Holy shit, this split is a fucking twister! These bunches of the songs are like an electric shock, be sure, these noises are quick to cheer you up. So let’s take out this split from the box… well well, both covers are sweet, nothing much but they looks nice. Ow, wtf? A pink vinyl? Wow that piece of plastic looks so lovely and innocent, haha. Hard to believe that inside of that thing hides something so fast and loud. By the way both band are from UK and you know how mad these guys can be…
Let’s start digging into this noise with the Hack Job side. It's only their second release, but these airheads have already showes to us a great level of progression. First song starts (and ends) with sample from badass film “Killer Clown From Outer Space” (that was funny and unexpected). And then starts highly concentrated violence. All songs are pretty short, they're like a bunch of painful jabs. Boys from Hack Job worked well with the sound (the whole thing sounds great). This short side contains everything that we love so much in Fastcore. Here you will find speed, more speed, short and sharp riffs, yelling screams, good drum set, and especially sexy deep bass sound.
Next is side B, and the duo from Smethwick on it. The whole sound is a little bit worse than what Hack Job has, but this material is good. These songs are even shorter, they consist of pure raw aggression. But in addition to all fast chaotic tempos, riffs and speeds this fastcore has a distinct punk imprint (which is great). Not too perfect record, not perfect sound but I am sure that everything should be so, thats how extreme punk should sound.
Rating: Hack Job: 8.5 Hooked On Christ:7.5
A good friend of mine advised I listen to this demo tape and that’s how this review was born. Obviously Hack Job is a 100% new name for me… So I started to dig for some info about them. This band is located in the UK, they started just few years ago. They released a demo and one split (with Hooked on Christ), and of course they have done a lot of gigs. And I can tell many other things about them but let’s concentrate on this small tape. 11 tracks are hidden behind a simple cover (as you can see it's only a logo and one word). But this modest shell is just a cover for yelling fast madness. In these songs you will find the good spirit of extreme punk.
Hack Job are a trio which can smash you with their music. These bastards find a great formula and balance for fastcore, hardcore, noise and punk. It`s hard to believe that just a simple tape can accommodate so much crazy energy! I must admit great riffs and good drum work. Fast rhythms and cool sound burn and force you to jump and crush everything, hahaha! There is so much great live energy (and personally for me it's very important in music). Also in my opinion the yelling and angry vocals make this record even more wild.
Rating: 8/10 Hack Job bc Hack Job fb
You can buy this tape at Grey Water Collective
