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

SCUM

And, three years after their last visit to The Escape, Detroit noise mongers SCUM are back with more raw, noisy hardcore. I like that these maniacs keep things ultra chaotic, even within the admittedly restrictive confines of DBeat based noise punk...you get the feeling that they would be just as insane sounding with a thunderous production and that the insanity is real regardless of how it presents itself. Bass intro to "Living In The Shadows" is crucial shit. A few tracks here were initially presented on previous demos, but sometimes you like getting your ears blown out all over again.

SCUM

COUNTER

Makes you want to lean back, crouched with one foot way up in the air and stomp the floor while you propel yourself across the room...and do it over and over with fists clenched tight. Shit is really good.

COUNTER

HALDOL

Addictive from the first burst of guitar, HALDOL drench their three tracks in effects but keep the focus on the songs instead of the pedals. A certain DEAD AND GONE or THE VSS vibe (especially from the vocals) with a slightly more basic structure than either and the feeling that these kids ooze ferocity live. This demo is from 2014 - there are more recordings here and they are all very worth your while.

HALDOL

MAXIMUM HOOSIER

You want to know why I keep doing this? It's tapes like this one. Sent in by a Friend Of The Escape, Maximum Hoosier is two hours of screaming underground punk and hardcore from the state of Indiana. Shit heaps of bands you've never heard of like WEIRD KID, DAISY CUTTER, KAM KAMA, RATSTORM and CLOSET BURNER, a few classics like DOW JONES & THE INDUSTRIALS, JETSONS and GIZMOS, plus CHAOTIC NEUTRAL and ICE NINE - bands that should be familiar to the thinking punk who pays attention. Hardcore, punk, crust - this thing will melt your face and open your eyes at the same time. Fave tracks are from REPELLANTS, ICE NINE, SIDE FX, APACHE DROPOUT, KAKM KAMA, CASQUE and OVERPOWER, but there are 84 tracks in all and clunkers are surprisingly absent, something especially tough to pull off with a regional comp. Absolute top quality mix.

MAXIMUM HOOSIER

Editing was kinda tough starting around 2/3 of the way through the first side - I might have messed up a couple of tracks. Hey Chris: I definitely enjoyed. Thanks. 

HAAR

I've said it before, but black metal is a tough nut to crack - especially the insular world of underground black metal. Sure, a lot of the sounds are fukkn great (I mean, if that's your jam), but how do you know if these monkeys are discreetly perpetuating some bullshit nazi propaganda and it's sneaking into your earholes via some weird creepy ambient audio mechanism and then you wake up and you walk out of the white power closet? I mean, that shit is scary, right? I don't want to be a nazi - but if these monkeys are good and inserting propaganda into sound then the white noise (no pun intended) that I'm enjoying while I wash dishes at night might actually be indoctrinating me into becoming a holy warrior for the purity of my race. I just wanted to wash the dishes and hear some jams, but there were no lyrics....so is it my fault? See what I mean? Shit is scary. Enter HAAR....as near as I can tell, this act is just some noisy weird sounding black metal influenced lo-fi bedroom madness - "Burning The House Of False Prophets" is as close as the titles get to sketchland, and who likes a false prophet? Not me! So whatever. The label that releases this shit is from somewhere around where I live (I think), and since this shit is shrouded in mystery I figure I might even know the human (at least in passing) and I've maybe even shared their sounds here in the past (oh wait, no I didn't, I wanted to but that COSMIC BREATH shit was racist)...but I looked into Brotherhood Of Light before I posted this HAAR cassette. On a sad note, the label boss appears to have been sick for a while, and hasn't updated their website in over a year. On a much sadder note, this label distributes a shitload of white power, NSBM, RAC and "aryan" garbage from all over the world, so fukk that. And on a hilarious note, I apparently missed the label selling distro materials at a long running anarcho/hippie/weirdo bookstore called Adobe that's just a short jaunt from my house, so it seems like I'm maybe not the only one who finds it hard to determine which noise is white noise....and which noise is white power noise. And it also seems that this purveyor of racist garbage (are you still sick? stop selling nazi shit and get well soon, bro!) doesn't have a non-internet market for their wares so they are (were?) peddling cassettes at a live at in-store appearance (by the aforementioned COSMIC BREATH - see earlier comments on the confusing nature of white noise shit that is also racist) in an independent bookstore located in a gentrified enclave of San Francisco? Life is confusing...anyway - listen if you want, the sounds haven't turned me into a nazi yet, so I think you're safe. Sonically, it's shit-fi as fukk and duplicated like total garbage, which, in some circles, is a compliment.

SKY OF GREY

BOYS OV PARADISE

Waves of early PTV influenced trance inducing ambiance from BOYS OV PARADISE, one of the many indentured artists on the Ascetic House label. Like the soundtrack for an as-yet-produced futuristic horror short, Death Is An Imposition On The Human Race is a compelling listen that will take you on a journey...if you will let it.

DEATH IS AN IMPOSITION ON THE HUMAN RACE

CUCSIFAE // PIREXIA

Great split from two South American bands who have stopped by for visits to The Escape in the past. Argentina's CUCSIFAE are shamelessly catchy, hyper energetic punk...this recording has a little more teeth than the 1996 recording I posted here. PIREXIA tracks are way more developed than the two song jammer I shared a while back - bouncy and emotional punk from Uruguay that seems to hit harder when they slow down. This is confusing, because fast punk is better punk....or is it?

SOÑANDO NATURAL PARA NO MORIR RADIACTIVO 

GAZE

That guitar. Total HELIOS CREED level manipulation, topped with high pitched manic vocal lurches instead of angst ridden screams. But....that guitar. Shit is just wrecked. I want you to pay attention to the snare roll that leads into the breakdown in "Fuck You, Fuck Off," because that is exactly how good a simple thing can be when everything is on point. I want to go to Ireland someday, seems like it's nice there, and maybe I can see this band.

GAZE