Forming in South Florida with the intention to record a short EP and play one show, Gouge Away were driven by the need to write music and take a stab at topics they weren’t hearing in their local scene. They were influenced by bands like Fugazi, Unwound, The Jesus Lizard, Nirvana, Sonic Youth, and Paint it Black.

A couple years later, they put out “, Dies” on local label, Eighty-Sixed Records, which they didn’t expect to reach beyond their hometown. After some touring, they released “Burnt Sugar” on Deathwish Inc. in 2018 which naturally took a more personal approach when Christina Michelle was dealing with her mom’s heart complications and misdiagnoses. Following the release of the album, they toured extensively throughout the US and beyond. While on tour and in their small pockets of downtime, they eagerly wrote and demoed songs for a third album, pulling influence not only from the nostalgia of the bands they grew up listening to, but developing and pushing the sense of urgency, noise, and introspective lyrics they felt most represented them.

Touring came to a halt in 2020, canceling a full year of plans in an instant. Gouge Away took time for themselves to move to different parts of the country and focus on their personal lives. On New Years Eve just beginning 2022, they decided it was time to revisit their demoed material, and to do it justice by allowing it to see the light of day.

They recorded with Jack Shirley at Atomic Garden East in March 2023, completely analog to tape and almost entirely live, without the use of a computer. The goal was to sound like five friends playing music in a room together, unpolished and far from being over-produced, which is what the heart of Gouge Away has always been.

BUIO OMEGA

(Minneapolis, MN)

Genre: Hardcore

Sleazy Slasher Hardcore Punk

Official Website

Instagram

Big Laugh

(Milwaukee, WI)

Genre: Hardcore

For decades, the upper Midwest of the United States has been a hotspot for hardcore bands that bend genres and refuse to stick to tired formulas, producing acts like Husker Du and Die Kreuzen. Milwaukee, WI’s Big Laugh is here to continue that tradition, with a sound that finds them as much at home playing DIY shows in dingy basements as playing large clubs alongside some of hardcore and punk’s luminaries. With high ambitions, Big Laugh is centered on creating whatever they want however they want, and “Consume Me” is just the next step for this young band.