Less Than 1,000 Followers Reviews DCxPC Live & Dead Vol. 4 Antagonizör
Fast. Furious. Aggro. Ready and willing to call out your bullshit. I’ve just been audibly assaulted by the latest band to be featured in DCxPC‘s Live/Dead vinyl series: Antagonizör. And I couldn’t be more delighted. Thank you ma’am I’ll take another, please! Indeed this is the fourth release in a vinyl series that the hardcore/punk rock label introduced and that I became familiarized with back in July.
To recap, the premise of the Live/Dead series is that side-A is a live recording of a band performing a set (just as DCxPC has always done and has become known for), and side-B on the other hand, features studio versions of the songs in the live set you heard on side A. Hence, the “Dead” side.
Hailing from Gainesville, Florida, Antagonizör‘s sound possesses a harshness and brashness of hardcore punk that some might even find a kin to “crossover thrash,” similar to that of Municipal Waste (more so the Iron Reagan branch of that project) – but with an underlying leftist, queer, feminist, anti-fascist ethos and message like Incendiary. The vocals are great, in your face, and passionate. The screaming at times reminds me of one of my all-time favorites Kat Bjelland, of Babes in Toyland.
Antagonizör is a 3 piece band comprised of Sarah at vocals and guitar, Tzu-Wei on bass, and Michelle on drums. Sarah and Tzu-Wei are a married power couple who have played together previously in a Metal band called Von Nacht. Tzu-Wei also happens to be a classically trained violinist. Michelle is an experienced drummer who has played several styles of music throughout her tenure and also plays in the Gainesville band called Piss Test.
The band performs a setlist that kicks off with “ADHD,” a chaotic song that perfectly epitomizes the sound of chaos that goes on in my head, as someone who does indeed struggle with ADHD. It’s like a swarm up bees up there I tell ya. I digress. During the live performance, Sarah delivers a lot of on-stage banter between songs that totally makes the live side my favorite of the album.
“Heavy Metal Bootlicker” is a rockin’ tune that calls to memory echoes of Motorhead by my ear. “Pearl Clutcher” moves like something you’d hear off of Slayer’s “Undisputed Attitude” album but lyrically vocalizes the impossibilities of being ethical and a billionaire at the same time. “Ammunition” is a societal commentary about the statistically leading cause of death in children.
Sarah amusingly dedicates and professes her affinity for a particular congressman and presidential candidate with “I Hate You,” and the band moves on to perform hard rockin, anthemic tunes that really got the crowd moving on the live side with “NA” and “My Choice.” Two songs that while are about two different topics, are both commonly rooted in the right to choose, and the right to choose what’s best for you. The band wraps up the set with possibly my favorite track on the album, the very thrash-paced, hardcore rocker “Trump Cult.”
DCxPC switched up how they are doing pre-orders for this vinyl, they usually do a raffle for the folks who pre-ordered the vinyl and send out a corresponding VML Live volume number. But this time, during the raffled winner will receive the band’s favorite live vinyl as well, which is Juda Priest’s 1979 live record “Unleashed in the East.” Very cool!
What’s next for the DCxPC crew? Just as Rob Halford was “unleashed” in Tokyo back in 1979, there’s also some plans in motion for DCxPC to book some shows in Japan and Taiwan during the summer of next year. Plus what you might call a “surprise” EP in the very near future, keep an eye out on Bandcamp and YouTube for that one.
Like all the other volumes released by DCxPC, a great deal of the audio logistics and engineering is credited to the incredibly talented Joshua Dobbs, i.e. Danger Room Recording Services.
Don’t forget to support this project and follow Antagonizör and DC x PC Live on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, SoundCloud, YouTube, Apple Music, and Spotify. You can also visit their official website. If you enjoy their music and can provide monetary support, you might consider downloading it on Bandcamp.
It also helps to stream and share their music; you can find it in the following Playlists: Less Than 1,000 Followers, Sickest & Dopest, Unknown But Essentials!, Hot Stuff Metal, and Only Punk.
Remember that you can always find me here AMS Radio for all my social media and collaborations.
P.S. If you enjoy discovering new artists and brand-new music, subscribe to this blog Less Than 1,000 Followers, and follow the Playlist with all the artists we have presented here!
