HAYMAKER
fuck america 7"
(DY34)

Finally repressed. The first press was limited to 500 copies and mostly went to mailorder clients. More of the same powerful ugly blows to the face. Still comparable to INFEST and LEFT FOR DEAD. 4 new rippers and an ANTHRAX cover. Repress of 500 on black and 500 on colored vinyl. I hate trying to convince people to buy my releases Ð for more details, see two reviews recently received from reliable sources.

MP3

"take it back"

AVAILABILITY: In Press

PRESSING INFO

1st press - 100 on clear vinyl, 400 on black
2nd press - slightly different cover and packaging, 1000 on red vinyl (500 with stamped sleeve)

REVIEWS

MRR #244
More super-pissed hardcore from these chair-swinging Canucks. This release seems almost more aggressive and angst-ridden than their previous releases. These folks are definitely from the whole TEAR IT UP, PUNCH IN THE FACE school of no frills, no metal hardcore, but with a little more piss, vinegar and distortion.

Aversion Online
God damnit this is so fucking good. As soon as I heard about this 7" I pre-ordered it because it's limited edition and Haymaker rules, but the real kicker was that I knew they were covering Anthrax's "Caught in a Mosh" on this fucker, and for me that's an immediate must have. And indeed, this is a fucking brilliant EP of blazing hardcore from these Canadian shredders that take old school hardcore to new levels of intensity with a little bit of heaviness, but nothing that I would call "metal". It's definitely heavy, but there's no metalSÿ it's energetic as hell, it's pissed off, it's memorable, and it just fucking rips. The songs are short and powerful with a good mix of speed and insanely awesome breakdowns, and there's no bullshit about it, they just go for the throat. I can't believe it took a hardcore band so long to cover "Caught in a Mosh", and holy shit do these guys deliver - sticking true to the original, but playing faster and with more of a hardcore/punk feel. And of course there's no fucking singing here, just the same vicious shouts and screams heard elsewhere on the EP. They nailed an awesome recording, too. I might like to hear more bass, but other than that everything sounds killer and I haven't a complaint. As for the packaging, the front cover is a one-sided xerox with some killer George W. Bush artwork. A large xeroxed insert is folded up inside that has more artwork taking shots at good ol' "Dubya" on one side, and the lyrics on the other. The lyrics are all pretty much attacking political bullshit and what have you, with an obvious emphasis on the U.S. of A.: "I don't want to die for America's bullshit, I don't want to die for fucked up policies, I don't want to die for US interest, If I'm gonna die it's gonna be for me, Yeah for me! Fuck America and their rhetoric, Fuck America and their bullshit, Fuck American stupidity, Fucking America is gonna kill me! They'll take what they want, They'll do whatever they can, Wipe the blood from their hands and in the end they'll cry victim? Like they're the fucking victim? Fuck America." I think all 500 of these might be sold out by now, but there may be a repress this summer (as well there should be). This is one of the best 7"s I've ever heard. Fuck America indeed. Now go track this down and mosh it up...[10/10]

Short, Fast and Loud #11
Fact: Haymaker is the best band in North America. You probably won't ever see them live if you live outside of Southern Ontario and even then it¶s not so likely. Haymaker shows are sporadic, sometimes under false names, often get stopped after a few songs and rarely happen in the same venue twice. In the same way that GSMF shut down Chicagofest a few years back, Haymaker do that to nearly every show they play.

Haymaker's sound is timeless, classic hardcore. It isn't a pastiche of bands that ceased being relevant twenty years ago and the anger and frustration driving them is evident; no directionless rage or stabbed in the back bullshit here. Most fast bands just seem to play fast because they don't know how to get their songs to do anything other than start and finish, Haymaker never even come close to light speed, yet their songs have movement, dynamics and a sense of speed (without resorting to blast parts) and most importantly, actually seem to go somewhere.

Fuck America has production to die for with heavy guitars, audible and genuinely pissed off sounding vocals and an overall style that obviously pays tribute to hardcore's past, but without endlessly going over old ground. Haymaker update the genre enough so that it remains undeniably hardcore, but that it still never borders on metal. The songs are actually memorable and well constructed, not just a collection of fast riffs and breakdowns.

This is the first anti Bush record I've come across that strikes me as utterly genuine and not done out of a sense of expectation, I can't fault this band at all (bar the utterly forgettable Anthrax cover) and I guarantee you'll be floorpunching in your bedroom to the breakdown in In Home Surveillance every time you play this. Better than ANY record that's come out in the last two years.