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Featured Release Roundup: May 3, 2018
Noseholes: Danger Dance 12” (Harbinger Sound) Debut 12” from this German band that splits the difference between skronky no wave and grooved-out post-punk in the Gang of Four / Delta 5 vein. Noseholes’ rhythm section is really fierce, giving the funky grooves of bands like Shopping or Flasher a run for their money. However, where a lot of bands in this style are either overtly or covertly catchy, Noseholes are extremely angular, particularly in the way that the guitars and vocals (and occasional saxophone) grind against those big, fat rhythmic grooves. If you’re a fan of the aforementioned bands but are looking for something a bit more “out there” this will do the trick nicely, particularly the very no-wave-y closing track, “Aspirin Nation,” which starts as a loose, atonal saxophone jam and eventually dissolves into a big industrial crescendo. With a run-time in the 15-minute range, Danger Dance doesn’t overstay its welcome and practically begs for repeat listens, of which it’s already gotten a few from me.
坦克 (TANK): Demo EP 7” flexi (Symphony of Destruction) “Noise punk from Singapore” sounds like something I would play really loud in the store at closing time when there are a bunch of annoying, tipsy norms hanging around and I really want to go home, but here I am listening to it on my own time and quite enjoying it. Singapore has been producing a lot of great bands lately, and 坦克 features members of a number of them, including Lifelock and Lubricant. The label’s description mentions Japan’s Ferocious X as an inspiration and I can definitely see that… this is full-bore noise-drenched hardcore, like Shitlickers or Anti-Cimex stripped of their in-the-pocket rhythms and carefully arranged songs, and instead just high on a bunch of bad speed, at the end of a bad day, and with no way to vent the rage except turning up the amps as loud as possible. If you find yourself in a similar mood this might help exorcise some of your demons too. However, if you’re not in that kind of mood your time might be better spent looking at the gorgeous screen print on the back side of the flexi rather than trying to wring decent sound out of this hissing auditory assault of a flexi.
Itchy Bugger: Done One 12” (Low Company) Solo record by Josh from the Love Triangle, Diät, and Heavy Metal (among numerous other bands), and it’s quite an unexpected turn. I’ve spent a little time with Josh (I met him when I lived in London for a spell and he also tagged along on a couple of Shitty Limits US tours that I helped organize), and he’s always come off as extraverted and charismatic almost to an extreme degree, so hearing this record—which sounds strikingly introverted to me—is a real surprise. There’s a definite UKDIY sensibility here… it sounds a lot like the Homosexuals in places, but even more so than sounding like a particular band, it has the “made in a lonely bedsit” feel of early records by bands like the Television Personalities, O Level, and Cleaners from Venus. Even though Itchy Bugger’s melodic sensibility is nothing like Cleaners from Venus, that might be the most apt reference because like the Cleaners (as well as records like the Television Personalities’ The Painted Word), Itchy Bugger’s music sounds both very lush and very handmade at the same time. These songs are dense with criss-crossing melodies, with multiple guitars, synth, and vocals all pulling in different but somehow complimentary directions. Done One might take a listen or two to sink in as there’s no real “hit song” that grabs your attention right off the bat, but it’s the very definition of a slow burn. Ever since the second listen I’ve found it virtually impossible to take off my turntable. If you like any of the aforementioned bands or even if you’re a big fan of Pavement’s early material I highly recommend that you check out this beautifully intimate record.
Hargne: Reaction 12” (Seed Stock) I think I mentioned in the last newsletter that this LP is billed as a combination of Norweigan black metal, French industrial punk, and French oi!, and that I was completely enamored with that description. The description still kind of melts my mind even though I’ve probably listened to this LP ten times already and I know very well that this rather unique combination of influences works really, really well. Admittedly, the black metal and industrial punk are probably the two most prominent influences… every song is built around rhythms from a primitive drum machine a la Metal Urbain, and the actual riffs and compositions remind me a lot of Burzum’s early work with its epic, neo-classical approach to raw and primitive black metal. The oi! influence, on the other hand, only peeks out from the din intermittently at moments like the title track’s gang vocal chorus or the Trotskids cover that closes the first side (which is, honestly, the track that most fully fulfills the description’s promise). I feel like I’m casting this record as something of a goofy novelty, and while the weirdness of the declared influences might have been enough to pull me in, it wouldn’t have been enough on its own to keep me listening to this record over and over, which I have definitely been doing. Indeed, if you’ve been keeping an eye on Seed Stock records and dig the artsy, progressive black metal of bands like Golden Dawn and Wulkanaz this is highly recommended listening.
Pandemix: Rank & File 7” (Dirt Cult) Latest record from this Boston band. For whatever reason, it seems like Pandemix seem to fall slightly between scenes… their music isn’t really hardcore as such and it’s not self-consciously retro enough to get them into the peace punk costume party, but at the same time it’s far too confrontational, gritty, and uncommercial to push them to whatever level is beyond “appears on multiple MRR top 10 lists.” That being said, “Rank & File” in particular is an insanely catchy song that is every bit as earwormy as anything on Anti-Flag’s Die for the Government LP, but obviously about a billion times more legit. As with the UK Subhumans, though, that earwormy quality is balanced out by an uncommon level of musicality, occasionally reaching almost prog levels of rhythmic and melodic complexity. Honestly, I can’t think of too many other bands who are doing what Pandemix is doing, which is writing memorable, musically inventive songs with relevant and confrontational lyrics that address the issues of today rather than mindlessly copying lyrics from 30 years ago. If you want to keep listening to bands who rip off the classics I guess that’s fine, but to me Pandemix truly sound like Subhumans and Anthrax (the anarcho one, duh) updated for the world we currently live in.
Sleep: The Sciences 2x12” (Third Man)
Nandas: EP II 7" (Toxic State)
Bad Brains / Mind Power: The Lost Tracks 12” (Fan Club)
Pandemix: Rank & File 7" (Dirt Cult)
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard: Gumboot Soup 12" (ATO)
Dean Ween: Rock 2 12" (Schnitzel)
Conflict: Live At Centro Iberico 7” (Mortarhate)
Conflict: The House That Man Built 7" (Mortarhate)
Gang Green: Skate To Hell 7” (Taang!)
Gang Green: Sold Out – Terrorize 7" (Taang!)
) Anti-Cimex: Fucked In Sweden 12” (A20)
Battle Attacker: Silly Notice 12" (FOAD)
Declino: Terra Bruciata - Discografia Completa 2x12" (FOAD)
Generic / Electro Hippies: Split 12" (Fan Club)
The Consumers: All My Friends Are Dead 12" (In the Red)
Doomsday Massacre: Stick a Fork In It 12” (Cutthroat)
Ultimo Resorte: Demo 1980 + Directo 1983 12" (Vomito Punk)
Trampoline Team / Mama: Split 7” (Giveaway)
Trampoline Team: Drug Culture 7” (Space Taker)
Trampoline Team: Kill You cassette (self-released)
Enoch Ramone and the Ebola Boys: S/T 7” (Die Slaughterhaus)
Myteri: Ruiner 12” (Halvfabrikat)
Protestera: Pengarna Eller Livet 12” (Halvfabrikat)
Exilent / Moribund Scum: Split 12” (Halvfabrikat)
Restocks
Nikudan: S/T 12" (Fan Club)
The Clay / Anti-Septic: Split 12" (Fan Club)
Minor Threat: 82 Live 12" (Fan Club)
Red C / Double O: Split 12" (Fan Club)
Gudon: 1984 12" (Fan Club)
Possessed: Seven Churches 12" (HR)
Quayde Lahüe: Day of the Oppressor 12" (HR)
Diamond Head: Lightning to the Nations 12" (HR)
Exodus: Bonded by Blood 12" (HR)
Cracked Vessel: No Path 12" (Hip Kid)
Chiller: S/T 12" (Dirt Cult)
Big Black: Lungs 12" (Touch & Go)
Big Black: Atomizer 12" (Touch & Go)
Bad Religion: Generator 12" (Epitaph)
Rancid: S/T 12" (Epitaph)
Pantera: Cowboys from Hell 12" (Rhino)
Pantera: Vulgar Display of Power 12" (Rhino)
Led Zeppelin: Houses of the Holy 12" (Atlantic)
MC5: Kick Out the Jams 12" (Rhino)
Radiohead: The Bends 12" (XL Recordings)
Turnstile: Time and Space 12" (Roadrunner)
Turnstile: Non-Stop Feeling 12" (Roadrunner)
Neil Young: Harvest Moon 12" (Reprise)
Prince: Purple Rain 12" (Warner Bros)
Black Sabbath: Master of Reality 12" (Rhino)
Black Sabbath: Paranoid 12" (Rhino)
The Cure: Greatest Hits Acoustic 12" (Elektra)
Hot Snakes: Suicide Invoice 12" (Sub Pop)
Hot Snakes: Automatic Midnight 12" (Sub Pop)
Notorious B.I.G.: Ready to Die 12" (Rhino)
Can: Ege Bamyasi 12" (Spoon)
Sex Pistols: Never Mind the Bollocks 12" (Rhino)
The War on Drugs: Lost in the Dream 12" (Merge)
Superchunk: What a Time to Be Alive 12" (Merge)
The Stooges: S/T 12" (Rhino)
Godspeed You! Black Emperor: F#A# 12" (Constellation)
The Fix: The Speed of Twisted Thought 12" (Touch & Go)
Zero Boys: Vicious Circle 12" (Secretly Canadian)
Zero Boys: History of 12" (Secretly Canadian)
The Stooges: Fun House 12" (Rhino)
Sleep: Holy Mountain 12" (Earache)
Fleetwood Mac: Rumours 12" (Reprise)
Mudhoney: Superfuzz Bigmuff 12" (Sub Pop)
Beach House: Depression Cherry 12" (Sub Pop)
Pixies: Doolittle 12" (4AD)
David Bowie: Hunky Dory 12" (Parlophone)
David Bowie: Ziggy Stardust 12" (Parlophone)
Operation Ivy: Energy 12" (Hell Cat)
Metallica: Kill 'em All 12" (Blackened)
Metallica: Ride the Lightning 12" (Blackened)
Metallica: And Justice for All 12" (Blackened)
Parquet Courts: Human Performance 12" (Rough Trade)
Joy Division: Closer 12" (Rhino)
The Cowboys: 3rd 12" (Hozac)
DNA: You and You 7" (Superior Viaduct)
Iggy Pop: The Idiot 12" (4 Men with Beards Records)
Stiff Little Fingers: Inflammable Material 12" (4 Men with Beards Records)
Razor Boys: S/T 12" (Hozac)
Sonic Youth: Daydream Nation 12" (Goofin)
The Sound: Jeopardy 12" (1972)
Urinals: Negative Capability 12" (In the Red)
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard: Murder of the Universe 12" (ATO)
Lord Huron: Vide Noir 12" (Whispering Pines Studios)
Sarah Shook: Years 12" (Bloodshot)
The Wonder Years: Sister Cities 12" (Hopeless)
Brian Eno: Another Green World 12" (Astralwerks)
Arcade Fire: Funeral 12" (Sony Legacy)
Tyler the Creator: Scum Fuck Flower Boy 12" (Columbia)
SZA: CTRL 12" (Top Dawg Entertainment)
Beyonce: Lemonade 12" (Sony)
Kendrick Lamar: Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City 12" (Interscope)
Kendrick Lamar: Damn 12" (Interscope)
Khalid: American Teen 12" (RCA)
Weezer: Blue Album 12" (Geffen)
Pink Floyd: Piper at the Gates of Dawn 12" (Pink Floyd)
The Clash: London Calling 12" (Columbia)
Curtis Mayfield: Curtis 12" (Curtom)
Neu: S/T 12" (Gronland)
Childish Gambino: Camp 12" (Glassnote)
Kanye West: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy 12" (Roc-A-Fella)
Mumford + Sons: Sigh No More 12" (Island)
Beastie Boys: Paul's Boutique 12" (Capitol)
Guns N Roses: Appetite for Destruction 12" (Geffen)
Dead Kennedys: Plastic Surgery Disasters 12" (Manifesto)
Rage Against the Machine: Evil Empire 12" (Epic)
John Coltrane: A Love Supreme 12" (Impulse)
Descendents: Enjoy 12" (SST)
Misfits: Earth AD 12" (Caroline)
Misfits: Collection 12" (Caroline)
Misfits: Collection II 12" (Caroline)
Swans: The Great Annihilator 12" (Young God)
DJ Shadow: Endtroducing 12" (Mowax)
Power Trip: Nightmare Logic 12" (Southern Lord)
Black Keys: Thickfreakness 12" (Fat Possum)
Al Green: Greatest Hits 12" (Fat Possum)
Lord Huron: Lonesome Dreams 12" (I Am Sound)
Lord Huron: Strange Trails 12' (I Am Sound)
Modest Mouse: The Lonesome Crowded West 12" (Glacial Place)
Pentagram: Day of Reckoning 12" (Peaceville)
Pentagram: Relentless 12" (Peaceville)
Axegrinder: Rise of the Serpent Men 12" (Peaceville)
Run the Jewels: RTJ 2 12" (Mass Appeal)
Featured Release Roundup: April 12, 2018
The Shifters: S/T 12” (Future Folklore) Debut 12” from this Melbourne band. Their previous 7” on Market Square sold out in a flash, and I believe these tracks actually come from an earlier cassette full-length. There’s no getting around the fact that the Shifters owe a heavy aesthetic debt to the Mekons and the Fall (they even crib the lead guitar lick from “Older Lover” off of Slates on one of these tracks), but they sound uniquely Australian too… in fact, moments remind me a whole lot of the UV Race, perhaps because they use melodica prominently. Like a lot of the best Australian bands, there’s a sophisticated sense of songcraft and musicality that you might expect from a big indie band, but the whole thing is very homespun, DIY, and uncommercial at the same time. It’s no wonder that so many Australian bands are catching our ear in the US, because this combination seems all but unique to Oz, and the Shifters are a perfect example. As for the songs, I think they’re totally great. They’re definitely mellow, but there’s a tension that keeps these songs, despite their relatively slow tempos and almost uniformly quiet demeanor, from sounding lazy or boring. Again, the tone is very much like dark and tense fall songs like “Older Lover” or “Iceland,” or perhaps like the second and third Mekons albums (when they really started to find their voice and come into their own as a band). I’m probably not doing a good job of selling this record to the die-hard punkers, but if you’re looking for more than just aggression and/or grandiosity in your music I really can’t recommend this highly enough.
Fetish: S/T 7” (Beach Impediment) So, this debut 7” from Portland’s Fetish is pretty much a tease, but boy is it an effective one! If you haven’t heard, Fetish consists of three former members of Poison Idea (including Thee Slayer Hippy and Vegetable) and three members of Long Knife (the world’s premier Poison Idea imitators), and (perhaps surprisingly, perhaps not) manage to beat any and all post-Pig Champion versions of Poison Idea at their own game. Even though the lineup leans heavily on the War All the Time version of PI, the a-side, “Take the Knife,” sounds more like Feel the Darkness-era… it’s an explosive hardcore track for sure, but it also has a really striking sense of dynamics that I associate with Feel the Darkness. PI were great songwriters, but they were also the masters of arranging a hardcore song, and “Take the Knife” shows that that ability to manage the bells and whistles is alive and well with Fetish. Then there’s the b-side, which is a cover of Love’s song “A House Is Not a Motel,” and while it’s a significant downshift from “Take the Knife,” it hints that there will be a sense of depth and ambition to Fetish’s music and that we can count on them to deliver more than just a bunch of crowd-pleasing thrashers. Yes, this EP is a frustratingly short tease, but the rush of adrenaline it provides has me waiting with baited breath for the full dose that is hopefully to come.
Physique: Punk Life Is Shit 12” (Iron Lung) One-sided 45RPM 12” EP from this band out of Olympia, Washington. Iron Lung is generally known for releasing hardcore that’s on the bleeding edge of the genre, so when they release a record by a band that is a little more straightforward you know it’s going to be something special, and that is definitely the case with Physique. Actually, I think that IRL’s description, which makes this seem like straightforward Discharge / Disclose worship, undersells this record because there’s clearly a lot more going on here than aping the classics. Yes, Physique obviously owe a heavy aesthetic debt to Disclose in particular (which you can tell not only by their artwork, but also by their strangely industrial guitar sounds, which recall Disclose’s Disbones era), but to me they sound like a more modern hardcore band bouncing their ideas off of some of Disclose’s. One thing that always struck me about Disclose is how simple and stark their songs and arrangements were. Their songs remind me of Japanese calligraphy—where the entire piece is made with just a couple of deft, confident brush strokes—and the almost Zen-like minimalism of the composition creates this rich contrast with the equally extreme maximalism of the production. Physique, however, take a much more baroque approach to the songwriting process, and these songs tend to have much more elaborate riffs and more complex arrangements than Disclose ever had… so, rather than Disclose’s minimalist / maximalist dialectic, here you just kind of do your best to navigate the maximalism, and rather than meditating upon the waves of noise you duck and dodge them like jump-scares in a horror movie. So, even though this may sound like a Disclose record at first listen, the experienced d-beat connoisseur will tell you it’s something entirely different, not to mention an exciting and noteworthy contribution to the genre.
Witchtrial: S/T 12” (Beach Impediment) Demo-on-a-12” from this new all-star band out of DC featuring members of Warthog and Protester among many, many others. However, if you’re coming to Witchtrial looking for the raging hardcore of the aforementioned bands you are going to be disappointed as Witchtrial is pretty much 100% metal to my ears. Interestingly, though, I can’t really place the exact style, though that could just be because I don’t know metal nearly as well as I know hardcore. The cover of the record reminds me a little bit of Morbid Tales, though, and the music does too in some respects, particularly the non-intuitive changes in tempo (some of which, like Celtic Frost, are like the auditory equivalent of trudging through wet sand). There’s a lot of rock and roll in Witchtrial’s sound too… some of the riffs are very Motorhead-esque and the singer’s rock and roll drawl and Rob Halford-esque falsetto wails both invoke the more rocked-out end of metal. I do find myself wishing it were just a little more extreme, like I want the band to be faster, heavier, weirder, or just more over-the-top in some respect, but if you’re looking for metal that’s a little more measured and cerebral this might tickle your fancy.
Riki: Hot City cassette (Commodity Tapes) Debut release from this new wave / synth band out of LA. The description pretty much says it all when it compares them to Depeche Mode, Belaboris and Strawberry Switchblade… like those bands, Riki contrast cold, synth-based rhythms with big pop hooks and the results are pretty darn infectious. To my ears, there are basically two ways to approach this style… you can make krautrock-esque zone out jams or you can make pop songs, and Riki are decidedly in the latter camp, and they’re damn good at it. If you dug those Siamese Twins records from a few years ago this will be right up your alley, but moments are so hooky that they remind me of Madonna’s first album more than anything I can think of from the punk world. If this band keeps putting out music this good they are going to be freaking huge.
Yves Bernard: demo cassette (Future Folklore) Really cool demo from this French project… actually, I’m kind of surprised that it’s being sold as a demo as it’s quite long and fully realized in my opinion… the songwriting, recording, and artwork are all top-notch and really cool. I would call Yves Barnard, broadly, synth-punk, but they (he?) definitely have a unique take on the genre, combining the quasi-industrial elements of Metal Urbain with poppier elements, some of which have a dark pop-garage, Marked Men-type of thing going on and some of which go in more of a Screamers-type direction. The drums are all acoustic, and the vocals are in this sing-speak style that really accentuates the paranoid quality of it all, not to mention the French-ness. For as familiar as some parts of it sound, it all adds up to something really unique. Perhaps this isn’t for everyone, but if you’re intrigued by the above references give it a try… it’s well worth hearing.
Bad Example: Tethered in Deviancy cassette (Not Normal)
Voivod: War and Pain 12" (Metal Blade)
Physique: Punk Life Is Shit 12" (Iron Lung)
Geld: Perfect Texture 12" (Iron Lung)
Morbid Angel: Heretic 12" (Earache)
Various: I Only Listen to the Mountain Goats: All Hail West Texas 12" (Merge)
Wye Oak: The Louder I Call, the Faster It Runs 12" (Merge)
Between the Buried and Me: Automata I 12" (Sumerian)
Girlschool: The Singles 1979-1984 12" (Real Gone Music)
Scientist & Prince Jammy: Scientist and Jammy Strike Back! 12" (Real Gone Music)
Gorillaz: Demon Days 12" (Parlophone)
Plastic Cloud: S/T 12" (Allied Record Co.)
Various: Give Me Back (Scene Support Edition) 12" (Ebullition)
PMS 84: Easy Way Out (Scene Support Edition) 12" (Ebullition)
Fuerza Bruta: Verdugo (Scene Support Edition) 12" (Ebullition)
Martyrdod / Neolithic: Split (Scene Support Edition) 7" (Ebullition)
All: Pummel 12" (Porterhouse Vinyl)
Fireburn: Shine 7" (Closed Casket)
Yves Barnard: L'Oreille cassette (Future Folklore Records)
The Shifters: S/T 12" (Future Folklore Records)
Suss Law: S/T 12" (Extreme Headache)
Prince: Sign O the Times 12" (Warner Bros)
The Lawrence Arms: We Are the Champtions 12" (Fat Wreck Chords)
Riki: Hot City cassette (Commodity Tapes)
Sial: Demo cassette (Commodity Tapes)
The Cowboys: 3rd 12" (Hozac)
Uranium Club: Live at Arci Traun 12" (Castleface)
Rob Zombie: Hellbilly Deluxe 12" (Geffen)
Demon Fuzz: Afreaka! 12" (Music On Vinyl)
Ol Dirty Bastard: Return to the 36 Chambers 12" (Elektra)
Curtis Mayfield: Superfly 12" (Curtom)
Curtis Mayfield: Curtis 12" (Curtom)
Wolfbrigade: D-Beat Odyssey 12" (Havoc)
Disfear: Live the Storm 12" (Relapse)
Fetish: S/T 7" (Beach Impediment)
Witchtrial: S/T 12" (Beach Impediment)
Battering Ram: Let Me Fight Where I Lay cassette (Anonymous Cave)
The State: No Illusions 7" (Havoc)
Restocks
Katastrof: S/T 7" (Beach Impediment)
Long Knife: Sewers of Babylon 7" (Beach Impediment)
Bell Witch: Mirror Reaper 12" (new)
Descendents: Cool to Be You 12" (Fat Wreck)
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard: Quarters 12" (Castleface)
Charles Mingus: Mingus Plays Piano 12" (Superior Viaduct)
Razor Boys: S/T 12" (Hozac)
Sheer Mag: Compilation 12" (Wilsuns Recording Company)
Sonic Youth: Bad Moon Rising 12" (Goofin’)
Subhumans: Death Was Too Kind 12" (Alternative Tentacles)
Urinals: Negative Capability 12" (In The Red)
Yob: Atma 12" (20 Buck Spin)
7 Seconds: The Crew 12" (BYO)
7 Seconds: Walk Together, Rock Together 12" (BYO)
Exit Order: Seed of Hysteria 12" (Side Two)
Exit Order: S/T 7" (Side Two)
Gun Club: Fire of Love 12" (Porterhouse Prime Vinyl)
Hank Wood & the Hammerheads: S/T 12" (Toxic State)
The War on Drugs: Lost in the Dream 12" (Secretly Canadian)
Zero Boys: History of 12" (Secretly Canadian)
Hot Snakes: Audit in Progress 12" (Sub Pop)
Sunny Day Real Estate: Diary 12" (Sub Pop)
Earthless: Black Heaven 12" (Nuclear Blast)
Pantera: Vulgar Display of Power 12" (Rhino)
Motorhead: Bomber 12" (Sanctuary)
Motorhead: Orgasmatron 12" (Sanctuary)
Motorhead: No Sleep Till Hammersmith 12" (Sanctuary)
The Cure: Greatest Hits 12" (Rhino)
Joy Division: Substance 12" (Rhino)
Rancid: Life Won't Wait 12" (Epitaph)
Rancid: And Out Come the Wolves 12" (Epitaph)
Operation Ivy: Energy 12" (Hellcat)
Celtic Frost: Morbid Tales 12" (Noise)
Prince: Purple Rain 12" (Warner Bros)
Turnstile: Non-Stop Feeling 12" (Roadrunner)
Converge: The Dusk in Us 12" (Death Wish)
Butthole Surfers: Brown Reason to Live 12" (Alternative Tentacles)
Alex Chilton: Like Flies on Sherbert 12" (Vinyl Lovers)
Crass: The Feeding of the 5000 12" (Crassical Collection)
Frantix: My Dad's a Fuckin' Alcoholic 12" (Alternative Tentacles)
Leftover Crack: Fuck World Trade 12" (Fat Wreck)
Rubella Ballet: Ballet Bag 12" (Dark Entries)
Solid Space: Space Museum 12" (Dark Entries)
Subhumans: From Cradle to Grave 12" (Bluurg)
Subhumans: Time Flies / Rats 12" (Bluurg)
Brian Eno: Here Come the Warm Jets 12" (Astralwerks)
J Dilla: Donuts 12" (Stones Throw)
Heldon: Un Reve Sans 12" (Soufflecontinu)
Heldon: Interface 12" (Soufflecontinu)
Heldon: Stand By 12" (Soufflecontinu)
Arcade Fire: Funeral 12" (Sony)
Pearl Jam: Ten 12" (Sony)
Kendrick Lamar: Damn. 12" (Interscope)
Sylvan Esso: What Now 12" (Loma Vista)
Pink Floyd: Animals 12" (Columbia)
Beastie Boys: Licensed to Ill 12" (Def Jam)
King Crimson: Red 12" (Inner Knot)
Thelonious Monk: Monk's Dream 12" (WaxTime)
Meat Puppets: S/T 12" (MVD)
Meat Puppets: II 12" (MVD)
Chet Baker: Sings 12" (Wax Love)
Miles Davis: Kind of Blue 12" (Columbia Legacy)
Mumford + Sons: Sigh No More 12" (Island)
Alice in Chains: Dirt 12" (Music On Vinyl)
Tool: Opiate 12" (BMG)
John Coltrane: A Love Supreme 12" (Impulse)
Misfits: Legacy of Brutality 12" (Caroline)
Slayer: Reign in Blood 12" (American Recordings)
Broken Bones: A Single Decade 12" (Havoc)
Discharge: Hear Nothing, See Nothing, Say Nothing 12" (Havoc)
Discharge: Why 12" (Havoc)
Discharge: Realities of War 7" (Havoc)
Discharge: Decontrol 7" (Havoc)
Discharge: Fight Back 7" (Havoc)
Discharge: Never Again 7" (Havoc)
Discharge: State Violence, State Control 7" (Havoc)
Final Conflict: In the Famly 7" (Havoc)
Kaaos: Riistinnaulittu Kaaos 12" (Havoc)
Neuroot: Might Is Right 12" (Havoc)
The Pist: Ideas Are Bulletproof 12" (Havoc)
Sacrilege: Time to Face the Reaper 12" (Havoc)
Varukers: One Struggle, One Fight 12" (Havoc)
Varukers: Another Religion, Another War 12" (Havoc)
Varukers: Protest and Survive 7" (Havoc)
Varukers: I Don't Wanna Be a Victim 7" (Havoc)
Varukers: Die for Your Government 7" (Havoc)
Varukers: Massacred Millions 7" (Havoc)
Varukers: No Hope of a Future 7" (Havoc)
Varukers: Led to the Slaughter 7" (Havoc)
Willful Neglect: S/T + Justice for No One 12" 12" (Havoc)
Blitz: Voice of a Generation 12" (Radiation)
Crude SS: Who'll Survive 12" (Radiation)
Daygo Abortions: Out of the Womb 12" (Unrest)
Dezerter: Underground Out of Poland 12" (Nikt Nic Nie Wie)
Exploited: Horror Epics 12" (PHR)
Exploited: Death Before Dishonor 12" (PHR)
Final Conflict: Ashes to Ashes 12" (Tankcrimes)
Lama: S/T 12" (Svart)
Lama: Ja Mikaan Ei Muutiunut 12" (Svart)
Rattus: WC Rajahtaa 12" (Svart)
Lewd: American Wino 12" (Puke N Vomit Records)
Raw Power: You Are the Victim 12" (Havoc)
Unruled: Time Is Running Out 7" (Skizophrenic)
Featured Release Roundup: April 5, 2018
Impotentie: Demonstratieve Opnamens 7” (Drunken Sailor) It’s not often that I listen to a new band and think “what the hell IS this?,” and far less often when said puzzling band is identifiably punk. Montreal’s Impotentie is, indeed, identifiably punk, but it’s punk like nothing I’ve ever really heard before. There are elements of things I know: the claustrophobic, straight-into-the-board guitar sound recalls obscure KBD and euro-punk (particularly when the lead overdubs come in super loud), the singer is somewhere between a hardcore barker and the intimidating shouts of Metal Urbain or the Screamers, and some parts sound like a band playing extremely loose and slightly out of tune Warsaw covers. However, it all adds up to something that is utterly singular. Maybe this is what early Zounds would have sounded like if they did acid all of the time? Really, I think Jonah Falco’s description says it all: “It's the sound of a greyly lit kitchen in some nothing town with pitched roofs and gables, the smell of stale cigars and vinegar and the taste of meat in a tube on moist bread with watery coffee.” More than recalling any particular era of punk, Impotentie capture a real vibe here, and it’s bleak and dour, but with moments that are distinctly beautiful. A very special record that I recommend highly to anyone who values originality in their punk.
