Is it just me, or has this been an especially tremendous year for punk LPs so far? Up there with the best of 'em is the second album from Sweden's Rotten Mind - a superb self titled effort on Lövely Records. What I appreciate about this release is how it takes what seem to be two contradictory styles of music (dark new wave and catchy melodic punk) and melds them so seamlessly that you can only conclude that they were meant to go together. While very much in line with modern-day Scandinavian post-hardcore, Rotten Mind is perhaps the one band from that movement that I'd consider most up my alley. Although I'm not the huge fan of moody post-punk that I used to be, Rotten Mind blends essential elements of that musical school into a form that's fully palatable to my Dickies and Buzzcocks loving sensibilities. It seems a tough task to make gloom rock this poppy without ruining the mood, but that's exactly what Rotten Mind has pulled off here. "Wish You Were Gone" had me hooked from the very start, and from there the quality tracks just keep coming. The lead guitar work - such a linchpin of good melodic punk - is especially impressive. One part of me wants to get dressed in black and lock myself in a dark room with this LP for hours. The other wants to whistle these melodies as I march merrily about my day. Truly an album for all occasions!
https://lovelyrecords.bandcamp.com/album/rotten-mind-rotten-mind
