Look, I’m no ones cheerleader right? In days of yore I relished tearing a strip off anything and everything that wandered into my baleful gaze whether I liked it or not. Because it’s kinda fun to be a dick and I didn’t get into hardcore to be your fucking mate.

These days I like to think that I give everything a fair crack of the whip and if I don’t like it, well for the most part I keep my mouth shut. Unless it really sucks and I can piss on some softies chips. But if it’s good? Like proper good? Well then I consider it my personal mission to bellow from the rooftops and convince everyone else they should be into it too. Which brings us to Payday.

The New Wave Of British Hardcore has thrown up some truly great bands in it’s wake. Sure there’s plenty of shit I’m not into but there’s no denying that Higher Power, The Flex, Violent Reaction et al all bring/brought the ruckus. And whilst I enjoy these bands, I must admit none of them fully tickle my walnut when it comes to the very specific strand of hardcore I relish the most. The stuff that gets my blood boiling in my veins and makes me want to smash the teeth out of everyone within striking distance.

Integrity’s ‘In Contrast Of Sin’ 7″ is a textbook example of that kinda record. It is the perfect combination of  ill temper and violent straight edge menace. It’s the sound of absolute hatred. It oozes arrogance. It makes me want to shave my head and stage dive feet first into the smiling faces of Posi wimps everywhere. I like plenty of Integrity’s other records too but that 7″ is what shaped me and my shitty attitude. It is important.

So when I pressed play on Payday’s ‘Second To None’ demo whilst walking to work, and the title track kicked in and instinctually felt my fists clench and my teeth start to grind…. I knew this was what I’d been looking for. Second To None comes in with rolling tom’s and an intro riff that will ignite actual fucking riots. It’s like these songs have been especially built to incite violence in me. The fast parts kick in like Confront used to, it’s like a dose of Creatine in musical form. If you have even the smallest shard of malice wedged in your heart, listen to this demo once and feel the hatred flow through your puny veins and feel your muscles bulge and your eyes roll back in your skull.

The singers vocals have that same thick necked/constipated quality that Mean Steve had on the Final Word and they compliment the bareknuckle production on these tracks perfectly. Lyrically I have no idea what he’s mad about but there’s loads of shouting about London Straight Edge so maybe he’s got a cob on about his mates selling out or the tubes not running or something. I dunno. There’s no waste, no excess. The songs are economical, designed to cause maximum dance-floor belligerence as quickly as possible. The breakdowns are like a broken brick in your grid, the hectic solos brief and frantic. This whole review would have been up about half hour sooner but I got that pissed off listening to this tape that I had to go out for a run half way through writing this crap to burn off my bad mood. Just listen to it HERE and get to know.

The whole demo follows a similar path. It’s as though Payday have somehow boiled down all the best bits from the Only the Strong comp 7″, the Confront 7″ and the Integrity ‘Off The Bat’ demo and made a band from the accumulated shite left in the bottom of the petri dish. I mean that as a compliment. Throw in a dash of that xChorusx straight edge attitude  for good measure and you’re moshing. I mean I LOVE the conceit of calling your record Second To None. That’s my straight edge right there. Keep your group hugs and ‘we’re not in this alone’ bullshit. It’s every man/woman for themselves and you’ve got three songs here on that tip that leave me absolutely gagging for the full length due to follow.

I can already say with iron confidence this is my favourite UKHC demo of the last decade.  I can’t tell you who’s in this band  aside from Pimlott as I’m not arsed to find out because it doesn’t really matter to me who these people are or what they’ve done before, just so long as they keep making this spiteful noise. 10/10