Back catalogue: Punk/Hardcore

Review: The early 1980's saw the punk scene begin its ripple effect throughout the world, with Mexico becoming an outlier melting pot of untrained, inexperienced yet utterly passionate fans, pining to offer their own contributions to a movement they felt at home within. Yaps were one such prime example, who would find themselves moving from zero instrumental understanding to support sets for the likes of Ramones, The Exploited and GBH, to name but a few. 'Punk Directo De Las Montanas' compiles the 1988 self-titled 7" and the 'Tu Sentencia' full-length from 1990 onto one LP home, provided by punk restorer extraordinaries Radiation Records.

Review: RECOMMENDED
The thing everyone needs to understand about the UK is the disparity between projected image and real life is almost as overwhelming as the rich-poor divide. On the one hand, there's posturing of pomp, pageantry, grandeur and decorum. Then you actually get here and realise there are really only two types of inhabitants of this island nation, and few of either have manners - those who only give a shit about themselves, and the often eccentric others who do want to help those they pass on the street.

Yard Act, arguably the best thing we've heard to come out of Leeds since the emergence of super-talented techno producer Happa, directly address the first category of British resident in this, their startlingly raw and delightfully off-centre debut album. From middle class trendies to Brexiteering belligerents, think Sleaford Mods providing a backing track to IDLES' observational poetry, with an added dose of Jarvis Cocker-esque theatrics, only less camp, much rawer.

Review: While legendary London proto-punk outfit The Boys carved out a lasting legacy and notable, if admittedly minute, impact on the early scene, one of their most bizarre and sought after contributions is the Christmas themed record released in 1980 under the pseudonym The Yobs (a very complex anagram). Credited under the aliases Noddy Oldfield, Ebenezer Polak, Kid Vicious and H. J. Bedwetter, the LP offers their very own shitheaded renditions of seasonal classics from 'Jingle Bells' and 'White Christmas' to more folk and biblical pieces such as 'Auld Lang Syne' and 'Silent Night'. If you're a Chrimbo punk sick to the back teeth of all the versions you hear repeated ad nauseam each year, then this reissue of The Yobs heading towards the exit on their own ludicrous terms is a vital stocking filler.

Review: The debut/second album from Los Angeles hardcore punk heroes Youth Brigade originally stemmed from the band rushing to complete their first LP before embarking on their infamous Another State Of Mind tour with Social Distortion in 1982. Opting to cease pressing at only 800 units and returning to the studio following the end of tour, the re-recorded re-imagined version of Sound & Fury that fans know, love and worship, only kept four of the original cuts while re-working the remainder of the material into the feral, angst-riddled beast that lifers have been pining over for a repress for a many a decade. Boasting timeless anthems such as 'Sink With California' and 'What Will The Revolution Change', while also serving as namesake for the annual hardcore festival held in California, this is a true circular slice of poignant, essential, iconic hardcore mayhem, available for the tatted bruisers and sparkly-eyed newcomers alike.