![]() The title is literal but it’s also about wanting to change yourself.” The inheritance of familial trauma and growing up in the shadow of abuse and addiction are examined on songs like “Absence” and “Dust Off,” but never through blame or moralizing. “Family members taught me to shoplift, I passed that on to my brother, it was planted in me so early that it was a normal thing. ![]() “The first half of the record is about cause and the second half is about consequence.” Opener “Taught To Steal” immediately lays out these ideas with a sonic and lyrical gutpunch. “I realized part way through writing that I was making a record about my roots and the way they shaped who I am,” he explains. “Taylor really pushed me to be more open to those kinds of parts and find even more dynamics in the songs.” The result is ten songs of whiplash-inducing hardcore that do more in 13 minutes than many bands do in 40, with Shelton seamlessly intergrating influences from across aggressive music, as well as formative classics ranging from Black Flag to Dystopia.īut Crime and Punishment‘s connections back to Shelton’s origins go far beyond musical influences. “A lot of times my songwriting can be about deprivation-with grind, power violence, or any short form songwriting it’s about withholding until the right moment to make the most impact,” Shelton says. ![]() Young’s detail-oriented production proved to be a natural fit for Shelton’s obsessive drive as the two pushed RJC’s sound into more pummeling territory than ever before. “I tend to stay in a certain creative mindset for a while and it just fuels more ideas.” Crime and Punishment took shape during one of these streaks, with writing starting in January 2020 and RJC entering The Pit Recording Studio with producer/engineer Taylor Young just four months later. “I just try to ride the wave of whatever I’m doing,” he explains. Shelton is restlessly prolific, often writing in intensive streaks: after World of Inconvenience, RJC released a split with Wound Man, the Institution EP the Regional Jurtice Center collaborative EP with Justice Tripp of Trapped Under Ice and Angel Du$t and the KKK Tattoo single-all while undertaking an exhausting worldwide touring schedule. On Crime and Punishment, Shelton looks inward at the experiences, upbringing, and choices that shaped him. The album’s unvarnished depiction of the for-profit prison system, and its impact on those incarcerated and their loved ones, introduced many of the themes that propel Shelton’s work: that life is full of choices, but not always control that institutions are often there to punish those who fall, but not to help them back on their feet and that cycles are easy to start, but hard to stop. The band began as a cathartic outlet for Shelton shortly after the incarceration of his brother, Max an event that became the primary subject of RJC’s 2018 debut album, World of Inconvenience. Regional Justice Center-whose line-up now includes guitarists Alex Haller and Che Hise-Gattone, and bassist Steph Jerkova-is inextricably connected to Shelton’s family. Now, on Regional Justice Center’s sophomore full-length Crime and Punishment, Shelton has combined a lifetime’s worth of reflection with the band’s always crushing musicality to create a definitive work as uncompromising as it is vital. Led by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Ian Shelton, the band take a uniquely nuanced approach to making music that thrives on extremes, and have become just as known for their vicious riffs as Shelton’s unflinching lyrics-which explore wide-reaching societal ills from a deeply human level. ![]() Since their inception in 2016, Regional Justice Center have quickly proven themselves to be one of modern hardcore’s most viscerally compelling bands. ![]()
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