Thug Murder
The 13th Round
TKO
Not quite what you would expect it to sound like, but kind of, Thug Murder is three hardcore Japanese girls who take American punk rock and rip it out, tear it up, shout it out. The lyrics are printed, and sung, in English, but the accents are so thick, and the punk is so rock, it’s hard to understand if you’re just listening. There’s a strong Ramones influence here, in some of the dynamics that play between the back and forth chorus lines and the power chord guitar drive. There’s also some just pure old school hardcore riffs that bring to mind bands like Death Sentence, Rancid, and The Exploited, and you’re just bouncing off the walls with all the energy coming out of the speakers. Their cover of “I Fought the Law” is a pogo jumping, air punching call to arms, and I’m right there in the front lines.
TKO Records, 4104 24th St. #103, San Francisco, CA 94114
