Criminal Code

Criminal Code

2534

Deranged

2534 is the third full length by Tacoma, WA veterans Criminal Code. This Northwest four piece has always kept a well balanced variety of sounds in their arsenal, from the gloomy depressing sounds of The Wipers, to the frantic speed-induced pop of Hüsker Dü. This latest album is more focused than previous releases, with layers and a dreamy undertone, flowing with infectious leads and bouncy rhythms reminiscent of Wire and The Cure. Vocals and guitars are a bit cleaner as well, but still abrasive and lose no urgency. 2534 flows seamlessly, sometimes with a nostalgia for the melancholy of the eighties, but without trapping the listener in a time capsule.

Criminal Code

No Device

Deranged

***“THIS IS TACOMA, NOT OLY! CRIMINAL CODE’s first proper long-player deals twelve tracks of technical precision matched with brickwall power. There’s a barbaric impulse festering in the twisted hearts of this Tacoma threesome, but No Device unfurls with dynamic tact and structural intricacy, sating its every aggressive urge with surgical attention to detail. With a stark palette of grizzly grays and off-white stains, Criminal Code details a singular spectrum of punk both bleak and savage. Naturally, the hardcore camp digs it because No Device extracts maximal strength from a few instruments in a minimal amount of time, but taut brooding snaps into serpentine guitar leads on enough songs for your death punk beholden to break off a piece. At any rate, Criminal Code tears down your descriptors and brings its own on No Device. A fiercely present, assertive album that dictates its own terms, listeners will find their go-to snappy little tags utterly inadequate and reductive. In the age of vaguely negative-wave nouveau and post-punk pastiche, Criminal Code is a colossal outfit casting its own long shadow.”—Sam Lefebvre Oakland, 2014

Criminal Code

Sacred Hands

Inimical

***Two songs from the same recording session as the recent Deranged debut EP "Hollowed". One is a melodic hardcore song that has become their signature, featuring equal parts Husker Du, Replacements and the Wipers. The B side gets much darker, exploring their post punk side, Criminal Code's take on Bauhaus meets My Bloody Valentine. Two outstanding new songs from a band that is always pushing forward. One time pressing of 372 copies.

Criminal Code

Hollowed

Deranged

***“It used to be easy to describe CRIMINAL CODE. From the onset, they came across as straightforward sounding mid ‘80s Midwest hardcore styled three piece with TAIGA on guitar ANDREW handling the basslines. Hook filled and moodily earnest, proudly wielding a love for Husker Du. Crim Code quickly became favorites of the Northwest hardcore scene. After a handful of west coast tours and a couple of limited self released rarities, Crim Code added MILES on second guitar and JAWISH on drums.... This is where the comparisons to other acts ends. Having saw them play three times in the past 10 days I can only describe them as themselves. Once in front of a group of black clad doom punks they came off as a tightly wound psychedelic nightmare, as if My Bloody Valentine grew up playing Middle Class covers. The next, in a room filled with knucke dragging skinheads the doomiest pop you could imagine at a deafening level. The third still a pounding set of shouted agit-punk anthems that could have been the best record SST never released. With this, their third vinyl release, and the first for Deranged they continue to push the boundaries of what it means to be a a modern hardcore punk band. Oh yeah, and they aren't from Olympia.” Follow up to their excellent 12-inch. Full length in the works for 2013. Three new moody hardcore tracks.

Criminal Code

Red Lights

Criminal Code

***In an incredibly short amount of time, Tacoma’s CRIMINAL CODE has risen out from their home city’s tough guy stronghold to become one of the best bands currently active in the Pacific Northwest. Their sound could be likened to the classic diy lo-fi buzz saw melodies of early Husker Du combined with distant shouted vocals reminiscent of some certain post punk touchstones all the while driving home that they are indeed a punk band first and foremost. This follows up a demo that quickly sold out and precedes them entering Buzz of Howl Studios with Stan Wright to record their follow up 12” for Inimical Records.