Violent Apathy: 11/29/81 7"

Violent Apathy: 11/29/81 7"


Tags: · 80s · hardcore · hcpmf · midwest · reissues · USHC
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Along with The Fix, Necros, Negative Approach, and The Meatmen, Kalamazoo, Michigan’s Violent Apathy was one of the pioneering bands for the Michigan Hardcore Punk scene of the early 1980s. A few months after recording their contribution to the highly sought-after Midwest Hardcore compilation Process of Elimination, Violent Apathy went into the studio with Necros bass player and head honcho at Touch & Go Records Corey Rusk in the production seat and 11/29/81 contains six songs from that session. With a head full of frantic earnesty, the crazed caterwauling of Violent Apathy contained on 11/29/81 is more akin to Land Speed Record-era Husker Du than the menacing, boot-stomping sounds any of their peers from the mitten state were kicking out at the time. After lingering in the dark recesses of the internet and crusty tape collections for years, No Idols and Radio Raheem are proud as punch to team up and present this obscure and unheralded piece of Michigan Hardcore history to the underground.


Our take: Radio Raheem delivers another slice of early 80s hardcore arcana with all of their usual panache. You might know Violent Apathy from the numerous Detroit-area flyers they appeared on, their contribution to the Process of Elimination compilation, or their 1984 7” EP, their sole stand-alone release. 11/29/81 captures a moment where Violent Apathy has moved beyond the very primitive sound of their Process of Elimination track, but they’re still a long way from the more self-assured and melodic 1984 EP. The members of Violent Apathy first bonded because they were all fans of the Fix, and you can hear that band’s influence all over these tracks as well as an awareness of the DC scene (“Vice Grip” sounds heavily inspired by S.O.A., for instance). However, you can also hear Violent Apathy’s penchant for melody creeping in around the edges… these more melodic tracks remind me of Artificial Peace, who also displayed a whiff of melody even before they mutated into Marginal Man. As usual, Radio Raheem’s packaging contains a wealth of archival material plus liner notes by Tony Rettman, all brought together in elegant, high-quality design and packaging. This ticks all the early 80s USHC nerd boxes.