Former Regional Justice Center member Jerkova leads Punitive Damage, an absolutely ferocious Pacific Northwest hardcore punk band. Two years ago, Punitive Damage released their 18-minute debut LP This Is The Blackout, and it was awesome. Today, the band announces Hate Training, a new EP that’s directly about Israel’s genocidal attacks on Palestine.

Punitive Damage recorded the Hate Training EP with Japandroids collaborator Jesse Gander, and it was mixed by current Regional Justice Center member Taylor Young, also of bands like Twitching Tongues and God’s Hate. Mortality Rate/World Of Pleasure leader Jess Nyx appears on one song. Lead single “Baptism Of Fire” is a righteous stampede that fits a whole lot of ribcage-damaging riffage into less than a minute and a half. Here’s what Jerkova says about the EP:

Time after time after time, we fall for the hate training served to us. From the slaughter of the Indigenous peoples in the Americas, to the Third Reich, to the Vietnam War, to the War on Terror — empires point us towards a “subhuman boogyman” that must be destroyed at all costs, and with a big stupid fucking smile we say “okay.” And only after time has passed do we realize how we shamefully fell for the bullshit and how we can’t ever let that happen again. And we say “never again” or “we must learn from our mistakes.” Yet here we are again.

Below, check out “Baptism Of Fire,” the Hate Training tracklist, and Punitive Damage’s upcoming tour dates.

TRACKLIST:
01 “Hate Training”
02 “Baptism Of Fire”
03 “All Or Nothing”
04 “Chains Of Hate”
05 “Plaster Saints”
06 “Blight Of Apathy”

TOUR DATES:
10/08 – Vancouver, BC @ Bullys Studios
10/22 – Baltimore MD @ Holy Frijoles
10/23 – Roanoke, VA @ VFW 1264
10/24 – Charlotte, NC @ Milestone Club
10/25 – Chattanooga, TN @ Dragons Roast
10/27 – Gainesville, FL @ The Fest
10/28 – Birmingham, AL @ Firehouse
10/29 – New Orleans, LA @ Holy Diver
10/30 – Hattiesburg, MS @ TBA
10/31 – Dallas, TX @ Cheapsteaks
11/15 – Tulsa, OK @ Flyover Fest Pre-Show

The Hate Training EP is out 10/25 on Convulse.