The Counterforce - Issue 13

The Counterforce Issue # 13 + MRR # 520 PDFs

2026-10-05T20:27:05.000-04:00

Print issue #13 of The Counterforce, with incredible cover art by Arthur K. is here. Sorry it's late. Thirteen is unlucky, and some bad luck hit while putting this issue together.

TORPOR/BASTARD IDOL Tour Report, More NYC Pix, Punk AI Artists Are On The Rise, Vida Subterranea / Ultrasonidos Zine, Punk Authentic Community, Columns + reviews - Read it all online

Print: The Counterforce #13 US Letter imposed
Print: The Counterforce #13 A4 imposed

Being the end of the month, the new MRR Reviews digest PDF is also up:

MRR #520 - September 2026 US Letter imposed - A4 imposed - Original online

Print these zines! Print all our zines!

Interview: Vida Subterranea / Ultrasonidos Zine

2026-09-21T14:28:50.000-04:00

Vaca from Vida Subterranea recently contacted us to do an interview for their e-mail newsletter, which is packed with interviews, reviews, playlists, and more. They recently compiled articles from past newsletters into the first issue of Ultrasonidos, a new print zine (which we look forward to seeing more issues of!). We answered Vaca's questions, but also asked him to answer a few questions in return so we could learn more about the newsletter/zine project, and the surrounding context in Mexico City!

CF: Introduce yourself/selves and Vida Subterranea! How long have you existed, who is involved, what do you do, and why?

Vaca: Hello Hello! I’m Vaca but we are a very very loose collective that comes and goes. We started the screen printing project as a way to survive economically. The quality of work here in Mexico City is really bad and the salaries even worst! Its impossible to live with minimum wage. We started bootlegging shirts as a side hustle and ended up doing it full time for almost 11 years now. At a point we had a record store but got bored doing it. Mainly because records became too expensive and somehow a luxury item.

We have been doing screen printing for something close to 25 years. We mostly been doing zines and punk (and non punk stuff) with a DIY approach for ever. We use to do an old blog called Blog de Noticias Anarcopunk that gathered punk news and events from all over Latin America, a zine La Ciudad Mas Fea del Mundo with only 3 issues and wrote in an anarchist newspaper called El Libertario. Now we are back at writing in our newsletter that comes out every 3-4 months and compiled yearly in Spanish in our new zine Ultrasonidos.

We also book shows and do illegal parties here and there, depending on the level of energy/the season/availability/interest friends join us and help us out. We were really inspired by reading Hakim Bay at a young age and took that approach of Temporary Autonomous Zones to our “activism” and how we relate collectively. When things get too institutionalized they start to suck, that is why we try to book our shows in weird places that aren’t supposed to have shows. But sometimes, just sometimes we have to book things in bars.

CF: Explain your initial motivations for starting a newsletter.

Vaca: It all started when we didn’t want to depend economically on Meta. The band shirts we bootleg and probably our content isn’t mainstream or cool enough, plus we are not content creators we only print and write. So eventually we got buried by all good stuff (and crap) that people are putting out on Instagram. Honestly we always hated Meta and social media in general, but it was a way of surviving after migrating and it was a cheap shot to try put things out there to get notoriety to make it through.

As we were saying we always made blogs, zines, etc. So it was a matter of time we end up making something public again with our thoughts on the underground on the Newsletter. It started as a way to let people that support us know we are alive and making lots of stuff directly in their email. But at the same time we didn’t want to just make advertisement and add a little bit of writing, recommendations, reviews and interviews on it. There is nothing we hate more than advertising in general, plus we believe in building community and a sense of connection by ideas and aesthetics not consumption.

Small, engaged and informed communities might be the only thing that will protect us and let us survive right now on these weird times of ultra capitalist mega states that are growing like weed everywhere. Since we sell our art internationally we write in English and sometimes Spanish when we feel like. The idea is to make people think for a bit and find something else besides consuming.

CF: There are many things about the online/e-mail newsletter that I found really refreshing and appreciate:

You can easily read it on a website without logging in to something
There is essentially no 3rd party tracking on your website!
There are never links to Instagram or other closed corporate platforms, which is really rare for something where there is so much art involved
Mixes are uploaded to archive.org in addition to soundcloud

How intentional were all of these little decisions?

Vaca: Thanks! Yes the website is pretty bare bones. We are not computer savvy at all and if we could we would have something more complex on our site (adding English/Spanish automatic translations, keeping a blog to better arrange the newsletter and its archive, make it a ton faster to load, etc.). But we do our best! We try using open source programs and keep it as clean as possible from tracking (from what we know). We could do better but it is what it is!

We guess we come from the old times of the internet were you had to research for information and we kept doing that ever since. Pirating movies, books, downloading mp3s and flac files is something we do daily. We like finding media, digging till we find its source of the good stuff, we don’t want an algorithm to show us what we like and avoid what we don’t. Mainly because we ourselves don’t even know what we like or what is out there.

We LOVE Archive.org and support it a lot! We spent hours upon hours on that site!

CF: It seems like the newsletter started out for self-promotion for the shop, but of course you could not resist the DIY punk zinester inside. Over time it has progressively become more of what you expect from a zine, of course culminating in the physical Ultrasonidos zine! How do you see this further progressing in the future? The newsletter online appears to be only in English and the zine is in Spanish. What gives! Is this to reach a more international audience online?

Vaca: Yes its true it has changed with each issue! Since we sell our art internationally we write in English and sometimes Spanish when we feel like it and don’t give a fuck about our customers jajaja. The idea is to make people scratch their heads a bit and make them feel the same trip we feel when we translate things, research and digging deep on the internet to find stuff out ourselves.

We feel so guilty that most of our Newsletter is in English tho… But people in LATAM barely has any money to go by let alone buy a band shirt. We still sell locally way cheaper and try to trade as much as possible in our local community with other people. We prefer to keep close to our people face to face and we keep the net for international things only.

The zine Ultrasonidos started gathering all our writings in the newsletters we have been putting out for years and translate it into a full Spanish zine with extra content/design on top. The idea is for it to be the kind of pocket magazine that happened in the 80s over here like Banda Rockera, Revista Duda and even some pop shitty magazines for teenagers from the 1990-2000 like Tu and Grita but made by fans for fans. We try to keep it punk in attitude but we are not gonna lie we love all sorts of music if its raw, aggressive and has something to say. Some friends wrote for this first number and tons more will start writing in the next one. We wanna cover all underground with emphasis on punk and electronics with an obsession with the occult, the underworld. But some friends are already writing some articles on noise, movies, etc. We want to keep it a once a year thing cuz it takes a ton of work to make plus we wanna keep the quality high! So if you feel identified with these perspective shoot us an email and write for our zine: vidasubte@gmail.com

We come from a small country (Venezuela) so looking internationally has always been a thing to propagate ideas while living under the military government of Chavez. It was such an authoritarian, conservative, militaristic and square country we were always looking outside for alternatives. Punk, electronics and the underground are so deep, complex and multilateral over here in Mexico City tho that we prefer to live it with in our own bodies and not read about it. Live it, document it and commune in person. The internet is one thing, its awesome but we prefer the real world honestly. There is where we put most of our effort designing, writing and making things happen. That is why the zine is the upgraded version of the newsletter for locals in Spanish. Internet is just a tool.

CF: You've mentioned to me that Meta is very dominant in the Mexico underground scene. So, Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook (all parts of Meta). Can you describe the local digital landscape? Which of those apps do people use most for chatting or sharing shows? Are there big Instagram accounts everyone has to follow or big groupchats?

Vaca: Sad to say it but META IS KING for older people (25-40) over here! We haven’t seen any data about it but we are sure Mexico must be one of the countries with the most Facebook active users in the world. It has been a place to document everything, create groups, exchange ideas, fight about everything (including ideas, schisms and cancellations), find news (and fake news), spread memes, communicate and promote events. We didn't use it but most of the shows and events are promoted there. We even miss a lot of things for so long until we opened a “secret” one just to snoop around a see what is happening out there on the boring universe of Facebook. For real you can get completely lost sometimes without a profile in the city…

It's sad, but even flyer and poster culture its gone from physical media. Mexico use to be, since the Mexican Revolution, a power house in the poster culture. Now its gone, AI is everywhere and things just look shittier and shittier. Its a pretty cacique culture over here so people look up to certain FB personal accounts to see what a single person is promoting. I think Facebook events use to be a thing but not any more… honestly we are the wrong person to ask… we just follow our human friends suggestion and they point us to the cool shows every weekend. Instagram is not as big and is mostly used by middle class people that speak English but that is changing fast for the last 3-4 years.

