CONTRACAPITOL

When was the last time you listened to a rehearsal demo from a South African hardcore band? Probably been a while, huh? I'm here to help. You don't have to thank me, but you might want to imagine how much more killer these tunes might be if given the proper studio treatment. Not that this is bad, but nuances in tracks like "Another Bhopal" are kinda muddied by the rough recording...such is punk I suppose, and this tape is still crucial. Got this from some our hosts when CFD were there in 2007 - we played with member/s of CONTRACAPITOL in other bands at our second Johannesburg show....that was a really good tour. Met a lot of really good people on that tour, both at the shows and in the not-punk world. 

CONTRACAPITOL

SOUTH AFRICAN MIX TAPE

Remember all the shit I said about mix tapes last week when I posted that French heavy metal collection that someone made for my buddy Devon? Well apply all of those accolades to today's collection of bands from South Africa. Chaotic live anarcho/thrash from OUTRAGE (who have previously visited The Escape) and a chunk of commercial metal/grind from GROINCHURN, probably that country's best known punk or metal export, but everything else on this mix was new to my ears. Melodic '90s punk from FUNGY GONE WEST and CRUSH, while DIMINISHED RETURN play charging metallic hardcore with UK punk vocals, and DEVIATE are heavy grinding metalcrust. INFECTIOUS OUTBREAK (total weirdo/anarcho art/grind), THE GLEE CLUB (FROGS meets TEENAGE FANCLUB), and FRIDGE MAGNET (average punk, but the chorus just repeats "Police Stupidity" so I'm kinda into it) make appearances, but the highlights for me are the bands that start and end the tape. Seven tunes from FUCT OFF kick off the A side, raw and forceful UK influenced politically charged punk - simple but absolutely killer songs (these tracks are really raw, sounds like a several generations old recording...would love a cleaner version if anyone's holding?). And the whole thing ends up with BATTERY 9, a commercially successful dance/industrial band from the mid '90s - these two tracks were my introduction, and inspired me to get lost down an internet rabbit hole searching out more music from this duo. Land Of Rape And Honey-era MINISTRY meets POP WILL EAT ITSELF as a lazy reference, great shit. This is why mix tapes rule...again.

SOUTH AFRICAN MIX TAPE

OUTRAGE

South Africa is one of the most powerful places I've ever been, and I cannot even imagine living there during my adolescence. And to be outspoken political punks in South Africa in the years immediately following the fall of apartheid? A heavy time in a very heavy place. Musically, OUTRAGE dish out spastic bursts of uncompromisingly political dual vocal anarcho punk that has more in common with '80s UK than anything else, but there is a pervasive edge to the band and their sound. Some of that edge can be easily attributed to ineptitude, but I like to think that some part of Johannesburg has managed to work it's way into their sound. I'm rambling....international punk is important. That's all.

OUTRAGE

OUTRAGE // DIMINISHED RETURN

This tape was in a pile of gems that Devon placed in my care for a while, and since I know Devon as I do, I was not surprised at all to find this South African split cassette amongst the heap of Bay Area thrash metal and South American pop punk. OUTRAGE are female fronted anarcho-crust, and their three songs would have fallen right in line with bands of the same ilk making similar sounds in the US or Europe around the same time (1995), but with a drummer who seems like he'd rather be in a metal band (a pairing that works well for the most part). 

With OUTRAGE I only have a lyric sheet to go on, but unfortunately the only tool at my disposal to help with DIMINISHED RETURN is a little friend I like to call "google." Also from South Africa, they farmed members off to THREE CHORD THEORY after their demise (I know this only through the website of the Malaysian band CARBURETOR DUNG), and created classic punk. "Jungle Jive" is a pure burner, and will rev your inner pogo machine to maximum RPMs (and help you recover from the flute laced first track that left you all confused inside). Great shit, with a subtle ska flare that doesn't detract in the slightest. I wish I had more from both bands to offer, but three apiece will have to suffice.

OUTRAGE // DIMINISHED RETURN