The second year of the pandemic had an effect on both the content and formats of underground music in 2021. While record pressing plants were already getting backed up by the trendiness of vinyl filling up shelves at the Walmarts and Targets near you, the supply-chain clusterfuck that made everything harder to get in 2021 also delayed indie releases to absurd degrees. This in effect drove the revival of that most reviled physical format, at least in my not-so-humble opinion: the cassette tape. Indie and micro labels everywhere decided to skip the long vinyl queue altogether and start pumping out fast, cheap demos on tape or as digital-only releases, which is evidenced on the list below. The content of underground music coming out in 2021 pretty much spilled over with both rage and defeatism in reaction to the shittyness of 2020 and the ongoing social unraveling 2021 brought. The hardcore punk of 2021 is some of the most raging I’ve heard in a while, and its shadow in the form of depressive bummer punk cast an authentic death rock pallor to the sounds of 2021. That’s not all that 2021 brought, but the list below definitely pulls in those two directions more than before.

Altar of Eden – The Grotto Screams 12″ EP (Drunken Sailor)
Along with Human Trophy’s album, the other great bummer punk release of 2021 has to be this 6-song death rock downer from Austin. There’s a very fine line between good gothy punk and whiny cheeseballisms, separated, in my humble opinion, by that touch of miserable bitterness that makes a compelling listen with emotional weight instead of a pathetic waste of time. For example, listen to the earlier works of Christian Death and compare to the later, post-Rozz Williams version of the group where there was clearly more emphasis on theatre than a Theatre of Pain. Theatre can only take you so far. Without a palpable and authentic thread of pain it doesn’t amount to much more than a bunch of pale dorks in dark clothes desperate for attention. Altar of Eden succeeds because there’s some real fire behind the doom-laden, heavily-reverbed bass throb and skeletal guitar. Each track is a highly contagious minor key ear worm propelled by drum machine beats and blessedly buried vocals, providing soothing relief for ongoing pandemic anxiety and despair.

Child’s Pose – Eyes to the Right 7″ EP (Thrilling Living)
What we have here is a brilliant 4-song banger from a UK group with members in other notable bands like Nekra, Sarcasm, and Sauna Youth, so yeah, count me in! As you may expect, it’s every bit the clever and snappy punk you need, built around punchy guitar shards and a Wire-tight start-stop rhythm section that plays with the wild flair of Kleenex/Lilliput. Child Pose is somehow able to simultaneously be rooted in that first-class canon of angular postpunk while simultaneously throttling it with garage punk swagger, winding up tight and unspooling within each song, as every player does their own thing while perfectly complimenting the others. This slab will earn many spins on your turntable or Bandcamp plays, as you can get a lot of mileage out of these 4 tracks as the kinetic energy and songwriting prowess will get both your brain and your feet moving.

Gimmick – Gimmick 7″ EP (Sorry State)
Of all the killer hardcore 7″ Sorry State put out in 2021, this might be the most ripping, as it also got lots of turntable time here in the NFZ bunker. One of the the best lead-in tracks, always a plus for hardcore record, is the opener “Needle Caps”, which slowly plods and builds before winding up and slaying just after the minute mark. It’s one of those moments that continues to jack my adrenaline whenever I hear it and gets me ready for the mosh pit. Big, sticky Black Flag-weighted riffs stretch like molasses and then take off into D-beat territory before pulling back into the sludge again, flourished with subtle metallic touches like the sweet guitar lick on the slower sections of “Grease Trap” that sound a bit like Woody Weatherspoon’s wicked touch from their untouchable Animosity record. That alone pretty much seals the deal here. Portland and Pacific Northwest bands really kicked out the jams in 2021 and Gimmick is a band that deserves a bit more attention from that scene. Looks like there are still a handful of copies on hellfire red vinyl available, so snag one while you can.

Electric Chair – Social Capital 7″ EP (Iron Lung)
On their second 7″ EP for the mighty Iron Lung label, Electric Chair pick up from where they left off and turn up the intensity even more, which really shouldn’t even be possible. After definitively making their mark with 2019’s Performative Justice EP, Electric Chair had already earned their spot as one of the most raging hardcore punk units in current times, if not all time. Playing super tight at breakneck speed and with 110% conviction, Electric Chair’s knack for bouncing basslines, shredding guitar, speedy drum rolls, and frothing at the mouth vocals place them well beyond most of the 1-2-1-2 crowd and into a space purely their own.

Famous Mammals – Famous Mammals demo (Self Released)
A fantastic debut from this Oakland supergroup of sorts featuring members of NFZ faves like The World, Andy Human & The Reptoids, Naked Roommate, Preening, The Rays and others. An easy comparison could be made to the Velvet Underground, but the exotic instrumentation, drones, and elements of musique concrete give the Mammals a vibe that’s distinctly their own. Like many of the Oakland bands mentioned above, there’s an undeniable charm and catchiness that make this a much more fun listen than any technical descriptions may hint at, as they stroll from track to track with a laid back vibe that’s the epitome of cool. Give this a couple plays and see if you aren’t humming “Ode to Nikki” or spacing way the fuck out with the Spacemen 3-esque closer “Horizontal Bombings”. If 2022 has any gifts near the quality of this debut, we can confidently declare it a good year.

