Words on Sounds - end of 2025

WORDS on SOUNDS: BULIMIA - “Caucasoid Cranium Collapse” cassette EP. Words on some new local recordings from 2025…# 1/17.

It’s gonna take you about as long to read this as it would take you to listen to all of Bulimia’s new EP, No worries. just keep flipping that tape over. Sometimes, four songs in five minutes are all you need.

Calling to order the collapse of caucasoid cranium with a resounding echoing ponk of the drum, Bulimia takes some mince, minces in the gore, and then grinds to oblivion. Pounding drums and tension building nasty distorted guitar over vocals howled from below the muck in your gutter. There’s a precision to all the distorted pounding and howling with enough space in the sound to allow each part to stand out. And there’s plenty of excellent parts to within the five minutes here.

The drums are right out front, growls and burps emanating from lower in the guts, and layers of distortion creating a delightfully nasty guitar sound woven throughout. Bulimia’s slide from grind to mince and back again is fistpump-inducing, head-shaking greatness. I’m loving the constructions of the songs, balancing maximum blast and resounding punk with each song taking just enough time to take form, shift tempo and mood, and bring out maximum power. Not a lot of bands are making this kinda noise around here and Bulimia are doing it so well. The last song brings in some swirling guitar before launching into the attack and just like that, the whole thing is over, so you go and listen again.

A band that lets me know there is support available everytime I search their name whose tape is graced with delightfully direct and drippy cover art, you can pick it up from Bulimia in the flesh, or from the great Mullet Death Records bandcamp/bigcartel. While shows from Bulimia have been sporadic in the past, they have been playing out more lately which is a good thing. If they are opening a show, you want to get there right on time cuz they are extremely prompt and will be done in 6 minutes. You can see them, along with an absolutely packed lineup of much fast and noisy, January 11th, at Audio Nerd along with Pain God, Puppy Mill, Machine Country and so much more.



WORDS on SOUNDS: GHOSTPLAY - “Zelpha” LP (actually, its ‘ghostplay’). Words on some local recordings from 2025...# 2/17.

A timeless / time travelling recording that was recorded by one of Sacramento’s best ambient rock bands in chunks and pieces between 2017-2022, shaped into a coherent whole, then released on cd/digital in 2024, and put out on vinyl in 2025 on the great SacIndieMusic recordings (also check out the sacindiemusic blog).

While it took some to surface, in the end you get a perfect reflection of the thoughtfulness that went into the complex songs that make up this great full-length album. Every song has a quality hook that draws you in whether from bass, guitar, synth, effects, or the wonderful voices throughout.

Gripping/hauting/thrilling bits that stick in your head and leave a mark creating a sense of the familiar even as the band traverses new sonic worlds and spaces. ghostplay builds moods that are driven forward with driving or subtle rhythms and a mix of vocals coming from different directions. There’s a lot of emotion here in the words, vocals, and sounds which feel particularly potent on repeated listens under a seemingly never-ending layer of fog.

At times ethereal and spacy, and other times deeply rooted and grounded, there’s an element of musical play here that is quite enticing. The music feels simultaneously serious in its take on pain and disillusionment, and joyful in the act of creation and survival. Each time I hear it, I feel like there is a new discovery to be found in the layers. Take your time with this one. It is artfully crafted.

A deep listen with so much going on in the songs, allowing for space and layers while keeping up the energy as they balance ambience and rhythm and whisper and sing their way through lyrics capturing loss and questions and moments in place and time.

I don't think ghostplay is playing any shows right now, but you can get this fine vinyl from the sacindiemusic bandcamp which is also home to some of the grooviest local underground sounds around, including the most excellent cassette by Clevers released earlier this year, and their newest release from Shower Breakfast that just came out.


WORDS on SOUNDS” JACKKNIFE JOHNNY - “Trading Aces” LP.. Words on some local recordings from 2025. # 3/17.

Great album by a hardhitting punk rock / Oi! / street rockn roll / bit o’ hardcore / call it whatever you want band. To my ears it’s just badass punk rock played extremely well. Jackknife Johnny has deep roots going back in many directions and are currently making good noise right around here in Sacramento triangulating some uk / nyc / socal sonic vectors for maximum impact.

On “Trading Aces,” Jackknife Johnny rips out 10 anthemic tracks in 25 minutes which will have you singing along, fists in the air from the first (of many) listens. The recording on this one is pretty much perfect for this style of music. Couple of guitars way up front giving it a punch and power. Vocals ripping through with the woah-oh-ohs and gang vocals punctuating chori with emphatic exclamation marks. Tight and driving rhythms keeping the pace moving, and potent, but not overdone, guitar leads adding spicy tang.

