Record of the Week: Exclaim: Fusillade 12"

Exclaim: Fusillade 12” (General Speech Records) General Speech Records brings us a compilation of two cassettes by this obscure 80s Japanese hardcore band from Akita City, Japan. Aside from those cassettes, Exclaim’s only release during the 80s was a track on the Shodoku Gig compilation LP, and (much like previous General Speech reissue subjects Deef) until this reissue, only the deepest Japanese hardcore heads would have known them (I certainly did not). God bless General Speech, though, because this is cool as hell! The lore GS gives in their description is that Dogma Records (G.I.S.M., the Comes, Gastunk) advertised an upcoming LP from Exclaim that never came to fruition, and the tracks from Fusillade show they would have been a perfect fit for the label. Maybe Exclaim isn’t quite as good as the Dogma releases by G.I.S.M., the Comes, or Gastunk (what is?), but they certainly would have been of a piece with the label’s early output in nearly every other respect. Exclaim just has that sound you fell in love with if you’re a huge fan of the aforementioned bands: the driving, Motorhead-ish rhythms, metallic yet haunting lead guitar, vocals that alternate between gruff growls and spooky melodies, and atmosphere for days. The nine tracks from the original Fusillade cassette (which comprise the bulk of this LP) are the primo stuff, with a powerful recording that rivals any of the genre’s classics, while the final four tracks on Fusillade, originally released on a cassette called Final, have a thinner sound and are more musically complex and ambitious (Exclaim seems to have been following a similar trajectory to early Gastunk). I’m glad to have them together in one package, though, especially since General Speech always keeps its releases at the nice price. A little bit of useful context (a band photo where they look cool as hell, reproductions of the original lyric sheets and cassette j-cards, and a brief interview with Exclaim’s drummer Susumu) rounds out the package. Essential listening for anyone who has binged on the 80s Japanese punk classics and remains thirsty for more.