Review / 200 Words Or Less
One Step Forward
Positive Thinking

Our Pride (2006) — Jason

One Step Forward – Positive Thinking cover artwork
One Step Forward – Positive Thinking — Our Pride, 2006

Hey wow, great, albeit, generic 2000-era straightedge hardcore in the vein of Floorpunch, In My Eyes and Fastbreak before they wanted girlfriends. This EP is all about the stage dives; dive-bomb intros, and playing as fast as humanly possible without losing a sense of melody. If the last song, "No End in Site," weren't your typical Modern Life is War/Comeback Kid type of emotional outpouring where everyone needs to sing along then I'd be all over this. Still, not bad at all.

8.0 / 10 — Jason • July 31, 2007

One Step Forward – Positive Thinking cover artwork
One Step Forward – Positive Thinking — Our Pride, 2006

Recently-posted album reviews

Blood & Sun

Aion's Light
Nordvis (2026)

The trajectory of Blood & Sun has been one of natural evolution. Starting off from rough demos, the project of Luke Tromiczak slowly became something more immersive and complete. The compositions grew richer, the songwriting more nuanced, and the production cleaner. However, the creative process does not necessarily have to be about looking forward and evolving, and in fact at … Read more

The Loved Ones

LATEST HITS!
Lovemonk Records, SofaBurn (2026)

I'll admit, when I first saw a new album from The Loved Ones land in my inbox, I got pretty excited. Being a fan of the Philadelphia punk band fronted by Dave Hause, I thought I was about to hear something I hadn't expected. Unfortunately, these weren't the Loved Ones I was looking for. However, what I discovered instead was … Read more

Haywire 617

I Don't Wanna Say Goodbye
Roadrunner (2026)

How does one describe what differentiates a good hardcore band vs. something special within the space.It's really difficult to explain but Haywire 617 has proven to be something special.When boiled down to base elements Haywire is a hardcore band in the vein of something like latter day Blood For Blood (specifically their more Rock n' Roll/Oi elements with Rob singing). … Read more