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Hello and thanks for reading. I don’t have anything in particular I wanted to write about today, so I am going through some new arrivals briefly.
We’ve got this ICE & THE ICED 7” reissue in stock now. This record was originally released in 1981. I don’t think it’s very good. It’s like decent, yeah – kinda boring to me. The best song is probably the slow one; it kinda reminds me of MISFITS. If you’re a collector, you’ll probably still want this record as the original is expensive as hell. No Good Records actually reissued this in a low quantity 5 years ago, and this is the second time they’ve pressed it. ICE & THE ICED formed in 1979 and they were from Pordenone, the same city as TAMPAX and HITLER SS. You could say those bands were like prolific when it comes to Italian punk, haha. Ado Scaini was the vocalist of TAMPAX. Pictured above.) He did a lot for punk in Pordenone, hosting Tequila, a radio show on a free local station that began in 1976. I am using a translator, so I hope that’s correct. Tequila eventually grew to be a venue with a rehearsal room by 1979. It was a place of great importance for the counterculture/punk movement. I guess all I mean to say ICE & THE ICED were from this original scene, and it adds to the significance of their record. I don’t really know much about Italian hardcore. Of course there is a good list of bands I love, but I have ignorantly never looked into how the bands were related, where they were from, etc.
Anyways, let’s move onto this new one on Active-8, HÄVITTÄJÄT. I don’t think this record is on bandcamp but you can find it on youtube. HÄVITTÄJÄT has been around for nearly 15 years now, that’s kinda wild. I’d still think they are a bit obscure and/or underrated. While everything about them seems Finnish, they are actually from Australia. They do have an 80s formula, but something about the execution reminds me of 90s Finnish hardcore, maybe just cos it has a heavier sound. Anyways, this record is good. Check it out.
I was quite interested in this new FEROCIOUS X 7” on Distort Reality. I saw them live like last year, and holy shit they were insanely good. I am always a skeptic with bands this fast and how they can deliver it live. They can certainly deliver the goods. It is legit crazy FEROCIOUS X has been a band for over two decades now. Distort Reality released their 2002 demo Våga Tänka Själv on 7” the year after it came out. And just like that 7”, Med Vilken Ratt is also single sided. I don’t buy a lot of 7”s these days; I have too many. I wasn’t sure if this one would pass my “should I buy this?” test or not. I hate single sided 7”s, haha, so it didn’t have a great start. The music is good. It’s fast as hell and raw. The recording itself is not very good quality. The record is also cut kinda quiet. I would find this recording better suited for a cassette, but then again tapes are almost double what they cost to manufacture before the pandemic. I did read this 7” was released in conjunction with an upcoming west coast tour and I think that’s cool. (Maybe that tour happened already? I am so outta the loop.) Anyways, the record is great, and the most ideal way to commemorate an international tour.
Alright, I need to wrap this up but before I go; I saw we had this CONFLICT reissue in stock and I wanted to check it out. It kinda surprised me to see this was reissued, cos I feel like their records are not hard to find. But then again, it’s nice to have a new copy of a record that hasn’t been played to shit. It seems cool in theory that this reissue is cut on a 12”, as I’d assume the sound would be killer. I looked at the label’s website to get some info. It looked hilarious, similar to a merchandizer who promotes like foam dance parties or something. I can see the EP appears on each side of the 12”; you can hear the original mix on one side, and the other side has an unreleased mix. Both have been remastered. The copies are shrink-wrapped and kinda expensive, so I didn’t break the seal to hear what it sounds like. It looks like the label licensed this from Cherry Red. The label has reissued classics like COCKNEY REJECTS and CONFLICT, as well as their 2000s records. You can also find other bands like Bo Diddley and Jefferson Airplane in the label’s catalogue. Haha, wtf? OK before I go, there is this story a friend of mine told me a few years back. I can’t remember when he said it was, but I think it was the mid-2000’s where he had a chance to join CONFLICT on some dates of their US tour. He was telling me how much he loved CONFLICT, and how much of an inspiration and an impact the band had on him. And then he went on to tell me, on one point in the tour we he walked into the bathroom to find Colin hiding, eating a slice of pepperoni pizza. Hahah…that’s it for today then. Cheers and thanks for reading.
What I listened to while writing:
KIROUS (Finland, 1994)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPIgqcDTfyc
COLLAPSE SOCIETY (Japan, 1994)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EP6x09XqRA
UNDER THREAT (Brazil, 1996)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwfOvEwWW6s
FEROCIOUS X (Japan, 2002)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUqwuUH4ap