punk this week: fentanyl, satanic togas + 8 more

Welcome to Punk This Week, see/saw’s weekly column exploring the latest and greatest punk and rock’n’roll records. This week there’s Fentanyl’s wild new self-titled album, a drop from the trusted hands at Goodbye Boozy, plus sick new ones from Hunny, Cicada, Geishas of Doom, MK Ultras, and more.

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Fentanyl: Fentanyl [Convulse]

Is there a punk song that’s ever been released that I relate to more than “Spiral” by Fentanyl? Across this record, the San Francisco hardcore band’s bright, clean guitars complement but fail to buoy the raw desperation of Kenny Turner’s intense vocals. “When one thing is wrong/Everything is/When nothing is wrong/Everything is/And I spiral.” There’s a steady chug to the rest of the band’s performance, making this all-or-nothing approach sound like a grim routine. This is a full-on “I am the problem” album—hardcore about self-loathing, about the shadow rearing its head and baring its teeth. The band not sounding nearly as dark as Turner’s intense voice offers a crucial steadying, but it’s oddly affirming hardcore through the mire. In its way, Fentanyl reminds us to figure out how to like ourselves. Sometimes that shit is impossible.