Reprobates – “Stress ep” – No Way Records

Canadians playing hardcore the way that only true hardcore punks could. The first song on the ep is clearly the standout, if for no other reason than the tribal drumming intro. I feel like so many bands in the late 2000’s were trying to –pull off “weird” hardcore (thanks a lot McCoy), and most just didn’t get it. Reprobates accidentally made a hardcore classic while still maintaining a total “outsider music” vibe. This band did “it” right! Their demo was catchy and beautiful and from what I remember, had a total Boston Crew vibe to it. The building up and then releasing of energy and tension is what this band nailed. They created songs that made you pull your first back in anticipation of the release and then blindsided you with short explosions of hardcore power.

The second side of this ep isn’t as standout as the first, but the songs are probably better. The title song, “Stress”, which starts the second side, is a very well done example of the No Way Records sound, but I think that their guitar leads are more interesting than a lot of the stuff that the Ferrell’s gave to us. This I meant to be less of a putdown of this time period in hardcore, and more a praise for how well Reprobates pulled it off.
The last song on the ep, “Gone To Shit” could very well be a lost SSD song. Like, I think it might actually be “Boiling Point” for a few bars. This record is a certified ripper and the fact that you can currently buy it from Grave Mistake for basically nothing should motivate you to GO BUY THIS!