Perhaps you missed the split cassette with fellow Albany denizens ANAL WARHEAD, and perhaps you are out of the loop, but NEUTRON RATS were amazing on that split and right now they are the best band on the fukkn planet. Of course, I am drunk at this moment, but I have never let that get in the way of a definitive statement of fact.
Showing posts with label Albany. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Albany. Show all posts
08 April 2013
07 January 2013
NO CHILDREN
A project band from Albany that played one show and then scattered, NO CHILDREN are better than most outfits who spend painstaking hours perfecting their craft. Throaty vocals (I know who I think they sound like, but the comparison is so far removed from the sound of the band that I fear it would give you the wrong idea so I'll keep it to myself) and insistent punk delivered with raw garage ferocity. People from this band are in other bands that you should like.
28 June 2012
HAIL MARY
17 March 2012
ANAL WARHEAD // NEUTRON RATS
It's been way too long since I posted a tape from Albany, but most of my friends moving away from there apparently doesn't mean that that rust belt bastion stopped cranking out killer hardcore. Enter Terminal Escape veterans ANAL WARHEAD, all snotty ferocious and fukkd up, with a guitar that may or may not have been tuned since their 2010 demo I posted. And in case that 3:44 wasn't enough to pull your sorry ass over into the CONVERT column, may I introduce NEUTRON RATS and 4:12 of rapid fire manic and tinny distorted mayhem with just a hint of melody in the guitar leads. Something about NEUTRON RATS sounds desperate, while ANAL WARHEAD sound like they want to piss on your mom's daffodils.
07 July 2011
LIMP WRIST
It was more than ten years ago when Karoline and I stopped by Martin's place in Chicago and he blasted these tunes for us. He dubbed them off as he did, and made an impromptu cover of sorts (pictured above), packaged the whole thing in a 7" sleeve and we were on our way, suddenly hip to this insanely killer new queer hardcore band. The demo recordings on this tape are pre-vinyl versions of tunes that would later wind up on their self titled 7" and 12", including a few tunes ("Man To Man," "Limp Wrist vs. Dr. Laura," [cut off by a too damn short tape!] "OD'd On Pop" and one more I can't seem to identify) with no vocals. There is a nearly constant track of guitar feedback present through most of these songs that I fukkn love - makes me wish that the vinyl version of "Brotherhood" had this much noise going on. I've had the pleasure of driving LIMP WRIST on tour twice, with two different guitarists, and can honestly say that I've never seen a bad show - raw, pissed, and saucy, even in their early days. This tape comes complete with false starts and fuckups that were absent on the Don't Knock It Till You Try It demo that featured six of these sixteen tracks. The flip side is full of songs from the recording session that became the first two records, and I threw them into the folder in case there are still some fools out there who have missed out. Crucial hardcore, no matter who is in the band or who they choose to fukk, but more importantly, it's crucial hardcore that addresses (or confronts) the awkward homophobia (and sex phobia in general) prevalent in punk and hardcore even to this day. LIMP WRIST are fun, but it's serious fun...and it rules.
As luck would have it, LIMP WRIST are playing this week in San Francisco. Coincidence, of course. Tonight at The Big Gay Warehouse (look it up) with LIVID, PERMANENT RUIN and NO STATIK, and tomorrow at El Rio (21+, sorry kids) with BRILLIANT COLORS and DRAPETOMANIA. After that they hit the West Coast, and then it's off to Brasil. I'm sure they will have a gay old time.
LIMP WRIST in Providence, 2006. Photo by Karoline, in case you didn't click on the link at the beginning of the post, you should do it now.
05 January 2011
SYSTEM FITE
10 minutes of blown out raw hardcore punk, rudimentary and ferocious. Female vocals set to that classic chaotic clattering that you punks love - sometimes it's in tune (sometimes not so much), sometimes it sounds like UK85 thrash on speed, sometimes it sounds like Scandinavia put in a blender. "Invasion Force" is the jam here, but all of these will appeal to fans of fast, simple hardcore (note: this recording is RAW). Members of ACID REFLUX and NUCLEAR FAMILY, this was recorded in the mid '00s (I wanna say 2005?)...and my love affair with Albany bands continues.
21 August 2010
NUCLEAR FAMILY
Sometimes you don't have to push boundaries, you don't have to break new ground, you don't even need to do something different - you just have to do it right. That's what Albany's NUCLEAR FAMILY do, and I watched 'em do it last night. I'm going to watch them do it again tonight too, just a short walk from my front door (the pleasures of urban living). Jen's vocals and Zach's guitar don't compete for your attention, but they do both command it from start to finish, and it's easy to alternately get wowed by either - so simple, but flawless. I posted their 2009 demo last year, and today I give you the six song burner from 2007. Favorite tunes: "Believer's Voice In Victory" (vocals rule) and "More Of The Same" (guitars rule).
If you live in the Bay Area, go see NUCLEAR FAMILY, DAYLIGHT ROBBERY, BRILLIANT COLORS, NEONATES and AIRFIX KITS today in a backyard around the corner from Thrillhouse Records. Shit starts at 4, and it will be great.
