REVIEW: DYSBANDED – ‘The Wilcox Demos’

There’s something unruly and unfiltered pulsing through ‘The Wilcox Demos’, the gritty new project from DYSBANDED, a name that’s a winking nod to its punk-bred DNA. The EP drops like a backroom jam that caught fire and never bothered to clean up the mess, channelling decades of hard-won experience and Sunset Strip romance into a brief but burning set of tracks.

What started as a spontaneous reunion of Boston hardcore’s alumni, featuring former members of DYS, SSD, Slapshot, and Powerman 5000, quickly evolved into a lean, mean rock ‘n’ roll machine. Trading in speed for swagger, DYSBANDED recreate the past with a fresh urgency. There’s a raucous affection here for the pre-digital chaos of Hollywood’s dive bars and rehearsal rooms, with guitars howling like it’s 1989 and hearts beating like they’ve got something to prove.

Each track on ‘The Wilcox Demos’ is steeped in a kind of scorched-earth authenticity: Jonathan Anastas swaps bass duties for axe-slinging glory; Jaime Sciarappa and Al Pahanish keep the rhythm section locked tight but loose; Johnny “Rock” Heatley channels glam grit; and Mark “Muddy” Dutton glues it all together with keys, vocals, and enough groove to raise the dead. Add in guest turns from powerhouse vocalist Kyndal Inskeep and punk icon Dave Smalley, and you’ve got a lineup that feels like a supergroup stumbling out of a rehearsal room and straight into a bar fight.

But this isn’t just simple fan service or nostalgia cosplay. It’s a well-oiled and blood-soaked time capsule, a toast to the lost art of getting loud in a room with your friends and hitting record before the moment slips away. ‘The Wilcox Demos’ doesn’t pretend to be anything more than it is, and that’s exactly what makes it hit so hard. A reverent punch to the gut for anyone who remembers rock before the scroll, the selfie, and the algorithm.