Ripping and raw drum machine punk.

Our take: Factory City Children is a new solo project from Mateo of Warthog (and countless other New York bands over the past decade-plus), credited here as “Tormented Imp.” As you might expect from such a seasoned musician, Factory City Children comes out of the gate with a distinctive and exciting sound. While the tougher-sounding “Hell Man 88” might remind you of Warthog, most of the songs here are poppier, with “Perfect Utopia” borrowing the riff from the Misfits’ “Some Kind of Hate” and “F.U.M.E.S.” having a Ramones-ish propulsion. The riffs are generally straightforward, but occasional bursts of lead guitar and earworm basslines make these songs anything but simple. The most identifiable aspects of FCC’s sound are the drum machine (a robotic and synthetic sound, rather than trying to imitate acoustic drums) and Mateo’s wild vocals, which sound totally demented, yet with intelligible lyrics and enough subtle tunefulness to make them memorable. The lyrics are also excellent, with the aforementioned “Hell Man 88” being a highlight, the title’s pun part of the song’s extended conceit of comparing “white Amerikkka” to a “malevolent mayonnaise.” In case you weren’t already convinced this is several notches above your typical home-recorded, drum machine-powered demo, Toxic State have signed up to put out a vinyl version of this tape later this year. In the meantime, catch this cassette version while you can.