RADIATOR HOSPITAL- Something Wild (2013)

Someone on Tumblr wrote about how they love Radiator Hospital because they capture everything they love about pop music. I couldn't agree more. They are so catchy and make my heart swell in the same way that my heart swells when I hold someones hand for the first time. Radiator Hospital's Something Wildwas released on Salinas Records in the summer of 2013 and reside in Philadelphia. Something Wild is probably their best album to date and shows how much they have matured their overall sound aesthetic (is that a used phrase?). Not to say that Mall of America or Some Distant Moon aren't also great but I always just think its really cool when bands just keep improving and getting better and better. This album seems to pick up where Distant Moon kind of left off- with even more melodious guitar parts and memorable lyrics.

One time this person that I started swooning over put "Loose Sight of you" on a mix that they made for me. But you know how you might get a mix from someone you like but you aren't totally sure if its a crush mix or just a mix? Whether it was a crush mix or not is still a mystery to me but I don't even really care anymore because that mix was what introduced me to this band and I've now been able to listen to that song on repeat a thousand times in my car over and over again. Babes are chumps. I'm just gonna crush on this band instead.

"When you feel sad I wanna be the one that sings the song stuck in your head/ Yeah I wanna sing the song that makes you forget everything that made you sad."

FFO: Waxahatchee, P.S Eliot, Swearin, High Dive, Bad Banana

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NIGHTSHIFT- tour demo (2013)

There are a few things you should know about Nightshift. One of them is that they love weed. The second thing is that this band is absurdly attractive. They could cover ICP and people would probably still like it because watching this band play is seriously eye candy. Technically I've only seen them once with Boilerman and Peeple Watchin when PW went on tour back in september. After the show a bunch of us hung out and spent maybe thirty minutes swooning over all them trying to decipher if any of them were gay or not. Now, month's later, I can assure you that they all got some major flames inside them. But I digress.

Nightshift sounds like Superchuck and like a bunch of other indie power pop bands that people love. I think "Daley Plaza" is there best song particularly because they stray away from the common theme of most power pop songs (girls and more girls) and talk about rape culture and patriarchy. It feels rare these days to find indie rock/powerpop bands that make themselves explicitly political without coming off kitschy or embarrassing, but Nightshift is definitely doing something right if they can have shirts that say ACAB on them and also win everyones hearts over while they play too.

FFO: superchunk, cheap girls, promise ring, the valenteens, husker du

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NECKLACING- I (2012)

The release of this cassette maybe one of the best things to ever happen to me. I don't even know where to begin with this because all I can think about is how every time I commute to school or work I put this album on and I'm nervous that everyone on the train is watching me fist pump like an idiot. but HOLY FUCK its so good! Favorite parts include: the first three seconds to "Disease", "Criminal"'s break down teaser , the subtle guitar slide at :11 in "Icepick", and "Moira" in its entirety (for some reason when this specific song ends I imagine Joe Denunzio's voice coming in and the sound clip of guns shooting off like at the end of "My world, My way"). ANYWHO- Necklacing is a powerviolence band coming from central mass. Certainly central mass isn't a hot spot for punk in New england but with acts like Necklacing and Cleansing Wave, it makes me think that maybe central mass can be given just a little cred. One time Necklacing played show with Twerps and Draize in Boston and I missed it because I'm the worst. One of the biggest regrets of my life really.

FFO: Vaccine, Brain Killer, Cheap Art

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BODY BETRAYAL- split cassette with Disparate (2012)

