Lost Tribe - "Lost Tribe" (2011) [Blind Prophet Records]

Darkwave, peacepunk, goth rock, post-punk - call it what you will, but this year, as I have mentioned in just about every review, has been the year of post-punk's strongest presence since the 1980s. Thanks to wonderful labels like Sacred Bones, Fan Death, Music Ruins Lives, and Blind Prophet Records, we music fans have been lucky enough to have a constant flow of forward-thinking, gloomy post-punk, each album perfect for staring at the floor, shifting around uncomfortably.

Richmond, Virginia's Lost Tribe continue post-punk's triumphant year with their absolutely killer, self-titled debut LP. Not unlike stylistic kin TSOL, Lost Tribe take a much more aggressive approach towards this glum style, injecting a hefty amount of d-beat-inspired mayhem to juxtapose catchy basslines and complacent, lazily shouted vocals. As if a small legion of angry, black leather-and-spike clad crust punks woke up with a gnarly hangover after a night of drinking to forget and decided to record a short burst of gnarly, aggressive, and catchy hardcore punk songs, Lost Tribe have unleashed an absolutely killer throwback to hardcore punk's former days of glory (with some of the coolest basslines this side of Geezer Butler).

Available now from Blind Prophet Records. Grey vinyl's all sold out, but that doesn't mean you should miss out on this monster.

-Jon