TWINK

I work with this dude named Pete. He's a few years older than me, and was geographically blessed....so he saw BAD BRAINS in '79 and SSD in Boston in '81 and the Rock Against Maximum Rocknoroll gig in SF with AGNOSTIC FRONT and FUCK-UPS in SF in '82 where one of the B.A.S.H. boneheads got stabbed in the neck. By contrast, I saw THE DEAD MILKMEN in Tulsa in 1989. You see the difference a few years and a few hundred miles can make? Anyway...while I was getting into Punk, Pete was getting into jazz (he was done with hardcore by then, he's one of those rather annoying old(er) types who thinks hardcore died when they stopped going to hardcore shows. I'm all like "what about NAKED HIPPIES? What about LOGICAL NONSENSE? And that fool just ain't hearing it - at all), but Pete is a record nerd, and a few years ago after he had all of the jazz records he started digging deep into the hard rock record nerd world. He obsesses on $400 bonzers that are sometimes interesting, sometimes only noteworthy because they are rare, and sometimes readily available via reissue....but still, there's some jams in there and the dude's general taste is on point - I've used him more than a few times as a guide and/or advisor into the the jazz/freak rock underworlds, and his assistance is appreciated. So we were working together a few months ago and he was playing some tunes and I was digging them. They were heavy sounds....they were weird sounds...I liked them. The sounds were TWINK's 1970 LP Think Pink. All over the place and out of motherfukkn sight bizarro heavy psych/rock from a dude from PINK PAIRIES, and I was pretty instantly hooked - I didn't care if this was nerd fodder or $1 bin chud because the sounds were pristine. So I used the internet and I ordered a Burger Records 2013 cassette reissue while I was taking a dump (on the clock - "never shit on your time, never sweat on theirs") and before I left work that day a copy was headed my way. The reissue features an entire B-side of outtakes (and, jahbless, they are excellent), and I have listened to this tape countless times since it dropped through my slot. So...even though hardcore didn't die in '84 when Pete stopped going to shows, I am glad that those "other" ears are in my life to help keep mine open. Now....open yours. 

THINK PINK

WARSAW PAKT

More reposts. 2010. I'm pretty sure my initial post sums this one up nicely. 

WARSAW PACT

warsaw pact

SUBTERFUGE

UK punk from 1983...there's a reason why people worship and ape this shit 35 years later, because when "Soldiers Of Fortune" drops it feels like all is right with the world. I stand by my words in the initial post - start with the tracks from Woolshag's Last Round demo, as they are straight screamers and it makes you appreciate the band's humble ramshackle beginnings a little more (there are only four months between the two recordings, but still). I am enjoying revisiting these old posts....there's a lot to dig into.

1983: GOOD BEER GUIDE // WOOLSHAG'S LAST RIDE // Live @ Brannigan's

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

CIDERVISION

The contents here conjure up more questions than the included information could ever answer. And by "included information," I mean the cover you see pictured above. That's all I have, so assistance is appreciated. Over 90 minutes of ramshackle UK punk (I'm guessing late '80s?) await you - some live, some rehearsals, some demos, some pure noise....and almost all of it is compelling, especially for those with shit-fi tendencies. So dig in. And dig.

DEAD HIPPIES 

54 SONGS ABOUT SPORT

A relic form the collection that inspired the birth of this blog, 54 Songs About Sport is....well, it's kinda exactly what it says is. 54 mostly sub-minute UK punk/post punk missives all somehow related to sports (plus four instrumentals). Insert MINUTEMEN, healthy doses of circa '83 Rough Trade and a serious lack of pretense, and you're left holding a brilliant collection. 

54 SONGS ABOUT SPORT

I wrote my source because I was curious - these were demos from the SPORTCHESTRA 101 Songs About Sport double LP that came out in the late '80s (how did I not know this existed? it's kinda brilliant, and also really good). A CHUMBAWUMBA related project, they sent this (incomplete) version to Dick because they wanted him to sing on a few tracks. Which he did. And the "MCH 88" on the spine? That mysterious punk petroglyph that has confused me for ages....? It just means that the tape was dubbed in March of 1988. Mystery: Solved. 

SONIC ORDER

A lot of people start their weeks on Monday. And for those people, I suggest that you start this week with England's SONIC ORDER. Opening with thunderous and destroyed tupa-tupa that listens more like Japanese bombast....and then they unleash. And when they unleash, SONIC ORDER are terrifying. If this is any indication, your week is going to be pretty fierce. 

