Review / 200 Words Or Less
Offsides
It's a Struggle to Communicate

Get Outta Town (2008) — Michael

Offsides – It's a Struggle to Communicate cover artwork
Offsides – It's a Struggle to Communicate — Get Outta Town, 2008

Here's something new for you. Well maybe not new, but something we don't get much of these days. Offsides is a fast-paced melodic hardcore group from Connecticut with a female front-person. It's a Struggle to Communicate is the band's latest offering, a six-song EP.

Musically the group draws influence from legendary groups like 7 Seconds and Gorilla Biscuits. The music is charged with energetic drumming and some sweet riffing. You get some nice scorching riffs, but you also get bouncing melodies as well. It's a nice mix and contrast, which gives the EP a lot of personality.

Where the band will obviously distinguish themselves is with Danielle Allen's vocals. A female-fronted hardcore band isn't exactly an everyday thing in the macho world that is hardcore (don't act like it is). But regardless of her sex, Allen's deliver works extremely well with the sound quickly fired slightly higher-pitched shouts. Lyrically things cover social issues, another thing she has up on a lot of her peers.

If fast hardcore is your deal, check this out. Offsides write some slick tunes, and they have something worth listening to lyrically as well.

7.0 / 10 — Michael • August 3, 2008

Offsides – It's a Struggle to Communicate cover artwork
Offsides – It's a Struggle to Communicate — Get Outta Town, 2008

Related news

No Harm Done / Offsides Split 7"

Posted in Records on June 25, 2009

Recently-posted album reviews

Moonraker

Me and the Bells
Punkerton Records (2026)

I have probably talked about this before, I knew of Moonraker through split EPs and things like that, but they didn't fully pop into my consciousness until The Forest. Me and the Bells, four years later, is their follow-up full-length and it continues the trajectory from that record while still capturing its own distinct vibe. Musically the band is heavily … Read more

Dreamwell

Hymns for the Denial of God
Prosthetic (2026)

Some records make their intentions obvious from the very beginning. They use the same structure that countless bands have for decades: verse, chorus, breakdown, payoff, and the blunt force of explaining what you are supposed to feel. Hymns for the Denial of God does something much more complex. It’s a series of difficult questions no one wants to answer, proposed … Read more

Wine Lips

TV Dinner
Stomp Records (2026)

ALBUM HIGHLIGHTS – “Leech”, “Semi Detached Furnished Home”, “Strip Club DJ”, “Static On The Radio” Toronto’s garage-psych punks Wine Lips bring us album number five. Aside from the awesomely colourful, off-the-wall humanoid artwork, TV Dinner takes a sharp turn from the sonically trippy toppings of previous entries – particularly 2024’s Mushroom Death Sex Bummer Party. Tracks are punchy fuzz-bombs, as … Read more