We featured The Barbarians of California’s debut and were blown away. Their sophomore record MEGATONS takes everything that made that album so exciting and cranks it up to an even more ridiculous degree. If their debut turbocharged skate punk with chunky modern efffects pedals and metal influences, MEGATONS goes further still with riffs that are more stomping, more massive and more metal.

Across twenty six minutes of unapologetic balls-to-the-wall fun, Aaron Bruno is more unhinged than ever. Rather than trying to prove how tough they are, Bruno is a completely ridiculous character who throws his whole body into every scream and howl sitting in the lineage of Johnny Rotten and Jello Biafra, sounding completely fucking ridiculous and making that the whole point. On THE GNARLYCORE CLASS Bruno sounds as influenced by James Brown and Michael Jackson as he is by punk rock, and his exuberance roots the band firmly in the California sunshine as the riffs get heavier and heavier. VANILLA LATTE is absolutely ridiculous, but it’s making a sort of political point with its satirical refrain. BOMB TO A KNIFE FIGHT waits a full minute before tearing away with a full-throated scream, with noise gates so precisely calibrated that the switch from absolute silence to huge chunky chugs feels like getting beaten up. The band’s use of major keys in the upper register guitar riffs gives everything a sunny, positive quality that sits in completely mad contrast to the stomping metal underneath it, and in under half an hour it’s over before you know it. You’re laughing at the crazy things coming out of Aaron’s mouth while simultaneously being beaten around the head by the riffs. As Californian skate punk has evolved into modern hardcore, The Barbarians of California have emerged as one of the genre’s most exciting and entertaining prospects.