But its a weird city too and not everything is grim... Even tho there is tech and people are glued to their phones there is a vibe in the city that is trapped in time. We always joke about it with our friends, the city is on a constant loop trapped in 90s-2000s. People are really protective of their ways of life still, things don’t really change that fast and modernity is sometimes avoided, even tho gentrification is spreading like wildfire. We love this city, we are its defenders and so its the city itself. Its madness and chaos over here, so many different scenes, regions, classes and realities cross the daily life of everyone living in this wild valley.

Younger people do use Tiktok and some Snapchat but on that department we are completely lost!

CF: Can you add some historical context to the last question? What was it like in Mexico before Meta? Take us back to pre-digital and give the timeline for getting from no-internet to Meta domination. Where there important websites, forums, or other online things that were used after the Internet arrived but before corporate social media took over?

Vaca: As we were telling you, we are migrants so we don’t really know about the state of the scene before Meta. What we can tell you is that the city was very different from far away before Facebook and Instagram got in. People use to gather around collectives before. La JAR/La Furia de las Calles for example was a famous collective in the 90s-2000s that use to book shows, loved open source, linux and ran events. It was so cool, they did EPIC shows in town and book tours for huge bands in the region like SIN DIOS and RATTUS. There is a big tianguis culture over here in the country. Tianguis are open markets that take over a street or many blocks during a day of the week to sell stuff. Its like a farmers market but more working class, less expensive and just part of the daily life. Markets were huge before the colonization in Mexico and they are still a BIG thing every week, some are “themed” others are just to buy fruits an vegetables in your hood. El Chopo is a punk and rock tianguis that has been happening since the 80s and a mayor spot to propagate DIY ideas, culture and all its vices too. El Chopo started after a big group of young people wanted a spot to share their records, shirts, zines and culture. A big expo happened at the Chopo University Museum about rock record covers and people gathered outside to trade and sell merch. People are good with their hands and the approach of making things you cant get for your self is just natural. Many people from all around the urban area still travel to this tianguis every Saturday to buy and trade stuff. El Chopo is another mayor spot and where most of the big zines in the 80s-90s-2000 and still today gather at. Now it has changed a lot, for better or for worse is full of clothing, lots of crap made in china but there is a stage in the back for free shows, young wild looking misfits kids and an anarchopunk area where people trade zines and talk shit. Another spot is Okupa Che, a squat in the university that was taken over in the 90s and was another hub for connections back in the day and still is. El Carrusel del Rock in Neza is another spot were people gather back in the 90s, its just a bar but always a supporters of underground rock and so on. There is infinite spots/perspectives on punk over here its naive of us to think we know it all specially back in the day when we didn’t live here.

Might be a cheap shot but the word of mouth is really big thing over here in the city, people are really social. That is a thing, those apps are only an American way of looking at social relations, friend-unfriend, like-dislike, etc. Things are more grey over here, more dirty, more gritty…. Trying to categories everything is such a white peoples aseptic way of looking at human interactions, the world is so complex an app cant categorize everything even if they think everything is math.

CF: What resistance or alternatives are there locally to Meta and the like, besides your newsletter and zine? Have your efforts helped push things in a positive direction? What gives you hope in this particular struggle?

Vaca: We don’t know… calling our newsletter a point of resistance in Mexico might be a stretch, specially when its in English. We are just looking for other ways of relating besides an app. Specially when this app rewards the kind of people that are just talking about themselves all the time, their controversial or fashionable opinions that break flesh and bone communities and basically promote the most boring mainstream people ever that have nothing to say besides looking cool on selfies. The zine on the other hand we think its a reason to talk to our community, engage with it and give back objects that we think are valuable to the community itself. We are not saviors tho… we just do what we can with that in mind.

At one point a few years ago we found ourselves submerged in a culture of people that wanted to meet us cuz our presence on Instagram and not for what we were making or thinking. So sad to say but that pushed us to put more time and effort in our newsletter/zine than in the app years ago. Honestly that is what give us hope, the local bookstore/coffee shop in our hood that support us and buys our zine to sell, the punks at the local tianguis of our printshop where we buy our vegetables weekly that update us with all the shows and fests happening every weekend or the other local printshop we work with to finish cutting our zine.

CF: The addictiveness and easy popularity of USA corporate social media like Meta's products has played a large part in connecting our punk and DIY communities internationally This is indisputably a positive effect (especially as borders tighten around the world). But I think we agree it has come at a great cost as we are now dependent on these apps for this connection. What are your thoughts on trying to navigate out of dependence on these apps into more DIY and healthier alternatives, without losing those networks and connections?

Vaca: We book a 2-3 shows/parties a year and we mostly do it for friends or friends of friends. We had so many bad experiences depending upon, trusting or organizing via Instagram before. The app has created a whole culture around it where people build relationships based on aesthetics and amount of followers only. Everything is disposable even social relations. Reality shows up fast when you actually have to do things together that doesn’t have anything to do with liking a story or re blogging something cool. It's a bummer because some people are probably nice, their art is actually awesome but when you talk to them in person... they have nothing to say, no ethos, barely have any interest or if they do you can just see it on their profile.

We think the old mantra is the way to solve all these problems: get together with your friends, start making music, a zine or a venue, book your own shows and invite other people to join. In a few years it will pay back in the form of meaning we promise!

CF: Give us a scene report for Mexico City! What new bands are you excited about? Where do shows happen? Are there any important DIY spaces or initiatives?

Vaca: Damn! Its so HUGE over here, we think its probably the biggest punk scene in the world besides maybe Indonesia so making a whole scene report will take us too long to complete and probably feel guilty for missing so much. The downtown area and surroundings is filled with bands, where we mostly live and hang on our daily life since its such a large city. We are not gonna lie its more lower-middle class over here, most punks speak English and they are well connected internationally. You probably already know a ton of these bands and they are fucking awesome by the way!

But we are fans of all the small local acts and we prefer to highlight some of those here instead! Smaller shows on the outskirts of the city tend to be more DIY, in houses and most of the time the family hosting the show is involved and present in it. We are supporters of FIN DEL MUNDO a band we saw the other day and is very similar to the vibes of SS-20, female singer excellent vibes. CADA MINUTO NACE UN IMBECIL is a young anarchopunk tupatupa band with a drummer that kicks ass! PUNKS DE LA MONTAÑA is probably the best punk band happening right now in the city, Tupa-Tupa punk with awesome inspiring lyrics, perfect live show and they have that Mexicore vibe that is hard to imitate. Finally OOVA is sick band from all over the suburbs of the city. Young wild people kicking ass for sure and they play like every weekend, they are punk machines!!!

NYC Live Punk Pix Summer 2026

2026-09-11T20:05:33.000-04:00

More photo dispatches from NYC this summer, courtesy of Ben Trogdon

NISEMONO

PRAY TO BE SAVED

PSYCHO TERRORIST DESPAIR SYSTEM

MATAR

CRUCIFORM

TORPOR & BASTARD IDOL East Cost Raid Report

2026-09-13T10:50:33.000-04:00

Contributed by Felix L.G.

In August, my chromatic hardcore band TORPOR and my d-beat band BASTARD IDOL went on a small tour of Canada’s east coast on our way to the second edition of PEI’s only punk fest, Secret Trash.

When I was playing in DUREX, we played with CELL DETH a number of times, including our very first show, and during our first summer as a band we trekked out to PEI to play with them. We were shown amazing hospitality, saw beautiful sights, and had a wonderful time. DUREX were also able to go to Newfoundland to play the LAWNYA VAWNYA festival, again, playing with CELL DETH twice while we were there. The members of C.D. are integral to organizing the fest as well as each member playing with various other projects, and hosting bands at their homes, etc. The two times I’ve gone east of Quebec have been very special experiences, so I expected nothing less this time, and was looking forward to seeing the friends I had made as well as introducing them to my bandmates who had never been out that way.