The Fritz: S/T 12” (Drunken Sailor) Debut 12” from this Chicago-area band that boasts members of both CCTV and Liquids as well as a bunch of more hardcore-ish bands. The Liquids connection particularly makes sense because the Fritz have a similar way of bouncing back and forth between hardcore and more song-oriented styles, though the Fritz don’t ever get straight up poppy in the way that Liquids sometimes does. There’s also a distinct rock n roll element to the riffing, which brings to mind a number of different 90s garage-punk bands like the Rip Offs, Teengenerate, or even New Bomb Turks. Like all three of those bands, the Fritz straight up rip in the manner of a hardcore band, but at the same time they seem to be reaching backward to an earlier, even more primal era of rock and roll. And of course the production is piss raw in all of the right ways. I don’t know if the Fritz is going to blow up like Coneheads or Liquids because they don’t put the melodies right at the forefront like those bands do, but if you like your punk raw, ripping, and riffy listening to this record will be just as lovely as having your back scratched in exactly the right spot.
Preening: Greasetrap Frisbee 7” (Ever/Never) Latest 7” from this Oakland-based punk / no wave group. I really like Preening a lot, as they seem to have so much to say… as the label’s description indicates, everything that I’ve heard from them is just bursting with ideas, like they’re trying to cram an entire album’s worth of music into every single song. That can be disorienting if you just want to pump your fist and sing along, but if you like complex music that is intricately composed (or at least intricately improvised) with parts weaving across, between, into, etc., one another this is going to be right up your alley. One of the things I love about No Wave is that it’s more of a conceptual framework than an actual music genre, so the pallet of sounds available is theoretically unlimited, and Preening take full advantage of that… there are bits that recall the danceable new wave of Gang of Four (or newer bands like Shopping), the skronk of outsider jazz, and even a few moments that are pretty straightforwardly punk. However, none of these moments stick around long enough to get stale, and it always feels like the band is pushing forward, trying to do something as interesting and exciting as possible. If you’re looking for pop songs then skip this one over, but if you like your punk wild and skronking this is highly recommended.
No Babies: Someone to Watch Over Me 12” (Upset the Rhythm) Latest 12” from this Bay Area no wave / punk band (oddly enough I just wrote a description for the new Preening 7”, so it’s a good week for Bay Area no wave fans!), and it’s a wild ride. Musically, No Babies sit somewhere in the area where no wave, avant-prog, and hardcore overlap… there are elements of all three styles in the band’s sound, but it feels like an organic combination rather than a superficial pastiche. From no wave you get the cacaphonous arrangements, with instruments playing wildly clashing melodic lines that still stick to a coherent—and occasionally even danceable—rhythm… it’s the musical equivalent of a chaotic Jackson Pollack canvas done in wildly clashing colors. From avant-prog (I’m thinking of bands like the Flying Luttenbachers) you get the incredibly intricate compositions, like you gave King Crimson an entire month’s prescription of adderall and forced them to play their complex compositions at hardcore tempos. And from hardcore, obviously you get said blistering tempos, but also a confrontational, aggressive attitude that finds the band lurching, lunging, and careening with the deft power of Damaged-era Black Flag. The musicianship is uniformly incredible, to the point where I find it kind of amazing that the musicians can even remember these compositions, much less play them all together at such crazy tempos. I also have to point out that the vocals here are particularly exciting (BTW said vocals are handled by Jasmine Watson, who you may know from Torso, Neo-Cons, and numerous other bands), not just punctuating the songs with rhythmic shouts (which is an approach No Babies certainly could have gotten away with), but creating rhythmic and melodic lines that are just as complex and exciting as anything the other players are doing. Someone to Watch Over Me is a real adrenaline rush of a record, and while I’m sure it’ll be too much for a lot of people out there I find every second absolutely gripping.
The Child Molesters: (I’m the) Hillside Strangler 7” (Meat House) The debut release on Meat House Records is an official reissue of this well-known KBD gem… the a-side was comped on Killed by Death volume 1 while the b-side was on volume 2, so there’s a pretty good case for them being the ultimate KBD band. Anyway, “Hillside Strangler” is pretty much what you’re looking for if you’re into raw KBD punk… lyrics about serial killers, music that sounds like an inept MC5, and production straight out of the bargain basement… it really has it all. And of course if that’s not “out there” enough for you there’s always the b-side, which is a Yoko Ono cover (!!!). You probably know both of the tracks, so I’ll just say that this reissue is all class (good sound and hand “blood” splatter on the sleeve just like the original) and that 90s (bootleg?) pressing is even going for $$$ on Discogs so ditch your copy there, pick up this version, and then go to dinner at Applebees with the money you have left over. Jalapeno poppers! Yum!
Amen Dunes: Freedom 12" (Sacred Bones)
Silent Era: O Horizon 12" (Last Hour)
Broken Spirit: Vultures and Pigs 12" (Last Hour)
Los Saicos: Wild Teen Punk from Peru 1965 cassette (Discos MMM)
Artcore #37 with Toxic Reasons: No Pity 7" (Artcore)
Minor Threat: '82 Live 12" (euro import)
Chrome Skulls: 6 Hits from Hell cassette (self-released)
Mueco: Mindless Instinct 12" (Konton Crasher)
Dissober / Honnor SS: Split 7" (Konton Crasher)
Blystex: Somos Salvajes cassette (self-released)
Dream Probe: Demo Coleccion 7" (Alonas Dream)
Evel Knievel Rice: Mr. Grover's Room 7" (Alonas Dream)
Silver Abuse: Consider The Pigeon 12" (Alonas Dream)
The Escavels: You Should Know 7" (Alonas Dream)
The Griffith Harter Union: Progress 7" (Alonas Dream)
Barb's Child: S/T 12" (Glued To The Genre)
Preening: Greasetrap Frisbee 7" (Ever/Never)
Leather Jacuzzi: The Whole Hog 12" (Danger)
PMS: S/T 7" (Danger)
Boris Dzanek: In His Own Words 12" (Danger)
Decemberists: I'll Be Your Girl 12" (Capitol)
Etta James: At Last 12" (WaxTime)
Thelonious Monk: Monk's Dream 12" (Southern Lord)
The Dark: Demons 7" (Darker Records)
Eagle Twin: The Thundering Heard 12" (new)
Zeke: Hellbender 12" (Relapse)
Sammal: Suuliekki 12" (Svart)
Giuda: Rock N Roll Music 7" (Rise Above)
Various: Musique Experimentale 12" (Finders Keepers)
Corrupted: Felicific 12" (Cold Spring)
Various: Cronica Tecnica 12" (Geometrik)
Nebula: Dos EPs 12" (Heavy Psych Sounds)
Various: Spiritual Jazz 8: Japan Part 1 12" (Jazz Records Limited)
Various: Spiritual Jazz 8: Japan Part 2 12" (Jazz Records Limited)
Brainticket: Psychonaut 12" (Lilith)
Brainticket: Cottonwood 12" (Lilith)
Various: Italia New Wave 12" (Spittle)
Various: Italia Synthetica 12" (Spittle)
No Babies: Someone to Watch 12" (Upset The Rhythm)
Lightnin' Hopkins: S/T 12" (Wax Love)
John Lee Hooker: The Great 12" (Wax Love)
Restocks
La Urss: Maravillas 12" (Discos MMM)
Big Black: Songs About Fucking 12" (Touch & Go)
Neil Young: Harvest Moon 12" (Reprise)
Godspeed You! Black Emperor: Lift Your Skinny Fists 12" (Constellation)
Hot Snakes: Automatic Midnight 12" (Sub Pop)
Hot Snakes: Jericho Sirens 12" (Sub Pop)
Sleater-Kinney: Call the Doctor 12" (Sub Pop)
Black Sabbath: S/T 12" (Warner Bros)
Green Day: Insomniac 12" (Reprise)
Green Day: Dookie 12" (Reprise)
Green Day: Nimrod 12" (Reprise)
Led Zeppelin: II 12" (Atlantic)
Swell Maps: Jane from Occupied Europe 12" (Secretly Canadian)
Notorious B.I.G.: Ready to Die 12" (Rhino)
The Cure: The Head on the Door 12" (Rhino)
The Cure: Disintegration 12" (Rhino)
Ramones: S/T 12" (Rhino)
The Pixies: Doolittle 12" (4AD)
David Bowie: Diamond Dogs 12" (Parlophone)
David Bowie: Ziggy Stardust 12" (Parlophone)
Motorhead: Ace of Spades 12" (Sanctuary)
Neutral Milk Hotel: In the Aeroplane Over the Sea 12" (Merge)
The Scientists: S/T 12" (Numero Group)
Earthless: Black Heaven 12" (Nuclear Blast)
Beach Boys: Pet Sounds (mono) 12" (Capitol)
Arcade Fire: Funeral 12" (Sony Legacy)
Brian Eno: Taking Tiger Mountain 12" (Astralwerks)
Brian Eno: Another Green World 12" (Astralwerks)
Beyonce: Lemonade 12" (Sony)
Voivod: Rrrrooooaaar 12" (Noise)
Voivod: Dimension Hatross 12" (Noise)
Khalid: American Teen 12" (RCA)
Weezer: The Blue Album 12" (Geffen)
Beastie Boys: Licensed to Ill 12" (Def Jam)
Twenty One Pilots: Blurryface 12" (Fueled By Ramen)
Nick Drake: Pink Moon 12" (Island)
Alice in Chains: Dirt 12" (Music on Vinyl)
Amy Winehouse: Back to Black 12" (Island)
Kanye West: College Dropout 12" (Roc-A-Fella Records)
Snoop Dogg: Doggstyle 12" (Death Row)
Tool: Opiate 12" (BMG)
Rage Against the Machine: Evil Empire 12" (Epic)
Wu-Tang Clan: Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) 12" (RCA)
Misfits: Collection 12" (Caroline)
Misfits: Collection II 12" (Caroline)
Funkadelic: Maggot Brain 12" (Westbound)
Autopsy: Critical Madness: The Demo Years 12" (Peaceville)
Bjork: Vulnicura 12" (One Little Indian)
The Black Keys: Thickfreakness 12" (Fat Possum)
Brand New: Deja Entendu 12" (Triple Crown)
Master: S/T 12" (Hammerheart)
Modest Mouse: The Lonesome Crowded West 12" (Glacial Place)
Power Trip: Manifest Decimation 12" (Southern Lord)
Power Trip: Nightmare Logic 12" (Southern Lord)
Propagandhi: Less Talk, More Rock 12" (Fat Wreck Chords)
Run the Jewels: S/T 12" (Mass Appeal)
Run the Jewels: RTJ 3 12" (Mass Appeal)
Taake: Kong Vinter 12" (Karisma)
Windhand / Satan's Satyrs: Split 12" (Relapse)
Baroness: Blue Record 12" (Relapse)
All Things to All People Vol. 26 (Best of 2017) B/W Featured Release Roundup
So, on this round of entries on the Sorry State Records blog we’re all posting our top records of 2017. If you’re a subscriber to Maximumrocknroll you might have already read my list in their best of 2017 issue. Since that magazine just came out I won’t reproduce my little blurbs about each record (you’ll have to buy the mag to get that), but I will let you know what was on my list. Here we are, in no particular order:
TOP TEN
PURA MANIA: Cerebros Punk 12” (CV / Hysteria)
EEL: Night Parade of 100 Demons (Beach Impediment)
ISS: (Endless Pussyfooting) 12” (Erste Theke Tonträger)
TESTA DURA: Lotta Continua 7” (Even Worse)
IMPALERS: Celler Dweller (540)
NEON: Neon Is Life cassette (self-released)
MIDNITE SNAXXX: Chew on This (Pelican Pow-wow)
NOSFERATU: S/T 7” (Lumpy)
S.H.I.T.: I 7” (La Vida Es Un Mus)
SHEER MAG: Need to Feel Your Love 12” (Wilsuns)
OTHER REALLY GOOD PUNK RECORDS FROM 2017:
DAGGER: Writhing in the Light of the Moon 7” (Lengua Armada)
WARM BODIES: My Burning Love 7” (Thrilling Living)
KALEIDOSCOPE: Volume 3 12” (Feel It)
CAREER SUICIDE: Machine Response 12” (Deranged)
RUBBLE: S/T 7” (Distort Reality)
HOUSEWIVES: S/T 12” (Ever/Never)
RASHOMON: S/T 7” (Society Bleeds)
MUFF DIVERS: Dreams of the Gentlest Texture 12” (Lumpy)
MOZART: Nasty 7” (Iron Lung)
INSTITUTE: Subordination 12” (Sacred Bones)
TARANTULA: S/T 7” (Lengua Armada)
HALDOL: The Totalitarianism of Everyday Life 12” (World Gone Mad)
FLESH WORLD: Into the Shroud 12” (Dark Entries)
gSp: S/T 12” (Thrilling Living)
HARAM: When You Have Won, You Have Lost 12” (Toxic State)
HEAVY METAL: LP2 12” (Static Age)
BRAINBOMBS: Inferno 12” (Skrammel)
As usual, I had absolutely no trouble making this list… there is simply SO MUCH good punk rock being released right now. I’m extremely privileged to be in a position to hear so much of it, but I still find it frustrating when people complain that there aren’t any good new bands. I guess the problem of people thinking the scene dies when they leave never really goes away.
Overall, though, I think that I will remember 2017 as a year when I threw out many of my preconceived notions of what punk (and maybe even music in general) could be. Even outside of this list, my own musical tastes widened considerably as I listened to way more krautrock, psych, electronic and noise music, and jazz in 2017 than I ever had before in my life. That my eclecticism seeped into my punk listening as well is apparent from this list. Brainbombs is a band that never really moved me before, but the way they combine 70s Miles Davis with Fun House-era Stooges on Inferno had me spinning that record relentlessly. Getting into artists like Ornette Coleman, Miles Davis, Amon Düül II, and Can also opened my ears to the sounds being made by groups like Neon, Mozart, and Warm Bodies. And a newfound tendency to listen closely to the auditory texture of recordings (rather than understanding recording as essentially a transparent window into the composition) made records like EEL’s even more gripping than they might have been otherwise.
Who needs reflection, though? Let’s head right back into the thick of it with some blurbs on what’s hot in 2018:
Apologies... I've been running behind on the blog and most of these are now sold out from us :( Hopefully we can get restocks on most of them though.
Amyl & the Sniffers: Big Attraction / Giddy Up 12” (Homeless) Debut vinyl from this Australian band (collecting two earlier cassette releases) and I don’t think I’ve been this taken with a new artist for months. To my ears, Amyl & the Sniffers sound like a punked-up version of classic pub rock (or whatever music it is that sharpies listened to)… specifically, they sound like their countrymen the Coloured Balls injected with the energy and concision of X-Ray Spex’s best tracks. It’s a good formula, but Amyl & the Sniffers are far more than just a formula… songs range from the primitive, explosive punk of “Someone Stole My Push Bike” to the pop euphoria of “I’m Not a Loser” or “Mandalay” to the stretched-out, stoned boogie of “Balaclava Lover Boogie.” The songs themselves are pretty much out-of-this-world outstanding, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the singer… she’s just fantastic. Her whole persona just drips with charisma, providing a central focal point for the band that you just can’t look away from (literally or metaphorically). If you like catchy, energetic punk in the ’77 tradition (especially if you don’t mind a little pub rock mixed in a la Eddie & the Hot Rods or Slaughter & the Dogs) I really can’t recommend this one highly enough.
Double O / Red C: Demos 12” (Euro Import) Unofficial release collecting these two DC bands’ demo tape releases. While Double O and Red C share vaguely similar names and both very much fly under the typical harDCore radar, they’re very different bands. Red C are kind of a quintessential teenage punk band… they can barely play and their songs are very simple and straightforward, but they’re nevertheless really fun. Concurrently with spinning this 12” a few times over the past week or so I’ve also been reading the anthology of XXX zine and it’s amazing to me how young some of the people who participated in the initial explosion of hardcore were. I mean, I’m still playing and listening to this music and I’m 38 years old, but a lot of these kids were 16-18 years old (sometimes even younger!) and while that can show in the lack of sharpness in their playing (as it does on the Red C demo), it also means that they’re able to get across a sense of naive enthusiasm that older, more polished bands simply can’t capture. However, while Red C’s demo is a really interesting document of that whole teenage hardcore band phenomenon, I’d argue that Double O are a legitimately powerful and crucially underrated band, and that’s definitely apparent on their tracks here. While this recording is looser and rawer than their EP (which I really can’t recommend highly enough), what you hear here is already confident and powerful, easily able to stand toe to toe with any of the best early Dischord bands (excepting, possibly, Minor Threat). While the packaging here certainly leaves something to be desired, the sound quality is on point and given the fact that this LP is the only currently-in-print Double O material I’d argue that it’s worthy of your attention.
Total Control: Laughing at the System12” (Alter) Like a lot of people, I’m sure, I was pretty excited to learn that there was a new Total Control record and I jumped online to listen to it as soon as it was available. I really liked it immediately, so I was kind of puzzled when I started seeing some people express mixed feelings toward the record on various places on the internet. It didn’t really seem to me like Laughing at the System was that much of a different record than Typical System, but after going back and listening to that record I can acknowledge that Laughing is pretty different… it’s notably devoid of the dance floor-ready beats and big choruses of Typical System, with the band instead exploring quirkier rhythms, more dissonant harmonies and more unfamiliar textures. However, these are precisely the kinds of things I’ve been interested in exploring in my own music-listening in the years since Typical System came out, so listening to Laughing at the System it sounds perfectly natural to me. Another reason why less adventurous listeners might find this to be a more “difficult” record is because all of the songs are quite different from one another. This has been the case, at least to some extent, with most of Total Control’s previous releases, but the variety on Laughing really is quite striking. However, every single track here has something that I absolutely love, whether it’s the quirky rhythm of “Laughing at the System I” (which, as a number of people have noted, sounds quite a lot like the later Whatever Brains material), the Robert Fripp-esque abstract guitar of “Vote Cops,” or the ambient Kraut-isms of “Cathie and Marg.” So, if you’re expecting Typical System Part II you might be disappointed, but if you’ve spent the years since that record working to explore all of the other corners of the record store I think you’ll love this just as much as, if not more than, any other Total Control record.
BB Eye: S/T 12” (Lumpy) I really enjoyed the BB Eye 7” a while back, but this new 12” is really a big step up from that. Given the opportunity to spread out on a 12”, BB Eye don’t just write the same song over and over, but rather explore a lot of different ideas. There’s a bit of a mix tape vibe here, but rather than sounding schizophrenic it really only serves to highlight how one-dimensional most bands are. It seems like most groups feel around for a formula that works and then work to explore how flexible that formula is, giving all of the songs on a particular release a fairly uniform aesthetic. However, BB Eye seem to deliberately avoid saving any templates, approaching each new song as if they were starting a new band. Some songs have an earworm quality (there’s no way you don’t walk away from this record humming “I want to poke you poke you poke you… in the eye!”), others get into more of a drone-y, repetitive space that reminds me of early songs by the Fall (see “Dating a Fly”), and then there’s the chilled-out new wave of “Butterball’s Lament” that closes the record on an extremely strong note. Given that it’s so all over the place this record can come off as tossed-off on the first listen, but the more it sinks in the more you realize how many interesting and memorable ideas are crammed into each song. Taken as a whole, the overall vibe of this record reminds me a lot of Brian Eno’s Here Come the Warm Jets LP… it’s the sound of very smart and ambitious musicians stretching out, exploring, and enjoying the freedom of being oblivious to the world’s expectations. I really can’t recommend this highly enough, and with a few more listens it may well replace the Janitor Scum LP as my favorite release yet on the Lumpy label.
Tarantula: Weird Tales of Radiation and Hate 7” (Deranged) Second 7” from Chicago’s Tarantula, and it continues in the vein of their excellent first record. Tarantula are exploring a space that not a lot of bands are interested in these days… if the words didn’t have such terrible associations I would call this “melodic hardcore,” i.e. music that has the speed and the gritty sound of early 80s hardcore but relies on the more traditional pop song structure of classic punk rock. The only band I can think of off the top of my head who is doing something similar is Night Birds, but Tarantula is a lot tougher and meaner-sounding. While one might consider the idea of catchy, song-oriented hardcore to be completely played out, Tarantula toe the line between poppy and aggressive so perfectly that their music feels fresh. You can hear the influences quite clearly—the snotty, aggressive punk of bands like the Angry Samoans and Zero Boys, the earnest drive of early 80s midwest hardcore like Articles of Faith and early Husker Du, and a dash of Devo / Geza X-style irreverence—but they’re swirled together in a way that’s just different enough from anything I’ve heard before to be noteworthy.
Crusade: Stay Free 1992-1993 12” (Japancore) Anthology release from this 90s Japanese crasher crust band. Generally, I try not to bring up the gender identities of musicians that I write about in these descriptions, but I think it is notable that Crusade were an all-women band, which is notable not just because all-women bands are very, very rare in the Japanese hardcore scene (Nurse is the only one who springs immediately to mind, though I may be blanking on something obvious), but because women musicians in general seem quite rare in that scene, particularly the noise / crasher scene that Crusade were involved in. I also feel somewhat authorized to bring up gender because bassist Chihiro writes eloquently in the liner notes about how some members of the scene in Osaka were skeptical that women could “really” be into punk, much less start a legit band. Well, the proof is in the pudding because Crusade did, indeed, rip. While I wouldn’t put this on the level of, say, Framtid or Gloom, the demo tracks collected on the a-side here in particular are top-notch crasher crust with a raw, brutal sound and performance to match. If you’re wondering if the band added any kind of “soft” or “feminine” touches to the music (whatever that would even mean) you’re barking up the wrong tree, because this is just pure crust brutality. While I certainly like the music quite a bit, I think my favorite part of this release is the liner notes. Chihiro’s story of how and why she started the band as well as the tragic story of how the band ended is a really gripping read and offers a small window into a scene that has always been completely draped in alluring mystery for me.
Negative Space: Gestalt 12” (Drunken Sailor) Debut LP from this UK post-punk band, and I have to say it’s quite striking. Every once in a while we get in a record at the shop that sells off the turntable every time you put it on… Gestalt is one of those records. Whenever it’s playing at the shop customers ask what it is and often buy it right away. There’s something very weighty and important-feeling about it, but it’s also rather stylish and at the same time poppy and accessible. The label’s description references Wire and Gang of Four and both of those bands are apt comparisons in that they have a similar mixture of qualities, though Negative Space are a bit grittier and sound, to me at least, like they must be informed by hardcore on at least some level. The band they really sound to me, though, is Diät, particularly their excellent Positive Energy LP on Iron Lung Records (and, I guess by extension, one might say that they sound quite a bit like Crisis too). While Negative Space don’t have quite the Total Control-level of pop sheen that Diät have, the vocalist has a very similar intonation and the songs are similarly balanced in their originality and their earworm-iness. I suppose time will tell if Gestalt is a record that people keep coming back to year after year, but it’s definitely looking that way. Even though I haven’t heard much about this group from the hype machine, it’s only a matter of time before something this well-done, engaging, and catchy becomes the hot new thing. Highly recommended.
Sial: S/T 12” (La Vida Es Un Mus) I’ve been hearing quite a lot of chatter about this debut LP from Singapore’s Sial, and when I first put it on I could immediately hear why… sometimes when I put on a record I think to myself that this is the sound of right now, the sound that I’ll think of when I remember this era of punk. I suppose that could sound like a slight—like I’m implying Sial are unoriginal or derivative—but I actually mean it in exactly the opposite way… Sial don’t sound precisely like anything that’s come before, and they combine their various influences in a way that wouldn’t (or maybe couldn’t?) have been done before this very historical moment. I hear lots of threads coming together here… the catchy, vicious punk of Criaturas, the darker, more apocalyptic (but still lightly campy) vibe of Blazing Eye, the progressivism of Una Bestia Incontrolable, and the ear-splitting production of EEL. Like I said, the elements themselves are familiar, but there’s something about the way that they come together that feels really exciting, original, and of the moment. It’s as if you’d always loved both ice cream and apple pie and then someone put the two of them together on one plate and just blew your fucking mind. If you’ve been following the various strains of forward-thinking hardcore on the La Vida Es Un Mus label this LP feels, in some respects, like a kind of denouement, or at least the synthesis of a lot of threads of thought and development. And, moreover, it is an absolutely exhilarating listen. Highly recommended.
Obediencia: Erosión 12” (La Vida Es Un Mus) In between all of the numerous raging hardcore and confrontational post-punk released on La Vida Es Un Mus, there has also been a thread of dark, melodic punk that has remained a consistent, if sporadic, feature of the label’s discography. It’s not often that LVEUM drops a release like Juanita Y Los Feos’ Nueva Numancia LP or Rata Negra’s Oido Absoluto LP, but when they do you know it’s going to be really good, and indeed that’s the case with this LP from Obediencia. On the surface Obediencia have a lot in common with the aforementioned bands—all three bands have a similar kind of production and overall sound—but Obediencia definitely have their unique points as well. In particular, the songwriting here is dynamic and interesting. The songs are really sophisticated and have a lot of subtle parts that makes the songs come off as dynamic and exciting where so many other pop-oriented bands sound kind of flat and uninteresting. Someone in this band is an incredibly talented songwriter, which is something that sinks in over a couple of listens, as the first few times I listened to this what I mainly heard was the genre, not the band’s unique approach to it. Certainly if you’re a fan of the genre—i.e. if bands like Red Dons, No Hope for the Kids or the aforementioned LVEUM acts tickle your fancy—then this is a total no-brainer, but if you like any degree of pop in your punk at all I would strongly recommend giving this a few listens and seeing if it starts to sink in. Once it finds a place on your turntable I’m pretty sure you’ll have a hard time getting it off.
Psico Galera: Senza Via Di Fuga 7” (La Vida Es Un Mus) Debut release from this new project featuring Jonah from Fucked Up / Career Suicide on drums and a couple of Smart Cops among others. Obviously the list of members has me very interested in this one, but I’m pretty sure that this would rise above the pack even if it came from a bunch of unknowns. The tack here, ostensibly, is classic Italian hardcore, and it definitely has the loose and wild quality that I tend to associate with early Italian hardcore, but there’s lot more going on here. First of all, there’s an epic quality in some places that seems to come from somewhere else… “Mani Sporche” in particular has a very triumphant tone that would probably remind me a lot of Death Side if the production weren’t decidedly more on the G.I.S.M. end of the spectrum. Second, there are a lot of curious, slightly “out there” production touches, from the “underwater” effect on some of the vocals (they sound all wobbly, sort of like the guitars on “Come as You Are” by Nirvana), some guitar tracks that are obviously out of tune (“Voci Nella Testa” uses this to great effect, which makes the song sound seriously unhinged), and SUPER loud lead guitar overdubs. I’m always a fan of the lead guitar overdub coming in twice as loud as anything else, but the playing here is at least as interesting as the production trick. Oh, and they even have a classic, old-school hardcore dirge in the last track, “Nessuna Rivincita.” So, while this definitely does what it says on the tin in that it delivers a blast of wild hardcore in the vein of the Italian classics, I think that it is actually a very unique and interesting record beyond how it pays homage to history. Here’s hoping this isn’t the last we hear of Psico Galera.
