Most JankySmooth readers are likely familiar with the recent “hardcore renaissance” that music outlets have been raving about post-Covid with the rise of bands like Turnstile, Drain, Scowl, and Knocked Loose; but less talked about are the current revivals of punk subgenres that have not quite yet received the same level of media attention. LA’s underground is deeply familiar with the excitement surrounding the rising popularity in Oi, street punk, and more recently: powerviolence. During the 2010’s powerviolence and the incorporations of genres like noise and power-electronics were much more common than you see in the hardcore scene nowadays, but there is a rising scene of artists hoping to bring the avant-garde abrasive elements of anarcho-punk back to the forefront.
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Hong Kong Fuck You (HFKY for short) are among the leaders in blazing this trail, and their dedication to the art of noise is so unique in the modern landscape that LA’s staple promoter for the rare vinyl side of hardcore punk, Nothingless Booking, decided to host a mini-festival at 1720 Warehouse on November 7, 2025 around this concept. It was an absolutely stacked bill including Azusa’s powerviolence legends ACxDC, the recent reunion of 90’s Ohio powerviolence greats Apartment 213, LA’s current landmark band for backyard and independent shows Desmadre, and many more. JankySmooth was there to cover the evening of ear-blistering chaos, and we couldn’t imagine a better celebration for the long-needed return of harsh noise to hardcore punk.
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GOLPE one of the rarer (and groovier) bands on the bill, coming all the way from Milan, Italy and absolutely tearing the stage apart as frontman Tadzio Pederzolli thrashes around like a banshee and dives into the crowd like it’s second nature for him. GOLPE definitely had more of an old-school edge to them than some of the experimental explosions of noise we would hear later in the night, but they were just as heavy as any of the bands on the lineup with their classic punk attitude and chaos they brought to the stage. We’ve seen them around these parts quite a bit the last couple years. Seems like Nacho and Nothing Less book them to play anytime they can and we thank them for that.
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Apartment 213 completely flipped the energy to a new direction from the classic hardcore punk style of Golpe, diving into a much darker and much more abrasive style with their emphasis on breakdowns, gritty lo-fi production, and high-pitched shrieking vocals as vocalist Steven Meketa screams like a dying animal in a rapid pace towards the crowd. Sporting a shirt from the controversial Peter Sotos group Whitehouse, it’s clear that Apartment 213’s soul purpose is to evoke overwhelming fear and anger in the listener rather than trying to fit into any scene in particular. The concept of trying to make the most inaccessible, offensive music possible is somewhat lost in modern underground scenes; sometimes it takes a reunion from veterans in the art of subversiveness to make punk rock feel truly dangerous again.
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If you haven’t seen Desmadre yet, then you might as well revoke your punk card as far as the LA scene goes. We challenge you to find a single band that is more well-rounded in the different sorts of punk events they play and scenes they can fit into. You can see Desmadre on a street-punk backyard lineup, a hardcore festival lineup, or hell even a garage rock lineup; and they will deliver the same in-your-face carefree and reckless performance every time without fail. While they’re mostly recognizable from the clown makeup of vocalist Carlos Moreno and the Los Angeles Chicano culture that they incorporate heavily, they are much more than just an aesthetic with the wild party they bring to every lineup they perform on. If you want to get the crowd moving and some foolishly violent dancing going, Desmadre is a necessity in your show’s lineup.
ACxDC, or Antichrist Demoncore, are easily one of the most notable post-1990’s powerviolence acts and it’s incredibly easy to see why with their unwavering dedication to the genre’s sound at all times, instantly iconic demonic merchandising, and willingness to play any sort of lineup that they think they can bring their brand of hyperaggressive violence to. While they’ve been consistently playing throughout the past decade and a half, seeing them now feels just as exciting as it did back in the day. It’s insanely impressive how they’ve been able to cultivate such a dedicated fanbase and stay as relevant as ever with younger generations, as new fans from Gen Z seem to love them just as much as the millennials who saw them back in the day.
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ACxDC is here to stay forever and should be treated with the same reverence as powerviolence greats like Infest and Man Is The Bastard. No one has done the genre justice quite like ACxDC since they arrived on the scene, but Hong Kong Fuck You is shaping up to take the torch from them as the leading band in noise-centric hardcore punk for the 2020’s.
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Hong Kong Fuck You seems to be everywhere in the LA punk scene lately, with their iconic character branding and their brand of distorted, lo-fi, bass-heavy wall-of-noise punk that completely fill any room they play with. As I said earlier, they are certainly gearing up to be the Kings of Powerviolence for the 2020’s with how fast they’ve risen and similar to ACxDC, how iconic their branding is.
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Even more unique is their band set-up, consisting of 3 bassists and vocalist/drum machine and noise composer Christian Hell. If you couldn’t tell just by hearing how bizarre that lineup of members is, HKFY is pure chaos in noise and in spirit. Coming from Tijuana, Mexico, they are creating a completely unique brand of punk on their own without the influence of modern trends like beatdown hardcore or Oi-punk. Hong Kong Fuck You wants to play as loudly and as aggressively as possible, and they want your ears bleeding by the end of each set.
For true adrenaline junkies that live for the stimulating heightened anxiety that noise music provides, there are few bands delivering harder than Hong Kong Fuck You at the moment. Beyond that very specific niche type of listener, they are skillfully managing to bring newcomers to harsh noise and powerviolence into the scene with how appealing their branding and personality is. This festival was such an incredible mix of past legends of powerviolence and rapid, aggressive hardcore punk, along with the young blood who are paving the way for these influences to keep existing in the genre. Powerviolence is on its way to becoming one of the newest developments in the transformation of the current hardcore scene, and there isn’t a better time than now to see the artists who are leading this change; and with how much attention they are receiving at the moment, HFKY specifically.
Words by Danny Ryan
Photos by Taylor Wong