FREDERICTON

God I adore New Brunswick. The drive from Montreal to Fredericton is long and might be intimidating to some, but it felt so worthwhile. It doesn’t get a whole lot better to me than listening to back to back NEIL YOUNG albums in the van and appreciating the vastness of this country with my best friends. There was a bit of rain, although not too much that it would’ve made driving sketchy, and the mountains covered in mist were a real sight. Melody pointed out to me that the mountain range we saw was actually the northern end of the Appalachians. It’s on both of our bucket lists to see those mountains stateside someday, but since we probably can’t right now, this felt like a nice consolation.

I had not been to Fredericton before. When I came through New Brunswick with DUREX, Ales set up a show for us in Bathurst. Ruby had been to Fredericton a few times before and was mostly able to navigate the small city by memory. The venue, the Odell Lodge, is a community centre like local legions/veteran’s halls. It’s surrounded by a spacious park to chill in between and after bands.

There were some mild PA issues, but everyone played great. Local opener ANTIPHETAMINE played a twisted blend of hiking black metal and mid-tempo d-beat. PIPER MARU played great, this was my first time seeing them since 2019. They blew their bass head but took it in stride and it was quickly swapped out. There was a good amount of movement for all the bands but especially for PIPER.

I reckon the show Sienna set up for us at the Odell Lodge might’ve beat out Charlottetown for the youngest average age of show attendee. There were gangs of kids in crust pants and thrash vests. I gave away a couple CITADEL cassingles and THE NOT tapes to some young heads who seemed like they were still developing their punk tastes. Ruby overheard some kids after BASTARD IDOL’s set saying “THAT’S what we should be doing”, which really warmed my heart. It seems like the local flavour of the moment is very much on the grindier metal side of punk, but I would love to see some of these teens start a raw punk band by the next time I visit.

HALIFAX

Since this was one of our shorter drives, we were able to chill a bit with Sienna and Seger before hitting the road. Many of us walked to Tim Hortons to pick up coffees and breakfast and took in the neighborhood as we went. Coffees and farmer's wraps were leisurely consumed, and we hit the road by 11am.

This was my second time in Halifax. Plenty of people were moshing. TORPOR opened, followed by DESPERTÁ, who had Maria filling in for Nadia on guitar for this run, apparently she learned the songs in a handful of jams which is super impressive. BLACK DOG played third. Ben shouted out the touring bands and asked showgoers to buy merch from us and DESPERTÁ, and not them. I missed BLACK DOG the last time they played in Montreal for SEARCH FOR THE SUN, so it had been a while since I’d last seen them and I still hail them as masters of the blow-fi sound. BASTARD IDOL played fourth and we felt super intimated to follow BLACK DOG, but we had fun. I had to take out my ear plugs to hear myself during BASTARD IDOL’s set, and so I ended up sitting out RITUAL WARFARE to give my ears a break. Last time I saw them though they played an incredibly loud set at Funeral Home (RIP).

After the gig we stuffed ourselves with gigantic pizza slices from Randy’s. Full of grease and donair sauce, we slept and readied ourselves for what we came out east for.

PEI

We hit the road early the next morning to get to load in for the Secret Trash matinee. Melody cried a little on seeing the ocean while we crossed the Confederation Bridge. Emily noticed a distinct lack of invasive plants compared to the rest of our travels, and told me about them as we made our way to Charlottetown.

Secret Beach are the local punk organizers, who collabed with High Trash Media last summer to do Secret Trash Fest. Two of the main organizers, Brett and Sophia, had a baby in the spring, and my understanding is that other folks like Ryan have stepped up to the plate in terms of taking on more responsibility with booking and running the fest. That said, Brett and Sophia were there and as enthusiastic as ever with baby Oliver in arm. That should make it no surprise that this might be the most truly all ages friendly punk event I’ve been to. Many many parents with babies and small kids, as well as young teenagers who had never been to a show before!

The attendants were a roundup of what were then familiar faces - ANTIPHETAMINE were in attendance despite not playing, a bunch of Halifax punks who we’d seen the night before drove up – clearly this was the place to be.

The gig started at 2pm with COY, a three piece fronted by Story from CELL DETH & FIRING SQUAD. Airy, breezy pop tunes where Story plays guitar and sings. They sounded like a more laid back SONIC YOUTH or a noisier VASELINES. There were seven or eight kids, including Matt and Story’s, up front vibing and playing with beach balls. The next band C.A.B.L.E were probably the youngest band that played. The older and younger crowd alike were stoked for them, and they got the side to side going right away. I think they covered THE RIVAL MOB. The kids had started to filter out of the main show space by now, although one baby kept trying to wander into the mosh zone and people stood politely to the side so the dad could come scoop them. Up next was new Charlottetown supergroup BILGE. Brett got roasted for his Flying V which looked tiny on him. WAYWARD CORPSE closed out the first half of the matinee, looking supremely evil in warpaint like something out of APOCALYPSE NOW.

After the first four bands there was an hour long intermission, for people to chill, eat, and recover their strength for the next four bands. This is an innovation that I want to bring to Montreal if I ever have a reason to book a seven or eight band show again. During the intermission several eggs that had been pickled with liquor by Matt were consumed. The caesar eggs were deemed to be delicious. Many were pronounced inedible. The author of this article did not consume any “beer eggs”.

Left to right: Rye & Ginger Egg, Budweiser Egg, Jaeger Egg, Champegg

The matinee resumed with DEAR BLOSSOM, another band from the younger batch of PEI rockers, sharing members with C.A.B.L.E. This band had more of a HUSKER DU, alt punk thing going on. The Secret Trash crew really know how to book a show like curating a good playlist. Never did I get sick of one sound, because it was always on to the next thing. Next were St. John’s pogo punks DESPERTÁ, who sounded way louder than at Gus’ Pub, and had a ton of people dancing. BASTARD IDOL played next, and Brett came up to me as we were setting up and said “I think people are going to really go off...the way they did last year for RECALL”. Closing out the matinee was the final performance of Charlottetown rockers OAKDRIVE, who were all wearing shirts that said “I miss TITLE FIGHT”. I’m not come across that band’s tunes but Elodie kept going back and forth from the merch table where I was sitting and chilling after BASTARD IDOL played. She and many others were all singing along to what I was told amounted to seven or eight TITLE FIGHT covers, along with a bunch of original songs.

DESPERTÁ at Secret Trash Fest

We had a bit over an hour to chill and get food before the night show at Sportsman’s Pub. Elodie and I had planned to try and hit up the only record store in the province, Back Alley Music, but it was closed. Nearby were a couple book stores, so we checked out Bookman on Seger’s recommendation. Our visit was short but next time I go to PEI I definitely wanna sneak away to do some window shopping at these spots if there is the time. Emily and Melody ate some Chinese take out while the rest of us snacked on sandwiches assembled from what we had in the cooler.

Sportsman’s is a much smaller venue than Trinity United, so it filled up fast and made for a crazy scene when people started to slam. Locals TROJAN WHORES played first, after which TORPOR played to a super enthusiastic crowd. Next were our buddies in PIPER MARU, who probably played the best set I’ve ever seen them play. I first played with PIPER in, I believe, 2018 when they played with SPACERS at a show I booked in Ottawa, and they’ve only gotten better and more confident as musicians since then. Next were CONDUCTOR, dad rockers from Cape Breton, providing a refreshing vibe shift. Closing out the gig were POISON SPEAR, who played a very short, feral set, ending with a 30 second cover of PARANOID by BLACK SABBATH.

After the gig, we drove about half an hour outside Charlottetown to Matt & Story’s forest compound, where there was a separate cabin that was reserved for us to stay in. Each of us had a pull-out, cot, or bed to sleep on, which was a real relief after a few nights of sleeping on floors.

THE JOURNEY HOME

This was our day of real leisure. I slept latest of all of us, till around 11:00, and joined everyone at Matt & Story’s house for breakfast they made for the 4 bands who stayed over. After breakfast a bunch of festival attendees, bands, and organizers pulled up to Blooming Point Beach. I didn’t bring any flip flops, and had sand in my sneakers for a week. After a couple hours at the beach, we packed up and went to Cow’s Creamery on our way out of PEI. There, we parked the van on a lawn in front of the iconic cow statue, and a local alternative looking person was down to take our last group pic of the run. In keeping with the theme of the week, we also ran into PIPER MARU here before they went back to Toronto. We drove about ⅓ of the distance back to Montreal that evening, stopping at Mactaquac Provincial Park to camp. Melody set up the fire and roasted hot dogs for our last evening together.

