“I’m 41 and my voice is on a hardcore record for the first time,” says Sarah Ryczek* of Chicago’s Udüsic, fairly beaming as she does. A well-known participant in the hardcore scenes in both upstate New York, where she grew up, and Chicago, where she’s lived for much of her adult life, it’s perhaps surprising that this is her first appearance as a musician. Punk, though, is not just a young person’s game, though so much of its filth and forthrightness can seem juvenile, and it can be such a saving grace for young people. Yet there are those of us who have figured out how to take its power and grow up with it (but not out of it) while refusing the Peter Pan syndrome that affects many of our compatriots. Ryczek and her bandmates are more than enough proof that it’s possible: their debut 7-inch is a snarling, muscular 10 minutes of well-channeled, distinct rage (that never forgets the value of a riff or of the necessity of a thunderous rhythm section to hardcore execution).
The Udüsic EP is available digitally now and on vinyl (including a run of limited purple vinyl) on January 29 from Painkiller Records. Listen to “Nice Try” below:
*Disclosure: Ryczek and I work together on the DIY space Pure Joy.
