The Dissidents / D.O.V.E. – A Better World (Split LP)

Artist: The Dissidents / D.O.V.E.

Title: A Better World

Release: LP / Digital

Year: 2025

Label: Grow Your Own Records

It feels hard to write about an anarcho-punk record while waking up to the news of yet another bloody war in the Middle East. When Huxley, Zamyatin, and Orwell were writing their dystopias, they were the dissidents exposing hypocrisy of something still unfolding before it fully hardened into normality. Today, writing in that same dystopian register can be much counterproductive. It can feel like shouting “flood!” while already standing waist-deep in the water. The disaster isn’t looming somewhere ahead. It’s already here. So the real question isn’t whether collapse is coming, but which direction we’re rowing in the middle of it.

That’s the odd position underground music often finds itself in now. So much of it leans into bleak imagery, apocalyptic artwork, and total negativity that the collapse of humanity is treated as an aesthetic rather than a warning. Dystopia isn’t prophecy anymore, it’s what you scroll through on your smartphone every single day. And in many of the noisier corners of today’s music, that darkness turns inward, eating itself up like an ouroboros. The violence, the despair, the nihilism become the whole point of entire subgenres. There aren’t many records titled “A Better World,” and hardcore punk often feels as if it lacks any clear sense of where to go from there.

What I’ve always loved about anarcho-punk, though, is that its simple, stripped-down structure opens space for something else. Compared to the more brutal-sounding subgenres, anarcho-punk tends to carry intention. It’s intelligent punk driven by ideals, by a longing for something better than what already exists. Not blind optimism, but a refusal to give up on the possibility of change. Even when it describes brutality and injustice, it does so with an undercurrent of direction, of choosing which way to row.

The split LP between The Dissidents and D.O.V.E. brings together two strands of politically charged anarcho/peace punk, united by similar concerns about humanity but approaching resistance and sound from different angles. The Dissidents come from Philadelphia and carry a punchy ’90s-influenced sound in the vein of Harum Scarum and Bread and Water. They’ve been one of the leading anarcho-punk acts in the States in recent years, and this split features the final recordings of Bill Chamberlain, who played in many great bands (The Pist, Behind Enemy Lines, Mankind?, Caustic Christ, Deceived, and many more). Bill sadly passed away last summer, leaving The Dissidents’ lead singer Rachel a widow. The band also features Janine and Nicol from Witch Hunt, one of my all-time favorite US punk bands, on bass and guitar, and you can hear hints of Witch Hunt’s greatness in The Dissidents as well. They’re also joined on drums by Shawn, who I believe was the bass player in Mischief Brew, which adds another link to Philadelphia’s broader DIY punk lineage and gives the rhythm section an extra sense of weight and urgency.

Before this split release, The Dissidents’ own output had somewhat taken a back seat, as the band has been heavily involved in organizing benefits and compilation records in humanitarian aid and support of Palestine. Their activism and work in building networks where music becomes a tool for mutual aid and solidarity have been just as important as writing and performing their own songs.

On the other side, we have D.O.V.E. from California, whose sound is very much a throwback to the ’80s, carrying that classic peace-punk attitude with a slight post-punk vibe. The band released an excellent self-titled album in 2023, and this split feels like a strong continuation of their work. The name itself nods toward US classics like NYC’s anarcho-punks A.P.P.L.E., and there’s clearly a strong leaning toward UK bands such as Omega Tribe, Lost Cherrees, and Poison Girls.

Lyrically, The Dissidents’ side leans more toward confrontation and street-level outrage. “No Air” and “ACAC” rage against racist police violence, ICE raids and systemic impunity, while “Damned Nation” indicts MAGA lunacy, border regimes, and the myth of US exceptionalism. “Swamp Song” shifts toward ecological defense, standing with land struggles against developers and empire. “History Repeats” and “Endless War” draw lines between past and present bloodshed, from stolen land at home to Palestine, insisting that the cycle of violence must end. Even when they turn inward on “Twisted Cell,” addressing illness and bodily autonomy, or outward on “Sinister Transmissions,” mocking conspiracy culture, the focus remains on exposing systems of power and refusing silence.

D.O.V.E.’s half broadens the scope into ethical and spiritual resistance. “Beyond Speciesism,” as the name suggests, challenges human supremacy and calls for animal liberation. I’m hugely excited about this track. I’ve been vegan for more than 20 years now, but I’ve found it ever more difficult to talk about speciesism and animal liberation when there are wars, genocides, economic inequality, and attacks on basic rights unfolding on all fronts. “Possession” critiques the obsession with ownership and control, and “Ⓐ Garden” imagines healing a civilization “built on a graveyard” through intentional living and collective care. “Wind of Revolution,” “Peace by Piece,” and the self-titled “D.O.V.E.” emphasize conscious choice, compassion, and social transformation from the ground up. In true peace-punk tradition, revolution is framed not just as a destructive force, but as a daily practice of choosing love and compassion over apathy.

Together, the split moves from rage in the streets to reflection in the heart, framing liberation as both confrontation with oppressive systems and the cultivation of a more peaceful, humane, and interconnected world. And in times like these, that kind of anarcho/peace punk music still gives me hope for a better world.