"We were just looking to play something that was more straight-ahead hardcore punk whose simplicity and directness is better suited to capture the intense emotions we all have as Hong Kongers living through the tumultuous past couple of years," says Riz Farooqi, vocalist of Regret.
Riz is a veteran of the hardcore community in Hong Kong, who not only runs the music site UniteAsia.org, but also plays guitar in the No Echo-approved band Dagger, and fronted the beloved King Ly Chee years back.
Inspired by the political turmoil in their hometown, Regret finds the band addressing "issues of minority rights, police brutality, censorship, and the general state of the world of hardcore," all to the driving beat of raw hardcore.
In this No Echo exclusive, we're bringing you the exclusive premiere of Regret's forthcoming debut EP. Bassist Kuro also provides vocals to the material, lending the EP a certain '90s riot grrrl vibe that works surprisingly well within their hardcore context. In other words, this is some kick ass and vital stuff:
"The past couple of years have been heavy on the people of Hong Kong, but then you're seeing similar issues pop up in Myanmar, Thailand, Chile, USA, and everywhere else," says Riz.
"Though you may find your own situation so utterly hopeless, seeing others fighting the same causes brings a sense of camaraderie. So instead of letting all of these dark, chaotic, uncertain emotions eat us up inside, we're getting it out through this music."
The Regret EP will see its official release this Friday (May 7th).
It will be issued on cassette by the following labels:
Infree Records (Hong Kong)
Real Deal Records (China)
Freshtown Records (Malaysia)
Lawless Records (Indonesia)
Regret on social media: Facebook | Instagram | YouTube
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