Retro-review: ‘Death to Capitalist Hardcore’ by Sore Throat

When it comes to British grindcore band Sore Throat, you can at least say they know how to squeeze things.

Their 1987 Death to Capitalist Hardcore EP would be a double album for regular bands.

Why’s that?

Well, Death to Capitalist Hardcoresqueezes 45 songs, if you can call them that, into 18 minutes and 29 seconds.

You heard me right. They make Napalm Death’s Scum, which squeezes 28 songs into just over 32 minutes look like long play.

In 1987, Sore Throat and Napalm Death were performing a lot of what you could call “microsongs.” The microsong is one of the hallmarks of grindcore punk, being songs that are only seconds long.

The band itself consisted of Richard “Militia” Walker on vocals, Nick Royles of drums, John “Doom” Pickering on bass, Brian “Bri” Talbot on guitar. They were united for by their distaste for what they saw as commercial bands like D.R.I., OLD, Suicidal Tendencies and Napalm Death. They apparently were also anti-music, which you’ll find with Death to Capitalist Hardcore.

The album

The majority of songs on Death to Capitalist Hardcoreare microsongs, most averaging less than 20 seconds in length. The shortest is “S.S.A. Part II” at only five…