15 July 2010

BI MARKS


I find it hard to reconcile this demo with onslaught of killer brutal hardcore/noise/crust that has oozed out of Portland's pores recently, but BI-MARKS break the PDX Punk mold and just play hi energy punk.  The thing is: they play it better than most of the bands I've heard...just blast "Fuck My Generation" and if you aren't in love then we might not be friends. Every song is catchy as hell, tons of great hooks throughout the demo, but while I'm reminded of the good shit that came out of the early 90s I still can't call this pop punk (full disclosure here: the first band I thought of when I heard this was Mississippi's WHITE TRASH SUPERMAN, truly one of the greatest unsung bands of the 90s, and the first record I put on after I heard this demo was Don't Turn Away from FACE TO FACE which is one of the guiltiest pleasures in my collection - this tape sounds like neither, but it achieves the same melodic hook laden brilliance of both while still staying in your face and punk as shit). The recording is lo-fi as hell - part of which is a poor reproduction on my cassette - and it helps the songs sound even more punk, especially the warbling guitar on "No Comment" and "Throw Away The World." Fast as hell and playing with purpose, BI-MARKS are breakneck melodic hardcore that combine elements of loads of bands that rule while sounding like none of them - shit rules. One of the three guitarists is in NERVESKADE, but don't let that be your reference point...instead think early 80s LA meets mid 80s Midwest with a totally charismatic singer (not a vocalist - a singer) and all sped up a little too fast. Jakke tells me it's the best live show in Portland, and after several listens I can't really say that surprises me.  Do yourself a favor.



oh yeah..."High Time" is a ZERO BOYS cover, and in the interest of full disclosure I didn't recognize it on first listen it.  I knew the song but I couldn't identify the original, so I called John and sung him the chorus, then I called Uncle Fun in Milwaukee who knows all things rock & roll (apparently not quite) and then I wrote Mike, who most of you should visit more often - just click on his name to find out why - and even he couldn't figure out what song I was talking about.  Finally I wrote Jakke and he told me it was ZERO BOYS and I felt like a total dummy and then Jakke told me about how CRAZY SPIRIT covered a RAMONES song and tried to get him to sing and he didn't recognize it and I didn't feel so bad anymore. Also, the title track to the YOUNG OPTIMISTS CLUB demo is so good that it maybe should be illegal.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow - this is really great! Not sure why but it reminds me of Apocalypse Hoboken. Awesome demo!

john/milwaukee

buzzorhowl said...

bi-marks are awesome live!the demo rules!-stan/AF

str8ev said...

i am totally amazed to see a WHITE TRASH SUPERMAN reference.

Anonymous said...

1. this is amazing fun!
2. fuck yeah, jurassic park theme
3. track order plz?

thanks!

the wizard said...

Never mind WHITE TRASH SUPERMAN, John just dropped APOCALYPSE HOBOKEN fer fukk's sake!!

as for the track list - I guess I fergot to imbed the order, so here goes:
1) Birassic Marks
2) Young Optimists Club
3) Blackout
4) Fear Of The Animals
5) Fuck My Generation
6) No Comment
7) Gunk
8) I Ain't Right
9) They're Here/I'll Steal Again
10) Scorn
11) I Quit
12) Throw Away The World
13) High Time

Butchered Noise said...

Hello,

if anyone is interested Bi-Marks "The Golden Years" Debut LP on Mata La Musica Discos will be released this Friday. If you or anyone else is interested please send over an email to matalamusikadiscos@gmail.com . Always feel free to spread the news and info out to any local distros or labels near you. Thanks!

Mata La Musica Discos

the wizard said...

AND they are playing SF in a coupla weeks. So stoked to finally see this band!

Les said...

Hi friend, can you repair the link or upload again this demo? please... thanks!

the wizard said...

re-upped

Les said...

Hi
Thanks for response, but the link is for the acephalix Demo :(

the wizard said...

re-upped (correctly this time).