Damagers

Toronto’s Damagers are forcibly writing another chapter in the Deranged story. After joining the stable of crucial Canadians, these Ontario rabble rousers released an absolute fire self-titled EP in the fall of 2017. Victory, their ‘2019’ follow up, is a five song blur of hardcore punk that owes as much to the rambunctious, snotty punk of their more melodic label mates as it does early US and world hXc. 
Victory opens violently. It takes mere seconds before “You Say” explodes into a perfect buzzsaw guitar riff. With vocals that alternate between guttural and bilious, there’s an inherent danger rarely found in music this damn catchy. At it’s best, it recalls a more muscular Career Suicide or leaner Poison Idea, spitting phrases with nihilistic flare. They manage to juxtapose melody and sheer hardcore ferocity in tightly wrapped two minute bangers. As quickly as “You Say” kicks the door down, it’s ransacked  your house and fled to pillage elsewhere. The following track “Social Control” finds me lost in hyperbole. Beginning with an utterly devastating and perfect bass tone, the first two notes had me humming Gang of Four’s Damaged Goods. Alas, it’s the ultimate fakeout. 
By the third string pluck, it’s clear they’ve upped the ante and penned a note perfect hardcore song. It’s a masterclass in USHC, indebted to the backward glance and the right fucking now. Though sonically unique in attack, there’s a contemporary lean to their classic-informed sound. 
It’s not difficult to marvel at the sheer number of punk bands that never left their garages or shitty, mildewed basements that’ve likely named a song “Social Control.” I can only imagine these trite and cliched hardcore ditties are a veritable haystack of sloganeering and anti-establishment nonsense. The Damagers are the needle worth the search, as sharp as they are rough. Though hardly 8 minutes, the highwater marks are everywhere. Both “Who Decides?” and the closing title track maintain the frenzied mania Damagers do so well. “When the Hammer Falls” is a crusher, exchanging a touch of the speed for a confrontational and intimidating stomp. Much like the bass sound, the drums are up front and mixed perfectly, each Tom hit an unexpected blow to the sternum. 
Damagers have doubled down on what made their S/T debut EP so rad… runaway guitar riffs, feral vocals, and an ear for a fractured melodicism that can’t be killed, even by the bile and dagger vocal stylings. Once again recorded by Sean Pearson at Boxcar Studios and mixed/mastered by Will Killingsworth, they’ve nailed it per usual. It’s as clear as it is intense. Deranged. Canada. Damagers. Listen.