Haircut: Shutting Down 7” (Feel It) After an excellent demo, here’s the debut vinyl from Haircut. In the months since their demo I believe that the band has moved from Charlottesville to Richmond and, as is evident on this record, have largely shorn their sound of melody (the demo had a real Brain F≠ vibe in places) and gotten a lot faster and tougher. In fact, I can’t think of another recent release that so closely recalls the “peak No Way Records” era… back then it seemed like everyone was experimenting with some combination of Direct Control’s crossover-influenced riffing and Government Warning’s alternately pop-infused and blindingly fast hardcore, and Haircut sound like they could be coming from a similar place. The riffs are definitely interesting and the rhythm playing is super solid, but even without the emphasis on melody I think the vocals are what really sets Haircut apart. Juliana just has one of those voices that you want to sing along with, and that certainly sticks out in a genre that tends to be dominated by fairly uniform shouters and screamers.
Lux: S/T 12” (Discos Enfermos) Debut vinyl from this band out of Barcelona. This popped up on Bandcamp a few months ago and it’s been a favorite around Sorry State HQ ever since, so I think all of us were stoked when the vinyl finally arrived. Lux have a sound that kind of sits on the dividing line between UK82 and very raw and primitive anarcho punk, and the first thing you’ll probably notice is the very Beki Bondage-esque vocals. Indeed the vocalist is certainly the star here, as the music is very straightforward, even primitive (both in its composition and in the very loose playing), while the vocalist tends to inject the songs with subtle little melodic flourishes. If you don’t have a taste for very straightforward punk along the lines of Vice Squad or Anti Pasti you might be tempted to write this one off on the first listen, but after a couple of listens this record really grabs you… there’s a lot more going on than seems to be apparent at the first cursory listen. However, if you do like that UK82 sound of the classic bands I mentioned or newer groups like PMS 84 this is, of course, highly recommended.
Panda Bear: A Day with the Homies 12" (Domino Records)
Razorbumps: Hellrazors 12" (Pop Wig Records)
X-Ray Spex: Germfree Adolescents 12" (Real Gone Music)
Heavy Metal: III 12" (Harbinger Sound)
Circuit Breaker: Hands Return to Shake 12" (Harbinger Sound)
Crumbs: Mind Yr Manners 12" (Everything Sucks Music)
Structure: S/T 12" (Harbinger Sound)
Nachthexen: Disco Creep 7" (Harbinger Sound)
Various: O Começo do fim do Mundo 2x12" (Warthog Speak Records)
Skiftande Enheter: S/T 7" (Market Square)
Beyonce: Lemonade 12" (Sony)
Kanye West: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy 12" (Roc-A-Fella Records)
Taylor Swift: Reputation 12" (Big Machine Records)
Various: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 12" (Marvel)
Rolex: R cassette (BLAP)
Loose Nukes: Demo cassette (Agrowax Records)
Amyl and the Sniffers: Big Attraction / Giddy Up 12" (Homeless)
Crystalized Movements: Mind Disaster 12" (Twisted Village Records)
Dog Faced Hermans: Humans Fly 12" (Sorcerer)
Gutara Kyo: S/T 10" (Slovenly Records)
Hypnobeat: Prototech 2x12" (Dark Entries Records)
Les Lullies: Don't Look Twice 7" (Slovenly Records)
The Monsieurs: Deux 12" (Slovenly Records)
Proto Idiot: Leisure Opportunity 12" (Slovenly Records)
Trisomie 21: Chapter IV 12" (Dark Entries Records)
UT: S/T and Confidential 12" (Out Records)
Tom Ware: S/T 12" (Dark Entries Records)
Solid Space: Space Museum 12" (Dark Entries Records)
Cement Shoes: Demo cassette (Loki)
Absolut / Svaveldioxid: Split 12" (Konton Crasher)
Kronisk Misantropi: Helvetet Väntar 7" (Konton Crasher)
Neo Neos: EPMK2 7" (Cultural)
Restocks:
Mod Vigil: S/T 12" (X-Mist Records)
Olho Seco: Botas, Fuzis, Capacetes 7" (Nada Nada Discos)
Itansha: Paranoia Demo 7” (Warthog Speak Records)
Lion's Share: S/T 7" (Warthog Speak Records)
Beastie Boys: Licensed to Ill 12" (Def Jam)
Black Flag: Everything Went Black 12" (SST)
Black Flag: Slip It In 12" (SST)
Black Flag: Damaged 12" (SST)
Death Grips: The Money Store 12" (Epic Records)
Death Grips: No Love Deep Web 12" (self-released)
Guns N Roses; Appetite for Destruction 12" (Geffen)
Husker Du: Metal Circus 12" (SST)
Husker Du: Flip Your Wig 12" (SST)
Jimi Hendrix: Are You Experienced? 12" (Legacy Records)
Kendrick Lamar: Damn 12" (Interscope Records)
Minutemen: Buzz or Howl 12" (SST)
Minutemen: The Punch Line 12" (SST)
Nirvana: Nevermind 12" (DGC)
Weezer: Pinkerton 12" (Geffen)
Rolex: Demo cassette (BLAP)
Butthole Surfers: Brown Reason to Live 12" (Alternative Tentacles Records)
John Coltrane / Alice Coltrane: Cosmic Music 12" (new)
Devo: Hardcore Vol 1 12" (Superior Viaduct Records)
Flesh World: Into the Shroud 12" (Dark Entries Records)
Alain Goraguer: La Planete Sauvage OST 12" (Superior Viaduct Records)
Charles Mingus: The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady 12" (Superior Viaduct Records)
Sleep: Volume One 12" (Tulepo Records)
Sonic Youth: Evol 12" (Goofin')
The Sound: Jeopardy 12" (1972 Records)
Lowlife: Leaders 7" (Hozac Records)
Paranoid: Praise No Deity 7" (Konton Crasher)
Black Sabbath: Vol 4 12" (Rhino Records)
Black Sabbath: Master of Reality 12" (Rhino Records)
Bauhaus: Mask 12" (4AD Records)
Fleetwood Mac: Rumours 12" (Reprise Records)
Led Zeppelin: II 12" (Atlantic)
Dinosaur Jr: You're Living All Over Me 12" (Jagjaguwar Records)
Big Black: Bulldozer 12" (Touch & Go Records)
Big Black: Atomizer 12" (Touch & Go Records)
Radiohead: OK Computer 12" (XL Recordings)
Black Sabbath: Paranoid 12" (Rhino Records)
Can: Ege Bamyasi 12" (Spoon Records)
Celtic Frost: Into the Pandemonium 12" (Noise Records)
Zero Boys: Vicious Circle 12" (Secretly Canadian Records)
Rancid: Life Won't Wait 12" (Epitaph Records)
Pavement: Wowee Zowee 12" (Matador Records)
Metallica: Black Album 12" (Blackened)
Green Day: Dookie 12" (Reprise Records)
The Cure: Seventeen Seconds 12" (Rhino)
Dinosaur Jr.: Dinosaur 12" (Jagjaguwar Records)
Black Sabbath: Sabotage 12" (Rhino Records)
Sleater-Kinney: All Hands on the Bad One 12" (Sub Pop)
Rancid: And Out Come the Wolves 12" (Epitaph Records)
Pavement: Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain 12" (Matador Records)
Motorhead: Orgasmatron 12" (Sanctuary Records)
Led Zeppelin: I 12" (Atlantic)
Iron Maiden: The Number of the Beast 12" (BMG)
The Stooges: S/T 12" (Rhino)
Dinosaur Jr: Bug 12" (Jagjaguwar Records)
The Fix: The Speed of Twisted Thought 12" (Touch & Go Records)
Can: Tago Mago 12" (Spoon Records)
Bauhaus: In the Flat Field 12" (4AD Records)
Voivod: Rrroooaaarrr 12" (Noise Records)
The Pixies: Doolittle 12" (4AD Records)
The Stooges: Fun House 12" (Rhino)
Slint: Spiderland 12" (Touch & Go Records)
Sunny Day Real Estate: Diary 12" (Sub Pop)
Pavement: Slanted & Enchanted 12" (Matador Records)
Mudhoney: Superfuzz Bigmuff 12" (Sub Pop)
The Cure: Pornography 12" (Rhino)
David Bowie: Space Oddity 12" (Parlophone)
Beach House: Depression Cherry 12" (Sub Pop)
Napalm Death: Scum 12" (Earache Records)
Green Day: Kerplunk 12" (Reprise Records)
Gang of Four: Entertainment 12" (Rhino)
Metallica: Master of Puppets 12" (Blackened)
Radiohead: A Moon Shaped Pool 12" (XL Recordings)
Operation Ivy: Energy 12" (Hellcat Records)
Nirvana: Bleach 12" (Sub Pop)
Institute: Subordination 12" (Sacred Bones)
Metallica: Ride the Lightning 12" (Blackened)
Parquet Courts: Human Performance 12" (What's Your Rupture? Records)
Joy Division: Unknown Pleasures 12" (Rhino)
Bad Brains: ROIR 12" (ROIR)
Bad Brains: Omega Sessions 12" (Victory Records)
The Black Keys: Chulahoma 12" (Fat Possum Records)
The Black Keys: Rubber Factory 12" (Fat Possum Records)
The Black Keys: Thickfreakness 12" (Fat Possum Records)
Brand New: Deja Entendu 12" (Triple Crown Records)
Brand New: I Am a Nightmare 12" (Pmtraitors)
Candlemass: Epicus Doomicus Metallicus 12" (Peaceville Records)
Death: Human 12" (Relapse Records)
Death: Spiritual Healing 12" (Relapse Records)
Death: The Sound of Perseverance 12" (Relapse Records)
Geto Boys: We Can't Be Stopped 12" (Rap A Lot Records)
Jason Isbell: Southeastern 12" (Southeastern)
Jason Isbell: The Nashville Sound 12" (Southeastern)
Kohti Tuhoa: Pelon Neljas Valtaku 12" (Southern Lord)
Lord Huron: Lonesome Dreams 12" (I Am Sound Records)
Lord Huron: Strange Trails 12" (I Am Sound Records)
Modest Mouse: Building Nothing Out of Something 12" (Glacial Pace)
Modest Mouse: This Is a Long Drive 12" (Glacial Pace)
Parquet Courts: Content Nausea 12" (What's Your Rupture? Records)
Parquet Courts: Light Up Gold 12" (What's Your Rupture? Records)
Parquet Courts: Sunbathing Animal 12" (What's Your Rupture? Records)
Pentagram: Be Forewarned 12" (Peaceville Records)
Power Trip: Nightmare Logic 12" (Southern Lord)
Jay Reatard: Blood Visions 12" (Fat Possum Records)
Run the Jewels: RTJ 2 12" (Mass Appeal)
Run the Jewels: RTJ 3 12" (Mass Appeal)
Sturgill Simpson: Metamodern Sounds in Country Music 12" (Thirty Tigers)
Slayer: Show No Mercy 12" (Metal Blade Records)
Stimulators: Loud Fast Rules 12" (ROIR)
All Things to All People Vol 25 / Featured Release Roundup for December 20, 2017
This week on the Sorry State blog we’re going to keep the crass, commercialist spirit of Christmas going by talking about our most wanted records. I must admit that I have some qualms about this topic, because conventional record collector wisdom dictates that you keep your want list close to your chest lest you inadvertently increase the desirability (and therefore the price) of what you’re going after. However, I don’t really “go after” records. Despite having been super into records since I was a teenager some 20 years ago, I’ve only ever half-assedly maintained a want list, and I don’t really spend any time looking for the records on it. I’ve always been more of a “take what comes” type of record collector, content to enjoy what I find in my usual haunts and more intrigued by the prospect of a good deal on an under-appreciated gem than finally snagging my holy grail. That said, there are a couple of records that I would really like to own, and I’ll quickly write about a few of those here.
First up is Government Issue’s Legless Bull EP. Now, this is a weird one because obtaining this record would scratch an itch that I ostensibly claim not to have, and that’s the quest for “completeness.” I can only think of a couple of “complete” collections that I’ve put together in my life. Back when I was really into Leatherface in the early 2000s I owned every single piece of vinyl they ever released (including numerous variations and test pressings as well as things like original t-shirts), and a year or two ago I completed my collection of original X-Claim! releases (there are only 6 of those, but every single one of them is quite difficult to find and expensive when you do find them). I’m sure there are other complete collections that I have—I certainly own all of the original vinyl by bands like Wire and the Buzzcocks from their initial runs—but that’s more because I like the music on every single one of those records than because I’ve actively sought to “complete” a collection.
Much like Wire and the Buzzcocks, I just love all of the music released on all of the early Dischord records (up to around #20 or so… they start to lose me with Beefeater and Fire Party, though maybe one day I’ll come to like those records too). What’s more, I’ve loved that music since I first heard it as a teenager and always sought out the original pressings, so I was able to get copies of most of them back before they were astronomically expensive. The two that always eluded me were the rarest ones—Legless Bull and the Youth Brigade EP—but when a customer walked into the store with an original Youth Brigade EP a few years ago I knew that one was going home with me (which I must say was a good choice… the original pressing is mastered super hot and reveals a savagery that doesn’t come across on the Year in Seven Inches pressing). However, G.I. has continued to elude me. The same person who sold the Youth Brigade single (among numerous other crazy collectibles over the years) said that he was pretty sure he had a double of Legless Bull, but he’s never come through. I’ve often thrown up a bid on copies on ebay, but what I consider a pretty aggressive bid is probably a low-ball offer to most people. And with the going rate on these things being $600+ these days I really don’t see myself springing for one any time soon.
A side note to this one: were I to acquire Legless Bull, I would immediately be faced with another dilemma, because in addition to having all of the main Dischord releases from 1980 until 1984, I also have all of the “fraction” releases like SSD, Necros, Double O, and United Mutation. That is, with one exception: Iron Cross’s Skinhead Glory. That’s a record whose going rate, in my current opinion at least, far exceeds its musical worth, so should I find the G.I. record I’m going to find myself in even more of a pickle. That’s the thing about this completeness thing… as soon as you think you’re done, a whole new and deeper world opens itself up to you and beckons you in.
Next up on the want list are two Japanese records that I’ve been after for a long time: Aburadako’s first 12” and Chicken Bowels’ self-titled EP. Having been lucky enough to go to Japan twice, I’ve been able to find original copies of a lot of my favorite records. I’m pretty sure I have every single piece of Death Side vinyl (including compilation appearances! I guess that’s another complete collection…), 3 of the 4 Gauze LPs (still missing Fuck Heads, but that doesn’t stress me out for whatever reason), the first two G.I.S.M. 12”s, the Bastard LP… I could keep going but I already feel like I’m bragging. However, the two records I mentioned continue to nag away at me. Whenever I have a friend who is going to Japan and asks people to send them their wants I always mention these two records and no one has been able to come through yet. But why these particular records?
For Aburadako, it’s because their flexi is one of my most beloved Japanese punk records and I feel like having the 12” is a necessary step toward appreciating the band more deeply. Whenever a record really clicks with me, the first thing I do is check out the releases before and after it in the band’s discography… usually those releases have a better shot at being good, and even if they aren’t understanding a bit of the context usually helps to deepen my appreciation of the release I really like. However, that first 12” is a glaring hole in my Aburadako discography… I have all of their later 12”s but haven’t spent a ton of time with them as they pretty much abandon punk. I’ve heard the 12” so I know it’s not some kind of magical bridge between their earlier and later stuff but I feel like really understanding it will help me to understand something I can’t understand otherwise. And unfortunately the CD reissue just doesn’t do it because it starts with the 7” tracks, and listening to the 7” and 12” back-to-back just doesn’t flow like it should. I suppose I could just make a playlist or burn a CD with only the 12” tracks, but of course I also want all of the artwork (which is SUPER cool) and the other contextual information.
The context argument doesn’t really get me anywhere with the Chicken Bowels 7”, because it’s the only thing the band released aside from a couple of tracks on the My Meat’s Your Poison compilation. However, from the minute I heard this 7” I was in love. This happened during a very pivotal moment in my music-listening life, when my friend Joel let me “babysit” his entire record collection for a summer. Joel had an amazing, very Japanese-focused record collection (he actually had two copies of Fuck Heads… I should have wrestled one away from him then!) and I systematically listened to every single record in it over the course of several months. The Chicken Bowels record stood out for a number of reasons… the wacky band name and downright absurd cover artwork gave it a kind of exotic, alien quality that was extremely intriguing (this was years before you could go on YouTube and binge on k-pop videos or subscribe to a streaming service loaded with vintage anime). Second, as someone who was just coming off a pretty deep obsession with big-guitar melodic punk like Leatherface, Naked Raygun, and Government Issue, the subtly melodic character of Chicken Bowels’ songwriting really sucked me in. There are probably about five people in the world who will appreciate this comparison, but they always sounded to me like early Snuff trying to play Death Side songs (or vice versa). More than a decade later, whenever I listen to mp3s of this EP the hairs on the back of my neck still stand up.
OK, loved ones, you have exactly 4 days left to acquire one of these gems and make my xmas dreams come true! Or, if that time frame is too tight, there’s always next year… and in the meantime I really do need some new socks.
Gee Tee: Death Race 7” (Neck Chop) Third EP from this Australian project, and last time I wrote about them (which was regarding their 7” on Goodbye Boozy) I thought they had kind of a D.L.I.M.C. / Coneheads vibe going on, but this new EP seems to go beyond that and hit upon something a little more distinctive and original. In particular, it reminds me a lot of Brian Eno’s first two solo albums, when he was still making pop music but started to be really aggressive about bringing different sounds than just drum, bass, guitar, and vocals into the mix. Death Race is similar in that it feels a bit like some of the best neo-garage on the surface, but upon closer inspection it’s made of different ingredients. There are a remarkable number of different tones and textures here, but they’re all wrapped up in a completely infectious package. The whole new Neck Chop batch is very strong, but this one might be my favorite of the bunch.
KNOWSO: Look at the Chart 12” (Neck Chop) If the artwork wasn’t enough to clue you in, about 30 seconds of listening to this record will make it clear that it spawns from the some of the same minds that have recently brought us bands like Cruelster and Perverts Again. While all of those bands are similar in some ways, they’re also different in others, and that’s certainly the case with KNOWSO as well. Instrumentally, the thing that seems the most notable to me are the surprisingly melodic guitars, which are double-tracked in this Greg Sage kind of way that could be really melodic and beautiful in different hands, but of course KNOWSO continue the artistic exploration of moron headspace from their other bands. Some of my favorite lyrics on Look at the Chart include “They sick the dogs on my people / They sick the people on my dogs,” and “I keep seeing you around / Why? / This is my town / Me and my friends’ down / Me and my mom’s town.” On this record smart and dumb are used like sweet and salty to balance one another out and give the whole thing a unique flavor. If you’re really averse to one or the other the whole thing might fall flat for you, but I think this record is totally great.
Parsnip: Health 7” (Anti-Fade) Debut 4-song EP from this Australian band, and man is it killer! The retro sleeve design looks super cool, but for me it simultaneously raises and lowers expectations… since it looks like an old Kinks single I get up my hopes that this will be some great pop music, but then when I think about how few retro-60s bands actually pull that off I have a kind of mental backlash before I’ve even heard the record. However, once the needle drops on this thing it’s hard not to fall in love… Parsnip sound to me like the perfect mixture of sophisticated 60s pop and charmingly rickety late 70s post-punk… like the Raincoats or Kleenex incorporating some hammond organ, taking a stab at Zombies / Box Tops / Left Banke-style baroque pop and arriving at something I feel like I’ve never heard before. The sound of this EP is wonderful in its own right, side-stepping the modern habit of having every frequency in the range of human hearing occupied. However, the real treasure here are the songs themselves, which are fabulous… try your best not to hum along with “Health!”
Very Mental: Misconstrued 7” (Total Punk) Debut single from this band out of Olympia, and that’s pretty much all I know about them. However, I know that Olympia hasff a very high standard for punk rock and Very Mental very much meet it… this isn’t one of those throwaway garage singles that seems like it was conceived, written, and recorded in the space of an hour. Very Mental have serious pop chops, and when Total Punk compares them to the Dangerhouse set it’s an apt description, both because they have some of that X-esque vocal interplay going on and also because these songs feel sturdy and meaty in the same way that many of the tracks on those classic singles did. Throw in a perfectly gritty recording and you have another keeper from Total Punk.
The Celetoids: Pupal Stage 12” (Drunken Sailor) Debut 12” (I think it was released earlier as a cassette) from this Croatian band. The Celetoids have a sound that’s tough to pin down, combining elements of hardcore, post-punk, and the darker end of garage-punk (like the Marked Men and Radioactivity) into something that’s really beefy but also super catchy. I’m reminded of countless darker, heavier, pop-infused punk bands over the years, from the Buzzcocks (particularly Steve Diggle’s tracks) to the Wipers to later Government Issue and Naked Raygun to Pegboy… the Celetoids are a pretty comfortable fit in that tradition, and they have the songwriting chops to warrant the comparison.
Chemotherapy: S/T 7” (Time Change) If you’re the type who chases after the rawest, most inept punk rock you can find, let me introduce you to your new holy grail. I actually hadn’t heard of this Chemotherapy EP before this reissue came out, which I suppose makes sense because 1. the original vinyl is insanely rare and 2. it’s really only noteworthy because of it’s horribleness. This is, quite frankly, one of the most inept musical recordings I’ve ever heard in my life… it’s like a punk rock Shaggs, with the bass and guitar completely and totally out of tune with one another, a drummer who clearly has no idea what they’re doing, and a singer who nevertheless sells it like he’s fronting the second coming of Minor Threat. A lot of music that other people describe as inept I actually think is quite beautiful, but there’s nothing beautiful about Chemotherapy. I honestly can’t tell if they’re joking or if it’s merely the best they can do (and the must-watch video on YouTube of them playing in their high school cafeteria doesn’t provide any further clues), but if you want to see just how raw, abrasive, and ugly music can get this is a record you need in your life.
Rolex: demo cassette (B.L.A.P.) Debut cassette from this band out of LA, and man it’s a ripper! Very much in the “weird hardcore” vein, Rolex have a clean guitar sound, a noodly bass player and a lot of quirky (but really, really fast and tight) rhythmic changes. It sounds a lot like early Die Kreuzen played about 20% faster, which basically means that it sounds a whole lot like Nasa Space Universe in places. In particular, it reminds me a lot of NSU’s first EP which had a much brighter, clearer recording than their other records. This one has a similar vibe, and the production being so clear and open just gives more room for the quirkiness of this one to shine. Highly recommended.
The Mark Vodka Group: The Debut EP cassette (Big Dunce) Big Dunce gives us another hit, this time from Halifax’s The Mark Vodka Group. Unlike a lot of the other Big Dunce bands, Mark Vodka doesn’t rely on synths or drum machines, but instead turns in an EP of organic, poppy (but still quite noisy and messy) rock music. My favorite here is the first track, “Shadow of Your Former Self,” which reminds me of the early Television Personalities stuff in the way that it brings a kind of 50s influence to the post-punk DIY raw home recording style, and like the TVPs the pop hooks on display here are first rate. I wouldn’t be surprised to find that there’s a Booji Boys connection here because Mark Vodka has a similar ratio of pop to fuzz, but these tracks are a little more straightforwardly pop. If you dig the kind of neo-DIY being put out on the Market Square label I’d highly recommend checking this EP out.
Pobreza Mental: Demo (self-released) Demo cassette from this new New York band that, judging by the names, features a bunch of familiar faces. While Pobreza Mental sing (mostly) in Spanish and will certainly scratch your itch for Toxic State-style hardcore punk, to my ears they have more of an early Italian hardcore type sound… wild, raw, and just a little bit loose. Like a lot of the early Italian bands (Negazione or Upset Noise, for instance), they’re also a little bit metallic, which comes out on tracks like “Are You Ineffective.” That track almost has an Agnostic Front Cause for Alarm vibe in the way that it dumbs down and hardcore-ifies thrash metal. Much like the Μάτι demo we got a few weeks back, Pobreza Mental’s demo shows that New York is not done giving us innovative and exciting hardcore punk bands.
Fragment: In the Dust 12” (Desolate) Debut full-length from this Canadian crust band, and boy is it intense on the ears. Honestly, I don’t have much time for middling crust these days, so something needs to be really extreme and over the top to catch my attention and Fragment certainly fit the bill… there’s a real Framtid / Gloom-type “everything louder than everything else” sensibility at work here and the production is surprisingly rich and detailed for such a loud and noisy record. This is one that you can either listen to and pound your fist along with the drums or you can get lost in the swirling layers of noise and feedback. While the whole thing is really enjoyable, my personal favorite part of the record is the latter half of side two where they really cut loose, incorporating some surprising mid-paced riffs as well as some more abstract, riff-less parts (there’s one intro where the only noise you hear from the guitars is picks scraping against the strings for a good long while). Whether you’re coming to this one looking to rage or looking for some high concept art I think you’ll be pleased.
Entombed: Wolverine Blues 12" (Earache Records)
Bolt Thrower: The IVth Crusade 12" (Earache Records)
Unified Right: Straight to Hell 12" (Triple-B Records)
Bugg: S/T 12" (Pop Wig Records)
The Sickness: Complete Sickness 12" (ОПАЧИНА)
Penetrode / C.H.E.W.: Split 7" (Neck Chop Records)
Whip: S/T 7" (Neck Chop Records)
Color TV: Paroxoteens 7" (Neck Chop Records)
KNOWSO: Look at the Chart 12" (Neck Chop Records)
Gee Tee: Death Race 7" (Neck Chop Records)
Jackson Politick: Paste V.1 12" (Neck Chop Records)
Living Eyes: Modern Living 12" (Neck Chop Records)
Andy Human: Freeze 12" (Neck Chop Records)
Keepsies: Dumb Fun 7" (Neck Chop Records)
Patsy's Rats: Is It Alright? 7" (Wink and Spit)
Prettylittleshindig: Spins 7" (Wink and Spit)
The Squirmers: Tampico 7" (Wink and Spit)
Feels: Close My Eyes 7" (Wink and Spit)
Stalag: Secrets 7" (Cameleon Records)
Los Reactors: Dead in the Suburbs 7" (Paramecium Records)
Parsnip: S/T 7" (Anti-Fade Records)
Gad Whip: In a Room 12" (Ever / Never Records)
Very Mental: Misconstrued 7" (Total Punk Records)
Double O / Red C: Demos 12" (euro import)
Negative Space: Gestalt 12" (Drunken Sailor Records)
The Celetoids: Pupal Stage 12" (Drunken Sailor Records)
First Base: Not that Bad 12" (Drunken Sailor Records)
Swingin' Utters: Drowning in the Sea 12" (Fat Wreck Chords)
Enslaved: Monumension 12" (Osmose Productions)
Enslaved: Blodhemn 12" (Osmose Productions)
Mutant Video: Vanity of Life 12" (Iron Lung Records)
His Electro Blue Voice: Mental Hoop 12" (Iron Lung Records)
Naked Naps: Year of the Chump 12" (Self Aware Records)
Enslaved: Eld 12" (Osmose Productions)
Enslaved: Mardraum 12" (Osmose Productions)
Violent End: S/T 7" (Rock ‘N’ Roll Disgrace)
BB Eye: Headcheese Heartthrob 12" (Lumpy Records)
Plastic: S/T 12" (Lumpy Records)
Restocks:
C.H.E.W. / Rash: Split 7" (new)
Woodboot: Krang Gang 12" (Neck Chop Records)
Beta Boys: After Dark 7" (Neck Chop Records)
Acrylics: S/T 12" (Neck Chop Records)
Bleeding Gums: II 7" (Neck Chop Records)
Warm Bodies: Domo 7" (Neck Chop Records)
Lost System: No Meaning No Culture 7" (Neck Chop Records)
Schizos: Fuck Iggy Pop 7" (Neck Chop Records)
Macho Boys: S/T 12" (Neck Chop Records)
C.H.E.W.: Demo 7" (Neck Chop Records)
Sick Thoughts: Songs About People You Hate 12" (Neck Chop Records)
Mark Cone: Now Showing 12" (Neck Chop Records)
Nasti: Big Achievements 12" (Iron Lung Records)
Rakta: Occulto Pelos Seres 7" (Iron Lung Records)
Lebenden Toten: Static 12" (Iron Lung Records)
EEL: Night Parade of 100 Demons 12" (Beach Impediment Records)
Katastrof: S/T 7" (Beach Impediment Records)
Long Knife: Sewers of Babylon 7" (Beach Impediment Records)
All Things to All People Vol 24 / Featured Release Roundup for December 9, 2017
I have to admit up front that I don’t think that I’m good at partying. I am fundamentally uptight, introverted, and have a habit of living inside my own head, so I do not naturally take to the idea of partying. That’s not to say I haven’t enjoyed myself now and again, but I just want to establish up front that I am not an expert on partying. However, in thinking about the concept of partying I started to realize that there are several different, distinct usages of the term “party,” so I thought I’d use songs to explore several different meanings of the term.
