DESPERDICIO - "Maqueta 2010" demo (Japan, 2010)

Japanese punks master the art of paying tribute to their favorite bands from far away lands. We've all heard bands ape the Finnish (Poikkeus, Lakaus…), Swedish (Frigorä, Ferocious X…), Italian (Tantrum, Isterismo…) and of course UK sound, singing in broken languages they don't really speak at all. And I'm in no way blaming them: many more non-anglo saxon bands are guilty of this when they sing in English, mind you. Desperdicio hail from Sendai, a city hit really badly by the 2011 tsunami, and you can tell they're trying to emulate the "ramshackle d-beat" sound of more recent Spanish bands like Destrucción, Firmeza 10, Semen… Though when I asked him, their sempai singer Tsuyoshi confirmed that he didn't speak a word of Spanish. I saw them live in Tsuyama less than two months after the March 2011 tragedy, and they had insisted on driving 15 or so hours just to play this show, even if everybody was still in shock. Only in Japan! This is a short tape, only 4 songs including a Varukers cover. They released a 7" on Overthrow Records shortly afterwards.

DESPERDICIO - Maqueta 2010 demo (Japan, 2010)

KONTEMPT - "The End Of The Destructor" demo (Canada, 2004)

The Kontempt 7" released on The Total End Records in 2006 survived a few record purges over the years at the Kängnäve HQ with its brand of brutal and downtuned Swedish-style hardcore. Hailing from Montréal, Canada, they also released this 9-song tape a couple of years prior with a slightly different line-up – the most noticeable difference being the vocal duties on this demo handled by Chany of Inepsy fame! I'll admit to liking the 7" more, but the tape is worth a listen anyway.

KONTEMPT - The End Of The Destructor demo (Canada, 2004)

SHIT SMELL - "Wasted Life!" demo (Sweden, 1994)

This is a pretty obscure '90s Swedish fast and raw hardcore punk band I know next to nothing about. Sounds typically Swedish even though it's sung in English, and it's a little more diverse than your average d-takt / käng band — it could've been on just about any Really Fast compilation. With a name like Shit Smell and song titles like "Drunk Again", "My Dick Falling Off" or "Fuck Skinheads", don't expect super clever politically charged manifestos for lyrics… haha. Add to this a raw recording, tape hiss, and some of the ugliest and most minimal cover design ever… Aesthetes stay clear!

SHIT SMELL - Wasted Life! demo (Sweden, 1994)

SEMEN - "Masas Obedientes Individuos Dominantes" demo (2009)

¡Joder! I was lucky to witness Semen live on their home turf of Bilbao, Euskadi (that's Basque Country for you) in 2009 right before they broke up, and they kicked ass. Sloppy, straight forward, d-beat driven hardcore punk in the true tradition of Discharge-worshipping Spanish bands — MG-15 or Destrucción being the obvious suspects here. The Destrucción comparison is especially true, as the demo ends with a cover version of their classic tune "Makineros Hijos De Puta", and the artwork featured in the awesome booklet that came with the tape is somewhat reminiscent of Teodoro's drawings.

SEMEN - Masas Obedientes Individuos Dominantes demo (2009)