POST

I got this from Carla at the last North American RAKTA show earlier this year as they were sorting and packing their things to go to Colombia - it hadn't been for sale on the tour, and I was quite happy to help her make some extra space in her luggage for the rest of her journey. Listening to this tape is sublime....but describing it is decidedly more difficult. A (seemingly...or at least mostly?) improvisational two piece, POST wander casually between psychedelia and freeform space jams and dark ambience....but I cannot find a single moment of this tape that is not compelling. And the B-side in its entirety should be mandatory listening for fans of outsider sounds of all kinds.  Carla's Dama De Noite label does not disappoint, and I'm glad that her bags were full. 

SESSÃO AO VIVO

...THERE IS NO EMPTY SILENCE...

OS PEDREIRO

Fast and irreverent late '90s punk from the Brazilian beach town of Vila Velha, this is the kind of melodic shit that we all (and I mean "me" when I say "we") embraced shamelessly at the time because it wasn't dirty yet. Listen to "All My Friends" and hear the HICKEY hooks, while an unmistakable F.Y.P. vibe runs through the whole demo (F.Y.P....I guess I get it, but I was never a fan). Folks from MUKEKA DI RATO and MERDA got their feet wet here, which will likely perk the interest of a few of you....the rest of you? Stop being cool for half a morning and just enjoy yourself, blast "Cuspa Cerveja Na Minha Cara" and think about the good things in the world. If only for a few minutes. It's worth it. 

OS PEDREIROS

FUTURO

I am impossibly excited to see this band on their North American tour in the spring (they are starting their jaunt at Damaged City and will cover both coasts....pay attention).  I find this recording completely addictive - melancholic punk that drives hard, and manages even more force on slower tracks like "Dia Eterno." The guitar is the focus, brooding and powerful throughout, except when it rings out and steps back for Mila's vocals that pierce the mix like a knife. "For fans of" lists are lazy, but helpful if done properly; fans of GORILLA ANGREB, CELIBATE RIFLES, WIPERS and COMPLICATIONS will want to pay attention to this São Paulo outfit. 

FUTURO

Most of these tracks will be on a vinyl platter available through Dirt Cult and Nada Nada...

CHRISTMAS SHIT // AJUDANTI DI PAPAI NOÉU

Oh come on...I had to post this today, right? Fukkn typical. '90s chaotic hardcore from two Espirito Santo, Brasil bands. Djeh nah dah....

SPLIT TAPE

O INIMIGO

It's hard to believe that O INIMIGO has been rolling as long as they have, but I remember Juninho talking about his "new" band while DISCARGA and WHN? were touring together in 2002....and that was a very long time ago. This demo is just as good now as it was then, and is a great indicator of the band that they would evolve into over time. Powerful melodic punk with earnest vocals and an undeniable intensity that clearly doesn't need speed, volume or distortion to make it's point. Enjoy your day. 

O INIMIGO

FULL EFFECT

Come on, punk. Look at this tape and tell me you don't know what it sounds like. The thing that you think it probably sounds like....? Yeah. That's it. Brasilian beat down hardcore, studio tracks from 1998 on one side, live bangers from 1996 on the flip. 

FOR ALL THE EFFECTS

OBJETO AMARELO

A hypnotic offering from long running São Paulo outfit OBJETO AMARELO...eight pieces of patient and deliberate electronics with soft, spoken vocals. Tracks like the opener "Dia Vermelho" could have easily stepped directly out of the experimental '80s brushes with the then-burgeoning new wave scene. Elements of early HUMAN LEAGUE (I'm talking "Being Boiled" era) creep in and out, while "Crepsucular" is a simple and perfect electronic/synth chill out (this is my favorite track here, if only because it breaks up the vibe ever so slightly and sets the listener up nicely for the driving and comparatively heavy "Propostas Solares" and "Amigo Nuclear" to close the tape). If you aren't careful, Dia Vermelho will play on repeat all day....but I would suggest resisting neither the sounds nor the urge to let them sink all the way into you. 

DIA VERMELHO

OBJETO AMARELO is the product of Carlos Issa, responsible for several noteworthy projects and collaborations, and a part of the TEST BIG BAND (a thing I am fucking dying to see in the flesh). Released and distributed by São Paulo's Dama Da Noite Discos. 

MONKEY BRAIN

Undoubtedly dated catchy punk from Curitiba. Delivery is splotchy at times, and the combination of East Bay pop and US DIY melodic "hardcore" (that's what we called it then, kids) is likely to send anyone under 35 running....but fukk it. "Searching For A Better Choice" is still a banger, and I'll even take the damned ska track(s). So there. 

WAKE UP TIME!!

TRABALHAR PARA MORRER

I honestly thought I had posted this already, perhaps because I've been listening to it so much lately, but the search window in the top left proves me wrong (again), so....here's the 1998 demo from TRABALHAR PARA MORRER. On the face, this is pretty rudimentary hardcore punk, but intensity doesn't have to come from blinding speed or complex riffs - T.P.M. have the thing that makes simple punk so hopelessly addictive. Listen to the chorus of "Bombaricados" - it's so fukkn simple, three chords walking up and walking down, but it kicks me in the ass every time I hear it. VULPESS comparisons are certainly not out of line with multiple female vocals and a jerky, urgent pace throughout, but T.P.M. have a touch more hardcore creeping into their sound. 14 track demo presented here, and in the link above you can snag their 2001 full length, released around the time they stopped, and two songs recorded a couple of years ago. See what happens when I try to find out if I have actually done a thing that I think I have done? You win, that's what happens.

T.P.M.

KUSTA PÄSSÄÄ

Filthy '90s Brasilian grind/crust. Ripping fasts, searing blasts, multiple vocals and pure raw attack. Choice banger: "Gasolina," if only because when they scream the word it sounds like a very real threat. 