It’s a wonderfully consistent album with a creativity and effectiveness to the songwriting that make this a record you will keep coming back to cuz it's just so good. There’s not a weak track on here and while the key quality is just very well-done punk rock, there’s enough variety in the nine original songs to keep things interesting. The one well-placed cover, a high-powered take on Anti-Nowhere League that fits in perfectly, gives you a pretty good idea of what you are gonna be hearing here. If you like your punk at the intersection of power and melody and need to shout along with some great gravelly vocals, this is where it's at. An album that is solid through and through, and highly recommended

While the graphics and label it’s on call to mind East Coast hardcore and skinhead Oi!, there’s also a really great early-80s melodic Southern California hardcore sound running throughout, particularly in some of the guitar lines. It’s clear a lot of work was put into the songwriting and recording. Well worth the effort to track this one down from Oi!tism records or the Jackknife Johnny bandcamp.


WORDS on SOUNDS Sacra-Metal Massacre - Double LP compilation… Words on some local recordings from 2025…. # 4/17.

Sacramento has been showing up on compilation albums this year with the great “Secret Futures” from Strange Club and “Super Massive Hits” from 222 Records coming out half-packed with local bands. However, the folks at Sacra-Metal have taken it to a whole nother level with a double LP full of 21 all local, all metal (in its many forms), all massacre-ing to varying degrees.

What an impressive creation this thing is! Such a great overview of a tasty chunk of the local metal scene. There’s so much here to take in, but standout tracks for me include the tightly wound anxious thrash of Blessed Curse, the barking madness of Greybush, the galloping shred into brutal breakdowns of Acid Thrower, the dark heavy riffing of Black, the hardhitting swinging hardcore groove of Kill the Precedent. Side C absolutely rules kicking off with a trio of rad thrashers Lysol Toast, Parabellum, and Unprovoked who all pull off absolute shred, and then things descend into the mayhem of the delightfully disturbing Siddoth with a twisted as fuck percussive industral metal dirge. Siddoth is one of only three bands on here I was not familiar with beforehand and I want more. Heavy, fucked up, and totally different than the rest of the comp. What a find. The kind of discovery you always hope for when you pick up a comp.

Through all four sides there is a wide mix, all sharing local roots and a love of metal, but bringing in tinges of blues, funk, industrial, goth, deathcore, hard rock, tech, death and more. Just a whole variety of stuff, mixing older and newer bands, and serving as a great sample of what is going on around the area with heavy music.

The cover teases that this is “Volume 1,” so hopefully they will follow in the tracks of the great comp series that inspired it all and there will be much more to come. I’d definitely partake.
Get this and stacks of other great local metal and gear including a series of split 7”s from local bands and a much anticipated Unprovoked LP coming in 2026 from the Sacra-metal.


WORDS on SOUNDS: Quinkana“Shuttered Light” cassette ep… Words on some local recordings from 2025. # 5/17.

A band that’s been kicking around for around a year or so who I know of cuz I type their name in the sacpunkshows calendar and sometimes confuse them with the other “Quin-” local band (more on that soon). I’d never actually seen or heard them, but when I was digging around the great wall o’ tapes at Audio Nerd in Rocklin looking for current local releases I saw this one and grabbed it. Glad I did, cuz it’s a sweet introduction to a band I want to know more about.

I hear Quinkana as a high energy depression noisy bummer indie-rock band that has a punch and power that drives their songs, but is not afraid of sitting with mood, sounding really sweet and cuddly, or smacking you in the face with a wall of sound.

“Shuttered Light” has a half dozen 3-minute songs full of some fuzz and sorrow, and lots of gritty grunge. They pack a lot into each song, but keep them focused and moving forward. The dual guitar play on this is a delight with a lot of atmospheric noodling to set up the songs and then waves of distorted fuzz blasting out. Great leads weave their way in and out, over and under, and all through the songs. It might get noisy, it might rock out, it might sound really sad and distant.

Bass and drums get a chance to have their say and stand out at times, while driving things along which keeps it from getting too wander-y. Real purty vocals buried in the mix just right peek out to give the whole thing a very expressive sound that, to my ears, captures sadness, confusion, exhaustion, loss, and lostness. The recording on this is perfect for the music. I listen to (and greatly love) a lot of really shitty sounding cassettes, but this tape sounds fantastic.

The Quinkana bandcamp has a couple songs from the tape which would be a good place to check them out and will probably make you want to hear more which I think you can on other streamy places. You can go out and try and hunt this fine cassette down in person at the Press Club on January 2nd where Quinkana is playing a great (21+) show with Dezire and Death Party at the Beach to start the New Year.


WORDS on SOUNDS: Quinine “First Ever Whippet On Acid” LP … Words on some local recordings from 2025. # 6/17.

Speaking of fine “Quin-” bands…Quinine seems to be a local s0upergroup of sorts. That is, if we all lived in an another reality where “s0upergroup” meant a really good band made up of folks who’ve done a bunch of other good stuff for many many years and just gotta keep creating new good stuff, so they have to reorganize and form new entities and just do their thing. Truthfully, there’s a lot of that going on around here. It feels like Quinine embraces that musical tradition, which is not particularly local, but feels like it has always been a core aspect of underground music in Sacramento.

