GEL + Cold Brats

GEL hails from New Jersey, which has a history of hardcore punk. Their underground sound is raw, loud, fast and drenched in hardcore and punk. Their aggressive music takes a lot of its cues from British 80s punk and Scandinavian D-Beat. The music may sound like a bunch of adolescents being angry at society’s ills, they clearly don’t forget to have some fun in its presentation. GEL is a band rooted in the here and now though. Singer Sami’s barks are always sharp and incisive, but still retains enough melody to turn into earworms. The band’s abrasive playing style is exactly the way we like our hardcore punk.

The band recently released a split EP with Cold Brats, which just happens to be their touring partner. It’s a match made in heaven, as the Rumanian band is just as fierce as the Americans. Chaos reins supreme with the quartet. The four Cold Brats songs on the split EP sound like lukewarm Schültenbrau on a tropical day in a sweaty, unventilated basement. In other words: the good stuff!