Francis Harold and the Holograms EP

When society fails, the architects of post-apocalyptic America are going to come knocking on the doors of Going Underground Records asking for a soundtrack. We started off this year's round of strikes with the Heartbeatz EP, already tinny and synthy and everything a punk record should be. Fast forward to now; Going Underground manages to unearth another filthy punk neo-relic that squeals and churns and dirges its way across all seven inches.

This is the sound of the downfall of technology. Screeching, plodding, and wildly schizophrenic, Francis Harold and the Holograms more or less shrug off conventional punk warfare and go straight for the inner ear. It's out of control from start to finish, and even when you're singing along, you can't help but feel like you're singing along to your own doom.

Playlist: April 14, 2008

sinaloa - what we could not move
loser life - undressing you with my mind
tranzmitors - teen man

caustic christ - sadist society
what happens next? - stand fast armageddon justice fighter
libyans - welcome to the neighborhood

chromatics - beach of infants
f-80 - casanova
daniel striped tiger - untying knots

gang green - sold out
hated youth - i'm stupid
social circkle - life crisis

torches to rome - this is not a step
spirit assembly - simple transactor
daitro - a plague for another

contaminators - want me dead
repos - track 1
draize - severed throat

brutal knights - teach me sex
blank dogs - the doorbell fire
weapons grade - from birth to the hearse

STRIKE OF THE WEEK:
Sex Vid "Nests" EP

mau maus - secret society
deathreat - tempers rise
funeral diner - the wicked

total fury - i win, you lose
rites - come get it
ripshit - growing up not old

cancer kids - boston creme
vitamin x - can't you see now
sinks - out of control

kill the man who questions - dose
daily void - mass
mindflayer - take your shoes off

anomie - deny tradition
cadaver in drag - fuck this place
youth of togay - meat machine

four letter word - punk rock ghetto
victims - destroy and rebuild
out cold - menticide

heartbeatz - bummer timez
rot shit - power pop
ringers - walking ghost

angry samoans - you stupid asshole
civil crisis - sidestep
meth teeth - bus rides

volcano! - apple

Strike of the Week, Vol. 2 #9: Sex Vid "Nests" EP

Took me a minute to realize just what was going on with the latest offering, but consider me fully on board, even if the captain is fucking insane. If you're counting, and you should be, this is Sex Vid's third EP, and any sort of composure has been shed from sheer use, experience, and disaffection. This is raw, people, and if you find yourself alone in the basement with this beast, I'd suggest you get out as soon as possible. Dirty and simmering, Sex Vid doesn't have a problem shoving it in your face, and you shouldn't have a problem with it either. Got it? Good. Bistro Distro's all out, but check the usual suspects (No Way, Grave Mistake, Painkiller, Missing Link, even Interpunk, etc.) before you're officially out of luck.

Also, sorry for the lapse: last week's Strike (#8) was Mentally Challenged. But you knew that already.

Playlist: April 4, 2008

tyvek - give it up
black lips - freakout
disclose - why must we die?

rat byte - search warrant
scapegoat - hemorrhage
career suicide - lost on you

dropdead - legacy of death
draize - dead where you stand
homostupids - apeshit

smackdown - whole fucking wrestling show
crimson curse - sweet baby jesus
out cold - menticide

science of yabra - the beat union
frail - ideal
brainworms - not heavy just awkward

universal order of armageddon - painfully obvious
fisticuffs bluff - pre-installed
crucial unit - squat the woods

kidcrash - the ground eats you
daitro - a plague for another
sinaloa - cause and effect

lats - younger monkey
tranzmitors - plastic genocide
undertones - more songs about chocolate + girls

STRIKE OF THE WEEK
Mentally Challenged EP

astronaut catastrophe - free your mind
angel hair - you were ugly but you got cute again
civil crisis - call it quits

social circkle - life crisis
death of anna karina - themes
shoot it up - high up in the sky

inquisition - we've got a bomb
brainworms - heart-shaped hickey
hot snakes - braintrust

christ on parade - the american in me
insomnio - lifetime
jba - fitting the mood

sightings - back to back
captain condoms - bed bunny
rip shit - times up motherfuckers

yage - eyes to a fist
look back and laugh - kick the chair
nostril - bewdong canoe start

brain handle - oblivion crud
witches with dicks - how to cook for 40 humans
out with a bang - love my life

