SENTENCIA

For whatever reason, the Spanish seem better than just about anyone else on the planet at making painfully amateur hardcore punk sound like the most intensely brilliant music on the planet. KANGRENA and MG-15 in the '80s, with bands like DESTRUCCION and today's visitors SENTENCIA carrying the fine tradition well into the new millennium. Über simplistic and rudimentary ramshackle hardcore built on the D-Beat model but delivered with a grade school charm and an urgency impossible to fake. The vocals are desperate and pained, while the guitar and bass struggle to keep up, even though they are playing the most simplistic three chord punk imaginable. Nine songs in ten minutes, but then you get to listen to them all over again, this is pure brilliance. Vida O Muerte was recorded in 2007 and is well worth your internet time, and your euros if you can track down a copy.

VIDA O MUERTE