Volume 013
04/28/2025
Orders are up NOW for the debut LP from Swedish legends BULLS SHITT. rebirthrecords.bigcartel.com/product/bulls-shitt-lp If you’ve heard the ep before this you know what you’re in for but in my opinion this is even better and i’m siked it’s finally out.The legend Tom Pimlott from every good band ever described it better than I can
Here’s a short interview with their singer Gabriel about the new record
For those unfamiliar with the band how would you describe it?
Catchy 80s style hc with fast parts, dance parts and fast dance parts.
Is there anything you did differently on the new record then you did on the 7 inch? What influences do you pull from when writing BS songs?
The recording process was pretty different since we usually track the drums and one guitar live but this time everything was done separately. Tried to make our sound a bit more varied. We pull from lots of US and swedish hardcore, oi and punk but also just rock/guitar music in general. The Replacements, Kiss and Judas Priest were names thrown around pretty frequently during the recording of the LP.
What are some of the topics you wrote about on the LP? What's the song that you're the most siked on?
Some topics include stuff that annoys me, going your own way in life and hardcore being sick. I'm pretty stoked on the last song because it's a 3,5 minutes song about hardcore being sick.
How's the scene currently in Sweden?
It's really fucking good. Good new bands are popping up and getting good reactions, international bands are well-received when they come over for weekend tours or one-offs. Several towns have cool scenes and people travel to each other's shows.
Any plans to come back to the states? Any upcoming tours in general?
We definitely want to come back. Nothing planned yet but will try to get the wheels moving once the new record is out.
What are some bands you've been into lately?
Spitball and Devil's Exchange are two new swedish bands I'm really stoked on. Looking forward to the Wit's End demo. Also new Big Boy, Combust, Down To The Wire, With Hate, Identity Shock, Grand Scheme, the list goes on and on.
Anything else you wanna shout out?
Shout out to Rebirth and Moral Panic. Thanks for having me on here!
REBIRTH is not solely a straight edge band label but I’m straight edge and love straight edge bands so I put some shirts to reflect that up for a week or so
By the time this edition came out this sold out…so that should tell you how great it is. NEWLY ENGAGED Connor is a guy i’ve known and respected for close to 15 years,always dropping sick new bands and honestly being one of very few keeping the hardcore I love afloat in the mid 2010s in a sea of Ozzfest band shirts.Our friendship has survived a monumental 0 paid show I booked for his band Protester when I lived in Pensacola,which is a miracle in itself.When he said he was starting a band while being overseas and the lineup for it I couldn’t wait to hear what these UKHC all stars came up with, and it didn’t disappoint.Glad to finally be able to work together on something after all these years,respect to my fellow CONFESSOR fan
You recently moved to the UK for awhile, you’ve obviously been there before on tour but how would you describe the differences if any between the scene there and DC/the US in general since you got to experience it way longer than just a couple nights?
So I live in Leeds at the moment and as far as American cities go I'd say it's pretty similar to Richmond Virginia. It's a smaller city, but still vibrant with tons of cool shit going on all the time. A lot of artsy people move to Leeds from all over the UK and find a home base here. It's pretty sick! I'm lucky to have been here during the last stretch of the legendary venue TEMPLE OF BOOM which has meant nonstop sick Hardcore shows lately. I'd say Leeds is similar to DC in that the scene is very tight knit, a lot of people do multiple bands, and shows are well attended and have a consistently awesome vibe
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You’ve done a hundred bands but somehow never a band like Wits End that i can remember, whose idea was it to go this direction and how did the band come together?
Yeah man somehow I've never done like a straight up NYHC type band. No idea why tbh... Wits End came together from me and Tom Pimlott (from Violent Reaction, The Flex, and a million other amazing UKHC bands) wanting to do a band together when I moved to the UK. We've been friends for almost 15 years and done multiple tours together so it just made sense. He's had these songs laying around for like 7 years or something but just never had a chance to get the right band together to play em. We quickly asked our guy Toward to do vocals because he sang in the legendary UKHC band CULPRIT a long time ago. Check their demo out if you haven't - it's fucking awesome. He's an amazing frontman and was the perfect person for the job. We rounded out the lineup with Roger and Paul who are absolute powerhouse musicians and excellent partners in crime when it comes to crushing some Costco pizzas.
