Shorter, Faster, Louder Hardcore, skramz and punk rock from the pit and the practice room.

About Shorter, Faster, Louder

Shorter, Faster, Louder is a blog about hardcore punk, skramz and punk rock, written by someone who never left the scene.

Who writes this

I'm Jona Falk, a writer in Berlin. I went to my first hardcore show in 2004, played bass in a screamo band that broke up twice, and ran a tiny distro out of a shoebox from 2014 to 2019. I still buy more records than I can play. The name of this blog comes from the old zine motto: shorter, faster, louder. It still works as a review checklist. Jona Falk is a pen name. The person behind it stays private, which is how the writing stays honest: no brand to protect, no scene politics to survive, just the records and the shows.

How we test things (the editorial method)

Every review gets three full listens before I write a word. I check the label, the date and the lineup before I trust them. When I write about history, I work from primary sources, not from other blogs. When I disagree with the consensus, I say why. Scores are personal but consistent: a seven means I will still be playing this in a year. Every review links to Bandcamp or the label, because a review that does not tell you where to hear the record is just noise.

Why this blog exists

Hardcore and skramz are the most passionate, least well-documented scenes in music. Most of the coverage is American, most of it is rushed, and almost none of it is written for people who actually buy records. I wanted a site that treats a seven-inch demo as seriously as a full length, explains the history to newcomers instead of sneering at them, and gives the European scene a voice it rarely gets. If you find one record you would have missed, the site has done its job.

What we cover

Contact

The fastest way to reach me is email: hello@shorterfasterlouder.com. I read everything, reply to most of it, and review corrections gratefully.