Of all the bands to rise out of the fertile San Diego hardcore scene, none have had anywhere near the longevity or bizarre widespread appeal of the Locust. Bizarre, because the Locust make fast, loud, difficult music. But unlike the many hardcore bands that stagnate in a hermetic world of increasingly fast riffs, predictably chugging rhythmic breakdowns, and macho bullshit, the Locust are uncontainable experimentalists and constantly mutating musicians.

Their earliest work brought squealing synths into the guitar and drum centric basements of hardcore in brutally short doses—their songs often clock in at under a minute, while their titles are rambling jokes and non-sequiter. More recently, with the Safety Second, Body Last EP on Ipecac, the band began stretching out and sometimes slowing down their musical decompositions—one song clocks in at over six minutes—and their recently released full length on ANTI-, New Erections, is their longest recording yet at just over 23 minutes.

Despite their roots in hardcore, the Locust more accurately belong amidst avante garde sound and noise pioneers such as John Zorn and Boredoms. Their live shows are hectic, costume-heavy, often short, and punctuated by some of the snappiest banter/heckler retorts in punk rock.