Ripcord: Harvest Hardcore 7"

Ripcord: Harvest Hardcore 7"


Tags: · 80s · hardcore · recommended · reissues · spo-default · spo-disabled · UK · USHC
Vendor
YOFC Records
Regular price
$8.00
Sale price
$8.00

Official reissue of the first Ripcord 7"! Blazing US-style hardcore, but from the UK in 1988.



Our take: First official reissue of the first Ripcord 7” (The Damage Is Done was a flexi, ya dingus!) from 1988. Whenever you see the word “Ripcord” referring to the late 80s UK hardcore band you can bet that the word “Heresy” won't be more than 20 words away, and I’m here to maintain cosmic order. Truthfully, I was always more partial to Heresy. I’m a smidge too young to have gotten into these groups when they were around, and whether it was that Heresy’s material was more available or that they maintained their back catalog in a more attractive way (I suspect both), I’ve always reached for the H section rather than R when I’m looking for something faster than fast. Today, though, Harvest Hardcore is hitting me right. Ripcord really were a twin-headed beast with Heresy, with both bands sharing blistering fast, dunka-dunka hardcore beats, big breakdowns, and a curated list of cover tunes that still speaks to 21st century tastes (Siege and SS Decontrol on here). The production is solid and the playing tight and locked in, never degenerating into the semi-incoherent blur of, say, Napalm Death. It feels like this era / style of hardcore isn’t the most fashionable at the moment, but then again we sold quite a few copies of that recent reissue of Heresy’s Face Up To It, so maybe I’m wrong. What I can tell you is that Harvest Hardcore is one of the better records to emerge from that scene, particularly if your tastes lean toward straightforward hardcore rather than grind and power violence.