In Rotation: Leftöver Crack - Constructs of the State

Leftöver Crack releases their third full-length album this week. It is worth the wait. The band's last album came out 11 years ago. That was the anarcho crust punk classic Fuck World Trade. Since then, the band has toured sporadically and released the mostly meh Deadline split with Citizen Fish in 2007. News has been scarce for Leftöver Crack fans for years. The band, after all, was formed as a way for frontman Scott "Stza" Sturgeon to get songs out there that were never recorded by his other bands. In 2015 it is again time to Beware The Wrath Of The Victim.

There is a lot to like here for fans of the crack rock steady sound. "¡Poliamor Fiesta Crack!" embraces this style with upstringing, gang vocals and sections that are airy and upbeat mixed with sections that are rough and rigid. "Corrupt Vision" and "System Fucked" are potent ska-core romps, the latter featuring Jesse Michaels of Operation Ivy and Classics of Love. "Slave to the Throne" is a metal-based thrasher. "Archaic Subjugation" takes on the task of replacing the Leftöver Crack theme song at the top of the album. Both of Leftöver Crack's first two full-lengths opened with a song built around the same guitar riff. "Archaic Subjugation" hits the mark with a short, fierce blast to kick things off. "Bedbugs & Beyond" is my favorite song on the album after a few listens. It features Houston folk punkers Days N' Daze. It gets an all out folk punk intro at the end of the previous track and carries on in an electric crusty folk fervor.

Some of these songs, like "The Lie of Luck" and "Loneliness & Heartache" have a Star Fucking Hipsters flavor to them. Leftöver Crack has always lived among a group of crack rock steady bands, so it is not surprising to see one of the more recently active ones leaking in a little bit. The chiptune-y closer "The War at Home" is an Intro5pect cover (the two newest additions to the current Leftöver Crack lineup are also in Intro5pect). This is the first Leftöver Crack record since the departure of longtime guitarist Ezra Kire. Brad Logan, Alec Baillie and Stza remain in the band. This still sounds like a solid Leftöver Crack album. They are still holding down that crack rock steady beat. Lyrically, they continue to rail on religion, government and the military.

Constructs of the State comes out on Friday. You can stream it now here. Listen to "Bedbugs & Beyond" below.