Since their inception in 2016, REGIONAL JUSTICE CENTER have quickly made a name for themselves as one of modern hardcore’s most viscerally compelling bands. Today, they’ve announced another entry in the band’s already formidable discography: the upcoming Institution EP, due out August 16th from Triple B Records. The band have also shared the first taste of Institution, “It Only Gets Worse,” a ferocious cut of punk riffs dialed up to powerviolence speeds with one of Regional Justice Center’s most punishing breakdowns to date.
Regional Justice Center is the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Ian Shelton (Seattle’s New Gods, Drug Culture), who started the band after his brother, Max, was incarcerated. Searching for an outlet to channel his frustration over his brother’s situation, as well as a means to involve Max in his music, Shelton created Regional Justice Center and released the band’s concept-driven debut full-length, World Of Inconvenience, in 2018. The album was met with critical acclaim from the likes of Noisey, Bandcamp, Revolver, The Quietus, and more for its uncompromising look at a family member’s incarceration and the corruption behind the American prison system. We discussed it thoroughly in our interview HERE.
While Shelton is the primary performer on Regional Justice Center’s recordings, the band has expanded to include a collective-like live lineup–allowing Shelton to tour relentlessly across North American and Europe. The band’s nonstop touring culminated in a 2019 split with Wound Man, further highlighting Shelton’s unusually thoughtful approach and attention to detail in making crushingly aggressive music. Now Institution broadens the scope of Regional Justice Center’s ire with an unflinching look at the dominance of societal systems that don’t have our best interests in mind, and the inevitability of bending to them. At five songs in six minutes, Regional Justice Center show no signs of slowing down and Will Killingsworth’s production is as savage as ever, but Shelton’s songwriting continues to sharpen and Institution finds the band pushing their fast/slow dynamic to even greater and more satisfying extremes.
Institution in Ian Shelton’s words:
“The System thrives on human lives. This time you recognize the body they’ve thrown on the pile. A loved one, a dear uncle. Last time you saw him you had just got a copy of Grand Theft Auto III, now he’s in for Grand Theft Auto. You’re used to it at this point, he’s been in and out of San Quentin since before you were born. You’re smart so you realize this is all just set up to prey on people and as you see your mother and brother added to the pile, you think “is this a sniper’s nest? When will I inevitably be picked off?”
Your uncle dies drunk driving a motorcycle, you watch your mother struggle to find jobs, your brother calls you every couple of days asking you to put money on his jpay. You rethink the next time you want to get in a fight, you rethink what you carry in your pockets, you drive a little more carefully.
In the end you make your peace with it, it is an Institution.”
Regional Justice Center have also announced a massive run of North American tour dates. In addition, the band will be performing at This Is Hardcore Fest in July, and playing with the legendary Siege in August. See full itinerary below.
07/27 Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts w/ Spine
07/28 Philadelphia, PA @ This Is Hardcore
08/18 Berkeley, CA @ 924 Gilman w/ Siege
09/12 Portland, OR @ Watershed PDX
09/13 Seattle, WA @ Black Lodge
09/14 Vancouver, BC @ 333
09/15 Boise, ID @ The Manor
09/16 Salt Lake City, UT @ Gold Blood
09/17 Denver, CO @ Seventh Circle
09/18 Omaha, NB @ Midtown Art Supply
09/19 St. Paul, MN @ Cadence Records
09/20 Milwaukee, WI @ JJ’s
09/21 Chicago, IL @ TBA
09/22 Detroit, MI @ Trumbellbox
09/24 Lakewood, OH @ The Symposium
09/26 Buffalo, NY @ The Firm #
09/27 Brooklyn, NY @ BK Bizarre Basement #
09/28 Townsend, MD @ Raven Inn #
09/29 Richmond, VA @ The Warehouse #
09/30 Raleigh, NC @ Local 506 #
10/01 Charlotte, NC @ The World Famous Milestone #
10/02 Atlanta, GA @ The Bakery #
10/03 Orlando, FL @ TBA #
10/04 Miami, FL @ Space Mountain #
10/05 Tampa, FL @ Blue Note #
10/07 Memphis, TN @ Hi Tone
10/08 Nashville, TN @ Drkmttr
10/09 Louisville, KY @ Spinelli’s
10/10 Fort Wayne, IN @ Bug House
10/11 St. Louis, MS @ Sinkhole
10/12 Kansas City, MS @ Sister Anne’s
10/13 Oklahoma City, OK @ 89th st
10/15 Dallas, TX @ Central Arts
10/16 San Antonio, TX @ Twin Sisters Cantina
10/17 Houston, TX @ Rudyards
10/18 Austin, TX @ Mohawk Inside
10/19 Tucson, AZ @ Desert Dweller Fest
10/20 Phoenix, AZ @ Unit 4# w/ Spine, Devil’s Den
