SUBMISSION HOLD

I suppose that we never really should have been friends. In 2017, in the internet age, I seriously doubt that we ever would have been friends or even crossed paths at all. FUCKFACE were uncouth, snotty, drunk, sloppy and irreverent. SUBMISSION HOLD were concise, serious, witty but controlled, overtly political and exceptionally mature. And yet we stood outside the picture window at Koo's Cafe in Santa Ana, laughing together and watching the local band inside that converted living room and collectively wondering if any of the kids would bother to stay at the show to see either of our bands. They were having van trouble, our tour was almost over, we brainstormed ways to get them safely to their next show/s, we traded information and we promised to cross paths again. Then in the fall of 1996 we did cross paths in Vancouver (they were the relatively sane and conventional conclusion to one of the weirdest 36 hour periods of my life, in fact), John soaked the couch in their very well put together home before we headed east and I apologized the next time we saw each other....and we all laughed about it. Bands didn't sound like SUBMISSION HOLD then, and they surely don't today....and I dare say that it's even more special today, in the internet age, to cross paths with people as special and as real as those Canadians. 

VETERANS OF THE COLA WARS

CHRISTIE

I stopped repairing dead links a long time ago.  It's not that I don't care (because if I can be rightly accused of doing anything at all....it's caring), it's just that the effort to dig back through the archives to update a DL link that maybe two or three people are ever going to stumble across seems like it could be better spent in other ways. Like drinking a beer or eating a taco or ripping a new (or new/old) cassette for consumption. However, there are hundreds of worthwhile nuggets languishing in those dusty old internet pages, so I'm going to start re-posting from time to time...if nothing else I'm curious how I hear CHRISTIE (using today's example) in 2017 vs. whatever nonsense I wrote about them in 2010. And I'm sure the curiosity is absolutely killing you, dear reader....

So here are six tracks from 1988, sweet lilting vocals floating over an almost cacophonous collection of driving late anarcho and metallic guitar leads. As I mentioned in the original post, I have two different recordings of these six tracks (both included today), and I opted for the dirtier version initially. I think that I've come to enjoy the (slightly) more polished recording over time...though the differences are subtle at best. Just because you miss the magic once, doesn't mean it's gone forever.

CHRISTIE

initial post - from the coverless black cassette pictured above

CHRISTIE

from the flipside of the even more awesome CYANIDE SCENARIO cassette

EL AVIADOR DRO

I will save you the historical context today. EL AVIADOR DRO is a hugely influential Spanish new wave band, and more information about their legacy, history and discography is readily available on the internet. The internet has a lot of things on it. In fact, you are on the internet right now....

My 2003 European Odyssey was full of discoveries. Five months on the continent, countless new friends and acquaintances, some of whom I still call friends today - two tours, nine weeks each, with a Scandinavian vacation in between...it was epic and excellent. Saw tons of good bands, thankfully have forgotten most of the bad ones (if I played with you on those tours and you are reading this now, I am certain that you were in one of the good bands), saw some castles...I mean, it was Europe. They have castles there, so you go see them. ARTIMUS PYLE played a chunk of shows in Germany, France and Spain with THE NOW DENIAL (good ass band) at the start of the whole thing, and we hung out with some really sweet folks in Valencia (the story is long and involved and ultimately not very interesting unless you are generally curious about Tour Odysseys, but it involves a delicious meal, inadequate plumbing, mosaic tile and unusual street parking, feel free to ask me in person someday)...and that's where I heard about Paco. Paco was from Valencia and had moved to London, where we met him a short time later...conveniently, he had organized our gig at The Swan. NATION OF FINKS and HUMAN BOMB played, wild ass weed soaked reggae DJs crushed the front bar...the poster still rests on my wall, the show was killer and we retired to Paco's apartment afterwards. The three of us sat up with him until the wee hours talking about music, learning about new bands (and old bands new to us), I decided to start storing my EP dust sleeves outside the picture sleeves that night (true nerd shit here, but truth is truth, and I try to not be scared of truth). We listened to records. We bought records (like any good salesman, Paco ran a distro and managed to ply plenty of Euros/Pounds Sterling from us that evening....money well spent of course), and Paco played EL AVIADOR DRO. He talked about how they were one of his favorite bands, about how this group of independent and DIY anarchists played insanely popular new wave/dance music....or maybe it was about how this crazy popular new wave/dance band were actually DIY anarchists and pressed and distributed their own records despite offers to enter The Mainstream. I don't remember exactly...I just remember that I loved the tunes and kept thinking how much more I would have loved them if I had heard EL AVIADOR DRO in the '80s when this shit was my fukkn jam without exception. So I was like having this weird time warp flashback, but for music that I had never heard....weird, right? And Paco, because he is smart and perceptive - and a good friend - sensed all of this and made me this tape. So here you go: 90 minutes of EL AVIADOR DRO. There is so much more available to visitors who want more...and that's how the internet is supposed to work. Consider me your shovel....now go dig a hole. 

