Blood Command
The self-described 'deathpop' group are a one-of-a-kind proposition. Hardcore meets metal meets pop meets punk, the band have previously been called 'one of the world's best kept secrets' by Rock Sound, achieved one of the Albums of the Year in Kerrang!, and applauded by Metal Hammer, among others.
For 10 years and running BLOOD COMMAND have given a voice to outcasts worldwide through their mixture of knife-sharp rock and kamikaze pop hooks. The quartet have formed an unbreakable alliance with their audience that wins over new loyal members each and every day.
Listen on Spotify
Stefanie, Stijn and Peter teamed up to start Brutus in 2013. They all met while playing in different bands from the same region of Leuven (Belgium). In merging their different ideas and musical tastes they have formed a strong union, both musically and personally.
Drummer/vocalist Stefanie mixes black-metal blast beats with math-rock flourishes whilst belting out impassioned vocals: she shifts effortlessly from hummable melodies to screams which would punish any larynx. Melding with bassist Peter Mulder’s subby line, Guitarist Stijn Vanhoegaerden plays ethereal post-rock tones at hardcore-punk levels of speed and energy.
It’s the way in which the band mixes post-rock construction, metal dynamics with hardcore energy and-prog rock, all laced with pure pop melodies, which makes Brutus’ sound so unique.
The trio’s sophomore album, 'NEST' was released following their debut, 'BURST', in March 2019. Both albums were released in the UK and Europe by Hassle Records and by Sargent House for the USA.
They continue to tour extensively all over Europe, playing many large festivals as well as direct support to Russian Circles, Thrice and Chelsea Wolfe on their European tours.
With an exponentially amassing fan-base and a killer sound, they are ready for more.
Trouble comes in threes. So does Brutus.
Cuffed Up was formed through a chance encounter at a party where Sapphire Jewell and Ralph Torrefranca first met, connecting about their love for the UK punk scene with bands like IDLES and Shame. A few months later, Cuffed Up was formed along with Joe Liptock and Vic Ordonez, becoming a full-time band.
With comparisons to 90’s bands like Sonic Youth and The Pixies to modern day post-punk UK acts like IDLES, it’s no wonder why the LA based quartet, Cuffed Up, have been turning heads since their debut double A-side “Small Town Kid” and “Mother/Father” was released at the end of 2019. The band garnered much support as an unsigned act first of all from KEXP (Song of The Day/Music That Matters), and subsequently from the likes of NME, DIY Magazine and The Line Of Best Fit.
After having our eye on the band for a while, it was when we heard their subsequent eponymous EP that we had to welcome Cuffed Up to the Hassle family. Alongside a cover of ‘Politicians In My Eyes’ by Death, we announced their signing alongside a yellow pressing of their debut EP, due for release in Spring 2020.
GLOO are excited to share their new video ‘Force You’ and announce their signing to Hassle Records, reissuing their critically acclaimed album ‘A PATHETIC YOUTH’. The album will be available physically for the first time on a limited run of opaque red vinyl & CD on November 29th 2019.
A product of their fading seaside resort hometown, Littlehampton, GLOO create high octane and abrasive sounds, pulsing with infectious melodies. GLOO adhere to provide a sense of relief from modern life’s struggles - the fantasy of quitting a dead-end and mundane nine-to-five job, the aspiration to escape small-town life and see the world.
It’s a sound that roars with ambition, as demonstrated in ‘A PATHETIC YOUTH’ (KKKK - Kerrang!, 4/5 - Upset), which has garnered support from Louder, Kerrang!, Upset, BBC Radio 1, Kerrang! and Amazing Radio and landed the band a BBC Introducing live radio session.
Gloo’s full-throttled live shows have landed their support to Queen Kwong, Press Club, Demob Happy and Richie Ramone, alongside a slot at 2000 Trees and BBC Amplify. Their music, vivacity and spirited live shows speak for themselves and Gloo has their eyes firmly set on breaking out of the norm they were born into.
Petrol Girls are a feminist post-hardcore punk band, originally formed in London, with members from Austria, Lithuania and the UK. Now based in Austria, and touring incessantly, the band are strong advocates of freedom of movement, anti-capitalism and intersectional feminism. With a wide range of musical influences, and having had the pleasure to support bands such as Strike Anywhere, The Dead Kennedys, Propagandhi, RVIVR, War on Women and Refused, the band are constantly developing musically as well as politically.
