punk this week: yambag, brainwash victims, commitment, poison ruïn + 16 more
A massive week for Philadelphia, a surprise eight-song psycho 7” from Yambag, plus a barrel of wild hardcore records and much more.
Hey, it’s Punk This Week, see/saw’s weekly punk and rock'n'roll recommendations column. It’s a genuinely massive week for new punk records. There are new ones from Yambag, Commitment, Poison Ruïn, and Dillinger Four. Brainwash Victims’ tape is instantly one of the year’s best punk records. This is a very good week for the column.
see/saw is an independent reader-supported punk publication, and continued support from readers is the only thing that keeps this thing going. That’s why this weekly column is exclusively available in full to those who subscribe for $4/month, $40/year, or barter (hit me up). Punk This Week, bonus podcasts, and the full see/saw radio archive are what’s behind the paywall. There’s free stuff, too, if you want to subscribe for free.
Yambag: The Psycho [Convulse]
Cleveland wild hogs Yambag are responsible for the kind of hardcore records that make it feel like you’re jumping onto a treadmill that’s already going way too fucking fast. It’s hardcore that’s so fast and smothering, you’re going to faceplant no matter how hard you try to keep up. “They can’t go faster than this,” you’ll think, and then faster they go across an eight-song 7” called The Psycho (which is also what they could’ve titled any of their other records) that whips by before you know it.
The best part of Yambag’s relentlessness is that the individual songs rule. Speed will only get you so far without half decent hooks. It turns out Yambag do literally everything well, and while you’re processing what it is you just heard, all that’s left is a big Yambag-shaped cloud as they sprint on to the next thing. Meep meep, motherfucker.
B
