After the recent wildfires devastated so much of Los Angeles, the city's vast hardcore scene has been doing its part to raise money for the fires' victims. On Grammy night a couple of weeks ago, an amazing slate of Los Angeles bands -- God's Hate, Rotting Out, Xibalba, Strife, Zulu, Downpresser, Watch You Fall, NY transplants H2O -- played a giant benefit show at the Belasco. Now, one of the city's newer bands is raising money and paying tribute to the city's history with a new EP of covers, featuring a bunch of special guests.
In general, hardcore has moved away from the snotty, melodic style of '80s LA and Orange County, but Cosmic Joke have something to say about that. Cosmic Joke, who released their self-titled full-length debut last year, go hard on nasal singsong singalong hooks. On their new EP Welcome To LA, they make that connection even more apparent, covering a bunch of foundational classics. They do Bad Religion's "We're Only Gonna Die" with God's Hate/Twitching Tongues guy Colin Young, X's "Los Angeles" with Fleshwater's Marisa Shirar, the Adolescents' "LA Girl" with Entry and Lockslip's Sara G, and Agent Orange's "Bloodstains" with Drain's Sammy Ciaramitario. On top of that, they throw in their own song "Cosmic Joke," and it fits.
Cosmic Joke recorded the EP with Taylor Young at his Pit studio, and all proceeds go directly to wildfire victims. These songs all rule, and it's fun to hear a younger band attacking them with serious vigor. Stream it below.
The Welcome To LA benefit is out now, and you can buy it at Bandcamp.