Lamp of Murmuur – Submission and Slavery (Self Released)
In a saturated genre like black metal, it’s always wise to check around the periphery and keep an eye out for any band that’s receiving heaps of shit from its “trve” fans who feel betrayed when one of their faves dares to peek outside the stylistic hallmarks of a codified genre. And to be clear, Lamp of Murmuur is hardly Deafheaven or a band with a lite touch of black metal’s stylistic hallmarks, as the epic open track well proves, easily earning comparisons to prime Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk-era Emperor, while also throwing in some atmospheric goth guitar overtones and operatic metal howls. In fact, what most of the trve dorks seem to be most pissy about are those gothic touches, but of course it’s a stylistic match made in heav… or, hell, as darkness and hopelessness are core traits for both genres. The closing track is an excellent cover of Christian Death’s “As Evening Falls”, which really puts the darkwave icing on the cake and sends droves of trve trolls into a trve tizzy. Bonus tracks: Be sure to check out the pair of tracks from the Submission and Slavery sessions left off this release, available as Punishment and Devotion, which sound to me just as solid as the tracks that made it to the album.

Reek Minds – Rabid 7″ EP (11PM)
Adding to the epic eruption of killer 7-inch EPs from Portland in 2021, this raucous take on supercharged hardcore punk helped place it high at the top of the vinyl heap. Reek Minds blast 8 lightning-fast tracks that pay homage to early ’80s ragers like Septic Death, Siege, and fellow Portlanders Poison Idea while adding their own bag of tricks, like the early false stop on lead track “Hog Tied” or the countless time changes and unexpectedly abrupt riff breakdowns that make their songs feel like they’re constantly accelerating and collapsing in on themselves. It’s a totally electrifying and fresh take on the genre, not to be missed.

Sarin Reaper – Demo CS (Dirtbag)
Dirtbag Distro methodically dispersed cassettes throughout 2021 to document the savage redline punk scene that’s been bubbling out of the midwest wasteland of midtown KC. Averaging about a tape month, this label has put itself and KC on the map with young killers like Foil, The Freak, Piss Kinks and the almighty Dye. All are great in their own obnoxious way and together form a sort of sonic freight train coming at you at high velocity and high volume from the high plains. What really stands out on this debut from Sarin Reaper is the sinister metallic edge to their punk maelstrom that shifts between D-beats and blastbeats with neck-snapping ferocity, while also milking some totally evil-sounding sludgy breakdowns with alternately hissing black metal and guttural death metal grunts. It’s the perfect soundtrack for disturbing daylight dwellers who didn’t make it out to the suburbs before dark.

Smirk – E.P. 12″ EP (Total Punk)
2021 may go down as the year of Smirk, as a surge of top notch releases under former Autistic Youth/Public Eye/Crisis Man main man Nick Vicario’s Smirk moniker were unleashed as waves of snappily taut postpunk salve upon the pandemic masses. While the LP on Drunken Sailor/Feel It or the 3 songs from the split cassette release with Zhoot are equally good, the EP format’s short runtime makes this the perfect dose. It’s not too long, not too short, and is just enough to satisfy while leaving the listener hungry for another spin. “Staring At Screens” is perhaps one of the best songs of the pandemic era and the warbly greatness of the “Miniscule Amounts” never gets old. I’ve applied it directly to my ear holes numerous times and am always up for another spin. Nonbelievers and the curious may want to examine this trippy video to determine if Smirk is right for them. It’s highly recommend as a remedy for whatever ails you in these COVID times.

Urin – Afekt 7″ EP (Iron Lung)
Also on the stack of killer 7″ hardcore EPs in 2021 is the second 7″ EP from this Berlin group, which despite having elements that are currently having a moment in hardcore right now — namely D-beat and echoey vocals ala Bib and the like — Urin’s take on these stylistic markers goes well beyond the pale with a chaotic aesthetic that perpetually seems to be going off the rails. Kicking off with abrasive squeals on the first track “Uwaga”, it’s obvious that this is going to be an obnoxious listen in the best possible way, as they rip through four tracks of noisy hardcore, sung in Polish, interestingly enough, and at blazing fast speeds with a deranged fury rarely matched by other groups.

ALSO NOTEWORTHY:

Alien Nose Job – HC45-2 7″ (Iron Lung)
Grinning Death’s Head – Cataclysm Digital Single (Youth Attack)
Education – Parenting Style 7″ EP (Symphony of Destruction)
Fairy Tale – Fairy Tale EP 7″ (Desolate)
Kool Keith / Scorn / Submerged – Distortion 12″ (Ohm Resistance)
Maximum Ernst – Perfect Mixer / Matchless Pair CS (ever/never)
Skeleton – Ordainment of Divinity Demo (20 Buck Spin)
Taqbir – Victory Belongs To Those Who Fight For A Right Cause 7″ EP (La Vida En Un Mus)
Warm Drag – Butch Things 7″ (Six Tonnes De Chair)
Zhoop – Hellish Derivative EP (Open Palm)