I would highly recommend any band to travel out east. We ended up taking a bit of a bath because of the cost of our rental van, but sold a lot of shirts, and sold almost all of the split tapes we pressed for the run. If a vehicle is not an issue, it is a must before considering playing in the United States. People talk a lot about the hospitality of people on the east coast, and the tight knitted nature of east coast communities. This tour was particularly special because despite not planning it, we kept playing with the same bands and seeing the same people at almost every show. It really felt like a large tour family. The bands that shared this unofficial tour – us, PIPER MARU, and DESPERTÁ, have all at times had “weekend warrior” status, and have not been able to play super regularly. With projects like that, you’re excited to get to play at all. To be able to share a small tour like this, with the additional planning it takes to jam and travel, felt pretty rare and special. I can’t wait to do it again.

I Will Do My Worst #6

2026-09-11T20:23:24.000-04:00

K-Town Hardcore Fest 2026

After doing a small tour with TOTAL NADA in Spain/Portugal/Basque country early this summer, I traveled up to Copenhagen to attend K-Town Hardcore Fest, my first time going not associated with a band, but of course we were there to table for The Counterforce with a selection of issues and related zines. Thanks for having us K-Town! Many people grabbed zines - if you are reading this and you saw us there, please send an e-mail and say hi! But, I did manage to watch some bands. Here are a few pictures from my novelty keychain camera. PHOSPHORE, SIYAHKAL, TRAIDORA, INDIKATOR B and AYUCABA.

25 Of Hardcore: K-Town

PHOSPHORE

SIYAHKAL

TRAIDORA

INDIKATOR B

AYUCABA

MORTALITY MIRROR - DEMONstration

2026-08-11T11:11:07.000-04:00

Broken Skull's latest and most metal release so far. I always prefer metal when it's played by punks. To my non-metalhead ear, MORTALITY MIRROR delivers traditional death metal. As a demo it's solid, and anyone invested in the underground metal scene should get a copy or keep an eye on them. Something about the production didn't quite grab me though, I think death metal recordings need to be really crisp and hifi, or a completely fucked dissonant mess. But it is, after all, a "DEMO"nstration and I definitely see the potential here for more high quality metal-played-by-punks in the future.

Tape out on Broken Skull, listen here: https://brokenskull.bandcamp.com/album/demonstration

DEMONstration, by MORTALITY MIRROR

5 track album

Broken Skull RecordsBandcamp New & Notable Mar 18, 2020

TOTAL VACATION + ANIMATED VIOLENCE - TV/AV SPLIT

2026-09-09T20:34:27.000-04:00

More Looney Tunes-flavored hardcore punk. ANIMATED VIOLENCE from Orange County with TOTAL VACATION from Los Angeles. Are those places different enough to need a distinction? I don't know I live like 1,900 miles away, I'm sure it's important to them.

One side you got ANIMATED VIOLENCE, tried and true furious styles. This is west coast HARDCORE PUNK. A distinct style difference from the current trending styles creeping in every scene from the Upper Midwest to the Southeast. Exactly what you need to cleanse your palate. Clean, twangy, fun, and no fluff. "Super Toys Last All Summer Long" is THE track. I'm slamming soda, taping all the empty cans together to make a sword, then using it to mosh with in my bedroom to this, taking out all the fake freaks along the way. TOTAL VACATION gives you 14 tracks of a similar vibe, different blend. Hints of, dare I say, fastcore here? Frantic and rowdier. I wanna skateboard to this music and then throw rocks at trains with my friends. The kinda shrill vocals, melodic gang vocals, the lower recording fidelity. This feels like music from just a different time and place. Out of place in 2026, this is a compliment. Favorite track gotta be "Pick Up Game", 35 seconds of just blastin' and thrashin'.

Listen here: https://ceasendesistrecords.bandcamp.com/album/tv-av-split

TV/AV Split, by Total Vacation & Animated Violence

22 track album

Cease 'N Desist Recordshxcdavycrockett

GUIDING LIGHT - Fear On My Own Time

2026-09-09T20:30:21.000-04:00

Short review: Two thumbs up, this rocks.

Long review: Eight tracks from the Austin, Texas four piece and each one of these eight tracks is a total earworm. Jangly punk. D.Boon would have loved this. Guitar going crazy out here. Each instrument exist so distinctly on their own without stepping on each other's toes. Never having to strain your ear to pick the bass out of riff or anything. It's all laid bare out here. Clean style but not a clean energy, ya know? This shit is still in your face even if it's not a bunch of cranked distortion pedals. Some tracks are truly pogo mosh worthy fist pumpers, a non-obvious conclusion when you first hear this album. We get the classic move where the last song is a little more slow and prodding and twice as long as the rest. When done poorly it's a total snooze – not here.

Favorite track is hard pick between the first two. The vocals in "Shackled By Lust", the opening track, are so catchy. Then on track two "Fear On my Own Time" – how about another incredibly catchy vocal melody? I think I hear some tasteful tambourine in the first track? So good. I could probably go on about each song but I won't. You get the idea.

Listen here: https://guidinglightatx.bandcamp.com/album/fear-on-my-own-time

Fear On My Own Time, by Guiding Light

8 track album

Guiding Lightelaine_blakeley

PUNK A.I. ARTISTS ARE ON THE RISE: HOW TO SUFFOCATE THE SLOP IN YOUR SCENE

2026-09-10T17:06:37.000-04:00

Contributed by Hobbes

A.I. punk artists have become increasingly prevalent in our spaces. If you are online or on social media, you are likely following them without realizing. The amount of A.I. art that has already been printed on tape and record releases is truly heartbreaking.

Now that government spending on Artificial Intelligence has increased by approximately 900% in the last three years, even good old artistic suffering has become automated.  

In a perfect world we’d take punk off of social media and you’d hire someone you know personally to draw for your band. Until that point, here is my essential list of checks you need to make before accidentally buying from or following punk A.I. artists.  

Not one tip alone is enough to tell you anything definite. I recommend using this full arsenal of checks to make an informed decision.

TIMELINE

It is imperative that you look all the way back through a new artist’s portfolio, to before A.I. image generation became widespread. If the artist started making art around 2023, this is your first clue. Around this time, neural networking and image generation tools became readily available, commonly used, and insidiously integrated into artistic communities.

FREQUENCY

Art takes time. There’s a reason for that old movie trope of moody artists falling asleep on their work. If the account in question is banging out commission after commission, with a brief “DM for info” profile and “SOLD, SOLD, SOLD” captions, this is another clue. Not even an overly caffeinated, hypomanic, insomniac human artist on Vyvanse can mass produce at that rate. If it's too easy and quick, it's probably being generated by A.I.

NATURAL PROGRESSION

Human artists hone their skill over time, it’s unavoidable. In a human’s portfolio, when you look back to their earlier work you will see a natural progression of skill over time. Their style will evolve naturally as they get inspired by new things. This is absent from an A.I. “artist’s" page. Their skill level will be a plateau of sorts because it is created by Artificial Intelligence. They reveal a sudden skill level and remain at that exact same skill level while they crank out piece after piece, often in the same style! Which leads us to…

NEVER BREAKING THE FORMAT: STYLE VS FORMULA

Human artists often have styles and tastes that evolve, but an A.I. artist will have a formula. Most A.I. creators won’t break the format they’ve found that works. Look for a wall of monotony. For example: A grainy Xerox’d line drawing of bricks breaking and a barbed wire fence, followed by some iteration of that exact format for all subsequent pieces.

FILTERS

Throughout history, filters have been a source of contention. Whether it’s overdoing it with chorus pedals or giving yourself a digital facelift. The same applies to digital art. If the awesome gruesome skull laden art you’re looking at is so full of filters that you can’t possibly imagine how someone might have drawn that, it’s likely that someone did not draw that. Sloppy A.I. collage is often covered up with grainy, chalky, pancaked on filters.

