I rarely hear some band from Finland playing melodic skatepunk hardcore and Suntrace are playing just that.
“Skate Fast Eat Ass” is their new record that came out on Melodic Punk Style Records. There are 8 songs on the record and what I like about it is that this band sounds like all the bands I loved in the 90-ies when I was a kid and that I love still right now. This means fast forward melodic hardcore punk without modern influences, only melody and energy with some melodrama thrown in for good measure and also some tounge in cheek humour. All of the songs are short and sweet and it is tough for me to say which one are my favourites but I will try. That would be “Idiotpond”, “For You” and “Possessions”. This album offers nothing new and revolutionary but that is just what I like about it. Cool.
Three years after their last album, Thanx For All The Shoes recently released their brand new album and the album is a blast.
The album contains 10 new songs of technical well played energetic mixture of melodic hardcore and thrash metal skatepunk.
What strikes first while listening to this band is how tight the musicianship is on this record. The guitar solo in the beginning of “Declaration of War” blew me away and the song is absolutely one of my highlights on the record because I have a feeling that I am listening to some great thrash metal band. “Decade” is one more highlight being the perfect mix of cleanly sung vocal melodies and brutal metal parts. As I see it, the lyrics are pretty political and straightforward, so that is one more point for the band that I like. I absolutely loved “42042” and its excellent harmonies on backing vocals and anthemic chorus. “Postcard from Kobane” is a beautiful and sad political song reminding me a bit of Propagandhi but more melancholic and sad. I listened to it again and again. It is very hard to put one song on this album above other because it is one of the best albums of the year and a shining gem in European hardcore punk crown.
I just love discovering bands and albums from the scenes that I am not really familiar with, like South America for example.
Suburban Stereotype come from Brasil, Pelotas area. They are playing fast melodic hardcore punk with a lot of skatepunk thrown in for good measure. The album came out on Hardcore Pride Records, contains 14 songs and provides a lot of good times and energy while listening. The song structures have catchy and melodic guitar hooks, fast paced drumming and some songs like “Horizonte Vertical” reminded me of Satanic Surfers somehow. There are also nice anthems like “Modelo Cultural” and “Somos um So”. Vocals are nice, not snotty but also not too mellow like some bands have and too mellow vocals tend to spoil the whole record. Fortunately that is not the case here. The lyrics are sung in Spanish or Portugese, but I think it is Spanish, so I dont understand them much, but as far as I understand, they are a perfect mix of political and personal with a sad undertone. When you look at it, this is a fine record and I am really happy that I discovered this band.
KRAYKULLA-WEBZINE 