Plague Vendor

Based out of Whittier, California, a suburb of Los Angeles, Plague Vendor is a punk band that harnesses energizing sound. As witnessed by their debut "long player," 2014's nocturnal party offering Free to Eat, the California quartet burned the candle at both ends; they didn't waste a moment as they ripped from track to track, bashing out each song and moving on without looking back to assess the damage -- the album's ten songs last only 18 minutes. What's more, it's a compendium of the tunes they'd been writing and playing live for the previous five years. 2016's Bloodsweat and 2019's By Night offer a darker tone underscored by some subversive studio polish that nonetheless retained their minimalist approach to remain a thrashy, no-frills garage punk outfit in the vein of Gun Club, the Stooges, the Cramps, and Jesus Lizard, tweaked for maximum volume and power. 2024's Rougher Than Rough EP saw the band deliver a swaggering six‑song burst, balanced precariously between laser focus and total abandon.