uk hardcore band spew is ready to tear sh*t down

Tony Bontana‘s been earning his stripes as a producer and MC, but on his latest project, the Birmingham, UK artist turns the volume up to max, and embraces his hardcore punk side. SPEW’s demo has a heavy-as-nails sound that harkens back to the late 1980’s, evoking bands like Flipper, Burn, and Cro-Mags. Bontana’s vocals burst like shrapnel out the speaker, shouting out his calls to arms: “Not seen / Not heard / Fuck the life that you want for me.” On the best tracks, like “Evil Seed” and “Stay Down,” SPEW hits that sweet spot of raging against systemic oppression with riffs that make you want to get out in the streets and do something about it. The punk scene is rich with demos — you could probably start now and still not make it through the list by the heat death of the universe — but few burst out of the gate as fully realized and tight as SPEW. This is a band you’re going to want to keep an eye on for sure.

Bontana describes the project as “a reaction to being made to feel “Different” because I don’t know what normal is. It’s raw expression without regard. I speak as a young black male in the UK & black people everywhere that feel different.” Though the project started as Bontana solo, he’s recently put together a full band, who are already on work on a debut album. In the meantime, the demo is name-your-price on Bandcamp.

Keep up with SPEW via Tony’s Instagram.