Out of Milwaukee is the hardcore group Big Laugh with the debut LP, Consume Me (Revelation Records). The band had previously released the EP Maniac Revision that came out back in 2020. On Consume Me, the songs come out fast and furious with little room for any flash or filler. Most songs included barely make it over the two-minute mark. 

While the songs are short bursts of manic energy, Big Laugh manages to pack in plenty of attitude, hard-hitting punk guitars, and some great angry vocals. In tried and true hardcore punk fashion, each song is like entering into a war zone of buzzsaw guitars, crashing drums, and impassioned screams. What Big Laugh does best here is keeping the style simple but filled with plenty of energy. 

Halfway through the album, ‘Animosity’ catches the listener off guard by slowing things down for just a moment before going back into a full-out aural assault. Big Laugh does a great job of bringing their sound back to the old days of hardcore punk, keeping it simple and aggressive as fuck with a real NYHC feel. The title track is one of the band’s highlights, with some of the best guitar riffs on the album that will instantly have you moving your body and banging your head. 

The album closes with ‘The Fall’ a longer track by Big Laugh’s standards (almost four minutes!) The track showcases a little more diversity in the group’s sound by adding in more melodic elements to their speed and fury. 

Buy the album here:

https://revhq.com/collections/big-laugh

7 / 10

ANDREW RISCH