Today it will be my pleasure to introduce and talk about a few North Carolina native hardcore bands. We’ll be exploring debilitating sounds from Mutant Strain and Scarecrow.
These two bands have very few or only one EP/ LP released into the wilds of internet land that I could get my hands on. So, without any experience from seeing them live and in action, I’ll be judging their sounds from headphones that only play music out of one side.
Mutant Strain:
Ah, my hometown heroes, Mutant Strain. These guys hail from my neck of the woods, Charlotte, NC, and they offer up some grisly, sharp sounds. Mutant Strain has one EP on which they’ve released their tracks in sets of three.
This self-titled EP was released on November 13th, 2020 under Sorry State Records, a Raleigh based recording company.
My favorite set of tracks is “Pt. 2 The Evil Hand” with “Gross” and “Hogtied” being the two songs that stand out the most to me. They flow into each other seamlessly, while bringing a really cool harsh sound to our ears as we delight in the headbanging and thrash-indicing noises.It really makes me want to punch a wall and hug someone with ferocious steroid bear strength all at once.
Mutant Strain released a full length album just last month called, “Murder of Crows”. I still haven’t listened to the full thing, but of the tracks I’ve heard, “Carolinian Jawbreaker” is my favorite. It’s got the face-smashing, nose-breaking drums and sick, throaty and evil vocals, which combine and form unparalleled pleasantries in my head.
Scarecrow:
This Raleigh, NC based has released two EPs and a demo tape on the recording label, Bunker Punks Discs & Tapes, which is also based in Raleigh. We love local musicians. Scarecrow’s first release was in 2018 with their demo and their most recent release is called “Crisis EP”, released in 2022.
Scarecrow’s band members consist of Daniel Lupton, Jeff Young and Usman Khan. All of these guys are part of other bands too, so their experiences come filtering in to make some crazy good, fast punk.
To describe their sound you’re going to need to imagine a combination of high voltage electricity and bricks slamming down on your body all at once. Take a listen to “Rationalization” from their “Crisis EP” released last year. It opens with static-y guitar and then drums and guitar jolt through your ears with jumpy vocals to make me feel on edge and antsy. It’s primal emotions spewing forth from raw emotion and great lyrics.
Wrapped Up:
Both of these bands will be playing at a Sorry State Records 10th anniversary concert on the weekend of October 20 in Raleigh (of course). Luckily the tickets seem mighty affordable and the multiple other bands will produce some glorious tunes to mosh, headbang, scream and enjoy.
