The Gay Agenda - Penetrating - 12" LP

The Gay Agenda - Penetrating - 12" LP

Clear Screen-printed Vinyl

11 Tracks

The wonderful—and by now hopefully less shocking—dichotomy that defines The Gay Agenda rightfully places them among the most interesting debut acts in the hardcore scene in 2020. Formed in San Diego in 2017, they released an EP in 2018 and now arrive with their first LP, Penetrating.

A title that already says a lot about this band, whose sound is rooted in hardcore (grindcore), very much in the style of Napalm Death during their Scum era. To be clear, it’s impossible not to recognize influences such as Tragedy, Disrupt, or Limp Wrist.

Now that the musical framework is clear, it’s important to focus on the cultural roots of this genre—intellectual, yes, no, maybe—but certainly hyper-masculine, shaped by nihilism and misogyny. Breaking the link between alpha masculinity and hardcore punk, in all its forms, comes queercore. And in San Diego, new stars are emerging: The Gay Agenda.

With songs like “Homo Riot” (featuring Justin Pearson of Retox and The Locust) and “Masculinity Is A Prison,” they become the perfect manifesto for a moment in history that is more than controversial.

We needed bands to come back and emphasize these ideas—of that, there is no doubt (no irony).

—Valentina Vagnoni, Salad Days

La Escalera Records : LER-058