Released May 9, 2025, Go Fuck Yersel’ / In The Bin is the latest two-track EP from Hard Stare, an IDIOTEQ featured crossover thrash outfit from Central Scotland. The release clocks in at 4:21 and was recorded and mixed almost entirely by the band themselves, with guitarist Liam Graham handling most of the tracking in Scotland, while Gerald Chau laid down his parts from New Zealand. The material was mastered by Davie Campbell, and the cover art was done by Osaka-based artist Suketoku.
The EP focuses thematically on personal accountability, forgiveness, and where people draw the line. Vocalist Joe “Lev” Cassidy explains that both tracks revolve around how we respond to the past—ours and others’. The first track, “Go Fuck Yersel’,” looks at how people are often judged based on who they used to be, regardless of how much they’ve grown.
“The lyrics for this song are from the perspective of someone who is fed up of being judged by people around them as the person they used to be, and not as the person who they are today,” Cassidy says.
“I’ve seen it a few times with other people I know where they have done stupid things during the ignorant times of their youth or whatever, and despite mentally evolving a lot since those times there are people around them who just refuse to allow them to move on.”
He adds, “We should want to see people who were dumb in the past come to grips with that and become better people rather than making them feel they will be viewed one way for the rest of their days no matter how much wiser they become.”
The second track, “In The Bin,” flips that approach. It’s about what happens when someone crosses that invisible threshold where second chances run out.
“This track is about when someone crosses that line I mentioned earlier,” Cassidy says. “It’s about being around someone who was a scumbag the whole time you knew them but they hid it well, and when you finally find out you just immediately exile them from your life.”
“Unfortunately this one is a frustration I’ve felt personally. It’s probably something that everyone has to feel at some point, eh?”
The visual side follows a similar thread of directness. The cover continues Hard Stare’s recurring bear motif with a new image: a bear smashing through a brick wall. Cassidy notes that the idea came from the band, but credits the execution entirely to Suketoku:
“Either that, or Suketoku is just so damn good that he can turn bad ideas into great art. Probably the latter, to be honest, eh?”
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The band, initially a lockdown side project, released their first demo on the now-defunct Nuclear Family Records in 2021, followed by a second in late 2022. They’ve since played shows with Cro-Mags, Enforced, Pest Control, Inhuman Nature, Grove Street, and Ninth Realm. Their appearance at the Northern Unfest pre-show marked a shift into what Cassidy describes as their “most distilled, refined form yet.”
All five members—Cassidy on vocals, Robertson on bass, Graham and Chau on guitars, Henry on drums—handled the performances. Vocal recording was engineered by Malcolm Abbou (who also provided an additional “one man gang vocal”), drum tracking by Liam Graham, and bass recorded by Oliver Wardell.
Cassidy also curates two Spotify playlists. One focuses on modern crossover thrash and hardcore (featuring bands like Pest Control, Dead Heat, and Inhuman Nature), and the other highlights crossover from the UK and Ireland, mixing legacy acts like Deal With It and Moral Crusade with newer material.
The release is available now on Bandcamp as a name-your-price digital download in high-quality 24-bit/48kHz, along with a T-shirt featuring the cover design tweaked by Gary Thomson of Good Luck Wolf Photography.
