Lewd Acts

Black Eye Blues

[4.5/5]

Stop. Don’t go any further. Hardcore just got its bearings. Sure, for the past few years bands like Modern Life Is War, Pulling Teeth and Paint It Black managed to keep the genre dangerous and full of the kind of serial killer-eyed reckless abandon that kept even the toughest pit dudes at an arm’s length distance from loonies like Henry Rollins back in the day. But, seriously, how often do a band like Lewd Acts come along circa now that aren’t just licking the boots of Converge and the like, opting to stay punk razor sharp and bloody raw? Granted, this is one of those now-predictable God City/Deathwish Inc. co-productions, but forget about that for a minute. From the crossover hardcore-inspired “I Don’t Need You,” which could’ve easily come from the early, Mike Dean-led era of Corrosion Of Conformity, to the punked-up but downtuned piss-take of “Nightcrawlers,” Black Eye Blues blows 99.9 percent of what’s being called “hardcore” right out of the circle pit. Ultimately, Lewd Acts sound like what would happen if Trap Them listened to less Swedish D-beat and more early Black Flag, or, hey, maybe if Some Girls finally grew a set of balls. Either scenario is next to unstoppable. (DEATHWISH INC.) Jason Schreurs



GO DOWNLOAD: “Wide Black Eyes”