HARSH NAYYAR

A hypnotic project probably made in someone's closet under the influence of a lot of things, Argo Nunya combines industrial noise, limitless tracks of guitar leads and sounds, repetitive sampled beats and manipulated vocal chants to create something that falls in a crevasse while trying to leap from stoned-teeneager-with-a-sampler-and-a-laptop status to a peak of aural greatness. The weirder HARSH NAYYAR is, the better HARSH NAYYAR is, as some of the more indulgent multi-track experiments fall short while subdued dubs like the third untitled missive issued here are stellar exercises in patience and the mid tempo monotony of the track that follows creates dance floor hysteria in my brain. This is a formula that must have been followed thousands of times: Dark Nights + Substances + Unchecked Ideas = (Something). And in this case: (Something) = Good.

ARGO NUNYA

KRIGSSYSTEMMET

Here's a taste of the shit you monkeys used to lap up every Monday - I know I've dropped the ball a bit on Noise Punk Mondays, but the shit still rules and Mondays still happen almost every week...so here's KRIGSSYSTEMET. Malaysian noise mongers from bands you already celebrate (if you're worth a shit, that is...just saying) dish out six tracks on their first demo, though it only takes the seven chords of the intro to let you know full well what you are in for. Questionable tuning, derivative DBeat riffage and a chaotic production culminate on absolute killers like "Am I Your Punk?" and "Fool Life," while "Faceless Scum" is just an unabashed creamer that defies genre classification. You know what you're getting, you monkeys, and KRIGSSYSTEMET is exactly why you are here.

WHO'S NEXT TO BE THE FUCKING GOVERNMENT?

AK-47

Crazy catchy punk from British Columbia. These kids did their homework, drawing from hook filled and hard hitting Midwestern hardcore as much as from contemporaries (and countrymen) PROPAGANDHI. That rasp in the vocals is simply perfect, and the guitar attack here is too blown out to be poppy and just drunk enough to keep the recording on edge while the drums are captured perfectly (that's where the hardcore comes from), propelling AK-47 through 21 politically charged burners (and a few ska parts, but it was 1997). As useful as a time machine as it is a great collection of tracks...until I find myself realizing that this is a great collection of tracks no matter what decade it's from.

NOW YOU'LL KNOW

LIMBS BIN

This is one that probably should have been shared on Escape Is Terminal, but I felt like it was too good to be relegated to the dark alley that a few dozen people visit when they are bored (it's humanity's loss and their gain, of course). I have made no secret of my affinity for noise presented as hardcore, and New York's LIMBS BIN are a perfect example...there is no music, but these blasts of electronics are constructed like short bursts from a primitive grind band, and I imagine the live delivery being similarly intense. These recordings are from a 2012 trip to Israel - one show at an anarchist collective, one in the basement of a bagel shop, and a super heavy field recording from Bil'in, Palestine (heavy, perhaps, because it all sounds so normal). The motivation and presentation of these recordings is both pure and apparent, something that might not come across from simply listening to disjointed sonic eruptions, even the simplest act can be political....and even the smallest gesture can be important. More tracks from the same tour can be found here, along with recordings of Israeli bands that played with LIMBS BIN on their tour....do this, my friends. Do it now.

LIVE IN ISRAEL

DYSTOPIA

I don't feel like I really need to explain or discuss this band, as I am pretty sure that anyone who visits TE is already familiar with DYSTOPIA - and if you're not then you need to fix that immediately. This 1992 demo is from the four-piece lineup when the band was still based in Southern California...devastating and depressive sounds that bridge a gap between primitive death metal, political crust and pure heaviness. Perhaps the demo is no Human = Garbage, but holy shit was this an intense band.

DYSTOPIA

CATASTROPHE

From the first fukkn note, you feel that this one is gonna get you right in the gut....and it does. Ugly and furious hardcore that owes much to early California hardcore but somehow takes a bunch of sub genres that don't really do anything for me and combine them to create something that does something for me. I mean...the FLAG influence is blatant and the 'Nardcore is undeniable, but CATASTROPHE doesn't really sound like either. The vocals are lazy, late and confident - like they are meant to be exactly where they are...no matter what you think they should have been doing. That might be the "gotcha" this band keeps under their sleeve - hidden underneath the guitar hooks (and if you wanna talk hooks, let's discuss "Other Side," because it's next level). Smart, mean, hardcore...I hope there's more where this shit came from.