EVIDENCE

Human proof is very easy to find, if it exists. Again, human art takes time. It is very common for artists to post pencil sketches and progress videos to their social media, if only for the simple purpose of showing clients that their deadline is not being ignored. I can’t count the amount of times I have seen friends bringing their half finished drawings to a show, scrambling to make their deadline. The responsible thing to do in this modern day of A.I. is to check, and even to ask for proof of ink to paper when you commission or follow an artist. To counteract the age of the Terminator, myself and friends who draw have been sharing a lot more progress footage in order to provide transparency. This transparency is the greatest tool we have to move forward.

A.I. QUICK TELLS:

These tells will likely expire as artificial intelligence gets smarter, but for now here are some quick giveaways that A.I. slop is being served to you on a plate. This is not a replacement for greater A.I. literacy.  

1. Chains: This one is fun to spot. A.I. often draws chains that fully look like jelly beans. You may laugh (as you should), but one of these three examples below is actively for sale on a punk A.I. artist’s account.

2. Detail Inconsistencies: If the background is much more detailed than the foreground, this is sometimes due to an A.I. generated background being pasted behind the main subject. You rarely see this in human-made drawings as it’s not how vision works (unless you’re far-sighted and don’t have your glasses). Another thing A.I. struggles with is consistent lighting. Check the direction and intensity of the light across the image. Does the background match the foreground? Here, a skinhead has harsh, top-down lighting, while the highly detailed background shows none of the same environmental light. These inconsistencies are a clear giveaway.

3. A.I. Slop Texture: This is an understated and very important category. Every surface that you see has its own unique texture. Every texture reacts to light in a different way. A.I. gets extremely confused by this process and will render an image of a “drawing” with a very signature A.I. crunchy mush texture that gets placed over the surfaces it’s not confident in. It counts on your ignorance to not notice things like window cracks on human skin, spotted denim, and wiggly rocks. Here are some examples of Artificial Intelligence’s crunchy mush. As a bonus, I’ve included some bricks that not only have the confused A.I. texture, but are also a glaring OSHA violation.

If the idea of A.I. literacy is giving you a headache, you’re not alone. Luckily, punk is a friendship-based community and you are absolutely encouraged to have real conversations with the artists you know personally to get educated on their process when you hire them to draw for your band. Be mindful that if you remove the friendship aspect from your process – i.e. you want to hire that “cool” mysterious online guy everyone is hiring to do their grainy looking flyers – you might just be hiring an A.I. artist who’s great at self promotion.

All in all, it might be our own fault as punks for being so predictable and easy to please. Give us a gross looking brick wall with a hole in it and we’re happy. We must, however, never allow the process of creating said ugly bricks to become automated by those who would exploit our trust and ignorance. Expect proof of process, become literate in identifying A.I. slop, and if you don’t draw already - learn to draw before it becomes a lost art.

GUNNER - Reality Soldier

2026-09-05T14:52:34.000-04:00

Nasty, feral hardcore continuing along in the modern Australian tradition of acts like Melbourne's SIN TAX, or even Sydney's RAPID DYE. In a world of big-room/capital-h Hardcore, shit like this is a deeply necessary salve for what currently feels like a pretty infected wound. The chorus to "The Bad Lieutenant" is sure to give you the kinda grin that's usually reserved for schadenfreude.

Released by Iron Lung / Helta Skelta, listen here: https://heltaskeltarecords.bandcamp.com/album/reality-soldier-7

Reality Soldier 7″, by GUNNER

8 track album

Helta Skelta RecordsB

BARREN HELLSCAPE - Anti-Holocaust

2026-09-05T14:50:46.000-04:00

This is a bleak, dark ride. It's really tempting to mention the laundry list (ha!) of obvious 90s crust influences here, but it's probably the slight tinge of metal that does a lot of the heavy lifting. And I do mean slight, make no mistakes there's no black metal to found here and that's a good thing; this harkens back to a simpler time when a record with it's feet planted firmly in the crustcore-corner could make you feel fuckin' rotten. Probably coulda been an LP but with things looking appropriately rough out there, this ripper's confined it's misery to ferrochrome. Highly recommended.

Released by Distorted Sedition / Archaic Records, listen here: https://razoredraw.bandcamp.com/album/anti-holocaust

Anti-Holocaust, by Barren Hellscape

8 track album

Razored RawFittz

ROBBER - Bad Eggs

2026-09-05T14:48:24.000-04:00

Insane follow up their s/t, I knew this was going to easily clear the bar they set before as soon as the keyboards hit. ILDJARN by way of Sydney hc, warts and all city life, misery and crime, gold paint, I worship mammon and I am in love with greed. Five stars, a must have for anyone trudging to work hungover and considering the thing we all think but probably shouldn't.

Released by Profitcorp Records, listen here: https://robbersydney.bandcamp.com/album/bad-eggs

Bad Eggs, by ROBBER

9 track album

ROBBERhidden_reed

FORCED STARVATION - S/T

2026-09-05T14:46:29.000-04:00

Relentless and punishing, this should probably get repressed immediately. Shit makes me feel like I'm marking a paper: I am incredibly impressed by the form and execution. Thought the lyrics were great too. If you fucked with the INTERNAL ROT - Hack Sessions LP this will be far enough up your alley as to cause obstruction.

Released by Regurgitated Semen Records, listen here: https://forcedstarvation.bandcamp.com/album/forced-starvation

Forced Starvation, by Forced Starvation

14 track album

Forced StarvationGore Grinder

KISSLAND- Girls Mignon

2026-09-05T14:44:07.000-04:00

Crucial fast shit, blink and you miss it fury, do not pass on this one cos they do not miss. 625 has a habit of burying sleeper-hit punk seven inches amongst the thrash and grind LPs and this is no exception. Do it. Do it now.

Released by 625 Thrashcore, listen here: https://kissland.bandcamp.com/album/girls-mignon

GIRLS MIGNON, by KISSLAND

11 track album

KISSLANDonnie69

NO SECTOR - Mercury Poisoning

2026-09-05T14:38:48.000-04:00

It sounds they're taking as many cues from freaks like THE CRUCIFUCKS as they are from something like GBH; a healthy change in a world of punx dishing out endless crashercrust or relentlessly dreary anarcho-by-way-of-goth projects. NO SECTOR deliver something more genuinely off kilter, with a cadence I can't quite predict. The kinda freak shit I can absolutely get behind.

Released by Razored Raw / R.I.P Peace, listen here: https://razoredraw.bandcamp.com/album/mercury-poisoning

Mercury Poisoning, by No Sector

6 track album

Razored RawB

MAQUINARIA INCENDIARIA - Maqueta

2026-09-05T14:31:32.000-04:00

In Barcelona, punks ain't hippies, they are anarchists. A few neighborhoods have been providing the local scene of the city with fast bands, and Sant Andreu is one of these sources of raw, fast punk constantly appearing when you are not expecting it. MAQUINARIA INCENDIARIA is a project that was developed by a couple of people but has evolved over the last few months to constitute a proper band with members known for their long trajectory in the scene. Aggressive hardcore music normally needs a lack of experience to feel more real, but in the case of these excellent musicians, their skills form a perfect evolution or modernization of the sound of bands like HHH or ANTI-DOGMATIKSS but with a darker twist, which will destroy the ears in a very pleasant way of anyone who gets in their sonic range.

You can expect super fast drums, some funny cowbells, aggressive riffs and more aggressive vocals. What else would you want? A great source of migraines!

Listen here: https://maquinariaincendiaria.bandcamp.com/album/maqueta

Maqueta, by Maquinaria Incendiaria

7 track album

Maquinaria IncendiariaBandcamp New & Notable Aug 18, 2026

SUICIDAS - Canciones Malditas

2026-09-05T14:29:50.000-04:00

SUICIDAS has been a source of hymns for the Spanish-speaking punk scene since their first release. Dark lyrics with beautiful melodies and outstanding vocals that will be your greatest companion through problems of love, lost friends, and bad decisions. But they will not only help you avoid your psychologist, but also push you to keep resisting against everything in a fucked-up world. Just turn the volume up and enjoy the experience.

My favorite songs are “Senderos” and “Venenos”, tracks that I’ll probably listen to on repeat, like I’ve been doing for years with their previous releases. The dual vocals have always been an amazing part of this band, and now, in this release, I found the perfect lead guitars that I thought fit perfectly with this music. Then I read that they added another guitar player to the band, what a good decision. The bass, as always, is just an amazing expression of 70s punk, and makes you want to dance to each track, while the drums keep a perfect structure and tempo to make every song a hit.