1. A friendly social gathering; or, as a verb, to attend such a gathering
The word “party” in its most common usage refers to a social gathering. These are the types of social situations that I tend to have anxiety about, but I do have my fair share of experience with them.
Jeff noted in his blog post that someone else had called dibs on the song “Partytime” by 45 Grave so he couldn’t write about it… that person was me, and I feel kind of bad about it because the reason I wanted to write about it is fairly superficial. Whenever I’m heading to a party—specifically when I’m getting dressed and ready and/or driving to the party’s location—I tend to sing the chorus to “Partytime” in my head. I have a lot of weird little mental tics like that… in case you’re wondering, just about every time I bathe I sing to myself, to the tune of “Jump in the Fire” by Metallica, “jump in the show-WAH!”
When I think of the best parties I’ve ever attended, my mind immediately drifts to the mid-00s and the various Richmond apartments and houses where Brandon and Lauren from No Way Records lived. Mostly these places would be the site of after-parties after various gigs around town, but often I’d make the 3-hour drive up to Richmond just to hang out. My favorite nights were when there would be fairly small groups of people—maybe 10 or so—crammed into a little room with a turntable and Brandon’s killer record collection. There were a few staples that always came out when the party was peaking--Spermbirds’ Something to Prove album was a big favorite—but you knew things were really raging when someone threw on the first Adolescents album, at which point everyone would immediately be huddled around the turntable, beers in the air, singing along.
If we’re talking about parties I can’t ignore the numerous wild times we had when Logic Problem and Shitty Limits toured the US together in one big 15-passenger van pulling a trailer with all of our equipment, merch, and luggage. Tim from Shitty Limits had made a couple of epic mix tapes for the tour and whenever one of those got thrown on you knew everyone was ready to get wide open. One of the tapes started with “Television Addict” by the Victims, and to this day whenever I hear that opening riff it releases some kind of primal spirit of partying from deep inside me.
Another song that has an almost Pavlovian association with partying for me is “Warm Leatherette” by the Normal. I’ve heard “Warm Leatherette” fall flat when played at the wrong time or in the wrong context, but when it’s like 12:30AM, everyone is on exactly the right mix of substances, no one is getting tired and grumpy yet and everyone just wants to dance there is simply no track greater than this one to throw on.
2. To do illegal drugs
I’ve noticed that the word “party,” when used as a verb, can also mean “to do drugs,” specifically cocaine. I’ve never done cocaine (I told you, I’m a square) so I can’t really give you a song that perfectly encapsulates that experience. I don’t really tend to do drugs because something has changed in either my value system or my body chemistry to where the downsides of such activities tend to outweigh the positives. So here are a couple of songs that get at that my current attitude toward this kind of “partying:”
One of the things that I love about this song (in addition to its obvious musical merits) is the way that it gets at the reasons why people do drugs. In particular, I think the first verse when Dick points out the sense of youthful transgression and mischief that attracts people to drugs and drug culture is really astute. Of course it wouldn’t be the Subhumans if they didn’t come down hard on a particular side of the issue, and even if Dick & co. are a little dismissive of drugs as a childish obsession I think they got at something really interesting here that not many people realize or acknowledge.
I’m not sure precisely why, but I’ve always thought that this song perfectly captures what’s bad about doing drugs. The grinding, slower-than-it-should-be tempo feels like the musical articulation of a difficult comedown, and when it’s combined with the existential horror of the lyrical concept you have one of the greatest (anti-?) drug songs ever recorded.
3. A formal political group
Obviously the word “party” can also refer to political parties, which are things that suck. Maybe it’s because I’ve read too much 18th century philosophy and political theory, but seriously fuck political parties in all shapes and forms. The world would be a better place if they were simply wiped from our collective memory.
This song popped into my head as an example of a dumb political hardcore song, but now that I look at the lyrics I actually find them kind of profound:
Now you are screaming in pain
They are striking you on your face
Their bombs, money and power
They are stepping over you
The dreams of the crowd
Are used to make them strong
“The dreams of the crowd are used to make them strong.” Fuck, have you heard a better explanation of how Republicans and their ilk are able to garner so much support?
The universe of party politics is one of big, aggregate numbers. It’s the reason that so many of us feel powerless… we’re frustrated by how little our one vote counts against the larger tide of public opinion. And since the masses don’t tend to appreciate the subtleties of rational argument, they end up rallying around slogans and symbols. So, in this track Doc Dart proposes a grand symbolic gesture for opponents of the Christian right: “I wanna take the president, chop off his head, And mail it to them in a garbage bag.”
4. A body of people united in opposition to others
So, when I started to write about partying for this post, one of the first things my inner English professor prompted me to do was look up the word “party” in the Oxford English Dictionary (as I told you, I’m a square). I found that the word derives from a Middle English term meaning “a body of people united in opposition to others.” What a great image! I love how the etymology reveals this hidden assumption at the heart of the very concept of a party… sure, we go to a party to listen to records and/or drink and/or dance or whatever, but one of the things that gives the gathering meaning is its sense of opposition to what is outside the party. Of course, this oppositional sense of the word “party” is more apparent in the political usage above (it always seems like it’s a “them” consolidating their power in political parties against the best interests of “us”), but I think this meaning is somewhere deep inside the conventional usage as well. In other words, there’s a subtle “fuck you” at the very heart of the concept of partying, so here are a few of my favorite “us versus them” songs:
This song is pretty much defiance personified.
Sometimes in order to keep the party’s vibe right you have to kick out some shitheads who wandered in.
5. The very nature of partying is to provide a life-saving release from the constant pressure to “take things seriously.” Seriousness … is precisely why things like partying are crucial to our mental and spiritual health. I take joy very seriously, and partying is the formal pursuit and celebration of joy itself. I’m having a party to celebrate life. I’m having a party to celebrate partying itself. (link)
The most interesting definition of partying I’ve found has only emerged in the past few years. Honestly, I’m surprised that no one has mentioned Andrew WK yet, because even though his cultural relevance is a long way from its peak in the early 00s I feel like his name is still almost synonymous with the concept of partying. What you may or may not know is that Andrew WK is actually a fairly serious thinker who has developed a sort of philosophical definition of the concept of partying. As summarized in the above quotation, for Andrew WK partying is a kind of meditative flow state where you free yourself from self-consciousness (the very kind that makes me “a square” and “bad at partying”), put your ego aside and experience joy in its purest and most direct form. The concept is kind of new-age-y and sounds like something that a yoga teacher might say, but instead of listening to Enya you get to listen to heavy rock, so I’m down. Anyway, here are a couple of songs that release me from the oppression of my self-consciousness and allow me to experience something like what Andrew WK is describing:
Few musicians’ work transports me to that magical place of total immersion as efficiently as that of Scorpions guitarist Uli Jon Roth. Something about his guitar playing makes me feel like I’m weightless, and a hot Scorps track like “Sails of Charon” blasted at full volume is basically an admission ticket to Andrew WK’s metaphysical party.
The Fall is not a band I would be likely to put on at an actual party (unless, of course, there was a very specific group of record nerds in attendance), but something about the chord progression to this song just takes me to that place. It’s one of those songs that I can’t not pay attention to, and when I’m paying attention to it I forget about myself and everything else around me. And as much as partying involves the presence of other people, isn’t that what it’s all about at the end of the day?
Bib: Moshpit 7” (Pop Wig) Latest 7” from Bib, which finds them moving (rather unexpectedly) to Pop Wig Records, which I know primarily as the home of the band Angel Du$t. Is the title of this record, Moshpit, a backhanded reference to their new sub-scene affiliation? Who really knows, as Bib were and are a pretty inscrutable bunch. Anyway, scene politics aside Moshpit is a fucking killer record. Seth nailed it when he said that it sounds like a record comprised solely of intros, and while that might sound like a bad thing, really what it means is that Bib have cut all of the fluff and filler out of these songs and reduced them to the parts that people want to hear. That, and the echo-drenched vocals, remind me quite a lot of the latest S.H.I.T. EP, to the point where I feel like Bib must have been inspired by that record… but, suffice to say, both bands do it very well and if you like one of the two records you should make it a point to check out the other. Another reason why these songs kind of sound like intros is that Bib really seem to be taking advantage of the potential for dynamics offered by their three(!)-guitar lineup. It’s easy to see how three guitarists and a bassist all bashing away at even a mildly complex riff would immediately sound like mud, so Bib keep things simple and open. Speaking of the three-guitar setup, I think my favorite track here is “Hypnotized,” which features all three guitarists scraping their picks against the strings, which adds up to this completely magical, psychedelic swirl of sound (which is accentuated by some really cool effects on the vocals). Comparisons to S.H.I.T. aside, Moshpit is a strikingly original record, and the full realization of Bib’s voice imbues this record with a completely infectious confidence and swagger. I really can’t recommend this one highly enough.
Μάτι: demo cassette (self-released) Demo cassette from this new hardcore punk band out of New York. In a lot of ways this recording reminds me of the glory days of the Toxic State / NYC scene (which seems to have died down over the past couple of years), but as with most of the recordings that came out of that scene this definitely has its own voice. In particular, Μάτι have a chugging, quasi-thrash metal element to their sound, with the guitarist doing a lot of speed picking and palm muting while the vocalist rants with the bile of your nastiest hardcore band. I’m reminded a lot of mid-80s metallic hardcore classics like Christ on Parade’s Sounds of Nature or Final Conflict’s Ashes to Ashes, or maybe even a much rawer, punker Cro-Mags at times. Definitely one of the more metallic things I’ve heard come out of New York in the past few years, but it’s no less killer for it.
Wash: demo cassette (Scavenger of Death) I guess that this cassette is a solo project from Chris Van Etten, who you may know as the bass player for numerous Atlanta bands like Carbonas, Bukkake Boys, GG King, and many, many others I’m sure. Van Etten has always seemed like a reliable side man, but this is the first time I’m aware of that he’s taken center stage, and my only question is why didn’t it happen any sooner? This tape is, without a doubt, one of the most unique and coolest things I’ve heard in some time. I’m really struggling to find points of comparison because it’s so totally unique. It’s thoroughly melodic, but it’s also really tough, but not in a way that’s pop-punk, post-punk, or any other currently fashionable punk subgenre. The closest thing I could compare it to would be late 80s bands who maybe started out as hardcore bands but tried to follow Husker Du’s lead toward music that’s a little more melodic and song-oriented… I’m thinking of bands like Squirrel Bait, later (i.e. self-titled LP-era) Government Issue, or HDQ… though honestly those aren’t great points of comparison because this is much more aggressive than any of those, and also much more angular and jagged. Maybe Husker Du’s Everything Falls Apart LP has kind of a similar vibe and approach? I don’t know man, this tape is a real head-scratcher, but 1. it’s really good and 2. I really love head-scratchers, so if any of this rambling appeals to you I’d highly recommend checking this out.
Machine Gun: S/T 7” (Double Man) Debut EP from this ripping hardcore band out of Philadelphia. After a bit of a drought it seems like ripping fast USHC is back in style (at least among some people), and Machine Gun are right up there with Nosferatu, Dagger, and Alienation as one of the best bands currently doing it. If you’re looking for something weird or different this probably isn’t for you, because this is about as pure as early 80s US-style hardcore gets. The singer sounds like Springa and the music is blisteringly fast and tight, with the quick and complex changes of bands like Koro, Neon Christ, Jerry’s Kids or early Gang Green. There is not a note on this record that I don’t love, and if the records mentioned above are as close to your heart as they are to mine you absolutely need this. Seriously, this is as top shelf as hardcore gets in the year 2017… highest possible recommendation!
Louder / Beat Generation: Split 7” (Ra-Ma) Four-song split EP from these two Japanese garage-punk bands, and I’m pretty sure that Sorry State is the only US distro to get copies, so if you want one don’t sleep! You may remember Louder from their excellent 12” on Sorry State a few years ago, and they’re still at it, playing a slightly less manic and more refined version of the classic Japanese garage-punk style that will forever be associated with Teengenerate and the Registrators. Their two tracks here are real corkers, and they also have one of my favorite song titles I’ve heard in a while in “Frantic Stuffs Are Never Ever Let Me Down.” As for Beat Generation, they’re very much along the same lines and just as good, so if you follow this particular strain of Japanese punk you know you need this one.
No Sister: The Second Floor 12” (self-released) Seth set himself the challenge of writing about this new No Sister album without mentioning the words “Sonic Youth.” Well, as for me, I don’t live by your rules, maaaaaan! I’ll make the most obvious comparisons I can and I won’t worry about it! Seriously, though, as I noted with their last LP, No Sister does seem to have discovered the secret sauce behind records like Daydream Nation, and they’re pounding out track after track like a restaurant called McDouglas’s cranking out bootleg Big Macs. The thing is, though, that No Sister not only sound a lot like vintage Sonic Youth, but they actually have a lot of the same qualities that I like about those records. In particular, there’s a kind of a tension between melody and dissonance that’s really striking… actually, at times it’s more that they have a tendency to take really melodic guitar riffs and overlay a dissonant, eerie-sounding harmony over top of them. If you checked out their previous record and liked it I’d highly recommend this one as well as it continues along the same lines but is just a little more focused and fully realized in terms of its execution.
Deletär: S/T 7” (Kick Rock) Debut 7” from this French band… are they going to be the first in a wave of Totalitär-inspired bands to signal their allegiance in much the same way bands like Disclose, Discard, Disaster, et al adopted their heroes’ prefix? Only time will tell. Anyway, there are basically two reasons that one would want to listen to a genre exercise like this: 1. you simply want to hear more songs in this style because there aren’t enough bands / records out there to sate your appetite or 2. the band does something conceptually or in execution that improves or elaborates upon the original (as Disclose explored every nook and cranny of Discharge’s aesthetic across their much larger discography). At least at this point, I’d put Deletär in the first category, so what you really need to know is, “how well is this executed?” The answer is quite well. They really nail the classic Totalitär guitar tone here, the singer sounds a lot like Poffen without doing an outright impersonation, the riffs themselves are totally ripping, and the recording leaps out of your speakers and punches you right in the face. If you’re really splitting hairs, I’d say that Deletär sound more like the relentless riff-barrage of Vi Är Eliten than the denser, more in-the-pocket Sin Egen Motståndare, but I’m not sure how nerdy you need to get about it. If the idea of a new band that sounds just like Totalitär doesn’t excite you I can totally appreciate that position, but if you’re in the market for this kind of thing I’d be hard-pressed to name a band that does it better than Deletär.
Negazione: Tutti Pazzi 7” (No Plan) Official reissue of this absolute classic of Italian hardcore, with a faithful reproduction of the original fold-out poster sleeve no less! Make no mistake, Tutti Pazzi is one of the greatest hardcore records of all time. If you’re not familiar with early 80s Italian hardcore, the records from that time and place tend to be marked by an approach to hardcore that is both raw and wild, sort of like they took the sonic parameters of the early Discharge singles and tried to funnel them through the unhinged sensibility of the wildest free jazz. There are a lot of great records from the period, but Tutti Pazzi is in a league with a very few (along with Cheetah Chrome Motherfuckers’ 400 Fascists, the Wretched / Indigesti split, and at most a couple of others) that qualify as the wildest, loosest, and most fully realized records of the period. I wouldn’t even know where to begin trying to figure out how to cover one of these songs (but then again, I’m no Mike Patton) because the riffs are unlike anything I’ve ever learned to play and the song structures are so fluid as to be virtually transparent. Listening to Tutti Pazzi is like walking through a well-executed haunted house where you have no idea what is going to come next, but you do know it’s going to be totally intense. If you like your punk rock chaotic and wild this is a record you simply must hear, as it’s rarely, if ever, been done better before or since.
Andy Human & the Reptoids: Kill the Comma 7” (Emotional Response) The Andy Human records have been arriving fast and furious lately, and I wouldn’t dare complain about that, but I have noticed a pattern wherein I tend to sift through these releases for the big choruses (like the monster for “Refrigerator,” for instance), anoint these tracks my favorites, and then never really digest what doesn’t fall into that category. Well, Kill the Comma breaks that pattern by not really giving us any of those catchy choruses, and paying attention to the more drone-y aspects of Andy Human’s sound is making me appreciate that side of the band a lot more. The aesthetic here is less ’77 and more ’79 to my ears, recalling Rough Trade Records classics like Swell Maps, Subway Sect, Essential Logic, and Cabaret Voltaire in the way that it incorporates the dense layering of psychedelic music into the nervy excitement of first-wave punk. These tracks strike me as being for people who like both the Lurkers and Can, a group in which I very much fall into, and consequently I like this EP quite a bit.
The Repos: S/T 12” (Youth Attack) Lavish reissue of the debut full-length by this Chicago hardcore band. In the years since this record came out (“bought it new,” as the old folks say) the Repos have become one of my favorite hardcore bands of the past decade or more, but listening back to this record for the first time in a while it’s interesting how little of what I came to love about the band is apparent here. For instance, the band who popularized the trend of releasing ultra-raw, limited run rehearsal tapes gives us an extremely clear recording and a tight performance here. I don’t think I ever would have said so at the time, but nowadays this honestly sounds to me quite a bit like Direct Control’s You’re Controlled LP, which was recorded around the same time… both records have a clear, powerful sound, an avowedly 80s aesthetic (the Repos even cover “Straitjacket” by Jerry’s Kids here), and riffing that sounds like a slightly more metallic take on the classic 80s USHC formula. Don’t get me wrong, it’s an absolute ripper of a record and time has not diminished its power, but it’s also strange how different this document is from the later ones that the Repos / Ropes would produce. Oh, and I should also mention the crazy packaging. There’s a larger outer sleeve which houses a regular LP sleeve that is a pretty much a faithful reproduction of the original sleeve, and then there’s an additional inner sleeve inside that. So there are three layers of paper between you and the record, but it all looks pretty boss and it’s kind of cool that the reissue comes with some stuff that the original didn’t.
The Repos: Hearts and Heads Explode 12” (Youth Attack) Reissue of the second Repos full-length, wherein they truly became the band that I love. The Repos’ first record (which has been reissued concurrently with this one) is a really good hardcore record, but Hearts and Heads Explode is a different beast entirely, and as such it’s the first truly great Repos record. From the very first second you can tell it’s a different beast… the locked-in rhythms of the first record have been replaced with a sound that is loose and unhinged, and the clarity of the S/T recording has been revised as something denser, rawer, and meaner. The Repos’ unique songwriting approach also fully takes shape here. Part of what’s so unique about this band is that they seem to be simultaneously deconstructing hardcore songwriting while also taking a more baroque (at times even psychedelic) approach. The normal fast part / mosh part dynamic that most hardcore songs rely on disintegrates here, with the songs moving from part to part with more of an intuitive, organic feel that keeps you guessing as to what might be coming next without ever seeming “wacky” or like weirdness for its own sake. And many of the songs also feature crazy guitar overdubs that sound like a really talented thrash metal guitarist heard the song once, recorded a lead overdub, and gave exactly zero fucks about how well they played it. Throughout, the Repos sound like a smart, musically adept band trying their best to play dumb and only partially succeeding. I suppose it’s a matter of taste as to whether you think that the Repos have topped Hearts and Heads Explode on any of their later records (though I’d argue that, at the very least, they’ve given it some serious competition), but I dare say that history’s long view will anoint this one of the greatest hardcore records of all time. The fortuitous timing of this reissue should help as it arrives at a moment when a lot of bands are picking up the Repos’ decade-old project of divesting hardcore of its cliches without losing any of its trademark intensity or aggression.
Combat Force: Demo 7” (Youth Attack) More Denver-area hardcore from Youth Attack Records, this time from Combat Force, a very Iron Cross-esque oi!/hardcore hybrid. I can’t help but notice the disjunction here between the recording quality and Youth Attack’s typically lavish packaging. The recording is incredibly raw, with audible tape hiss throughout, yet it’s packaged in this gatefold matte jacket and pressed on heavyweight (whatever the 7” equivalent of 180-gram is) white vinyl. I’m not saying that Combat Force don’t deserve it or anything, but there does seem to be quite a disconnect between the visual and auditory presentation here. As for the actual music, Combat Force play it pretty much by the book here, and if you’re into oi!-inspired hardcore like the aforementioned Iron Cross or perhaps more recent UK stuff like Violent Reaction or Arms Race this will probably hit the sweet spot for you, particularly since it’s quite raw and the analog recording, for all of the “faults” I mentioned above, is rich with texture. If you’re looking for something that’s going to reinvent the wheel, though, I would look elsewhere, as it doesn’t seem like Combat Force are particularly worried about interrogating or deconstructing the conventions (cliches?) of oi! music. In particular, lines like “we’re the working class / the spine of this land” not only strike me as kind of trite, but also point to the uncomfortable way that anglophilic US oi! bands struggle to adapt the conventions and talking points of British oi! music to American culture… the term “working class” means something quite different in the US than it does in the UK. If none of that bothers you then this is a pretty good record, but if you’re prone to overthinking you may well convince yourself not to like this one.
Fuerza Bruta: Verdugo 12” (Foreign Legion) Man, the label’s description of this record is pretty intense, drawing a line in the sand and calling out all of the new jack skinheads that have made oi! one of the hottest punk fashion movements of the mid-2010s. I mean, it’s hard to deny that it’s a trend, but what separates Fuerza Bruta from the pack? Have they been around the scene longer? Do they have a deeper knowledge of the genre and the culture’s history? What is more authentic about them? Honestly, I have no idea… I don’t know anything about the members of this band, but I do know that in Verdugo they have written an excellent oi! album. I will say that whereas a lot of modern oi! seems to be rather one-dimensional in the sphere of influences that it draws from, Verdugo feels like a mature synthesis of a lot of oi!’s sub-sub-genres. The label’s description mentions that this is inspired by Brazilian hardcore and Japanese oi! (I know a bit about the former and all but nothing about the latter), but I’m inclined to hear all of the connections to the skin sounds of yore… not only is there the primitive chug of brutal classics like Nabat or Red Alert, but there’s also a lot of pop in the mix too… nothing quite as overt as, say, Cock Sparrer, but there’s a lot of the melodic, beefy guitar riffs of American oi! bands from the Templars to the Beltones or even UK pop-oi! classics like the Business’s “National Insurance Blacklist.” At the end of the day, to me this is just a beefy, muscular, and melodic punk record, so I’d say forget the scene divisions… whether Verdugo is the 3rd oi! record you’ve heard of the 300th I think you’ll enjoy it quite a bit.
Various: Soul Christmas 12" (Run Out Groove)
45 Grave: Sleep in Safety 12" (Real Gone Music)
Throbbing Gristle: The Second Annual Report 12" (Mute Records)
Throbbing Gristle: 20 Jazz Funk Greats 12" (Mute Records)
Throbbing Gristle: The Taste of TG 12" (Mute Records)
Wu-Tang: The Saga Continues 12" (36 Chambers LLC)
Sufjan Stevens: Carrie & Lowell Live 12" (Asthmatic Kitty Records)
Jason Molina: The Black Sabbath Covers 12" (Secretly Canadian)
Iron Maiden: Book of Souls: The Live Chapter 12" (Parlophone)
Ed Sheeran: Live at the Bedford 12" (Atlantic Records)
Ed Sheeran: Loose Change 12" (Atlantic Records)
Ed Sheeran: No. 5 Collaborations 12" (Atlantic Records)
Ed Sheeran: Songs I Wrote with Amy 12" (Atlantic Records)
Ed Sheeran: You Need Me 12" (Atlantic Records)
Morrissey: Low in High School 12" (BMG Records)
Bib: Moshpit 7" (Pop Wig Records)
Tankard: Chemical Invasion 12" (Noise Records)
Tankard: Zombie Attack 12" (Noise Records)
Andy Human & the Reptoids: Kill the Comma b/w Do the Mole 7" (Emotional Response Records)
Razz: Time Frames 12" (Emotional Response Records)
Sob Stories: S/T 12" (Emotional Response Records)
American Hate: Our Love Is Real 12" (Not Normal)
No Sister: The Second Floor 12" (self-released)
Bombarder: Speed Kill 12" (Nuclear War Now!)
Ajattara: Lupaus 12" (Svart Records)
The Obsessed: S/T 12" (Relapse Records)
Various: Brown Acid: The Fifth Trip 12" (Riding Easy)
July: S/T 12" (Guerssen Records)
Witch: Lazy Bones 12" (Now Again Records)
Mooner: Tabiat 12" (Outer Battery Records)
Sun Ra: Space Is the Place 12" (Jackpot Records)
Silver Apples: Contact 12" (Jackpot Records)
Mouthpiece: Can't Kill What's Inside 12" (Revelation Records)
Templars: Deus Vult 12" (Pirate's Press)
Satanic Warmaster: Nova Ordo Ater 12" (Werewolf Records)
Fireburn: Don't Stop the Youth 12" (Closed Casket Records)
Goatpenis: Anesthetic Vapor 12" (Nuclear War Now!)
The Cravats: Dustbin of Sound 12" (Overground Records)
Sadist: Shadow of the Swastika 12" (Regurgitated Semen Records)
Midnight: Sweet Death and Ecstasy 12" (Hells Headbangers)
Evil: Rites of Evil 12" (Nuclear War Now!)
