Bandcamp has long been a home for DIY punk and hardcore from around the world, touching all of its myriad subgenres and helping to translate the simple effectiveness of cut-and-paste to the digital age. For October’s edition of the best punk releases on Bandcamp, Kerry Cardoza features the frenetic punk of Texas quartet Blue Dolphin, the catchy glam punk of Arizona’s Class, the weirdo hardcore of Kansas City’s Class Act, and much more.
Blue Dolphin
Robert’s Lafitte
Vinyl LP
This lo-fi LP compiles the entirety of defunct Texas four-piece Blue Dolphin’s recorded music, culled from a trio of cassettes alongside four previously unreleased tracks. Featuring members of heavy-hitting acts like Chronophage, C.C.T.V., and Nosferatu, Blue Dolphin sounds like something else entirely: A ragtag mélange of punk sounds made by four people thoroughly enjoying themselves. Vocalist Sarah Sissy, delivering lines mainly in some form of spoken word, exudes more personality than most hardcore shock jocks. The instrumentation floats from droning guitar noises, as on “Natural Child,” to the hypnotic country-esque rhythm of the title track to the frenetic bent chords of “Licking & Kissing.” It’s punk’s loss that Blue Dolphin’s threw in the towel, but this record at least offers a final glimpse into their mystical sound.
Collate
Generative Systems
Vinyl LP
Five releases in, Portland trio Collate are as tightly knit as ever—and starting to burst a little at the seams. The group’s new full-length still hews closely to their signature minimal post-punk, with steady basslines backing abrasive guitar and shouted or staccato vocals. But some tracks veer into brash, more straightforward punk, like the noisy, Huggy Bear-esque “Potential Automation” and the loud, high-tension “Obliterated by Flowers.” The funky closing track is another sonic departure, with cowbell accents and a slow/fast tempo. Album opener “Authority Control,” with its simple structure and repetitive lyrics is perhaps the album’s most gripping track: “No choice left but their choice,” Erika Elizabeth deadpans—a frank, unsparing shot at the ongoing legal assault on reproductive freedom.
Class
If You’ve Got Nothing
Vinyl LP
Tucson four-piece Class make punk for people who love rock ;n’ roll. Their new full-length—the fourth in less than two years—is packed with expertly devised hooks, snotty, ‘70s-UK-style vocals, and upbeat, bouncy tempos. Recorded with pristine clarity—all the better to hear the layers of guitar—If You’ve Got Nothing features a handful of previously released tracks plus a smattering of new ones. The band members trade vocal duties, which lends some songs a harder edge—like “Burning Cash” and “Just Another Number.” Though Class certainly have an affinity for the garage-y proto-punk, big glam sound, as well as the psychedelic guitar tones of the ’70s, their music feels timeless. Check out the rollicking “Grid Stress,” a laid-back jam with undeniably catchy riffs.
Class Act
Status Game
I’m not sure what’s in the water in Kansas City, Missouri, but the place keeps pumping out magnificently weird hardcore. I hope the tap never runs dry. The latest band to join the fold—Class Act—is angry and irreverent, playing gritty, hard punk with vocals that are strangely filtered, giving them a garbled effect. For all their aggressive shouting, the group’s vocalist sometimes delivers lines in a faux folksy manner, á la Ian MacKaye in “Salad Days.” The urgent “Fast Fashion Activism” is one of the strongest cuts, as is “The Joke,” complete with a sick breakdown. Though “Wine Moms,” a brutal takedown of liberals who act like taking down the Republicans will solve America’s democracy crisis, is *chef’s kiss*. The disgust is palpable.
Mary Bell
Cerbero
Compact Disc (CD), Vinyl LP
Drawing inspiration from ‘90s grunge and the riot grrrl movement, Parisian feminist punk quartet Mary Bell conjures melodic goth on their third full-length. The vocalists on opening track “Hairless” trade lines in a way that recalls Sleater-Kinney—a musical touchstone that returns throughout the record, as in the noodly guitar lines on the urgent “Weather, I Surrender.” The swirling, dark “Later” is another standout, with its gang of echoey, Siouxsie Sioux-style vocals howling together over dirgey, distorted guitar.
Institute
Ragdoll Dance
The fourth album by long-running New York-by-way-of-Austin punk band Institute is a slow burn. Recorded without frills, the band’s original lineup reunites here, playing rambling, glam-inflected post-punk. Vocalist Moses Brown delivers lines with the confident panache of Iggy Pop, over bright guitar and crunchy bass. (The ‘70s sound is not unlike Brown’s solo outfit, Peace de Résistance.) “Plateau of Self” picks up the pace, with more of a proto-punk feel, while “All The Time” is more experimental, with a steady high-pitched drone hovering in the background and buzzy reverberations. But it’s the opening track that’s a true marvel—exceedingly melodic, with loud breathing used as a recurring percussive device.
Golpe
Assuefazione Quotidiana
7" Vinyl
The solo project of Komplott and Sempre Peggio’s Tadzio Pederzolli, Milan’s Golpe offers intense, aggressive D-beat. With a healthy amount of feral grunts and volatile retching, Pederzolli eviscerates the control of the state, warmongering leaders, and those who preach but don’t act. On the prescient opening track, “Una Guerra in TV,” which aptly depicts the experience of consuming far-away wars through the distance and detachment of television, Pederzolli howls, “This concept of a war for peace has been conceived by our boundless human stupidity.” “Ogni Giorno Malattia” is the hardest offering here, opening with feedback, grunting, and a pick slide, the drama building towards a heavy breakdown, the pummeling drums never ceasing.
