Cover makes it look like this is going to be some kind of retro thrash opus, but, nah, Seized Up kick out shitkicking hardcore instead. Some folks here previously served time with Good Riddance and The Distillers, but it’s frontman Clifford Dinsmore’s lesser-known Bl’ast that serves as the main touchstone. Not only is his fractious, tendon-wrenching sneer as jarring as it was back in the 80s, but the other players fully lean into the twisty, tangled hardcore on which he cut his teeth. The music snaps, strains and surges while Dinsmore gnashes like a junkyard dog about to pull free from its leash. It’s a quick listen but exhausting nonetheless – a breathless, adrenalised blast of Black Flaggish punk that hits home precisely as hard as you need it to.