Give some good rock to sad and fierce punks and you will always have a perfect combination. SUICIDAS also prove a general influence of all 70s punk, bands like SCREAMING SNEAKERS and, of course, RAMONES. But they also pay homage to different styled bands like ÚLTIMO RESORTE, who are not only paraphrased but also have Silvia Escario participating in the recording with some guest vocals. A true gem not to forget in a time of fast-music consumption.

Released by La Vida Es Un Mus, listen here: https://lavidaesunmus.bandcamp.com/album/canciones-malditas

Canciones Malditas, by Suicidas

11 track album

LA VIDA ES UN MUS DISCOSBart

INTRUSA - Demo

2026-09-05T14:26:30.000-04:00

Fantastic first demo from INTRUSA, from Madrid, that displays all the components of Iberian melodic punk (yes, I think I just invented this) that started at the end of the 90s and has been perfected over the last couple of decades by some of the people in this band through many projects. One of the keys to the catchiness of this demo is the vocals and choruses, which are perfectly combined with the already well-thought melodic instrumental parts. The lyrics are a mix of political and personal themes like isolation and individualism, the reminder of how important collectives are, and how we have to try to connect again with our local social movements of all kinds when we lose interest. Because it's easier not to get involved on anything and just live in the eternal loop of house-work-house. Listening to INTRUSA has been a good reminder of many things that sometimes, even knowing them, I forget or intentionally avoid.

It's interesting how their style is very attached to a kind of "Madrid" sound, but they find a way to mix it with some more rock-oriented parts, something that is displayed in a more intense way in the track "La Justa Distancia", where the band slows down before ramping up to a faster tempo in an amazing cover of AUSENCIA's "Mi lugar en este mundo."

Overall, a great demo that is 100% going to be on repeat on my MP3 player for at least a few months. Can't wait to hear more from them.

Listen here: https://intrusa.bandcamp.com/album/demo

DEMO, by INTRUSA

6 track album

INTRUSABandcamp New & Notable Jul 30, 2026

Temporary Palaces by Jeff Miller

2026-08-17T16:05:42.000-04:00

Contributed by Lisa Czech

Since 1996, Jeff Miller’s patient eye has documented the DIY spaces he moves through. In his fanzine, Ghost Pine, he continued the punk literary-documentarian tradition established by predecessors such as Aaron Cometbus and Fly (Elen Orr).

Temporary Palaces (House of Anansi Press, 2026), is the Ottawa-born author's first formal stab at long-form fiction. If Ghost Pine catalogued a milieu, Temporary Palaces inhabits it.

The core of this story unfolds in the aftermath of a police raid on a squatted house, occupied by a housing rights group. The love triangle among the three central characters functions as allegory: Ben, Alex, and Rob form the overlapping cells of a Venn diagram, embodying the intersections of music, the visual arts, and politics, respectively. Alex and Ben are both agonizingly passive and hornily entangled with each other as well as with Rob. When the story jumps forward ten years, Rob is physically absent yet continues to psychically haunt Ben and Alex as they try to survive—and thrive—while remaining true to their values.

The protagonists Ben and Alex cannot move forward, tormented by their past choices, seemingly irreversible and distorted by years spent brooding over them. In tandem, the true antagonist of the novel -ever-accelerating gentrification- is an unrelenting shadow. The romantic and housing crises mirror each other: cities change and are difficult to save from bourgeoisification, but refusing to commodify our own relationships and communities is its own form of resistance. Miller examines this aspiration from varying, subtle angles.

For the knowledgeable underground enthusiast with their share of obscure bootleg t-shirts to prove it, the accumulation of references can feel at times more like post-gig namedropping than material that serves the narrative. Yet what at first feels like an oversimplification gradually reveals itself as a device. Memory, refracted through the prism of nostalgia, becomes deformed and compressed. The memory is glossy, at times shallow, like the 2007 GERMS biopic where everyone was handsomer and more eloquent than they probably ever were. If this novel is meant to be accessed by a general public, punk here stands in for any other affinity group. Miller has tapped into a culture he knows well to tell a universal story. As Sylvia, the charismatic gallerist who mentors Alex, reminds us, “before you make anything new, [...] see what’s already there”.

Punk scenes, just like cities, are ever-changing, shaped at once by money, politics, and by the ebb and swell of the people who inhabit them. Temporary Palaces understands that tension, capturing a world that was already vanishing even as its characters were living in it.

Published by House of Anansi, Toronto, 2026, 314 p. III. Black and white and color. English.

CLEANCORE KILLER - S/T

2026-08-17T16:03:51.000-04:00

I saw someone in France post a flyer on counterforce.social for a show KHLORE was playing and replied with my praise for KHLORE, having seen those crasher crusties in Lille last summer. From that I learned that some of the members have a new band with a new release: CLEANCORE KILLER. A nice long 8 song debut record of delicious stenchcore. Perfect guitar tone and crusty vocals that never seem to land on the beat but it still works. Guest vocals from Charley of UK's CATASTROPHE is a huge highlight as well. Someone send me a copy of this record!

Self-released tape? Listen here: https://cleancorekiller.bandcamp.com/album/s-t

s/t, by Cleancore Killer

8 track album

Cleancore KillerKevin Haynes

EULOGY - Demo '25

2026-08-17T16:00:46.000-04:00

Montreal's d-beat supergroup with members of more bands than I can mention. Two-guitar d-beat hardcore, for TOTALIÄR fans but with a but of a crunchier edge. They spend a long time writing their songs and it shows. I've been watching Dave's driving beats and precise fills for 20 years now and I hope I get to watch for 20 more. If you have made this far in life without falling in love with the d-beat this record might do it.

Tape released by Sore Mind, 7 inch released by Broken Skull. Listen here: https://brokenskull.bandcamp.com/album/demo-25

DEMO ’25, by EULOGY

6 track album

Broken Skull RecordsAndrew David Bustetter

GLUM APATHETIC SOCIETY - Endless Tiring Existence Demo

2026-08-11T10:51:20.000-04:00

Another new crusty demo tape from an acronymable band name dropping on the D4MT Labs YouTube channel. GLUM APATHETIC SOCIETY (G.A.S., if I may) features members of former/associated bands like MMI, WORLD DISORDER, XERO, SPIROKETE and CULTURE SHAPING VIOLENCE (C.S.V.). Endless Tiring Existing Demo leans more noise/crasher crust with the extreme squeal guitar feedback, a bit of actual noise content, and booming drums that hit the monkey beat frequently. It's not just a high-speed noise assault, there are d-beats aplenty lots of breakdowns/brief stenchy parts which I like (personally I like to dance). The vocals are dual evil big dog/evil little dog and we get the obligatory samples that are one of the hallmarks of this particular moment in NYC crust.

The first show is September 5th, if you read this in time ask a punk. Time will tell if the next G.A.S. output leans more noisy or more stenchy crust or continue to stride them both. All I ask is keep the guitar feedback the same!

Released by R.I.P. Peace records and Sekret Garden. Listen here: https://glumapatheticsociety.bandcamp.com/album/endless-tiring-existence

Endless Tiring Existence, by Glum Apathetic Society

5 track album

Glum Apathetic SocietyTimo

AFFIRMATIONS - Demo

2026-08-11T09:29:35.000-04:00

I have never been to Perth but understand it as the nexus in which all the best and heaviest Australian music spawns. It is a place lionised for its isolation, and working backwards from the sounds Perth bands tend to generate, it does in fact seem to be a place of dinosaurs and demons, the mesozoic and medieval. The debut demo of AFFIRMATIONS solidifies images of West Australian dino-demon scapes, incanting something from the void, understanding the way out is not through but from within, heeding the call and knowing you’ll be worse off in the end.

This is the most devastating demo I’ve heard since GIFT GIVER’s. It champions a similar blackened/scorched flavour of metal that still finds roots in hardcore. The distinct local brutality of GAOLED is heard throughout, although AFFIRMATIONS is a touch more on the metal side of things. I’m not one to split genre hairs in the face of such a chest-kick-throat-rip debut though. This demo is evidence of a highly productive negativity, a triumph to those who want to feel good about feeling unhappy. Temperamentally, this a crust gem insofar as orientates itself to nowhere and arrives somewhere immense in the end; mosh as dirt shower, sublimation for undiagnosed adhd.