DT '98

THE PESSIMISTS

In the sixty short seconds that make up "Robotics In Service," São Paulo's THE PESSIMISTS effortlessly drop something as close to perfection as I've heard in ages. With no time or space for bullshit or filler, they bulldoze through a brooding intro that morphs into the verse, then a chorus with a ridiculously infectious guitar hook and lay multi gendered vocals into the mix with an adolescent enthusiasm that belies the years lurking under their respective hats. Every song is great, in my opinion...moody and serious punk that is fun to listen to in the same manner that shamelessly addictive pop tunes become inadvertent summer anthems. Unpretentious and casual, but still completely serious. When Farofa slips the leads in on guitar (take "Working," for example), it's like a jolt of electricity, and the way his vocals mingle with Mila's is just fucking right. The beats are simple, but listen to the way the booming intro to "Doomed Forever" switches gears and propels the band to the end of the tape. The shit is right, kids. Sometimes you don't need it to melt your face....sometimes you want it to sink into your pores, because then it becomes a part of you.

IN THE BEGINNING THERE WAS...

There's a recent EP on Nada Nada that successfully expands on the formula presented here....highly recommended. 

ACAVERNUS

Please enter the world of ACAVERNUS from São Paulo - the vocal/sound portion of the RAKTA equation isolated and exposed. When I heard about Paula's project and its mission, I assumed it was going to be good. But I didn't imagine it was going to be like this. ACAVERNUS is something else, my friends...something you need to experience.

ACAVERNUS

Today is our birthday. I've been doing The Escape for seven years now...wild. Almost 2400 posts, and approaching two and a half million visits. Weird. I hope you've found some things here that you have enjoyed....there's more to come. 

SONIC SEX PANIC

Energetic, catchy as hell São Paulo punk circe 1994. I got nothing to say (I know, weird, right?) because I have no connection to the tape - but the tunes are there and this tape is a blast. Treat yourself here instead of church. Trust me. Choice creamer: the one riff anthem "Skater's Head."

SOMETHING LIKE THAT

DEAD FISH

I swear kids....I swear that this shit wasn't always evil and to be avoided at all costs. '90s "melodic hardcore" (as it was frequently referred to at the time) is full of unsung gems that are worthy of revisiting. For every mainstream punk LAGWAGON, there were ten GOMEZ's, and for every few paint-by-numbersmades made up of total douchelords, there was a band like DEAD FISH. These Brasilians appeared on The Escape before with their first demo, and 1995's (Re)Progresso...? is the perfect sophomore effort (check the two versions of "Social Aggression" against each other). This one is faster, tighter, and the vocals are more confident....don't be scared of the hooks kids. There's nothing wrong with humming along, even if you don't know the words (or don't speak Portuguese).

(RE)PROGRESSO...?

MASHER

It's a difficult thing to explain (to some people), but there is an absolute art to creating the perfect trash. And that totally fukkd guitar that starts "Who's Right?" is a prime example. It sounds like complete garbage. I would never want it anywhere near anything that I attached my name to...but it is absolutely brilliant in its sheer shit. MASHER drop maniacal guitar/drum dual vocal mince/grind on this demo, 25 tracks (including the mandatory recording of someone taking a piss) in around ten minutes. Brutal, tuneless, politically uncompromising, filthy no-fi grind. To the people who like this shit, I say: this is good. To the rest of you I say: this is good, even if you don't know it.

THE END OF INEQUALITIES

CIBORGUE

Absolute outsider punk. You know you're in for it while the three minute title track slogs endlessly forward, but nothing can prepare you for the shit-fi noise core that follows. Neurose Digital makes the VACCUUM Space-Fi tape seem sonically imposing, this is the thinnest and weirdest sounding cassette on my shelves (or in my boxes, for that matter). But it's not just blundering....it's actually and actively weird, almost as if there is a collective vision at work here, and this is what sets CIBORGUE apart. Apart from what, exactly? Well, I'm still not sure...but can you imagine watching this shit live?!? I need to go back to Brasil.

NEUROSE DIGITAL

RIVERBOYS

From the '90s, when "melodic punk" didn't make you feel dirty inside. Good tracks - fast, catchy, addictive...what's not to like?

DON'T LOOK BACK

O.V.E.C.

Criminally limited reissue of O.V.E.C.'s 1989 demo from our friends at Outprint. Raw and furious hardcore punk that rips through six tracks in seven minutes, including the 0:20 title track. The band hisses with intensity as much as the tape itself hisses with infidelity, these tracks are pure screamers. Number one banger: "Sem Proteção."

IDIOTAS DO GOVERNO

LOS LOCOS

Killer collection of Latin American punk rock and dark punk. Heaps of bands I was unfamiliar with (8 BOLAS, TODOS TUS ROUERTOS, POLO PEPO) and some that most studious punks will be familiar with (INOCENTES, AS MERCENARIAS, LEUZEMIA, ALERTA ROJA). Top tracks: LUXURIA's "Luxuria Insatisfecha" and the hopelessly out of tune untitled creamer from SIZE. First side is punk, and then the flip ventures into the new wave/goth sounds of the '80s...this is why mix tapes (still) rule.

LOS LOCOS - A Latino Punk Mixtape For The Punks

WHITE CHRISTIAN DISASTER

I hope that at least some of you visit Terminal Escape for the shit you've never heard before...right? This tape comes from Curitiba, the capital city of Pararná, sometime in the '90s (I'm assuming). Heavy US hardcore influence, up front political lyrics (translations included in the .zip file so you can learn more things) and unhinged fast parts. Top banger: "On Your Knees."

COCA-COLA NÃO É DEUS