Blink and you'll miss this one! Hardcore as it ought to be.
YES, my friends, this is how hardcore should be done. Subversive Intent hail from San Diego, California, and on this debut album, they blast through ten tracks in a little over twelve minutes, quite rightly jettisoning everything that isn’t essential. As the likes of ‘Disappeared’ and ‘Coerced Perception’ zip past, elements of Poisoo Idea, Crass, touches of D-beat and NYHC-style crunch all make themselves heard.
It’s all superb stuff, but we especially like the bouts of shredding that pop up from time to time. Thought guitar solos were self-indulgent? Not when they’re being played this tight, short and fast, they aren’t.
Lyrically, they pull no punches, either. In the words of guitarist and main songwriter Zack Nelson, the band’s aim is “to let people know what our politics are. The record is a direct strike against DHS, billionaires, politicians, capitulators, petrofascists, war criminals, and polluters.” Yep, make no mistake, this is hardcore with a purpose (let’s face it, the best hardcore usually is).
Full disclosure: I listened to this record shortly after getting up from a night of painfully little sleep, and I can’t remember when coffee last gave me this potent a kick-start to my day. That’s a recommendation in itself.
‘Subversive Intent’ is out now – check it out HERE.
- Capitulation
- Disappeared
- Manifesto
- Guy
- Subversive Intent
- Petrofacist
- Coerced Perception
- Starvation
- Ready 2 Go
- Plasticosis
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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.
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