punk this week: haram, dancer, radioactivity, home front + 15 more
Explore a pile of exceptional punk records from all over the world.
Welcome to Punk This Week, see/saw’s weekly punk records recommendations column. This week marks the long-awaited return of the New York City hardcore greats Haram. There’s also a new album from Dancer, some stellar lead singles from Radioactivity and Home Front, plus records from all over the world (France, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Poland, Serbia, Switzerland, and Sweden).
From Memphis to Stockholm to Dublin, there are bands making incredible music all over the world. To get this column in your inbox this week and every week, subscribe to see/saw for $4/month, $40/year, or barter. There’s a two-week free trial if you want to try it. Paid subscribers also get the weekly column, bonus podcasts, and the radio archive. Thanks for reading, now go t some punks.
Haram: Why Does Paradise Begin in Hell? [Toxic State]
It’s been six horrific years since Haram’s Where Were You On 9/11?. On September 11, 2025, they returned with a full-length that feels like it’s been festering inside them over the past few years. Let’s say you don’t have the lyric sheet with translations, which means you have plenty of context clues for what this grim album is communicating. What’s clear up front is a perfect mix for heavy music, with crystal clear percussion but also a heap of grit over Nader’s vocals and scuzzy guitars. In many ways it meets hardcore’s top shelf studio production moment—shout out Scott Tamucci and Arthur Rizk on the mix.
Get a copy of this album from Toxic State. Unfold the big ass newsprint insert. Go through the liner notes and Google the name Hind Rami Iyad Rajab, who this album was dedicated to. Listen to “Oh My Mother” and feel the full weight that genocide places on the children who manage to survive the bombs. There’s no doubt that this album is politically crucial. It’s also a masterwork of hardcore songcraft—fiery and heavy, but Nader’s voice sounds almost matter-of-fact all the way through. It’s an album with fight, but one that’s mired in sorrow and loss. Paradise begins in hell. Free Palestine.