Backtrack: Bad to My World 12" (Bridge 9 Records)
Short Fast & Loud #30 zine w/ Deathgrave / Violation Wound 7" (Short Fast & Loud)
Various: 80s Underground Cassette Culture Vol 1 12" (Contort Yourself)
The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World 12" (Light in the Attic Records)
Gudon: 1984 12" (Fan Club)
The Uglies: We Are the Uglies cassette(No Patience Records)
Sistema en Decadencia: demo cassette (No Patience Records)
Skizophrenia: Live in Tsuyama cassette (No Patience Records)
Belgrado: Live in Australia cassette (No Patience Records)
PTSD: If You See Something, Say Something cassette (No Patience Records)
TALC: S/T 7" ((No Patience Records))
Death Church: Black Books 12" ((No Patience Records))
The Uglies: Keeping Up with the Uglies 12" ((No Patience Records))
Louder / Beat Generation: Split 7" (Ra-Ma)
Blink 182: Neighborhoods 12" (SRC Records)
Blind Idiot God: Undertow 12" (Invisible Music)
Kohti Tuhoa: Pelon Neljas Valtaku 12" (Southern Lord)
Watain: Lawless Darkness 12" (Season Of Mist)
Watain: Sworn to the Dark 12" (Season Of Mist)
Butthole Surfers: Locust Abortion Technician 12" (5 Music)
Bjork: Utopia 12" (One Little Indian)
Sun Ra Arkestra: Brother the Wind 12" (Cosmic Myth Records)
Chemotherapy: S/T 7" (Time Change Records)
Brian Eno: Before and After Science 12" (Astralwerks Records)
Brian Eno: Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) 12" (Astralwerks Records)
Electric Wizard: Wizard Bloody Wizard 12" (Witchfinder Records)
Pharoah Sanders: Tauhid 12" (Anthology Records)
Lubricants: Activated Energy 7" (Rerun Records)
Vom: Live at Surf City 7" (Rerun Records)
Captain 9’s and the Knickbocker Trio: Starting A Rock n’ Roll Grease Fire 12" (Rerun Records)
Executives: S/T 7" (Rerun Records)
Plastic Idols: IUD 7" (Rerun Records)
Plastic Idols: Einstein Experience 7" (Rerun Records)
Versing: Nirvana cassette (Help Yourself Records)
Feed: FEED cassette (Help Yourself Records)
Unholy: The Second Ring of Power 12" (Peaceville Records)
Isotope: Wake Up Screaming cassette (self-released)
Death of Lovers: The Acrobat 12" (Death Wish Records)
Drab Majesty: The Demonstration 12" (Dais Records)
Dakhma: Suna Kulto 12" (IFB Records)
Break Away: Cross My Heart 12" (React! Records)
Insist: Here and Now 7" (React! Records)
Saetia: Collected 2x12" (Secret Voice)
All Pigs Must Die: A Caustic Vision 12" (Nonbeliever Records)
Combat Force: Demo 7" (Youth Attack)
The Repos: S/T 12" (Youth Attack)
The Repos: Hearts and Heads Explode 12" (Youth Attack)
Marduk: Opus Nocturne 12" (Osmose Productions)
Immortal: At the Heart of Winter 12" (Osmose Productions)
Immortal: Battles in the North 12" (Osmose Productions)
Immortal: Diabolical Fullmoon 12" (Osmose Productions)
Immortal: Pure Holocaust 12" (Osmose Productions)
Result of Choice: Through My Eyes cassette (IOU Records)
Field Agent: The Voice of a Few cassette(IOU Records)
Big Mack: demo cassette(IOU Records)
Machine Gun: S/T 7" (Double Man Records)
KBO!: Perspektiva 1982-1989 12" (No Plan Records)
Negazione: Tutti Pazzi 7" (No Plan Records)
Misanthropic Charity: S/T 7" (No Plan Records)
Newtown Neurotics: Pissed as a Newt 12" (No Plan Records)
Restocks
Haram: When You Have Won, You Have Lost 12" (Toxic State)
Liquids: Heart Beats True 7" (Digital Regress)
Liquids: Hot Liqs 12" (Not Normal)
Silver Apples: S/T 12" (Jackpot Records)
Mustafa Ozkent: Genclik Ile Elele 12" (Jackpot Records)
Howlin' Wolf: His Greatest Sides 12" (Jackpot Records)
The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band: Part One 12" (Jackpot Records)
Wipers: Over the Edge 12" (Jackpot Records)
Wipers: Is This Real? 12" (Jackpot Records)
Wipers: Youth of America 12" (Jackpot Records)
Cock Sparrer: Running Riot in 84 / Live and Loud! 12" (Pirate's Press Records)
Beyond: Dew It! / Live Crucial Chaos WNYU 12" (Revelation Records)
Burn: S/T 7" (Revelation Records)
Chain of Strength: The One Thing that Still Holds True 12" (Revelation Records)
Gorilla Biscuits: S/T 7" (Revelation Records)
Judge: Bringin' It Down 12" (Revelation Records)
Judge: What It Meant: The Complete Discography 12" (Revelation Records)
Texas Is the Reason: Do You Know Who You Are? 12" (Revelation Records)
Various: New York City Hardcore: The Way It Is 12" (Revelation Records)
Warzone: Don't Forget the Struggle, Don't Forget the Streets 12" (Revelation Records)
Youth of Today: Break Down the Walls 12" (Revelation Records)
Youth of Today: Can't Close My Eyes 12" (Revelation Records)
Impalers: Cellar Dweller 12" (540 Records)
The Mob: Let the Tribe Increase 12" (Overground Records)
Career Suicide: Machine Response 12" (Deranged Records)
Limp Wrist: Facades 12" (Lengua Armada Records)
Lebendent Toten: Mind Parasites 12" (Overthrow Records)
Neanderthal: A History of Violence 12" (Deep Six Records)
Kyra: Here I Am, I Always Am 12" (M'Lady's Records)
This Heat: S/T 12" (Modern Classics Recordings)
The Louvin Brothers: Satan Is Real 12" (Capitol Records)
Public Image Ltd: First Issue 12" (Light in the Attic Records)
Roky Erickson: The Evil One 12" (Light in the Attic Records)
Piece War: Apathy 12" (Square One Again)
Cause for Alarm: S/T 7" (Victory Records)
Modest Mouse: The Lonesome Crowded West 12" (Glacial Pace)
Nirvana: Nevermind 12" (DGC Records)
Pearl Jam: Ten 12" (Sony Music)
Modern Warfare: Complete Recordings and More 12" (Rerun Records)
Firewalker: S/T 12" (Pop Wig Records)
Boston Strangler: Outcast 12" (Boston Strangler Records)
Touche Amore: Is Survived by 12" (Death Wish Records)
Deafheaven: Sunbather 12" (Death Wish Records)
Converge: Jane Doe 12" (Death Wish Records)
Death: Human 12" (Relapse Records)
Death: Leprosy 12" (Relapse Records)
Death: Scream Bloody Gore 12" (Relapse Records)
Geto Boys: S/T 12" (Rap A Lot Records)
Geto Boys: We Can't Be Stopped 12" (Rap A Lot Records)
Joey Bada$$: All-Amerikkkan Bada$$ 12" (Cinematic Records)
Mayhem: Live in Leipzig 12" (Peaceville Records)
NOFX: The Decline 12" (Fat Wreck Chords)
Parquet Courts: Light Up Gold 12" (What's Your Rupture? Records)
Parquet Courts: Tally All the Things You Broke 12" (What's Your Rupture? Records)
Power Trip: Nightmare Logic 12" (Southern Lord)
Pretty Things: SF Sorrow 12" (Madfish Music)
Run the Jewels: S/T 12" (Mass Appeal)
Run the Jewels: RTJ 2 12" (Mass Appeal)
Run the Jewels: RTJ 3 12" (Mass Appeal)
Slayer: Show No Mercy 12" (Metal Blade Records)
Featured Release Roundup October 20, 2017
This week’s topic on the Sorry State blog is “great albums with a glaring flaw.” We’ll see how everyone else here at SSR interprets that idea, but for me I’m going to talk about two great albums that each have one song I don’t really like.
Being a loser is one of the most venerable themes in rock music history… of course we all know that Beck song, but everyone from Motorhead to the Stalin to the Beatles has taken a stab at writing a loser anthem. However, the subject of winning is a lot less common in rock music. Perhaps it’s less common because it’s really difficult to write a cool song about winning. Case in point, two of my favorite records: Leatherface’s Mush and the Sound’s From the Lion’s Mouth.
I’m sure I’ve mentioned before how much time I’ve spent with Mush in my life. There’s a good ten-year stretch during which I would have called Mush my favorite album, and while it doesn’t quite hit as hard for me as it did during my early 20s, it’s still a great album that never fails to bring a smile to my face. That is, with the exception of the track “Winning,” which has always been my least favorite on the album. Admittedly, it would have been hard to keep the cresting wave of the record’s previous three songs—“Not a Day Goes By,” “Not Superstitious,” and “Springtime”—going forever, but “Winning” is a steep drop, particularly since Mush is marred by few other dicey choices. I actually really like the song’s catchy main riff—it’s pretty much classic Leatherface—but something about the way the syllables are drawn out across the chorus has always been like nails on a chalkboard to me. In the chorus, Frankie Stubbs sings the word “Winning” twice in close succession, and he experiments with different phrasings for the lyric throughout the song. Despite the varied approaches, he never really lands on one that works. My least favorite is the iteration that comes at about 1:37, when the two enunciations of the titular word are bridged together with a hissy scream that could have come from a Carcass record, the overdubbed scream overlapping slightly with the words on each side. It’s not an offense against music or anything, it’s just an idea that doesn’t really come together, which only sticks out because pretty much every other idea on this record does come together.
Another great songwriter, Adrian Borland of the Sound, also struggles with prosody as he attacks the theme of “Winning” on the album From the Lion’s Mouth. Like Stubbs, Borland wrenches and stretches the word, often adding in multiple extra syllables in order to bend the word into a melody. As was the case with Leatherface’s track, I have a particular least favorite moment: at about the 1:50 mark, when Borland pronounces the word “win-ay-EEEENG.” Again, the word seems jammed uncomfortably into the melody, and has always struck out to me as a bump in the road on an otherwise outstanding album.
Is there something in the word “winning”—whether it’s the sense of the word or just the sound—that makes it difficult to write a good song around? My only hunch is that winning is usually a transitive verb—meaning that it takes an object, i.e. you have to win something—and both of these tracks omit any discernible object… they’re just about “winning” in general. Maybe if you focused on the winner and/or the spoils you’d be on firmer footing.
Neon: Neon Is Life cassette (self-released) It’s only recently that I’ve come to the realization that most of the music that I listen to is extraordinarily stiff and regimented. You’d think that I would have noticed before, but I listened to this kind of music so exclusively that I honestly barely even considered anything that operated outside of the standard rock framework music at all. However, lately I’ve just wanted to listen to music that is really free… I’ve been listening to more jazz, soundtracks, prog, and other forms of music that feel less regimented than punk rock. While these forms operate with their own sets of rules and conventions, the frameworks these groups work within feel wider in scope and more filled with possibility; at the very least, I’m unfamiliar enough with those possibilities that they feel really new and exciting. Anyway, I write about this little personal journey because Neon, to me, sounds like hardcore punk that is completely free. I don’t really understand the way the beats work, the melodies are consistently surprising, and the individual elements clash against one another in ways that feel almost totally chaotic, but it’s played deliberately enough that no one would mistake it for nonsense. Neon shares members with Mozart, and while Mozart sounds loose and wild, Neon sounds almost like they’ve never heard punk rock before, like they’re making it up on the spot. And for that reason listening to it right now is just as exciting as when I first heard punk as a teenager.
EEL: Night Parade of 100 Demons 12” (Beach Impediment) I have to hand it to Mark at Beach Impediment… he has a real ear for bands that take hardcore to some new, weird, and exciting places. While he has a reputation for meat and potatoes ‘core (and I suppose there’s a fair share of that in the catalog with bands like Vaaska, Paranoid, Warthog, and Katastrof), when you look at the discography there are just as many bands that are still hardcore but are just weird… Omegas, Concealed Blade, and Gas Rag are quirky as hell, but EEL are the quirkiest of them all. On the surface they’re a noise-punk band a la Confuse, but their music is hardly limited by the constraints of that genre. It also doesn’t sound like they’re constrained by their own aesthetic in the way that a band like Lebenden Toten is… Lebenden Toten is really distinctive, but they tend to evolve their formula in small, deliberate steps. EEL, however, just sound like they’re doing whatever the fuck they want. The world is a messy and ugly place so most of EEL’s music is messy and ugly, but there are brief moments of triumph in life and those might get articulated here as an Uchida-inspired guitar solo, and there are also moments of pure headbanging fun, so you need to grab a chunk of a Flower Travellin Band song to capture those. It doesn’t feel like EEL want to pin me down and show me who they are; instead, they want me to come with them to their world and look around for myself. It’s a world I definitely haven’t been to before, and it’s one that I’m pretty sure I’ll be revisiting often over the course of the next several weeks and months. In other words, this is undoubtedly one of my favorite records of 2017, and if you like your hardcore freaky you should probably check it out.
Genpop: S/T 7” (Lumpy) There is an invisible line somewhere out there in the music world, and on one side of that line lies bands that are hardcore, and on the other side are bands that are not. While someone who is smarter about music’s formal qualities could probably tell you precisely why some bands lie on one side of the line and some on the other, to me it’s a mystery why bands and tracks that share hardcore’s tempos—the fast songs on Wire’s Pink Flag, Stink-era Replacements, even some Parquet Courts songs—just don’t qualify as hardcore. That’s not meant as a slag on either side, but there’s something in their music that allows me to say unequivocally that those bands are not hardcore. However, Genpop seem completely unaware of this line, or perhaps they’re musical geniuses that have found a way to dance back and forth across it. The first two songs on this EP, at the very least, have moments that are undoubtedly hardcore, but there are moments that definitely aren’t hardcore as well. For the remaining three tracks I’m not really sure if they’re hardcore or not, but they’re really, really good, particularly the closing track, “Dear Jackie,” which is as anthemic, and sing-song-y and memorable as anything by Jawbreaker or Dillinger Four. It’s not so much that Genpop mix hardcore with pop music or post-punk or whatever, but rather that they can magically morph from being a hardcore band into being a not-hardcore (more-than-hardcore?) band in the blink of an eye. As someone who loves, in equal measure, hardcore and whatever kind of catchy, upbeat, and powerful genre you’d describe the rest of this music as, this morphing is exhilarating, and moreover it makes me appreciate both sides of the band’s sound even more than I probably would have otherwise. I really can’t recommend this one highly enough.
Note: the EP contains two extra tracks not in this youtube clip
Urchin: Peace Sign 7” (Roach Leg) Second 7” from this band who I believe is based in New York. The generic description says something like “Stoke-on-Trent via Gothenburg,” but I’m hearing the latter a lot more than the former. In particular, it seems like the legendary Shitlickers 7” is a major influence here. Maybe it’s just because I’ve been listening to that record a lot recently (thanks Negative Insight zine!), but this has a very similar vibe, i.e. faster and more hardcore-sounding (i.e. less d-beat sounding) than Anti-Cimex, but just as noisy and raw. There is a reason that so many bands emulate that 7”, but it’s very rare that anyone even gets in the ballpark… Urchin definitely do though. It’s hard to imagine anything topping this for the title of “most raging record of the month.” Highly recommended.
Rashomon: Demo 2017 7” (Society Bleeds) Vinyl pressing from this DC hardcore band’s demo, and I’m happy for the chance to revisit it and have it on a slightly more permanent-feeling format, because this is one of my favorite demos of this year. Obviously Japanese hardcore is a big influence here given the band’s name and the fact that they sing in Japanese, but you can definitely hear that influence coming through in the music as well. Rashomon are a lot faster than what I typically think of as the burning spirits sound, putting them more in the area of Cry of Truth-era Warhead or perhaps faster Bastard songs like “Dear Cops.” However, they add some really killer lead playing on top that really gives Rashomon a distinctive sound. The leads are kind of squirrely and unexpected, nothing like the more neo-classical metallic leads that Chelsea played, but nearly as earworm-y nonetheless. It’s one of those rare recordings that both gives you that immediate, visceral charge of energy that you want from hardcore, but also has a lot of depth and nuance to keep you coming back for repeated listens. I really can’t recommend this one highly enough.
Humiliation: Laughing Wall 7” (High Fashion Industries) Second EP from this Phoenix band that has a couple of the guys who used to be in Gay Kiss. I mention that not only because you mention ex-members of in these types of things, but also because Humiliation have a very similar sound and vibe. Perhaps if you sucked a little bit of the mysterious guy HC / black metal vibes out of Gay Kiss and turned the “hardcore” knob up just a touch you’d have Humiliation. Fortunately, they also have those dark, quirky, and strange leads that bring to mind Rudimentary Peni, which definitely helps to elevate this a touch above your typical desperate hardcore kind of sound. The production is also huge and powerful… it’s an absolute crusher that will peel the paint off your walls if you turn it up loud enough. Highly recommended.
Permission: S/T 12” (La Vida Es Un Mus) Debut vinyl from this new UK band that—judging by the distinctive guitar sound—features Ralph from No and DiE on guitar. I’ve spent quite a lot of time with this Permission record, and I feel like no description that I can write is really going to do it justice, but I’ll try nevertheless. Part of the reason that I feel stymied is because this record has a very different feel than most hardcore records I hear nowadays. It seems like bands nowadays tend to focus a lot of their attention on nailing a particular style—whether it’s one that they’re directly adapting (less generous people might say copying) from a single band or trying to create something new out of a stew of a handful of influences—but I don’t get that sense with Permission. By contrast, Permission strike me as very expressionistic, that they’re less focused on what the end product of their music sounds like and more on accessing and grappling with whatever emotions, thoughts, feelings, or whatever motivates them to play music in the first place. So, when I say that this record reminds me of Rudimentary Peni, it’s less because any particular formal choice the band has made in songwriting or production reminds me of them (though there are a few that do, notably how the slightly out-of-tune double-tracked guitars remind me of the strange chorus effect on a lot of Rudi Peni records), but rather that this 12” seems to have the weight of deep psychological struggle behind it in a way that’s similar to some of the best Rudimentary Peni records, particularly Death Church. While this is sense of psychological or emotional depth is ostensibly what a lot of us are after in music, ironically it makes the music a little tougher to get into. This is music you have to engage with, that you have to open yourself to in order to receive anything from it. If you’re not prepared to do that, this might go in one ear and out the other, but for whose who take a step toward the band and attempt to enter their universe, the connection you establish to this album is bound to be much deeper and more profound.
Antichrist Siege Machine: Morbid Triumph 12” (Stygian Black Hand) Brief but compelling 7-song LP from this Richmond, Virginia death metal band. While I’m no scholar of metal in general or death metal specifically, I have to say this is a real bruiser. I’ve noticed a bit of a resurgence of old school death metal in the past few years and Antichrist Siege Machine is definitely part of that, though like a lot of other recent bands they seemed informed as much—if only subconsciously—by black metal. While ASM are definitely riff-based and raw—rather than “atmospheric” and deliberate, even pretentious, in their presentation in the way so many black metal bands were and are—you can also sense the specter of black metal lurking in the background. I hear this mostly in the recording quality, which is full, lush, organic, and analog-y; on the surface that’s pretty much the opposite of so much black metal (whether you’re talking about the ornate, symphonic kind or its bedroom-made cousin), but in another way it’s certainly of a piece with it. In other words, I don’t think that the original-era death metal bands—particular during their respective early eras—paid quite so much attention to how they sounded. And it’s really the sound that feels like the focus of Morbid Triumph… more than any particular riff or moment, what I take away from this record is its overwhelming atmosphere of wounded bleakness.
Cruz Somers: UV-B cassette (Big Dunce) I know absolutely nothing about Cruz Somers, but I sure do like this EP. This kind of vaguely garage-y, catchy punk with a drum machine is kind of a thing at the moment with bands like Racecar, S.B.F., and Stake, and if you’re interested in hearing bands like that at the moment then Cruz Somers is certainly worth checking out. It seems like some bands in this style really push the production super hard to the point where the texture of the recording is at least as important as the underlying songs, but these four tracks are extremely song-oriented. While the drum machine rhythms are very robotic and inhuman, the songs and the melodies (the vocal melodies in particular) are so memorable that you often forget about the robotic backing track. The singer’s voice and ear for melody also reminds me quite a bit of Chaz from Stake, so if you checked out that band’s tape on our recommendation and liked it I’d strongly recommend this one as well.
Bore Hole: demo cassette (Big Dunce) Debut cassette from this project out of LA, and I must say I’m really feeling this one. Given the artwork, the recording quality, and the Devo-esque rhythm that the first songs starts with you think this is going to be some pitched-down-the-middle Lumpy Records-type stuff (which is AOK by me, honestly), but this one quickly unravels. The first song, “Time In,” is a perfect case in point. It starts off with what could be a really good intro, but rather than go into something one might call a “song” it just wanders from part to increasingly bizarre part. The rhythms become more and more difficult to parse as the song goes on (I’m sure this is a live drummer because I don’t think drum machines can get this weird, but how does a human count this stuff out?) with the guitars gradually disintegrating into freeform jamming. The second track, “Sultan,” has a different arc, starting with the chaos, transitioning into a truly warped “breakdown” that makes you feel like you’re having a bad acid trip, then ending with another burst of chaos at the end. I won’t go through all of the tracks, but you get the picture. Even though the sound and vibe of this are both utterly different, this reminds me of the Housewives 12” I raved about a few months ago in its complete obliviousness to the unspoken rules that govern most music. But despite the fact that Bore Hole cleverly sidestep so many conventions (cliches?) this somehow still sounds totally punk. If you like your music as freaky as possible I really can’t recommend this one highly enough.
Resource Group: demo cassette (Big Dunce) Another cassette missive of weird punk from the Big Dunce crew, and interestingly this one comes from Savannah, Georgia rather than being based in the Los Angeles area like a lot of the other projects this label has released. I must admit that I don’t hear much of Savannah’s sleepy, swampy vibe coming through here… instead everything has a jittery and skittery vibe that makes this feel kind of cold and robotic even though it sounds like Resource Group is using live drums and guitar plays a much bigger role than it does in some similar bands. So, sound-wise this is more in the vein of stuff like Race Car that still sounds really punk rather than groups that get rid of the guitar entirely and go full synth. Songwriting-wise I’m also hearing a lot going on here… while the tape is quite short, the songs do seem to go places and to pull and push in interesting ways. If you’re into this whole chaotic, synth-based “weird punk” sound you should probably be checking out everything on Big Dunce, and Resource Group is no exception to that rule.
The Brain: S/T 7” (High Fashion Industries) Debut (I think?) 7” from this band out of Toronto. Here you get two long-ish (one four and a half minutes, one six and a half minutes) songs that take two different approaches to the whole idea of “psychedelic punk.” To me, the Brain sound like Hawkwind and Husker Du smashed together, sometimes uncomfortably but often intriguingly. On the a-side the approach is to take the surface-level elements of psychedelia—namely loose and spacey guitar sounds and licks—and apply these to the standard pop template. It’s a tried and true approach and it works here. For me, though, things get more interesting on the b-side, where that conventional song structure dissolves and the Brain embraces psychedelia more deeply, alternating between a propulsive motorik-esque beat and looser parts that sound like they might have been inspired by the jam-ier bits of the first Stooges album. All in all the Brain remind me of some of the bands on the Wharf Cat Records roster… groups like the Ukiah Drag or Cottaging that might have a background steeped in punk and hardcore but have widened their scope to take in influence from 60s and 70s psych, progressive 80s post-punk like the Gun Club or Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, and maybe even a touch of improvisational music. Of course this kind of music is generally more at home on a full-length than a single, but these two songs definitely hold my attention and have me intrigued about what a full-length might hold.
Combatant: Sick Plot 7” (Not Like You) Here’s a record and band that I literally know nothing about, but I have a rule that I’ll check out any record with a be-wigged judge on the cover, and that rule has rarely steered me wrong. Here we have some gnarly early NYHC-inspired stuff… this pretty much sounds like an exact 50/50 mix between the Abused and Antidote. It’s got Antidote’s slightly cleaner production and more metallic guitar sound, but the Abused’s gruffness and cool little stop/start patterns. While there isn’t a lot to surprise you here, if you got a whole lot of spins out of that Chain Rank LP from a while back I think your own wig might get flipped by this one.
USA/Mexico: Laredo 12” (12XU) Debut LP from this gnarly new Texas band featuring King Coffey of the Butthole Surfers / Hugh Beaumont Experience. While die-hard Buttholes fans will certainly find plenty to like here, USA/Mexico are much more straightforward “noise rock,” building most of their songs around a similar combination of impossibly blown out bass, noise guitar that sounds straight off of a Confuse record, and pounding, repetitive drums. The formula is not dissimilar to what the Melvins have done at various points of their career, but I like this SO much better than any Melvins I’ve ever heard. The Melvins have always just sounded like a kind of boring rock band to me, but Laredo sounds like music turned inside-out… it’s as if rock music has had its skin flayed off and is walking around with just exposed muscle and tissue so you can tell it’s human, but it looks like no human you’ve ever seen before. While this is undeniably ugly, it’s also music that pushes me toward a meditative state… the bass is so impossibly deep and thick that it almost seems to be massaging my body with sound waves, and the droning drum beats free my mind to wander. For such an ugly, confrontational record this is a surprisingly enjoyable listen.
Jets to Brazil: Orange Rhyming Dicitonary 12" (Epitaph)
Jets to Brazil: Four Cornered Night 12" (Epitaph)
Jets to Brazil: Perfecting Loneliness 12" (Epitaph)
Mastodon: Blood Mountain 12" (picture disc; Reprise)
Mastodon: Crack the Skye 12" (picture disc; Reprise)
Green Day: Dookie 12" (picture disc; Reprise)
My Chemical Romance: I Brought You My Bullets 12" (picture disc; Reprise)
Mastodon: The Hunter 12" (picture disc; Reprise)
The Flaming Lips: Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots 12" (picture disc; Warner Bros)
My Chemical Romance: Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge 12" (picture disc; Reprise)
Protomartyr: Relatives in Dissent 12" (Domino)
The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die: Always Foreign 12" (Epitaph)
Alice Cooper: Love It to Death 12" (Rhino)
The Velvet Underground: Loaded 12" (Rhino)
Thin Lizzy: Live and Dangerous 12" (Rhino)
Skid Row: B-Side Ourselves 12" (Rhino)
Testament: The Legacy 12" (Rhino)
Various: Wayne's World OST 12" (Rhino)
Alice Cooper: Pretties for You 12" (Rhino)
Jane's Addiction: Nothing's Shocking 12" (Rhino)
Through the Eyes of the Dead: Disomus 12" (E One)
No Warning: Torture Culture 12" (Last Gang)
Skinny Puppy: Bites 12" (Nettwerk)
Skinny Puppy: Remission 12" (Nettwerk)
Samael: Hegemony 12" (Napalm)
Motorhead: Under Cover 12" (Motorhead)
Of Montreal: Rune Husk 12" (Polyvinyl)
The Replacements: For Sale: Live at Maxwell's 1986 12" (Sire)
Sepultura: Chaos AD (expanded edition) 12" (Roadrunner)
Mastodon: Emperor of Sand 12" (Reprise)
Citizen: As You Please 12" (Run for Cover)
Metallica: Hardwired... to Self Destruct 12" (pink vinyl; Blackened)
Spoon: Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga 12" (Merge)
Bully: Losing 12" (Sub Pop)
Don Caballero: Singles Breaking Up 12" (Touch & Go)
R. Ring: Ignite the Rest 12" (Sofaburn)
Destroyer: Ken 12" (Merge)
John Carpenter: Anthology: Movie Themes 1974-1998 12"+7" (Sacred Bones)
Pageninetynine: Document #5 12" (Reptilian)
Big Huge: Cruel World 12" (Erste Theke)
Rashōmon: Demo 2017 7" (Society Bleeds)
Klazo: Embarrassed of Living 12" (It's Trash)
Various: Killed by Meth Vol 2 12" (It's Trash)
The Brain: S/T 7" (High Fashion Industries)
Humiliation: Laughing Wall 7" (High Fashion Industries)
Brainstorm / Battle of Disarm: Join No Army Police And Politician / Anti-War 12" (Rest in Punk)
Lebenden Toten: Static 12" (self-released)
Discard: Four Minutes Past Midnight 12" (Unrest)
Brainbombs: Obey 12" (Armageddon)
Brainbombs: Singles Collection 12" (Armageddon)
Aus Rotten: And Now Back to Our... 12" (Profane Existence)
City of Caterpillar: S/T 12" (Repeater)
Born Wrong: S/T 12" (Schizophrenic)
LSD: 1983 to 1986 12" (Schizophrenic)
Sons of Ishmael: Hayseed Hardcore 12" (Schizophrenic)
Neanderthal: A History of Violence 12" (Deep Six)
Slam: Wild Riders of Boards 7" (Not Like You)
Combatant: Sick Plot 7" (Not Like You)
Doom: Police Bastard 7" (Profane Existence)
Zellots: S/T 7" flexi (Supreme Echo)
Twitch: Mess with the Bull 7" (Supreme Echo)
Triton Warrior: Satan's Train 7" (Supreme Echo)
Jerk Ward: Too Young to Thrash 12" (Supreme Echo)
Twitch: Dark Years 12" (Supreme Echo)
Sphex: Time 7" (Supreme Echo)
Kid Chrome: Demons / W.A.I.G.D.? 7" (Goodbye Boozy)
bAd bAd: Modern Man / Prepare To Coup 7" (Goodbye Boozy)
Aquarian Blood: Right Between Yer Eyes / Sleep 7" (Goodbye Boozy)
Giantology: Hold Me Down / The Great Refrigerator 7" (Goodbye Boozy)
Sewer Cide: Wire / Vape Escape 7" (Goodbye Boozy)
Fire Heads: Sleep At Night / Hardly There 7" (Goodbye Boozy)
Resource Group: demo cassette (Big Dunce)
Bore Hole: demo cassette (Big Dunce)
Cruz Somers: UV-B cassette (Big Dunce)
Loincloth: Psalm of the Morbid 12" (Southern Lord)
Testament: The Ritual 12" (Metal Blade)
Unsane: Sterilize 12" (Southern Lord)
Ted Leo: The Hanged Man 12" (Super Ego)
Kadavar: Rough Times 12" (Nuclear Blast)
Faceless Burial: Grotesque Miscreation 12" (Iron Lung)
Condition: Subjugated Fate 7" (Iron Lung)
Antichrist Siege Machine: Morbid Triumph 12" (Stygian Black Hand)
Barrow Wight: Kings in Sauron's Service 12" (Stygian Black Hand)
Plague: Silenced by Death 7" (Stygian Black Hand)
United Void: Doomsday Clock 7" (Babysworld)
Slender: Walled Garden 7" (La Vida Es Un Mus)
Permission: S/T 12" (La Vida Es Un Mus)
Warwound: Burning The Blindfolds of Bigots 12" (Unrest)
The DSS: Temple of Heat cassette (self-released)
Urchin: Peace Sign 7" (Roach Leg)
Jackal: demo cassette (self-released)
Nightfall: Deadly Game 7" (Ryvvolte)
BETOE / Besthoven: Tribute to Shitlickers 7" (Ryvvolte)
Eye Jammy: Live at the BBQ cassette (self-released)
Judy & the Jerks: Alive at the Skatepark cassette (self-released)
Active Minds: The Age of Mass Distraction 12" (SPHC)
Dendö Marionette: 傀儡電伝 12" (Bitter Lake)
Extended Hell: S/T 7" (Brain Solvent Propaganda)
Glorious?: Neverending Butchery 7" (Brain Solvent Propaganda)
Aspects of War: A Look Into the Nightmare cassette (Brain Solvent Propaganda)
Mujeres Podridas: S/T 7" (Symphony of Destruction)
Lubricant: 2017 flexi 7" (Symphony of Destruction)
Kold Front: S/T 7" (Symphony of Destruction)
Black Dahlia Murder: Nightbringers 12" (Metal Blade)
Haemorrhage: We Are the Core 12" (Relapse)
Primitive Man: Caustic 12" (Relapse)
Birds of Avalon: Operator's Midnight 12" (Third Uncle)
Last Sentence: Solitude cassette (Doomed to Extinction)
Massacre 68: Sembrando Muertos cassette (Doomed to Extinction)
Romanticne Boje: 1983-84 cassette (Doomed to Extinction)
Patsy: LA Women 12" (La Vida Es Un Mus)
Neon: Neon Is Life cassette (self-released)
Publique: Outlying Self 12" (Burning Rose)
Collate: Material Inspection cassette (self-released)
EEL: Night Parade of 100 Demons 12" (Beach Impediment)
Altarage: Endinghent 12" (Season of Mist)
Blink 182: Enema of the State 12" (SRC)
Enslaved: E 12" (Nuclear Blast)
Lillingtons: Stella Sapiente 12" (Fat Wreck)
Stick to Your Guns: True View 12" (Pure Noise)
Gen Pop: S/T 7" (Lumpy)
U-Nix: S/T 7" (Lumpy)
Vanilla Poppers: S/T 12" (Lumpy)
The World: First World Record 12" (Lumpy)
Trash Knife: TK 7" (FDH)
Ydinaseeton Pohjola: Synny, Kärsit, Kuolet, Unohdut 12" (Nightstick Justice)
Darfür: 8 Tracks E.P. 12" (Nightstick Justice)
Wound: S/T 12" (Nightstick Justice)
Uncle Acid: Vol 1 12" (Rise Above)
Death: Individual Thought Patterns 12" (Relapse)
Brand New: Science Fiction 12" (Procrastinate! Music Traitors)
GWAR: The Blood of Gods 12" (Metal Blade)
Restocks
Rash: Skinner Box 12" (High Fashion Industries)
Life's Blood: Hardcore AD 12" (Prank)
Accused: The Return of Martha Splatterhead 12" (Unrest)
World Burns to Death: A Dream Dies Every Day 12" (Analogue Violence)
X: Los Angeles 12" (Porterhouse)
Dicks: Hate the Police 7" (1234 Go!)
