AT LAST, the debut EP from New Jersey’s THOUGHT CONTROL will now be infiltrating our soundscapes via slabs of wax. Back in October of 2020, “Shock to the System” slid its way into our radar as one of the best releases of the year. Having previously been released on cassette brought to you by NEW MORALITY ZINE and GOVERNMENT CHECK MUSIC, we knew that the EP was more than deserving of a vinyl release. THOUGHT CONTROL takes influence from 80s US Hardcore and mixes in a lot of the spirit we heard in the early days of the GRAVE MISTAKE and NO WAY RECORDS catalogs. The EP contains five tracks of no frills hardcore that rips through the speakers with every passing second. This fury is driven by vocals imbedded with a type of anger that is impossible to fake and lyrics that are truly unforgettable. If you’re into 80’s hardcore, the labels listed above, or into punk and hardcore in general… you’ll definitely want to check this out!!!


Our take: I’m not sure if it’s just luck of the draw or a reflection of the world, but it seems like everything I wrote about for this week’s newsletter is kind of abstract and heady. If you’ve sifted through all that looking for some fist-pumping, hard-moshing hardcore punk, then congratulations: you’ve reached the portion that is relevant to your interests. Shock to the System is a vinyl-ification of a previous digital / cassette release from this one-person project from New Jersey (though, like a lot of one-person projects, they’ve evolved into a proper band). If you’ve been following Virginia’s Not for the Weak Records (and you should be!), you’ll be unsurprised to learn that Thought Control’s influences come from the angrier, more straightforward end of 80s USHC. In particular, I hear a lot of early 80s NYHC in the toughness of the riffs, and the vocals remind me of Antidote, sounding unhinged yet catchy and memorable. If you’re looking for something that’s mean as hell to power you thought another day of the endless grind, this fits the bill.