PØVLACION

Blazing Japanese raw punk seemingly obsessed with Spanish language hardcore, specifically the band coming out of Southern California over the last decade or so. Five rippers sung in Spanish (of course) driven by a bass that walks over straight ahead riffs and allows the guitar to noodle at will - it's never overkill, but it's always right. Five tracks on this 4 Songs Demonstracion, which leads me to believe that I'm missing a cover somewhere in the mix? All of 'em are bangers, though, so who cares! Commence full body pogo in 3, 2, 1.....

4 SONGS DEMONSTRACION

NINE CURVE

The title of this banger should tell you everything you need to know, right? I sometimes wonder if there will come a time when this brand of high energy positive determination will ever not appeal to me...and I truly hope that time never comes. Maybe these sounds are passé to some, but these sounds are very very real to me, and even though I might go days (or weeks) without ever pointing my index finger to the sky and silently singing along to something that once meant something greater, it just takes a few seconds of loosely blasting drums and powerfully catchy guitars to remind me how much this shit moves me. Give "Notice" (perhaps the most dated track on this 199? demo) a full volume listen and you'll see what I mean....the whoa-ohhs at the 2:20 mark say it all. So yeah, 18ish year old melodic/posi fastcore from Tokyo. Enjoy and remember.

NINE CURVE

ATARAXIA

Perfectly executed bombastic Japanese DBeat hardcore punk. Loud, fast, massive guitars, howling vocals, just the tiniest hint of melody in the riffs...check the "ooopphh!!" after the drums start "Shinjutsu" and if you are raging then you aren't listening. This 2014 demo is exactly what it's supposed to be, and it's exactly what you need. 

I FEAR WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS

FILTHY HATE

Relentless and demonic over the top Japanese metalcrust. You know the drill. Link below. 

HATRED STENCH STENCH CORPSE // POSSESSED TO SATAN

MICROFILM

I feel like things have been pretty raw at TEHQ for a few days now. I also don't feel like there's any reason to clean it up. 2004 demo from Japan's MICROFILM is blown out hyper fast and frantic hardcore delivered the way that apparently no one outside of that island can. Even when they drop a catchy riff ("Revenge"), these kids are so amped and full of energy that you want to jump through the walls. There are hundreds of Japanese bands, especially from the '90s/'00s, that slipped between the cracks and flew constantly off of the outsider radar...and a lot of those bands are really fukkn good. Readers:  I present MICROFILM.

WRISTCUTDEMOTAPE

FLIPOUT A.A

CONQUEST FOR DEATH has toured with these monkeys twice now, so I am totally biased....but Tokyo's FLIPOUT A.A are one of the fiercest and most fun live bands I've seen in the last decade. Or two. Light speed Japanese fastcore featuring current and former members of LIE, HAMMER, NAMASTE, THE FANGS and many others...you can taste the sweat. All energy, all go...their name for our tour(s) pretty much sums it up: FASTCORE THRASHCORE HARDCORE CORE-CORE PUNK-PUNK ANNIHILATION. Looking forward to our trip to Brazil in 2017, you fukkrs!!!

SOUTHEAST ASIAN TOUR TAPE 2015

REVAS EN LA SONGO

Two young Japanese powerhouses crank out three tracks each of relentless destruction. MALIMPLIKI turn their churn into into a rhythmic pulse that surges with the beat, distorted almost to the point of losing any semblance to music whatsoever (this is a good thing) - total intensity. SACA LA FIESTA skip the distortion, but their sound is still dirty and raw as fukk. Two short, smart punk blasts with shouted female vocals and the longer, slower "My Truth" to bring Revas En La Songo to a close. There are so many bands in Japan....

REVAS EN LA SONGO

COLLAPSE SOCIETY

Noisy and chaotic beyond belief, poorly reproduced and suffering from waves of hiss, ramshackle mania with vocals mixed way too high and bass distorted to a near noteless rumble. In other words: perfect. I think this is how these sounds were meant to be listened to, and COLLAPSE SOCIETY has been doing the thing for fukkn 25 years. Noise Not Music, motherfukkrs. 

DEMO '93

LIFE

Hard to imagine that Tokyo's LIFE have been dishing out relentless bursts of bulldozer crust for more than two decades...but put this demo on high and fukkn believe it, punk. A twelve minutes, eight track chaotic Japanese assault - blast "Forest Destruction" and you'll understand how far ahead of the curve these punks were. Still one of my favorite Japanese bands...

WHEN THE PEACE COLLAPSES

HORSE & DEER

Oh...I'm sorry, did you miss these freaks earlier this year because you don't live in the Bay Area? Sometimes, even amongst the bullshit...sometimes we still manage to win around these parts. Manic insanity from Tokyo, HORSE & DEER plow through 8 tracks of frantic distorted Plasma Speed Punk - launching themselves between riffs the same way they launched themselves through the air. Song construction that defies description, but casts an eye towards the energy they bring to every fukkn live show. Next level.

