3 out of 5

Label: Deathwish

Produced by: Self Defense Family?

A live-recorded selection of four tracks, passionately performed and produced such that you’d have no clue this was live if not for being told, not only for the fidelity, which is crystal clear and catches high and low ends, but because there’s no studio chatter or band banter – this is two songs a side, done diligently, no pause for breath.

On each side you get something more expansive and something a bit more drop-of-the-hat aggressive, with Patrick Kindlon’s Spencer Moody-ish talk-shout vocals and the SDF Discord-y DC rawk sound.  To my untrained Self Defense Family ear (…I only have a few singles, no full albums), the longer tracks here (Self Immolation Family; Turn the Fan On) are the money, giving the group time to spread out, ebb and flow, and say some interesting things.  The shorter tracks (Mehmet Ali Ağca; Tithe Pig) are sort of standard hardcore fare, and I mean standard standard: if you’re not a fan, there’s not much here to differentiate the group from others, beyond the quality performance.

However, if you know these songs from elsewhere, the energy present on the live cuts makes this a worthwhile listen.