Back in stock: Punk/Hardcore

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


You'll have to go a long, long way to find a more important record in the back catalogue of The Damned. Strawberries marked album number five for the New Wave-Goth-punks, arriving in 1982, initially through the now-defunct UK indie label Bronze, established by Gary Bron who - incidentally - also played a pivotal role in helping Uriah Heap realise their sound. Digressions aside, this LP at once marks one of the finest moments in The Damned's history, and one of their most turbulent times.

The band's creative confidence - Captain Sensible especially was enjoying a fair share of the limelight at this time as a solo artist - helped them expand and mutate in both subtle and crystal clear ways, introducing instruments like the sitar and cello to the mix. Fans got their beloved dark room masters, and much more besides. Behind the scenes, though, this was a point in time pockmarked by fallouts and disagreements. Still, who said greatness doesn't come at a price?

Review: Late American rapper Lil Peep dropped his fourth mixtape on June 10, 2016, independently, but it was later added to streaming platforms in 2020 posthumously. Now it arrives on white vinyl for the first time thanks to Death Note Music and reminds us what a talent he was. Peep's raw lyricism and distinctive emo-rap style set him apart with haunting melodies and melancholic production. The record delves into themes of loneliness and despair, resonating deeply with listeners navigating the complexities of modern relationships and Peep's poignant delivery and introspective verses capture the essence of youthful anguish with bars that reverberate long after the music fades.

Review: Seven long years on from the Lydia Lunch/Arthur Rizk produced, genre-mangling opus that was 2017's Why Love Now, Pennsylvania hardcore noise-rock auteurs Pissed Jeans make their filthy return on the fuzzy, feral and vehemently pissed off Half Divorced. Aged, seasoned, and peppered with hate, this 30 minute concoction of bruising riffs, anthemic hooks and positive nihilism hits like an old friend who still greets with a gut-punch, while frontman Matt Korvette succinctly presents the project's mission statement as "Half Divorced has an aggression within it, in terms of saying, 'I don't want this reality'. There's a power in being able to say, 'I realize you want me to pay attention to these things, but I'm telling you that they don't matter.' I'm already looking elsewhere." Well, in that case, the elusive elsewhere appears to be wherever we find our means of peace in an ever-unpeaceful world, and this grinding soundtrack to scoffing at the end times couldn't land a minute sooner.

Review: Returning a half decade on from their critically acclaimed sophomore effort A Distant Call, Philadelphia's 70s rock imbued punk outfit Sheer Mag return with their most honed, poignant collection of material to date. Moving on from the "personal coming out party" that was their first few projects, lead vocalist Tina Halladay has made it abundantly clear that this material could not have been penned just a few years prior, while their mission statement going into Playing Favourites was to rectify the fact that no artist seems "to write straight up rock bangers anymore", with an emphasis on having "huge, catchy songwriting front and centre". Signing to Jack White's Third Man Records seems simultaneously like a fitting rite of passage as well as affirmation of the band's monumental success, with their retro-fitted, fuzzed out 70s psych-tinged rhythm & blues grooves swaying and weaving around Halladay's sultry, snarling cadence with a resolute confidence only achieved over time.

Review: Currently back at full activity, and most recently releasing their latest album Il Tradimento Silenzioso (The Silent Betrayal) in 2022, Manchester punk pioneers Slaughter & The Dogs first made their name through their connections to former Joy Division manager Rob Gretton, while their opening slot for the Sex Pistols in Manchester on July 20, 1976 (the second of their two Free Tree Hall shows within two months) played a hand in expanding the city's punk movement before extending to a UK-wide phenomenon. Originally released in 1980, Bite Back served as the feral follow up to the band's quintessential 1978 debut full-length Do It Dog Style, and continued their blistering run of playfully chaotic anthems. Back on vinyl for the first time since its original pressing, this newly refurbished reissue comes with the double A-side of 'I'm The One' b/w 'One By One' as bonus tracks.