Earlier this year, Quinine released this big pretty album of noisy experimental rock and it’s twisted and familiar and great and unique. Mostly drilling into mid-tempo songs that have both chime and crunch, Quinine has the songwriting skills to successfully balance melody with a little weirdness and a dollop of sensitivity making for a thought-provoking 40 minute listen.

It’s intelligent indie rock not afraid to make big noises or follow softer pathways. I get excited by some of the guitar interplay here, and particularly the parts that go off into more hectic realms of slash and attack where you wonder if the whole thing’s gonna collapse and then, just as it’s starting to feel really fucked up, they pull it all back into another verse with droll and detached vocals.There’s a heft to the songwriting that feels like it simultaneously wants to pound on your head and work it’s way in through those really small openings in your skin.

“First Ever Whippet on Acid” is out on Cherub Dream records and you can find it, and lots of other great stuff on their bandcamp, including another Quinine EP that came out earlier this year, as well as a split 7”from last year. While they did a big national tour with Blous3 last Spring, it seems like Quinine only plays out every once in a while around here, but not too often cuz they got other stuff going on, which is probably how it really should be with groups this s0uper.

WORDS on SOUNDS: XEROSTOMIA - cassette.… Words on some local recordings from 2025. # 7/17.

Absolutely wonderful over the top grindviolence powercore speed punk rage mayhem from one of my favorites who burst on the scene in the last year blastin brains, blowin minds, and bleedin ears. One of Sacramento’s best fast bands in, like, forever.

There's many phases to the sonic attack here. The core is over-the-top fast and locked in raging music. It’s furious, focused, and fantastic. Throughout, Xerostomia mixes in tasty touches of metal, noise rock, and a few bleak and brutal hardcore breakdowns creating a mix that serves to accentuate the intensity of the hyperspeed blasts. On top of it all, shared vocals squawk, scream, and roar at effectively distinct frequencies just amplifying the intensity. There’s niftiness going on that stands out from both the guitar and drums that makes me go, “Oh shit!” It's clear that a lot of thought went into these 30 second to 2 minute ditties of disaster.

I’m usually not a huge fan of samples betwixt tracks, but the brief ones dropped here actually help to further the narrative of the release and keep the focus on resistance, revolution, and humour. The tapes got 10 songs in about as many minutes and just never lets up whether playing at ridiculous speeds, building tension ready to burst, or dropping bits from outer space. The entire release feels so well thought out and complete, and is just so well-developed for a first release from a band that only played their first show last Spring.

Xerostomia is one of those bands that is just so good and inspiring that they remind me of why I do this thing I do here. Cuz I want to tell you just how fucking rad Xerostomia is (amongst other things).

A spectacular tape release and they are even better live where they take all the rage and amp it up. Go to the Xerostomia bandcamp to blast these blasts. Track down the band or 916Noise for tapes. See them live at the Mutual Aid for Gaza benefit on January 10th with a stack of great bands from all over Northern California coming together to do rad things in community, punk, solidarity and resistance.

WORDS on SOUNDS: Until It Kills Me “Interrogation” EP & One Feels Pain Often “Garage” EP.… Words on some local recordings from 2025. # 8/17.

A couple of great recordings from local bands that might just be resting, but when you look closely, it appears they are quite dead. Irregardless, they both put out rad shit this last year, both of them have four word band names, and I really like their revolutionary approach to punk, so I put them together here.

UNTIL IT KILLS ME released their EP on bandcamp early in the year, but I think it came out on CD recently. I need to go find a copy. Six songs mining a world of sounds touching on poppiness, noise, hardcore, emotion, rage, and resistance. It taps deeply into my love of beautifully chaotic anarchist music where each song has at least seven parts as they embody a no rules approach to punk that absolutely warms my heart and fires off my Norepinephrine. Vocals and rhythms coming from everywhere, instruments balancing discord and melody. An adventure full of most excellent yodeling for liberation. Crucial.

ONE FEELS PAIN OFTEN sent me a link to their EP on Spotify earlier this year, which I appreciated even if it meant I needed to figure out how to log into that shithole. I’m not sure if the songs are even there anymore, but the tracks showed up on bandcamp in some form, so that’s where I listen. They’ve got a wild and raw power, mixing chaotic hardcore with burly bits, and integrating softer passages to build up the impact. Vocals from across the room, or next door, then getting screamed right in your earholes, drums going everywhere, playing gentle and then falling down the stairs. Slow and pretty bits leading into torches of chaos and rage and desperation. The wonderfully shitty sound reminds me of demos I’ve been listening to for decades where people are screaming their guts out and figuring it out along the way. It’s impactful stuff.

A couple of great bands that left a mark in their brief time here. While they may be gone, their power continues on. Both of these I will be listening to long beyond this year that they were created. I’m thankful for that and looking forward to what the folks involved do next.