Zero Boys: Livin' in the 80s 7" (1234 Go!)
Marduk: Fuck Me Jesus 12" (Osmose)
DAUÐYFLIN: Ofbeldi 12" (Iron Lung)
Flesh World: The Wild Animals in My Life 12" (Iron Lung)
Iron Lung: Life.Iron Lung.Death 12" (Iron Lung)
Mozart: Nasty 7" (Iron Lung)
Total Control: Typical System 12" (Iron Lung)
Crisis: Kollectiv 12" (La Vida Es Un Mus)
The Nurse: Discography 12" (La Vida Es Un Mus)
Sacrificio: Pulidores de Tumbas 12" (SPHC)
Exit Hippies: Dance Maniac 12" (SPHC)
Warthog: S/T 7" (Beach Impediment)
Fried Egg: Back and Forth 7" (Beach Impediment)
Concealed Blade: S/T 12" (Beach Impediment)
Blood Pressure: S/T 12" (Beach Impediment)
Entombed: Left Hand Path 12" (Earache)
Iron Maiden: Number of the Beast 12" (Sanctuary)
Iron Maiden: S/T 12" (Sanctuary)
Iron Maiden: Killers 12" (Sanctuary)
Can: Tago Mago 12" (Spoon)
Hawkwind: Space Ritual 12" (Parlophone)
Green Day: Kerplunk 12" (Reprise)
Joy Division: Closer 12" (Rhino)
David Bowie: Ziggy Stardust 12" (Parlophone)
David Bowie: Hunky Dory 12" (Parlophone)
Motorhead: Iron Fist 12" (Sanctuary)
Motorhead: Ace of Spades 12" (Sanctuary)
Operation Ivy: Energy 12" (Epitaph)
The Cure: Disintegration 12" (Rhino)
The Cure: Three Imaginary Boys 12" (Rhino)
The Replacements: Let It Be 12" (Rhino)
Metallica: Ride the LIghtning 12" (Blackened)
Parquet Courts: Human Performance 12" (Rough Trade)
Celtic Frost: Morbid Tales 12" (Noise)
Celtic Frost: To Mega Therion 12" (Noise)
Featured Release Roundup for September 26, 2017 b/w All Things to All People Vol. 22
Well, our “Turned Out a Punk” series on the Sorry State blogs were a big success, so we’re going to attempt to keep the ball rolling with another set of posts on a unified topic. This time around we’ll be talking about game-changing records… records that might have changed the way that you think about a scene or a genre and opened up new vistas in your listening habits. I’m actually going to talk about two different records that played this kind of role at two different points in my life.
The first record I want to talk about is the Koro 7”. Now, it probably seems obvious that this is a record I really like since Sorry State reissued it as one of our earliest releases, but more than just a good record it was really a catalyst for me getting into hardcore on a deeper level.
As I wrote about in my previous post, I spent my teen years in the mid- and late 90s testing out different tribal affiliations within the punk scene. While I listened almost exclusively to music that came out of the punk scene, it seemed like punk’s umbrella was much wider in those days, and around 1999 when I first heard Koro I was checking out everything from Converge and Cave In to youth crew revival to tougher bands like Right Brigade to melodic bands like Saves the Day, and I was also heavily interested in the nascent screamo scene with bands like Pg. 99 and City of Caterpillar. And parallel to all of this I was starting to get really into researching older bands and learning about music from the 70s and 80s. This was pre-social media, so I did most of my research with actual books. I remember John Savage’s book England’s Dreaming introduced me to a lot of stuff. I actually brought a copy with me the first time I went to England. I distinctly remember reading it on the plane, boning up on all of the ’77-era punk bands so that I would know what to look out for as I scoured the used bins. I believe that trip was in 1999, so vinyl was cheap and the 99p bins were overflowing with ’77-era punk singles. When I got back home and started going through them all—some I’d learned about from England’s Dreaming and other sources, and some I just bought because they looked cool—I started to get a sense of the depth of the ’77 punk scene and how many bands there were to check out once you scratched below the surface. I’m guessing that I probably heard my first Killed by Death compilation around this time as well, which made me realize that this wasn’t a phenomenon limited to the UK.
Around this time was when I first discovered the Kill from the Heart web site, which showed me that the depth I’d found in ’77-era punk extended well into the hardcore era (and, of course, I’ve since discovered that just about every music scene is full of similarly-sized rabbit holes). I’m not sure how the conversation got started, but eventually I started emailing with Chris, the main guy behind KFTH. He sent me a mix tape full of great early 80s hardcore, but the band that really stuck out for me was Koro, whose entire 7” was on the tape.
I wrote before about how Minor Threat was such a special band for me, and despite the fact that I’d heard plenty of other early 80s hardcore bands by that point no one quite did it for me like Minor Threat did. That is, until I heard Koro. It was even faster than Minor Threat, and if it wasn’t quite as tight then it was certainly close. These were songs that were performed at the speed with which my brain worked, and consequently filled me with a strange sense of comfort. While I recognized that the music was amazing pretty much right off the bat, once I delved deeper into the record I was only intrigued even more. The band was from Knoxville, Tennessee, which was not only in the south, but it was an even smaller city than Richmond, where I was living at the time, and the Norfolk / Virginia Beach area where I grew up. The lyrics had little of Minor Threat’s earnestness, instead dealing with kind of frivolous teenage topics (“Blap!”) or very dated political topics (“700 Club”). While one would think that these dated political topics would keep me from connecting with the record, truth be told they only intrigued me more. I grew up in the land of Pat Robertson (whose organization was headquartered in Virginia Beach) and The 700 Club was a show that I flipped past a million times when channel-surfing as a kid. Knowing that such a great piece of music grew out of a context that felt so incredibly familiar was a real rush.
After hearing Koro, it was pretty much on. The Koro EP was proof positive that there was gold in the boxes and boxes of used 7”s that littered pretty much every used record store that still existed, and I set about panning, using Kill from the Heart, print sources like old issues of Maximumrocknroll and the Flex guidebooks, illegal file sharing networks, and ebay as essential tools in my arsenal. For the next several years—honestly, for the next decade or more—it was all about diving as deep as possible and seeing what I could come up with. I would hear lots of gems over the next several years, but I can’t think of any record as perfect as that EP.
The second record I want to talk about is a more recent discovery, Amon Düül II’s Yeti LP, which I also wrote about in a previous edition of All Things to All People. In that post I struggled to articulate precisely what intrigued me so much about all of the Krautrock stuff that I was discovering, and when my friend Danny read that column he put it more succinctly and eloquently than I could: I was transitioning toward music that had a kind of cinematic scope. In other words, in retrospect I realize that the way I approached listening to music was very much grounded in the traditions of folk and pop music. In other words, I listened to music in order to sing along, and “digesting” records essentially meant memorizing them closely enough that I could sing along (or play air guitar or drums or whatever) and take a kind of participatory pleasure in experiencing the music. I still listen to plenty of music in that mode, but what Yeti in particular showed me is that there are other ways. It’s possible to surrender yourself to music, to let it take you wherever it wants to go. That pop listening mold is predicated on a kind of mastery… you have to learn the song—to tame it in a way—in order to listen to it in that way. However, listening to a record like Yeti is like just floating in a river or the ocean and letting the current take you wherever it may. The pleasure here is not in taming something outside of you, but of releasing what is inside of you, letting go of your ego so that you can experience what the musicians want you to experience.
While Yeti was the record that made me really crave this mode of listening, I think that getting really into Can prepped me for the experience of Yeti. Can’s music is strange in that it has the circularity of pop music and the linearity of this more “cinematic” music in equal measure. People often remark upon the “gradually evolving repetition” motif in their classic work, and I think that the repetition provided me a kind of safety net to fall back on as I became increasingly interested in that wider scope.
Anyway, once Yeti clicked with me I was all about finding this sensation in as much music as possible. It was like I had developed a new muscle that allowed me to do things I didn’t know were possible… listening to and appreciating music really are skills, and I had just upped my level. Entire categories of music were newly accessible to me, like jazz (70s Miles Davis has been a particular favorite, including both funkier stuff like On the Corner and more atmospheric things like Bitches Brew), soundtracks (including the Japanese artist J.A. Ceasar, one of my favorite recent discoveries), and prog (which, for all of its Krautrock-y tendencies, is ultimately the category that I would place Yeti into). I even came back to some records I already loved with fresh ears, like the psychedelic concept albums of the 60s. Previously I listened to records like Sgt Pepper’s or Arthur as collections of pop songs, but nowadays I appreciate the over-arching, album-level dynamics more. And when it comes to albums like the Pretty Things’ S.F. Sorrow or Pink Floyd’s early stuff where those album-level dynamics are even more important, I’m listening to and loving those records more than I ever have before.
Interestingly, this new way of listening has also pushed me toward a different attitudes toward discovering music. There was a kind of neuroticism to the way that I searched for 80s hardcore in the years after hearing Koro… the drive to hear everything created a nice little feedback loop with my naturally high anxiety level. That neuroticism has served me well in a lot of ways… honestly, a lot of Sorry State’s success has grown out of my insatiable desire to hear everything. By contrast, I’m not so worried about hearing every single Krautrock or jazz record. I know those are deep, deep rabbit holes, but I’m pretty much content just to enjoy whatever crosses my path. In order to pursue hardcore so single-mindedly I had to close myself off to a ton of great music, and nowadays I just want to be open and enjoy whatever the universe offers up to me.
Is anyone out there on Apple Music? Obviously Sorry State is vinyl-centric and sitting in front of my stereo with a vinyl record is still my preferred way of listening to music, but I listen to a lot of digital music as well. I’ve long preferred Apple Music over Spotify because it allows me to upload songs from my own library and fold them in with the songs on Apple’s service… I couldn’t rely solely on Spotify and not have access to all of the stuff that’s on my computer but not on that service. Anyway, enough shilling for Apple… they have enough of everyone’s money.
I bring up this topic because if anyone out there uses Apple Music and has upgraded to iOS 11, feel free to follow my profile @sorrystate and eavesdrop on what I’m listening to. Even better, let me follow you back! I’ve long been jealous of Spotify’s social features, so I’m eager to make some contacts on Apple Music and have some people introduce me to cool stuff I wouldn’t have heard otherwise.
In other Daniel news, I have a new band! We’re called Scarecrow. I play bass, Jeff from Skemäta plays guitar, Usman from Skemäta plays drums, and our friend Red (who hasn’t been in a band before) sings. Our first show is October 7 at the Bunker in Raleigh (Facebook event here). If you’re in the area you should try to make it… Haircut is killer and Bunker shows are always a good time.
The day after that I’ll be at the VG- Record Fair at Hardywood Brewery in Richmond slinging that hot wax. I’ll probably be very sleepy. Hopefully I can get someone to come with me so that we can trade off making coffee runs, and so that they can watch the table while I browse the other sellers’ wares!
No Love also has a few shows coming up. We’ll be playing with the Cowboys (which I’m very stoked about!) at the Pinhook in Durham on October 15 (Facebook event here). It sounds like we’ll also be getting to play with both C.H.E.W. and Trash Knife this fall as well, and I’m super stoked about both of those shows too. It’s shaping up to be a very punk-filled fall here in North Carolina.
C.H.E.W. / Rash: Split 7” (Slugsalt) Well, this is quite a corker… two of the best current bands from Chicago teaming up for a split 7”! C.H.E.W.’s material so far has pretty much blown me away, and these three songs do very little to change my mind about how great they are. This time around I’m not hearing the Rudimentary Peni-isms quite as much… the production is a little heavier and the playing is a little tighter and more straightforwardly hardcore, but there are plenty of little quirks for those of you who like it weird. The second track, “Submission,” in particular has some really cool, wild vocals that fly off the edges of the song’s rhythm and some wonky whiplash tempo changes that make my face erupt in a grin every time I hear them. As for Rash’s contribution, they give us two tracks that pretty much pick up where their recent releases left off. They’ve always played in the fertile area between hardcore and AmRep-style noise rock, but these two tracks are definitely a bit more on the hardcore end of the spectrum, albeit with the dense and rich textures of the best noise rock kept fully intact. You don’t see too many split 7”s in hardcore these days, but this one makes a great argument for the format. Highly recommended!
Major Conflict: S/T 7” (Antitodo) Reissue of this 1983 NYHC 7” which is probably most famous for being “the post-Urban Waste band.” If you’re coming to Major Conflict looking for Urban Waste you’ll be a bit disappointed as this simply isn’t nearly as raw or as feral as that record (but then again, how many records are?), but it’s a nice little vintage slice of NYHC nonetheless. The three tracks here are quite different from one another. It begins with an instrumental called “How Do Ya Feel” that’s built around a cool little metallic riff that reminds me quite a lot of the Abused, then segues into a mid-paced street punk song called “Outgroup,” which seems to me to betray the influence of punkier bands like Kraut and the Stimulators, or perhaps even Subliminal Seduction-era Heart Attack. On the b-side you get a lengthier song that seems more Bad Brains-influenced, particularly the epic, “Right Brigade”-esque mosh part. While it’s kind of weird that the three tracks are so different from one another, this 7” really works, and even if it doesn’t quite make that top tier of NYHC alongside Antidote, the Abused, Urban Waste, et al, it’s solidly in the second tier alongside bands like Crucial T, the Mob, and the Nihilistics, and if you’re familiar with those records (all of them rippers) you know that’s no slight. And of course Antitodo has already established a reputation for doing great quality repro editions, so you shouldn’t worry yourself on that front.
Flesh World: Into the Shroud 12” (Dark Entries) Well, the new Flesh World album is finally here. They’ve shifted labels for this one, moving from the world of small DIY hardcore labels (their previous releases were on La Vida Es Un Mus and Iron Lung) to Dark Entries, who are honestly probably a better fit for their sound. When there’s a change in labels there’s usually some corresponding changes in the music, and that’s the case to an extent here. Flesh World are still writing brilliant pop songs, and structurally the songs on Into the Shroud are very much of a piece with the band’s earlier work, though honestly I think the melodies are more memorable and the arrangements much more dynamic and interesting. The main difference is that they’ve scaled back radically on the noise. While Into the Shroud is probably still a fairly noisy record by indie rock standards, if you loved their previous releases you’ll immediately notice how much cleaner this record is, which is hardly a bad thing, just a noticeable difference. Flesh World have always reminded me a bit of Lush, and the transition from The Wild Animals in My Life to Into the Shroud is not unlike Lush’s transition from their earlier, more chaotic stuff to the more streamlined pop of Lovelife. I love both periods of Lush, and I’m fully on board with this new phase of Flesh World. If you enjoyed this band’s earlier stuff I strongly recommend this new one as well.
Spray Paint & Ben Mackie: Friendly Moving Man 7” (12XU) Not a split release, but a collaborative 7” between these two artists. I’ve heard Ben Mackie’s group Cuntz (even seen them live once), but I’m not sure if his reverb-drenched vocals are going to be enough of a selling point for the legions of Cuntz fans out there. It’s unclear if he did more than sing on this 7”, but I do feel like there could be a little bit of Cuntz’s noise rock injected into Spray Paint’s sound for this release… it’s hard to say for sure. However, if you’re coming at this release from the Spray Paint end of things I dare say you’ll be very pleased. Spray Paint are one of the most unique-sounding bands out there… it’s hard to say precisely what it is that sets them apart, but they have such a unique voice as a band that you can hear just a couple of notes and immediately know that it’s them. The a-side in particular is extremely quirky, and it’s the kind of song that it’s hard to imagine anyone other than Spray Paint managing to capture on tape. The only bad thing I can say about the record is that it feels like it’s over before it starts, but if you’re interested in this odds are you have a stack of Total Punk 7”s in your collection that you could say the same thing about, so no biggie.
Performing Ferret Band: S/T 12” (Beat Generation) Reissue of this UKDIY LP from 1980, and it’s a real gem. I don’t claim to be the most knowledgeable about this particular scene, but it’s crazy to me that something as good as this could fly under my radar for so long. Sonically, this is just about as on the nose as the UKDIY sound gets… take some bits from the early Fall catalog, add in some of the vibe from genre classics like Desperate Bicycles or the Homosexuals and you should be pretty much in the ballpark as to what this sounds like. It also bears an almost uncanny resemblance to the Total Punk band Suburban Homes in places… I’m not sure if they’re a conscious influence on Suburban Homes or not, but I think it’s pretty much guaranteed that if you like one band’s records you’ll really like the other’s as well (unless, of course, you strictly avoid either new or old bands). For me, a lot of the pleasure of UKDIY music is in the way that they balance their poppier impulses with their more experimental ones, and Performing Ferret Band have pretty much the perfect mix for me. So, if this style if up your alley you know what to do…
Reptoides: Nueva Especie 7” (World Gone Mad) 2nd 7” from this Mexican band, not to be confused with Andy Human & the Reptoids from California, who are an entirely different group. If you liked what they did the first time around I’m pretty sure you’ll be on board with this as well, as it continues in a similar vein. As before (and as with their labelmates in Haldol) there’s a distinct Rudimentary Peni influence here, which manifests itself in the claustrophobic, chorus-y guitar tone and the general sense of dread, but like Peni they also manage to pull hook after hook out of this rather imposing shell. I can see fans of Blazing Eye being super into this as well, but it also reminds me of some of the more out-there Japanese punk and hardcore sounds by bands like G.I.S.M. or Mobs. I haven’t seen Reptoides getting a ton of hype in the US, but maybe it’s about time that changed because this—like their last EP—is totally killer.
Beyond Peace: S/T 7” (Hard Art) Debut 7” from this band out of Iowa. We had their demo a while back, but they really made an impression when I saw them live a few weeks ago. Like a lot of bands from off-the-beaten-path locales, Beyond Peace don’t sound totally in sync with the hottest trends in the underground today, but as someone who is naturally attracted to bands that fall between the cracks I think that’s an asset rather than a drawback. The foundation here is definitely straightforward 80s USHC, and it’s fast, raw, and gruff in all the right ways. The vibe is somewhat earnest and political in a way that reminds me both of 90s bands like Crudos or Born Against and 80s bands like Articles of Faith or Everything Falls Apart / Metal Circus-era Husker Du. And like all of those bands, Beyond Peace are musically adventurous as well; while they can write a mid-paced part worthy of any NYHC band (“Wearing Thin”) they can also dish out some jaggedly beautiful lead lines that could have come from Articles of Faith’s Give Thanks LP (“Big Man”). If the above references intrigue you I would highly encourage you to check this out, as Beyond Peace pretty much precisely fit my definition of real hardcore.
UVTV: Go Away 7” (Emotional Response) Latest 4-song EP from this Florida band who have quietly been maturing into one of the most distinctive punk bands out there. To me, UVTV’s music sounds like a hardcore-informed take on C86 pop like the Shop Assistants… in other words, while they have the sprightliness and heft of a band like Brain F≠, but their dreamy vocals, pop songwriting chops, and distinct Ramones influence seem to come from the mid-80s UK (which they kind of confirm here with a cover tune by the Primitives). Punk with dreamy vocals is a pretty untapped well—the only bands I can think of that do it as well as UVTV are Flesh World and Earth Girls, both of whom who have a very different overall vibe—which serves to UVTV’s advantage because they sound so totally fresh. I’m not sure why the hype machine hasn’t latched onto this band yet, but maybe someone should take some initiative and get that started. Or just pick this up and enjoy your own little secret.
ISS: Endless Pussyfooting 12” (Erste Theke Tontraeger) So, I wrote a description of this back when it was a tape and then the label actually used it as the generic marketing description for the vinyl release, so obviously I like this a lot. However, I thought I’d write something again since this record has only grown in my esteem since the tape version came out. I wrote before (and other people like Vincent have also mentioned) that the sampling-based technique that ISS uses is totally awesome, but I feel like the focus on their technique—which admittedly, is pretty exciting—detracts attention away from how absolutely brilliant these songs are. Sure, it’s fun to unpack all of the references and try to identify all of the samples, but these songs would be great no matter what instruments were used to create them. There’s such a mastery of songwriting, lyric-writing, arrangement, and production on display here that it honestly makes a lot of the other music that I listen to look bad by comparison. However, even if you don’t come to this as some kind of grand artistic achievement (and believe me, I think that’s the last thing ISS wants anyway), these are just great, fun pop songs that you can sing along to with the windows down on a warm summer day… indeed, the fact that they function so well as pop songs is exactly what makes them so great. So, at the risk of continuing to not make any sense, I’m going to wrap this up and say that it’s one of my favorite things in the world right now and that you should probably check it out if you haven’t already.
B.D.: Over 30 Singles 12” (Emotional Response) 30(!!!)-track compilation from this long-running California punk band. I’m not sure if we’ve carried every single B.D. / Bad Daddies record, but I’ve checked in with them often over the years and this band is always doing something surprising. That eclecticism is very much on display here, as songs waver between hardcore, 90s-style noise-rock and straight up pop-punk. I suppose that if I had to draw a common thread to all of the music collected here, it’s that there’s a very 90s sensibility at work, both in that a lot of the genres that B.D. dabble in sound kind of retro and in the eclecticism itself, which is jarring within the context of the current scene, where bands seem very hesitant to step outside a narrow range of influences. While there is a metric ton of awesome music here, I think my favorite thing about Over 30 Singles might be the zine booklet, which is super thick and features detailed contextualizations of every track here (and, crazily enough, many others that aren’t compiled here!) and interviews with each individual member of the band. Everything about this package is really overwhelming, but in kind of a neat way. I think one of the reasons that a lot of modern punk feels so disposable is because the audience has so little time to make room for more / richer media content in our lives. However, Over 30 Singles is a throwback to when records were one of your key media resources and not only did bands try to convey as much information as possible, but also the audience also spent a lot of time digesting all of that information. So, while it’ll definitely take some work to make time for this given the lifestyles we live nowadays, there are corresponding rewards for your expenditure of time.
Chris Bell: I Am the Cosmos 12" (Omnivore)
Mogwai: Every Country's Son 12" (Temporary Residence)
Twin Peaks: Music from the Limited Event Series OST 12" (Rhino)
METZ: Strange Peace 12" (Rhino)
Various: Warfaring Strangers: Acid Nightmares 12" (Numero Group)
The Afghan Whigs: Up with It 12" (Sub Pop)
The Afghan Whigs: Congregation 12" (Sub Pop)
The Afghan Whigs: Uptown Avondale 12" (Sub Pop)
Satyricon: Deep Calleth Upon Deep 12" (Napalm)
Godspeed You! Black Emperor: Luciferian Towers 12" (Constellation)
Tortür: No Surrender, No Survivors 7" flexi (self-released)
Amgdala: Population Control 12" (Dead Tank)
Meatwound: Trash Apparatus 7" (Dead Tank)
Vacancy: Empty Head cassette (Dead Tank)
Lunglust: War at Home 7" (Dead Tank)
Lunglust: War at Home cassette (Dead Tank)
Mrtex / Kelut: Split LP 12" (Dead Tank)
DS-13: Umea Hardcore Forever 12" (Havoc)
Kaaos: Riistinnaulittu Kaaos 12" (Havoc)
Major Conflict: S/T 7" (Antitodo)
Flesh World: Into the Shroud 12" (Dark Entries)
Mr. Wrong: Babes in Boyland 12" (Water Wing)
Pikacyu-Makoto: Galaxilympics 12" (Upset the Rhythm)
Chain & the Gang; Experimental Music 12" (Radical Elite)
Neon: Neon / Nazi Schatzi 7" (Water Wing)
Wolves in the Throne Room: Thrice Woven 12" (Artemesia)
Dorothy Ashby: Hip Harp / On a Minor Groove 12" (Doxy)
Flower Travellin Band: Satori 12" (Phoenix)
Flower Travellin Band: Anywhere 12" (Phoenix)
Harald Grosskopf: Synthesist 12" (Bureau B)
Performing Ferret Band: S/T 12" (Beat Generation)
Genius / GZA: Liquid Swords 12" (Universal)
Chaos UK: One Hundred Percent Two Fingers in the Air Punk Rock 12" (Harbinger Sound)
Nachthexen: S/T 10" (Harbinger Sound)
Voigt/465: Slights Still Unspoken 12" (Mental Experience)
Atelier du Mal: Noblesse Oblige 12" (Mannequin)
Silverhead: S/T 12" (Vinilissimo)
Osiris: S/T 12" (Pharaway)
Aragorn: Night Is Burning 12" (Sommor)
Bruno Spoerri & Reto Weber: The Sound of UFOs 12" (We Release Whatever the Fuck We Want)
Bruno Spoerri: Voice of Taurus 12" (We Release Whatever the Fuck We Want)
Pretty Things: Parachute 12" (Madfish)
Pretty Things: SF Sorrow 12" (Madfish)
C.H.E.W. / Rash: Split 7" (Slugsalt)
Spray Paint & Ben Mackie: Friendly Moving Man b/w Dumpster Buddies 7" (12XU)
USA/Mexico: Laredo 12" (12XU)
Restocks
Broken Bones: A Single Decade 12" (Havoc)
Final Conflict: Keep It in the Family 7" (Havoc)
Sacrilege: Time to Face the Reaper 12" (Havoc)
Willful Neglect: S/T + Justice for No One 12" (Havoc)
Blitz: Voice of a Generation 12" (Radiation)
Blitz: All Out Attack 7" (Ugly Pop)
Newtown Neurotics: Beggars Can Be Choosers 12" (Nada Nada Discos)
Partisans: S/T 12" (Havoc)
Wretched: Libero E Selvaggio 12" (Agipunk)
Against Me: Reinventing Axl Rose 12" (No Idea)
John Coltrane & Alice Coltrane: Cosmic Music 12" (Superior Viaduct)
Dicks: Kill from the Heart 12" (Alternative Tentacles)
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard: Flying Microtonal Banana 12" (Flightless)
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard: I'm Your Mind Fuzz 12" (Castleface)
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard: Quarters 12" (Castleface)
Thee Oh Sees: Mutilator Defeated at Last 12" (Castleface)
Radioactivity: S/T 12" (Dirtnap)
Radioactivity: Silent Kill 12" (Dirtnap)
Rubella Ballet: Ballet Bag 12" (Dark Entries)
Sonic Youth: Evol 12" (Goofin')
Spits: 19 Million AC 12" (Slovenly)
Spits: First Self-titled 12" (Slovenly)
Spits: S/T 12" (Slovenly)
Spits: Third Album 12" (Slovenly)
The Fall: Slates 10" (Superior Viaduct)
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard: Nonagon Infinity 12" (ATO)
Wicked Lady: The Axeman Cometh 12" (Guersson)
Wicked Lady: Psychotic Overkill 12" (Guersson)
Bad Brains: S/T 12" (ROIR)
Brand New: Deja Entendu 12" (Triple Crown)
Brand New: I Am a Nightmare 12" (Triple Crown)
Electric Wizard: Dopethrone 12" (Rise Above)
Hatebreed: Satisfaction Is the Death of Desire 12" (Victory)
Joey Bada$$: All Amerikkkan Bada$$ 12" (Cinematic)
Parquet Courts: Light Up Gold 12" (What's Your Rupture?)
