Iron Boots

Grave Mistake revs up this third pressing of Iron Boots' incredibly solid debut, Demo 04. Initially issued in '04 as a cassette by the Virginia Beach hardcore act and later pressed onto wax by two different labels and repeatedly going out of print, it's revived once again, and for good reason.

Though these were seemingly the first songs the band recorded, they're pretty goddamn great and surprisingly fully formed despite usually lasting no longer than a minute and a half. It's mid-`80s-style NYHC with a modern touch. The playing is scrappy but hard, and the vocals are choppy and raspy yet actually have a bit of playfulness to them. During their run, the band couldn't go a second without a Warzone comparison, but judging from this it was pretty warranted.

Warnings like "I've seen the shit come out of your mouth, / you're just another ignorant fool. / Say one thing and do the next / we're coming down on your crew" are at least semi-sardonic, since there's nothing tough or overly moshy about this release; it's got the perfect level of the latter, actually. It's just energetic, well-done, scrappy hardcore songs that many bands haven't been able to compete with on their debut.

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Crashing Down