Their new album, ‘Cut & Stitch’, develops the sentiment (inspired by writer Rebecca Solnit) behind their last EP, ‘The Future is Dark (which is the best thing the future can be I think)’ - that political change is a constant collective process that never stops, and that is often hard to see our place within. The band advocate this as reason to not give up on ourselves or the causes we care about - to keep acting, caring, connecting and creating in a sustainable way.
Cutting and stitching is a process that can go on indefinitely; stitches are easily unpicked, new shapes can be cut, everything can be rearranged. It’s a familiar activity to the punk scene where sewing patches and modifying clothes have always formed part of the culture and aesthetic. Petrol Girls are rooted in this DIY music community that has always combined politics with punk rock; part of a counter culture that constantly challenges mainstream values like nationalism and the gender binary, and the oppressions that these ideals promote.
Petrol Girls are named after Pétroleuses, mythical women of the Paris commune who allegedly set fire to private property with Molotov cocktails made from milk bottles, and rejected traditional gender roles. The inspiration came from a talk on Women and Protest given by writer Laurie Penny, who loosely translated Pétroleuses to Petrol Girls.
The band first formed in 2013 for a house show that singer Ren was putting on to celebrate International Women’s Day. This feminist context was essential for the band’s formation within a wider music community that at the time did very little to encourage women’s participation.
‘Cut & Stitch’ was released via Hassle Records on May 24th 2019.
Signing to Hassle Records continues the alternative quartet's rise, following the acclaim of their debut EP Goodbye Dinosaur..., tours with Black Peaks and Pagan, and appearances at 2000trees and Camden Rocks festivals.
The Bristol-based rock outfit made waves in 2018, garnering support from Kerrang!, Metal Hammer and the Radio 1 Rock Show surrounding the release of Goodbye Dinosaur... The success of the debut EP was unsurprising given the reaction to PHOXJAW's first ever release, their double A-side single Spin Club/Victorian Dolls (Pale Wizard Recordings) which sold out quickly. With their follow-up single 'Triceratops' and subsequent EP the band has received praise from a wide range of UK press: Kerrang! ("unhinged and mesmerising"), Metal Hammer ("inhabiting their own, unique musical world"), Rhythm Magazine ("already causing waves") and more.
There are few bands that sound as unique, infectious, or as powerful as PHOXJAW. Although hard to pigeonhole, the band are at times reminiscent of early Biffy Clyro, At The Drive-In and Cave In. The four-piece owe much to their melodic tenacity and driving, off-kilter riffs and mixed with their ferocious energy onstage and compelling personalities, PHOXJAW are firmly establishing themselves as a force to be reckoned with.
Australian garage-punk outfit Press Club have quickly garnered themselves a reputation as one of the country's hardest gigging bands. In the short time they've been active they have already notched up hundreds of live shows across every state in Australia, released four singles from their independently released debut album 'LATE TEENS'.
2019 has seen the band embark on their maiden overseas tour to Europe/the UK throughout April and May and their first new single since March 2018, 'Get Better'. They quickly consolidated this release with the first single 'Thinking About You' off their second album 'WASTED ENERGY' which is released by Hassle Records.
The band return to Europe and the UK in August/September 2019.
Over a decade ago, four youngsters - barely 12 years old - started making music in a shabby rehearsal room, somewhere in Flanders’ Fields, Belgium. The music was loud, hard, and uncompromising. This was the very early beginnings for STAKE, under their long-term original band name ‘Steak Number Eight’,
At a ridiculous pace, the band kept producing new music and touring pretty relentlessly. Steak Number Eight had grown faster and bigger than they could have ever imagined: they were selling out Belgium’s biggest venues, played every serious rock festival across mainland Europe, and had been on the road supporting the likes of Mastodon, Dillinger Escape Plan, and Deftones.
No one expected Steak Number Eight to call it a day. And that was never the intention of the band, but the name now felt outdated. The band wanted to capture fresh creativity under a new name: STAKE.
