The Bay Area punk scene is something I’ve been interested in for decades, mostly due to the Lookout Records roster from the early ’90s. Lately, though, I’m spinning a lot of albums from the Pirates Press label, and Brigata Vendetta’s version of hardcore and street punk is another band that from the San Francisco region that deserves much attention.

The trio start these new eight songs off with the title track, where Brian Zobel’s pounding drums suit Darrel Wojick’s thick and powerful voice alongside the dense guitar playing from Mike Caputo. “Killing Me” continues with a slower pace initially, but that’s no less hard hitting and builds into speedy and dense hardcore.

“I Can’t Breathe” and “Modern Sins,” the only tunes that surpass two minutes, follow. The former enlists gang vocals and furious drumming to soundtrack the topical wordplay, while the latter allows for Wojick’s meticulous bass lines to shine amid the driving climate.

On the back half, “Corporate Control” barks with underlying melody surrounding the intensity, and “Headed For A Fight,” the best song, illustrates an intricate rhythm section that complement Caputo’s swirling guitar and backing shouted vocals.

The last two tracks don’t disappoint either. “Feed The Lions” actually approaches rhythmic ideas thanks to the trio’s strong interaction and the sing-alongs, and “Coup d’Etat” exits with a blistering pace of timeless, urgent and commanding hardcore punk.

All the songs are on a one sided 12” evergreen colored record. The other side is silkscreened with a black spatter design. There’s only 500 made, which is surprisingly low for how great this record is.

Zobel is also in Bum City Saints, and Caputo and Wojick are members of Harrington Saints. I guess you could call Brigata Vendetta a supergroup, but somehow I don’t think these guys want that sort of attention and would rather focus on a classic hardcore sounds fueled by all the greed and brutality we live in today.

Rating: A-

User Rating: Not Yet Rated

Comments