Debut vinyl release by NYC's Decisions. Split release with Death By Sheep Records!

Decisions formed in February of 2016 in New York City because Jacob, Ellen, Jonathan, and Liana all being in one band “seemed to make sense,” a hardcore punk group drawing from an inspired cross-section of outsider influences. Lingering elements of their members’ other projects seep in through the cracks: artful experimental restraint, blown-out noise, the occasional straightforward rock riff. At early shows in kitchens and basements of NYC Decisions created their sparse but hard-hitting weirdo freak-punk-through-a-tin-can sound with lyrics dissecting experiences of “class resentment, being queer and feeling powerful.” This was captured on a cassette in April of 2017, the six-song Plagiarism, released via Death By Sheep Records. Decisions are among the best punk bands in NYC and the tape left many wanting more.

Now behold: ten minutes of new Decisions, a seven-inch titled The Weight of the World Leaves a Broken Back set for a split release via Wharf Cat Records and Death By Sheep Records. Recorded at JMZ House in October of 2017 by Dave Rata, it’s a raw punk record that plays out almost like one complete sentence — a skeptical and nuanced thought about breaking down the walls and norms of a boring fucking world, and the gatekeepers and institutions reinforcing a busted status quo. It’s like a collective decision to push back and say No, with screeching feedback, ominous primal drums, sirening basslines. “Trapped” is at once an epiphany and a rejection while “Disform” uses rhythmic double-tracked vocals to sear into those who spew bullshit theories and meaningless words, all leading to some of the record’s most central questions: “I try my best to live comfortably in this body that I hate — Are we living outside this binary or creating another one?”

It’s a song that asks whether seemingly radical communities only end up creating their own hierarchies and power systems, a topic further pried open as “Gatekeeper” rails against the holders of power in hardcore, a world they seem content to tear apart and build anew on their own terms. “Rusted Shut” is the only song over two minutes, a slow and creeping build that eventually breaks and an example of this band’s cool use of pace and testing of patience. Is it a takedown of old guard systems and impossibly locked doors or just a meditation on some ancient building? Figure it out for yourself or don’t. The answers are never easy. Decisions suggests you can opt for a process instead. With unrelenting rage and disjointed grooves, The Weight of the World Leaves a Broken Back is the sound of a new New York punk underground, of chaos bending towards something more interesting. -Liz Pelly

Press

Impose Premieres "Trapped" w/ EP Announce ...No stone left unturned, the band's full force changes form as it hurtles to its close ... Hell-Lean howls, "Keep your eyes down!" And you do.

 Stereogum Streams "Trapped" ...red hot and snarling.