No Friends

The perfect culmination of diverging sub-generic tastes, No Friends find the remains of young-ish, abrasive hardcore fiends New Mexican Disaster Squad combining forces with Minor Threat junkie/Municipal Waste vocalist Tony "Guardrail" Foresta. The results on this eponymous debut are stunning. From the melodic undertones of "Loaded Question" and its Dillinger Four-meets-NMDS upbeat attack through to the expedient, brash chug of "Never Ending Fight" and "Broken Windows," No Friends is as progressive and refreshing as it is mired in the traditions of old school, early '80s hardcore. Factor in production values reminiscent of S.O.D.'s three-day recording/mixing times and the intimations of D.R.I.'s Crossover and this 19-minute debacle could very well outshine either of the notorious bands that created it.