An admirable and downright enjoyable compilation of currently existing harDCore! Washington D.C’s Second Street Records kick off their labels’ existence with a comp that gets the cohesive-yet-varied balance right with 14 tracks from 14 local area bands. In order of appearance… Brain Tourniquet, Reason Why, Expiration Date, Grand Scheme, Inversion, Laughing Corpse, Deliriant Nerve, Pray to Be Saved, Posición Unida, Protester, Retain, Seclusion, Sluggo and White Horses. The obvious historic analogy would obviously be ‘Flex Your Head’ (Dischord Records, 1982) but if anything this one brought to mind the excitement of first hearing ‘New York Hardcore: Where The Wild Things Are’ (Blackout! Records, 1989) for gut-level reasons I cannot explain. For me, navigating Hardcore in the 2020s often feels like a chore, but thankfully ‘Future Left Behind’ makes me believe, with 💯 sincerity, HARDCORE WILL NEVER DIE! — Nic Future Left Behind by Various
