Absolutely Not Credit: Marisa Klug-Morataya

Local punks Absolutely Not have never been the type of band to release accessible music. The first releases they started putting out in 2013 showcased fairly standard garage punk, but they topped everything off with a serious dose of spazzy harshness. On their brand-new third album, Problematic (No Trend), the band—vocalist and guitarist Donnie Moore, vocalist and keyboardist Madison Moore, drummer Santiago Guerrero, and Meat Wave front man Chris Sutter newly appointed on second guitar—take the eerie dissonance they hinted at on their previous releases and push it to the brink, hammering out obtuse, disjointed, paranoia-inducing, sci-fi new-wave punk, and cramming more bad energy than should be legal into two-and-a-half-minute songs. The tracks on Problematic are so dark and unsettling it’s easy to forgot how fun the band are at their core. But Absolutely Not are always high-energy and upbeat—even through their most dystopian moods—so come dance your ass off as the world burns around you.   v