With the original line-up intact, they promised their metamorphosis would not simply be a change of name. Instead, STAKE is a brand new chapter with an unseen energy, producing a unique hyper atmospheric and grunge-influenced melodic post-metal.
Discussing debut STAKE single ‘Catatonic Dreams’ vocalist Brent Vanneste explained: ’This track is the ideal step up towards STAKE’s debut album. It summarizes our rough, yet warm schizophrenia perfectly. We feel this is the first time we’ve been able to capture the eclectic and intense live vibe of the band. We’re all very happy with this being the first track from our upcoming debut album; from STAKE you can expect more morbid tracks, with a romantic drive."
The band are a clashing combination of cultures, boasting members from Italy, South Korea and Britain but they call London their base. They pull completely fair comparisons to Sleep, Bo Ningen, and All Them Witches, with whom they toured with in 2017. But perhaps the most impressive thing about Swedish Death Candy is their ability to take musical inspiration from their varied backgrounds and artistic tastes yet create something truly exciting, unique and cohesive, elevating them above their peers. Across their catalogue, they utilise psychedelic elements mixed with fuzzing, fizzing riffs.
With the release of single 'Modern Child', the band announced their second album 'Are You Nervous?' to be released on 27th of September 2019.
Hassle are pleased to welcome The Homeless Gospel Choir onto our roster, as of January 2020. The announcement is accompanied by the release of brand new single ‘Dont Compare’. Listen here: 
A Welsh rock trio with a predilection for delivering stadium-sized riffs with shoegazey vistas, the Joy Formidable emerged in 2011. Taking a cue from bands like Yeah Yeah Yeahs, My Bloody Valentine, and Arcade Fire, the trio continued to push their already expansive sound further on subsequent offerings like Wolf's Law (2013) and AAARTH (2018), while maintaining the hook-driven indie rock foundation laid down on their chart-topping debut.
Formed in North Wales in 2007, the band later resettled in London, The Joy Formidable began building a buzz in 2008, making appearances at several British festivals and earning high marks from publications like The Guardian, which recommended the band's "darkly joyous soft-loud racket."
After releasing several singles, the group issued the mini-album A Balloon Called Moaning in early 2009 which was released stateside in 2010. The Joy Formidable toured throughout the year and kicked off 2011 with the international release of The Big Roar, their well-received full-length studio debut. The band spent the following year writing its second record while on the road supporting Muse. The resulting Wolf's Law, which was recorded arrived in early 2013 and peaked at the number 51 slot on the Billboard 200 in the U.S., and at number 41 on the U.K. album charts.
In early 2016 they announced via Facebook that they would be releasing their much-anticipated third studio long-player, Hitch, later that March. The group went on to promote the record with a tour that spanned the U.K. and Europe, as well as playing an opening slot for Foo Fighters across North America. In 2017, the Joy Formidable got to work writing and recording their fourth record. Riffing on the Welsh word for "bear," the album, titled AAARTH, arrived in September 2018.
Nearly twenty years ago, The Used was brought to life and have since released a collection of albums that shaped the space of the alternative rock scene. High energy live shows, gut wrenching relatable lyrics, and melodies that blended pop sensibility and hard rock was the perfect combination to make an everlasting impression on fans globally.
For the release of their eighth studio album, Big Noise will partner with Hassle Records for the UK and Europe. Hassle Records boss, Wez said “We have worked with a host of artists that come from the same, or similar, musical backgrounds and ethos to The Used - Frank Iero, Fall Out Boy, We Are The Ocean, Alexisionfire to name but a few. It’s Hassle’s 15th year in 2020 and to finally get to work with The Used is not only an honour, but it feels like a really natural fit for us to be partnering with them’.
Mainly known as purveyors of a defiantly optimistic strain of instrumental rock, the quartet began life as the project of lead guitarist Sam Stauff, and have now grown to incorporate elements of electronica and live programming into their sound.
In 2018, the group released ‘A Light Within the Fracture.’ The new record was the band’s third full-length studio offering, and saw them continuing their eclectic journey of musical self-discovery in typically ambitious style.
“I think this album represents many feelings we collectively have as a band and as individuals,” explains Stauff of the concepts behind the new record. “Be it feelings of hope, despair, joy – they’re all very visceral feelings towards life and the constant shifting that comes with it.”