STRANDING

DUDMAN

Ripping fastcore from Japan - I never got to se these dudes in the flesh, but their brand of start/stop action has always appealed to me. Snagged the (rehearsal?) tape fromth e drummer when his other band was on the West Coast in 2001....and fifteen years later these tracks still burn hard. A dozen bangers in 14 minutes. Get with it, punk. 

DUDMAN

THE DEATH // FLOWER ZOMBIES

FLOWER ZOMBIES are so gloriously simple and innocent sounding - crooning indie/garage that sneaks up on you, and before you know it you are joining them in off key choruses. Kinda reminds me of a less polished ORANGES, but there are maybe four people who will ever see that, so I'l;l move along to the other side.  THE DEATH are another animal entirely (well, were, they have moved on to other projects)....truly bizarre lo-fi outsider garage sounds that have grown on me immensely since I got this tape from Naoki last year. Favorite tracks: "Ghost Of Dream" and "My Specs."

SPLIT CASSETTE

The timing of today's post is not accidental, as folks from EXTRA PLANTS (ex-THE DEATH) are currently hosting my pals RAKTA in Japan. Tokyo residents would be well advised to catch them while they are in your country - starting 19 August at Hatagaya Forest, then continuing with this absolute crusher at Antiknock on the 21st::::

DECONSTRUCTION

Pure and absolute noise fukkn punk assault. Imagine Japanese crasher crust with the bombasity replaced with walls of muffled insanity and distortion, and then make it more brooding and distorted than that. Massive and oppressive sounds from a band who dropped just two demos before (to my knowledge) slipping away. 

DECONSTRUCTION

DISTRICT

Five songs. Eight minutes. Wild style Japanese hardcore with heavy '80s DC and Thrash2K influences. The demo is titled Exciting & Super Real, and for good reason. File alongside period comrades like OUTLAST, JELLYROLL ROCKHEADS and TOTAL FURY -pure cream from start to finish...

EXCITING & SUPER REAL

HATSURI

One quick ear to the bass that opens this 2009 tape and you think you know what you're in for. Then come the drums, and you start to realize that HATSURI are so much more over the top than you thought. Frantic, noisy, chaotic Japanese insanity of the highest order here - piercing noise punk guitars, thunderous drums, riffs that go from start to weird to warp speed and back to Japanese hardcore in half a minute, and the vocals are every bit as manic as the music demands. Total under the radar banger, and from what I can tell this release on Freedom Fighter is the totality of their output - I guess if you're gonna go fast, you might as well go strong.

6 TRACKS TAPE

JAPANESE UNDERGROUND: NEW WAVE 1983-'85

You think you go deep? Shit man, sometimes I think I go deep, and then I stumble across something like this and realize exactly how completely clueless I really am. The title tells you most of what you need to know, but I'll finish the story simply: Get ready to go deeper. From the same Washington state genius responsible for the Natty Chariot and Behind The Iron Curtain mix tapes, Japanese Underground is 60+ minutes of new wave and pop that I had never (ever) heard of. Highlights include (but are certainly not limited to): D DAY, SH, IKARI (this hard wave/dance track might be the best on the tape), STANDARDS (perfect power pop), THE LOODS, MASANORI KASAKI (bizarro art/synth), and REVER...but there's not a single thing I want to skip past. The mix starts mellow with quirky, almost commercial, new wave but gets progressively weirder throughout, and the ventures into power pop (or maybe it's just sift punk?) are a welcome respite amongst the more indulgent tracks. Much respect to the compiler here...total success once again. 

JAPANESE UNDERGROUND: NEW WAVE 1983-'85

SAWPIT

This band's records are too often overlooked in my opinion. Crazy catchy '90s melodic punk with an unmistakable (even if unintentional) Bay Area influence, they released one EP and two splits (FORMER MEMBERS OF ALFONSIN and BONESCRATCH) before calling it quits sometime around the turn of the century. I feel like they came to the states once...but I can't really be sure about that. I can, however, be sure that this tape feels very good.

1st MATERIAL

UNDER THE PROTECTION

I love a one song demo tape, especially when it's a really good song.

UNDER THE PROTECTION

BURST IN YOUR HEAD

You like Japanese hardcore? Cool, because I like Japanese hardcore. So what's the problem? Ahhh, there's no problem at all, because we are all listening to Japanese hardcore. Anyone who want's to tell me anything at all about this band is more than welcome to make themselves heard, because I know nothing more than this tape with no info or song titles, and I want more than these four songs...and I'm sure you will too. Because you like Japanese hardcore.

GENOCIDE STREET MONUCCA

WOTZIT

Short, sharp bursts of angular hardcore punk. Soaked with attitude and venom, WOTZIT never let themselves descend into aggression needlessly, instead opting for a more calculated (and funkier) approach. At their height, I hear prime Biafra and BIG BOYS and early So Cal hardcore all sneaking into the mix and these Tokyo maniacs are more than up to the challenge that those comparisons present. Listen to the damaged guitar at the 1:24 mark of "Eyes Of Pervert," and then listen closer, because that tasty lick might be the best thing you hear all day.

WOTZIT