CATASTROPHE

ROMPER ROOM REJECTS

In a weird collision of worlds, I was searching for background on this demo beyond what my old SF buddy could share with me, and I found a post on the still (always) venerable True Punk and Metal blog about the very same demo. That's not really that weird, I suppose, since Nate knows his shit...but turns out ROMPER ROOM REJECTS was Nate's band when he lived in San Francisco nearly 30 years ago, so BOOM! on that one. You can read his description here, or you can believe me when I tell you that this ten song banger is classic late '80s shred. Irreverent, feisty, punk as shit, and unabashedly political while never seeming stodgy or unfun...just like you want a demo to be. 

ROMPER ROOM REJECTS

Worth noting that Nate's demo post has ten songs, but this tape has twelve (and in a slightly different order). Not sure what's up with that...it's one of the many mysteries of the internet. OK, the twelfth song is the theme from The Jetsons, so it's not really a mystery. 

GASCON

Perhaps only the Japanese can pull off proto-psych/grunge/punk sounds like this, but if I'm in the right mindset this GASCON demo hits me just right. Then again, if someone wanted to tell me that they thought that it was a rejected early '90s attempt at something mysterious yet commercially successful...I couldn't exactly argue. This might be one of the weirdest things I've posted here, anyone is welcome to assist with describing and/or categorizing if you so desire.

GASCON

AJUNDATI DI PAPI NOEL

Man, all you monkeys that want to hear new sounds of blown out chaos? You need to be looking to shit like this, because these mutants were taking noise not music to new levels twenty years ago. I'm not talking about "distortion as adornment" hardcore, I'm talking about a relentless freak frenzy of grinding, tuneless Brasilian mayhem - shit that would be revered if it were from somewhere that people thought was cool (and for the record, at the risk of embarrassing myself with a sweeping generalization, most of Brasil is infinitely cooler than the town where you live) but instead it's some '90s band from a place you've never been. For the select (and wise) few who like to have their faces melted and their minds blown, I give you AJUNDATI DI PAPI NOEL. As always, you're welcome.

DEMO TÄPE 2

REASON TO BELIEVE

Late '80s Southern California hardcore. Boom.

RESAON TO BELIEVE

ELSINORES

I found this tape instantly compelling...washed out garage punk/pop with a waver in the tape, a warble in the vocals, and the catchiest tracks this side of early '90s indie rock. Not afraid of riding a good hook, Kentucky's THE ELSINORES will make fans of blissed out garage punk weak at the knees and hopefully win over a few codgers in the process. Consider me one of the latter.

CHAPTER I

CUDGEL

Back in January, STERILE MIND played a show in Santa Rosa with these Oakland mutants and we were all pretty damn floored. Hard hitting hardcore punk drawing equally from traditional Japanese shit and the current wave of bombastic USA shits...and it seems they may have heard a few heavy metal records in passing. Thunderous live show, with a lengthy between-song-banter sci fi story that spanned the entire set and didn't seem tongue in cheek....I can imagine that the show we are playing with them tonight in Dublin at a laser tag arena will be quite off the hook. That's right, we are playing together at a laser tag arena in the suburbs - should be weird.

DEATH FLEX

GRITOS DE ÓDIO

Brasilian hardcore circe 1996, raging and raw. The first time I heard this is wanted to rip holes in everything; anything the band might lack in presentation is more than made up for with the deadly delivery. Hooks when you least expect it, giving the tape an early Italian feel, but the majority of this demo is full on rage that would have melted people's minds if the band had been from North America. 13 some-odd minutes of magic -great shit.

GRITOS DE ÓDIO

MJ GUIDER

Space age and absolutely gorgeous sounds from MJ GUIDER, channeling space age/new age ethereal ambiance and an odd (if unintentional) COCTEAU TWINS-meets-drone vibe. There are moments that make me feel like I'm listening to something off of 20 Jazz Funk Greats (specifically "Nightcycle"), and then Green Plastic ascends and unveils a shroud of sound that refuses to accept explanation or context - instead these sounds just sink into you. The day I first put this on (and there have been many more days since), all I could think about was how long it's been since something hit me this hard...Ask me tomorrow and I may have a different story, but right now I will take "Prima" over 90% of the tracks that have ever been in my life.

GREEN PLASTIC

FUMIGADOS

Bouncy, infectious punk from Southern California. Not sure exactly what more you need.

FUMIGADOS