HC/PUNK!

MUTANT STRAIN (us/ Sorry State Records) + BAD ANXIETY (us/ Earth Girl Tapes/Members of NAG & Judy And The Jerks) + ASBEST BOYS

North Carolina’s MUTANT STRAIN has been playing for a while now, blowing away every band they share the stage with. Their sound is densely compressed and explosive, with intricate rock and roll riffing and wild, seemingly eight-armed drumming working around heavy, grooving bass lines and vocals that sound like they’re riling up an army of demons. The result is a batch of songs with MC Escher-esque complexity but straightforward, crowd-pleasing catchiness.
A hardcore-punk band that isn’t afraid to take a political stance and back it up with killer music!
BAD ANXIETY is another one of those projects where one person plays every instrument, and the person in question here is Hampton, who also plays in Judy & the Jerks and a bunch of other Hattiesburg groups. The sound is full-bore hardcore punk with an emphasis on high energy and catchy songwriting. I hear a lot of Circle Jerks in Bad Anxiety’s sound (perhaps because “Police” bears more than a passing resemblance to “Red Tape”), but the vocals are snotty and carry a touch of melody. The vocals remind me of Lumpy’s in Cal and the Calories, though the music is more akin to Fried E/M’s blistering hardcore.
ASBEST BOYS A four-piece hardcore punk act hailing from Haarlem. What started as a quarantine studio project turned out to be the rowdiest live sensation. They describe their music as ‘music for the institutionalized’ and anyone who has ever attended their live shows can wholeheartedly agree with that.

FFO: CIRCLE JERKS, MOTÖRHEAD, CRASS.

https://mutantstrain.bandcamp.com/album/blm-support

https://earthgirltapes.bandcamp.com/album/demonstration