First, housekeeping. I'm now caught up on Dart LP pre-orders and all sorta outstanding orders. Everything from this week onwards starts shipping next week.
I'm going out of the country from July 17-27 and August 6 - September 1.
Anything ordered in July will ship before August 6.
Anything ordered from like August 6 onwards will start shipping when I return in September.
There will be no more meaningful distro updates until I return in September.
I am stupid behind in e-mails etc. I will respond to you as soon as I can.
Next....
I got nothin, my brain is pulled in a lot of different directions at the moment and I'm too busy to think of anything interesting to say.
-Dan
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JULY NEW ARRIVALS
Believe in Punk has a new release out! Exciting!
Believe in Punk is basically my outlet for small American pressings of records I'm personally a fan of, beyond their connection to what I'd view as 'the world of SPHC'.
And as a Japanese hardcore fan, it practically goes without saying that I am ecstatic about new Confront LP. While the earlier records on General Speech are a bit more epic and rocking, their first proper album (can you believe that?? I had to double-check LOL) sees Confront at their most streamlined and immediate, their most pulverizing and brutal attack yet. These songs leveled me when I saw them in Tokyo last fall and I'm thrilled to make them easily available over here so everybody can get a fist in the air.
The rollout of the Dart LP has been a bit chaotic, but it is OUT NOW and shipping every day. This is also a small American pressing of a band from my friendgroup whose debut LP CANNOT be ignored. I've been describing it as "later Poison Idea making metalpunk" and most people that have heard it nod in agreement. That velocity, those riffs, fucking ATTITUDE, the organs in "Sick Game", the bridge of "Blood" (if you know, you know)....in my book, this is sort of 'the record to beat' for punk albums of 2025.
Also out now on SPHC, the debut Suicide Club EP. I'm a total sucker for Clevo USHC, this is my favorite little strand of my country's traditional hardcore and I have nearly every record from this scene and can't resist nabbing any new bands that go for this sound. When Adik and I were discussing collaborating together, and I heard these Suicide Club EP recordings, straight from the school of Nine Shocks Terror and H-100s, I knew this was the one. GREAT record.
There is SO MUCH FOAD stuff sitting in my living room now LOL. Because, miracle of miracles, our lost package was returned to Italy and kindly remailed to us!! I seriously did not believe this was going to happen LOL, but I do think it's a secret McGregor family skill to navigate bureaucracy and make administrative miracles happen. Because it took A LOT of work and A LOT of time on the phone to get this situation sorted out, and we kept on it even when we had 0 faith it would garner any results....but somehow, it did. Truth is stranger than fiction.Every time we go through this process, we learn something new, and this time I guess we learned: never give up (and also the phone number to JFK ISC bwahahaha).
Within all these boxes of records is:
Plenty of crazy goregrind! General Surgery demos LP seemed to fly out the door and require an immediate repress, wow! I haven't listened to this band since I was a young teenager but I do remember them being a terrific live band. Personally I'm most excited about this Hemdale discography 2xLP, a fun upgrade from my old Relapse Records discography CD, but I have also been rediscovering this Regurgitate mini-album and it fuckin smokes!! Regurgitate is a band I haven't really thought about since I was a young teenager, but wait, were they always so good??
Plenty of collector's USHC! I'm so hyped on this Violent Coercion demos LP, had never heard this before but the Neurosis connection piques my interest (big fan lol). Serious DRI vibes here. I'm sure there are many more people in this world hyped on the Blatant Frustration demo LP, because of the Eyehategod (and Crowbar LOL) connection.
Plenty of METAL! I have a relatively newfound respect for Quebec after the Agravio/Destruido tour a few years ago, so all this Quebec thrash stuff like DBC 2xLP, Cremains LP, Obliveon LP, I can just picture these gigs in my head now and it makes me smile.
A little bit of Japanese hardcore restocks! A handful more Warsaw LPs, Crusty Hi-Charge LPs, and No Cut LPs, since these came and went so fast last time around.
Speaking of restocks, I scored the scant last few copies of Stan Oskarzenia 2xLP and Egzystencja LP, since these basically sold out in the blink of an eye. Cool records if you're like me and old Polish punk is one of your collector interests....in which case, you DEF need the new Ukraina demo EP too.
Also from this sector of the world, we got a box of Macedonian punk records, including this bizarre 1992 shit-fi thrash/hardcore demo reissued on an LP. This is the sort of record I listen to late at night while sipping an iced tea and contemplating the world around me.
Okay, new line of thought.
As grind and fast hardcore goes, we got a ton.
From the hardcore side of things, the Travolta/We Sleep split 12" is brand spankin new, hot off the presses. Not quite as hot off the presses, Life's Torment LP is one I'm happy to dig into because I remember them being excellent when I saw them in Las Vegas a few years ago....and aren't they touring the midwest like this month? But no Minneapolis date BOO.