Power Trip: Manifest Decimation 12" (Southern Lord)
Run the Jewels: S/T 12" (Mass Appeal)
Run the Jewels: RTJ 3 12" (Mass Appeal)
Slayer: Show No Mercy 12" (Metal Blade)
Swans: Filth 12" (Young God)
C.H.E.W. / Penetrode: Split cassette (Slugsalt)
Featured Release Roundup September 16, 2017 b/w All Things to All People Vol. 21
First, a note about this post: this installment you’re getting a combo pack… usually the Featured Release Roundup and All Things to All People are separate posts, but this time I’m smashing them together because why not? Also, apologies for the lack of blog content lately. I’ve been listening to music like a fiend as usual, but I had to travel to Ohio for several days for a funeral and it’s really put me behind on a lot of day-to-day tasks like writing for the blog. You should see us getting back on schedule over the next few days.
So, this week at Sorry State everyone is telling you how they got into punk. I’m sure I’ve told a rough version of this story before in interviews or just in conversation, but rather than giving you my whole life story I’m going to focus on a series of discrete epiphanies, each of which gradually deepened my connection to punk rock.
I worry that my story will be boring because it sounds so much like that of so many other people my age. I’m writing this the day after my 38th birthday, which means that I was born in 1979, which means that I was around 12 years old when Nirvana “broke.” In other words, just when I reached that point of maturity when I started looking outward from my family and friends that I grew up with and reaching for a broader identity and perhaps even a subcultural affiliation, Nirvana appeared. Their timing could not have been more fortuitous. When I think back now, it’s kind of remarkable how much I adopted from Nirvana’s aesthetic and incorporated into my own vibe… anti-authoritarianism, despondency / depression, a celebration of the inherent value of weirdness and being weird, smart-assery, an awareness of and pretension toward fine art… those things are so much a fundamental part of who I am that it’s hard to tell whether I recognized them in Nirvana (and, more widely, in punk) and gravitated toward them as a result, or if I just fell into punk by chance and it stamped those qualities onto me. I guess that’s a knot that no one is ever going to untangle.
The photos on the insert of the Minor Threat discography probably helped to shape my personal sense of style and fashion more than just about anything else I can think of.
Anyway, after hearing Nirvana the next big revelation was Minor Threat, which I probably first heard around 1993 or 1994. At some point I discovered that a great way to find out about the kinds of bands I wanted to hear was to buy records by the bands whose t-shirts were sold in the Sessions advertisements in the back of Thrasher Magazine; those ads were pretty much a who’s who of key 70s and 80s punk bands, and when I put that together with the following equation:
a long track list on a CD = shorter songs = faster songs = better songs
Minor Threat’s discography CD was a pretty obvious buy. And once I heard that I pretty much fell head over heels in love in much the same way I had with Nirvana. It was a total game-changer and still serves to guide my musical preferences nearly 25 years later. As with Nirvana, this music is so deeply embedded in my consciousness that it’s impossible to tell whether I loved it or if I just trained myself to like it, but at least in retrospect it was love at first sight.
Having listened to so many episodes of Turned Out a Punk, I find it kind of strange that my journey into punk seems so isolated. I didn’t have an older sibling or even any older friends guiding me on my journey into punk. More or less all of my knowledge of punk was gleaned either through mass media (MTV, skateboarding and music magazines, and once I was able to find them, zines like MRR and Flipside) or simply by trial and error, i.e. buying records I thought looked promising and hoping that they didn’t suck. Even once I moved to Richmond in 1997 and was pretty much surrounded by punks constantly, my dive into music was strangely solitary, though that would change eventually.
My 11th grade school photo; my hair is dyed the color of grass and you can see my skater image starting to merge with the then-current straight edge / youth crew look.
Indeed, my remaining epiphanies are definitely more social rather than being purely focused on the solitary experience of hearing a single band or record. Once I got a driver’s license in 1995 I was able to get myself from my very, very small hometown to the bigger cities of Norfolk and Virginia Beach, Virginia, where I quickly recognized flyers whose graphic design sensibilities were lifted straight from the flyers in the Minor Threat CD insert. Going to these shows was my first inkling of the real DIY punk subculture, and like a lot of teenagers I spent years exploring different tribal affiliations among factions in the scene. Youth crew revival was really big when I was a teenager so I went to a lot of those shows, but I also liked more straightforward punk like Blanks 77 or the Casualties, was really fascinated with international hardcore (especially given that G.I.S.M. and Gauze were the first two non-Anglophone bands I heard), still had one toe in the commercial punk world of bands like Bad Religion and Propagandhi, and even went to metal shows now and again when I band I thought was legit (like, say, Cryptopsy) would come through town. I’m not sure whether it was that I was omnivorous or just that I couldn’t figure out who I really was, but I listened to a lot of different stuff and I’m the better for it. At some point, though, I stopped going wide and started going deep. This started happening 1998 or 1999, which is not coincidentally just when downloading music became a wide practice. I remember the first piece of music I ever downloaded was an advance rip of Bad Religion’s No Substance a month or two before it came out. At this point I’d never even heard of a CD burner, so I ran a cable from the headphone output of the computer to a cassette recorder and made a tape of it. Looking back that was a real hybrid of old and new technology, but I bet I’m not the only person my age who did it. And as more people got online and started ripping older vinyl and cassettes, downloading the new Bad Religion album quickly progressed to checking out every single band I’d ever heard of but couldn’t acquire CDs or records by, and when you follow that rabbit hole to where it ends eventually you’re listening to some pretty gnarly stuff.
A video clip from the first Cross Laws show, which is also the first show I ever played. I was 26 years old... a lot later than most people start their first band!
The next big signpost is when I moved from being a consumer of punk culture to being a participant in it. This is harder to pinpoint in the timeline, but sometime around 1999 I started writing things and posting them on the internet. While I’ve become more confident in my old age, at this point I was extremely shy, which prevented me (or, more accurately, allowed me) to have almost no friends in the punk scene… and honestly not really too many friends at all. However, once I started throwing things online people would figure out who I was and talk to me at shows about the photos I took or the things I wrote, and with the ice broken I actually started making some friends and becoming acquaintances with members of the local bands who played around Richmond like Municipal Waste and Strike Anywhere. Brandon from Municipal Waste (and later Direct Control, Government Warning, and many others) was the kind of person who would walk right up to you and start talking and then make sure you were properly introduced to everyone in the room that he knew, and his gregariousness gave me the push I needed to let my art school-honed, unwavering dedication to artistic work really cut loose. I started writing more and photographing more, and eventually I started a label and picked up the guitar that had been gathering dust in the corner since I was a teenager. Which pretty much leads me to where I am today.
It’s only started to occur to me recently how deeply I rely upon punk. For whatever reason—whether it’s because I’m a true freak and lifer or just because I was subconsciously following the punk script—I always hated social institutions like churches, schools, sports teams, and cliques. Eventually I joined the group of non-joiners, and now that group—the world of DIY punk and particularly my local scene in Raleigh—are my support network. They’re not just people I bullshit about bands with, but the people I call when I need someone to watch my cat while I’m out of town, the people whose kids I see as nieces and nephews, and the people who I hit up when someone close passes away and I need someone to talk to. My life story has been a long process of giving more and more of myself to punk and the more I give it the more it seems to give back to me.
Booji Boys: Sweet Boy 7” (Cruel Noise) We here at Sorry State have been following Booji Boys from the very beginning (as well as all of their many adjacent bands and projects), and it’s been cool to see them grow and refine their sound over their past couple of releases. There aren’t any big stylistic shifts on Sweet Boy… as on their previous records, Booji Boys to me sound like a bunch of people who probably grew up on hardcore and were shaped by its aesthetics, but have given themselves permission to do things like write songs in major keys and add in catchy little Undertones-esque lead parts (they even cover the Undertones here, confirming the influence). As Seth very astutely pointed out, the result is something like a much rawer, more immediate version of Hidden World-era Fucked Up, i.e. that period when they started to venture outside hardcore’s defined lines but hadn’t quite entered the period where they became deliberately psychedelic. In case you’ve heard their earlier releases and are wondering, the “underwater” effect is still on the vocals and it’s still very much a love-it, hate-it, or tolerate-it proposition, but if you’re on board with what the Booji Boys do you definitely won’t be disappointed, as Sweet Boy is more concise and ultimately even more memorable than their killer recent LP.
Agari: demo cassette (No Need for a Logo or Anything) Second cassette release from this band featuring members of Scumraid and Bloodkrow Butcher. As you might guess, this is hardcore, but it has a really interesting and unique vibe. The singer actually sounds quite a lot like the guy from Institute, but the music is rawer, more direct, and more hardcore. You can’t really pin a particular style on it as there are elements of Negative Approach’s oi!-influenced swagger, d-beat, and more intricate USHC in the vein of Minor Threat. However, it’s totally catchy and memorable, made all the more so by perfect, warm production. A real standout demo… I hope this band makes it to vinyl soon!
Aburadako: S/T 7” flexi (Crowmaniax) So, I should probably preface this by noting that I’m something of an Aburadako super-fan… my friend Joel first played me this flexi sometime in the early 00s and I fell completely in love. While I was already familiar with a lot of the burlier Japanese hardcore as well as a few more punk things like the Stalin, the particular mix of weirdness and aggression apparent on this flexi was pretty much exactly what I wanted to hear, and honestly it still is. It’s raging, quirky, and catchy all at once in a way that sounds like no other record I’ve ever heard. I’ve had an original copy of this flexi as well as a rip of the officially-released early discography for some time and I was hoping that this version would be able to replace my flexi in regular rotation as I’m always worried about the sound gradually deteriorating or—worse yet—getting a dent or other problem that would affect play. There is no one I would trust with the task of making a quality bootleg more than the folks at Crowmaniax (the party behind not only the several recent Crow reissues, but a few others like the Clay as well)… both their sound reproduction as well as their presentation of the physical product is 100% on point. That’s the case here as well, as the jacket and center labels replicate the original release almost exactly. My only issue is that they’ve clearly sourced the audio from the official discography CD, which has a very clear and well-mastered sound, but there’s also some audible tape warble / distortion. I’m not sure if the original tapes were damaged or what, but I can’t hear this distortion on my original flexi. In general, the version from this record and the CD sounds better—clearer, louder, and punchier than my flexi—but the presence of that tape noise keeps this from being absolutely perfect. So, what I’ve found myself doing is listening to this bootleg, then putting on my flexi, then imagining a non-existent version that combines the best qualities of both. That’s some real nerdy shit and usually I don’t tend to be such a snobby audiophile, but this is a very important record to me and I just want to hear it in the best light possible. However, if you aren’t such a stickler and you just need a hard copy this will absolutely get the job done, and if you aren’t familiar with this record then get ready to have your face melted. And let’s all pray to the gods that Aburadako’s first 12” EP is next up on the Crowmaniax agenda because I’ve never been able to snag an original of that one.
Negative Insight #3 w/ Skitslickers: GBG 1982 7” (Negative Insight) So, I think it probably makes sense to talk about these two items separately even though they’re sold together and obviously very linked. First up, the 7”: I’ve had several different versions of this recording over the years (bootlegs, semi-official reissues, mp3 rips from various sources), but it’s definitely never hit me with the impact that this reissue has, which is due mostly to the incredible sound. Apparently they were able to make new pressing plates from the mothers used for the original pressing, and as I’ve often noted they just don’t cut records that sound as loud and as thick as this anymore. When the first track, “Warsystem,” starts the guitar alone feels like a punch in the gut even without the backing of the other instruments, and once they come in it’s pretty much all over. The whole thing is only a few minutes long, but it’s one of the purest expressions of nihilistic rage that I have ever heard in my life. Jah bless Negative Insight for allowing me to get this onto my turntable without hocking half of my worldly possessions.
As for the zine, hopefully you’re familiar with the depth of the content and the precision of the execution from the previous two issues. #3 doesn’t slow down at all (even the ads seem designed to look at period as possible), and if you’re a fanatic for Gothenburg punk you’ll be wallowing in this issue like a pig in slop. While there are features on Absurd and a short interview with Anti-Cimex’s drummer, the two centerpieces are the extensive Skitslickers interview and the Anti-Cimex tour diary. The Skitslickers interview sheds a lot of light on a very mysterious band. From what I can gather, it seems like they were less interested in the musical or political sides of punk and more interested in pure nihilism, which makes sense given what ended up on the GBG 1982 EP. Beyond that, there are a ton of interesting little details about the band’s tenure that shed a lot of light on what it was like to be a punk at that place and time. The other big piece is the detailed dissection of Anti-Cimex’s infamous “Chainsaw Tour” of the UK. Each date is recounted in detail from multiple different perspectives (save one date where they couldn’t track down anyone who attended), and if there’s anything you ever wanted to know about that tour I’m guessing that it’s either in this piece or it’s totally lost to the sands of time.
All in all, this record-and-zine package has to be one of the essential must-buys of 2017. So if you can get your hands on one, don’t hesitate.
Neo Neos: The Hammer of Civilization 7” (It’s Trash) Debut vinyl from this Canadian project that has put out a slew of cassettes over the past few months… we still have a bunch of those in stock, so if you’re digging on this I’d encourage you to check out this band’s surprisingly deep discography. Anyway, Neo Neos’ tapes were kind of in the vein of that sloppy, jittery punk that’s been popular with people who follow labels like Total Punk, Neck Chop, and Lumpy, and I think it’s fair to say that if you dig bands like S.B.F., Race Car, Janitor Scum, and the like this will hit your sweet spot as well. It’s not quite as robotic-sounding as Race Car or as Fall-influenced as Janitor Scum… instead, its distinguishing factor is a heaping dose of the nihilism that I associate with Total Punk-type bands like Buck Biloxi and Sick Thoughts. Four tracks, and none of them are duds, so if this is up your alley I’d highly encourage checking it out.
Suck Lords: Demonstration cassette (Edger) Demo cassette from this new band out of Portland. I don’t know much about them, but I can tell you not to expect any of the crust or noise-punk that that city is known for… this is pure hardcore. It is quite fast, though… more in the vein of the Neos, Larm, or Deep Wound (or if you’re looking for a modern reference point they sound an awful lot like Alienation at times). I’m SUPER picky about when bands reach this tempo, as most groups either turn into a sloppy mess or start to sound more like grind / power violence than hardcore, but Suck Lords pretty much nail it perfectly, and if the above-mentioned groups strike your fancy I think it’s safe to say this’ll be right up your alley. Throw in some mega-snotty vocals and a couple of interesting little musical touches (the drummer has a really interesting way of emphasizing un-expected beats) and you have a very intriguing demo. Here’s hoping this band sticks around long enough to make it to the vinyl stages and doesn’t lose their rawness or energy in the process.
The Dream Syndicate: Live at Raji's Complete 12" (Run Out Groove)
Fifteen: Buzz 12" (Real Gone)
Monster Magnet: Spine of God 12" (Napalm)
Monster Magnet: Tab 12" (Napalm)
The Slits: Return of the Giant Slits 12" (Real Gone)
The War on Drugs: A Deeper Understanding 12" (Atlantic)
Forced Order: One Last Prayer 12" (Triple B)
Self Defense Family: Wounded Masculinity 12" (Triple B)
Neil Young: Hitchhiker 12" (Reprise)
The National: Sleep Well Beast 12" (4AD)
Zola Jesus: The Spoils 12" (Sacred Bones)
Zola Jesus: Okovi 12" (Sacred Bones)
Hot Water Music: Light It Up 12" (Rise)
Burn: Do or Die 12" (Deathwish)
Olho Seco: Botas, Fuzis, Capacetes 7" (Nada Nada Discos)
Svart Städhjälp: Avveckla Dig Själv 7" (Halvfigur)
Napalm Raid: Wheel of War 12" (Rust and Machine)
Sonic Order: S/T 7" (Doom Town)
Death from Above 1979: Outrage! Is Now 12" (Warner Bros)
Neo Neos: The Hammer of Civilization 7" (It's Trash)
Public Eye: Relaxing Favorites 12" (Best Before)
Unix: demo cassette (Best Before)
Sore Points: Don't Want To 7" (Hosehead)
White Pigs: Hardcore Years 1983-1985 12" (Vomitopunkrock)
ISS: Endless Pussyfooting 12" (Erste Theke Tontraeger)
Booji Boys: Sweet Boy 7" (Cruel Noise)
Joey Cape: One Week Record 12" (Fat Wreck)
Paradise Lost: Medusa 12" (Nuclear Blast)
Paradise Lost: One Second 12" (Nuclear Blast)
Barcelona: Un Último Ultrasonido Nació Y Murió En Barcelona 12" (La Vida Es Un Mus)
Rainer Maria: S/T 12" (Polyvinyl)
Reptoides: Nueva Especie 7" (World Gone Mad)
Autopsy: Fiend for Blood 12" (Peaceville)
Cannabis Corpse: Left Hand Pass 12" (Season of Mist)
Exterminator: Total Extermination 12" (Greyhaze)
Crucifix: Dehumanization 12" (Euro Import)
Blitz: The Other Side of... 12" (Vomitopunkrock)
Crux: War 12" (Vomitopunkrock)
GISM: Detestation 12" (Euro Import)
The Exploited: Punks Not Dead 12" (Vomitopunkrock)
Morbid: Disgusting Semla 12" (Die 669)
The Execute: The Antagonistic Shadow 12" (Harto De Toto)
Aburadako: S/T 7" (Crowmaniax)
Mr. Epp: Of Course I'm Happy, Why? 7" (Full Contact)
Negative Insight #1 w/Varukers: Blood Money 7" (Negative Insight)
Negative Insight #2 w/Chaos UK: Studio Outtakes 81-83 7" (Negative Insight)
Negative Insight #3 w/Shitlickers 7" (Negative Insight)
UVTV: Go Away 7" (Emotional Response)
Natterers: Toxic Care Cassette (Emotional Response)
Bad Daddies: Over 30 Singles 12" (Emotional Response)
Enisum: Seasons of Desolation 12" (Avantgarde)
Artillery: Fear of Tomorrow 12" (Wax Maniax)
Abbath: S/T 12" (Season of Mist)
Darkthrone: Dark Thrones and Black Flags 12" (Peaceville)
Wode: Servants of the Counter Cosmos 12" (Avantgarde)
Restocks:
Bad Posture: C/S 12" (Mono)
Last Rights: S/T 7" (Taang!)
Suss Cunts: S/T 7" (Emotional Response)
Featured Release Roundup: August 30, 2017
Well folks, another week has gone by, and now you're about to get marginally wiser about some of the physical products that have been recently foisted upon the punk scene. For whatever reason, I feel like the things that I wrote about this week skewed toward the artier end of the spectrum. That's certainly, at least in part, a function of what happened to come in to the store this week, but it's also where my head has been at lately. Last week a friend played me this Turkish rock LP and it really split my head open in the way that it combined eastern musical motifs with the rock format I grew up on, and I've been on a kick of actively searching out music that does that. One thing that's really caught my ear is this compilation of Islamic jazz that was released as part of the Rough Guide series. Of course I'm still listening to plenty of hardcore, punk, and metal, but I also notice that in the past week my musical world has gotten considerably wider.
Housewives: Ff061116 12” (Rocket) Housewives’ previous 12” was one of my big surprises of the past year or so; a gritty, heavy, yet still very accessible no wave-informed record that I’ve found myself returning to again and again despite its release date fading ever further into the past. So, I was excited to hear this new one, but it’s kind of a different beast than the last one. It’s always been clear that Housewives are artistes, but they really go out there on this one, as you might be able to infer based on the stark, gallery-worthy packaging design or the cryptic title. Musically, there are fewer rock-informed rhythms this time around… instead, this release seems to be exploring ideas in atmosphere and harmony rather than rhythm (at least for the most part… there are some tracks with drums). Acoustic and electronic elements weave in and out of one another, sort of like Merzbow jamming with a horn player with an expansive, panoramic sense of space a la Grachan Moncur III or someone like that. The early Sonic Youth / Swans thing comes back on the two side-ending tracks (and these will almost certainly be your favorite tracks if you just have to have drums), but honestly the whole thing strikes me as extremely worthwhile and interesting. This might be a tad out there for the typical Sorry State audience, but something about this band just does it for me.
Anti-Sex: Un Mejor Futuro 12” (Thrilling Living) Debut LP from this Mexican band, and it’s a co-release between Thrilling Living, Cintas Pepe, and World Gone Mad… I don’t think that I could create a more compelling trio of labels for a co-release if I tried. And, as expected, this LP is a real burner. When I think of recent Mexican punk my mind tends to go to bands like Sacrificio and Muerte who are raw, ugly, visceral, and just REAL in a way that very few other bands are. Anti-Sex definitely have that element to their sound, but it’s also not hard to see why they attracted the attention of two American labels, as there’s something a little more palatable about them than, say, the sheer ugliness of Inservibles. It’s not a million miles away from New York bands like La Misma or Exotica, but rawer, heavier, and nastier. Throw in some pretty darn exceptional cover artwork and you have a record worth buying. Get on it!
No Sister: S/T 12” (self-released) As was the case with the great Banshee LP from last month, the first I’d heard of Australia’s No Sister was an unsolicited email asking me if I would carry their record. We get a lot of those types of emails and working my way through them usually feels like panning for gold, but fortunately every so often something shiny lifts its way out of the mud. Case in point, No Sister, who aren’t really the type of band that I tend to listen to these days, but have really caught my ear nonetheless. I’ve been trying to turn people on to this record, and the way that I usually describe it as sounding like mid-period Sonic Youth (circa records like Bad Moon Rising and especially Daydream Nation) augmented with a little bit (and JUST a little bit) of the groove and dance-ability of something like Gang of Four or Liquid Liquid. I know that Sonic Youth experiment a lot with alternate (especially open) tunings, and I feel like No Sister must have discovered one of the key tunings that SY relied on during that period, because something about the texture of this LP is such a dead ringer for Sonic Youth that it’s almost uncanny. But at the same time it’s clear that No Sister aren’t trying to ape those records, because the compositions—the structures of the songs themselves—are so different, even if the wide-angle, sun-bleached vibe of the LP as a whole arrives in a quite similar place. This is quite a long record too, and I really enjoy the way that it seems to take me to a whole bunch of different places over it’s 40+ minute running time. It’s funny, even though the ease of distributing digital music has promoted physical product to a kind of privileged position, listening to this LP makes a lot of current releases feel like throwaways by comparison. If you’re looking for something with a real sense of gravity and ambition I really can’t recommend this highly enough.
Enamel: Complete the Lie cassette (self-released) 7-song cassette from this ripping hardcore band out of Philadelphia who you might remember from a pretty killer earlier demo. This time around they’ve recorded at the Braddock Hit Factory and the recording is appropriately beefy yet raw, with lots of clarity in the guitars in particular. I’m glad for that because (as was the case on the demo), the guitar-player is a real standout, cramming these short-and-fast hardcore tunes full of clever and memorable little touches that expand on the hardcore template without losing the concision or the aggression. The vocals are also really cool… not a lot of people these days sing in the kind of authoritative but not raspy hardcore shout—that’s particularly true when it comes to women who front bands—but Enamel’s singer nails it. This is clean and catchy enough that I could see Enamel being the rawest band on a youth crew-ish show, but it’s heavy, raw, and nasty enough that I wouldn’t be surprised to see them playing with heavier / crustier Philly bands like Dronez or the Brood either. They also remind me a little of No Statik or Look Back and Laugh in the particular stew of influences that seem to bubble to the surface. Definitely well worth checking out if the above references pique your fancy.
Napalm Raid: Wheel of War 12” (Rust and Machine) Latest full-length from these crusty Canadians who have been around for a few years now. I’m not sure if I’d forgotten exactly what they sound like or if Wheel of War represents a major shift in the band’s sound, but I’m really taken aback at how heavy and metallic this release is. That can be a bad thing for crust bands, but I think it’s working great for Napalm Raid. While this is definitely a crust record, it seems to border on death metal a la the Bolt Thrower demos or something like that… but of course without guitar solos and with more of an in-the-pocket, d-beat-type drumming style. While the production is clear and very heavy, it never sounds like modern metal—when a band does that they’ve almost certainly lost me—but instead the clarity of the recording reveals a lot of depth and texture in what, with inadequate production, could have been a record that ended up almost incoherently chaotic. While this is perhaps a hair more traditionally crusty than something like Pollen, ultimately it has a similar sensibility and if that’s in your wheelhouse this probably will be too.
Ond Tro: S/T 7” (Spaghetti Cassetti) Brand new 6-song 7” from this new Danish band that features former members of Under Al Kritik, a band that longtime followers of the Sorry State label might remember. While Ond Tro don’t sound too much like Under Al Kritik (aside from being a fast hardcore band), a similar balance of catchiness and intensity is apparent on this EP. While it’s a raw, fast, and straightforward hardcore record, there are slight melodic touches to the riffing that puts it in a category with other subtly melodic but still very intense bands like Headcleaners (particularly circa The Infection Grows), BGK, or something like that, with a couple of moments that are more straightforwardly melodic. In a lot of ways this a real throwback to the K-Town / Kick N Punch scene from a few years ago (particularly the more hardcore bands like Amde Petersens Arme), and this record sounds very fresh in the same way that those releases did at the time. Thanks to its import price and very small pressing run this will fly under most people’s radars, but if you’re into searching out these obscure little hardcore bands that fall between the cracks this is a real gem.
Olho Seco: Botas, Fuzis, Capacetes 7” (Nada Nada Discos) New pressing of this Brazilian hardcore monster on the great Nada Nada Discos label, who not only brought you a repress of this record a few years ago (well, 2010… time really flies!), but also those recent Anti-Cimex reissues that were done so well. That’s the case with this one as well, reproducing this gem with the respect and care it deserves. I’m not really sure what to say about this, except that if you haven’t heard it already you should rectify that post-haste. It’s one of the great 80s hardcore 7”s, particularly if you like it raw, primal and direct (i.e. if you like hardcore). It has the same raw, feral quality as records like the Negative FX LP or Agnostic Front’s United Blood, but with an added level of tightness that those bands were never able to lend to their hardcore-era material. A true collection staple for anyone who follows international hardcore.
