Deadlights
The roughest of punks would often claim that though Orange County's Huntingdon Beach was a major center for hardcore, it never produced a genuinely heavy outfit. That was until the emergence of the Deadlights (originally known as Suction), a band of metallic power and fervor with a street-schooled and positivist message. Having taken their name from a Stephen King story (the deadlights are what one sees at the point of death), you'd expect the band, like so many of their peers, to concern themselves with conspiracy theories, and blood. In fact, singer Duke proves himself sensitive and knowledgeable when dealing with death, drugs, religion, love and sadomasochism; indeed, he's actually rather like King at his most thoughtful and restrained. Musically,The Deadlightsdelivers tempestuous rock made all the more disorientating by sampled shrieks and machine crashes and squeals, while Duke slips from a guttural roar to surprisingly sweet pop trill.--Dominic Wills