WORDS on SOUNDS: Riot Radio “Return or Run” LP… Words on some local recordings from 2025. # 9/17.

Riot Radio has been kick flipping around Sacramento for over a decade and half making quality punk rock through all those years. This year saw the release of their full length album “Return or Run” on a big chunk of pretty looking vinyl. The sound on here is also mighty pretty as well, pretty much perfectly recorded at our legendary local studio, Earthtone, to capture the power of their songs for maximum effect.

Riot Radio is a straightforward punk rock trio with plenty of drive and creativity in the songwriting. There’s a raw melody here that entices me. The songs are catchy and hook-filled, but it’s got a rough and tough punkness that makes me pay attention. There is some most excellent punk rock bass playing that runs throughout the entire album and is captured in the mix perfectly. The gruff shared vocals complement each other really well, and there’s a couple guitar solos on here that should be studied by all aspiring punk guitar players who want to nail those leads without wearing out their welcome.

It feels like a lot of effort went into the songwriting and dynamic song structure, as well as thoughtfulness in the order of the tracks as it feels like a very complete and well-constructed album. Mixing sounds and themes to build and tell a story. Lyrics combine reflections on aging and regret, political rage, and perseverance in life’s struggles. I particularly appreciated the application of skateboarding philosophy to coping with the vicissitudes of life.

Overall, Riot Radio has put out a great album of Sacramento punk with one foot in skate rock, one foot in kick ass punk rock, and another foot out there celebrating gritty resilience (I told you they were a trio, they got three feet).

You can probably get a copy of “Resist or Run” by hitting up Riot Radio916 on facebook or instagram, or digging around at your bestest local record stores. I got my copy at Audio Nerd where they played their most recent show. Definitely worth tracking down.


WORDS on SOUNDS: IRON SPIRE cassette…Words on some local recordings from 2025 # 10/17.

IRON SPIRE showed up pretty much fully formed in 2025 to stun folks at their shows and with their debut cassette. Coming down from the crust-filled foothills of Nevada County, their sound goes way further afield than just crustcore, but there’s way more than enough friability present to make me giddy as fuck.

Rumours had been circulating about how good they were through the summer and fall of 2025, but I didn’t actually get a chance to see them til they opened for Agriculture and World Peace last month (still contending for show of the year/decade/century/millenium/my life). A great honour for any local band, and a risk well worth taking, but shit, the chance you come off looking like you kinda suck in comparision to those touring bands and embarrassing yourselves is a very real possibility.

Yet Iron Spire showed up ready to battle, draped in chainmail with axe in hand (somebody really needs to book these folks at Smash!) and completely blew me away. Based on the fevered headbanging surrounding me, I was not alone in being blown. Away. Kudos to a band taking the time to embrace the aeshetic and then going beyond. Next time they need 3 axes.

I picked up their tape at that show and every time I listen it makes me smile hella big. Four tracks in about 12 minutes. Throttling headbanging clenched fist anthems perfectly conceived and performed. An excellent blend of gnarly raw punk punk and nasty battle-ridden metal. There’s old as fuck black metal riffs, some stenchy as fuck crust, bits of hardcore rage, a throbbing gallop, some big ass bell chiming. They dig into the trenches of a mid-tempo lurch and pound that just completely rules. It’s kinda silly how good this shit is

You can get the tape over at the Iron Spire bandcamp and you probably could also pick it up on February 7th when they play Cafe Colonial at another epic ALL AGES show brought to you by Wretched Earth Productions. Sacred Origin, Cardinal, Varulf, Infernal Steel, and Iron Spire all on the same show?!?! Better plan to dress for success and stretch your neck precociously.


WORDS on SOUNDS: VINNIE GUIDERA and the DEAD BIRDS “Afterimage” LP…Words on some local recordings from 2025 # 11/17.

“Afterimage” is the 3rd album by Vinnie Guidera & the Dead Birds, and their first in a bunch of years. It was worth the wait and I’m so glad they pushed through to bring this life. It’s a powerful and thoughtful record that has grown on me with each listen. Throughout ten songs over a half an hour they explore a lot of pain, detachment, insecurity and perseverance. It’s an album of survival that feels ultimately liberating in its creation, even as it delves into personal darkness and muck.

There’s an Indie rock feel tinged with sadness, yet with enough pop and pep to power through. I’m moved by the powerful mix here of soft and quiet setting the foundation for fuzzed out and noisy guitar. Sometimes it is in the form of super cool and catchy tunes, and other times winding a tense, anxious, and gripping path that is equally cool, but of a much darker tone. Songs build from individual quiet pieces to driving rockers that are sometimes contained, sometimes jamming quite wild and twisted. A crackerjack rhythm section gives it a rockin push throughout.

The balance between sensitive near-folk, to catchy as hell rootsy pop that will make your buttocks wiggle, to absolutely wailing fuzzed out pounding rocknroll takes me on a trip. This is driving music designed to fuck you up in a speed trap, and then get you bummed out you got a ticket, and then make you realize that it could have been even worse, so maybe, just maybe, it will be okay.

