Judy And The Jerks / Shitty Life – Split LP

Refuse Records have long outpaced the numbers game, clocking in over 200 releases by now. While some of those get sold out on pre-order hype alone, the label’s also home to more than a few under-the-radar gems. This split LP between Hattiesburg, Mississippi’s Judy And The Jerks and Italian chitarrino punks Shitty Life falls into that latter category. It’s an easy one to miss, but absolutely worth the time if you care about energetic, fast, and garagey hardcore punk.

Judy And The Jerks contribute ten tracks here: frantic hardcore punk cuts that are short, sharp, and super addictive. The band’s been going since 2017, with a stack of great cassette releases behind them (mostly released through their own member Hampton Martin’s Earth Girl Records), and on this split they stick to their tried-and-true formula. Everything here is short, sharp, and overflowing with energy. It’s super fun, rooted in classic ‘80s USHC with a bit of ‘77 punk catchiness, and it all comes together with Julie’s vocals (yes, the singer is Julie, not Judy) that feel like a cross between Circle Jerks sarcasm and riot grrrl urgency. Despite the frantic pace, their music is never overly distorted.

They’ve also got one of those classic rock’n’roll band names that’s recently made a bit of a comeback: Chubby And The Gang, Sadie And The Wives, or JJ And The A’s. It’s fitting too, because this side of the split feels like a garage punk 33 RPM record being played at 45. Tracks like “Worth A Shot,” “Good Time,” and “Pecking Order” are all over in about or under a minute, but every single one of them sticks. It’s all over before you have time to complain anyway.

On the other side of this international split, Italy’s Shitty Life—probably taking their name from that Formaldehyde Junkies song—bring four tracks that feel like a more grounded counterpoint to the Jerks’ side. It’s still high-energy, still extremely catchy, but slightly more measured. They’ve been around since 2015 and have their own thing going: punk that lies somewhere between garage punk and hardcore, with a bit of egg punk angularity thrown in. The band calls it chitarrino punk, which might be a reference to a small, lute-like guitar used in Naples back in the 18th century. It’s also just the ordinary diminutive form of the Italian word chitarra, meaning guitar. But really it just means sharp, wiry guitars and snappy, pissed-off vocals.

They come from Parma, which I mostly remember as the city where Hristo Stoichkov had a brief post-World Cup ’94 run before heading back to Barcelona. No idea what Stoichkov would make of this band, but Shitty Life’s four tracks here, especially “Too Much Stimulation” and “Your Life, Their Choice,” are a great continuation of what they were doing on 2023’s excellent Limits To Growth album on 11 PM Records. Word is they just got back from a Southeast Asia tour through Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia too.

This is a killer split that won’t break new ground, but absolutely nails what it sets out to do. Two bands, two distinct styles, one of those records that makes you want to dig a little deeper into both catalogs.