Over the last five years REGIONAL JUSTICE CENTER have become an unstoppable force. Led by vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Ian Shelton, the band have earned their reputation as one of the most exciting bands in modern hardcore through a steady stream of unrelentingly intense music, exhaustive touring, and Shelton’s confrontational-yet-thought-provoking lyrics. Today the Los Angeles/Seattle-based group are announcing their eagerly anticipated sophomore full-length, Crime and Punishment, due out March 5th from Closed Casket Activities. Produced/engineered by Taylor Young at The Pit Recording Studios, Crime and Punishment ramps up RJC’s vicious blend of aggression and speed, and pairs it with Shelton’s most unflinching writing to date.
To mark the announcement RJC has shared two new songs from the album, “Absence” and “Inhuman Joy.” The tracks offer a taste of the escalated dynamics found on Crime and Punishment–the former a blast beat-laden hardcore stomp and the latter a churning dirge of distorted bass with Shelton’s vitriolic roar asking, “do you lie to get what you want?”
Regional Justice Center began in 2016 as an outlet for Shelton to channel his frustration over the incarceration of his brother, Max. The band’s 2018 debut LP, World Of Inconvenience, was an uncompromising look at the corruption within the American for-profit prison system that drew critical acclaim from the likes of Noisey, Bandcamp Daily, Revolver, The Quietus, and more. On Crime and Punishment (which follows 2019’s split 7″ with Wound Man and Institution EP, and last year’s Regional Jurtice Center collaboration with Justice Tripp (Trapped Under Ice and Angel Du$t) and KKK Tattoo single) Shelton continues to take a personal and human approach to exploring broad societal ills–this time looking inward at the formative experiences that informed his own trajectory. “I realized part way through writing that I was making a record about my roots and the way they shaped who I am,” Shelton explains. “The first half of the record is about cause and the second half is about consequence.” Crime and Punishment directly tackles these nuanced themes that often propel Shelton’s work: choice, control, vicious cycles, institutions with no regard for the people they impact, and more–all across a blistering 13 minutes of crushing hardcore that’s sure to stay with the listener for much longer.
Artwork by Mark McCoy
Crime and Punishment track list:
1. Taught To Steal
2. Dust Off
3. Absence
4. Inhuman Joy
5. Sickness On Display
6. Conquest
7. Concrete
8. Solvent
9. Violent Crime
10. …And Punishment
Since their inception in 2016, Regional Justice Center have quickly proven themselves to be one of modern hardcoreโs most viscerally compelling bands. Led by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Ian Shelton, the band take a uniquely nuanced approach to making music that thrives on extremes, and have become just as known for their vicious riffs as Sheltonโs unflinching lyricsโwhich explore wide-reaching societal ills from a deeply human level. Now, on Regional Justice Centerโs sophomore full-length Crime and Punishment, Shelton has combined a lifetimeโs worth of reflection with the bandโs always crushing musicality to create a definitive work as uncompromising as it is vital.
Regional Justice Centerโwhose line-up now includes guitarists Alex Haller and Che Hise-Gattone, and bassist Steph Jerkovaโis inextricably connected to Sheltonโs family. The band began as a cathartic outlet for Shelton shortly after the incarceration of his brother, Max; an event that became the primary subject of RJCโs 2018 debut album, World of Inconvenience. The albumโs unvarnished depiction of the for-profit prison system, and its impact on those incarcerated and their loved ones, introduced many of the themes that propel Sheltonโs work: that life is full of choices, but not always control; that institutions are often there to punish those who fall, but not to help them back on their feet; and that cycles are easy to start, but hard to stop. On Crime and Punishment, Shelton looks inward at the experiences, upbringing, and choices that shaped him.
Shelton is restlessly prolific, often writing in intensive streaks: after World of Inconvenience, RJC released a split with Wound Man, the Institution EP; the Regional Jurtice Center collaborative EP with Justice Tripp of Trapped Under Ice and Angel Du$t; and the KKK Tattoo singleโall while undertaking an exhausting worldwide touring schedule. โI just try to ride the wave of whatever Iโm doing,โ he explains. โI tend to stay in a certain creative mindset for a while and it just fuels more ideas.โ Crime and Punishment took shape during one of these streaks, with writing starting in January 2020 and RJC entering The Pit Recording Studio with producer/engineer Taylor Young just four months later. Youngโs detail-oriented production proved to be a natural fit for Sheltonโs obsessive drive as the two pushed RJCโs sound into more pummeling territory than ever before. โA lot of times my songwriting can be about deprivationโwith grind, power violence, or any short form songwriting itโs about withholding until the right moment to make the most impact,โ Shelton says. โTaylor really pushed me to be more open to those kinds of parts and find even more dynamics in the songs.โ The result is ten songs of whiplash-inducing hardcore that do more in 13 minutes than many bands do in 40, with Shelton seamlessly intergrating influences from across aggressive music, as well as formative classics ranging from Black Flag to Dystopia.
But Crime and Punishmentโs connections back to Sheltonโs origins go far beyond musical influences. โI realized part way through writing that I was making a record about my roots and the way they shaped who I am,โ he explains. โThe first half of the record is about cause and the second half is about consequence.โ Opener โTaught To Stealโ immediately lays out these ideas with a sonic and lyrical gutpunch. โFamily members taught me to shoplift, I passed that on to my brother, it was planted in me so early that it was a normal thing. The title is literal but itโs also about wanting to change yourself.โ The inheritance of familial trauma and growing up in the shadow of abuse and addiction are examined on songs like โAbsenceโ and โDust Off,โ but never through blame or moralizing. On โSickness On Display,โ Shelton directly rejects that kind of judgement. โYou see your family getting into fights on the front lawn and know your friends and neighbors are watching, too,โ he recalls. โItโs about seeing your family through other peopleโs eyes and feeling like a sideshow.โ
Side B picks up with the unhinged slice of blown-out guitars and distorted bass โConquest,โ which finds those years of frustration manifesting into a chip on the shoulder and a relentless desire to prove oneself. That cutting self-awareness continues on โConcrete,โ a reality check about lofty ideas and homelessness. โAmbition can be helpful but itโs also futile,โ Shelton says. โYou can be too focused on how other people perceive you. Itโs about who you think you are vs. who you actually are.โ
The final tracks on Crime and Punishment highlight what is arguably Regional Justice Centerโs greatest strength: the ability to imbue brutal music with a deeply felt sense of humanity. โSolventโ delves into the escapism of drug use and finds empathy in the desire for a temporary reprieve from lifeโs harshness. โViolent Crimeโ weaves Sheltonโs personal story together with that of his brother, and his family as a whole. โThe same temper, the same violence exists in me,โ he says. โA big part of the band is about how while our lives have split in different directions, they could have easily been the same because we came from the same cycle.โ
Crime and Punishment closes with โ…And Punishment,โ a two minute encapsulation of everything thatโs come before. As the song careens from a blistering explosion of drums and guitars into a truly monolithic riff, Shelton roars, โI wish there was a way to get back home, but weโre left to carry the weight.โ The albumโs final moments are a swell of multi-tracked drums that beat like a relentless, seemingly unbreakable march of passed down circumstances and vicious cyclesโuntil it suddenly stops. โUltimately the record is about taking ownership of your life,โ Shelton says. โYou have to do that when you do good, and when you do bad.โ
