Abolitionist - Ugly Feeling LP - Purple Vinyl (/269)

1859 Records/No Time Records/Between The Days/Different Kitchen (2019)

I have a lot of Abolitionist records.  They just keep coming and coming and this is the 5th full length album of theirs entering my collection.  Luckily, they are pretty consistent with their records and all of them harness an incredible amount of fire and fury.

If anything, Ugly Feeling might be the harshest of the bunch.  These dudes are pissed and have been getting more and more pissed off as the years go by.  Watching the news for thirty seconds, I can't imagine why that would be.  Things seem so stable and normal...  I think that this album probably has the least amount of obviously catchy songs on it.  They definitely veer towards harshness and less toward the pop hook.

That said, there is definitely a subtle catchiness baked into the album, but it's much more subtle than some of their past records.  Abolitionist is a band that I always thought seemed like would have fit right in on an early 2000s No Idea.  There's an inherent gruffness in everything they do and you can tell they are extremely passionate about the message they are trying to get out into the world.

Abolitionist - Ugly Feeling:
https://1859records.bandcamp.com/album/abolitionist-ugly-feeling-lp

Abolitionist - A New Militance 10" - Pink Vinyl (/250)

1859 / Different Kitchen (2019)

Abolitionist are back with a new 10" release.  Even though their last full length only came out in May of last year, they's put together a mini-album (maxi-ep?) of eight new songs.  While this is a band that has always had a certain thematic slant to their albums, this 10" is a full blown concept piece with each song almost directly connected to the one before it.

The songs focus on an uprising of women that are frankly sick of the bullshit that's been brewing in the country.  The liner notes specifically point out that the songs were written in February of 2017, right after the 2016 presidential election.  Each of the eight songs is a short powerful blast that moves the story forward, ultimately showing the autocrats being overtaken.  It's a loud and angry record, but the topics covered sure are ones that should make people pretty angry.

From a strictly musical standpoint, there are songs on other Abolitionist albums that I like better.  They're a little catchier and not quite as bleak.  But when you look at this 10" as a complete work, you could argue this is the most powerful release the band has put out so far.

Abolitionist - A New Militance:
https://abolitionist.bandcamp.com/album/a-new-militance-mlp-2019

Abolitionist - The Instant LP - Red Vinyl (/274)

1859 Records (2018)

The Instant is the third album by Abolitionist that I've been able to write about on this website.  Over the years I've watched them start out as an exciting band that I hadn't heard of before to a group that I can count on to churn out a pretty strong record every time.

I was a little concerned when the album starts off with the title track as the drumming is in full on gallop mode with the song careening by at a thousand miles an hour.  But this is something of a false start as by the very next song, "Trouble," Abolitionist takes things down a notch and settles into a slightly slower and certainly more melodic pace for a good portion of this album.  In fact I'd venture to say this is probably the album of their's with the least amount of blazing fast songs and I really think they benefit from that. There are plenty of fast, uptempo songs on The Instant, they just don't pass that speed limit where we start venturing into NOFX territory.

Many times throughout the album I'm reminded of Dead Mechanical, primarily in the vocals, but also in the way that the bands construct their songs.  They achieve maximum catchiness, but never sacrifice the underlying angst or pissed-off-ed-ness that are fueling the songs.  All of their albums are solid, but The Instant may be the best of the bunch.

Abolitionist - The Instant:
https://1859records.bandcamp.com/album/abolitionist-the-instant-lp

Abolitionist - The Vicious Rumor LP - Blue Vinyl

1859 Records (2017)

This is the second album I've had the opportunity to review by Abolitionist.  I have to say that I was pretty excited when this came in the mail the other day.  This is a band that I'm pretty confident I may not have ever heard of if I didn't do this website.  The last Abolitionist LP was actually the very first full length vinyl record that anyone had ever sent me to review.  Fast forward a few years later and this new one is certainly among the review records I'm most excited about listening to.  This and Zapiain are probably my favorites of the most recent batch I've been going through.

Abolitionist harvest the most raw and angry grains of pop punk.  Every song has a subtle catchiness to it, but the hooks are often somewhat obscured by the sheer energy that the band is able to project.  Much like Dillinger Four or Off With Their Heads, Abolitionist can take gravely vocals about depressing topics and still wrangle a song that has me nodding my head along.

As usual, I tend to favor the songs that lean the most heavily towards straightforward pop, but even the more incendiary burners on this album are pretty damn good.  Every so often it's nice to have an angry album you can just be pissed off with.  Might I recommend Abolitionist for your next time. 

Abolitionist - The Vicious Rumor:

https://1859records.bandcamp.com/album/abolitionist-the-vicious-rumor-lp