Back catalogue: Punk/Hardcore

Review: Originally featured on the soundtrack to The Hangover II (of all movies), 'Black Hell' from Misfits mastermind and all round evil Elvis curmudgeon Glenn Danzig finally comes to vinyl for its first time ever in both 12" format and in the form of this limited orange splattered 7" (just in time for spooky season). Featuring 'Thirteen' on the flipside (originally appearing on Danzig 6:66 Satans Child whilst made abundantly more popular by Johnny Cash's cover version), this is a perfect little slice of sultry, macabre wax to get the Halloween ghouls doing their best hoedown.

Review: Doctor Explosion returns with a surprise: they sing in Catalan! This limited-edition single features two tracks - one is a remake of their early classic 'Baby Please Go' (now titled 'Ves-te'n Si Us Plau') and the other is a cover of 'Perdo L'esma', an adaptation by Barcelona's Eurogrup of James Brown's' I'll Go Crazy.' Both songs are sung by Jorge Explosion in flawless Catalan and co-produced by Guerssen and Circo Perrotti. This release feels like a reunion of old friends that recalls the early days of both projects so is rife with nostalgia.

Review: With a title paying homage to London's cultural epicentre for the hippie and mod movements that would serve as precursors to the punk rock revolution, The Carnaby St. EP offers up a seasoned cross-Atlantic meeting of sonic minds between two seminal punk acts on either side of the sea. With legendary UK Subs frontman Charlie Harper and long-time bassist Alvin Gibbs linking up with Dead Boys guitarist Cheetah Chrome for a balls-to the-wall blowout celebration of some of the most quintessential cuts from the British Invasion that initially put them on their life-long trajectories, here the mutual veterans tear through faithful yet feral renditions of The Rolling Stones' 'Paint It Black', The Yardbirds' 'For Your Love', and our personal favourite; 'Taxman' by The Beatles. 3 covers, 7 inches and decades' worth of punk rock legacy.

Review: Few pioneering punk acts from the 70s portrayed the debaucherous ethos of the lifestyle more than The Dead Boys, so much so, that drummer Johnny Blitz almost lost his life on April 19th 1978 after being stabbed five times during an altercation. Covering his medical bills by organising a four-day benefit at the iconic New York City venue CBGB's, the band's own performance on May 6th featured New York Dolls' Jerry Nolan handling skin duties for nine songs while the remainder were covered by OG Blues Brother and comedy legend John Belushi (who was an avid supporter of the city's punk scene). Tearing through a set of material made up from Young Loud & Snotty, as well as We Have Come For Your Children (which would be officially released just a month later), with a few Dolls covers for good measure, Night Of The Living Dead Dolls is a piece of authentic punk history, reliably captured with questionable audio clarity just like those attending CBGB shows had come to expect. Complete with additional liner notes detailing the iconic night in full.

Review: Originally formed in New York City in 1973, The Dictators are about as proto-punk as you can get, almost rubbing shoulders with the seminal sonic groundwork laid by The Stooges (only with almost none of the praise shared). Their 1975 debut full-length Go Girl Crazy! would be distributed by Empire before the band would be dropped, only to see their vision co-opted just a few years later by the burgeoning punk scene they'd been just a tad too early for, ultimately dissolving into the annals of proto-punk history. Now over a literal half-century since first reforming, The Dictators return with a self-titled ten-track slab of fuzzy, anthemic goodness featuring original members Andy Shernoff and Ross "The Boss" Friedman, emboldened by the tongue-in-cheek, all too self-aware lead single 'Let's Get The Band Back Together'. With some members sadly lost to illness, what better time to throw agism out the window and remind all where the riffs, snarl and swagger originate from?!

Review: Originally released in 2004, Miss Machine would serve as the revitalised sophomore effort from mathcore visionaries The Dillinger Escape Plan. Following the departure of original vocalist Dimitri Minakakis after their groundbreaking 1999 debut LP Calculating Infinity, and their collaborative Irony Is A Dead Scene EP with Faith No More/Mr. Bungle/Fantomas vocal absurdist Mike Patton, the band would enlist the hulking, feral Greg Puciato, a frontman with a far more intense shriek than his predecessor while also coming from the school of Patton's eccentric dynamism with his expansive range. The resulting work would chart an entirely new course for the collective, with Puciato retaining his presence throughout their next five full-lengths, while the newfound balancing act between dissonant, mind-melting polyrhythmic hardcore and avant-garde industrial jazz-prog, would become their future sonic playground. Yes, much of the Dillinger Escape Plan identity was carved out before Puciato's arrival, but Miss Machine is often cited as the album where all of the jagged, oddly shaped pieces finally fit into place.

Review: Following the release of their cracking third full-length Blacked Out in 2024, Seattle punk n' rollers The Drowns revisit their origins with a reissue of 2018's much-adored debut LP View From The Bottom. Though hailing from the grunge capital of the world, the band bear more sonic similarities to folk-punk troubadours Dropkick Murphys than the type of icons who've worked with Seattle legend Jack Endino (Nirvana, Soundgarden, Murder City Devils) who handles remastering duties, beefing up anthems such as 'Eternal Debate' with extra snarl and soul. Complete with updated artwork offering a more artsy minimalist companion piece to the original, this version also comes with a newly added cover of 'Satyagraha', the opening cut from hardcore punk legends 7Seconds classic 1989 LP Soulforce Revolution.

Review: Returning with their follow up to 2022's exceptional high watermark Hygiene, the fifth full-length from Albany, New York based post-hardcore heroes Drug Church promises to be their most introspective and scathing work to date. Initially formed as a side-project to frontman Patrick Kindlon's Self Defence Family, while guitarist Nick Cogan would soon find himself equally busy with his side-project turned hardcore megastars Militarie Gun, the seasoned veteran status of all core members allows their compositions to sonically weave through the intersectionality of their musical backgrounds. Coalescing the jagged aggression of Black Flag with the frenetic grunge of Mudhoney, while offering crunching nods to Smashing Pumpkins, Weezer and especially Pixies, with regard to Kindlon's constant to-and-froing from absurdist shrugs to unhinged displays of utter terror, Prude promises Drug Church's reliable brand of accessibility and aggression, only with both ends of the spectrum maximalised to the point of ouroboros self-devourment. This is the RevHQ exclusive variant, limited to just 300 copies pressed on yellow and black splattered wax.