Unseen Force
In Search of the Truth (Reissue)
Grave Mistake (2008)
Most people that really delve deep into and are passionate about hardcore and punk know Richmond, Virginia for its fruitful output over the past decade or so, but that wasn't always the case. There was obviously a time when, like many other cities, it was a budding scene on the cusp of something huge. Which brings up to this album … Read more
Until the End
From the Beginning...Until the End
Eulogy (2008)
Whenever I think of Until the End, I think of the time I crammed five finals into a twenty-four-hour period so I could take a road trip down to Gainesville Fest. The kids there went absolutely bat shit for them - head walking and jumping off each other, huge pile-ons, and, of course, devastating mosh. Sure, it sounds like a … Read more
Until Your Heart Stops
Errors
Creator-Destructor (2011)
This album begins with a short acoustic introduction. With tense melodic vocals leading to background screaming. this song lasts for under a minute and does little to really prepare one for the rest of the record. This California band tends to traffic in semi melodic hardcore blasts. This belies their name for certain as most would attribute the band name … Read more
Up and at Them
Demo
Independent (2006)
Up and at Them are four kids playing hardcore music. No frills, no fashion, no hideous lyrics about suicide or emotions. Just straight-up hardcore; it recalls Sick of it All and Comeback Kid and is delivered with a distinct lack of irony that is strongly welcome in a music world where "irony" is so often used to excuse poor musicianship … Read more
Up For Nothing
Escape Route
It's Alive (2022)
While Up For Nothing has apparently been around since 2002, this is my first exposure. It’s interesting to learn about a band after listening on repeat, as I had the impression they were young ‘uns. They should take that as a compliment. Rather than sounding jaded, it sounds vibrant. Up For Nothing is a punk band from Brooklyn. The style … Read more
Up the Fury
Behind Every Mind
Detonate (2008)
Screw you with your Crime in Stereos, your Capitals, your Agents, and your Thieves and Assassins. Seriously, take a long jump off a short pier into Long Island Sound. Every week there seems to be a new band coming from that damn island that of yours that just feels the need to completely floor me. Is it something in the … Read more
Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start
And Nothing Is #1
Ohev (2003)
The minute someone seriously suggested this name for the band, I'd have to show him the door. The name is not clever, loses it's novelty factor quickly to where it just gets annoying, and doesn't fit this band AT ALL. I was fully expecting a keyboard fronted band with some snotty vocalist. Instead what I was exposed to was a … Read more
UpCDownC
Calaveras
Field (2011)
At the rate I'm going, I'm going to seriously depreciate the value of the phrase "like Mogwai, only better." Then again, it's not exactly my fault that it's such an easy status to obtain (*zing*). The latest band to fall under this label, Kent-based post-rockers up-c down-c left-c right-c abc + start (thank god they're now going by simply UpCDownC), … Read more
Uranium Club
Infants Under The Bulb
Anti Fade Records, Static Shock Records (2024)
Do you take your punk with saxophone? Do you like post-angular guitars and rhythmic, near-spoken vocals? If so, Uranium Club is probably right for you. Apparently they call this egg punk nowadays. I would have called it art-punk. It definitely runs in the left-of-the-dial, DIY punk world, but has that glasses-wearing, proud-of-your-weirdness element that makes it hard to pin down … Read more
Urgehal
Goatcraft Torment
Southern Lord (2006)
God bless Southern Lord Records. For many years the label has been the last bastion for all things sludgey and doomish. But as some of the latest releases to come out of their gate prove, they're going back to the Black with a monster roster that sets a beautifully dark tone for the future of the label. Urgehal is one … Read more
Urgent Care
Fast Medicine
Healthcore Records (2023)
Doctor, Doctor give me the news…. Some of you might pretend you don’t have a winking brown starfish on the bottom of your nether region but Urgent Care is here to tell you that Colonoscopies can save your life. Get your pack of Pico-Salax and let the chocolate fountain bubble and flow. The colonoscope is a thin catheter with a … Read more
Utarm
Apocryphal Stories
Handmade Birds (2012)
What do you do with a record that you just cannot place, and how do you express what you think about such an album when words escape you? This is the dilemma before me as I listen to Apocryphal Stories from Utarm for about the tenth time because I just am at a loss as to what is actually going … Read more
Vaaska
Todos Contra Todos
Beach Impediment (2015)
I've been meaning to check out this Austin, TX-based band for quite some time now (they’ve been active since 2009) but for whatever reason I’ve never gotten around to it. So much punk, so little time I guess. They have released a string of EPs and splits up until this point, but this record is their first official LP. It … Read more
Vacation
Candy Waves
Don Giovanni (2013)
Here at Scene Point Blank we don’t give titles to our work. If I titled my Vacation review, though, it would be named after track ten: “Feedback Got Me High.” Vacation are a punk band but, you know, so were Nirvana (at least on a basic level). The point is this: there’s a lot you can do with those power … Read more
Vacation
Existential Risks & Rewards
Salinas Records (2021)
I’ve been fighting the urge to just quote John Hoffman from when I interviewed another one of his bands, The Mimes, earlier this year, because I think he described his songwriting style really well in it. Instead, you get a vague, shameless plug, though I’ll circle back after more explanation. On their latest offering, Vacation hasn’t wildly changed. Existential Risks … Read more
Vacation
Mouth Sounds #2699
Lets Pretend (2018)
For running with the DIY punk scene, Vacation are surprisingly diverse (not to mention prolific). The band’s latest is the 12-song Mouth Sounds #2699 and its 26-minute span delivers the band’s general sound of fuzzed out garage-punk bangers, but within that general sound they deliver crunchy grunge riffs, pop melodies, and flat out noisy bursts, all within a short-song framework … Read more
Vacation
Rare Earth
Feel It Records (2024)
As a generalization I’d call vacation garage-punk, but the band has just as much grunge to their sound as those other styles -- and a whole lot more too. It’s raw ‘n’ straight-forward rock ‘n’ roll in a balance that pulls from the classic structures, balancing emotion and fuzz within melodic and building structures that ebb and flow for powerful … Read more
Vacation
Self Titled
Lets Pretend (2011)
First off, forgive me if at some point I wander off and say something about Summer Vacation or Vacation Bible School, and I keep mixing these bands up in my head. Vacation is Cincinnati-based band that sometimes gets the pop-punk label, although I would argue garage-punk if I had to choose one. The band, while using pop-punk structures and a … Read more
