Dead Friends 46 - Hardcore (Rank-n-File Records)

Dead Friends 46 is a band from Orange County, and they recently put out their new album Hardcore. If the title isn’t self-explanatory, the band is a throwback to classic hardcore punk. Specifically, they are influenced by late-‘80s acts like the Adolescents and Agnostic Front, and although the California sound is strong, they manage to bridge the gap between East and West while throwing a little bit of British punk in there for good measure. The album was originally self-released by the band as Athletes To The Front, this rerelease on Rank-n-File includes two extra songs “Mass Hysteria” and “Blood Clot.”

The band are tighter than tight and can easily maintain breakneck speeds, but their sound is (thankfully) still raw enough that it avoids the pitfalls of some modern, overpolished hardcore. Dead Friends 46 are all outspokenly drug free, and many of the songs deal with their past experiences with alcohol and drug use or the violence in their own backyard. Their cover of Social Distortion’s “Mass Hysteria” rivals the original through sheer drive and energy. There’s nothing revolutionary about Hardcore, but there’s something obviously admirable about the band trying to change their own community for the better through the power of music.