SONIC ORDER

SLUR

Four creamers. Eight minutes. Redlined UK hardcore with vocals pushed beyond any reasonable version of belief. Easy to imagine this shit going off the rails live, and you will definitely want to fukk with the guitar in "Insanity Of War." Actually, you're just going to want to fukk with the whole damn tape. Not one second of bullshit contained in today's download. You're welcome.

SLUR

ANO

I can't tell you anything about them, but I can tell you that ANO capture Girls In The Garage and actual modern punk rage at the same time on their 2013 demo, and that is a thing worth noting. Stripped down, feisty punk that struggles to keep a beat as much as it struggles to stay inside a (self imposed?) box. But that struggle (on both counts...) is what makes this so fukkn compelling. This isn't an easy listen, necessarily, but it's also clear that ANO do not give half a shit about what I think - which is also what makes this so good. The guitar that starts "You Stop My Time" is perfect, by the way. 

ANO

Hey you - You bore me!

HOWL IN THE TYPEWRITER

In case you thought that the "lonely mutant in the bedroom with a 4-track recorder and a guitar" formula was a purely '90s phenomenon (I'm sure you didn't), I give you HOWL IN THE TYPEWRITER. Nearly an hour of truly bizarre sounds and lo fidelity punk from Blackpool, England, circa 1987. Dig in.

GOING DOWN THE CAT & TRIFLE

DREGS

You want mean? Then I'd like to introduce you to four women from London who are about to rip your face off. Bryony's vocals were the first thing that struck me - right out of the gate, the presentation of "Asbestos" is just a little off...enough to make you pay attention at least. And you will pay attention to these vocals (listen to "Skin" at appropriate volume and it'll give you chills)....and then 0:32 into "Tactics" DREGS hit on all cylinders and everything just clicks. Everything actually clicks from the first burst, but I kept getting distracted by nuances...white knuckled from start to finish, this just makes me want to break shit. A quarter hour of the finest stomps that modern hardcore has to offer awaits you. 

DREGS

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

L-PLATES

Maybe some people would skip right by a 1993 demo from an unknown UK band...but some people do lots of things you don't do, so maybe you should listen. The guitar is the first thing you notice with L-PLATES; distorted and affected in a way that is equal parts teenage thrash demo and Ahead-era WIRE. Drop that sound in to a dual vocal adult anarcho assault and you get something that is noteworthy at worst ("Our Fixture World" and the eponymous second track), but stop-and-take-a-listen-no-really-pay attention! at it's best. The recording sometimes masks legitimate burners like "M.O.A.B." and "My Twilight Zone," while several numbers come off like a Spiderleg band born one decade too late. But "Civilian Depopulation" is the track. It's when the seemingly random '80s WIRE comparison popped into my head (though on this one it's as much the vocals as the guitars), and it's just a really well crafted and engaging song. So skip L-PLATES because it's not on the back of your cool friend's vest, but remember that your cool friend probably makes fun of you when you aren't around. So question, change, and use your mind.

QUESTION, CHANGE, USE YOUR MIND!

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

BRITISH AIRWAVES

I think that my vinyl copy of this release was the product of an expedition to Tulsa in the late '80s (teenage Wizard was neither adventurous nor mobile) and resulted in my discovery of 18 then-new-to-me bands (which is precisely what a comp is supposed to do). That said, the 1000 MEXICANS track gets stuck in my head at least once a month (it's that damn bass line), THE RENEES are killer, THE THREE JOHNS track is mediocre but resulted in several of their records in my arsenal, and this JAZAWHAKI tune is as infectious as anything I can imagine.In addition, you get burners from THE GLOBAL INFANTALISTS, HAGAR THE WOMB (my first introduction was this track), THE MOODISTS, NIKKI SUDDEN, and THE RENEES ("Drink Problem" seemed so racy as a 16 year old...) among many others. I think the motivation for this comp was financial, as British Airwaves seems to have been compiled and released by a label hoping to break UK post punk/new wave acts into the US market, but I can't really see anything here that we Americans ever gave a shit about aside from NEW MODEL ARMY....though this is still my favorite NEW MODEL ARMY jam. But seriously, "Last Pop Song" is beyond devastating....turn and face the lights.

BRITISH AIRWAVES

Turn up the music, one last time // This is the last pop song, come on and sing // This is the last pop song, it didn't mean a thing...

