Review / 200 Words Or Less
Puppy and the Hand Jobs
I Hate Everything

Black Gladiator / Slovenly Recordings (2019) — Andy Armageddon

Puppy and the Hand Jobs – I Hate Everything cover artwork
Puppy and the Hand Jobs – I Hate Everything — Black Gladiator / Slovenly Recordings, 2019

It'd be quite easy to write off (the fantastically named) Puppy and the Hand Jobs for making self-described “trash rock and roll.” Much as is the case with bands like The Dwarves however, while the band does produce vulgar rapid-fire punk music that seems to have been recorded as “hot” as possible, there’s an undeniably catchiness to their music. 2019’s I Hate Everything demonstrates this quite nicely.

Certainly tracks like “Cocksucker” and “Predator” would have some clutching their pearls (hell, the former track has a music video released through, gulp, Pornhub, and no, I'm not linking it), but midway through this 10-minute EP, the band uncorks “Plan 9” and shows that they can, in fact, deliver genuinely infectious tracks that aren’t overtly offensive. Perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised by this: frontman Jamie Paul Lamb had some of his previous work featured on the excellent We’re Loud compilation a few years back. I don’t know that I’d go so far as to call I Hate Everything a masterpiece, but it also isn’t remotely trying to be. It’s simply an energetic and fun album for those with, ahem, refined tastes.

Puppy and the Hand Jobs – I Hate Everything cover artwork
Puppy and the Hand Jobs – I Hate Everything — Black Gladiator / Slovenly Recordings, 2019

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