Music
Foulbrood
Maryland punks rattle the bones of their D.C. hardcore ancestors
Something is rotten in the suburbs of Maryland. Could it be the smell of teen spirit? "Life's a twitch and then you die," Two Inch Astronaut's Sam Rosenberg sings on "Part of Your Scene," sounding like he's simultaneously scribbling in someone's yearbook. The band's second album is about life passing by too quickly, from the first sting of feeling old ("Cigarettes, Boys, and Movies") to the gravitas of untimely death ("Dead White Boy"). Rosenberg's falsetto rolls freely over the record's abrupt chord changes, swinging from a whisper to a scream with surprising strength. These punks may barely pass for 23, but Foulbrood captures the depth of the Dischord Records bands that they emulate.