Save Yourself At a time when it’s easy to feel angry about the state of the world, Scarboro have returned with their sophomore album, called Hate Season, that encapsulates these feelings into a cohesive package of punk rock. The set was produced by Brian DiMeglio and Scarboro, and was mastered by Will Yip. The NYC-based band is Jack (bass/vocals), Shi (guitar/vocals), and Radhika (drums), and their tight-knit musicianship is reminiscent of other punk bands like The Explosion, early-Bad Religion, and The Casualties. Sprawling 14 songs and clocking in at just over 27 minutes, Hate Season is a blast of punk rock energy that rarely lets up on its attack.
After the brief opening instrumental track called “A Horny Intro”, Scarboro get right into a comfortable and speedy punk rock groove on “Midnight Special” that rocks like an early-Offspring type of song that hits with urgency. “Sin Futuro” features a great beat from Radhika on the drums, while Jack seamlessly blends Spanish and English on an aggressive vocal performance that stands out amongst their peers. “Benzos and Coke” is a bass-heavy song that speeds its way to the finish line through impossible to decipher vocals/lyrics that are over before you can exhale.
The middle section of the record features some really cool punk rock songs like “Save Yourself” that sounds like early-Bad Religion but with a NOFX type of sneer to the vocals. It works really well on tracks like this where Scarboro take a moment to have melodic breakdowns in their songs to build out their arsenal. “Kill Your Ego Not Yourself” gets right back to the shouted vocals, while Shi’s guitar performance remains top notch in the speedy punk rock song. The title track and “Chaser” paint with darker tones in their approach to songwriting, while the latter song gives a brief reprieve to the breakneck pacing with some steady bass lines and lyrics suggesting we “open your eyes” to what’s going on in the world in front of us. It’s solid advice to follow, and Scarboro gets their point across well.
Other songs like “Kintsugi” feature a guest vocal spot from Kasey Heisler in the choruses to help out with layering the vocals over each other in the refrain to pack more a punch to the line of “where do we go from here?”. “Suicidal Babies” pulsates along with great pacing to the punk rock song, while “Turn It Up!” has that classic Will Yip punchiness to it in the mix. “10,000 Miles” reminded me a lot of The Explosion’s Black Tape record, and with the same type of great results behind it here for Scarboro. The album closer of “Got Soul?” features a spiraling bass line from Jack, while the guitar wail from Shi bleeds away just enough for Jack to emphasize the hook of, “Life’s a bitch, and then you die.”
Scarboro definitely scratches the itch of great, politically-charged punk rock music that is filled with memorable sections in the album to keep you coming back for more. Hate Season sounds as angry as it was intended to be, and adds more voices to the fight against the status quo.