A perfect pairing of the globe’s top raw punk bands on this 5 track studio EP by Vaxine from NYC and The Last Survivors from Tokyo. 2 bands who live and breathe punk in the sense of it having always been a global community who are unafraid to mix influences, while always staying rooted in the classic punk feeling they love most. Kindred spirits if there ever were a pair, with both bands having members, who for decades, have been playing music heavily inspired by the UK82 sounds of bands on Riot City and No Future records, but played organically and honestly mixed with the sound of raw 80s global hardcore. This is the true definition of “Raw Punk”, and don’t let anyone with too many distortion pedals tell you otherwise.

Our take: General Speech Records brings together New York’s Vaxine and Tokyo’s the Last Survivors on a well-matched split 7”. Both bands rep a charged hair, combat boots, and bondage pants image, and their songs are energetic and hooky enough that whether you’re coming at that sound via the classic 80s UK bands or the less-cool-to-rep wave of 90s bands, you’re gonna leave satisfied. It’s funny, though, for all the similarities with their image, the two bands sound pretty different. Vaxine’s iteration of the style is razor-sharp and lock-tight a la Ultra Violent, while the Last Survivors are looser and fuzzier, with a UK Subs-ish rock’n roll flair in places. Some people might prefer one or the other, but both bands do the tradition proud. I don’t think you’ll see many people calling this a one-sided split.