Public Acid are back with a new EP called Pay No More, and it rips. The North Carolina hardcore punk crew have never done subtle, and this new one leans all the way into the chaos they've been chasing since 2017's Condemnation seven-inch. It's deranged. That's the whole point.
For anyone who caught the warped, metallic snarl of 2021's Deadly Struggle, you already know the deal: Public Acid build riffs that sound like they're melting in real time, then crank the tempo past breaking. Pay No More keeps that energy and sharpens it. Short tracks, zero filler, maximum noise.
The band have spent years as one of the loudest, strangest voices in the American hardcore underground, and this EP feels like another step forward for a group that keeps pushing their sound into weirder places. It's ugly in the best way.
Put it on loud. Public Acid wouldn't want it any other way, and neither should you.