In the days just before the pandemic, I used to see the DIY hardcore punk band Haircut play tons of house shows here in Central Virginia. I might’ve actually seen their first show, and then I got to watch them get better and better over the next few years. Haircut haven’t released anything since their 2019 EP Sensation, but (former?) singer Juliana hit me up last night to let me know three haircut members have a brand new band.

The new band is called Box — an even more SEO-unfriendly name than Haircut, somehow. The band’s demo has been up online for a couple of weeks, but I’m only just hearing it now, and it’s awesome. Box’s fast, strident hardcore punk is just as immediate and fearsome as what these folks were making with Haircut. Their first five songs all clock in under the two-minute mark, and at least one of them, the closing track “Unaware,” already sounds like an anthem. If you like Gel, then you should really fuck with this one. Stream the demo below.