Also of note is the Ass-Ache discography 2xCD, collecting 89-93 demos, rehearsals, and live recordings of this Italian shit-fi hardcore/proto-grind obscurity. I have NEVER heard of this band before but I sure have now, this shit is awesome!
Along those lines, we got so many grind/noise obscurities for the real ones out there. I did not know Cannibalistic Dissection CD, but given the recent reissue mining of northern Japan, fuck, this needs a proper vinyl version too. Totally wild and unhinged noisecore attack. I also only knew the name Casket K (because of the Ferocious X connection), had never heard the demos on this Casket K CD before, but what have I been doing with my life, terrific raw grindcore for the freaks and geeks.
I have the Egrogsid vinyl output but spending time with this massive Egrogsid discography 2xCD is a treat. I know Australian grind is a thing, although I don't spend much time with it, but fuck, maybe I should!
But for me the big one is this Mayhem Decay Cudgel collection 2xpro CD-R. Kinda awkward format in my opinion but also kinda fitting for Brazilian radical noisecore. This is the sort of thing that gets my heart racing and my head banging. Beautiful. Pure fuckin magic.
CRUST!
I am SO hyped on this Axe Helvete/Spirokete split 12". Great material from both bands, Axe Helvete playing that sort of raw and brutal Japanese CRUST and Spirokete doing a more raw punk d-beating noise style. But I think this is one of the most exciting and cool releases of 2025 because of its vision and representation of punk. I LOVE seeing bands develop a friendship across borders, across cultures, to me this is the most meaningful and rewarding part of the punk experience, and I kinda feel like it happens less and less in the current times. It's so refreshing and exciting to me to see Axe Helvete touring USA on Spirokete invitation, Spirokete touring Japan on Axe Helvete invitation, split record cause obviously, etc etc. Real punk shit!!
I'm also really excited about this Deformed Existence/Vitriolic Response split 7". Because Deformed Existence features ex-Exit Hippies guys, so I've been paying close attention to them, and their brutal crustcore style, from the jump!
3-Way Cum discography 2xLP has been rewarding to dig into for me. I never paid any attention to this band when I was a kid, but listening to it all now, I find their brutal Swedish crustcore style to be super engaging and cool. I was talking about this with IRON MIKE last weekend, that bands like this were a dime a dozen when I was a kid so I was just kinda burnt out on it....but now that nobody plays like this, I find it really refreshing and cool. Funny how much context plays a role in art huh?
I also grabbed a few copies of some records I WAS paying attention to as a kid. Hellshock first LP is a classic whose influence I think is felt even more now than it was at the time. One of my favorite crust records EVER, and while I do enjoy some of the dime-a-dozen "we're a crust band but we all listen to death metal lol" type bands that exist now, none of them can write a song like "Ghosts of the Past", "World Darkness", "Your World". And Misery collection LP, fuck, this record means even more to me since I've moved to Minneapolis. LEGENDS.
Of course we got a wide spread of the world's hardcore. Is there ever a time where there ISN'T great hardcore happening somewhere in this world?
New Exploator LP? Sign me the fuck up!! I didn't even listen to it yet but how much you want to bet it sounds like Totalitar? Or do you really want to nerd out with me and debate that it actually doesn't??
New Alambre de Puas tape? Sign me the fuck up!! I LOVE the current boom of Chilean toopa-toopa hardcore and this is sure to be a key part of my summertime soundtrack.
I was also seriously impressed with the debut Narkan EP. Straight out of Italy, and it perfectly captures the traditional Italian hardcore style, the ferocity and zealousness of bands like Wretched and Underage. GREAT.
I was also keen on this debut Tramadol EP, they add a little more songwriting and hook to their take on modern hardcore and somehow that really sets them apart from their peers. For the countless current bands that sound like this, Tramadol EP is at the top of the heap for me.
And finally....PUNK. Well, maybe more like, death rock stuff like Astio LP and Horror Vacuii first LP reissue LOL.
But on that note, I really want to highlight this Solvent Cobalt collection tape. I've been tracking this band since the first 7", and I think they're very interesting and enjoyable. It's some of the Isterismo guys doing noisegaze (?)....shoegaze but total fuckin noise. It's very goth and very dark and I'm missing a record or two but overall, I always dig what I hear. I also don't know a thing about shoegaze or goth, but I know noise, and this really captures my interest on that angle. I love hearing their crazy noise applied as a contrast to this more conventional context.
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coming next:
shit I bring back from Europe and Asia
more More MORE
Thanks and talk more later.
FEDERAL WORKERS, HOLD THE LINE AND DON'T RESIGN.
-Dan
