Recommended! In just half a decade Olympia’s Gen Pop have forged a singular style over the release of several EPs and the aptly titled, 2020 full length, “PPM66”. The group draws water from the disparate wells of early 80’s American hardcore and late 70’s UK post-punk, filtering it through the shitshow chaos of the early 21st century international cultural, political, and environmental climates. A sound fully realized and on display here in the ninth volume of the infamous Beat Sessions, presented by Shout Recordings. Precise, punchy, yet dynamic and fluid drumming underlie a cascade of tones, textures, styles, and voices to form a repertoire of songs where change is the only constant. The music cycles between uplifting, romantic, distressing, aggressive, and disjointed. Tempo and feeling will shift on a dime, and songs often exhibit romance, buoyancy, aggression, and anxiety simultaneously. This performance was captured by Shout’s Mike Kriebel in December 2021 at LA’s Golden Beat Studios. The line up was supplemented on this session by Anthony Gaviria, of the fellow Washingtonian oddball outfit Lysol, on bass guitar.