Brace Yourself

I picked up the new Seized Up 7 inch a few months ago, and found myself really enjoying it. It's only 6 minutes long, and since I've been in the mood for newer hardcore I found that I kept returning to it. As I was digging in online to find more info about the band, I found a piece on the Hard Times site from last year. The article was talking about the absolute shit show that the country was in at the time with Trump as president, and the singer was talking about their new album and was was quoted as saying "It’s hard to look at the world and not be pissed off." Fuckin' right. A year later and I still struggle with my anger over right-wing bullshit. So when Clifford was talking about the album and not holding back when "taking a volitile stance based on our surroundings", I was like "sign me the fuck up for that". Fuel my anger.

I don't think that Brace Yourself comes out direct and swinging like I expected it to, but this is still a great record. I mean Clifford sang for Bl'ast and that band was a bit unconventional in it's delivery, and lyrically Seized Up come at you more from the side instead of beating you over the head with a message. Not was I was expecting, but I still appreciate and enjoy the end result.

When given the option of a first press on splatter vinyl or a second pressing on this yellow and black swirl, I went with the better looking option.

This colored vinyl looks great when you hold it up to the light. 500 pressed.

Seized Up

I was listening to a lot of Good Riddance earlier this year, and when I saw an article over at No Echo for a new band that included one of their members, it had me curious.

With a roster that includes the vocalist from Bl'ast, the bass player from Good Riddance, and the drummer that used to play in The Nerve Agents, I was interested to see what Seized Up could deliver. Within 10 seconds of checking out their latest EP, I knew that I was going to be tracking down a copy of this 7 inch.

The three songs on this EP are great. At times I can hear the Bl'ast connection, but for the most part this record is just quick and catchy shots of hardcore. Apparently the band also released an album last year during the pandemic and didn't waste any time to follow it up with this 7 inch. I've been chasing down lots of newer hardcore bands this year, so I'm happy to add Seized Up to the list.

I ordered this record direct from Cursed Blessings and the number of stickers, patches and buttons they included in the package is impressive.

Cursed Blessings also wrote out the bandcamp link and download code on the invoice that was included. That must have been a pain in the ass if they had to do this for each order. Dedication to customer service!