It’s a great album and it’s clear the band put a ton of care into it. From the great songs to the graphic design and color choices. The copy I picked up at Phono Select was packed with goodies including a handwritten lyric art page of one of the songs. Nicely done.

Grab it at the vgdb bandcamp or pick it up at their show in January. Vinnie Guidera (usually along with the Dead Birds) have played a whole lot of spaces and places throughout this city for many years. They’ll be out at the Press Club celebrating the ten year anniversary of their first album “Low” on January 23rd with High Bias and Citizen Snips, 21+.


WORDS on SOUNDS: CROWD CONTROL - “Void of Decay” CD…Words on some local recordings from 2025 # 12/17.

Hardcore from the 916 that’s not afraid to gobble at the trough of metal to serve the goal of making massive chunk fucking hardcore that smacks with an unrelenting and commanding power as it fumes with fury.

Enraged shouts and growls with invited guests adding to the hollering. Exceptional use of two guitars for maximum impact to throw in textures and little death metally touches that give it all a unique depth. I am really impressed with the songwriting here. Crowd Control is not afraid to absolutely dig into the trenches to break out the breakiest of breakdowns. This shit is just so heavy at times, yet it’s got a layered complexity to it with so much precision in the riffs, fantastic drums and bass placed perfectly in the mix, and the furious vocals spitting out hatred in all directions at the world, others, and oneself.

Six songs here opening with a divebomb leading into cascading drums to create a very effective intro track that escalates the tension before you get hit with some absolutely burly brutality. Over the fifteen minutes here they take the time to build up the power in the songs with a vision and clarity that impresses. It all comes to an end with a perfect fadeout that connects to the intro making for a really well structured and complete release. Everything feels intentional and designed to explode with maximum power.

I’ve appreciated this band quite a bit live, but listening to this I feel like I am getting them at a different - and much higher - level. This is such an excellent example of sacto style/20916 hardcore power. Heavy as hell, creatively constructed, and implemented with power for maximum impact Recorded at the Pus Cavern with a recording on that makes everything sound massive and yet perfectly balanced. Find Crowd Control on instagram to track this down (maybe try Phono Select as well). Not sure when their next show is. But someone should tell me. And you should go and hear this.


WORDS on SOUNDS: FALSE FLOWERS 12” EP. Words on some local recordings from 2025 # 13/17.

What I love about False Flowers is the way they capture an old sound and mood from once upon a time, and then blast it right into the now. The first track here, “Chatham Rules,” absolutely rules, and from its opening atmospherics takes me back to a time of trenchoats and cloves. Then, the song fully kicks in with driving guitar and rhythms and I realize I am sitting right here right now in the time of crocs and kombucha taking in something thoroughly modern. They may be cruising down dark alleyways glancing back over their shoulders for inspiration, but are still moving fully forward.

Through all five songs on their debut EP, False Flowers journey between centuries (and millenia) absorbing, reformatting, and regurgitating sounds. There’s the overall old skool gothy/postpunky/deathrock take that is most obvious, but they pull in synthpop flourishes, rootsy rock riffs, dance floor breakdowns, brilliant late 70s punk discoveries, danceable darkwave dismalness, and hard-hitting punk rock.

The lyrical and sonic mood is dark and cold, but there’s an underlying effervesence bubbling up like those chilled volcanoes of Enceladus and Europa. Songwriting just so good with icy banger after icy banger and not a weak track to be found.

Ending with a meditation on “Dorothea Puente’s Ghost” which perfectly reflects the deep local connections of the folks involved who have deep Sacramento roots traversing the ages. One of the grooviest things about False Flowers is that the band has members who have been in some of Sacramento’s best bands over the last couple decades, but this sounds completely different than anything they’ve done before. It’s not just delightfully unique, it sounds fantastic.

Grab this record from Strange Club / RevInkmerch bigcartel who’ve put out tons more cool stuff this year, including the great “Secret Futures’ compilation with a stack of local bands in the mix including a different great False Flowers track, plus some Big Boys, Primitive Heads and more. See False Flowers live (they are great live!) with the wonderful Final Gasp, March 11th, Cafe Colonial.


WORDS on SOUNDS: SHORTSTOP - 12”. Words on some local recordings from 2025 # 14/17.

9 songs taking up 21 minutes and 22 seconds of 1 side of a pretty looking 12” record. You can try to play the other side, but it doesn’t work. And I’ve tried more than once. This is also out there somewhere on cassette and in digital forms, and it may have come out in 2024 in some form. However, I got it in 2025. and I love it. and it has two of the best consecutive song titles on anything I listened to this year (“the assasination of shinzo abe lincoln // john wilkes kissing booth”), so I’m gonna write about it. What are you gonna do about it? Cry?

