Sharptooth

From the mid-2010s forward, the Baltimore five-piece Sharptooth delivered ferocious metalcore and hardcore punk whose lyrics confronted social injustice at every turn.

Originally assembled as a four-piece pop-punk outfit, the group featured guitarists Keith Higgins and Lance Donati, drummer Conor Mac and bassist Phil Rasinski. In 2014 the musicians recruited classically trained vocalist Lauren Kashan, who had been immersed in the city’s heavy-music community since 2008. Kashan accepted the role only after stipulating that the songs become heavier and that she would handle all lyric-writing duties; once the others consented, her distinctive fire, conviction and character began reshaping the band’s sound. Repeated rejections throughout her school years had left her wary of the male-dominated scene, and her first band at age twenty-one had forced artistic compromises that Sharptooth finally allowed her to escape. Having survived drug addiction and rape, Kashan found both personal catharsis and an activist platform in hardcore punk, first as a fan and later as a performer.

Issued independently in August 2015, the debut EP Chompers offered early hints of the band’s eventual direction while still leaning toward accessible punk-pop. Kashan later recalled joining a project centered on boy-girl relationships and realizing far more could be expressed through song. The 2015 Baltimore riots further crystallized the group’s new path, an intent already audible on the EP’s forceful track “Give ’Em Hell Kid.” Persistent DIY touring soon drew favorable notice, resulting in a management agreement with Vanna’s Davey Muise and a recording contract with Pure Noise Records inside two years.

Sharptooth announced the partnership with the confrontational late-2017 single “No Sanctuary,” then followed it with another salvo against homophobia. Their first full-length, Clever Girl, arrived in October and featured a title track that denounced sexism outright. Between early 2018 and the summer of 2019 the quintet maintained a relentless schedule of U.S. tours punctuated by runs through Europe and Canada, pausing only in April 2019 to track what became the 2020 album Transitional Forms. By the time the mental-health-themed single “Mean Brain” emerged in November 2019, a rhythm-section overhaul had already occurred: Matt Hague had taken over drums from Conor Mac, and Peter Bruno had replaced bassist Phil Rasinski. A standalone Hopeless Records release, “Die for the Government,” preceded the full promotional cycle for Transitional Forms.