Queens of the Stone Age: Villains 12" (Matador)
Queens of the Stone Age: Villains 12" (deluxe edition; Matador)
Turnover: Good Nature 12" (Run for Cover)
Iron & Wine: Beast Epic 12" (Sub Pop)
Liars: TCF 12" (Mute)
Superchunk: S/T 12" (Merge)
Mark Lanegan: I'll Take Care of You 12" (Sub Pop)
Mark Lanegan: Field Songs 12" (Sub Pop)
Firewalker: S/T 12" (Pop Wig)
The War on Drugs: A Deeper Understanding 12" (Atlantic)
No Sister: S/T 12" (self-released)
Ond Tro: S/T 7" (Spaghetti Cassette)
Anti-Sex: Un Mejor Futuro 12" (Thrilling Living)
Enamel: Complete the Lie cassette (self-released)
Abhorrent Decimation: The Pardoner 12" (Prosthetic)
Nunslaughter: The Devil's Congeries Vol 2 12" (Hell's Headbangers)
Marduk: Fuck Me Jesus 12" (Osmose)
Marduk: Opus Nocturne 12" (Osmose)
Marduk: Those of the Unlight 12" (Osmose)
Gogol Bordello: Seekers and Finders 12" (Cooking Vinyl)
Der Weg Einer Freiheit: Finisterre 12" (Season of Mist)
Livid: Beneath This Shroud, the Earth Erodes 12" (Prosthetic)
Dion: S/T 12" (Agitated)
Housewives: Ff061116 12" (Rocket Recordings)
Mind Spiders: S/T 12" (Dirtnap)
David Nance: Negative Boogie 12" (Ba Da Bing!)
Neurosis: The Word as Law 12" (Neurot)
Oh Sees: Orc 12" (Castle Face)
Patsy's Rats: Rounding Up 7" (Dirtnap)
The Rebel: Poems with Water Trilogy 12" (Monofonus)
Rubella Ballet: Ballet Bag 12" (Dark Entries)
The Side Eyes: So Sick 12" (In the Red)
Skip Church: Out of Tune, In Touch with... 12" (Randy)
The Fall: Perverted by Language 12" (Superior Viaduct)
Witch Vomit: Poisoned Blood 12" (20 Buck Spin)
Wolfsheim: The Sparrows and the Nightingales 12" (Dark Entries)
Mardou: Cold Grasp 12" (Moniker)
Secret Machines: Now Here Is Nowhere 12" (Run Out Groove)
Modern Baseball: Holy Ghost 12" (Run for Cover)
Death Worship: Extermination Mass 12" (Nuclear War Now!)
Restocks
The Sexual: Discography 12" (Euro Import)
Niku-Dan: Discography 12" (Euro Import)
Belgrado: Obraz 12" (La Vida Es Un Mus)
Crisis: Hymns of Faith 12" (La Vida Es Un Mus)
Crisis: Kollectiv 12" (La Vida Es Un Mus)
Good Throb: S/T 7" (La Vida Es Un Mus)
Kriegshog: S/T 7" (La Vida Es Un Mus)
Nurse: Discography 12" (La Vida Es Un Mus)
Alain Goraguer: La Planete Sauvage OST 12" (Superior Viaduct)
Hot Snakes: Audit in Progress 12" (Swami)
Hot Snakes: Automatic Midnight 12" (Swami)
Marked Men: Ghosts 12" (Dirtnap)
Marked Men: Fix My Brain 12" (Dirtnap)
Marked Men: On the Outside 12" (Dirtnap)
Charles Mingus: The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady 12" (Superior Viaduct)
Sonic Youth: Daydream Nation 12" (Goofin')
Subhumans: EPLP 12" (Bluurg)
The Fall: Dragnet 12" (Superior Viaduct)
The Fall: Slates 10" (Superior Viaduct)
Featured Release Roundup for August 23, 2017
I'm back at you with another roundup of what's been on my turntable lately. This is a small list (it seems like fewer records come out at this time of year for whatever reason), but man are there some scorchers on it! In particular I've been really stoked on the return to the fold of no-bullshit USHC by bands like Dagger, Nosferatu, and Testa Dura... it's been a while since that style was in fashion, and all three of the bands really do a great job with the style.
Aside from that, I don't really have much to report. We're still here trying to weather the summer at Sorry State, packing up orders and listening to all of the hot new releases as we always do. As the summer winds down and everyone returns to work and school I hope we can give you some cool new stuff to listen to!
Dagger: Writhing in the Light of the Moon 7” (Lengua Armada) Debut EP from this young band out of Northwest Indiana. I’m not sure if my radar for new hardcore releases is slipping or if this band has just deliberately avoided the internet, but this EP is the first I heard of them and I’m downright blown away. Combining the brute force of SOA or early Agnostic Front with the complex playing and song structures from Koro, Dagger is pretty much exactly what I want to hear from a hardcore band. The production is also perfectly analog and old school, raw and in your face but also clear and powerful. It seems as though lately there is a new wave of young bands returning to records like the EPs from Negative Approach, Koro, Mecht Mensch, Youth Brigade (DC), and the like and attempting to do something similar. I’m thinking specifically of bands like Nosferatu and Testa Dura, but Dagger absolutely belong on that list as well, not only because they play a similar style but also because they rip just as hard. Highly recommended.
Note: I can't find a stream of this one anywhere online... you'll just have to trust me that it rips!
Stake: demo cassette (Vinyl Conflict) Debut 3-song demo (though at 11 minutes it’s pretty lengthy for a demo) from this Richmond, Virginia band. Chaz from the band Nervous Ticks is on vocals, and it’s good to hear him again because I always thought Nervous Ticks were terribly underrated, even though they never managed to convey how great their live show was on a recording. Additionally, their whole vibe of combining 50s rockabilly and raw black metal (no, I’m not joking) was just too weird for this world and had the effect of alienating people from both scenes, which in turn scored them major points with a much, much smaller audience of people like me who tend to get bored once anything starts to feel too familiar. Anyway, enough eulogizing the Ticks… this is a new thing, and it RULES! If you happened to check out the band Race Car that we were pushing hard a few months ago, Stake has a very similar setup with a manic-sounding, distorted drum machine powering some nervous, antsy, and densely layered punk rock. There are touches of Chaz’s rockabilly-informed guitar style in the riffing, but what really makes Stake stand out is the subtle sense of pop songcraft running through the whole thing, but reaching particular heights on the opening track, “Pray for Death.” It’s really hard to put my finger on what it is, but something about that song reminds me of the Chameleons or Bauhaus at their best, simultaneously dark, sombre, and strangely weightless and maybe even uplifting. All 3 tracks are really different from one another—“Planned Obsolescence” is like a robot version of manic, rockabilly-inspired Fall tracks like “Container Drivers,” while the epic closer “Always Down” stretches out and rides its heavy, almost Stooges-esque groove right into the abyss. I hear the band now has a full live lineup and is playing shows… I can’t wait to see them, but I also hope they manage not to lose the magic captured on these tracks, because it’s really special. Highly recommended.
Odio: Ancora 12” (Agipunk) Debut from this new-ish California band featuring Giacomo from Torso on drums. If you couldn’t tell from the Sugi artwork, Odio evince a strong predilection for Japanese hardcore, but they aren’t afraid to step outside of the established boxes for that genre. The singer has a very convincing Sakevi-esique growl, the production is huge a la Death Side or Bastard, and the guitarist occasionally does some pretty epic leads (though the style is a little more metallic and less melodic than Chelsea himself). However, a lot of Odio’s fast songs use a manic pogo beat rather than the d-beat / Motorhead rhythms a lot of Japanese bands relied on, and as a result a lot of Odio’s faster songs sound like Blazing Eye, but with bigger production and much more complex riffing. However, Ancora’s real surprises are on side two, where Odio gives us (among a handful more fast songs) a pair of darker numbers that sound like they’re more influenced by Amebix and Killing Joke than any Japanese hardcore that I can think of. These songs are totally killer, but even beyond how enjoyable they are in and of their own right, they give the LP a sense of balance and confirm that Odio is more than just a tribute band. I think a lot of people slept on Odio’s 7” because it was super limited and kind of expensive, but hopefully the same thing doesn’t happen with this LP because it is a legit scorcher.
False Figure: Cardinal Cross 7” (self-released) Debut EP from this San Francisco post-punk band. False Figure play in that big-guitar post-punk style that I associate with the Chameleons (particularly their less poppy and more brooding moments) as well as more recent bands like the Estranged and Lost Tribe. While I’m generally a fan of the poppier stuff in this vein, I think that False Figure hit a sweet spot, with rich production, propulsive rhythms, and atmosphere in spades. Honestly, this reminds me just as much of the Wipers circa Youth of America as it does the Chameleons or Bauhaus, and that’s a high compliment indeed. Only two songs, but it doesn’t feel too short. I’m not sure how many of you goth-rockers out there mess with 7”s, but this is a good one for sure.
Geros: Razor Dog 7” (Secret Mission) Second single from this Japanese band that plays in that familiar, distorted-yet-catchy style of bands like Teengerate and the Registrators. It seems like the market will never really get saturated with bands like this because so few bands can do it well, and you pretty much have to be Japanese for it to sound right. Anyway, Geros stick closely enough to the style that if you like the aforementioned groups (or similar ones like Louder) you’ll almost certainly like them, but they also have their own distinctive voice. The a-side here is the straightforward rocker with big riffs and big choruses, while the b-side is a little more melodic and 60s-inspired with its surf-y / spy movie guitar riff and nimble lead playing. I hope this band sticks around long enough to make a 12”, because I have no doubt it’ll be a real scorcher.
Lebenden Toten: At the Window 7” (self-released) Brand new limited, 1-song flexi from this long-running band, and while it’s been a while since I’ve checked in with LT I feel like it has a slightly different vibe than their previous releases. I remember LT being pretty much straight up total Confuse / Gai-style noise punk… sure, they’ve always been on the artsier end of that spectrum, but At the Window seems much more measured and deliberate than I remember them being. What’s particularly interesting is that not much has changed about their sound. The guitar still sounds like a dentist drill, the bass still carries the melody, and the vocals still punctuate everything with short, percussive bursts of sound, but rather than the music sounding wild and unhinged it now sounds measured, atmospheric, and downright creepy. It’s not really goth, but something else entirely, a melding of genres I don’t think that I’ve heard before. Maybe some of the best Deathcharge stuff is broadly in this vein, but the application of noise-punk production and dynamics to this style strikes me as really original and exciting. This has me very, very intrigued as to what the band’s upcoming full-length is going to be like, but regardless I have a feeling “At the Window” is going to be a track I return to often.
Rixe: Collection 12” (La Vida Es Un Mus) This pretty much does what it says on the tin, i.e. collects Rixe’s previous 3 7” onto one slab of 12” vinyl. There’s a new cover and a pretty sweet poster, but really the only question here is, “do Rixe’s 3 EPs work together as a full-length album?” Well, yes they do! I guess everything has been remastered to keep the levels in line with one another and whatnot, and it all sounds great to me. If you already have the 3 7”s I can’t see a ton of reason to pick this up, but if you’re not really a 7” person then it’s time to get on board with one of the very few modern oi! bands out there worth listening to.
Morbid Angel: Blessed Are the Sick 12" (Earache)
Terrorizer: World Downfall 12" (Earache)
False Figure: Cardinal Cross b/w Exhale 7" (self-released)
Dagger: Writhing in the Light of the Moon 7" (Lengua Armada)
Fatal: Soul Burning Still 12" (Hammerheart)
Warning: Watching from a Distance 12" (Svart)
Paradise Lost: Gothic 12" (Peaceville)
Rixe: Collection 12" (La Vida Es Un Mus)
The Fall: New Facts Emerge 10" (Cherry Red)
Haim: Something to Tell You 12" (Columbia)
Crow: The Crow 12" (Crowmaniax)
Serquet: demo cassette (Vinyl Conflict)
Stake: demo cassette (Vinyl Conflict)
Geros: Razor Dog 7" (Secret Mission)
Thou: Peasant 12" (Robotic Empire)
Odio: Ancora 12" (Agipunk)
World Burns to Death: Here a Dream Dies Every Day 12" (Analogue Violence)
Battery: For the Rejected by the Rejected 12" (Revelation)
Dicks: Hate the Police 7" (1234 Go!)
Zero Boys: Livin' in the 80s 7" (1234 Go!)
Restocks
Sheer Mag: Compilation 12" (Wilsuns)
Sheer Mag: Need to Feel Your Love 12" (Wilsuns)
Career Suicide: Machine Response 12" (Deranged)
Agnostic Front: Victim in Pain 12" (Bridge 9)
Extreme Noise Terror: Phonophobia 12" (Agipunk)
X: Los Angeles 12" (Porterhouse)
Zounds: The Curse of Zounds 12" (Overground)
Cock Sparrer: Shock Troops 12" (Pirates Press)
Drive Like Jehu: S/T 12" (Headhunter)
Drive Like Jehu: Yank Crime 12" (Headhunter)
Kombat: In Death We Are All the Same 7" (Hysteria)
Beastie Boys: Licensed to Ill 12" (Capitol)
Miles Davis: Bitches Brew 12" (Capitol)
Funkadelic: Maggot Brain 12" (Westbound)
Misfits: Collection 12" (Caroline)
Misfits: Collection II 12" (Caroline)
Misfits: Legacy of Brutality 12" (Caroline)
Misfits: Static Age 12" (Caroline)
Pink Floyd: Dark Side of the Moon 12" (Pink Floyd)
Slayer: Reign in Blood 12" (American)
Slayer: Seasons in the Abyss 12" (American)
Slayer: South of Heaven 12" (American)
A Tribe Called Quest: Low End Theory 12" (Jive)
Velvet Underground: VU & Nico 12" (Vinyl Lovers)
Weezer: Pinkerton 12" (Geffen)
Zombies: Odyssey & Oracle 12" (Varese Vintage)
Black Sabbath: Sabotage 12" (Rhino)
Black Sabbath: Sabbath Bloody Sabbath 12" (Rhino)
Black Sabbath: S/T 12" (Rhino)
Black Sabbath: Paranoid 12" (Rhino)
Black Sabbath: Master of Reality 12" (Rhino)
The Stooges: Fun House 12" (Rhino)
Metallica: Kill 'em All 12" (Blackened)
Iron Maiden: The Number of the Beast 12" (Sanctuary)
Iron Maiden: S/T 12" (Sanctuary)
Iron Maiden: Killers 12" (Sanctuary)
Sunny Day Real Estate: Diary 12" (Sub Pop)
Gang of Four: Entertainment! 12" (Rhino)
Beach House: Depression Cherry 12" (Sub Pop)
David Bowie: The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust 12" (Parlophone)
Motorhead; Iron Fist 12" (Sanctuary)
The Cure: Disintegration 12" (Rhino)
Metallica: Master of Puppets 12" (Blackened)
Institute: Subordination 12" (Sacred Bones)
Metallica: Ride the Lightning 12" (Blackened)
Featured Release Roundup: August 16, 2017
Not much to report this week in terms of my personal life and non-new-record news. I've been spending a bit of time going through old records and flyers and stuff and thinking about all of the memories associated with them... I guess I've been feeling a bit nostalgic, which is something I've actively resisted in the past. I've always been scared that looking backward will keep me from looking forward, but thinking about how stoked I am on some of the stuff in this little roundup makes me realize that remembering good times past only makes me more dedicated to creating good times now.
The Cowboys: Volume 4 12” (Drunken Sailor) Second album from this band out of Bloomington, Indiana, but don’t go judging by the record’s title and think they’ve integrated some heavy Sabbath vibes… this pretty much picks up right where their brilliant previous LP left off. In my mind, the Cowboys have access to some kind of time machine that has allowed them to get a job as the house band at a lake resort somewhere like upstate New York or the Poconos, playing two 3-hour sets per night of rock and soul standards sprinkled with their own well-crafted homages to said style. There’s simply no other explanation for how a band can come to sound like this… while the label’s description references Thee Mighty Caesars (which is not out of the ballpark, I suppose), the essential difference between the Cowboys and neo-garage bands is that nothing really sounds neo- about them at all… they seriously sound like a relic from a long-lost past. I mean, listen to the track “After Sunset.” It could just BE a Buddy Holly song… it doesn’t sound like an approximation of a Buddy Holly song by someone who grew up on Weezer; it sounds like the real thing. And even more impressively, the Cowboys aren’t just one-trick ponies… Volume 4 suffers from none of the same-iness or near-sightedness that plagues so much modern music, punk rock in particular. While this LP is a total no-brainer if you’re a fan of 60s garage like the Seeds or ? and the Mysterians, I really think it transcends that style. There’s some invisible x factor here that makes me think this will appeal to just about anyone who likes rock and roll. Seriously, I can’t recommend this one highly enough.
Limp Wrist: Facades 12” (Lengua Armada) Brand new 12” from Limp Wrist, following nine years after their last record. Limp Wrist have proven themselves to be a remarkably flexible entity, not simply trudging along fighting the same fight year after year, but rather changing with and adapting to the times. In particular, I’m really interested in how their stance and message have evolved with this latest release. I remember first hearing about them in 2000 or 2001… if I remember correctly, they were billed as a “gay straight edge” band (I’m not sure if that’s actually true or not, but there’s a big x’ed up hand on the cover of their first EP, so I suppose, at the very least, that they were playing with that image), and musically they fit in extremely well with the then-current “Y2K thrash” scene. I remember seeing them play in Richmond with Das Oath right around that time, and I’m pretty sure it’s the first time I saw one of Martin’s bands, as I just missed Los Crudos the first time around. Anyway, I remember their message and image being much more confrontational back then, with songs like “Punk Ass Queers” and “Recruiting Time.” This was just before the period when the internet enabled the giant data dump of primary material (records, zines, flyers, anecdotes, etc.) that would result in the constant historicization that has characterized the punk scene since then. Punk still felt like a current thing rather than a re-enactment of a bygone era, and as a result Limp Wrist’s image and rhetoric were a lot more straightforward and direct… people weren’t necessarily expecting or looking for subtlety in punk and hardcore. Fast forward fifteen years and things are a lot different. Thanks to the internet, I think that anyone who is even mildly curious can quickly get a sense the rich history of queer punk, and simply being gay isn’t as shocking a thing as it was even a decade ago. It seems like Limp Wrist have adapted to this changing landscape, in particular by reassessing who their audience is. Facades comes with a thick, content-rich zine directed, at least in part, at, “the rural queens, dykes, trans kids, and punk weirdos, especially those who have not ‘figured shit out yet’ who crave to be a part of some dream community, but can’t.” This feels really fresh and exciting to me because so many of the bands I listen to these days seem to be addressing such a niche audience… I mean, I’m a giant nerd so when a new punk band references some obscure detail from punk history I get really stoked and feel very smart, but Limp Wrist are trying to say something broader and something far more important. In particular, I really like how their overall message seems to be about not being limited by identity… you can be gay and still be into really aggressive hardcore (and vice versa, obviously), you can like both hardcore and minimal synth / dance music (oh yeah, I should probably note that the entire b-side of this record is devoted to the latter genre), etc. As they put it in the zine / insert, “when we think we have really clear definitions, especially of who and what we are, we find that those definitions may trap us, and may allow spectators to flatten us.” Much like G.L.O.S.S., Limp Wrist seem to be keenly aware of where the punk community is at in the year 2017, what their expectations and priorities are, what they want to hear and what they really need to hear. Where am I going with this? I guess this is just all to say that Facades feels like a very significant and important record, one that is both a response to and a prescription for the times in which we’re living at this very moment.
Prom Nite: Dancing to This Beat 12” (Barfbag) Debut LP from this Toronto band and it’s a real standout. This brings together a lot of different threads, including the quirky punk of the Northwest Indiana / Lumpy scene, DIY hardcore, and something a little more straightforward and poppier than either of those. The label’s description says “Dangerhouse meets Die Kreuzen” and I think that’s perfectly apt, though if I were to come up with my own “this meets that” I think I’d probably go with “CCTV meets Brain F≠.” Like those bands, this has this sort of effortless catchiness that is really powerful and endearing, and keeps things interesting and direct no matter how weird the band attempt to get with their quirky rhythms (of which there are plenty here). Really, though, this doesn’t sound too much like anything I’ve heard before, and I can’t think of a better compliment for a record released in punk’s 41st year of existence.
Voight-Kampff: The Din of Dying Youth 12” (Deranged) Latest record from this long-distance project featuring Joe from Q on vocals and Colin from Davidians playing all of the instruments. While they started off sounding a bit like the Observers, they’ve continued to move in more of a post-punk direction, and there’s very little of the band’s early melodic hardcore left in their sound. I’m pretty sure I mentioned this when I wrote about their last single for Deranged, but Voight-Kampff these days remind me quite of Merchandise, both because Joe’s voice bears more than a passing resemblance to Carson’s, but also because their releases tend to have a similar pacing. As with a couple of different Merchandise records, The Din of Dying Youth is centered around one standout uptempo pop track, “Victim of Desire.” Like Merchandise songs such as “Anxiety’s Door,” “Victim of Desire” careens along at a similar pace to Smiths songs like “This Charming Man” or “Bigmouth Strikes Again,” with an absolutely brilliant vocal melody to match. Starting off with such an obviously strong track can be a bit of a gamble, but that initial shot of adrenalin carries me through the EP’s other five tracks, which have a lot of variation in tempo and instrumentation, but tend to have a more brooding, introverted vibe. If you’re like me and you need a heaping helping of pop sugar to get your modern post-punk medicine down I’d highly recommend a dose of this album.
Sacrificio: Pulidores de Tumbas 12” (SPHC) After an excellent 7”, here’s the debut 12” from Mexico’s Sacrificio. One of the things that I really like about contemporary Mexican punk is that it seems largely oblivious to American trends. If Sacrificio were white suburban teenagers playing VFW hall shows or whatever they would probably be mocked for having kind of sloppy blast beats and bouncy, (dare I say it?) almost nu-metal-inflected mid-paced parts, but it definitely works for them. I worry that the previous sentence will come off as racist, but what I’m trying to get at is that punks seem to have a different way of going about things in Mexico. While, in the US, there’s an unstated but mutually agreed-upon ideal of what is “cool” at any given moment that everyone is striving for (while, paradoxically, trying to appear as if they’re not striving for it at all), bands like Sacrificio and Inservibles and lots of their associated bands seem willing to use whatever tools they have at their disposal to express themselves. Perhaps they’re just striving for an ideal that I’m not familiar with, but I get the sense that it’s about something a little different, that it’s self-expression and catharsis in a much purer form. Like the Limp Wrist LP I wrote about above, this is one of those records that seems weightier than most, that the members’ unique perspectives allow them to make music that matters because it adds things to the discussion that people like me wouldn’t know otherwise. So, if you’re going to turn this off the second the band goes into a blast beat then you might as well not bother, but if you like your punk raw, visceral, and unpretentious this is well worth checking out. Oh, and as with their last EP, the artwork and layout are ACES.
Andy Human & the Reptoids: Refrigerator 7” (Total Punk) Latest single from Andy Human & the Reptoids, who has been releasing a string of scorchers that I have not been shy about hyping. “Refrigerator” is one of their best songs yet, even if the premise is a little thin. As far as I can tell the lyrics don’t really make any sense, and are just an excuse to rhyme as many words as possible with “Refrigerator.” However, I don’t really need any high concept poetry… if you can write hooks as beefy and memorable as the several that populate “Refrigerator” you can sing about pretty much whatever you want and I’ll still pay attention. The b-side isn’t quite as monstrous, but that’s what b-sides are for, right? It’s still a hot track and I don’t think it’ll get any less play than the A-side. I absolutely love to follow a band when they’re on a hot streak, and Andy Human & the Reptoids is on a real tear.
Ausencia / Narcoestado: Split 7” (Todo Destruido) Split 7” between these two bands, Ausencia from LA and Narcoestado from Mexico, who recently toured together. They’re a great pairing as both bands have this way of sounding super punk while still being extremely melodic. On the surface Narcoestado play something like traditional oi!, but I think that the songwriting is a lot more interesting. The first track in particular, with its soaring chorus, reminds me of the countless gems in the latter half of the Ramones’ catalog, but with obviously much rawer and nastier production. As for Ausencia, they’re faster and more punk, and I’m sure lots of people will compare them to the Spanish classics (which is appropriate given the way they balance melody and aggression), but to me this also has a lot in common with the Peligro Social / Ruleta Rusa school, though as was the case with Narcoestado this is much rawer than the bands it sounds like. I could see either of these bands losing me if they got too polished, but with both bands employing raw but very clear and straightforward production (both bands sound like they were recorded on an analog 4-track) this sounds like some long-lost punk artifact from the early 80s in the best way possible.
Rut: Attraction 7” (Digital Regress) Debut vinyl from this California band who, I believe, has a connection to Acrylics. I dare say that if you like Acrylics that you’ll really like this, as it’s very much along the same lines… hardcore that is both raw and in your face, but densely packed with ideas and played with care and precision. Rut reminds me of bands like Torso and Blackball in that the songs sound slightly deconstructed, like the band started with something like a bunch of standard hardcore songs but tweaked and modified them until they were something different, meticulously going through every riff and every transition and thinking to themselves, “well, it would be a little bit more interesting if we made this very subtle adjustment.” So, while the overall structure and form feel very familiar (not in a bad way! More like a comfortable way), the details are where the real action is at. It’s like a masterfully executed painting where you’re not really too concerned with the overall concept or composition, but you can get lost all day in looking closely at the brushstrokes.
Running Wild: Port Royal 12" (Noise)
Running Wild: Under Jolly Roger 12" (Noise)
Downtown Boys: Cost of Living 12" (Sub Pop)
Narcoestado / Ausencia: Split 7" (Todo Destruido)
Mane: Alpha Female 12" (Digital Regress)
Preening: Beeters 7" (Digital Regress)
Rut: Attraction 7" (Digital Regress)
Sacrificio: Pulidores de Tumbas 12" (SPHC)
Exit Hippies: Dance Maniac 12" (SPHC)
Illya: In Adversity 7" (SPHC)
Thisclose / Sludge: Split 7" (SPHC)
Remnants: Accomplices Not Allies 12" (Discos MMM)
Durs Coeurs: Dur Dur Dur 12" (Discos MMM)
Amon Amarth: Fate of Norns 12" (Metal Blade)
Amon Amarth: With Odin on Our Side 12" (Metal Blade)
The Lurking Fear: Out of the Voiceless 12" (Century Media)
Moral Void: Deprive 12" (Translation Loss)
No Use for a Name: Rarities Vol 1 12" (Fat Wreck)
Poison Blood: S/T 12" (Relapse)
Venom Inc: Avé 12" (Nuclear Blast)
Limp Wrist: Facades 12" (Lengua Armada)
The Cowboys: Volume 4 12" (Drunken Sailor)
Restocks
Radiohead: Kid A 12" (XL)
Motorhead: Bomber 12" (Sanctuary)
Operation Ivy: Energy 12" (Epitaph)
Bathory: Under the Sign of the Black Mark 12" (Black Mark)
Death: Spiritual Healing 12" (Relapse)
Earth Crisis: Destroy the Machines 12" (Victory)
Earth Crisis: Firestorm 12" (Victory)
Electric Wizard: Dopethrone 12" (Rise Above)
Geto Boys: We Can't Be Stopped 12" (Rap-A-Lot)
Joey Bada$$: All-Amerikkkan Bada$$ 12" (Cinematic)
Modest Mouse: Building Nothing Out of Something 12" (Glacial Pace)
Modest Mouse: Sad Sappy Sucker 12" (Glacial Pace)
Modest Mouse: This Is a Long Drive 12" (Glacial Pace)
Municipal Waste: Slime and Punishment 12" (Century Media)
Parquet Courts: Light Up Gold 12" (What's Your Rupture?)
Parquet Courts: Sunbathing Animal 12" (What's Your Rupture?)
Power Trip: Manifest Decimation 12" (Southern Lord)
Slayer: Live Undead 12" (Metal Blade)
Sleep: Dopesmoker 12" (Southern Lord)
Sunn O))): Kannon 12" (Southern Lord)
Sunn O))): Monoliths and Dimensions 12" (Southern Lord)
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