Shortstop is so full of passion and anger, I kinda feel like they could use a real good comforting snuggle, but I’m kinda glad they didn’t get one cuz it probably contributed to them putting out this album. Full of intricate and odd rhythms topped by mostly clean guitar that sometimes tinkles, sometimes twinkles, and sometimes slashes. More often than not, the over the top overdrive is in the absolute vocal fold-shredding voices screaming out from somewhere deep inside.

One minute it feels like Shortstop is totally in control and they are gonna lullaby your ass into a real good nap, and the next moment a switch has flipped and they are doing things to your ass that should only be done with extremely defined consent. Since it is my choice to listen, consent is given. But beware, cuz this shit sounds like pain being ripped out from your insides. And there is a whole lot of blood.

And it is just so fucking good. Jesus probably invented the word “visceral” just to describe this 1-sided 12” record. Just completely gripping and stellar and over the top stuff. I love it.

If you give your consent, a good place to track down Shortstop tunes is their bandcamp. Perhaps even better, Shortstop is playing a pretty phenomenal ALL AGES show on January 7th at Cafe Colonial with Test Dream, Awake But Still in Bed, as well as My Point of You & At First At First from Texas. That lineup is just nifty as heck and bound to hurt. You can probably get Shortstop stuff there, but may want to spend all your merch money on the touring bands first.

WORDS on SOUNDS: Pseudopropheta “Her” & Mortality “Road Rage” CDs Words on some local recordings from 2025 # 15/17.

Pseudopropheta and Mortality are a couple local bands who I was lucky to see as this year ended and pick up releases out on CD. I continue to be so impressed with the bands coming from all corners of this local scene of ours.

Pseudopropheta just released “Her” this month and celebrated it in grand style with a really fun and well-organized release party at Musiclandria last weekend. The CD has six hard hitting songs over 20 minutes that are hanging out right on the edges of punk, power pop, and hard rock. Great bluesy belted vocals reaching deep, nifty and effective guitar leads, and a solid rhythm section making cool and tough-sounding songs that are thematically connected to tell a story. The songwriting on this is great,mixing hooks and power, and the recording helps make this a total solid and absolute blast of a rocker from beginning to end.

The weekend before as I was wandering out of a great show at DNL, I saw Mortality’s “Road Rage” sitting on an abandoned merch table. I left them some cash and grabbed it as they had been my favorite band I had seen that night. This CD rips through 7 songs in 10 minutes and is in a raw demo form on one of those old cdr’s that I need to sharpie their name on in case I get it mixed up with other stuff. There’s no vocals here, but it still hits that perfect spot positioned right between metal and punk with a dedication to raging and headbanging with little time for solos cuz its all about power chords.I absolutely love the classic distorted guitar sound on this and the “we can do whatever we want/play whatever we want” attitude of this band. I also like that I can make up whatever words I want and sing along. Today, I will sing about chickens.

I am excited to see what both of these bands do in 2026. While I’m not sure when Pseudopropheta is playing next. Mortality will be back at DNL Studios on January 16th as part of a great ALL AGES lineup including Asleep with the Trees, Forever & Always, Dick Bertelli, and the debut of WiredShut.



WORDS on SOUNDS: Nostril “Deviated System” & Mimic “GB Demo”s tapes. Words on some local recordings from 2025. # 16/17.

A couple fine demos from bands that showed up in 2025 made up of good folks who’ve been doing good stuff around here for quite awhile and have successfully brought many years of punk influence into their sound incorporating a slew of older influences into the right now and continuing to create vibrant original music as well as forming two-syllable one word named bands. That’s a real long sentence to have no commas. And, Nostril and Mimic are real good bands.

Nostril’s “Deviated System” is 3 songs of over the top hardcore raw ponk drawing from the noisier crashing d-beating noizpunk scandi-chaos side of things. Songs dripping with venom and grit creatively written for full power. It’s all blown out, yet has these sweet little touches that creep into the songs. These folks know what the fuck they are doing. Furious and fierce, all three songs rule. The build up into “Catch Spots” is gonna lead to a two fists in the air circular headbanging extravaganza, and “Classtrophobik” is just such a great song title. Absolutely love the sound of this tape, and it looks really sweet as well with a very great nasal graphic design that looks totally fab. Yeah, it’s less than six minutes long, just listen to it over and over. This would be a perfect 7” record if there was any reason to release those any more.

Mimic’s “The GB demos” is 4 songs of quality angry hardcore punk. Laying into catchy choruses to shout along too and ripping arrangements that sound classic even as they were made this year. Delving into a mid-tempo punk churn that captures you right away with raw melody and pissed off shout alongs about the “9 to 5” and “BackStabbers".” Shifting speeds and creative arrangements make for a fine listen. Another 6-7 minutes of great local punk rock that makes for a great tape, and also would work really well on a little spinny 7” if those hadn’t gone the way of wax cylinders and 8-tracks.

Don’t know when either of these bands are playing next, but these tapes rule and are worth digging around and finding, or listening to on those screaming services.


