No Option are US hardcore band and this is their new release containing four songs . What to expect here? This is hardcore like I used to listen when I was growing up to. Street smart influences and atmosphere and something we used to call new school back in the nineties, being metallic hardcore with lots of changes in tempo, breakdowns but also straightforward punk influenced song parts. Vocals are angry and screaming with occasional excursion into clean singing waters. Of all these four songs somehow my favorites are ‘302’ and the title song. This is hardcore that you feel energy when you are listening to, so that means good hardcore little record. Hope for more music by this band in the near future.
Newport Ave are from West Australia and I still think that I have much to explore about their underground punk scene which delivers so many great punk and hardcore releases all the time. Anyway, this little EP contains five songs, one being kind of instrumental intro called ‘Meet Me After Tryouts, We Need To Talk’. Then the record continues with one of my personal favorites pop punk/melodic punk anthem ‘Travel Pants’ with emotional vocals, mid tempo melodies and lyrics about being who you are not hiding behind mask and costume. ‘Mutiny Scrutiny’ is a surf punk influenced noisy little miniature with haiku lyrics but great melody at the end of the song about losing mind hehe. Other one of my personal favorites is ‘Medusa Seducer’, song about hypocrisy and fake love and affection with great guitar melodies and anthemic feel, true pop punk hymn. The production is great, I love harsher sound of guitars and vocals are cool for this kind of punk rock. ‘Cofee Cart Broken Heart’ speaks about separation and longing and going on with your life and this is a great little EP and I love every single minute of it.
German punk rockers DONOTS released new full length album and it contains fifteen songs. There was a term in the nineties, I think it is still in use called Deutschpunk being all those German pop punk/melodic punk bands with specific style and German lyrics. DONOTS are veterans of the scene and this album brings melodic punk rock with songs in German lyrics and mainly mid tempo emotional punk rock with beautiful vocals and I always say, German language is such great language for punk being it angry hardcore punk or more melodic punk rock. There is occasional excursion into more faster hardcore skate punk waters like with ‘1.21. Gigawatt’ or reggae with one of my favorites ‘Hunde los’. There are also pop punk influences like in ‘Traurige Roboter’ and more street punk sing along choruses like ‘Apokalypse Stehplatz Innenraum’ and back to hardcore punk with ‘Es tut nur weh, wenn ich lache’. I saw this band one year playing Punk Rock Holiday and their show was a blast, so I would love to check them out in some club show, I believe that would be awesome. In the meantime, check out this album. Good one.
KRAYKULLA-WEBZINE 