Ryan O'Connor

Mar 26, 2025 | noecho.net | Ryan O'Connor

While Boston Hardcore certainly gets a lot of the spotlight in the underground scene for pioneering so much and for its members having their finger on the cultural trigger, the city’s punk scene has been just as legendary and forward thinking. With names like Dropkick Murphy’s, The Ducky Boys, Darkbuster, The Trouble, and Showcase Showdown it’s surprising that Boston’s punk scene doesn't get as much shine as it used to.

Jan 31, 2025 | noecho.net | Ryan O'Connor

We’re settling back into the brutal winter up here in New England once again and it’s time for the musical landscape to get dark and brutal again. Of course, that’s all I listen to in the other 11 months out of the year but that’s neither here nor there. Either way, it’s now 2025 and I’m gonna start off with some of the most violent music out of New Hampshire, Iron Gate.

Dec 3, 2024 | noecho.net | Ryan O'Connor

It seems like the year is closing out strong with some great releases from both established and up and coming bands. Low Tide from Boston has certainly made a splash in my recent listening with their debut EP. Once I heard that Jimmy (guitar) and Garrett (bass) of Sick Minds were making hardcore again, I knew it had to be good stuff.

Nov 15, 2024 | noecho.net | Ryan O'Connor

Announcing their arrival back in late 2023, Rhode Island melodic hardcore band Glorious Wounds has cemented their place in the local scene with their debut self-titled EP. In just 18 minutes Glorious Wounds make themselves stand out even amongst the local scene which generally leans into the darker, heavier and crust influenced hardcore side, due to the legacy bands like Dropdead and Product of Waste have had on the scene.

Nov 1, 2024 | noecho.net | Ryan O'Connor

I’ve always been a rabid consumer of Los Angeles hardcore, especially the filthiest kind. With each passing year, it obliterates my initial impression of the sunny, surf, and skate paradise that Tinseltown created. I think back to when I heard Despise You’s West Side Horizons, it cast an even uglier drape over an already unpleasant locale. Today, L.A. feels as though it's barreling toward its depiction in Richard Matheson’s book, I Am Legend; a post-pandemic wasteland.