A belter of a debut EP from new crossover thrash kids on the block!
We caught Brighton skate-core crew RAD about a year ago, opening a local show for KNOFX (a NOFX tribute band), and were blown away by their take-no-prisoners approach. There were only a handful of people present, but the band gave it their all, and played a set so tight that you’d swear they’d been honing their craft for years. Finally, they’ve released this follow-up to their 2024 demo, and we can breathe a sigh of relief – not least because it’s totally rad (see what we did there?).
The intro track might be called ‘Mind Of Metal’, but make no mistake, RAD clearly love their hardcore punk as much as anything from the glory days of MTV’s ‘Headbanger’s Ball’ (ahhhh, MTV playing music, that takes us back). On the likes of the title track and ‘Gaslighter’, they fearlessly throw everyone from Slayer to Minor Threat (and all points in between) into a sonic blender, and the results come out sounding crisp, clear and highly compelling.
Much of ‘Toxic Slime’ brings to mind criminally underrated veteran NYC crossover crew Crumbsuckers, for the way RAD switch seamlessly from warp-speed hardcore attack to groove-tinged thrash riffing in the blink of an eye. Vocalist Andy also has a similar half-roar half-growl approach to that of ‘Suckers vocalist Chris Notaro, sounding like he’s been gargling paint-stripper on the all-conquering ‘Snake On The Take’
All sound a bit too grim and morbid? Nothing could be further from the truth. The band proudly take influence from “skateboarding, Wyld Stallyns, and all things gnarly and bodacious” and their ‘Bill & Ted…’ fixation even extends to naming one of their tracks ‘Bogus Journey’ (it also fucking slays, by the way).
Sure, their musical chops mark them out as a band to be taken seriously, but these are five guys on a mission to have fun, and both ‘Toxic Slime’ and their gloriously chaotic gigs stand testament to that. The EP is out now – check it out (and also check for future live dates) on the links below.
- Mind Of Metal
- Toxic Slime
- Snake On The Take
- Bogus Journey
- Gaslighter
- Dying To Live
Follow RAD on Their Socials:
Need more Punk In Your Life?
Album review: Gottlieb – ‘The Far Fallen Fruit’
From the moment the alarm-like guitar line of the opening ‘Pipe Bomb’ kicks in, the sense of urgency is almost palpable. Imagine the anarcho-punk sound
Album review: ‘Red Alert’ – a breathless blast of garage punk from Troubles
Already tipped as Radio Helsinki’s Album of the Month, this debut LP from Finnish trio Troubles has us all on ‘Red Alert’! Crashing onto the
Album review: Onlooker – ‘Cleveland’
Imagine if you took most of what passes for garage rock these days, and took it back to the bare essentials, with maximum passion and
Ronker, London The Lexington, 25th April 2026
There’s never a dull moment at a Ronker gig, and from the moment the Belgian quintet take the stage to a grin-worthy intro tape of
Album review: Discover ‘What Happens in the Dark’ with Black Market Heart
Dusk-driven distortion for Joy Division / The Jesus and Mary Chain fans, ‘What Happens in the Dark’ by LA’s Black Market Heart pushes deeper into
Subhumans, London Signature Brew Haggerston, 23rd April 2026
From the moment Subhumans kick off a 20-odd song set with ‘All Gone Dead’, we know that this is going to be on a whole
I spend my days teaching English to foreign students, and my evenings attending as many gigs as possible. Raised mainly on a diet of 90s third-wave punk, my tastes have grown to include just about anything from trad ska to thrash metal. The Ramones are my musical gods.
Did you know that we are 100% DIY? We run our own game. No one dictates to us, and no one drives what we can or cannot put on our pages – and this is how we plan to continue!
