Contention Release Nuclear Summer EP via DAZE

Tampa straight-edge hardcore band Contention has released a new EP, Nuclear Summer, through DAZE. The record arrives shortly after the band played Sound and Fury, and it follows last year’s full-length Artillery From Heaven.

The EP contains two new tracks, “Second Sun” and “Blank Stare,” alongside covers of the Swarm’s 1999 straight-edge anthem “Upside Your Head” and its “X On Our Knees” intro. Contention has cited the Swarm as an influence since the band’s first practice in 2019.

In a written statement, vocalist Cosmo Vidussi frames the release around nuclear anxiety and state violence, describing a population “held hostage by a small group of deranged degenerates with nuclear arsenals and a lust for ruin.” He closes with the phrase “hardcore for the end times.”

Contention will play Gainesville and Daytona Beach in September, then join Pain of Truth, Madball, Rotting Out, and xforever warx for November dates in Nashville, Atlanta, Tampa, and Miami.