Year Of The Fist – Live At Ivy Room, Albany, California 7″ (DCxPC Live)

If you paid close attention to our pages this year, you probably stumbled upon a couple of reviews and news posts about DCxPC Live editions. DCxPC Live were one of those promoters who almost instantly adapted to fully operating during the pandemic by providing live streams for the broader audience. Nevertheless, they also decided to go a step further by recording those performances and publishing them in physical format. Later on, the bands recorded live shows across the states and sent the material for DCxPC Live to release on vinyl records. Live At Ivy Room, Albany, California by Year Of The Fist is the fourth 7″ record in a row, so DCxPC Live proves they’re just getting started with these series and have no intentions to stop anytime soon.

Year Of The Fist is a punk rock quartet from Oakland, California, and they offered four live compositions for this fourth edition of DCxPC Live sessions. The group nurtures a unique sound that continuously levitates somewhere between melodic punk rock, pop-punk, garage punk, and rock’n’roll music. You could unquestionably pinpoint their sound with some renowned female-fronted punk rock/grunge groups that roamed the scene during the nineties. The first groups that come up to my mind are The Distillers, Tilt, The Gits, Hole, Backyard Babies, and Babies In Toyland, to name a few. Of course, Year Of The Fist also incorporate some contemporary melodic punk rock in their music, so their sound at some points differs from the beforementioned bands. All in all, their style is melodic, catchy, dirty, and energetic.

Their performance at the Ivy Room captures all the qualities of the band. You’ll notice how Year Of The Fist bursts with excellent chord progressions, heavy riffs, harmonies, melodic themes, and dynamic rhythmic segments. This live performance captures all the rawness, dynamics, and aggression of the band. Still, Year Of The Fist also simultaneously showcases the emotive and melodic side, which is a perfect contrast compared to their other qualities. Live At The Ivy Room is a proper demonstration of their abilities as a live band, and you’ll undoubtfully feel the urge to discover their studio works after listening to this performance. Live At The Ivy Room comes on blue vinyl with the standard cover artwork for all DCxPC Live releases, but there’s also an inlay with all the necessary information included. Head over to DCxPC Live or visit the Year Of The First Bandcamp page for more information about ordering.