Battalion Zoska New Blood

Punk band from Philadelphia, USA featuring members of Violent Society and Combat Crisis.Battalion Zoska (That's "Zoe-sh-ka") is the new band fronted by Pat of Philly punk bastions Violent Society. While VS may have reveled in the youthful shroud of American Street punk, the BZs take a decidedly more mature and nuanced approached- but thankfully, this is one of the cases where "more mature" doesn't mean softer or slower. To that end, the entire self-titled album seems have been written and recorded with great consideration. Yes, there is a base of street punk here, but the band cherry picks the high points of hardcore, oi, classic punk, and even some metal here. "Sold and Bought" almost verges on the poppy jump of Buzzcocks while "Island of Lost Souls" sits in that sweet spot between grime metal and grime punk- call it Motorhead with slightly less rock and more hatred, if you will.