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I’m running way behind on the newsletter, so I’ll try to keep things relatively brief this week. That shouldn’t be hard, as I know more or less nothing about my pick for this week:
Agitate Power: Noise Distraction 7” flexi (self-released, 1990)
According to Discogs, Agitate Power formed in Tokyo in 1987, and this 1990 flexi is very much of its time, featuring six blazing hardcore tunes and an instrumental intro (charmingly titled “Intoro”). I’d describe Agitate Power’s sound as skate thrash, and if the photos on the inside of the sleeve are any indication, they had the look to match. While there were strong connections to other scenes, this vein of skate thrash seemed like a very Japanese phenomenon, branching off from the established hardcore scene over the second half of the 80s. The music was still hardcore, but more hyperactive and less groove-oriented than earlier iterations of Japanese hardcore, with bands employing super fast paddle beats that segued into mid-paced mosh parts at semi-regular intervals. Anthemic choruses with gang vocals were another very prominent feature of the style. As for the fashion, spikes and studs were out, as many bands grew their hair long and adopted skate culture’s streetwear aesthetic… shorts, neon colors, hi-tops, bandanas, etc. Bands like Heresy, Ripcord, and Lärm were doing something similar in Europe, but as is often the case, the Japanese iteration of this sound and style turned everything up to eleven.
While I don’t know much about the people who were part of this scene or how it operated, I imagine its popularity was tied, at least somewhat, to the band S.O.B., who’s 1986 7” Leave Me Alone and 1987 mini-album Don’t Be Swindle got a lot of attention both internationally and within Japan when they were released. S.O.B. weren’t really skate thrash, but they were super fast and their colorfully illustrated album artwork looked like it came from the design crew behind Zorlac Skateboards. As skate thrash coalesced into a distinct strain of Japanese hardcore, some groups that had been around for a while—among them Deadless Muss, Rose Rose, and Outo—started to resemble the new thrash bands in their sound and aesthetic, while a new crop of younger bands put down skateboards and picked up guitars and drumsticks. For whatever reason, this style isn’t very fashionable nowadays, so a lot of these records (especially ones by lesser-known bands) can be found cheap… the Discogs median on this Agitate Power flexi currently stands at $8.50 USD.
I’ve had this flexi on my want list for a couple years (a reasonably priced copy from a US seller prompted me to pull the trigger), but since it arrived, it seems like Japanese skate thrash keeps popping up in my world. Yesterday Usman posted the first edition of Hardcore Knockouts for some time, and the records he chose were two of my favorite late 80s Japanese records, the Chicken Bowels 7” (which I wrote about as my staff pick a few years ago when I finally found a copy) and the Half Years 7”. Half Years was the short-lived band formed by guitarist Zigyaku after he left Gudon and before he formed Bastard (and after that, Judgement)… Zigyaku also produced the Chicken Bowels 7” (and, if my ears aren’t mistaken, contributed some wicked guitar leads). We were talking last night, and I guess Usman doesn’t consider either Chicken Bowels or Half Years skate thrash, but that might be because he likes those bands and he thinks skate thrash sucks. (The market agrees with him… while I mentioned cheap skate thrash records above, Chicken Bowels and Half Years will set you back a pretty penny if you can find them.) I think both bands definitely have elements of the style, though, and if the singer’s shorts on Half Years’ Discogs profile image aren’t a smoking gun, then I don’t know what is.
I’ve also been thinking about Japanese skate thrash thanks to the big grindcore / fastcore / hardcore collection that I mentioned last week. I’ve been listing 7”s from that collection to the used section of our website most every day, and there’s a lot of what I’d classify as skate thrash in there, though mostly from the late 90s and 2000s. While that late 80s / early 90s thing seemed like mostly a Japanese phenomenon, the sound and aesthetic eventually migrated east, leaving a big impact on the “bandana thrash” bands of the early 2000s. I have a feeling that the OG Japanese bands were a big influence on American groups like What Happens Next?, Life’s Halt, Scholastic Deth, and Gordon Solie Motherfuckers. One key labels from that scene was 625 Thrashcore, who has carried the torch for this brand of skate thrash longer and further than anyone. Alongside his other focus on west coast power violence, Max from 625 continues to release small-run records by Japanese thrash bands to this day.
There’s a whole world of this stuff out there, but sadly I’m not the person to guide you through it (at least not yet). This Agitate Power flexi definitely punches above its Discogs median, though, so pick it up if you have the opportunity. It’s also on the meaner / tougher end of the skate thrash spectrum, so it might be a good entry point if you’re still in the process of acquiring a taste for this unique style. Also, shout out to my friend Markku for introducing me to this record and Judd from Sex/Vid, who was the US seller I bought my copy from. I first traded records with Judd nearly 30 years ago, so it’s a trip to see his return address on a package in 2025.