RASHŌMON
Nin-Gen EP
Iron Lung (2022)
Laypeople who don’t listen to heavy music often lump it all together, even while those of us who dedicate our time to the cause can pick up the difference between death metal, thrash and hardcore in seconds. RASHŌMON are one of those bands that would have people in fits right away, likely calling it metal even though there are few similarities. It’s loud, angry and super heavy. The guitars are blistering, the drums relentless, the vocals unforgiving. But this is hardcore, through and through. There are no solos, the vocals are equal parts shout and snarl, and the songs barely crash the 2-minute mark. Metal wallows in the misery. Hardcore plows through it. “Tokyo via DC hardcore,” (per Iron Lung’s description) is a great starting point, as it checks many of the boxes I know from my limited knowledge of that scene. While the music itself is relentless and furious, it’s more polished than your typical American hardcore and with less bravado. It’s heart-on-sleeve and no nonsense, like the broader genre, but there’s a spastic energy that feels less formulaic even if the surface sound is rather familiar. On this 6-song record the band covers a wide range in a … Read more
Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers
Pretty Good For A Girl Band
Domestic La La (2022)
There is a tendency, I think, to label any loud band, any loud female band, as Riot Grrrl. Reducing a … Read more
Joyce Manor
40 oz. to Fresno
Epitaph (2022)
Joyce Manor is one of those bands that I always follow, a band that shaped my tastes in my earlier … Read more
Chained Bliss
Chained Bliss
Drunken Sailor (2022)
There are certain guitar tones that recall another era, and Chained Bliss are rooted in one of them. When I … Read more
Xingfoo&Roy
Green Around The Gills
Independent (2022)
It's always nice to know one of your friends and favorite bands is doing good stuff and this example goes … Read more