VOORHEES

I remember when I first heard this band, after everybody kept telling me they were the second coming of NEGATIVE APPROACH or some shit and I was just like....meh. But I can assure you that if I had heard this demo instead of whatever less than stellar vinyl release (I honestly don't remember which one it was) that I would have been frothing at the mouth like everyone else was, because this is bare bones USHC at its finest. Released in 1991 in a quantity of 50 (what the fuck?), these 15 songs are stripped of all the extras until nothing is left but pure punishment. It's not heavy, the riffs won't melt your face, it's not faster, it's not tighter....but it's fukkn right. I listened to to a few of the records after I pulled this bad boy out a few weeks ago, and I still think this is the best VOORHEES has ever sounded. This was reissued as a flexi sometime later in the '90s by Armed With Anger (because good luck getting one of the tapes), so you can own the physical manifestation of this magic if you're down to hunt. Or you can just jam mp3s on the bus tomorrow morning. Fukk man, this is so good. Blast "Death To The Pigs" into "H.C. Rules" every day going forward, and your life will seem a little more worth living. Trust me.

EVERYBODY'S GOOD AT SOMETHING....EXCEPT US

CITIZEN FISH

I will freely admit that I joined the CITIZEN FISH camp pretty late in the game. The early '90s were, by most accounts, the heyday of both the band's output and their popularity, but I didn't even see them play live until 1997 (and even then, it was only because Karoline was on tour with them, I am not sure I had ever even heard their music). But it didn't take much to see why people and punks from virtually every subsection of every scene were into the band, and I've been an unabashed fan ever since that first show. I'll still hold Life Size as my favorite record, but please don't ask me to pick a favorite show because there have been to many to choose from...and they are never bad. It just doesn't happen. The Psychological Background Reports are collections of outtakes, field recordings and remixes, things that few bands could pull off in an even remotely interesting fashion, but when CITIZEN FISH digs into the archives, the result is nothing short of fantastic.  This is the first installment, circa 1993....a full hour of dub, reggae, remixes, techno (lest you thought Phil was a latecomer to the electronic music game!), alternates and interviews, all carefully manipulated for your listening pleasure. Sometimes I rip tapes and leave them in the background while I get on with life, but this one held me mesmerized....the manipulation is every bit as effective today as it was then. And, for the record, no matter how many crucial shows (or years?) I missed out on by jumping on the bandwagon late, I wouldn't change a thing about my relationship to the band or their music because it's been nothing short of perfect from that show in San Luis Obispo until today...

FIRST PSYCHOLOGICAL BACKGROUND REPORT

BEAST AS GOD

A complete steamroller from the UK, BEAST AS GOD make their intent to destroy perfectly clear from the intro, and proceed to make good over the tracks that follow. Fist in the air metalcrust driven by The Riff and propelled by a massive machine gun drum attack with tiny hints of melody that make brief appearances (though in tracks like "I Know Who You Are" there simply isn't enough time). The guitar lead in "Against A Dark Background," the devastating intro to "Eulogie," the transition from overpowering doom in the middle of "Eschatological Vision" to the thunderous Scandicrust that closes the track...these kids know exactly what they are doing, and they are doing it right.

BEAST AS GOD

SUBSTANDARD

Just saw the SUBSTANDARD/NERVES split EP in a bargain bin in Osaka and urged my buddy to scoop it up (it's genuinely one of the finest regular residents of the dollar bins of the world), an easy choice at twice the price. Ripping UK hardcore from both acts on that split, and I was raving to him about how I see the record all the time and why doesn't anyone care about killer under the radar jammers and about how I later met one of the dudes in NERVES and he is chill, all while flipping through the bargain cassettes: boom, there's the SUBSTANDARD demo for about the price of two sips of beer. So there you go, always check the bargain bins.

SUBSTANDARD

DARKENED DEPRESSION PUNK

This is what all the cool kids are trying to do right now. Some are succeeding, to be sure, but this comp is what they are striving for. Dark, raw and fucked up punk rock. The more familiar bands included here are ones that don't typically get lumped in with "goth punk" acts, but listen to SELF ABUSE and PARANOID VISIONS in this context and I got a whole different vibe than when I shove them into the anarcho punk compartment in my feeble little brain. A TOUCH OF HYSTERIA, INSTIGATORS, VEX and SCREAMING DEAD round out mainstream contributors, and you can then revel in tracks from LEITMOTIV, BURIAL, PART I, VIOLATORS, QUEL DOMMAGE, FREUDIAN SLIP and several others. A seemingly out of place power pop banger from QUARTA LITE ended up being my favorite track, but they are all top quality. Some monkeys from Portland assembled and distributed these a few years back, and I must say they did an excellent job. 

A CELEBRATION: TWISTED HEARTS AND DARK THOUGHTS

This one has your name all over it, Joel.