Portland’s own Jerkazoid is a massive dose of raw, unfiltered reality that feels like the shot, the chaser, and the much-needed shared cigarette with your day-one friends in the back of your favorite dive bar. Their new album, Earth in Reverse, is an instant classic punk album with live-set energy captured straight to disc, streaming, and everywhere else you can listen to Earth in Reverse. This is the kind of record that instantly makes you want to get sweaty and rowdy in a packed, close-quarters basement venue; y’know, the kinds of shows you leave soaked in probably several people’s sweat and felt for 48 minutes that you were right where you needed to be in a fucked up world.
From the jump, Earth in Reverse makes something pretty apparent: Jerkazoid isn’t out to be the shiniest or most produced LA glam type band on the block. Instead, they are entirely committed to showcasing their genuine perspectives, pulling absolutely no punches when it comes to sharp humor and gut-wrenching personal truths and political realities.
Check out what vocalist and guitarist Jules sums up the record’s core beautifully:
“Thematically this album is about regression. It’s our own immaturity, rage, humor, and resistance in the face of a world that seems to be going backwards in more ways than one. And we’re pissed off about it. Sometimes that looks like blunt political takes, and sometimes it’s humor because I don’t know how else to cope.”
An album with 15 fantastic tracks to speak to this, at least three really underline the themes of regression and going backwards in ways worth mentioning upon their big release day.
“Fake Friends”
Reminiscent of an energized early Menzingers, Jawbreaker, or RVIVR, this track thrives on a raw, live-performance atmosphere. Lyrically, it tackles the hard-knock lessons of superficial connections and friendships ending (perhaps for the better) with the biting line: “Don’t follow me, I don’t need to prove you wrong, I had a friend and now you’re gone.” It’s a lively anthem for anyone who has decided to stop wasting energy on proving people wrong and start focusing on genuine connection. In the world that Jerkazoid knows is fucked up enough as it is, there’s nothing more punk than standing your ground and choosing to prove nothing to the wrong crowd, anyway.
“I Wanna Be 18 Forever”
This track channels the timeless spark and untamed grit of the golden years of Warped Tour and Riot Fest. It’s a song about confronting the potential of your age and the intimidating road ahead. Bolstered by massive gang vocals that drive home a feeling of youthful solidarity, it delivers a bittersweet punch of nostalgia with one of its standout lyrics: “I played for the losing team but at least I start.” Clever, introspective, and a feeling that echoes fervently with a crowd that grew up playing in, and listening to, bands like Jerkazoid, just in time for the world to collapse when they hit adulthood.
“20 Minutes Early to Church”
Carrying the fingerprints of legendary acts like Circle Jerks and The Descendants, this song boasts gorgeous, driving bass tones and a lively tempo guaranteed to let your mind spin out. The track serves as a massive catharsis for the punks and vagabonds, channeling existential, post-religious rage through a relentless rhythm section. The vocalist screams into the void: “What’s it mean? What’s it mean? ‘Cause I’m 20 minutes early to church, where the fuck are you?” A nod to the pious institutions that do more harm than good, many fans and artists in the scene know what it’s like to want to turn a prayer circle into a circle pit. This one’s for you, my beloved.
The production value across Earth in Reverse is remarkably cohesive without ever leaning on the overproduced crutches of modern rock releases. It’s an honest capture of high-energy performances where the bass tones are killer, the harmonies are quintessential punk rock, and the overall attitude is as unified as the spectrum of experiences this album talks about.
Of course, we have to give a shoutout to “Cops Don’t Rock.” Jerkazoid deserves serious praise for refusing to stay quiet about systemic injustices, delivering a fierce and fiery anthem targeting police brutality and state-sanctioned violence. Between that and the beautifully melancholic “No Comfort” acoustic track, Jerkazoid lays their bones bare while still animating the very bones of their listeners in many capacities; their vocalist’s timbre and tone are quite beautiful as much as they are powerful in their faster, louder material, and the band plays with an energy of cohesive passion that you can only get from dedicated musicians that undertsand each other beyond just syncopating snares and guitar strings. Jerkazoid fuckin’ goes off.
Kicking back and playing Earth in Reverse feels like discovering a legendary track on a classic Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater soundtrack, creating an instant core memory. But this time, it’s with the burdening knowledge of the real world around us that isn’t just fun skate tricks and awesome soundtracks to enjoy with your friends; this is for the acknowledgement that the world is a political fascist nightmare, and we can fight and rage against it while playing some fun music, maybe shred on some public property in real life, and still have an awesome soundtrack for screaming into the ether as we hold it down together during times that test what real punk rock means.
Catch Them Live: Jerkazoid is celebrating the album release at the Star Bar in Portland on July 16 with support from Hand Stuff. If you’re in the area, you don’t want to miss it. Bands that release records like this are bands that know how to put on shows with heart.
For Fans Of: Jawbreaker, Hot Water Music, The Lawrence Arms, Hot Mulligan, Circle Jerks, The Descendents, punk and pop punk of all types, dissenters of fascism with a taste for the grittier side of authenticity incarnate in a 3-piece band
written by Samson Winsor
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