Review: Soda City Riot / The Hanging Judge – “Love, Anger, and Coping Methods”

19 Aug 2022 – ProRawk Records

Soda City Riot and The Hanging Judge combine forces for a scorching slab of southern punk.

I accidentally learned a couple of things because of the new split from Soda City Riot and The Hanging Judge. First, Soda City is the nickname of Columbia, South Carolina. (Columbia used to be affectionately shortened to Cola, which somehow morphed into Soda City.) Second, The Hanging Judge are an Atlanta quintet made up of current and former members of some well known punk bands like The Queers, Antagonizers ATL, Patriot and Adolph & the Piss Artists.

The EP’s title, Love, Anger and Coping Methods, sets the loose narrative. (Spoiler alert: It leans much more heavily on anger than love as a coping method.) Soda City Riot kicks off this south of the Mason-Dixon Line matchup with three raging new tracks. “End the Charade” blisters from start to finish with its shouted lead vocals and propulsive rhythm. “Not the Horse to Bet On” is a cautionary tale sung to a prospective lover. It approaches street punk with its melodic lead guitar line and gang vocals on the chorus. “Beer, Porn and a Shitty Fucking Job” is the angry one minute working class anthem we really needed in 2022. 

It’s worth noting that most of the tracks utilize samples from movies or other sources. It works well to frame the songs and even enhance their entertainment value. Not surprisingly based on their credentials, The Hanging Judge stick closer to street punk for the first two of their three songs. “Vultures” is a defiant call to live meaningful lives. “Win Or Lose” follows a similar theme and balances the harsh lead vocals with a melodic lead guitar line. 

While no one could outdo the original Keith Morris sung Black Flag classic “Nervous Breakdown”, The Hanging Judge take a good shot at it. It’s a fun, chaotic way to wrap up this six song punk blast. Ultimately Love, Anger and Coping Methods feels like a bit of a tease, because you’re going to want to hear more from both of these bands. 

For vinyl fiends: ProRawk Records is a newer Chicago/New Jersey based label, and like most smaller labels, they’ve struggled with vinyl production issues. Rather than delay everything by a year or more, they’ve decided to try and bring back the CD. I like their defiant (punk?) attitude, and wish them the best. Hopefully this can at least buy them some time while the pressing plants get their shit together. There are no immediate plans for a vinyl version of Love, Anger and Coping Methods, but this would be a great seven inch.