"I wanna club you like a baby seal!" hollers 56-year-old Keith Morris, formerly of Black Flag and the Circle Jerks, in "King Kong Brigade," the climax of this hot new hardcore outfit's full-length debut. Morris, one of L.A.'s crustiest punks, and his similarly ripe crew manage a neat trick, sounding like hopped-up young men as they bash out 16 buzz-saw-and-brimstone tracks in as many minutes. On "I Got News for You," Morris even attacks a "king of a scene," like he just stumbled off the bus. But the singer – his bellow clear and bright as ever – doesn't merely vent. He inhabits characters, from junkies to gun nuts. And his best lines ("Sulfuric after-shave – my spirit can't be saved!") rate as gonzo poetry.

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“Youth Knows No Pain”

“Like on 'Youth Knows No Pain' — we are the ones that should demonstrate, because we can take it,” Likke Li said. “We can pierce ourselves, take Ecstasy, dance all night and still go to work at our McDonald's jobs.” Despite the hedonistic sentiment in the song, the Swedish singer also admitted in hindsight her youth had repercussions. “I remember when I was 18-19 and feeling that I know it all,” Li said. “I always feel that I know it all. But that song is about realizing you don’t, and reflecting, ‘Boy, if I only knew what would follow.’”