EL AVIADOR DRO

ALPTRAUM GmbH

I'm open to information, here, and I'm guessing pretty much any fan of outsider anarcho punk would be eager to know more as well. Shrill (uhhh, that's an understatement) vocals and challenged UK influenced sounds from (I presume) late '80s West Germany. Sometimes bordering on inept, but sometimes that's what makes the shit work, ya dig? There are only three tracks here - maybe that's all you need.....? Or maybe you're going to spend the rest of your day (week_ trying to figure out what planet this demo came from.

JULY '88 DEMO

WŁOCHATY

Fourth full length from some of my favorite Polish anarcho punks. The guitars are inimitable in tone and presentation, and the combination of fierce political punk and hopelessly addictive pop tunes is one that has always worked well for WŁOCHATY. Fourteen songs, not a dud in the bunch, and still available from Nikt Nic Nie Wie - some things should always be in print. 

DROGA OPORU

RAW TOFU

Unrepentant animal rights hardcore recorded in a fukkn toilet. The result is somewhere between noise punk and pure shit-fi madness, with politics louder than the voices shouting them and guitars that might be out of tune (the recording is so shitty you can hardly tell). Five "studio" tracks, including a CONFLICT cover (because of course there's a CONFLICT cover) followed by one uncredited anarcho track (it's pretty cool, any help here?) and six live RAW TOFU bangers...because after my enthusiastic assessment of their demo, I'm sure that you are scrambling to get to the lowER fidelity live recording. Right?

HOW MANY MORE LIVES MUST BE LOST BEFORE YOU OPEN EYES AND SEE THAT MEAT MEANS FUCKING MURDER???

Seriously though: I genuinely appreciate how shameless and in your face and idealistic bands like RAW TOFU were (and, thankfully, ARE). And I will take those out of tune guitars with a tired but earnest message of hope any fucking day...

FOREIGN LEGION

Primitive UK punk maybe (or maybe not? but probably) delivered with drum machines in 1984. A couple of anarcho rejects that sound great in 2015, really long dub track and a CLASH cover cut accidentally manipulated by a defective cassette. These kids have visited The Escape before, but it's been years and the links are long long dead....

DISTRESS SIGNALS

DEVIATED INSTINCT

It occurs to me often that I should spend some time re-posting old demos and fixing dead links, but I'll be fukkd sideways if there isn't a constant stream of new and/or worthwhile shit to share. But this shit is mandatory, so here it is again: Tip Of The Iceberg got the treatment here in 2009, and the words still ring true...though I swear I don't remember such a challenge editing the tracks last time around. This band forms a crucial bridge between early '80s anarcho-punk and late '80s metal/crust, but this 1986 demo is essential, regardless of subgenre descriptors. More old stuff to follow (again), after the new shit that I think you need.

TIP OF THE ICEBERG

PARANOID VISIONS

Snarky Irish button pushers PARANOID VISIONS sometimes get lumped in with regional anarcho punk acts but, appropriately perhaps, they don't really fit in with most of their contemporaries from England. Bluurg released a cassette, All The Madmen had a hand in an EP in 1986 and there's an association with CRASS, but during their 10 year run starting in 1982, these kids mostly released their own stuff and did their own thing (including a pretty hilarious anti-U2 campaign in the late '80s). Halo Of Phlegm was recorded near the end of their initial run and circulated only on cassette until a recent CD reissue (that included other material recorded around '89/'90) and it's all over the place in a glorious way. "Afraid Of Life" has an early MISSION/SISTERS vibe, "AIDS" might be presented as an interlude but acts as a chill inducing quasi-industrial track, while "Autonomy," "Cycles Of Christs" and "Vandals" are pretty straight forward punk numbers and "Death To The Poor," "TV Ads" and "Lies" are hardcore punk burners. Combine this with the drawn out art/goth/anarcho title track and the full recording is more than a little scattered - which is a bit of the charm.

