(SPHC-115)
(UK)

When James told me he had a new project in the works, featuring members of Anti-Cimex and Doom, I thought, yeah, great! Sounds cool.
"Oh and Eddie from Shitty Limits plays saxophone". Wait what?
"It sounds like X-Ray Spex meets Swedish hardcore." What the fuck?
"Cravats gone d-beat." Huh??

The first EP dropped and that elicited an even stronger "what the fuck" out of me because, to my total shock and absolute pleasure, it stumbled into sounding very similar to one of my favorite bands, Armia (Poland). Given our conversations I'm pretty sure that was mostly by accident but I was duly impressed.

Since the first EP sold out quick, the follow-up first LP came soon after, and I cannot think of a record in recent memory where I was more genuinely curious to hear the end result. Was accidentally sounding like Armia a fluke or could they continue to stumble down this path into making a really emotive and fascinating hardcore record? I was curious, excited, and given how rare I ever feel like that anymore, I put my money where my mouth is and helped James release it.

On their first LP, PI$$ER sound like the straight-forward songs from Armia - Legenda LP meets modern hardcore sensibilities. Like Armia, we have the emotive horn arrangements that add a layer of composition and atmosphere beyond the norm. Like Armia, the songwriting and execution is a little more long-form and repetitious, steady tempo drums and repeating riffs, based on letting the horns build atmosphere, rather than an immediate attack like most hardcore. But like modern hardcore, the vocals are gruff and reverb'd out, the solos are chaotic, and the occasional breakdown sneaks in there to get you moshing.

It's the fascinating and emotive hardcore record I was looking for and I am excited to bring it to life for others in this world looking for punk beyond our regimented pre-determined stylistic definitions.

co-released with Kibou Records and Amok Records
500 copies in 1 pressing
released in 2020
out of print