WORDS on SOUNDS: Don’t Talk to Me & Kawdeen. Words on some local recordings from 2025 # 17/17.

Last of these 2025 ‘Words on Sounds,’ and I’m gonna dig into two releases that demand attention: Don’t Talk to Me and Kawdeen’s “I Only Experience Joy When Actively Operating A Forklift.” You can find both of these on bandcamp, and they will probably slightly improve your life in this new year if you track them down.

Don’t Talk to Me is 5 songs of greatness released this last month by the same entity behind the excellent “Headed for A Blackout” EP that was put out on covid xmas back in 2020 and was so good that it made me post to the sacpunkshows youtube after a long hiatus. Lots of people watched it and exactly 67 people have liked it. But this is about Don’t Talk to Me, and that’s what we are here to talk about (but not to me).

Starting off with swirling noises that vibrate into howling churn that fades into dance beats and distorted rapping that suddenly breaks into some of the best over the top hardcore you’ve never heard. Ridiculous guitar leads over pummeling punk, this is so brain smashing. Then it’s back to the distorted beats turning into belching digital dancecore with lasers, and oh wait, the ridiculously awesome punk guitar and vocals are back with phenomenal raging over burping beats before it hits a dank ambient soundscape that leads into a seething and most fucked up Discharge cover collapsing into 30 seconds of disturbed techno beats. You realize only 11 minutes have passed, but you have traversed multitudes. Happy new year. Don’t Talk to Me. This shit is so fuckin siq.

Kawdeen’s “IOEJWAOAF” is three tracks that push speed and noise beyond the limits. Digital grind with great fuzzed out guitar<?>, hyperspeed drum patterns <?> and buried vocals <?>. It fuckin crushes like a cardboard baler, and is absolutely unrelenting. Lyrics are kinda hard to make out, but the title track, “Pallet Jack Promotion,” and “3 Clamps” pretty much sum of all you need to know, as well as the obvious wisdom and depth behind this There’s few better ways you could spend the next two and half minutes of your life than listening to this while perched on your forklift.

++++++

A few more 'Words on Sounds' from 2025 on great releases that I wrote about earlier in the year: 

WORDS on SOUNDS: "Secret Futures" compilation LP: A lot of my punk rockness was formed through the power and grace of creatively and carefully constructed compilation albums, so I am thrilled by the exceptional “Secret Futures” LP that came out last month on the fabulous local label, Strange Club.  In a time when compilations too often feel like a randomly thrown together stack of tracks, Strange Club Records comes along and absolutely nails the format in 2025 with an excellently chosen collection of 18 songs mixing classic bands with newer folks holding their own including a healthy bunch from Sacramento and nearby.

A high-quality compilation always has to grab you right away and this one kicks off with two absolutely striking songs by The Government and Bloodstains embracing the fire and melody of early 80s California hardcore and updating it to right about now. Later on the first side, Th’ Losin Streaks heap on layers of rockin’ fuzz and Holehog charges ahead with one of their fab raised-fist anthems. Sacto skate punk reaches across the millennia as a recent Divided Youth rager leads into a Tales of Terror ripper from decades ago that brings side one to a crashing conclusion.

Taking the nod from many a great comp, “Secret Futures” crafts different moods on each side of the record with more amped up high-tempo punkers on the first side while exploring a slower, wider range of sounds on side two with post punk and poppier vibes entering the mix. Side two has great songs by TSOL and Big Boys (who both have records out on Strange Club), Primitive Heads (the next release on the label), as well as some local delights like the new Sactown post-punk sensations, False Flowers; the sweetly stirring indie-pop of Fine Steps; and the glorious garage of local music/art genius Matt K. Shrugg.

From start to finish, “Secret Futures” is such a wonderful listen all the while doing Sacramento so proud. You can get it from fine record stores or go direct to https://revinkmerch.bigcartel.com. While there, pick up that Big Boys record (some of the best to ever be) and dig around for the Union Hearts LP as it is one of the greatest punk albums to come out of Sacramento in all of forever.


WORDS on SOUNDS: Nyokensa

Last December, NYOKENSA sent me a link to a “new demo 916 grind/powerviolence.”  It was a joyful 5 song/2 minute messy blast of distorted noisegrind that was crashing in all the righf ways.

A few months later. they sent “The Head,” a totally different beast. 3 songs that would take up more than 5 minutes of my precious time. Nevertheless,I hit play and responded in real time: “Damn your songs got long. When did that happen? I like the fact that the snare & cymbals are the lead instruments. I think you are spending more time on actually writing songs with parts. That last song is really vicious. It just goes wild, but doesn't collapse.” 

A month later, “Spring Promo” arrived with its 13 songs in 8 minutes. I quickly replied, “I stopped listening to 1930s Cajun accordion for ths and I’m really glad I did. It sounds really fuckin big and massive.The bass is so sick. Everything has tightened up. The overlapping vocals are fuckin hilarious but in a really good way - like it really works AND it sounds like angry Sesame Street characters arguing on a subway. Keep going! Can’t wait to hear what’s next!”

