Review / 200 Words Or Less
Explode and Make Up
Some Kind of Diplomat

Underground Communiqué (2009) Jason

Explode and Make Up – Some Kind of Diplomat cover artwork
Explode and Make Up – Some Kind of Diplomat — Underground Communiqué, 2009

Any band that names themselves after a Sugar song automatically wins major points with me. And it doesn't hurt the band's cause when you hear names like Dag Nasty and 7 Seconds batted around in reviews either. Explode and Make up features the singer of 88 Fingers Louie as well as members from The Bomb and The Suicide Machines. And yes, they play old school melodic hardcore in the vein of bands mentioned above. I even hear bits of 411 and even the all mighty Lifetime. There's plenty of fast catchy hardcore with a couple of "whoahs" and hooks that will leave you humming these six songs in bank lines. If know me, you know I eat this stuff up like a box of Mike and Ike's.

8.5 / 10Jason • December 10, 2009

Explode and Make Up – Some Kind of Diplomat cover artwork
Explode and Make Up – Some Kind of Diplomat — Underground Communiqué, 2009

Recently-posted album reviews

Professor and the Madman

Dreamworld
FullerTone Records (2026)

ALBUM HIGHLIGHTS – “Brand New World”, “12 Strings and Tambourines”, “Adams Street”, “Temple of Madness” It’s rare to find these days. A band (or maybe supergroup, in this case) that defies all genre boundaries and just…creates. Alfie Agnew (Adolescents, D.I.) and Sean Elliott (D.I., Mind Over Four) are familiar names from Orange County’s early 80s hardcore and psych-punk scenes, but … Read more

Chat Pile

Who Loves The Sun
Flenser (2026)

If Chat Pile were a film, they would be a dark thriller. The kind that builds tension until the end and, once we reach the third act, still might not ever show the killer. It's plodding and intense and, while I just pulled out a genre reference, the best thing about the band is how much they defy conventional musical … Read more

Generacion Suicida

Hombre Nuevo
Vitriol (2026)

On the tail end of Autogramm’s 2018 tour of Mexico (what little I remember of that week now is a lot of pulque and not a lot of sleep) I visited the one punk record store in CDMX that I found via googling where to buy bootleg punk t-shirts. I’d already visited Venas Rotas Discos earlier on the trip and … Read more