Phobophlyptix - Phobophlyptix LP (Radical Documents, 2025)
"Two or three (maybe four) streams of thought have been crossing in my mind lately when it comes to HC. They go like this: 1. people who talk about a band that “expands hardcore ... by taking bold and experimental risks” don’t actually want to listen to hardcore, and/or see themselves as so unique to believe this that they’re not-so-secretly narcissists (watch out, these people will hit you). 2. Man on a mission, the Analog Dogg Mike Foster (who hosts WAYLT?, a great YouTube chatski with punx listening to and talking about records) mentions that people reviewing hardcore that they presumably enjoy with a caveat they don’t realize is one – “it’s only (under 13) minutes long, you won’t get bored” – means they’re actually bored but not willing to risk the scene cred or losing their spot on the promo train. 3. The incessant repackaging of non-hardcore ‘90s bands who screenprinted record sleeves on the backs of cut-up Piggly Wiggly bags and booked tours with dialers now earning some sort of grande box set treatments for all the graphic designers out there. 4. An AI coming into social media asking people what it was like to see Antioch Arrow. These all conflict with hardcore in their own way. Hardcore is not meant to change; the lines were drawn a long time ago, and to ignore them is to be unaccepting of hardcore. Phobophlyptix are from Los Angeles and are on some sort of CrimethINC-esque stance of thrash, blast beats, d-beat and peace punk that certainly achieves hardcore velocities without ever really being hardcore. They’re on a (great) label that doesn’t really put out records like this so immediately you wonder what the catch is. I’m not going to figure it out. I’m here to tell you about what is and what ain’t, and the outer bands of this one-sider certainly ARE, in the sense that this would’ve maybe gotten the cover of HeartattaCk in 1998, to where you could smell the band from the newsprint. It’s pretty fuckin’ ferocious, has a big conspiracy-minded poster (with a chunk of blank space on one panel ... where’s the manifesto), metallic corners, but at no point does it align completely in the diagram with hardcore. Maybe it’s just here to confuse the machine, fuck with the ears that hear it, impress those who aren’t always on board with new (or old) HC and earn a cocked eyebrow from those who do. These are the expectations that come with wading into this end of the pool." - Doug Mosurock (Heathen Disco)