CONTENTION have released the "Nuclear Summer" EP through DAZE. The Tampa band sell it as apocalyptic straight edge, and the description holds — this is metallic hardcore built for collapse.
The record already had an unofficial life. CONTENTION played a momentous set at Sound And Fury in Los Angeles last weekend and surprise-dropped a three-song CD at their merch table; today it gets a proper release. It was recorded and produced by John Howard at War House Studio.
Two of the three tracks are new. "Second Sun" and "Blank Stare" run barely five minutes between them. The third pairs two songs by THE SWARM — the 1990s straight edge powerviolence band also known as KNEE DEEP IN THE DEAD — into a single 1:40 blast, "X On Our Knees X / Upside Your Head".
Vocalist Cosmo Vidussi framed what the EP is aimed at in unsparing terms.
"Modernity brings no enlightenment, only more refined methods of annihilation. Annihilation of the enemy. Annihilation of the self," he said. "Our leaders have shed their increasingly thin facades of humanity. The masses shamble through life in a drug and media fueled haze. They worship a machine that grinds them to dust and uses them for fuel. Cities are leveled in our name. Bombs are assembled with our tax dollars. We're held hostage by a small group of deranged degenerates with nuclear arsenals and a lust for ruin."
He left the question open. "Are these the final days? Or is the suffering of modernity only a single day swallowed by a quarter eon of unchecked brutality?" On the covers, he noted THE SWARM have been a reference point "since our first band practice in 2019". His summary of the release: "Nuclear Summer, hardcore for the end times."
CONTENTION formed in 2019 and put out a three-song promo the same year, followed by the "Laying Waste To The Kingdom Of Oblivion" EP in 2021 and "Summer Offensive" in 2022. They hit their stride with the 2024 full-length "Artillery From Heaven", ten tracks of heavy-hitting riffs, anguished vocals and blazing drums that landed on year-end lists at The New York Times, Stereogum and BrooklynVegan. They have since toured North America, Asia and Europe.
CONTENTION is Cosmo Vidussi (vocals), Josh Howell (guitar), Bayly Branson (guitar, vocals), D'Angelo Casanas (bass) and Lucas Pereyra (drums).
"Nuclear Summer" track listing:
- Second Sun (2:11)
- Blank Stare (2:56)
- X On Our Knees X / Upside Your Head (1:40) — originally by THE SWARM
CONTENTION live:
- September 25 — The Ox, Gainesville, FL
- September 26 — Nightshift Party Weekend, Iron Horse Saloon, Daytona Beach, FL
With PAIN OF TRUTH, MADBALL, ROTTING OUT and XFOREVER WARX:
- November 12 — Eastside Bowl, Nashville, TN
- November 13 — The Masquerade (Hell), Atlanta, GA
- November 14 — The Orpheum, Tampa, FL
- November 16 — Lincoln's Beard, Miami, FL
Stream "Nuclear Summer": vyd.co/NuclearSummer — 7" via daze-style.com