PacNW hardcore band Punitive Damage (whose vocalist Steph Jerkova used to play bass in Regional Justice Center) have announced a new EP, Hate Training, which comes out on October 25 via Convulse Records (pre-order) and follows their 2022 debut LP This Is The Blackout. The EP was recorded by Jesse Gander (Japandroids, White Lung, etc) and mixed by Taylor Young (who, in addition to his countless credits, is now also in Regional Justice Center), and a press release says the songs “directly address the Israel/Palestine conflict.”
“Time after time after time, we fall for the hate training served to us,” Jerkova says. “From the slaughter of the Indigenous peoples in the Americas, to the Third Reich, to the Vietnam War, to the War on Terror–empires point us towards a ‘subhuman boogyman’ that must be destroyed at all costs, and with a big stupid f-cking smile we say ‘okay.’ And only after time has passed do we realize how we shamefully fell for the bullsh-t, and how we can’t ever let that happen again. And we say ‘never again’ or ‘we must learn from our mistakes.’ Yet here we are again.”
The first single is the fast-paced, pissed-off “Baptism of Fire,” and you can hear that one below, along with a list of the band’s upcoming tour dates.
Tracklist
1. Hate Training
2. Baptism of Fire
3. All or Nothing
4. Chains of Hate
5. Plaster Saints
6. Blight of Apathy
Punitive Damage — 2024 Tour Dates
10/08 Vancouver, BC @ Bullys Studios
10/22 Baltimore MD @ Holy Frijoles
10/23 Roanoke, VA @ VFW 1264
10/24 Charlotte, NC @ Milestone Club
10/25 Chattanooga, TN @ Dragons Roast
10/27 Gainesville, FL @ THE FEST
10/28 Birmingham, AL @ Firehouse
10/29 New Orleans, LA @ Holy Diver
10/30 Hattiesburg, MS @ TBA
10/31 Dallas, TX @ Cheapsteaks
11/15 Tulsa, OK @ Flyover Fest Pre-show