From the inbox:

KONG! formed in 2008 and despite the monstrous name implications they quietly toiled around the southeast making hardly a sound. It wasn’t until 2010 with a newly solidified line-up that something special began to occur. KONG! redefined and honed their hardcore sound while beginning a more targeted offensive.

Heading into Think Sound Studios with producer Drew Fulk (Advent, To Speak Of Wolves, Decoder, Brave Young) KONG! cranked out six brand new songs that would directly appeal to fans of melodic hardcore bands like The Ghost Inside, For The Fallen Dreams and Parkway Drive. Their efforts now surface in Mind Eraser, a debut release as mighty as their KONG! moniker would suggest.

- The CD version is currently available in the Tribunal e-store, while the digital version goes up on iTunes on May 10th.

I’ve written about The Netherlands’ THE REAL DANGER a number of times over the years and have never failed to mention the group’s uncanny resemblance to pop-punk legends the DESCENDENTS (crossed with a little bit of SUPERCHUNK, a band that cover in grand fashion). The group  released two full-lengths on Shield Recordings and has now made available each of them for streaming and name-your-price download on Bandcamp. I blast these regularly and highly recommend them!

From the inbox:

1981 Straight Edge Clothing have finalized the line-up for it’s inaugural Bringing It Back For The Kids Fest a celebration of hardcore, positive attitude, and fun taking place at Rocketown in Ft Lauderdale, FL. Hardcore heavy weights such as Terror, Evergreen Terrace, Shai Hulud and Stick To Your Guns will make appearances as well momentous sets by notable bands like Casey Jones (who are retiring this year) and XBishopX (who are marking their last show ever at the fest). In addition to the live music, there will be fun competitions for the summer weather including dodge ball, hula hoops and twister. 1981 has been making high quality straight edge apparel for the new millennium and have also expanded into Vegan clothing. Royal Family Clothing (a sister company) will be a sponsor and make high quality, limited edition shirts including exclusive band shirts for bands like Whitechapel and A Day To Remember. Other sponsors include Smart Punk Live who offer exclusive, in-studio interviews and acoustic performances in their Winter Park, FL facility including bands such as Emmure, Hey Monday and Comeback Kid! Firehouse Subs have come on board as a sponsor. Finally Black Rose Tattoo (Deerfield Beach) and Aces High Tattoo (West Palm Beach) will both be tattooing at the fest. Artists will be announced soon and appointments will be available.

To purchase tickets and view the complete band line-ups, go here, and for festival updates follow @x1981x on Twitter.

Pardon the cynicism in the headline if you will, but I have an affinity for active bands that to lend a bit of mystery to their existence. With that in mind, an Alternative Press story concerning the upcoming third POLAR BEAR CLUB full-length, newly titled Clash Battle Guilt Pride, really struck a nerve. Here’s a key paragraph from the story and marquee quote from frontman Jimmy Stadt:

“Stadt is confident that the band’s low profile will pay off in a big way very soon – and that’s not just because he says Polar Bear Club are aiming ‘to get an awesome tour’ to coincide with Pride’s release. ‘If I’m being honest with you, I feel like people aren’t thinking of Polar Bear Club as much these days,” he says. ‘We’re at an end of an album cycle, we did a lot of support tours this past year. We’re coming out big with this album, and we’re really proud of it. In a way, I like that people have Polar Bear Club in the back of their minds, because they can rediscover us. I think it’s going to work really well with the album.’

S

- So very awesome…

SHARKS – The Joys of Living 2008-2010 (Rise): Forgive yourself if your initial impression of SHARKS, without hearing any music by them, is to think that the UK group is some kind of GALLOWS/BRONX ripoff band… it truly couldn’t be further from the truth. And the truth here is pretty bafflingly good – SHARKS playing a stunning mix of CLASH, RANCID, and SOCIAL DISTORTION influenced punk rock. A shorthand description could be “a GASLIGHT ANTHEM from the UK”, with all of its native influences in full display, and dang, some of this material is extremely memorable (especially the song “It Relates”, which reminds me a ton of THE HOLD STEADY). One pockmark to Joys is that like so many ‘collections’ (the 14 songs are culled several of the band’s earlier releases, which go back to 2007), it lacks the coherent flow of a natural full-length, but I’m thinking that’s a criticism that will be made only by people looking for that kind of detail. Bandwagon joined.

WORMROT – Dirge (Earache): Grind! Thrash! Mosh! Twenty five songs in 19 minutes, and the last tune has an extended mosh heavy outro. WORMROT play acerbic music with acrobatic skill at absurd speeds. I tend to pass on a lot of grind as the vocals simply become another dull noisemaking instrument, but Dirge allows only a minimalist rope to verbal efforts and the spotlight generally runs bright on the manic guitars and percussion insanity. A pristine recording helps getting the sparks to fly and while I wouldn’t exactly call WORMROT ‘accessible’, the carnage doesn’t suffer for the sake of delivering a more clearly developed ass kicking.

KICKING SPIT – Psychrockbullshit EP (Tankcrimes): The bio for KICKING SPIT essentially tells me that these New Brunswick, New Jersey fellas grew up around hardcore (members of SEASICK) and then decided to shift their musical ambitions to something broader, with a dramatic DINOSUAR JR. influence. Fortunately for everyone involved, the band did not disown their hardcore roots, which results in this supremely awesome six-song EP that is more or less, the classic DINOSAUR JR. guitar/vocal sound played at traditional hardcore speeds. Nutso guitar distortion, rampaging, filthy drumming, and a nearly constant churning, crushing wall of noise for nearly 16 minutes shape the stark contrast against the alarmingly melodic and smoothly cultivated vocals.  The same rush I get out of CAPITAL, I’m finding with Psychrockbullshit. That’s a hearty endorsement.

Albany, New York’s AFTER THE FALL have added a couple of cover song recordings from a few years ago to their Bandcamp page. Included are “Showoff” and “Sweet Shop Syndicate” by KID DYNAMITE, and “100 Proof” by (huge, mega Pastepunk favorite) 88 FINGERS LOUIE. All three are high quality recordings that were done during the band’s Fort Orange sessions.