HALO OF PHLEGM

SHADOWED VEIL

How many thousands of "bands" like this have dropped demos that flew under the radar and then anonymously fell to the ground? SHADOWED VEIL were a two piece bedroom anarcho outfit from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and this 30 minute offering is nothing if not compelling. TG styled proto industrial noise with CRASS politics and awkward moments of rudimentary dark punk...the fact that this is a winner is a complete accident. Tracks like "E" and "The Children's War" would be complete schlock with a different production, but in this environment it sounds like sheer success. A glorious collision between raw 4-track punk, noise and art. Standout track: "Blood Blister Coitus."

RESIST THE PUNISHER

And adding to the appeal of this tape is the mystery that lurks behind the SHADOWED VEIL. Only presented as ETC..., I figure this half hour of noise and samples and manipulations was created by the duo responsible for the SV sounds, but without any of the punk leanings. Just pure, primitive and dark sounds ranging from psychedelic loops (track 09 and the eleven minute closer) to harsh noise (tracks 02 and 05) to ominous dirges (track 11) and general weirdness (basically the rest of the tracks). In a way, I find this more compelling than the SHADOWED VEIL material simply because it's more mysterious, but either side would be a swell find on its own...and to find them both inside one little plastic shell? That is what you call victory.

ETC...

CIVILISED SOCIETY?

I remember cruising into a kitschy antique store on tour once, and Devon reluctantly following me. Of course I found nothing and Devon scored a pristine copy of Scrap Metal, the 1986 slab from CIVILISED SOCIETY?. I'm sure I got another record in some other store, but that one still miffs me because the only reason the dude was in the store was because he didn't want to wait for me outside. I might have been looking for a gift for my lady, who knows - who even cares?! I kinda think of them as a bridge between anarcho and UK metalpunk, all of the recordings I've heard are excellent, and their first record is a perfect place to start (or a great place to revisit). Here's Scrap Metal from a cassette released a while back, and I threw in a three track demo that includes versions of "Just A Dream" and "Carefree" along with a banger I haven't heard elsewhere (I can't really imagine it's really unreleased though) called "Carefree." 

SCRAP METAL

WŁOCHATY

While I hesitate to call WŁOCHATY "legendary," their quarter century of Polish anarcho punk should certainly put them in that category. Multiple vocals spitting far left politics amid a blur of lightning speed angular hardcore, lazy horns lurking (mostly) in the background, and a presentation that is the very embodiment of "in your face." WŁOCHATY liberally use samples and interludes to break up the flow of Wojna Przeciwko Ziemi (War Against The Earth) - take the more than two minute intro to "Ostatni," for example - which helps the feeling that your are listening to a complete thing...because you are. This 1996 release might be my favorite of theirs (Droga Oporu is very very worth your time as well), there's something about the combination of UK anarcho (think the choppy, CRASS-esque approach) and sharp Eastern European punk that hits just about every nerve. 

WOJNA PRZECIWKO ZIEMI

Still in print and available from Nikt Nic Nie Wie.

ALTERNATIVE

One of the more under the radar UK anarcho acts of the early '80s, ALTERNATIVE cranked out consistently interesting releases. Whistful (almost COCTEAU TWINS-esque) guitars and lilting vocals fronting a forceful Scottish outfit, hearing these tracks (many for the first time in my personal earholes), a decidedly more mellow take on the out front weirdness of many previous releases, is excellent. I'll still take If They Treat You Like Shit of course...but old punk demos are fukkn cool, and this reinterpretation of "Fuck Off Thatcher" is a total killer. Not entirely sure about where this demo fits in their discography, but a few of the tracks appear on the Get Away From It All In The Army and How Dare You cassettes towards the end of their run. 

JULY 1986 DEMO

STATEMENT

I posted a couple of STATEMENT demos in the early days of The Escape (links I desperately need to repair, along with the several dozen requests currently languishing in my comments section....I will. I promise), but I might like this fifth demo even better. STATEMENT were a solo anarcho/activist project who spanned the musical spectrum over the course of their existence, and this collection of post punk and proto-indie oddities manages to capture slight bits of all of the weirdness that one Patrick Rat Poole conjured up over the years (presumably in his bedroom). "Strike Back" is the standout track, though this tape is so all over the place that there will probably be a different focus on every listen. Animal and human rights, well thought out politics in general, and generally catchy ditties make this 22 track cassette mandatory, and while the title reads Not For Punks, I would suggest that it should be for punks...but perhaps modern punks place the value of sound and status over that of content? Maybe STATEMENT was right after all.

