Established in 1995 and influenced by oldschool hardcore-punk and crossover, Denver’s longest running hardcore punk band! CLUSTERFUX has shared the stage with DRI, Agnostic Front, the Faction, GBH, the Accused AD, The Exploited, Subhumans, DI, Sacred Reich, Sworn Enemy, MDC, Agent Orange, Verbal Abuse, Citizen Fish, UK Subs, Vice Squad and many, many more, and this Summer the band is back with new EP dubbed “Blood”! We have teamed up witht the band for a full track by track breakdown with some extra details about this raging release, and you can check it out below!
Catch the band live later this week, August 25th, with Verbal Assault and Chew Thru, performing live in Denver.
“Right before the pandemic hit we signed to a record label that we were really excited and proud to be part of.” – comments Clusterfux Josh.
“As things went the contract expired during the pandemic and we never got to record that album. We took advantage of the down time and decided to focus on releasing an ep, hopefully as a lead up to that full length. The result is ‘Blood’, a six song assault of crossover hardcore / thrashcore that does not oversstay its welcome. Its one of those eps that you listen to 2 or 3 times in a row and then maybe again just for good measure.”
Rawhead – I hadn’t seen the movie ‘Rawhead Rex’ since the late 80’s probably and although I’m not a huge horror fan I do like campy 80’s style horror and monster style movies. Watching this movie as an adult I realized how much of it didnt make sense, there was something missing in the movie that seemed important to the story line. I Googled it and learned it was based on a short story by Clive Barker. After reading a bit about the short story it was very clear that the story was about toxic masculinity, the monster was the embodiment of these behaviors. In the end its only the divine, feminine, light that can destroy the beast. I try to make the real story more obvious in the lyrics.
Blood – This one is for the skateboarders. The injuries in the song happened to me or a couple of friends that were hanging out while I was writing the lyrics. It’s also an “us against them” song. “Fuck the jocks, fuck the cops, fuck the dicks that bust our spots!”
Letters – This one appears on a bunch of our releases, we just change the lyrics to reflect people in the current spotlight who suck. This version is focused on Kyle Rittenhouse and Lauren Boebert, the embarrassment of Colorado. Its a short DRI style skanker thats always a fun one to play. This version also has a nod to Agnostic Front with the “yeeeoowww!”. The original inspiration for this song was a piece in Mad Magazine back in early 90’s. There was a tear postcard you could send to George Bush. So the original title was ‘Letter to the President’.
Is This For Real? – Either you know or you dont. This is a nod to the old school.
Dont Be A Dick – Pretty self explanatory but was inspired by some very selfish behavior by a person I considered a friend for a long time. I wish them well but I wish they could see how much easier their life would be if they would let go of that chip on their shoulder. Ego is the enemy that clouds our views and judgements and drives us to unskillful behaviors. A lot of people are trying so hard to protect the “self” when there is no self. Letting go of that shit clears the path to happiness but takes work. Not everyone is ready to put in that work. Guest vocals on the choruses are from the one and only Duane of Seattle’s the Derelicts!
No Peace – The core inspiration of this song is ‘The List’ by Filth. I use current events to show the hypocrisy of aging so called “punks” and hardcore dudes as they become more conservitive. “You used to like MDC but now you’re watching Hannity!” That sums it up pretty well. The chorus is aimed at the police, “No Peace, Convict the Police”. I think in the song part of the idea is some people that I used to be close to sang along to ‘The List’ but now they are spouting shit like “blue lives matter”.
