Sidetracked / The Seeker – Split EP
Good old powerviolence brought to the here and now.
Sidetracked are a bunch of extreme music aficionados from Tacoma, WA, who decided to give vent to their fascination with powerviolence, and guess what? They’ve been doing it for two decades now!
I’ve got a handful of tapes and CDs from this band, but they just keep churning out new material. Playing some of the fastest, wildest, and most fucked-up hardcore punk, these guys have produced over 300 songs and have over a dozen new EPs and split releases planned for 2020 alone.
Their side of this split consists of six tracks clocking in at just over one minute in total, with songs ranging from eight to 15 seconds. Think Despise You, Magrudergrind, Crossed Out, No Comment, etc. This is powerviolence bowing to the best of the genre.
On the flip side, we have The Seeker from Milan, Italy, who have been the backbone of European powerviolence in recent years. They’re also one of the most vocal bands when it comes to upholding the DIY ethos, supporting antifascist action, and exposing posers and hypocrites within the scene.
With seven tracks running a total of four and a half minutes, they play short bursts of built-up aggression that contain the true essence of the genre. Their lyrics are full of “fuck you”s and “die, you asshole” choruses, and if you’ve seen the 2018 documentary Slave to the Grind, you already know what “Mandatory Fuck You” is all about. This is real DIY powerviolence. Jon Chang and the grindcore elite can suck it!
