The Youth Crew revival is well on its way in both coasts. On the east, we have Just Us, Can’t Lose, The Next Level (off the top of my head). On the west, we got lots of great new straight edge bands are coming out from the sunny state - such as Start Today, Gaining Ground, Said and Done, and About Face; to name a few.
But wait… there’s more!
The OC’s newest addition to its ever-growing hardcore roster is none other than STRUT, formed by members Zach Byrens (vocals), Noah Perkins (guitar), Jon Weisberg (guitar), Rodrigo Morales (bass), and Eric De Masi (drums).
Clocking in under 7 minutes (the way it should be), their brand new release Demo ‘25 is a four-song kick-ass, fast and loud recording. Along with the killer cover art by Alexander Allen, it’s exactly what you want if you’re into mid-2000s SoCal hardcore.
“Punch the Clock” has got to be my personal favorite. Being one of the longest songs off the demo (just over 2 minutes), it’s full of deeply emotional lyrics about weeding out what’s not adding value to one’s life.
I asked vocalist, mosher and good friend Zach “ZachyFlay” Byrens about the formation story behind STRUT. “The band started after a conversation Noah and I were having on the way to an Age of Apocalypse gig at Hollywood Underground in April, where we were listening to bands like Mental, Rampage and Down to Nothing in the car ride up," he told me.
"We both talked about not many bands doing a mid-tempo type of fast hardcore that had more of an emphasis groove, so Noah suggested we start a band. In terms of influences, it’s everything from Lockin’ Out records stuff, Piece by Piece, Internal Affairs, Carry On, and Donnybrook with some fast Youth Crew style mixed in. Just 2000s West Coast hardcore. We lived together at the time, so he wrote down the tracks in his room, and we’d bang out vocals upstairs where I was at. From there, it all started to come together when Rodrigo, Eric and Jon joined the band.”
When asked about what’s to come for STRUT, Zach replied: “As of now, we just wanna play shows and see our friends mosh and dance. Hardcore for hardcore.”
If you’re in the OC/LA area, be sure to check out their first show on August 8th with RUIN on their EP release:
Watch them strut.
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Demo '25 is available now on music streaming outlets.
STRUT on social media: Instagram
Tagged: strut