Listen here: https://sexmetalaffirmations.bandcamp.com/album/demo

Demo, by Affirmations

6 track album

AffirmationsBandcamp Album of the Day Feb 6, 2018

DOUBLE DATE - S/T

2026-08-11T09:25:23.000-04:00

Contributed by splendid ass

The counter-point(force?) to my post-punk woes. DOUBLE DATE’s debut is more aux cord jammed into cracked Sydney pavement than stern genuflection at what came before. Sure, I hear you yelling at the screen. Of course there are precursors and the echoes of a million post-punk outfits pinging off the edges of this tape. These are well-trodden paths, no doubt. But DOUBLE DATE sounds like they’re actually having fun walking down them. Oozing with a similar steeze that gave PERFECT ACTRESS its oomph, DOUBLE DATE act the gracious hosts, introducing us to the Sydney idiolect via viz driving gothic freebase.

The bass playing here is an obvious standout, so much so that I will no doubt steal most of these ideas for my own (and far more derivative) musical ventures. Max puts on an absolute mastah class of melody and consistency, the four-stringa sketching out song structures, constructing the skeleton on which down-picked guitars and synths form the musculature. Verónica’s vox breathes life into the effigy, never forcing the issue, sitting atop it all in wonderful reverb’d disaffection.

This will be a release for heads and something I can heartily recommend to this audience. Max’s zine/label Barely Human courageously removed itself from social media this year and has been experimenting with mail-order tapes. I hope in-particular that any Australian readers not yet familiar will familiarize themselves with his work. But regardless of your interest in the more theoretical/fictional accounts of this strangely diffused subculture we find ourselves, on tunes and vibes alone, DOUBLE DATE is worth the sniff; indicative of a DIY ethos, entirely resistant to its bastardisation into aesthetics.

Released by Boom Boom Room Records, listen here: https://boomboomroomrecords.bandcamp.com/album/bbr002-double-date-cs

BBR002: Double Date CS, by Double Date

6 track album

Boom Boom Room RecordsL

STATION MODEL VIOLENCE - S/T

2026-08-11T09:17:31.000-04:00

Contributed by splendid ass

Wiry post-punk propelled by lashings of well-adjusted psychedelia… hmmm, characteristics of a record which usually have me searching for load bearing beams. STATION MODEL VIOLENCE's debut is ‘the underground’ for men over the age of 35 and with full-time jobs. It is the HOODOO GURUS for the Gen Z/Millenial threshold, a record that will offend no one and delight those who comment on YouTube videos. This S/T fiddles with a 12-string, picks one or two good ideas and charts a trajectory into the cloudless horizon. The palette draws obvious comparisons to ya JOY DIVISION’s and BRAIN ENO’s and boy oh boy do I love hearing music in 2026 that evokes JOY DIVISION and BRIAN ENO.

There is a familiarity to the whole thing, driven no doubt by the immense pervasiveness of post-punk. The record attempts a sort-of intellectual pint-based ambivalence, with Dan switching between lines like “learn to hate in the light of day” and “you can hear them saying, ‘hey I got the world behind me, get out my way’”. Platitudes thick, the optimism makes you squint, and the on-stage vibes are questionable yet the saxophone does indeed add lots to the mix. Thank fuck for that saxophone.

My compulsion to critique comes from just how seriously this record takes itself. The furrowed brows, the write-up in the liner notes, the wealth of coverage around it… You would think this to be one of the greatest Australian albums of 2026. Yet I just simply do not get it. "Drip Away" eschews the plodding motorik gear, actually pressing on the gas a little bit and managing to achieve the same upbeat vibe that every Melbourne-based post-punk has championed since COVID. "Heat" has a melody reminiscent of "Vad Hände Med Dem?" but lacks the weariness. The promise of happiness is extremely tiresome especially when there seems to be no pleasure taken in the entire ordeal.

This record feels like the medium by which the dude who wears band shirts to work everyday can rhetorically ask "HAVE YOU HEARD OF TOTAL CONTROL AND RMFC? DID YOU KNOW THEY USED TO BE IN TOTAL CONTROL AND RMFC? YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY LISTEN TO TOTAL CONTROL AND RMFC!". Thank you, bro. I have indeed listened to TOTAL CONTROL and RMFC. Actually, now that you mention it, I actually quite like TOTAL CONTROL and RMFC. I think I might just go listen to those records instead.

Released by Static Shock and Anti Fade. Listen here: https://stationmodelviolence.bandcamp.com/album/station-model-violence

Station Model Violence, by Station Model Violence

10 track album

Station Model Violencecometdust

Columna Marginal - August 2026

2026-07-31T13:38:59.000-04:00

Ninety years ago the Spanish Civil War began. It destroyed hundreds of thousands of lives but also gave birth, for a few months, to one of the most beautiful social revolutions of the twentieth century. It also exposed something that still defines Spain today: a territory with an extraordinary diversity of languages, cultures, landscapes and political traditions forced into a single national project. Modern Spain was largely consolidated after the Civil War, especially under Francisco Franco and, later, after the so-called transition to democracy.

Like every nation-state, it needs a common identity, language, history and symbols. Where these do not exist, they are invented and imposed. Wars and dictatorships were useful for that, but today mass culture often achieves the same result. And in Spain, nothing does it better than football.

Maybe you, my dear punk, didn’t care too much about it, but Spain won the FIFA Men’s World Cup. Spain also won the previous Women’s World Cup, but that victory barely received any attention. For several days this part of the world revolved around football. Streets filled with Spanish flags, televisions repeated the same images over and over, and social media became a celebration of national pride. For many, this pride and the flag reminds the recent dark past of the nation. Among the most visible faces of that celebration were Catalan, Galician, Basque, Black and immigrant players defending the flag of a state that has often tried to erase or silence the identities they also represent.

After that victory, and at a time when right-wing parties like Vox continue to grow, Spanish flags have become more common in our cities, the old Francoist slogan ¡Arriba España! has been heard in the streets and posted on social media, and even Falangist flags with the eagle have reappeared. A couple dozen football players won that World Cup, but a lot of people are more Spanish after it and who really won, in the long term, are the right wing parties that see the Spanish project a bit more consolidated.

PROVIDERS - Demo 2026

Rock-infused punk from New York City. I love this kind of melodic punk. David’s vocals are deep and powerful, and the lyrics are simply outstanding. The drums are excellent, the bass is a perfect example of how to write complex rock bass lines, and the guitar parts are incredibly well written, packed with catchy hooks and memorable solos.

My favorite song is "Corazón", which is about the Palestinian struggle. They sing, “en el corazón, un grito constante llama… ¡a luchar!” A mantra to remember.

I was lucky enough to see them in Barcelona at the Malas Artes Fest. Their live performance left me hypnotized. The trio squeezed every possible note out of their instruments while constantly smiling. It made us so happy to see punks who know how to play rock music, something we miss in this city.

David, Ava, and Mike delivered an outstanding piece of punk rock, and I can’t wait for them to record more music.

https://providerspunk.bandcamp.com/album/2026

2026, by Providers

7 track album

Providersmindshambles

DOMINACIÓN - ¿Cuál es tu idea del caos?

The Barcelona noise-terror attack, also known as DOMINACIÓN, are back with a new dose of their lethal crust. This LP is the culmination of years of hard work and relentless touring by this four-piece, which produces some of the rawest sounds in the city and is probably the only band to have done it with such intensity in recent years.

Everyone here already knows how they sound, but if you still haven’t had the chance to see them, expect a FRAMTID-style punk assault. It’s probably not the perfect comparison, but you’ll get the idea. The anarchist approach to the lyrics is evident from the cover to every track, but a few are worth highlighting.

The song that opens the album, “Infiltración del Estado”, points directly at the undercover police officers who have been infiltrating our spaces in recent years, documenting many of us in case they someday need scapegoats when a social center is evicted or another conflict arises.

In “Las reglas del juego”, there’s a direct critique of the homogeneous way we’re all expected to behave in order to be accepted by society. Of course, this criticism can also be applied to the punk community.

