***After a few outstanding cassettes on the Stucco and Impotent Fetus imprints, Sorry State presents the first vinyl from Olympia, Washington’s Fugitive Bubble. While Fugitive Bubble’s raw production, hyperactive drumming, and ragged delivery root them in the world of DIY punk and hardcore, their music hearkens back to a time when hardcore’s boundaries weren’t so clear. The faster bands on Dangerhouse—Rhino 39, the Eyes, the Bags—are an obvious reference point since Fugitive Bubble shares those groups’ scratchy guitar sounds and big chorus hooks. But Fugitive Bubble also evokes classic punk in their willingness to push at the edges of their sound with moments like the wistful closing section of the otherwise furious “Chicken Head,” the brooding “Magic Switch” (which has shades of Paganicons-era Saccharine Trust), and “Motorcycle Slop,” the evocative instrumental that closes Delusion. Fugitive Bubble’s music is suffused with the thrill of discovery, their loose yet assured delivery gluing everything together as they explore a wide range of musical moods and colors, particularly for a 45rpm 12” operating primarily at blistering tempos. With Delusion, Fugitive Bubble will win over anyone who loves great songs played fast and wild.
LP $21.95
02/16/2024
***What Will Happen If We Stop is the second album from Olympia, Washington’s Fugitive Bubble. If you heard Fugitive Bubble’s first record for Sorry State, 2024’s Delusion, you won’t be surprised by the creative restlessness the band displays on their new record. While the core of Fugitive Bubble’s high-energy art punk style carries forward from Delusion, What Will Happen If We Stop expands and upgrades their sound. Harley’s vocals are recorded more clearly and delivered with even more power and authority. New drummer Typhoid Mary—whom you may know from their other band Physique—plays at even more blistering tempos, frequently laying down jaw-on-the-floor moments of percussive pyrotechnics. Fugitive Bubble’s songwriting has also grown more expansive and ambitious. On first listen, the speed and melody will floor you, but as your ear untangles these songs, you’ll notice how dense they are with ideas, each one overflowing with cool parts that flow seamlessly from one to the next. Other new wrinkles include sprinkles of acid country guitar a la Meat Puppets, the climactic CCR-ish rave-up “Ego Drip,” the two-part piano piece “Demodex in Situ,” and “Your Loyalty to the Flag Lies Beneath My Boot,” the solo guitar piece that ends the record on a meditative note. Throughout these twists and turns, Fugitive Bubble proves it’s still possible to make punk rock that’s politically relevant and musically ambitious without losing sight of the youthful energy at the genre’s core.
LP $22.25
TBD