In a world where "queer punks" love to play cutesy pop music, Body Betrayal is a god damn breath of fresh air. No offense to the pop punk babe queerdos out there (you know who you are) but god damn I need more queers playing music that make me feel like my organs are slowly being ripped out of my body. Seattle's Body Betrayal is certainly not for the faint of heart and thank goodness for that. Combining both hardcore and grindcore elements, Body Betrayal thrashes through this six track sided cassette. While I must admit I'm not the very biggest fan of grind (more so i'm very picky about the grindcore that I like), Body Betrayal makes a really great effort at fusing these two genres. While "Apologies don't mean shit with yr fingers crossed" feels grind a fuck to me (them blast beats yo) they return to a more hardcore sound with the song "Desert" which is personally my favorite song on the cassette. But now that I think about it maybe "desert" is grind as fuck too? Hell I don't know. I guess what feels the most grind to me is the vocal styling and recording. It's very screamo-y while also recorded well enough to almost slightly hear what they're saying. The lyrics are also phenomenal, such as in the 53 second song "My Gender is Queer"- "i am a dream that hasn't been dreamt yet/ everyone's got a stake in my identity/but there are no words/to match my lived complexity". Fuck yeah.

Body Betrayal's EP is to be released this coming February, though I can't find any information as to if it will be self released or not. Here's hoping that they play Fed Up Fest.

FFO: Rape Revenge, +HIRS+, Cloud Rat, Bastard Deceiver

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FAILED MUTATION- demo (2013)

Failed Mutation is a new band hailing from Milwaukee. Personally, I think Wisconsin is one of the best states ever but it seems to never get any cred for its greatness. Maybe Failed Mutation will change that. Fail Mutation is compromised of members from Tenement, Bored Straight, Holy Shit! and Uh Oh and is put out on Chicago's almighty Not Normal Tapes. Failed Mutation is what I wish Bikini Kill actually sounded like. I usually hate drawing comparisons with punks bands who have female vocalists to riot grrl because its often almost always a cop out and made as a generalization for any band with female (assumed) vocals (similar to how everyone and their moms say that female fronted hardcore bands sound like Punch-seriously everyone needs to stop that) but I feel like songs such as "the greatest quest" actually do remind me of some fusion between something I could easily hear from Slant 6 or Tribe 8 while also taking direct influence from early 80's hardcore (specifically from their drum parts). Failed mutation kind of draws these bridges between punk and aggressive styles from the riot grrrl movement in a way that feels unique while also incredibly palatable. While I certainly would categorize Failed Mutation as a hardcore band, I would definitely recommend this band for people who aren't into hardcore as well. This demo is seriously flawless.

FFO: Libyans, Negative Lifestyle, Twat Sauce, Nuclear Spring, early Circle Jerks, Deep Wound (demo includes a deep wound cover), Necros

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NERVOUS CONDITION- Invisible (2013)

Nervous Condition is a political hardcore punk band hailing from Boston. Boston produces some of the best bands in punk right now and Nervous Condition is certainly no exception. My favorite thing about NC is Lily's incredible lyrics which, in my opinion, is a good enough reason to like them. But thankfully their riffs and over all sound is great too. Track 3, "Invisible", seems to be the best example of that fusion (that fucking break down!!). Invisible was recorded by Will Killingsworth which should certainly come to no surprise by how well recorded this LP is.

Nervous Condition doesn't play as many shows as I wish they did because all the members are in 12,000,000,000 other bands (such as Parasol, Peeple Watchin, Disipline, Shrew,Rash Tongue,etc). One of my favorite moments when seeing them was when this guy was moshing like a jerk during their set and Lily just pushed him out of the crowd without even pausing. I will forever support bands that actively a have a no tolerances for chumps code.

FFO: Won't Belong, Terminal Crisis, Bad Idea, Deathrats, Mountain Man-(someones gonna argue with me on this one but yolo)

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NANCY- LP (2013)

For the love of whats good on this earth please download this right now. I have no idea who is in this band but I hear theres some 5th cousin once removed shit going on and thats good enough for me. New York power pop Ramones-esque punk doing everything right. When I was a 14 yr old 77 wannabe I would have been obsessed with this band. Now almost 9 years later I am finally fulfilling my musical dreams by waking up every morning pogoing alone in my room while I listen to this S/T. Are you looking to finally add that perfect addition to that mix tape you've been meaning to give your crush for days now? Consider just giving them this tape instead. Or you can just put "I Want One" or "Midnite" on it if you wanna pose.

FFO: pogoing, ramones, the briefs, the richmond sluts, johnny thunder

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