NOT FOR PUNKS

The internet tells me that the man responsible for these quirky and out there bedroom anarcho sounds also did stints in CRACKED COP SKULLS and RIOT/CLONE which, oddly, makes sense. And yeah, I know that I linked this post to two older posts with dead links - I'll fix them really really soon. I swear.

CIVILISED SOCIETY

I can't really figure out why this is a "second tier" UK band, because their output easily rivals that of most of the heavyweights.  Pretty sure these tracks are from the '87 Peaceville cassette, though I can't be bothered to dig that tape up to see if these are different versions...

CIVILISED SOCIETY?

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

COLOR BLIND

Intense and unashamedly political chaos from a mysterious three piece. Relentless and blown out noise (not music), but done the right way: by accident. I don't really think that COLOR BLIND were trying to sound like an inept and out of tune cacophonous mess, but they do it so much better than legions of bands who choose this sound as a calculated tool. Don't know when this is from or where this from (I feel like it's LA, though I don't really have any rationalization for that feeling, it's just a hunch), but I know that it pushes the limits of acceptable noise and that the motivation is pure and with purpose, even if naive. Sometimes (often?), that's all I need. Also, they are really bad at spelling...I mean, like, really bad.

COLOR BLIND

...(END ANIMAL EXPLOITATION BY ANY) MEANS NECESSARY!...

"Legal murder aproved by a blind world of hate, these inhumane crimes are organized by the human race. All products made for humans are tested on animals, we can't test them on ourselves we're to much of fucking cowards. A daily mass murder that you don't find disturbing, you contribute by wearing their dead flesh like it's some kind of fucking trophy. Us humans are free, shouldn't they be too? THEY ARE NOT SLABS OF MEAT, SLAVES OR MEDICAL TOOLS!!! All you libral jerk offs only see through conventions sigh, just cause it's a tradition doesn't right! YOU ARE ALL SADISTIC FUCKS, to pathetic to face it. That animals spend their whole lives in crates, gallows and cages, There is a solution, but first we have to know: how can you fix a fuck up that screwed up millions of years ago? DIRECT ACTION IS NEEDED, TIME FOR US TO CARE. NO ACCOMPLISHMENT WILL BE MADE WHEN YOU JUST SIT AND STAIR!!!"

SUCKY ISRAHELLI HARDCORE

Maybe I should have teamed this one up with the PUBLIC DOMAIN//MEKHEI NAATZA split I posted last week, but maybe this will just serve as a reminder that you need to snag that one too. Killer Israeli hardcore, punk and post punk on a mix tape from the early '90s. The two aforementioned bands along with RAMPAGE (somewhere between 7 SECONDS and GRIMPLE), USELESS ID (probably the best known '90s band from Israel if only because they were able to tour extensively), NOT4SALE (the stinkers of the mix...I mean, it's a homemade regional sampler from the '90s so how is there not going to be a funk/ska band?), tough metallic HC from PREDATOR and a band called ETHOS who steal the whole fukkn show. What if a band took the same anarcho influences that ignited SUBMISSION HOLD but then took the whole thing in a driving proto-goth direction? I dare say that ETHOS will be the best band you hear for the first time today - even though there are only three tracks and the recording leaves more than a little to be desired. Get this because you are curious, and keep the ones you love...

SUCKY ISRAHELLI HARDCORE

TU SILENCIO AHOGA MIS GRITOS

Ten band compilation featuring Spanish language punk from all over Latin America with a token European submission from SIN DIOS, not at all surprising considering the time (released in 2000) and the political focus (anarchism). FUN PEOPLE (Argentina), RECICLAJE, @PATIA NO, LOS RESIDUOS (Venezuela), DESARME and NIQUITOWN (Colombia), ACTITUD SUBVERSIVA (Puerto Rico), VANTROI (Mexico)...and oh yeah BANDA JACHIS is from Spain too. Earnest melodic punk, a few hardcore burners and a handful of tracks that came as complete surprises (NIQUITOWN's "El Cambio Es Ahora" is by far my favorite jam on the tape). The whole thing was released by Noeske Records to benefit El Libertario, a Venezuelan anarchist periodical.

TU SILENCIO AHOGA MIS GRITOS:

El Anarquismo En America Latina

FACTION

And admittedly rough rehearsal recording from FACTION, but it's cool to hear these tunes in their formative stages. Still surprises me that this band seems to be destined for second-tier status in the world of '80s UK anarcho punk, as they evoke more passion and emotion than many better known and more emulated acts. "Banner From The Lion" is a total killer, they were flirting with No Wave art/punk perhaps without even knowing it.

FACTION - PRACTICE 198?