16 July 2010
KILLED BY MODERN PROBLEMS
Every so often some enterprising punk offers to send me some tapes to add to the Terminal Escape family. Most of the time these folks are about as good on their follow through as I am when I promise to do something for someone (this is to say - not very good at all) and I completely understand, as there are lots of things I've meant to do and things I've meant to send to people for ages. In fact I just rearranged some stuff and found a shirt I told a dude in Brasil I would send him back in 2002. I sent it anyway, but I figure he's probably moved by now, so there's some square in Vila Velha chilling on the beach rocking some bikini briefs and an extra large GEHENNA shirt and I'm sure he looks quite debonair. But the CEO of H.R.S. Records is clearly a man of his word, and today I would like to share 20 minutes of the finest ass shakin' punk rock I've been handed in ages. THE STEAKNIVES open with a killer KBD style burner called "Stupid People," and while the bar is set awful high with that track, then follow it up with SCHOOL JERKS and the classic 50s rock tinged URAGANY right into raw garage trash from X-DISCOS and I'm in heaven. A live tune from Boston's SOCIAL CIRKLE (covering a jam by THE LEFT no less) and amazing damaged synth punk from BRAINDAMAGE close out Side A. On the flip is NO with ultra lo-fi shits, RICH WHITE MALES sound kinda typical in the garage rock world, but Albany's ROBOCOCK step it up with an ultra catchy song that encapsulates most of the good shit about 90s hook laden hardcore. Back to chaotic noisy garage with THE TRITES, a brilliant SPITS style ripper from THE GAY GERMANS and then wrap shit up with BOB BURNS from Wisconsin doing their best to solidify that state's reputation as a breeding ground for crucial under the radar jams. You can get your own copy of this tape here if you feel like supporting the scene, or you can just download it for free and hope that the folk(s) at H.R.S. can afford to keep spending their precious and limited resources to make sure that you get your ears rammed full of kick ass punk while you just sit in a chair and remove yourself even further from social interaction. I mean, it's totally your call.
29 May 2010
ACID REFLUX
Albany does it again (well, to be fair, Albany did this back in 2006). ACID REFULX blow through ten songs in as many minutes, pulling no punches and sparing nary a riff in the process. I fukkn love this band, and I've never seen them, a fact that burns me every time I blast this shit. They got some records, and if you are a punk then you should buy them, and if you need proof as to the accuracy of my declaration, then simply download this demo and blast the fuck out of it. "A.B.A.B. (All Bosses Are Bastards)," "Do Your Parents Know You're A Ramone?," and the brilliant "Customers Fuck Off" are highlights, but this band is a perfect storm. Essential, and way punker than I will ever be.
For more about how I love Albany, please click here, I think I'm gonna ask the tourism board to start giving me a taste.
20 April 2010
ANAL WARHEAD
I'm still not sure if this is the best band name ever, or one of the worst (the recently released ASSPISS single might hold the "worst" title), but names aside, this ANAL WARHEAD tape is packed with some of the most ripping hardcore that's blasted my ears into oblivion for ages. This is total American hardcore punk, the kind that the Rust Belt brought us in the 80s, angry and hopeless and hell bent. There's something in the water in Albany, and while it might make the water taste funny, it makes those people punk as shit. ANAL WARHEAD have a newish EP out on Loud Punk, so after you've melted your face with the demo, I suggest you buy it.
ANAL WARHEAD in a basement in Albany - a picture that features three of my favorite Albany dudes.
12 December 2009
SECRET SERVICE
What is it about Albany? I mean, it's pretty nice, and the leaves turn all kinds of beautiful colors in the fall, and there are lots of nice people, but I don't understand how this small upstate New York college town can crank out such a disproportionate number of killer punk bands. NUCLEAR FAMILY and ECFU (who are, if I may indulge in a rhyme, "technically from Schenectady") have already been featured on The Escape, and today i give you the SECRET SERVICE demo to help you ride your bicycle down the cold and rainy streets dodging cars and idiots along the way (it's cold and rainy where I am, not sure about you). I get a distinct Dangerhouse feel from this demo, but what I hope that you will get is a sweet punk tape that will make your day just a little better than it was before you stopped by.
24 September 2009
ELECTRIC CITY FUCK YOU!
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20170629104541im_/http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_UWPI3C1CSoU/SruZKBnYCsI/AAAAAAAAANs/fe2VAngsuvs/s320/ECFU+cover.jpg)
04 August 2009
NUCLEAR FAMILY
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20170629104541im_/http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_UWPI3C1CSoU/SnjyNGJZcHI/AAAAAAAAAG0/PbdgYLyK4r8/s320/nuclear+family+cover.jpg)
The point is...watching DEEP SLEEP reminded me why I love punk, and as much as I love listening to and discovering and sharing unearthed gems from 20 years ago (almost 30 sometimes), I would trade all that in a second for new punk and hardcore that I can feel and breathe and truly experience. Enter: NUCLEAR FAMILY. One of Albany, New York's finest exports of late, these folks have graced us with a few (three?) tapes as well as one stellar EP. This cassette was the result of not having anything to sell on their recent tour, and the tracks were hastily recorded before they set off, which might help explain the 25% cover ratio (seriously, the DILS cover rules, and Jen's vocals on the WIPERS and BUZZCOCKS tunes just makes so damn much sense!). Check them out, buy their record, go see them, and long live punk.
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