Best show you saw since you’ve been over there?
Dude The Flex playing Temple Of Boom on New Years Eve was one of the best sets I've ever seen in my life. A lot of other great bands played that night as well. Just pure fucking madness and power. Would also like to shoutout the Grand Scheme / Collateral / TS Warspite / Cannonball show in Sheffield a few weeks ago. That one was great too! Pest Control at Leah’s birthday show at Boom was another highlight. They played an amazing set and did a PERFECT Rival Mob cover. Make sure to go see them on their upcoming US tour with Obituary, Nails, and Terror!
What bands would you say you pulled from for the demo?
All the usual suspects... Breakdown, Altercation, Outburst, Cro-Mags, etc. If it ain't broke don't fix it! Also we're a Straight Edge band so gotta shoutout YOT, Minor Threat, Side By Side, Floorpunch, Straight Ahead, and all our other favorite bands who wear X's on their hands.
You’ve played some shows already how has the response been?
Yeah we've done one gig so far - the aforementioned Grand Scheme / Collateral show in Sheffield. It was a great first show! We had some moshers, Toward went ham, and I played the blast beat part in "Split The Difference" a little too fast. That's what it's all about!
The PROTESTER set last winter was maybe the best i’ve ever seen you play, any plans for more or just a one and done?'
Man that set blew my mind. You know as well as anyone else that shit wasn't like that when we were actually a band hahaha. Definitely one of my favorite sets I've ever played with any band, if not my absolute #1. DC held us down and that made me immensely happy and proud. As far as the future goes we have no plans to play again, but could be coerced depending on the situation... Basically if you provide Ian with enough slices of cake we'll probably be down for whatever.
I know you’re constantly putting out new shit, what’s the rest of 2025 looking like for you(besides hopefully not back to back celtics titles)?
Well I hate to burst your bubble Bob but the C's are 100% hanging banner 19 in the rafters this year. That is unless the refs pull their usual suiting up for OKC to give SGA all his bogus calls. MVP my ass. He's amazing but c'mon... Anyway, I was fortunate to work on a ton of stuff before I moved to England so at some point in 2025 you should be seeing the following releases from my bands:
Brain Tourniquet LP (Iron Lung)
Eternal Champion / Doomsword Split 12"
The Final Agony 7" (Triple B)
Innumerable Forms LP (Profound Lore)
Laughing Corpse 7" (Sorry State)
Wits End Demo (Rebirth)
Anything you wanna add?
Big love to Rebirth / FYA Fest, Joint Custody, Shining Life, Second Street Records (coming soon...), all the labels who graciously release my bands' music, all the kids doing bands and cool shit in DC, Leeds Hardcore, the From Within Podcast, and all my bandmates and friends worldwide. Go Celtics.
A few months back I got a text from Baltimore legend Sean Crim talking about how a band of teenagers covered NO FOR AN ANSWER at the show he was at.I sent NFAA to roadside records when I bought the cd in 9th grade and was on the way to a friends beach house in Delaware but these guys clearly have the spirit which is all I care about.A lot of bands have nothing to say and just wanna do a band to go on tour but OS JON who sings in FB has a lot to say and reasons behind what he’s writing lyrics about.
How did FIGHTBACK form? What was the motivation behind wanting to start it?
Fightback came from this old project I was doing that didn’t really go anywhere. I think what pushed me to actually start it was just the political climate. We have this openly oppressive guy in office, and it felt like that emboldened so many racists to come out of the woodwork. It was disgusting. And at the time, I just wasn’t hearing the kind of hardcore I needed, nothing that made me feel seen or gave a voice to what I was dealing with. So I figured if no one else was doing it, I’d do it. Fightback is suppose to be a big fuck you to that energy, i’d like to think we stand for something, and dont just play fast for the sake of it.
What bands influenced the demo?
