk. Hot and Flustered is somehow at once extremely camp and deadly serious. Ashley’s vengeful, elastic rasp smears menses down the screwfaces of vacuous tastemakers, climate change deniers, perennial street perverts, and of course, ZZ top fans. There’s some surprisingly poignant forays into melody (Beach Photography) and a good grip of sudden tempo fuckery to keep us well and truly hooked. Their signature chubby and defiant riffs under snarky bouncing toms formula extends well to the album form, creating a timely reminder that hate and fear are more than reasonable responses to our hell predicament. Let’s take comfort in collective ridicule. When it’s too hot to pogo because the sky is on fire, Cold Meat will let us writhe around in the dirt like the little piggies we are.” (Bryony Beynon) Well, after a slew of 7” offerings, Perth’s Cold Meat have finally hit us with a full length record. Much like their last few releases they’ve taken an amped up approach to 70s PUNK but this time round they offer ever so slightly more diversity. Ten tracks clocking in at just over 23 minutes and cut at 45rpm for maximum volume. Get hot and flustered.

[engl] Official reissue of seminal Japanese Hardcore band THE COMES debut. Originally released in 1983 on Dogma Records, a newly created City Rocker’s side label to release Hardcore/ Hard punk) No Side remains a milestone of first wave Japanese Hardcore. A vital document to understand the days when the Tokyo Hardcore scene was small and unknown with G.I.S.M., EXECUTE, GAUZE and THE COMES as main runners. Bands who shared stages, record labels and who grew to be one of the most varied, influential and enigmatic punk scenes of the planet. THE COMES music is frantic and sharp punk, bass driven and manic sounding with vocalist Chitose aggressive vocals punctuating every syllable and dominating the tunes. Like most first wave Hardcore acts they own their own sound and albeit many times imitated it has never been matched.

[engl] Seven scratchy punk gems channeling a thing in which disaffected youth and energetic misfits alike can rally against the snow-soaked blandness of the Illinoian city they inhabit. Running the gamut from the proto-punk mayhem of DV8 to the early hardcore toughness of The Effigies and from the sinister outsider art of The Tyrades to the comparatively sophisticated Plasmatics. A thrilling statement of middle-finger intensity and rule smashing iconoclasm. Consensus Madness skirts the edges of chaos and good taste, holding a mirror up to society’s ugly underbelly. “They’re good, bratty fun.” - Paul R.

[engl] Back in 1979, Pinned Records dropped a pretty smart compilation record called Vancouver Complication – a natty compilation of punk, new wave and power pop from the Canadian city. Some might say ‘seminal’, but only rock critics use words like that and they’re the worst people (I should know). Judging by The Corner Boys’ debut 7”, the kids in 2017 just love it. Surely it’s not a new record, though. It’s a great lost cut from that era, right? Or we’ve somehow fallen through a portal to that time and place, and uncovered an essential set of three obscure classics. This is punk as it’s supposed to be done: alla the hooks, alla the time, and played like they just got caught shoving firecrackers into the exhaust pipe of their dad’s new car. It’s frantic and sassy and riotous and righteous and unpolished and perfect. My tip? Empty your head a little in preparation; this stuff is gonna be living in there for a long, long while.