When I was writing my Comeback Kid review this week I was thinking about what a great year it’s been for hardcore. There have been literally countless excellent hardcore releases within the last few years, and although we’ve lost a few good soldiers (R.I.P. Ruiner, Crime In Stereo and Verse) it seems like great new bands are popping up all the time. Here are a few of my favorite hardcore bands making noise right now:
Defeater – First and foremost, this is a band you need to hear right now. Defeater are a Massachusetts band made up of one record producer and a bunch of dudes who used to be in a band called Sluts. Not necessarily the formula for a politically themed hardcore band? Think again. Defeater write grungy concept albums that follow one character through their life, beginning to end. Pick up their EP “Lost Ground,” which follows an African American soldier during and after WWII.
Trapped Under Ice – TUI hail from my future home of Baltimore, Maryland where life is hard. Justice Tripp is one of the angriest vocalists you will ever hear in your life. This man barks and snarls his way through each of his band’s short, to the point anthems. Pick up a copy of “Secrets of the World” and rage hard.
Dead Swans – Dead Swans hail from merry old England, but you couldn’t tell from frontman Nick Worthington’s anguished Long Island holler. The band released “Sleepwalkers” on Bridge 9 Records last year to rave reviews and have since toured extensively in Europe and very sparingly in the States. Here’s to hoping these guys make their way across the pond soon.
More Than Life – Also from England, More Than Life don’t even have a distribution deal in the U.S. right now, making it hard to find physical copies of their music. Thankfully, we have iTunes to pick up the slack and make “Love Let Me Go” available for your purchase on the World Wide Web. Trust me, this is the way to go. I won’t put in print what I spent to have this record shipped overseas to me.
This Is Hell – Lastly, why are these guys not the biggest band in hardcore? How many great records do these guys have to put out before they can headline tours? Anyway, if you haven’t heard, it’s time to jump on the bandwagon. This Is Hell are three full lengths and four EPs deep into a fantastic career that so few people have seemed to notice. TIH are a great introduction-to-hardcore band and have also completely mastered the art of the angry refrain. On their new album “Weight of the World” you almost forget that Travis Reilly never actually sings because the guitars are so perfectly melodic. I urge you to own everything this band has ever released, but 2006’s “Sundowning” is their true masterpiece.
So there you have it. That’s pretty much who I’ve been listening to lately in terms of hardcore, and with new stuff from the Carrier and Shipwreck A.D. on the horizon, it doesn’t look like things will be slowing down anytime soon.