Probably the most elaborate song is the album’s title track, “¿Cuál es tu idea del caos?”. Introduced by the classic García Oliver speech, it features the most developed lyrics on the record, exposing the contradictions of Western democracies when contrasted with anarchist politics and action. I’m not going to explain them further. Instead, I’ll just say it again: fuck the Spanish state, fuck the EU, and fuck every state and every border.

Even though I really like the raw, fast approach of most of the songs, one of my favorite tracks is “Mentiras de la democracia”, where they perfectly capture the classic DISCHARGE style of songs like “Ain’t No Feeble Bastard” while making it entirely their own. Long live DOMINACIÓN!

Get the album, self-released by the band through their label, Chaos Tribes Records, which also releases music by other local bands such as HERETGIA and the Berlin-based (but international) band MUNDO EN GUERRA.

P.S. Canadians, go see them at Varning. :)

https://dominacion.bandcamp.com/album/cu-l-es-tu-idea-del-caos

¿Cuál es tu idea del caos?, by Dominación

10 track album

Dominaciónalexsupertramp_

SÖT - Dos dies, dues nits

There’s a certain feeling of luck in being able to live at a time when bands like SÖT are starting to get the attention they deserve. A band that sings in Catalan, made up of people who aren’t from Barcelona (which is really interesting!), with a clear anarchist approach. We already knew them from their other projects, like PÖLS and NAFRA, so it was obvious the band was going to be good. But maybe I wasn’t expecting them to be that good. The musicianship they display, both in the studio and on stage is incredible, and their skills for writing catchy melodies is unmatched by any other band in the area. That’s probably why they’ve been the band I’ve listened to the most over the last few months.

On this new release, an EP featuring three original tracks plus a brilliant full adaptation of the MASSHYSTERI song “Masshysteri Del Två”, they stick to the style that has brought me so much joy ever since I discovered them through their LP “Crema-ho tot”. The lyrics may be a bit more poetic this time, but the melodies they create with guitars and vocals, the amazing bass lines that catch my attention at every show, and the perfect drumming are all still there.

It’s hard to pick a favorite track, especially when it’s only an EP, but I’d go with “Ocell de foc”. It’s incredibly catchy, and the chorus (“Som un ocell de foc que crema les banderes! Que vola entre els morts i trenca les fronteres! Per canviar-ho tot!”) is both epic and unforgettable. Especially at the end of the song, when an unexpected, very 2000s-sounding guitar solo blends into a beautiful end.

https://sotpunk.bandcamp.com/album/dos-dies-dues-nits

Dos dies, dues nits, by SÖT

4 track album

SÖTvampyrz

How Punks Make an Authentic and Alternative Community

2026-07-13T19:37:43.000-04:00

Contributed by Davy from Hattiesburg

Fascism is on the rise around the world, and as I’m writing this from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, USA, things seem especially blatant and brutal in the U.S. deep South and the former Confederate States. When you’re at your next punk show, you should be noticing how authenticity and alternative expression is encouraged and just how incredibly rare that is. For us in a smaller, conservative city, it’s one of the last remaining places we have for this.

Our interactions with the community start with music and punk shows to be sure. During shows, we are talking about global and local topics from the stage like “Free Palestine” and “Fuck Governor Tate Reeves,” and we’re printing and distributing zines at shows for free so people can take media and information home to study and analyze for themselves. The Counterforce is an amazing series that we bring and share which helps us with some very practical items. Similarly, when I first started coming around to punk shows here, I felt one of the best ways I could help to contribute towards the scene would be to make a zine called Hattiesburg Alternative and share it with the community.

Hattiesburg Alternative

is a submissions-based zine that comes out twice a year and prints poetry, art, and prose by local and national artists and includes local music reviews and interviews from the punk and hardcore scene. At first glance, it may look more like a literary journal, but by applying the ethos of punk and DIY, the zine operates distinctly from the elitism and gatekeeping of academia. I did this by making the zine free for anyone to send submissions or to receive a final copy, open to any genre, subject, or medium, and unashamed to address heavy topics like systemic oppression and economic injustice.

When I began working on the first issue, I asked my friends who drew or painted art, wrote poetry or prose, or played music if they would be ok with me printing something they created or letting me interview them, but as time went by and people started to recognize and anticipate the next issue, I put out printed flyers for a “Call for Artists” and shared them digitally. Now I’m able to fill the zine fully based on submissions from across the local and national community. I completely credit this with making the zine free and accessible and the appeal of being presented with an authentic and conscious community.

To print the zines, I did have to spend some initial money and got myself a Brother DCP-L2540DW, but any laser printer that can print on both sides is fine! It being black and white turned out not to be a bad thing at all and ended up making ink cheaper and gives the zines a very cool and traditional look It also comes with a scanner which makes adding drawings and cut outs to zines a little easier. Sometimes, I have someone willing to help me print zines from their office on the down low, but they can’t always help. We print out around 500 copies of each issue before it’s time to make the next one and that can take a good bit of paper and ink. Speaking of ink, it’s always difficult to source cheaply or ethically or to dispose of it responsibly. So let me know if anyone has suggestions!

If you’d like to read a how to guide on printing zines, check out FLIP ON SHORT EDGE: A Punk's Guide to Printing Zines, under “how-tos” at the-counterforce.org. I follow a similar method.

For distribution, I take the zines to punk shows, of course, and give them out to anyone who’s interested. I also pass out stacks to the people who contributed a submission or interview to the zine so they can give some to their friends. It helps to have 10-12 people involved with each zine! I also give some to my friends who table other types of events like farmers and makers markets or who just have a lot of friends or classmates who are interested in the arts. Then I’ll also put stacks at a few cool places around the city. The trendy coffee shop, record store, and music venue are usual suspects. I’ll mail a few off at a time to fans who don’t make it to Hattiesburg often or are fans from the internet. I also like to send some with local bands when they go off on tour.

When we go out into the community outside of music,

I realize what a skillset we’ve developed for community activism just by putting on punk shows. We know what an event needs to feel satisfying for someone attending. We know what information is required for an event flyer and how to make it catchy and interesting to someone walking by. We know how to set up a PA and speak to a crowd. We know how to affordably and effectively create physical media and share it. We also know now how to communicate with encrypted messaging, host our own websites, and not be so reliant on corporate social and other media (again check out the “how-tos” at the-counterforce.org.) So, while it’s essential to listen and learn from civil rights leaders, when we want to organize a protest, march, or start a community watch group, we’re already practiced and prepared.

Zines at the May 2026 CHONCY show, photos by Davy

We care about politicized issues because,

the conservative direction our government and culture has gone is antithetical to the ethos of punk and hardcore. Our scenes and communities should stand for something. What that is, is up to us. We can stand for compassion, anti-racism, and anti-authoritarianism or we can stand for empty pride, revisionist history, America-first, and scorn. We can have freedom, liberty, justice, and opportunity, or we can have limits over our bodies, identities, and education. We can have migrants flourish in this country or we can have squads of roaming masked federal agents, killing and kidnapping in our streets and endless wars.

These are not just lofty ideals but are ongoing oppressive measures with immediate consequences. We oppose Mississippi bill 1193, which bans diversity, equity, and inclusion, transgender identity, and true U.S. history in all levels of education. We oppose the supreme court case, Louisiana vs. Callais, which removes protections for Black representation in U.S. congress. We oppose the Mississippi “Heartbeat Bill” which bans abortions after 6 weeks of pregnancy. We oppose the ICE-lead ethnic cleansing of the U.S. We oppose the U.S. war in Iran, the U.S. blockade of Cuba, and the U.S.-Israeli genocide in Palestine and Lebanon. We oppose casual use of AI and the resource draining data centers. We oppose the people, systems, and institutions that back these things and the bastard President in this country.

We’re constantly improving how to lessen the damage of these governmental decisions, and we still have a lot to learn. However, there is always something we can do to help right now. So, when you’re at your next punk show, you should be noticing what a gift the scene is, and how it needs to be nurtured and supported because it’s an increasingly rare space that values thinking and behaving alternatively and authentically. It’s a space that tries and is successful at doing better.

Contact me:
somethingsalternative@tutamail.com
https://hattiesburg-alt.neocities.org