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The Hell: S/T 12” (Not for the Weak Records) “This one goes out to the bad boys” is inscribed at the bottom of the insert for the Hell’s debut LP on Not for the Weak Records. It’s the only information aside from the lyrics on the record’s layout, but it says what you need to know about this group from Cleveland, Ohio (the bad boy’s natural habitat). While the Hell plays at hardcore tempos, they remind me more of a nasty, Dead Boys-inspired punk band, with snot-crusted vocals and riffs that strut like a dirtbag gakked to the gills. A stark contrast to the militaristic and ritualistic intensity of hardcore descended from the Minor Threat branch of the family tree, this makes me think of New Jersey’s the Worst, Boston’s Vile, the Dwarves circa Blood, Guts & Pussy… bands that sounded like hardcore because it annoyed the norms, but if too many hardcore kids liked them, they’d find a way to alienate that audience too. While a true bad boy might take this record as a holy scripture, even a dweeb like me can thrash to the Hell… I just probably won’t invite them to stay at my place after the gig.