And they’ve kept going. There’s a stack of 8 recordings on the Nyokensa bandcamp that would still only take a total of 33 minutes to listen to. They recently put out a split tape on the great No Time Records. 

I’d suggest starting with the “Spring Promo” which absolutely rages and “The Head “ for powerviolence sludge. I am loving everything they’ve done cuz they are playing with noise & beats & power & distortion & recording techniques in ever evolving ways. Truly curious where it all leads  So much good stuff in a matter of months ranging from noisy chaoticness to tasty chaos and noise

Pretty sure they toured before playing a local show through the web of the connections in the diy noisegrind underground. When I finally got to see them this summer, they totally pulled it off live. You’ve got a chance to see them this Friday at Uptown Takeout at an absolutely loaded show of the fast and noisy along with Homegrown, Best Friends, Domestic Immunity, Secretion, and the debut of ObamaXBlast. All ages. Get there early cuz this it’ll move fast. 

WORDS on SOUNDS: D.U.N.C.E.

D.U.N.C. E. came outta nowhere to churn out Demo # 1 on April Fool’s Day of this year and it is one of the more wonderful local releases I’ve heard in a good long time that also fits quite nicely in the grand tradition of spectacularly strange Sacramento sounds.

Full of 2-minute blasts of fuzz filled guitars stabbing your temples as swirly synths tease your nostril hairs and tinny martial beats pound on the garbage can you find yourself inside of while someone starts shouting at you from inside your vaseline filled ears. Lovely nastiness sliding into gloomy sass sounding all mournful,twisted, and sweet. Slipping in a quick cover that brings something new to by turning it into an industrial dance rant with a splendid leads and barking dawg before heading back into the inspired punk throb and down into more somber yearning. 

If you are willing, DUNCE is gonna fuck you up in all the wrong, and best, ways. Beats & noise & weirdness & mood & voices & sounds coming from all directions with really great songwriting buried inside of all sticky muck gooshing through your earholes. This is such a special little Sacramento release that only a handful of people are gonna dig, but for those of us who do, we will feel super lucky we got to wade into the muck.

You can find this Demo # 1 thingie in a variety of forms and it’s worth seeking out whether you download if from bandcamp, pick up a tape, or track down one of the very beautiful lathe-cut square picture discs put out by the always fantastic and endlessly hardworking No Time and Human Future Record labels. Since this is #1, I’m already poking through goopy alley dumpsters sniffing around for Demo # 2.  

Rumour is that D.U.N.C.E. is connected to one of Sacramento’s greatest bands of all time, Cockring, although they really sound nothing at all like them. Nevertheless, it seems like a good time to let you know that Cockring are playing an absolutely stacked show loaded with local lovelies False Flowers, Mascara, Whoreified, as well as Portland pleasant goths, Altar Girl at Cafe Colonial on Friday, August 29th. Super recommended. 

Which leads to the query: When do we get to see DUNCE play live? 

WORDS ON SOUNDS: “Super Massive Hits” compilation LP

"Super Massive Hits" is a new compilation album from the local record label 222 Records featuring a stack of bands from around Northern and other parts of California. It is a spirited celebration of DIY values and a wonderful slice of an assortment of California underground music dripping with attitude

The album kicks off with a couple of great multi-layered melodic tracks by Checked Out and Halibut Head, and then moves on with a mix of other folks from around here like Black Tie Occasion, Toxic Waves, Addalemon, Atom & the Breaknecks, as well as another half dozen from other parts of our lovely state.

Many of the tracks lean towards pop punk/indie/emo tones and there’s some pretty strong songwriting happening amongst the dozen very varied various artists. I’ve been listening to this thing pretty consistently since I got it, and I find myself singing along to some of those swell finger-snapping addictive pop-punk songs which never fails to amuse my dog, Crust, and my cat, Grind.

Some of the shiniest/nastiest gems for me on the album were from bands I had never heard or seen before who managed to capture a more manic and twisted energy like Crash Monroe from Humboldt tunneling down into the dirt below the pop and surfacing with hard hitting atomosheric foggy gothic punk. D-VA from Chico kick out an exceptional raw garage punk rock anthem dedicated to all things cat piss followed up by a raging track by Golf Sucks (it really does) that winds its way into a psychpunk breakdown before letting loose and fully capturing the fear and anger that lies within those unfortunately afflicted with the anxiety that surfaces when one lacks an appreciation of the beauty and glory of cockroaches.

Featuring a sharp and snappy graphic design that brings to mind some classic California compilations, as well as very sweet liner notes connecting this fine collection of community minded punk to a grandpa’s vintage road racing, this is a delightfully put together album well worth your support.

You can, and should, grab it directly from the 222 Records (link in comments) 

 or track it down amongst the finer local record stores and punk rock shows.

https://www.the222records.com/store/p/supermassivehits