Chuck Klosterman once wrote an opinion piece about how we will inevitably become whatever we despise. This was over 20 years ago, when he and I were both younger men, and appeared in the back of Spin Magazine. It was centered around the idea that if one were to criticize something publicly early on, that criticism would become something they embody later in life, forcing some sort of public or personal retribution for this hypocrisy so blatant that everyone who pays attention is aware of it. I think about that concept a lot. At the time, I was just becoming a music nerd and getting into sounds that weren’t covered by Spin, though I did take a lot of recommendations from them (my dad subscribed me to like 6 years of Spin from a door-to-door salesman who had recovered from addiction). I was embracing punk, hardcore, screamo, sasscore, and the like while scoffing at older dudes hanging onto Van Halen memories from 20 years prior.
Now, over two decades later, though times have changed, I get to be the one scoffed at. Let loose your insults all you fucking want, I am stoked to live in a world that has Zegema Beach Records, a label that seems to relentlessly release new records from new acts that proudly pave the way forward in the screamo, grind, hardcore, and sasscore realm (among others). These bands are undoubtedly genuine in their embrace of these genres, but for an old-head like me, they also tap into a sense of instant nostalgia. My very first review for Everything Is Noise was a band on Zegema Beach, and I am still singing their praises today. This time in a premiere!
Behold below, the finest sasscore/emoviolence band Indonesia has to offer (I assume, I don’t really know)! From Malang, Indonesia, let me introduce you to HALLAM FOE!
HALLAM FOE has put out a couple EPs and singles since 2021 full of crowd-killing ragers, tongue-in-cheek rave ups, and the special kind of fun The Blood Brothers, Black Eyes, The Plot To Blow Up The Eiffel Tower and other early 2000’s bands once served up. On their latest single, “Funkapokalips,” off their upcoming EP of the same name, HALLAM FOE delivers a jagged, math-y filtered riff that quickly erupts into a full windmill kick of a track, complete with multiple parts, a devastating breakdown, ripping starts and stops, and even hand claps that signal the closing heft and gang vocals of, ‘FUCK THIS SHIT!’ in a beatdown hardcore frenzy.
Sign me right the fuck up to snag a copy of Funkapokalips, as this promises to be some of the most fun we are going to hear on an EP in a long time. In just under two minutes, this single takes us into a multi-part journey through highly danceable rage, leaving ear-drums ringing and every piece of change on the floor picked up. If this is me becoming a nostalgia gremlin, mired in some self-loathing for enjoying genres of music Chuck Klosterman‘s sarcastic ass wouldn’t touch, then I will die happily knowing that DIY labels and underground music are thriving with sneering attitudes towards pop culture. The kids are all right.
Check out HALLAM FOE‘s Funkapokalips out September 17th on Zegema Beach Records, limited to 50 lathe cut pressings (49 after I snag my copy). Also follow HALLAM FOE on Instagram and Twitter/X!
