Article By: Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker ‡ Edited By: Leanne Ridgeway
NYHC is as much a part of the Big Apple as is Times Square or the Statue Of Liberty. From its earliest days crawling up out of the Bowery area of the lower East Side of Manhattan, Hardcore has made a resounding impact in music.
That impact is as viscerally physical as a throttling steel toe boot to the skull, for the genre has remained like a scar. One of the latest acts contributing their own sonic savagery to the scene is the caustic as fuck Crushed. They just released their latest offering, the 6-song ‘Deep User‘ EP last Friday, April 14th.
The EP is a debilitating barrage of metallic guitars, bone-crunching rhythms, and pummeling drum play. The vocals are pure, undiluted angst, and volatility given a voice. The EP delivers a relentless assault of driving music that unleashes right out of the gate, never letting up. The harrowing sound is given a very raw edge, by some seemingly ever-present static that permeates the EP. The muddier tones and overall mix allow for a legit Noise Rock tag to be attached to it as well.
Frontman Fred Miketa recently commented on the release, saying:
“When we set out to write Deep User, the goal was pretty simple — write a fucked up hardcore record for someone who appreciates Blood For Blood as much as the Cocteau Twins. Lyrically, the EP is basically a narrative that shitty hardcore dad-types living in NYC may have experienced at one time or another: coming to terms with getting old and dying soon (and it not mattering), struggling with annoying shit like drinking and taking drugs too much, hating Narcs and Narc culture and trying to be better despite knowing we’re all worm food.
“Deep User, for me at least, channels the spirit of hardcore as it was presented to me so many years ago — doing something unique, in my own voice, that acts as an ‘outlet’ for the horseshit we face every day. Maybe it’s emo or cliche, but hopefully there are some freaks out there that can relate and get it.”
Here’s your opportunity to do exactly that via the Bandcamp embed below. Stream at your own risk!
Crushed:
Fred Miketa -Vocals
Jeff Bobula -Guitar
Kevin Emerson -Guitar
Chris Keiley -Bass
Greg Smith-Drums
