When shows started happening again in summer 2021, my first one back was a guerrilla hardcore punk gig in Richmond, held in an outdoor location remote enough that people were lighting off fireworks in the pit without worrying that they were going to get it all shut down. The Richmond-via-Raleigh band Public Acid headlined that show and played an absolutely insane set, and I owe them my allegiance forever. I'm delighted to report that their new record captures some of that intensity.
This is nothing new for Public Acid, whose 2024 LP Deadly Struggle was one of my favorite hardcore albums of the year. Their new record Pay No More is a sloppy, chaotic basement-punk attack. There's nothing routine about it. I guess you could analyze it, looking for influences from Japanese or Scandinavian hardcore or whatever. But I'd recommend experiencing it as a raw, primal blurt. You can do that below.
There's another new release today that should scratch a similar itch, too. Invertebrates are a Richmond hardcore punk band who share a few members with Public Acid and who put out records on the same label, Beach Impediment. They play a lot of shows together, too. Invertebrates' style is a little more direct and straightforward, and I might actually like them just a tiny bit more, but the two bands obviously complement the hell out of each other. Today, Invertebrates follow their 2024 LP Sick To Survive with a new EP of their own, an urgent but seriously fun seven-song blast called Accosted. Check it out below.
Pay No More and Accosted are both out now on Beach Impediment.