Cloak/Dagger - Lost Art LP on Jade Tree Records

When I listen to some of this new hardcore (read: hawdcore) I feel like I might as well be listening to third-wave ska. To be clear, I am only referring to a very specific type of hardcore that just so happens to have been the most popular kind made in the last decade. Terror has become Less Than Jake, Bane may as well be the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Throwdown is a nightclubbed version of Buck O' Nine and Ten Yard Fight? That's just Mustard Plug wearing football pads. That's right, every hardcore band you like is actually comprised of the same slap happy nerds in suspenders who were in those silly ska/punk bands from the late 90's! What a world.

As we enter a new decade, that particular bandwagon seems to be rolling out of town. I've got just one question- what's next? What sacred ritual will be bastardized now?! I have a feeling it's going to be what people call "80's hardcore"-also known as punk music from the period of time when oxygen was cocaine and money grew on goddamn trees. Southern Californians like Black Flag and the Circle Jerks have been getting a lot of google hits lately because just about every blog author out there compares a new band to one of them. There were other bands like Gang Green and Red Kross with similar sounds but no one cares. In an attempt to spread the word without harming this band's reputation in the future, I am going to try and write the following review without name-dropping (even though they sound a lot like Hot Snakes).


Cloak/Dagger are from Richmond, VA and apparently sound nothing like any band that I've ever heard from there. Their second LP, Lost Art, picks up where their last left off- upbeat, down-stroked tunes with crisp drums and lyrics about punk rock standards like paranoia, booze and girls. The production is a lot cleaner than the last record and the band has definitely tightened up their sound. This is a great new punk band from the South who sound like they'd be really fun to see. They're not coming anywhere near K.C. anytime soon but remember these dudes, and download this record! Then go buy it...IF you like it!

That wasn't too hard. Let's just hope I don't end up listening to this record in ten years and wonder what the hell I was thinking.

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