Anti-You

Impeccable releases from two bands may not be enough to start heralding Italy as a new bastion of extreme music, but thanks to both the Secret's last demonic explosion and this assailment of primitive hardcore, eyes and ears are definitely being drawn to the boot-shaped land. Listening to the brash, confrontational gutter-punk, rousing chant-along choruses and snide delivery of these 28 songs, there's nothing to suggest this isn't from the vaults of the Exploited or Conflict's earlier years, a Black Flag side-project or anything from the genre's formative days, for that matter. Weaving across the converging points between crossover, D-beat and primal hardcore with brazen pride, the album manages an average of less than one minute per song, hammering out an onrush of new tunes, two previously-released EPs and two cover songs (Discharge and Descendents) in less time than it takes some carnivores to flush their bowels. From barbaric efforts "Hook, Line and Synker" and "Punks Quit" to the rest of these ravaging tracks, Two-Bit Schemes and Cold War Dreams annihilates.