Playlist: March 31, 2008

Big congratulations to Ben, formerly of the Strike, on becoming a father. The real question; Man is the Bastard lullaby, or Bastard Noise?

insomnio - lifetime
contaminators - ain't so fun
harpoon guns - brain freeze

deathsquad - summer of arson
under pressure - my generation (failed the test)
bron bad - society bullshit

wipers - wait a minute
tranzmitors - plastic genocide
cheveu - el tortuga

thank god - number two
kids return - untitled
daitro - place tolazon

strung up - legal dope
state - girl violence
oxes - track 3

turpentine brothers - get your mind off me
major stars - portable freak factory
fingers louie - blink

STRIKE OF THE WEEK:
Sinaloa/Daniel Striped Tiger Split EP

bloody phoenix - spoiled lungs
ataque frontal - no habra paz
career suicide - left with nothing

adversary workers - young goodman brown
evens - all these governors
dangerloves - lipsmart

baader brains - baader brains
loser life - undressing you with my mind
by the end of tonight - sweet junk

mentally challenged - disappeared
dead fucking last - dfl
civil crisis - hammered down

crispus attucks - red black blood attack
witches with dicks - secondchance
landed - dairy 4 dinner

big'n - moonshine
crimpshrine - in my mind

Strike of the Week, Vol. 2 #7: Daniel Striped Tiger/Sinaloa Split EP

The cast of characters are all familiar here; Clean Plate and Narshardaa team up to put out this cross-Atlantic release, served up just in time for (the now defunct) Euro tour for these two Boston area bands. The quality is just as familiar. Daniel Striped Tiger lays down two new tracks of angular, mathy hardcore. Familiar, but different, continuing to push their sound forward. Can't help but hear some old school 90's influence via Kirsch via 2008.

Sinaloa gives a taste of things to come on the flip side; be sure to pick this up along with their incredible new full length insta-classic "Oceans of Islands," out now on Level Plane. There's not much to say. Sinaloa does what Sinaloa does best, except its even better this time. Tighter, more powerful, and incredibly intriguing, this band continues to push the boundaries of emotive hardcore.

Playlist: March 17, 2008

loser life - undressing you with my mind
complete waste - sustain
social circkle - i don't want

gorilla angreb - timen er kommet
total abuse - i deserve to be dead
sinks - get outta my house

wasted time - enemies of common sense
civic progress - falling apart
please inform the captain this is a hijack - asymmetric enemy

waifle - australian for women
los crudos - pelamos (we fight)
dangerloves - lipsmart

contaminators - ain't so fun
kolokol - protestant
brain handle - lifestyle template

the insurgent - hey kid
colbom - prisoner of work
baader brains - year zero

totalitar - du ar status du
down in flames - i don't care that i'm falling apart
slowmotions - target

self destruct - self destruct
no parade - a rising sun so bright it blinds
jenny piccolo - sink or swim

STRIKE OF THE WEEK:
Insomnio "Walking On The String" EP

kyklooppien sukupuutto - we are being run over
burn your bridges - i love to be ignorant
severed head of state - corpse of hope

victims - how could i lie?
rajoitus - idiootit!
clusterfuck - puny anthem

yaphet kotto - usual suspects
city of caterpillar - untitled #1
this is my fist! - gun crazy explosion noises

invasion - claustrofobia
universal order of armageddon - benedict
career suicide - social circle

kids return - untitled
life at these speeds - younger monkey
elder - town of clay

xbxrx - untitled
tigershark - king d
endless blockade - role models for dummies

make-up - i want some
shoot it up - broadway glass
la piovra - le ultima sigaretta

anti-cimex - victims of a bomb raid
out with a bang - i can't come