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Guest List: Panopticon's definitive crust / hardcore / punk classics

Music / The Set List • April 24, 2024

Panopticon may be more widely known as a "metal" band - I use that term loosely because Panopticon is a lot more than the black metal base genre it derives from - yet founder Austin Lunn finds his inspiration from many different genres, punk and hardcore being one aspect of his sound that doesn't manifest in the most obvious of ways. Here, Austin lets us in to his formative years as a music fan and tells us about the kinds of sounds that influenced Panopticon on deeper levels that just the musical sphere. Catch Panopticon on tour or listen/purchase to the latest album The Rime of Memory here. -- I decided, instead of doing what I usually do for playlists, which is focus on metal or Americana, I’d write about some records that had a profound impact on me in my teens and early twenties. I don’t write about this stuff often, since it’s a different genre and doesn’t show up in obvious ways in my band or a lot of the bands in my genre. When I was a kid, I grew up listening to lots of progressive rock and metal, with a few more mainstream oriented bands in the mix in the mid-‘90s… but it wasn’t until the summer after 8th grade that I discovered a love for punk and hardcore… listening to classic bands like Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, and Minor Threat… like many young teenagers entering that time in their lives (rebelling against their Rush records, haha). Those … Read more

Stephen Hamm

Interviews • April 24, 2024

Stephen Hamm might be best known as Slow's bassist in some circles. Slow’s Against The Glass was voted the 17th best Canadian … Read more

Guest List: 10 Songs That Are Core To DeeCracks

Music / The Set List • April 8, 2024

Twenty years is a long time – much longer than many relationships last. So it’s an accomplishment when a band … Read more

Only Death Is Real #24

Music / Only Death Is Real • April 8, 2024

Acathexis – Immerse (Amor Fati/Extraconscious Records) Acathexis’ self-titled debut from 2018 is one that still bears repeated listens, personally, many years later. … Read more

Latest album reviews — browse all

The Phase Problem

The Power Of Positive Thinking
Brassneck Records (2024)

I spent a good part of the late ‘90s annoyed at the abundance of Ramonescore. I’ll stand by my word: many of the bands of that era were carbon copies that didn’t bring anything new to the format. But time has passed and what was overdone is now a refreshing change of pace. For whatever reason, when I hear a … Read more

Totally Slow

The Darkness Intercepts
Refresh Records (2024)

I find Totally Slow a hard band to categorize. Their brand of melodic, hard punk is familiar and comforting -- rooted in ‘80s hardcore, ‘90s skatepunk, and post-something guitar-driven rock. The press release namedrops Dag Nasty and Hot Snakes, among others, which I think are good starting points. But while it’s familiar, it’s absolutely not a carbon copy. Like their forebearers, the songs … Read more

Steamachine

City of Death
Records Workshop (2023)

City Of Death is the third album from Polish noise makers Steamachine. Having dabbled in a few metal styles over their career, City Of Death has a heavy carnival influence to it which I have to say I really like. It's interesting just how much more sinister things sound when you pump eerie, jingly circus sounds amongst very dark, heavy, … Read more

Faulty Cognitions

Somehow, We Are Here
Cercle Social Records (2024)

The opening track on Somehow, We Are Here is a statement. Yes, Faulty Cognitions is a punk band with members of Low Culture, Shang-A-Lang, Nocturnal Prose,and more. Yes, this shares a lot of commonalities, but it’s also a new band with a new sound. The band humbly says they were going for an early, jangly R.E.M. vibe but self-confess that it has more of a Replacements thing going on … Read more

Additional album reviews

Lussuria

Under Crumbled Stairs
Hospital Productions (2024)

Jim Mroz is no stranger to the darkest dungeons of the human mind. These locked doors of the psyche are a common destination for his project Lussuria, through which Mroz … Read more

Pearl Jam

Dark Matter
Monkey Wrench, Republic (2024)

When Pearl Jam dropped Gigaton in 2020 - a mere two weeks after the world shut down, there was a lot of fear and uncertainty about what track we were on as … Read more

Dog Date

Zinger
Pop Wig Records (2024)

The first song on this album is named “Nirvana.” It’s a fitting nod to an obvious influence, though a Mudhoney reference might honestly be more apt. Going into this record, based solely … Read more

Spiritual Cramp

Spiritual Cramp
Blue Grape Music (2023)

Some bands are visual, yeah? You need to see them live, in person, to truly experience them. You need to see the costumes, the theatrics, the flashing lights and, yes, the sweat … Read more

Planet B

Fiction Prediction
Three One G (2024)

Justin Pearson. The only person who you could hear Mike Patton say “Goddamn, that guy’s in a lot of bands”. And it’s true. The list of groups Pearson has been … Read more

Vial

Burnout
Get Better Records (2024)

They’re calling Vial indie-punk on the press releases I’m seeing. That’s probably as fair a description as any, as the DIY punk band covers a lot of sonic ground. What’s … Read more

The Jesus And Mary Chain

Glasgow Eyes
Fuzz Club Records (2024)

What I enjoy most about the Jesus and Mary Chain is arguably also their biggest flaw. The band’s slacker energy meets wall of feedback with a surprisingly melodic twist has … Read more

Kim Gordon

The Collective
Matador (2024)

Since the demise of Sonic Youth in 2011, Kim Gordon has stayed active through multiple outlets, through all of which she has rejuvenated her experimental outlook. Alongside Bill Nace in Body / Head, … Read more

News headlines — browse all

SPB premiere: "Brain In A Jar" by Dad Hats

Posted in Bands on April 22, 2024

Dad Hats have a new single, available exclusively below. The song "Brain In A Jar" (acoustic) will appear on an upcoming 7" via Mind Over Matter records later this year but you can hear it first here. The Nashville, TN based band recently released their second album, Spill, an adventure … Read more

SPB featured stream: Amblare

Posted in Records on April 4, 2024

Each month at SPB we feature a new record on the site. While we like to talk and write about music, the common is goal is simply sharing music with … Read more

Contempt from Bad Breeding

Posted in Records on April 26, 2024

Bad Breeding continues with the bangers, announcing their upcoming fifth album, Contempt, coming out in June on One Little Independent Records. The new album's packaging will zines discussion journalist Aidan Frere-Smith and … Read more

FLY OVER STATES release new single and EP.

Posted in Music News on April 26, 2024

Montana based post hardcore, screamo, metalcore four piece Fly Over States have recently signed to Fever Ltd ( Heavenward, Muted Color, Chain Gang of 1974). To celebrate this they have just … Read more

156/Silence takes a cue from horror films

Posted in Bands on April 26, 2024

156/Silence has shared their first new music in two years, a new horror-inspired single called "Unreasonable Doubt," released via SharpTone Records. The metal meets hardcore band from Pittsburgh, PA has … Read more

AJJ and two surprising collaborators

Posted in Bands on April 26, 2024

Folk-punk band AJJ, who released Disposable Everything last year (Hopeless Records), shared the single "Best of All Possible Worlds" today, a collaboration with rapper Kool Keith and singer-songwriter Kimya Dawson … Read more

Hellcat Records with a new signing

Posted in Labels on April 26, 2024

Hellcat Records has a new roster addition: The Calamatix, a ska-punk quartet featuring vocalist Raylin Joy, guitarist Adam Porris, bassist William “Matty” Taylor, and drummer Clarence "Pocket" Kidd III. The … Read more

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