9 songs of raw and raging hardcore from Texas.

Our take: Stucco, for me, is one of the great unsung underground punk labels of our time. They’ve released music by bands like Electric Chair and Straw Man Army (who are relatively huge in the underground) alongside under-the-radar hits by bands like Fugitive Bubble and Pilgrim Screw, much of it packaged with distinctive pale pink j-cards that scream “collect ‘em all” to a neurotic freak like myself. Yet, despite through-the-roof quality, I rarely see the label’s name mentioned, and their new release drops seem to fly under the radar. Those who know know, though. Stucco’s latest release is the second tape from Texas’s Insane Urge. Insane Urge’s blistering tempos and dense-with-hooks songwriting style remind me of Koro, but they’re also kind of snotty, with early Gang Green or Career Suicide in the mix too. The delivery is loose and chaotic a la their fellow Texans Nosferatu, but the tone is lighthearted… as with their label-mates Fugitive Bubble, I wouldn’t be shocked if someone referred to Insane Urge as “egg punk.” To me, though, this is pure hardcore punk… underground, alive, and vital. Get this, then investigate the rest of Stucco’s catalog for more similarly exciting underground punk.