Definitely a lot of Rev stuff. Side By Side, Youth of Today, No For An Answer. All that fast, passionate stuff. Jack and Skar have always been really into Stop and Think, and that shows too. There’s always been this running joke between me and Sean Crim that I should do a band with Ray Cappo style roars, just full send with it even if it sounds ridiculous. We all love Warzone too. Also dom is a big fan of vision, and skar is into broken bones.
Baltimore traditionally has leaned more of a harder sound,is there anything locally that you were inspired by?
Yeah, for sure. Narcan and Grand Scheme were big ones. That whole crew really brought solid hardcore to the area/ surrounding, and I feel like they are giving youngsters something to build off. But honestly, the one that made the biggest impact on me was seeing mindset through youtube. the video of them at Charm City Art Space, was kind of a turning point. It made me mad I was born in 2006, because I missed so many of those moments. But at the same time, it made me want to create something like that now. Their energy, the way they carried themselves, that kind of thing’s rare. And i am super proud that it came from here.
How did you get hardcore?
Growing up, there was always a lot of Latin rock around me, especially stuff that had kind of a ska influence. That led me to ska punk like Rancid, then I found classic punk like Black Flag and Tsol. From there it was a straight shot into hardcore. Bad Brains, Minor Threat all the fast, angry stuff. It just made sense. I already loved punk, so hardcore felt like the natural next step.
Your lyrics are mostly positive with a lot of emphasis on unity,can you talk a little about what that means to you and why it’s important?
Unity means community, being there for people when it counts. Most of my lyrics come from a place of frustration or urgency, but the goal is always to push for something positive. I think about when Cinco De Mayo needed help paying bills and the Nj hardcore scene stepped up. That’s unity. or when some drunk asshole tried to choke out my good friend and great young mosher and everybody came to his defense in the pit, That’s real. Unity is when people step up and care for one another, People are going through heavy stuff all the time, and being part of a scene that lifts each other up can seriously change someone’s life.
The Baltimore scene seems to be in a real good spot these days,how do you feel about it currently?
I think Baltimore’s cool right now. There’s a lot of different stuff going on under the hardcore umbrella. A lot of variety. Touring bands come through and always have a good time. But I think we could definitely use more younger bands, more kids starting stuff. Like, let’s get some Disrock kids, some Oi kids, some fastcore, some straight edge stuff, all of it. Right now it’s still mostly older heads holding it down, which is cool, but we need new energy. And with more variety, shows would be even better. I think baltimore would agree as a whole.
3 records you’d show a kid getting into hardcore in 2025?
Warzone - don’t forget the struggle. Laid the blueprint. “Intro Bust” is one of the best intros ever written beating intro grunt… in my evil opinion.
Discharge – Hear Nothing Say Nothing See Nothing, Just raw, pissed off hardcore punk. I’d recommend it just so someone can start a band like that around here.
Waste Management – Tried and True Something a little newer but still nasty. Hardcore doesn’t always mean heavy, this record proves that.
Future plans for the band?
Just playing more cities, growing into our sound, and trying to be a positive impact on our scene and other scenes nearby. Also working on EP material after this summer. The goal’s simple make music that matters to us and hopefully matters to someone else too.
STEAMROLL from the LDB preshow
Walk Alone from the pre show opening with a Uniform Choice cover…cmon now
s/o JAMIE ORQUE for the clips
SCARAB tore it up at RBS fest on the other side of the country, the LP is done and more news about that soon
Things I’ve been liking lately
NO VICTIM demo
Survival Tactic demo
Danzig-goin down to die
Rhythm To The Madness-Weltschmerz
Nemesis Demo
The Difference-Demo
Accusation-demo
the new EXPLOATOR
Enkased new promo
sick new dc band without a demo yet
START TODAY is gonna be on tour this summer hitting pretty much everywhere in the states so keep an eye out for that soon, ELIMINATORS just recorded,the TERMINATOR LP is locked and loaded,gonna be a busy year.One final complaint is anytime a demo or record comes out that just sounds like hardcore it’s immediately reclassified as “democore”. That’s ridiculous and the less people need to put it in a sub genre of a subgenre the more hardcore that sounds like hardcore will be normalized again so go to hell with the democore accusations constantly.